Monthly Archives: March 2011

Thanks to Phil Pollard for these links to A Gallery Of Terrible (Or Amazing) Cereal Boxes and its sequel, 25 More Terrible (Or Awesome) Breakfast Cereals. I actually tried a few of these…OKs, because Yogi Bear was selling them for a while, and Rice Krinkles because I was too lazy to spoon the sugar onto my Rice Krispies and this was the same thing, only pre-sugared. Most of 'em, I never heard of — in some cases because they were test-marketed only, and somewhere other than Los Angeles.

I used to try new cereals often but at some point they got too sugar-oriented even for me. They were selling them like candy you could pass off as a breakfast cereal on some technicality. Eventually, I realized that while I liked a lot of different cereals, I didn't like any of them better than Cheerios. So for about the last twenty years, it's been Cheerios or the occasional box of Rice Chex, both eaten sans milk or sugar. I cruise the cereal aisle often though and admire the ingenuity and sheer fun they have there.

My pal Hank Garrett played Officer Ed Nicholson on the classic TV situation comedy, Car 54, Where Are You? He just dropped by a few minutes ago and gave me a copy of the new DVD set of that show's first season. There were only two seasons and I think everyone should rush out and buy copies of this 4-DVD set. It's hilarious stuff and we want to make sure it sells well enough that they'll put out Season Two.

If I had to pick my five all-time favorite sitcoms, Car 54 would certainly be on the list. So would The Dick Van Dyke Show. So would Sgt. Bilko, which was the creation of Nat Hiken, who was also responsible for Car 54. If we have similar tastes in comedy and you aren't familiar with Car 54, trust me. Just trust me.

I've just had time to take a quick peek at the DVD but the picture quality seems to be quite good. There's also a great special feature: An interview of Hank and of Charlotte Rae, who was also on the series. Not many folks who are around were, so it's great the DVD producers got them to do this. They chatted with Robert Klein, who's a huge fan of the show, too. Hank tells a few of the cleaner stories about Joe E. Ross. There are apparently not many anecdotes about Mr. Ross that do not involve (a) hookers, (b) not knowing his lines and/or (c) doing something that those around him found grossly offensive. There are many tales that combine all three.

I'll probably write another rave after I get time to watch some of these. For now, here's the Amazon link. Go get one…or two…or more.

Sarah Palin is mad at a Conservative website for quoting her side of a story because they didn't quote it in full on page one and instead quoted it in full on page two.

Has anyone in the history of news reporting and media been so consistently misquoted as Sarah Palin? Every time she comes off stupid in anything, it's the fault of those damned, biased reporters.

Here's a link to a PDF file of a new CNN poll on what Americans think of the various political parties. They dislike the Democrats by a small margin. They dislike the Republicans by a hair more. And they increasingly do not like the Tea Party.

The 6.77 ct IF Clarity, D Color Diamond Solitaire Ring…only one million dollars and available online from Costco. And the nice part is they only have one so they can't expect you to buy in lots of twelve.

Also, it says "Costco.com products can be returned to any of our more than 500 Costco warehouses worldwide" but they also warn you…

When returning unique jewelry items, or items containing a 1.00 ct center diamond or larger, Costco warehouses may require additional time to verify the diamond, in which case a refund will be approved upon positive verification and as long as the item is not damaged or changed in any way (i.e. resized or reset). This process may require two to five business days.

Also, Gift Messaging is available.

I'm about to run off and direct a voice recording for The Garfield Show…day one of what looks like a pretty busy week here. The best part is that it will end with a trip to San Francisco and three days of WonderConning. If you're anywhere near San Francisco (or even if you have to drive a bit to get there), drop in at the best convention this side of Comic-Con International. WonderCon starts on Friday.

And if you're in that vicinity and interested in a career in animation voiceover work, I'll be teaching a class next Monday, April 4 at Voice One, a fine school 'n' studio where one learns such arts 'n' crafts. I think they still have room for a few more mouths in the class.

For those of you who can't figure out your Time-Warner cable bill, here's a simple explanation.

The New York Times is about to erect a paywall which will try to charge you for reading more than a certain number of articles per month on their site. I don't think it will work, partly because folks won't understand it and partly because they'll find a dozen different ways around it. This article discusses some of the routes that have already been located.

Just to remind you: We are entering the last week of the month in which the Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes restaurants offer my fave, their Classic Creamy Tomato Soup. They have it for the entire month of March and then they usually have it for one week in October and that's it. I will eat there at least twice before the end of the month and I will get some "to go" and stash it in my freezer and when that's gone, I shall have to make do with other, lesser soups until October. Here's a link to see if there's a Souplantation or Sweet Tomatoes in your vicinity.