Mark Evanier's Blog, page 68

Coming Comedy

Paul Boross is a speaker, comedian, business psychologist and former pop star whose Humourology podcast has much to teach you about Funny — what it is, how to create it, how it can improve your life. As you might guess from the spelling, it's British-based but sometimes, he has on funny people from this country…and next Tuesday, his guest is our pal Shelly Goldstein, who knows a thing or two thousand about Funny. Tune in, learn and laugh.

FACT CHECK: Address to Congress

The Fact-Checkers have their work cut out for them on Trump's speech to Congress this evening. There's plenty there to write about, starting with what the crew at CNN found to be erroneous. There will be more of these along shortly.

About How Old I Am…

Last Sunday, I turned 73 — a number that amazes me. If my knees didn't keep reminding me otherwise, I'd swear I was in my twenties. Oh — and another thing that reminds me I'm not that age anymore is how often people I think of as my contemporaries talk about their physical problems or die. I've written obits and/or attended memorial services for too many of them. I've even done that for folks significantly younger than I am.

I attended my first Comic Book Conventions in 1970. The cons of that decade were swarming with people I wanted to meet and maybe interview because they'd created the comic books I read when my age was in single digits or early teens. In the eighties and for a few decades beyond, I would host Golden Age Panels of writers and artists who'd made comic books in the nineteen-forties. Now, I go to comic book cons where there's absolutley no one who did comics in the forties or fifties and maybe/sometimes, one or two who did them in the sixties. This amazes me.

I am occasionally the only one on the premises — or one of but two or three — with credits dating back to when comic books cost fifteen cents. This too amazes me.

I met Jack Kirby in 1969 when he was 52 years old and I thought of him as an old-timer…and why not? He'd been in comic books almost since they began and he'd fought in World War II. I am now twenty-one years older than he was the day I met him. Also amazing to me.

Not counting my recent broken/almost healed ankle — which could have happened to anyone of any age — I am in relatively good health. I have things that are wrong with me but they're all the kinds of things that are quite fixable by good doctors and I have good doctors. It seems to have helped that I have never indulged in alcohol, recreational drugs or the smoking of anything.

A friend tells me that I should add never marrying to that list but I've been in enough relationships that somewhat resembled marriage that I don't agree that's a factor. I am in occasional touch with my third-ever girl friend. She is now a grandmother…another one of those chilling reminders of time gone by. I may live to see her become a great-grandmother.

I do think it helps that I do not operate under the assumption that my life has a firm expiration date. As I've written here in the past, I've known a lot of people my age or older who kept talking endlessly about their impending demises. They hit a number like the Big Eight-O and decided that death was but moments away. Some of them, I think, made it arrive sooner as opposed to later with that attitude.

If a wizened physician — someone who studied medicine at a real medical school and not YouTube — told me I had X months to live, I might (might!) assume he or she knew what they were talking about. But I have seen enough self-diagnoses proven wrong that I regard them as about as certain as a World Series prediction. A little later today or tomorrow, I'll post one story — of many I've witnessed — where Tom said that Harry was in horrible shape and was not long for this world…and then Harry outlived Tom. And often, it's been by a decade or more.

FACT CHECK: Paid Protestors

Steve Benen, over at the Maddow Blog, deals with the constant claim by Trump and his reps that crowds that protest his actions must always be "paid protestors." In a country where every single major poll shows Trump's disapproval rating exceeds his approval rating, you don't need to pay money to find people who object to so much of what he is doing.

Celebrating Michael Schlesinger

FACT CHECK: Medicaid and Medicare Cuts

A lot of our elected officials or their appointees are arguing about proposed budget cuts and what they'd do to Medicaid and/or Medicare. Each side is accusing the other of lying so we need to go to the fact-checkers to even begin to get some sense of what's true and what ain't. The folks over at FactCheck.org take a stab at it.

Monday Morning

Well, the Original Pantry restaurant has closed and no one seems to know if or when it will open or if anyone wants to buy the place. I would guess that if someone did and could make it more like it was in the seventies, it would be back to having lines out the door like it did back then. Then again, the emphasis then was on big, thick hunks of broiled beef and maybe that ain't as commercial as it used to be.

We don't have the ratings yet for last night's Oscar Telecast and I can't think of any way in which they might matter much. I watched a smidgen more of it and I thought the opening infomercial for Wicked was pretty good. I also caught a particular cringe moment: They brought out representatives of the various agencies that fought the big L.A. fires for a well-deserved ovation, then turned it into a bit by having a couple of them read not-very-good jokes about the disaster. Remind me not to watch even that much next year.

John Oliver devoted most of his show to problems involving Tipping. I'm sure most everything he said about it was valid but a big change I would make is to let folks who are expected to tip have a better understanding of where the money goes. Does that great person who served you expertly keep all of what you leave? Do they share it with other service workers on the premises? Do they share it with Management? I sometimes feel I have overtipped or undertipped because I didn't know what became of a gratuity I paid…or maybe should have paid in cash.

Lastly for now: I'm prepping for WonderCon later this month. I'll be hosting six panels and appearing on one other. One that may interest some folks will involve Mark Waid and myself answering questions about the world of comic books, the premise being that if neither of us knows the answer, it's likely that no one does. Another will involve me (who wrote the most-read book about Jack Kirby) sitting down with my pal Danny Fingeroth (who wrote the most-read book about Stan Lee) and trying to clear up some of the misconceptions about both men. And there'll be a Cartoon Voices panel and some others. Full details to follow. Tickets for WonderCon are still available.

Today's Video Link

A piece about Johnny Carson…and about a recent book about him that I didn't care for. I'll tell you why one of these days…

In Memoriam

Lists are already popping up on the 'net of folks who were "snubbed" by being omitted from the "In Memoriam" reel at tonight's Oscars…and of course, those who are upset are only upset about performers not being remembered in the broadcast. I decline to get involved in such squabbles.

I will though call your attention to this page on the Academy website where they've listed — by my quick count — 232 people who died in whatever they define as the year they're covering. I think they post this to slightly appease those who can be slightly appeased by certain omissions but also to make this point: If they put all these people on-screen for just ten seconds each, that's like a 38-39 minute segment. So someone who's gone has got to go.

I always like to look at this page because I invariably see some folks I knew but didn't know had passed. And I see friends like Mike Schlesinger and Susan Buckner who would have been pleased to know they at least made this page. Mike will be remembered a lot on April 6 when we hold what's looking to be a wonderful Celebration of His Life.

6:40 PM

Just watched enough of The Oscars to remind myself why I don't watch The Oscars.