Monthly Archives: November 2011

From the L.A. Times at this moment…

Not much to report about last night's event at the Writers Guild other than that Earl and Dwayne were suitably honored and memorialized. A lot of the right things were said. Some tears flowed. Many friends were together. There was a lovely chocolate fountain on the dessert table.

Non-Lambeth posting may be light here today as I have much to do, including getting a cavity filled. My dentist's office is directly across the street from Larry Flynt's office. One of the employees there (not my dentist) brought in a pair of binoculars when they moved in there, somehow thinking this would enable him to glimpse nude models cavorting in the high-rise on the opposite side of La Cienega Boulevard. So far, this has not happened. The last time we discussed it, he reported that with a sigh then added, "Of course, looking at the bright side, I also haven't seen Larry."

And here's Daily Variety on tonight's event at the Writers Guild, complete with a photo of Earl that I took of him on his wedding day, about ten minutes before the ceremony. I like that picture because although Earl was a pretty happy guy — at least until he got sick — that was the happiest I ever recall him being.

This evening the Writers Guild of America, West is honoring (sadly, posthumously) Earl Kress and Dwayne McDuffie, who have each been voted this year's WGAw Animation Writing Award. I'll be making the presentation to Earl's spouse and partner, Denise Kress. Here's what the Hollywood Reporter has to say about it all.

Last week here, I gave a glowing account of the new CGI Tweety & Sylvester short which has been animated to a voice track that Mel Blanc did for a kids' record back in the fifties. The film can be viewed if you go see Happy Feet 2 but if you don't want to do that, you can catch a little bit of it over on this website. As I said, once you get past the notion of seeing those characters with three dimensions and real textures, I think it's pretty good and pretty faithful.

Doug Manchester is the gentleman who built the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, and his company also had some sort of financial involvement I won't pretend I understand in the financing of the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina next door. Those are two of the key hotels affiliated with (and filled with guests visiting) the San Diego Convention Center. That, of course, is all connected to the annual Comic-Con in San Diego. He had a lot to do with the redevelopment of that whole portion of the city from a swamp of dive bars and massage parlors to a genuine tourist mecca.

Mr. Manchester has, you may be unsurprised to learn, a lot of money. He has a history of philanthropy which would be nice but "Papa Doug" (as he is actually called on his website) put a lot of his money into California's Proposition 8, the law that for a time banned Gay Marriage in the state. Many who were outraged about this could not help pointing up the irony. Manchester defended his financial support for the measure telling reporters it was because of "my Catholic faith and longtime affiliation with the Catholic Church." Soon after, he got into a seemingly unCatholic assault on the institution of marriage…a messy, accusation-filled divorce from his wife of 43 years.

As of today, Proposition 8 is back in play. It was ruled unconstitutional but now the California State Supreme Court has given its backers a chance to defend it in federal courts, which probably means the U.S. Supreme Court eventually. About an hour ago, I received an e-mail from a gay rights activist vowing to mount a huge boycott of the Manchester Grand Hyatt during the 2012 Comic-Con as a means of pressuring and/or condemning Papa Doug. I wrote back to the activist to inform him that he's misdirecting his anger. Last March, Doug Manchester sold off all his interests in the Manchester Grand Hyatt. We can all stay there again without feeling we're putting money into a bank account that helped make Prop 8 happen.

If you do want to boycott Mr. Manchester, he has other enterprises you can not patronize. Today, it was also announced that Mr. Manchester has purchased the San Diego Union-Tribune, a major newspaper in that town. There is a bit of controversy there, as well. Manchester has been pushing redevelopment project in another part of San Diego and there has been opposition, much of it for environmental concerns. A week or two ago, the Union-Tribune editorialized strongly in favor of letting Manchester's project proceed…without mentioning that Manchester was about to close a deal to purchase the newspaper and…well, here. Read about it if you're interested. If you need me, I'll be doing the Lambeth Walk.