Gabriel Sherman has written a pretty devastating portrait of Fox News chairman Roger Ailes. Among other things, it details how hard he's trying to use his position and network to elect the next President…and how badly that's going. Gee, I wonder what the commentators on Fox would say if the head of CBS News was meeting with Democratic candidates about how to help their candidacies or even urging certain Democrats to run.
Monthly Archives: May 2011
Great Photos of Buster Keaton
Number forty-six in a series…
Mad as Heck Hell
I haven't been linking to a lot of New York Times articles since they put up their pay wall. I'm afraid I'll link you to a piece that sounds irresistible and you'll get there and discover you've used up your freebees for the month and have to pay. But this one is too good to pass up. It seems that folks are now studying Paddy Chayefsky's notes for his prescient screenplay Network and learning a lot about his intentions and thought process. That's a great movie and it gets greater with each passing year. Thanks to Superstar Announcer Randy West for letting me know about this article.
Good Morning, Internet!
And the world seems to still be here so I'll start watching all those Colbert Reports I haven't gotten around to watching yet…
Last Post Before Bedtime
I'm kinda glad the world didn't end yesterday. For all its faults, I kinda like the world. Plus, I have all those shows on my TiVo I haven't watched yet.
Good night, Internet. Sleep tight.
Today's Video Link
From a different time: My favorite folk-singing group, The Limeliters, hawking cigarettes…
The Day After
Yesterday's predictions of the End of the World and the Rapture were kinda fun in an odd way. A lot of us got to laugh at those who believed this fellow named Harold Camping somehow figured out a date which the Bible says in no uncertain terms can only be known to God. It was also pretty easy to write jokes about. Here are three Tweets I posted while eating a bowl of Turkey Rice soup at one of my favorite restaurants this afternoon…
- Harold Camping still has a better track record for predictions than William Kristol.
- This just in: Harold Camping says he's done the calculations and can now say with great certainty that tomorrow is Halloween.
- Well, there was no Rapture today so we'll put another $100 in the jackpot for tomorrow…
I think my favorite comment today was a guy on the local news who said he was deeply disappointed that the world didn't end because he's maxed-out his credit cards and was looking forward to having that off his mind. Yeah, that's the kind of thing Jesus would consider.
P.S.
I just corrected a typo in the previous item. It was 1964, not 1963. (Thank you, Bob Kennedy.) Also, I forgot to mention that Huckleberry Hound wasn't the only one to do a parody of Lorne Greene's "Ringo" that made it about the Beatles drummer. On a TV special he did in January of 1965, Allan Sherman did a similar spoof. I don't know which came first but it was a pretty obvious idea.
Today's Audio Link
In late 1964, Lorne Greene was not only the star of the biggest hit show on TV — Bonanza — but he also had a surprising hit record. It was called "Ringo" and apart from perhaps poaching on the guy's name, it had nothing to do with the drummer for The Beatles. It was one of those talking/singing western ballad tunes and they sold an awful lot of them. If you don't know the song, it has been (like everything else that ever existed) uploaded to YouTube.
At the time, Hanna-Barbera had a record label and someone got the idea to have Huckleberry Hound record a parody that would be about Ringo Starr. This is it with the great Daws Butler performing the vocal. The flip side was also Daws as Huck. It was "Clementine," which we offered you back in this link.
I don't believe they sold a lot of copies of this. I was a huge Hanna-Barbera fan and I don't think I even saw this at the time. But here's "Bingo Ringo"…
Sproink!
Some time ago here, I believe I started a stampede. I told you all about online deals to order MAD's Greatest Artists: The Completely MAD Don Martin for very little money. This is a magnificent two-volume hardcover in a slipcase that includes all the work the late, looney Mr. Martin did for MAD magazine, paperbacks not included. It originally listed for around $150 and was not overpriced at that amount. When I told you you could order it for less than a sixth of that, hundreds of you did, cleaning out the online sellers.
Well, I'm here to tell you that Barnes & Noble seems to have more copies. They may be slightly damaged but hey, they're also $22.48. You'll probably want to order something else while you're at it because Free Shipping kicks in on orders of $25 or more. If you didn't get one before, here's another chance.
Today's Video Link
I'd like to see this montage on next year's Academy Awards ceremony…
Five Guys News
For my friends in Los Angeles: Five Guys is opening in Westwood Village in the next month or so…in the space that used to be Pastagina's Restaurant on Glendon near Weyburn. It's right next to a Jersey Mike's sub shop…and they're probably not as pleased with this announcement as I am.
Recommended Reading
So…assuming the world doesn't end tomorrow — and it had better not because I have theater tickets for later this month — how will all those who hope or expect that react? Will it shake their faith in such predictions? Vaughan Bell says Of course not.
Jeffrey Catherine Jones, R.I.P.
Most of the comic book sites are noting the passing of Jeffrey Catherine Jones, a fine fantasy artist and occasional comic book illustrator who has left us at the age of 67. I admired the art but I'm afraid I have absolutely nothing of value to add to the public mourning. I met Jones in 1970 back when that talented person was a "he," we talked for about five minutes and that was it. Thereafter, he became one of the best in the field…then he became a she…and she got even better. The work, much of which you can see on this website, proves that well. Tom Spurgeon has a good obit and Michael Netzer has a good personal reminiscence.
Chuck on the Net
Speaking of great new talk shows: Our pal Chuck McCann did another episode of his Internet TV talk show Bits and Pieces last night and his co-host was our pal Jack Riley. I'm not going to embed them here anymore because there's something unstable about those Ustream embeds which I think crashes the browsers of some who access my page here. But I'll supply links so you can click over there and watch the fun.
I've been privileged to spend much time with Chuck and Jack. They're both delightful, funny men…and if you think I have a lot of good anecdotes, jeez. In that capacity, these guys are like Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays, and I'm the batboy for a very small farm club team in a town that's not large enough to have a Starbucks. These videos don't give you the full flavor of being around them because, for one thing, they don't tell the best ones about famous folks in show business screwing, one way or another, other famous folks in show business. They also in real life don't have all the tech screw-ups which, I'm sure, will diminish as Bits and Pieces goes on.
Anyway, last night's is in two parts. So watch Part One and then watch Part Two. And I'm sorry about the odd way Ustream inserts a commercial whenever they feel like it. I especially enjoy when someone's telling a short joke and there's a 30 second ad between the set-up and the punch line.