If you live in Portland, Oregon and you're interested in the late 'n' great Mel Blanc, you're in luck. The Mel Blanc Project is kicking off shortly with lectures, t-shirts and even a walking tour noting the first great cartoon voice actor. The walking tours will take folks to the location of Mel's childhood, including the school corridor where he says he first invented the Woody Woodpecker laugh with the help of the acoustics. The lecture series covers the area and time period of Blanc's Portland residency…but the schedule on that site only lists one cartoon being screened — the 1936 I Love to Singa. That's a great cartoon but I hope they don't think Mel's in it because he isn't.
Monthly Archives: June 2011
Recommended Reading
One of the annoying things about Sarah Palin is her insistence that any time she says anything dumb or clueless, it's someone else's fault. Every politician and public figure says things they regret but no one else so consistently claims to have been tricked into their regrettable utterances. One of the many reasons I don't think she'll ever be the Republican nominee, let alone the President, is this inability to answer questions that aren't lobbed by people rooting for her to do well. Here's a little slide show of her claiming that any question she couldn't handle was a "gotcha" question.
Recommended Reading
It's the tenth anniversary of the Bush tax cuts. Ezra Klein and Joan Walsh discuss why they've been so bad for the economy.
Today's Video Link
Penn Jillette explains why he's never used drugs or alcohol…
Earlier This Evening
As I've mentioned here, I often hang out or around Farmers Market, a local tourist mecca here in Los Angeles. It's a great place to just sit and get a meal…and as I've learned since I got an iPad, it's a fine place to websurf and/or play Sudoku. I spent today in a recording studio directing the voices for an upcoming Garfield special and on the way home, decided to stop off there for a Hot Turkey Sandwich.
One gets to recognize "regulars" at a place like that. One I often see (and avoid) is an older guy who always seems to be there, sitting at a table and talking to himself. I think I've seen this person there for at least twenty years. This evening I saw him there and noticed he was talking to no one nearby…but he's now wearing a Bluetooth® earpiece.
I don't know if it's real or if it was connected to a phone call. All I know is he's doing the exact same thing that has caused folks to steer clear of him for decades…but with the addition of a tiny device, he now looks utterly normal.
Great Photos of Buster Keaton
Number fifty-three in a series…
Recommended Reading
An interview/profile of Keith Olbermann. I'm starting to get the feeling that Olbermann has in mind to transform his new homebase network into what a lot of folks claim MSNBC is, which is the left-wing counterpart of Fox News. Hope I'm wrong.
My Latest Tweet
I feel sorry for Anthony Weiner. He goes through an entire sex scandal and he doesn't even get laid. — [Follow me on TWITTER]
Lee J. Ames, R.I.P.
Veteran comic book artist and illustrator Lee J. Ames died last week at a nursing home in Huntington, New York at the age of 90. The cause of death was congestive heart failure.
Born in Manhattan, he began working for local art studios while still in high school. In 1939, he entered a contest the Disney organization was running to find new artists, won and briefly relocated to Los Angeles where he worked in a minor capacity on Fantasia and Pinocchio. But he got homesick, went back to the east and got into comics, working for Bernard Baily (who drew The Spectre and other strips for DC) and for the Eisner-Iger shop. Over the years, Ames worked for most of the major publishers including Timely, Archie, Harvey, Hillman and EC, and he was a major contributor to Classics Illustrated in the fifties.
In the sixties, he turned more to advertising and book work, enjoying immense success with a line of "how to draw" books. Many were in a series called the "Draw 50" series such as Draw Fifty People, Draw Fifty Vehicles, and Draw Fifty Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals. His last few decades were spent mostly producing those books and with lecture and teaching jobs that sprang from his many books.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Lee on a panel at the 2005 Comic-Con International in San Diego. He was a jolly man who clearly loved drawing and loved teaching others how to draw. It's always sad to lose someone like that.
Funny Faces
Master caricaturist Drew Friedman spotlights another of his ilk with the great TV Guide work of the great Jack Davis. I can't get enough of Mr. Davis's work and am looking forward to a new, very thick art book that's currently being assembled.
And hey, I also love what Mr. Friedman does. I want to commission him to do a drawing of me but I'm going to wait until I'm about eighty because he's especially good at Old Jews.
My Latest Tweet
Rick "Man on Dog" Santorum: Another presidential candidate who will get the same number of electoral votes as me. — [Follow me on TWITTER]
Today's Video Link
Hey, remember that great high-def video tour of Las Vegas? Well, here's an even better one of Manhattan, shot from hotel rooms all over the city. Take this one full-screen and enjoy…
Monday Morning
Former head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn pled a firm Not Guilty this morning to charges that he raped a maid in a New York hotel. I'm not quite sure why many news reports are saying that he's charged with "attempting to rape" the woman in question. This is turning into a He Said/She Said kind of case and apparently She Says she was raped.
So if they did indeed find traces of Mr. Strauss-Kahn's semen where it shouldn't have oughta been, what's the story here? News reports suggest his defense will argue that whatever happened was consensual; that they'll say the woman is a liar and dredge up whatever they can from her past life to prove she's just the kind of person who'd do such a thing. I'm trying to think if there's anything — anything else they could say. If the physical evidence is what reports say it is, is there any other scenario that makes DSK the innocent victim here? Can we dream up one where it was all an innocent misunderstanding? Maybe the man's bodily fluids were forged by an international conspiracy that's out to frame him. Hey, that happens to me all the time.
But who knows? Maybe his lawyers and Ben Stein are right. I hate following these kinds of tabloid-oriented stories but I shamefully admit I'm hooked. Strauss-Kahn has an awful lot of money to spend on his defense. I'm curious as to what it's going to buy him…and whether they're angling for the best terms they can get in a plea bargain or if they're really going to go to the mat and try to get him a complete acquittal.
And I can't help but notice that Ben Stein's been awfully quiet about this lately…
Going, Going…
The Sahara Hotel in Vegas has closed. Wanna buy a piece of it? Or just look at photos of what they're selling off? Then go to this website. If you hurry, you may be able to put in a bid on Redd Foxx.
The Hayes Office
I just saw the above headline online and couldn't help but think: What a great name for a grizzled old sidekick in a western movie…maybe one who gets caught trying to trade a Senate appointment for political favors. Gabby Blagojevich. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?