Monthly Archives: February 2021

February 29th is the day which only exists every four years. I was actually due to be born on a February 29th but for the first and only time in my life except for all the others, I was late. So a few days later, they went in and got me.

If we did have a February 29 this year, we could note it as the 229th birthday of Gioachino Antonio Rossini, the great Italian composer whose most recognizable piece is probably "The William Tell Overture," aka "The Lone Ranger theme song" aka the song used in many other places like in the TV commercial for Lark cigarettes and in the TV commercial in which Stan Freberg parodied the TV commercial for Lark cigarettes…and hey, it just dawned on me that Lark cigarettes are gone as are most of the people who smoked them and…

Sorry. Got a little heavy into Free Associating there. This is just an intro to this new rendition of Mr. Rossini's tune, which I'm sure perfectly captures what he had in mind when he wrote it…

I just recorded a Jack Kirby Tribute Panel which will be online in a few weeks — on a day when WonderCon would have been happening at the Anaheim Convention Center were it not for you-know-what.

This Kirby panel involved coordinating between time zones because it was afternoon where I was, evening where Jonathan Ross was and morning of the next day where Neil Gaiman was. But it was worth doing math for because it came out great — and how could it not with those two smart guys talking about Jack? I can't wait for you all to be able to see it.

Here's a Bugs Bunny moment you may never have seen. It's from the movie My Dream is Yours, a 1949 Warner Brothers release starring Jack Carson and Doris Day. It was directed by Michael Curtiz, though Friz Freleng handled the animation you'll be seeing here. The film wasn't memorable but Bugs is…

So it's now been over 52 hours since I had my second injection of Moderna's Magical Kovid-Killing Potion and I've had no side effects. I slept an unusually-high number of hours last night and again, this afternoon…but that's probably not the vaccination doing that. Throughout The Pandemic, I've been sleeping odd hours and odder numbers of hours. Since I don't have that many appointments, I occasionally work nights and sleep days, largely untethered to any notion of a normal bedtime or a proper hour to rise 'n' shine. As the world slowly opens up in the months to come, I will have to do something about that.

This morning, I did something I haven't done in over a year. I went and got my hair cut. I was double-masked and double-vaccinated and my hair-cutting guy was glad to see me even though I'd had some interim trimming — the kind done by a non-barber lady friend. It probably made it more of a challenge to send me out of his salon looking presentable.

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In the last week or so, we've had an unusually-high number of televised car chases on Los Angeles TV. I dunno if that's an unusual number of police pursuits or an unusual number of decisions by our local stations to cover them…but almost all of them were very long and very uneventful. Some guy or gal in a car — probably a stolen one — led the cops on a long, long chase with high speeds and high risks of harming innocent folks…and then the fleeing driver finally pulled over and surrendered. Or in one case the other night, the police (possibly sheriffs, possibly California Highway Patrol) just decided to abandon the chase and let the guy get away.

What originally fascinated me about these televised events was, first of all, the utter reality of it all. That chase was really happening as we watched and the newsfolks covering the event had no clue as to how long it would last, what would happen, how it would end, etc. In most so-called "reality shows," the producers know all that…or at least know it'll be Scenario A, Scenario B or Scenario C.

I was also interested in the difficult challenge of the person or persons who had to narrate the game for the home audience. They have to keep saying something even if they don't know anything or even if all they know are things they've already said dozens of times. They also have to keep throwing in words like "alleged" and acknowledging that they often don't know if the "he" they're assuming the fleeing driver to be could be a "she."

Certain phrases keep being repeated. If you'd invented "This is an extremely dangerous situation" or "He's driving with no concern for the safety of others" and you got a royalty each time those phrases were uttered, you could retire to your private island.

The reporter providing play-by-play coverage might be in a TV studio somewhere with not much more knowledge of what the hell's going on than what's obvious on the screen. Or he or she might be in a copter overhead, looking out the window or at a little monitor, simultaneously listening to police scanners and other feeds. That's gotta be a stressful job. And every so often, I think the person taking to us is also trying to fly the helicopter and/or aim the camera.

I'm getting bored with car chases…and I'm not suggesting I want to see more collisions or shoot-outs. I think they just may be another thing on television that can easily wear out its welcome. Or maybe I'm just getting so used to fast-forwarding or skipping ahead when something I'm watching gets boring that I'm losing my patience with watching police cars following the same vehicle for twenty minutes. Live TV has its disadvantages.

Yeah, it's another Adam Ragusea video. I really like this guy, more for the way he thinks than the way he cooks. (His cooking's probably fine but it's not what interests me.) This one has as its moral a principle I've tried to live by. I often find myself doing something — or doing it a certain way — just because I see other people doing it or doing it that way.

That's not always wrong but it's wrong often enough that you need to keep asking yourself the question, "Why am I doing this?" Often, I find that I don't know why so I stop doing it. Here, Adam talks about trying to replicate the way professional cooks chop an onion or other food item — and why that may be a foolish thing for you to attempt…

The good news that COVID rates are dropping is balanced by the bad news that some Conservatives still think it's macho or a sign of freedom or of opposing a commie plot to avoid mask-wearing. Today at the 2020 Conservative Political Action Conference…

One of the most memorable scenes from Friday's festivities came early on, when event officials had to take to the stage and beg people to respect "private property rights" and "the rule of law" by wearing masks while walking around the hotel where the conference is being held. Unhappy attendees responded by booing and yelling "freedom!"

I've isolated a lot for close to an entire year. I haven't gotten the disease and I haven't passed it on to anyone else. I see no reason to change that just because the total number of cases is on the decline. To me, that's a reason to keep doing it even though I've had my two shots.

I awoke this AM to e-mails from two separate friends, both concerned that yesterday's sparse posting here was because I was experiencing side effects from yesterday's Moderna booster shot. Nope. Still no side effects here. The factory seal on the "just in case" bottle of Extra Strength Tylenol® I bought remains unbroken. I am cautiously optimistic it will stay that way but as with most aspects of The Pandemic, it's all so unprecedented that who the hell knows?

What I was busy with was prepping panels for WonderCon@Home. Since WonderCon ain't happening this year in its in-person form, limited festivities will be online and this weekend, I'm recording a Cartoon Voices Panel, a Jack Kirby Panel and a panel with Sergio Aragonés and the Groo Crew. These will be online on the dates when WonderCon would have convened in Anaheim.

I would like to think this is the last time we'll be doing conventions this way but about that, I am cautiously pessimistic.

On the panel with Sergio, we'll be talking about the upcoming publication of new Groo material. There are a couple of mini-series, all written and drawn and ready to go, and Dark Horse Comics will soon be announcing release dates.

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Not watching much news. I have no idea what it's been like in other towns but in L.A., the auto accident involving Tiger Woods seemed to be getting 24/7 full-team coverage that made 9/11 seem under-reported. I mean no slight to Mr. Woods but it seems to me the story was that he'd had the crash, he'd been taken to a hospital and that he was alert and doing okay — one sentence. TV News these days often spends hours and hours on stories where they could tell you everything that matters in about three minutes.

One interesting aspect of the story though was noted this morning by Kevin Drum. The section of road where the accident occurred is pretty treacherous. I've driven it. It's had thirteen serious accidents in the past year. And did the city do anything about it?

No, not until a celebrity almost got killed there. Now, they may spend the bucks to put up a STOP sign or something.

I have a story here. I live on a street where people sometimes drive way faster than they should but it was a lot worse before a stop signal was installed at an intersection a block north of where I am. We had many accidents. One of the more memorable ones occurred when I had a new wall built around my front patio. The workmen had finished the construction and were coming back the next day to put the finishing coat on it.

They were not able to do that the next day because right after they finished the construction part, a speeding motorist drove his car through it.

I wasn't here when it happened. I took a walk to a store and when I got back, there was a Trans Am in my patio — or what was left of a Trans Am.

Someone had cut someone else off and the guy in the Trans Am had swerved or zig-zagged or something, hit a tree on the curb and then bounced through my wall on which the clay coat was still drying. I came home to a mess of paramedics, police cars and concerned/curious neighbors. And I had voicemails from people saying, "Hey, Mark! Do you know you have a car in your front patio?"

We also had an awful lot of dogs getting hit by cars out there. I know I dragged at least four out of the boulevard and called the appropriate agency to handle it…and that wasn't fun or easy. I don't know if this has changed but if the dog was dead, I had to call Sanitation to come pick up the body and if the dog was still alive, I had to call some sort of Animal Services agency.

In most cases, the dog was still alive but wouldn't be by the time anyone arrived. Twice, Animal Services arrived, saw that the dog had died and told me they couldn't do anything. I had to call Sanitation.

Various folks on my block tried calling whoever you called then to get the city to do something about the traffic on the street. At one point, a nice neighbor lady got up a strongly-worded petition and a "let's all call in every day or so" campaign. She asked me to be the spokesperson for the crusade and I agreed. I placed several calls to the office of a gentleman named Zev Yaroslavsky who then represented our area on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

I never got Mr. Yaroslavsky on the phone but I did get an assistant who sounded like they were honestly interested in seeing our problem solved. I repeatedly told her that from now on, every time a dog died out there, I was going to bring its body into their office and dump it in the waiting room. She knew I was joking but she also knew it was a situation that required action.

So one morning I was in my pajamas when my doorbell rang. I threw on a robe, went to the door and it was Zev Yaroslavsky. He asked, "Are you the person who's threatening to dump dead dogs in my office?"

I said I had no intention of actually doing it but yes, I was. He asked if we could go out there and I could explain the problem to him. I said, "Give me five minutes to throw on some clothes and I'll be your guide." Five minutes later, we were walking up and down that section of street and I was pointing out where each dog had been killed and how my wall (now rebuilt) had been demolished.

And I will say this for Mr. Yaroslavsky: I couldn't have been more satisfied with his response. He understood the problem and promised me it would be fixed, a.s.a.p. Two days later, some traffic engineer people came out and I gave them the same explanation. Within a week, we had a new stoplight up the block and I haven't hauled a dog out of that street since. We do have accidents but it's a reasonable number…with no dead dogs.

The moral of this story? If a situation needs correcting, you may have to ask and badger and complain a bit. And it might help if you have some dead dogs or The World's Greatest Golfer with some serious injuries.

If you are one of them — fans of MAD magazine's Al Jaffee, I mean — read this page.

Today, it was back to Dodger Stadium where a month ago, I got my first dose of Moderna Miracle Elixir…almost guaranteed to protect you from The Plague and to (eventually) remove that ugly mask from your face. I'm hoping to be able to stop wearing mine somewhere around the year after next.

Around 1:00, I received Shot #2 and as of now, I've had no pains, no side effects, no aches. I'm a little tired but I was a little tired before I got there.

There were less than half as many cars there this time and it took about thirty minutes less. Everyone was polite and friendly and professional. As you may know, they make you wait fifteen minutes after your injection to see if you have a bad reaction. During that time, several folks on the crew came by to check on me and all seemed to genuinely care. So far, so good.

Speaking of Zero Mostel as I was in the previous message…

On Sunday, Turner Classic Movies is doing a little tribute to Zero Mostel by showing his first movie (DuBarry Was a Lady from 1943) and his last movie (The Front from 1976). The films will be accompanied by a conversation with a friend of Zero's who's also a friend of this blog and its blogger…that friend being my buddy, Jim Brochu. Set your TiVo or whatever you have and record the films and the discussion.

The great Welsh opera star Bryn Terfel favors us with a stunning rendition of "If I Were a Rich Man" from Fiddler on the Roof. This is not an easy song to perform, especially when you're (a) not Zero Mostel even if you look a little like him, (b) wearing a tuxedo and (c) not the least bit Jewish…

Unless you subscribe to The Wall Street Journal — which I don't — you can only read the first few paragraphs of an article on their website but sometimes, that's enough. This is the beginning of a piece about electricity in Texas, a topic that has been much in the news lately for obvious reasons. The headline is "Texas Electric Bills Were $28 Billion Higher Under Deregulation."

Texas's deregulated electricity market, which was supposed to provide reliable power at a lower price, left millions in the dark last week. For two decades, its customers have paid more for electricity than state residents who are served by traditional utilities, a Wall Street Journal analysis has found.

Nearly 20 years ago, Texas shifted from using full-service regulated utilities to generate power and deliver it to consumers. The state deregulated power generation, creating the system that failed last week. And it required nearly 60% of consumers to buy their electricity from one of many retail power companies, rather than a local utility.

Those deregulated Texas residential consumers paid $28 billion more for their power since 2004 than they would have paid at the rates charged to the customers of the state's traditional utilities, according to the Journal's analysis of data from the federal Energy Information Administration.

A lot of people in this country hate with a passion, the idea that they have to get necessities of life from a (shudder) government. Okay, I kinda get that. Certainly, we can all cite instances of government waste and incompetence. What I don't get is why those people are fine with the government putting them at the mercy of a private business that might demonstrate waste, incompetence and price-gouging.

Kinda-but-not-terribly sorry to hear the news that the Fry's Electronics chain is closing down.  I often patronized them, though not in a long time…and the last few times I was in one, I couldn't find a single thing I wanted to purchase.  Which was odd because once upon a time, a Fry's was this weird place where you could wander around and find some cheap gizmo or gimmick you never knew anyone made but it might come in useful in your life.

And all the time, you'd be asking yourself questions. Questions like…

"What was on the minds of the people who designed this place?"

"Where did they find some of this stuff?"

And most of all, "Where do I find some of this stuff?" Because there didn't seem to be a lot of logic to where they put things. If you went in there looking for a cable to connect your whatchamacallit to your thingamabob, they probably had it but God Knows Where. (And don't bother asking a store employee because none of them had heard of whatchamacallits or thingamabobs and some of them didn't seem like they'd even heard of light bulbs.)

In a way, it was fun. In a way, it was frustrating. But it was always the cheapest place to buy anything…on the off chance you could find it. And there were always a few items you could study for days and not know what the hell they were. I guess the question I most asked myself was "How is this place still in business?"

And now they aren't…or won't be. I'm not sure this is a Pandemic-related death because I think they were closing stores before the plague got to us. I know that the kind of things I used to buy at Fry's, I now obtain way more conveniently — and usually for around the same price points — from Amazon. I suppose I could miss The Thrill of the Hunt but I don't think I will. Wonder what's going to go into all those huge buildings.

Yep, another Adam Ragusea video. He just posted this one which is about High Fructose Corn Syrup. I don't think this man is the Last Word on a topic like this — and to his credit, neither does he. But after watching this video, I think I know a lot more about the topic than I did before and am better prepared to do further research, if and when I wish to do so, which I probably won't but might. I also like the way he conveys information and how seamlessly he segues into and out of his commercial breaks…

Writing something that has to be written today. For those of you who are new to this silly blog, one of our silly customs is that when I'm really, really busy, I post a photo of a can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup. This is my way of saying that while I'd like to post something new for your enjoyment — it's all I live for — demands of my life and/or some tyrannical producer or editor with whom I'm working demand that I put something ahead of you.

Hope you won't feel snubbed. If I have time later, I'll try to post either a rerun or something from my little folder of ready-to-go posts which have been waiting patiently for their moment in the spotlight. But don't waste your precious web-surfing time checking in here for something fresh because there won't be anything. Unless I suddenly need to post an obit.