More Millionaire Stuff...

As next Thursday draws nearer, here's another article that gets just about all the facts right... except my name!

Also, I'll be doing a radio interview sometime next week with Shawn and Sue on WOBM-FM, thanks to Kevin Williams. Way back in the day, I worked with Kevin at that station and helped out with the WOBM Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament.

UPDATE: Just talked to Sue Moll at WOBM. I'll be talking on air with them on Friday morning at 6:40 a.m. You can listen online at wobm.com.

Dave Mackey Wants To Be A Millionaire!

During the week of the New Jersey teacher's convention, I uncharacteristically played hooky. I usually approach the convention with a great amount of relish, but this year I had a pretty good reason to stay away. I was in New York City taping an appearance on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire", and that show will air in syndication on April 5 (next Thursday). It's been an interesting five months, but I've managed to keep the secret of how much money I won on the program. We'll talk more about it after the show has aired. In the meantime, watch next Thursday.

Asbury Park Press Article

The Mets No-Hitter Count Rides Again!

Started eons ago by Robair on his old "Eggplant" blog (remember that?), we will once again be daily updating that number you see on the left side of the main page. And hopefully not for too much longer.

2007 begins my fifth decade of being a Mets fan. And lo those many forty years, the New York Mets have deprived its fans of baseball's ultimate joy - a no-hitter. There've been a number of one-hitters, and some of the Mets pitchers came very close last year. But this is the year I'd like to see one.

Please, Mets pitchers. Bring your A game to the mound every time out so I don't have to add one to this stinking number any more.

Before Heather Mills...

Ken Jennings Says...

So what does Ken Jennings think of last night's "Jeopardy!" three-way tie? WARNING: Post includes a very cute baby picture of Ken's infant daughter Caitlin.

CompUSA To Close Most Stores

Mark Evanier weighs in with his thoughts on the CompUSA store closings. We're losing a CompUSA very close to me, in Brick, where I bought a lot of stuff over the years, including my trusty Acer notebook (which I just upgraded to Windows Vista). I like Mark's assertion that you can shop on the Internet for computer stuff and get the same amount of personal attention you get in your average CompUSA store - none.

(Disclosure: Robair worked for CompUSA, just before he got sick in 2000.)

Van For Sale

If you go to this page on eBay, you will find that I've finally decided to sell my van. I no longer have use for it and it will soon become a redundant vehicle in my household as Tracy already has a van and it gets the job done. If you have a wheelchair passenger you transport on a regular basis, it may be worth your while to check it out. This is a very nice vehicle.

Finally!

Someone who's as sick of seeing headless fat people in TV news reports as I am!

More Boop

Here's one from the period where Betty Boop was reduced to cameo appearances in cartoons starring other characters like Pudgy, Wiffle Piffle, and Grampy. Those characters were each the invention of a specific Fleischer staff animator; respectively, Myron Waldman, Tom Johnson, and Dave Tendlar. This 1938 example, produced shortly before Fleischer moved to Miami, is called "Riding The Rails" and features Pudgy, here animated by Myron Waldman and Hicks Lokey (later a fixture at Hanna-Barbera). This one has a sprightly music score featuring lighter instruments. (There was a Popeye a few years earlier that used similar instrumentation... I think it was "Let's Get Movin'" "Cops Is Always Right".) So you see, the later Boops aren't entirely worthless.

Batfink DVD Coming!

Well, someone got the hint! Shout! Factory is going to be releasing all 100 episodes of Batfink on DVD on June 19, 2007. You can order it from Amazon here... Batfink: The Complete Series

Betty Boop Shakes Those Housecleaning Blues...

She's real fine, my 409. But I don't think that's Mae Questel as Betty...

More Fun With Popeye!

More Popeye for your Wednesday morning. Here, for your enjoyment is a 1952 Popeye cartoon, "Shuteye Popeye", complete with commentary track provided by what sounds like a couple of Italians who've been up late. They even try to read the credits but don't get past I. Sparber.

What Happens When You Try To Play Popeye Cartoons In Windows Vista?

Happy Birthday, Mark Evanier!

See what Mark's up to on his big birthday!

Another Cartoon Classic Comes To Video!

How come I'm just now finding out that one of the class DVD distributors, Shout! Factory, is coming out with The Milton The Monster Show on video on March 20? This is the one we've all been waiting for and hopefully the Hal Seeger Studios crew did a good restoration job on these. Order yours from Amazon (and we get some €'s) by clicking on the monster's good name.

(P.S. to Shout! Factory: You should really hire that writer who came up with the first line of the ad copy on your site for the Milton DVD's!)

DVD Recommendation of the Day

G.E. Smith: 50 Watt Fuse is a new documentary about the session guitarist and one-time bandleader on "Saturday Night Live". He's played with practically everyone in the business and he has some great stories he'll share with you on this DVD. If you click on the link you'll be whisked right to amazon.com and we'll get a couple of cents for each one sold through here.

ABOUT TIME, MOTION PICTURE ACADEMY!

One (or rather, five or six) Brief Shining Moment

Phoenix Productions is going to be staging Lerner and Loewe's "Camelot" at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey, for the next two weekends, and yours truly will be contributing to the music of this production. Come out and see it!

UPDATE: We had our first rehearsal yesterday. We had the whole cast in and were running most of the major numbers. Some good players in the pit for this one, including violinists Tina Kovacofsky (my North Dover colleague) and Allison Flynn (former student of mine at TR North) as well as John Urspruch Jr. on trumpet. It was nice to play with at least a few people I know.

Our performance schedule is this Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 3:00 p.m., then the following Friday is a school performance at 10:00 a.m., then Saturday at 8:00, and we close Sunday at 3:00.

Now This Is Weird?

Take a look at this promo for "Matty's Funday Funnies", a 1960ish ABC compilation of Paramount cartoons, narrated by... Johnny Olson?

MATTELL SUNDAY FUNNIES
Uploaded by NilbogLAND

Fresh Bloggage

Besides the restoration of Earl Kress' blog, we've added a couple new blogs to our Blogroll. Visit them all!

• Besides being an actress, Lisa Jane Persky is an accomplished photographer and designer. She exhibits some of her work on her weblog and also has other essays. You might remember Ms. Persky from such films as "The Coneheads" and "When Harry Met Sally..."
  
  
• J. Keith van Straaten is one of those "talking heads" you see a lot on those VH1 type shows, plus he hosted up until last year a live version of "What's My Line?" that regularly sold out a 99-seat theatre in Los Angeles. He's moved on to some exciting new projects.
  
  
• And finally, Lloyd Thaxton, perhaps the last guy on earth I ever expected to have a blog, has a blog. He was responsible for a show I actually watched as a child, "The Lloyd Thaxton Show", which was a syndicated dance-party show that used the Herb Alpert tune "So What's New?" as its theme song (and I'll bet HE doesn't even remember that bit of minutae!), plus a number of quiz and other TV shows. He's won five Emmy Awards for his work.