Number forty-nine in a series…
Monthly Archives: October 2011
The Judge Craters
I'm not going to embed it but Jon Stewart had an interesting conversation the other evening with Judge Andrew Napolitano of Fox News. I enjoy seeing two men on my TV discussing political differences without engaging in theatrics and hysterics and trying to shout the other down. When voices rise on most debate-type shows, it usually sounds to me like roleplaying, not unlike professional wrestlers putting on an act for us. On the old Crossfire series on CNN, I often thought that while the two combatants probably were genuinely Liberal or Conservative as per their roles, they couldn't possibly believe that their Talking Points weren't full of holes.
Napolitano is a Libertarian of the "government bad" mindset…though oddly enough he's all for government running a court system in which judges engage in what others on Fox would call "judicial activism" and "legislating from the bench." And while he despises the notion of the government taking tax dollars from you at gunpoint, he seems quite happy with the idea that it will enforce a judge's decision and take fines and compensatory damages from you at gunpoint or maybe lock you up.
The oddest moment to me in the Stewart/Napolitano chat was after the latter began asking why anyone would give their money to the government. The host responded…
STEWART: Because you think they're going to hire a bunch of people who if your house catches on fire will come there with water.
NAPOLITANO: I can do it better for you if I have an insurance company that promises to keep my house free from fire.
I'm going to guess that's one of those things that Judge Napolitano would wish he'd phrased differently…but given some of the other things I've heard him say, maybe not. Really? How is an insurance company going to make good on a promise to keep your house free from fire? Are they going to put it out for you? All eighty thousand insurance companies are going to have crews near where you live who'll be available 24/7 and have the necessary equipment and training?
Naw. He must mean that private fire departments are going to spring up and that State Farm and Prudential and Mutual of Wherever will contract with them to show up at your house with hoses and axes when needed. But how could these hypothetical companies do a better job than what we have now? And wouldn't they just hire the same firefighters and get the same equipment but build a profit for the company into the deal? How could that possibly be better or cheaper?
Maybe Napolitano isn't talking about private firefighters. Maybe he's talking about them letting your house burn down and then paying to rebuild and replace everything. No, that can't be it. Very few people whose homes burned would feel whole again to receive a check for the book value of what they lost. And can you imagine what your premiums would be like for insurance if they just let homes and their contents burn and then paid to replace everything? This kind of silly, impractical thinking is one of the reasons that the Libertarian movement doesn't get farther in this country.
Today's Video Link
In 2008, an all-star special was done in England to celebrate the 60th birthday of Prince Charles. John Cleese hosted and in this clip, you'll see him introduce a funny bit by Rowan Atkinson…
Go See It!
The Making of…The Statue of Liberty!
House of History
Hey! You know who lived at 141 S. Carolwood in Holmby Hills? A lot of interesting people.
When I get the time, I'm going to write a post about a not-far-away Hollywood mansion that I got to visit often when I was younger. I have since learned who lived there once upon a time and I should have been a lot more impressed to be swimming in that pool and walking around those grounds.
Harry and Arch
If you're thinking of ordering the new DVD set of I'm Dickens, He's Fenster, now might be a fine time. Its makers are taking orders now for Volume One which features 16 episodes (i.e., half of all that were made) of this funny 1962 sitcom plus many special features. Some but not all of the bonus goodies will be available when the mass-market (and probably cheaper) DVD set comes out next April but I know you. You want all the bells 'n' whistles…and hey, you might even get a free autographed card from the stars, John Astin or Marty Ingels. Find out about the offer and order at this website.
Should you not be familiar with this series…well, I don't want to oversell it. It was a wonderful little show that deserved to run many, many seasons and didn't, and I remember loving it a lot. Many of the shows I loved back then do not withstand later consideration. I watch an old My Favorite Martian and as often as not, find myself wondering, "What did I ever see in this show?" But I've seen some I'm Dickens, He's Fenster episodes lately and they still make me laugh. I'm especially impressed with the quantity and quality of physical humor they did…a rarity in the era of talk-talk-talk comedies. And Frank DeVol is indecently funny whenever he's on-screen. Check it out and see if it makes you laugh, too.
Great Photos of Stan Laurel and/or Oliver Hardy
Number forty-eight in a series…
Recommended Reading
A guide to the tax plans of the various Republican presidential contenders.
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Take a look at Punctuation Marks You Never Knew Existed!
Today's Video Link
In 1975, ABC was trying to compete with NBC's Today Show with a show called AM America hosted by Bill Beutel and Stephanie Edwards. One memorable Friday in April, Beutel was off on assignment and the program was co-hosted by most of the Monty Python guys. Things got, shall we say, a bit chaotic.
We have here a little less than ten minutes of excerpts. Note how Ms. Edwards keeps her smile and plays along but that newsman Peter Jennings doesn't seem too thrilled to be a part of what he finds himself a part of. Also note the name of writer Tom Meehan in the credits. Mr. Meehan would go on to loftier jobs…
Poll Dancing
I don't like salespersons or survey-takers who phone me. I will never buy anything from a stranger who calls me out of the blue and the few times I have ever answered questions on that basis, it's because I believed the caller really was from a major polling company like Gallup. I especially don't want to answer questions from survey-takers because I figure they're calling to build up a profile on me…and that profile will be used somehow to try and sell me things I don't want.
Sometimes, I immediately ask the caller, "Is the last question about how much money this household makes?" Because they always want to know that and they usually hide it at the end. I'm not going to answer their questions either way but if that question's in there, I'm especially not going to answer their questions.
The other day, a lady phoned and told me she was conducting a "brief survey" and would just need a few minutes of my time. Before I could ask her about the last question, she said, "For every survey that is completed, a donation will be made to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation"…which I believe is no longer even the name of that organization. So instantly I suspect they might not really be dealing in any way with the Foundation or maybe they're keeping in the word "cancer" to ratchet up the sympathy. I asked the lady, "How much?" and from there on, it went pretty much like this. To her credit, she started giggling about halfway through…
HER: I beg your pardon?
ME: You said that for every completed survey, a donation is made to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. How large a donation will you be making if I answer your questions?
HER: Uh, does it matter?
ME: Sure it matters. If I'm being encouraged to answer your survey because it will mean money for a worthy cause, I'd like to know how much they get. How much is it?
HER: I'm not sure…
ME: Well, is it more than five dollars?
HER: Oh, I doubt it's that much…
ME: Four dollars? Three? Let's try it the other way. Do you think it's more than a dime?
HER: I'm sorry. I don't have that information.
ME: A nickel? A penny? I don't think you should be able to make it sound like you're making a real donation if it's just a penny.
HER: Sir, I think I'm supposed to be the one asking the questions here. Anyway, they don't tell us that.
ME: Oh? You want me to answer all your questions but you can't answer even one of mine? How about this? What's your name? Or is that another one of the things they don't tell you?
HER: My name is Diane.
ME: Diane. Okay, we're getting somewhere. Now, where are you located, Diane?
HER: I'm in Raleigh, North Carolina. About the survey…
ME: Is there anyone there in Raleigh you could ask? Someone who could tell you what kind of donation is made to the Susan G. Komen Foundation if I answer your questions?
HER: No, I work at home. They give us the questions to ask and they give us this software for the computer that dials the numbers and they give us a thing called a MagicJack that makes the calls free…
ME: I understand. Okay, I won't waste any more of your time, Diane. But tell me…this survey. Is the last question on it about how much money I make?
HER: Uh…how much your household makes.
ME: Good. Because now I know I'm not going to answer your questions no matter how much money is donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. But I'll tell you what I will do. Because you were nice enough to answer as many of my questions as you could, I'm going to make a donation to the Susan G. Komen Foundation on your behalf.
HER: Really? How much?
ME: I'm sorry. I don't have that information.
I've been getting a lot of "survey" calls lately and an unprecedented number of calls from folks who, though my number is on the "Do Not Call" list, phone to try and sell me stuff. It finally dawned on me why I'm getting more of these than ever. It's the economy, stupid. So many people are outta work…or not making ends meet with the jobs they do have. They see all these ads that say "Make $100 an hour from home" and they wind up making calls on some sort of commission basis linked to eventual sales.
I'm guessing Diane made little or nothing calling me but if I'd answered all those questions…and if that info enabled someone else working a commission deal for the same outfit to sell me something…then Diane might have seen some bucks from that sale. And call me cynical but I somehow don't think the Susan G. Komen Foundation lost out on real money because I declined to participate.
Thinking it over, I'm kinda sorry I gave her a hard time. The nicer thing to do would have been to end the call as quickly as possible so she could get on to the next number on her list. And I'm wondering if when they tote up the unemployment stats if Diane (assuming she has no other job) counts as unemployed or not. I had a friend who in a moment of jobless desperation, took a "position" calling offices on a list to see if he could get them to order toner for the office copier. If they did, he got a cut. Most, of course, did not and my friend sometimes put in a 60 hour week on the phone and grossed $40 — well under minimum wage. Do we call that a job? I guess for some people these days, it is…
Great Photos of Stan Laurel and/or Oliver Hardy
Number forty-seven in a series…
Go See It!
Here's a list of the Fastest Growing Occupations in America. I'm surprised to see that "Phone Solicitor Who Phones Mark Evanier at Inconvenient Times" did not make the list.
Video Links
If you click on an embedded video here and the wrong one plays, try refreshing your browser. If that doesn't work, try closing the browser and opening it again. If that doesn't work and you have another browser on your computer, try opening the video in the other one. And then if that doesn't work, write me and tell me I've screwed up because perhaps I have. But the last few all play fine on both my computers.
Today's Video Link
Mickey Paraskevas directed my attention to these. They're very nice home movies shot in 1956 at Disneyland by the grandfather of a gent named Jeff Altman — not my friend, the comedian of the same name. The first of these includes Walt himself who was at the park that day shooting some sort of film for something.
That's one. Here's the other…