Merrill Markoe's Blog, page 19

I try doing some P.R.

I never do any personal P.R. because…well, it seems to me that it never makes any difference. Its just one of those things I have learned by being alive. And there are few enough of those things. But it seems I learn this one over and over. Still…I will make that weak attempt one more time. For no reason at all.

Okay. Three things.

1. I am on a blog called Coffee with a Canine. It is here:

2. I am reading Thursday night at the anniversary show of something called Tasty Words.  You can find out a...

Jimmy On The Issues

Jimmy Speaks Out

For fashion week: "DUH!" is the new "Captivating"

Its Fashion Week. It seems like fashion week happens more often than Christmas. And Christmas is already four months a year. (In fact, today is Day 5 of the 120 days of Christmas!) Anyway, in honor of fashion week I spent a little time looking through the catalogs I received in the mail yesterday, instead of throwing them directly in to the garbage, unopened. And I noticed that the current crop of models  seemed to be using an assortment of facial expressions that appeared, at least to me...

Merrill Markoe presents: Quickdraw Noir

Yes, its that German expressionist episode you may not remember. Not everyone knows that Peter Lorre did a guest spot on Quick Draw McGraw. Andy Prieboy did the music.

What My Dogs Did on their vacation

This is a first draft. I have a longer version but I cant put it here. Too big a file.

Daryl Hannah, come get your rooster.

I am a fan of Daryl Hannah. I met her a few times and even went to her house once. And let me say, unreservedly, that I liked her a lot. She seems to be creative, intelligent and politically aware.  I respect the way she lays herself on the line for causes in which she believes. It is certainly admirable.
But I have to ask "At what cost?"
Because somewhere there is a poor lonely rooster, mourning her prolonged absence. Oddly enough, I know where that somewhere is. It is right next door to me, and

Lather, Rinse, Repeat: My Hollywood horror story

The L.A.Weekly has a comedy issue out. The theme was Hollywood horror stories and I contributed one. If  you can go to L.A.Weekly online, you can read  great ones by my friends Elayne Boosler and Laura Kightlinger. Here is mine:

Lather Rinse Repeat. By Merrill Markoe

In 1986 , when Ronald Reagan was  President, Paramount bought a screenplay from me about a girl who worked at a magazine, was about to turn thirty and her talking dog. It was called "Me and My Boy." I had decided to write a talking do

Hospitals develop amazing new name for kleenex.

There is an interesting article in today New York Times under Personal Business about a service that now exists to help recovering  patients make their way through all the false charges on their hospital bills. These "medical advocates" charge to help you navigate  the language of the insurance companies and  hopefully spot  instances of double billing and fraud. That's the premise anyway.  The article offers examples of such charges. For instance:

" According to some surveys, as many as 9 out of

Finalist: best new product name.

The results are in. Which means that I found this at the market and somehow had never seen it before. So now it is my candidate for best new product name for 2009. I also like the gleeful  Wippity Wipe character there on the front of the package. He's so happy. And why wouldn't he be? Because "its like a spill never happened!". And just when I was thinking that the 21st.century couldn't get any better!

New reality show helps annoying person!

I don't watch that much reality TV. Although I am hooked on "Intervention" and "Obsession." And I did go to a friend's house to watch the season closer of The Bachelor.But for the most part, the stuff slithers past me . Until today. Because I just read a review of a new show in the L.A. Times that provides the first really concrete reason to stand behind reality shows as a genre.Below is the article that caught my eye. The premise of the show is another behind the scenes glimpse of a pair of yo