The other day, we were talking here about the Beach Boys record, "Wouldn't It Be Nice." My pal Tom Hensley — who seems to know every single person in the music profession — wrote to tell me…
Tony Asher wrote the lyrics. The last time I spoke to him, the song had just been chosen for the ad campaign for the Australian lottery. Having your song used for lottery ads is almost as good as winning the lottery.
I'm sure it is. Meanwhile, Jeff Ingall wrote to ask…
I'm curious why you or anyone would pass on an invitation to be an honored guest at a comic book convention. Isn't it a free trip somewhere and they pay you money to be there and have your fans adore you and you sell lots of things and make tons of money?
Sometimes for some people it is. But for a reason I"m not sure I can explain even to myself, I don't sell things at conventions. I'll sit for a while at a table where someone else is selling something I wrote because that might help a seller of my stuff. But I don't want to sell my own work and I certainly don't want to sit all day at a con signing my name for money…or fretting, as some do, that I'm not signing my name enough to make enough money.
Please understand that I'm not knocking anyone who does that. Or who loves going to conventions.
Free trips are nice if they take you somewhere you want to be. I accepted invites from a number of cons in New York because I like going to New York and it's even better when someone else pays for it. Also, I'm not as active in today's comic book field as I once was so at a con, I don't see as many friends as I once did. And if you add in prep, travel and unpacking days, a three-day convention is more like five days of my life.
This is just a personal choice. I often enjoy being in certain places but I don't really enjoy traveling. I might go to more cons when it becomes possible to just teleport me to one of them.
Lastly, shortly after this appeared on this blog, I got this from John Trumbull…
I was surprised that in your recent post about Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest sitcoms of all time, you said that you thought Married With Children deserved a spot on the list. I never would've guessed that that show appealed to your sense of humor. Can you expand a bit on what you thought was so great about Married With Children? I just found it a surprising inclusion for someone who also loves Car 54 and The Dick Van Dyke Show.
I'm not sure if I can even explain why I love Car 54 and The Dick Van Dyke Show. I watched Married With Children from time to time. I didn't find everything on it to be funny but there was enough there that I laughed out loud most times I watched. There are many widely-honored TV shows at which I never laughed out loud, even some shows I liked. I liked The Andy Griffith Show but I don't think I ever laughed during any scene without Don Knotts or Howie Morris in them.
There are people who think comedy writing is only about laughter. It is and it isn't. You can get a good feeling out of some stories without howling with laughter. Situation comedies are about comedy but they're also about situations. You can enjoy a story even when it doesn't make you howl like a hyena. At least, I can. And sometimes, I do laugh at things that no one else finds funny.
Thank you all for writing in. If you have questions, here's where to send them…
