Batfink Down Under - First Half Of October Schedule

Monday, October 4 - #29 A Living Doll
Tuesday, October 5 - #30 The Bat Patrol
Wednesday, October 6 - #31 Dig That Crazy Mountain
Thursday, October 7 - #32 Spin The Batfink
Friday, October 8 - #33 Greasy Gus
Monday, October 11 - #34 The Mark Of Zero
Tuesday, October 12 - #35 Swami Salami
Wednesday, October 13 - #36 The Human Pretzel
Thursday, October 14 - #37 Jumping Jewelry
Friday, October 15 - #38 Roz The Schnozz

Happy Birthday Bruce (And John)

Happy birthday on Thursday to that other favorite son of Jersey born on September 23, 1949... Bruce Springsteen.

The eldest Mackey brother, John, was born that day as well. Both were born in what is now Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch. I often wonder if Mom and Mrs. Springsteen ever crossed paths in the maternity ward that day. I also wonder if my dad and Bruce's dad got to talking about what sort of sons or daughters their newborns were going to be.

All that ever happened on my birthday was the premiere of "The Yogi Bear Show" in syndication. And you know what? I probably watched Yogi Bear that day. "Sure, Doll, put on some cartoons for the twins, it'll entertain them." (Thanks, Dad.)

Dave Tendlar, Master of Looney Tunes?

The IMDb entry for the 1955 Paramount cartoon "Kitty Cornered" has a very interesting video box attached to it.

It begs the question: how would Dave Tendlar have fared with the WB characters? Considering he was a terrific draftsman and an underrated cartoon director, I think he would have done well.

BTW, if you want to see some of these cartoons, you can rent them from Movielink, who has sixteen different programs of Paramount cartoons running about two hours each for you to overdose on. This is great stuff, and you'll have Winston Sharples music playing in your head for days afterward. (Which is, after all, a good thing.)

YOU CAN PUT THE SIGN DOWN NOW...

THE METS HAVE LISTENED! The Associated Press, as well as radio station WFAN, are reporting that the Mets have indeed fired Art Howe, effective October 3, at the end of the game.

More coverage at The Eggplant.

Website Update

If you can read this, then you've survived our Monday morning bout with downtime. Webmasters is generally a good host, but right now Tampa isn't quite the place to be, weather-wise.

Attention Aussies

Batfink is now on in Australia, on ABC. It is presently airing at 6:30 a.m. The programs scheduled to air are:

Friday 9/10 - The Dirty Sinker
Monday 9/13 - Gluey Louie
Tuesday 9/14 - Brother Goose
Wednesday 9/15 - The Chocolate Covered Diamond
Thursday 9/16 - Crime College
Friday 9/17 - Myron The Magician
Monday 9/20 - Brain Washday
Tuesday 9/20 - MPFTBRM
Wednesday 9/21 - Gloves On The Go-Go
Thursday 9/22 - Sporty Morty
Friday 9/23 - Go Fly A Bat
Monday 9/27 - Ringading Brothers
Tuesday 9/28 - Out Out Darn Spot
Wednesday 9/29 - Goo Goo A Go Go
Thursday 9/30 - Crimes In Rhymes
Friday 10/1 - Stupidman

Late Addition To Music Calendar

I will be performing with the Manalapan Battleground Symphony in their Labor Day Pops concert, Sunday, September 5, at Manalapan-Englishtown Middle School, Route 527, in Englishtown. Showtime is 7:00 but get there early. Chiu-Tze Lin conducts an all-Broadway program featuring selections from West Side Story, Les Miz, Hello Dolly, My Fair Lady, and others.

Seeger Credits Get A Boost

Thanks to the feverish efforts of our frequent correspondent and helper Ken Layton (who is unfortunately no longer in cyberspace), we now have a complete brace of screen credits for "The Milton The Monster Show" and we will be redesigning those credit pages to make them look a little more attractive.

Bike Designer Indian Larry Dead at 55

Since my brother and I run a Trading Spaces website, we're very much attuned to the goings on on the other shows on many of the Discovery Networks channels. An interesting development has been the ascent of custom motorcycle builders into TV superstars. One such, "Indian Larry" from "The Great Biker Build-Off", died on Monday after injuries sustained in a weekend accident in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the age of 55.

Now I'm not a biker. I haven't ridden a bike since I was a teenager. My wife even looks at me funny when I wear my "American Chopper" boxers. But we note with quite a bit of interest the work of the late Indian Larry (who was introduced by Jesse James of West Coast Choppers fame on an episode of "Monster Garage"), and of course those guys from Rock Tavern, New York, the crew at Orange County Choppers, headed up by the father-and-son team of Paul Teutul Sr. and Jr. (whose star only rises with each visit to Jay Leno), with brother Mikey in able support.

Their bikes are works of art...working within a framework (each bike has to have an engine, a tank, exhaust system, etc.) but they are so creative within those constraints. They look cool and ride like a dream. And there's a lot of bickering in the OCC garage, as it is in any workplace, but the work gets done, and it's quality work. Check em out... and light a candle for Indian Larry.