Not-So-Sweet Sixteen

I haven't posted one of these in many months because, quite frankly, I've lost count. Sixteen feels like the right number but some are arguable. Not counted in there are two friendships that ended and have since resumed because these folks felt Trump has gone too far. There are also one or two where I've decided I don't want to talk to this person anymore and he may well have decided he doesn't want to associate with me any longer…but we haven't told each other yet.  I'm not counting these in the sixteen either.

I actually have a number of friends who support Trump, though none of them seem to have unconditional love for the guy nor do they believe everything he says. They just like the alternatives less. I have to admit that my vote has often gone to one person because I liked the alternative less.

It's usually possible to have a civil conversation with these people. Their support for Donald doesn't kill that. Hysteria and demagoguery are the problem just as hysteria and demagoguery about almost anything are bad for friendships. That especially true when you're not both hysterical and demagoguing in the same direction.

One ex-friend is apparently going around telling people, "Evanier let political differences come between us." No, I'm fine with political differences. I even have some with myself of a few years ago.  My friendship with this guy broke up because I felt he was being rude to me and that too much racism, homophobia and misogyny were leaking out of him, poorly disguised as political principles.  Also, there was some antisemitism sprinkled in there and being half-Jewish, I'm half-offended by that kind of thing.

You might say, "Well, maybe it's for the good that all that's come out instead of remaining suppressed." I might have agreed with that in theory. In the real world though, it's hard to see how all the negative emotions swirling about can lead to anything good.

Lastly, about the "R" word: Some time back here, I tried to make the case that Trump wasn't necessarily a racist; that it seemed to me he was better described as someone who had no problem appealing to racists. A number of my colleagues jumped on me to argue it was a distinction without a difference and I gave in. I couldn't say what I was trying to say as well as Kevin Drum did in this post.

Thank you. I'm hoping that writing this post will get him out of my head for a while so I can work on the really important stuff…like this just-announced project I have coming out next year. (No, it's not my big book on Jack Kirby but I'm working away on that, too.)

Today's Video Link

One of the most-read articles on this site is a piece I wrote in 1999 about the late Rod Hull, a very funny and brave man I worked with long ago. Most of the article is about an appearance he made with Johnny Carson which I got to observe live from about ten feet away. If you read that article, you might want to see this excerpt from that time he was on with Mr. Carson. If you didn't read that article, you might want to read it and then watch this excerpt from that time he was on with Mr. Carson. And I would suggest you do those things in that order — and either way, take note of how pleased Johnny obviously was with the segment. Johnny knew when his show was as funny as he always wanted it to be…

Peter Piper

This ran here on November 18, 2010. I thought it was worth another look…

I keep having these odd conversations with people behind counters in stores. The other day, I took my mother to an oral surgeon for an extraction. I don't know why but this woman has now had 47 teeth taken out. Don't tell me human beings don't have that many. I've been keeping count.

Anyway, I had to kill 45 minutes and as I hadn't eaten, I walked a few blocks to where I knew of three sandwich shops, all selling subs and all next to one another. One is actually a Subway. The other two are smaller proprietorships which may or may not have other outlets but certainly don't have many. I went into the first one, which was not a Subway, and scanned the menu, taking note of a meatball sandwich which was described as containing meatballs, marinara sauce, mozzarella and green peppers, all served up on a french roll. I told him I'd like one of them but without the green peppers. I do not like green peppers and what's worse is that they do not like me.

The counterman huddled with his sandwich-maker and then informed me…

HIM: The chef says he will not make it without the green peppers.

ME: Are these sandwiches pre-made? Can't he leave the peppers off?

HIM: No, they are all made to order. He says he will not make the sandwich without the peppers. They are necessary for the full taste. You could just pick the peppers off.

ME: I don't want to pick the peppers off. I want a sandwich without the peppers in the first place. And why wouldn't he give me that if he realizes that I can just pick the peppers off?

HIM: He has pride in his work. He is a very good chef. He wants to serve you the best sandwich possible. What you do with it is your business. So do you still want a meatball sandwich?

ME: Yes but I think I'd like it from the place next door. Thanks.

I went to the adjacent sandwich shop (which was also not a Subway) and asked if they put peppers on their meatball sandwich. The man behind the counter there said, "I see you've been next door."

Go Listen To It!

Audio Links from the first "demo" recording that Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick made for the show they were writing, Fiddler on the Roof. Thanks to all eleven of you who suggested I add this here.

Today's Video Link

Here's a clip from a 1988 episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Tom Hanks. A number of the bit players in it were writers on the show, including Conan O'Brien…

Saturday Morning

I keep telling people (and myself) that so much of what's going on in politics today will be irrelevant by the time we all have to vote for who'll be President of the United States for the next four-year term. Everything out there is too volatile to stay the same, starting with Trump's behavior. Perfect example? This morning's news that the alleged wealthy/alleged pedophile Jeffrey Epstein allegedly killed his alleged self.

No matter what the autopsy shows, a lot of folks will never believe this guy who was in so much trouble actually killed himself. That's not useful to anyone's cause. It's too tempting to decide he was murdered to protect the secret that [Insert name of person you hate] was deeply mixed-up in with all that rape and debauchery. It could be Bill Clinton, it could be Trump, it could be anyone you wish everyone would believe was evil and horrible and belongs in the cell next to Epstein's. Feel free to stick their name in the accusation and refuse to accept any of that silly "proof" stuff that may come up. Anyone can play.

Ernie Colón, R.I.P.

Well, I have something to write about here but sadly, it's an obit for a dear, talented man named Ernie Colón. Ernie passed away yesterday in his home at the age of 88. He had been battling cancer for some time and whoever posted the death announcement on his Facebook page emphasized the "battling" part. Knowing Ernie, I absolutely believe that. He went down swinging…and probably also trying to top the last drawing he did.

I never knew an artist in comics who tried harder. You may not have liked everything he drew — and Ernie, who was deeply self-critical certainly didn't — but no one ever cared more.

Puerto Rican by birth, Ernie was an actor and a sculptor before turning to comics. He assisted for a time on the Joe Palooka newspaper strip and in 1964 began working for Harvey Comics, first as a letterer and before long as one of the main artists for Richie Rich, Casper the Friendly Ghost and various allied comics. He loved the work but felt confined by the style, and a few years later began drawing for Warren (Creepy, Eerie) busting out in unexpected ways. His work there was wonderful and energetic and in practically every story, he was experimenting with a new style or a new approach or some new way of designing a page.

This article will tell you more of the biographical stuff. Basically, he worked for every company that would have him — for DC, he did Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld and Arak, Son of Thunder; for Marvel, he did Damage Control — and he also illustrated a line of documentary comics in partnership with his friend and former editor Sid Jacobson. Ernie was also my former editor. For a time, he was an editor at DC and mine on Blackhawk. I do not compliment editors lightly but Ernie was an absolute joy to work with. A very good man.

Public Appeal

In the 18 years, 7 months and 22 days I've been doing this blog, I have rarely had the problem that I couldn't think of anything to write about. I do not have that problem now but I'm having trouble coming up with anything that isn't about Donald Trump and/or Guns and/or White Supremacists. One of the many things I don't like about Trump — and it's a long, long list starting with the time he called my dear friend Jan Hooks a misogynistic
term because she was in sketches they did about him on Saturday Night Live — is the way he often seems to panic that all America is not talking about him. So what does he do at those moments? He does something stupid or vulgar to get that dialogue going again. There seems to be an overwhelming fear there that if we aren't talking about him, even if it's just to say we loathe him, he will somehow cease to exist.

I don't like this blog too much when it's mainly about one thing, no matter what that one thing is. That's because I don't like my life as much when my brain is working overtime on one topic, no matter what that one topic is. I've started a half-dozen posts this week that are either about D.J.T. or the N.R.A. or wind up inexplicably segueing into being about them. Then I stop and say, "No, I'm spending too much of my life writing/thinking about this stuff."

You can help. If you'd like to see more new content on this blog, send me some questions that aren't about Trump or guns or White Supremacists or how people like Tucker Carlson will say anything (anything!) if it keeps the old bank account bulging. The e-mail address to use is askme@newsfromme.com. It can be about comics, TV, animation, old comedians, tomato soup, the evils of cole slaw or any of the other vital topics on which this blog obsesses. Just stay away from politics because I have too many thoughts already along those lines. Thank you.

An Eavesdrop in the Bucket

Are you concerned that Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant might be spying on you? Then you'll want to read this.

Recommended Reading

William Saletan makes an interesting point about White Supremacists — you know…those guys Tucker Carlson says barely exist. Saletan notes that White Supremacists used to argue that non-white races were inferior…ergo, the name "White Supremacists." Nowadays, a lot of them seem to be arguing non-whites are superior and therefore must be stopped. I don't completely buy into this but there's something to it.

Today's Video Link

John Green has become one of my favorite authors though I haven't gotten around to reading even one of his books. A friend familiar with his work suggests I wait until I become a teenage girl who doesn't know how she fits into the world…but filling the time between now and then, I watch his YouTube videos and they make me like him all the more. This one strikes the proper mood of despair and hope that I'm sometimes feeling these days, though I think I'm more certain that all this shall pass…

The Last Resort (Fee) of the Scoundrel

Right now if you want a mid-week room in Las Vegas, you can book one at the Excalibur for as little as $27 a night. A great price? Maybe not. If you look closer, you'll find that that price doesn't include room taxes (13.35%) and a few other add-ons, most notably the Resort Fee. At some point in the booking process, you will probably but not certainly notice that at the Excalibur, the Resort Fee is $39.68 a night, way more than doubling the price of that bargain room. At some other hotels in town, it could run as high as $45.

What do you get for your Resort Fee? Well, it varies from hotel to hotel. You might get access to their Fitness Center, which you probably won't use. Some days, you might get a free newspaper you won't read. You'll probably get free local phone calls, which won't matter because you'll be using your cell phone. You might get a free bottle or two of water that costs them about half a buck.

You might also get to print the boarding pass for your flight home, saving you the thirty seconds it would take to do that at the airport. That's assuming you even want a boarding pass on paper. I find the one on my phone app to be more efficient in every way.

At a lot of hotels, your Resort Fee gets you free notary service…and I don't know about you but when I'm in Vegas, I always have a lot of papers I need notarized. I don't gamble there these days but if I did and I lost, say, a thousand bucks, I'd be comforted by the fact that I could make it back by getting a hundred or so escrow documents notarized along with eating about ten entire prime ribs at the buffet.

The Resort Fee does usually include one item that might be useful to you: Access to the hotel's wi-fi. There's often an additional charge for high-speed wi-fi but even the slow kind might be nice to have…except that you wouldn't pay $45 a day for it.

For some reason, most of the hotels list a separate price for the wi-fi service that everyone gets as part of the mandatory Resort Fee. The price for it is sometimes the same as the Resort Fee and sometimes, it's less even though no one staying there is going to pay that amount for it. I don't understand this at all.

But the big problem with Resort Fees is that they presume everyone is dumb enough to think that that they're paying that $27 price for a hotel room that actually costs eighty-three bucks. It's like how a lot of folks who go out and buy a car haven't learned not to decide they've found the one to buy until they hold a piece of paper with an "out the door" price that includes prep fees, tax and licensing, delivery charges, document fees, Additional Dealer Profit fees, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. They fall in love with the sticker price and by the time they realize their $16,000 car costs $19,457.77, they're in too deep to get out.

Last time I booked a stay in Vegas, Harrah's offered me a free room. All I had to do was pony up the Resort Fees. It was still the cheapest deal I could get for a decent room but it sure as heck wasn't — as they insisted it was — a "free room."

The Mustache at 100

My buddy Greg Ehrbar has a great article on the TV Academy website about some current celebrations of the late and looney Ernie Kovacs. I've probably expressed it elsewhere on this site but I think that Mr. Kovacs should be remembered more than he is and that the remembrances that are out there focus too much on his visual humor. The man was hilarious and brilliant just sitting in front of a microphone and talking.

Today's Video Links

I'm having a great deal of trouble not thinking about the recent shootings. Here are James Corden and Trevor Noah on the topic. In the days of Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Merv Griffin and even Johnny Carson, addressing national tragedies was nowhere within the job description of Talk Show Host. Now it is…