News From ME

Saturday was "Returning Registration" day for Comic-Con International 2027 — the day when folks who had paid admissions to Comic-Con 2026 could compete online to be there in San Diego next year.

Some time ago on this blog, I wrote about Resort Fees at hotels, especially in Las Vegas.

This morning was Returning Registration for Comic-Con 2027, meaning that folks who had paid memberships for 2026 could participate in a lottery for badges for next year.

Someone — in this case, a writer named Dave Abramson — has finally written a book about Sammy Petrillo.

The other day here, I posted a video made by some folks in the audience when Barry Manilow abruptly walked off stage at the Westgate Hotel in Las Vegas and the rest of his show was cancelled.

The Daily Show recaps where we were with the Iran War when it started leading up to where we are now…

So…Barry Manilow seems to be back performing on stage in Vegas at the Westgate.

I just read this on Paul Krugman's Substack and I thought it might be of interest to those of you who don't follow Paul Krugman's Substack..

For many years now, Barry Manilow has appeared at the Westgate Hotel in Las Vegas, playing to sold-out houses whenever he could.

You're probably familiar with the work of the great writer-cartoonist James Thurber…but have you ever seen him interviewed?

Seth Meyers is off this week.

My pal Gary Sassaman is back with another installment of "Tales From My Spinner Rack," a series in which he discusses the comic books he liked as a kid…and it more or less parallels the comic books I liked what I was a kid.

The newest Fred Kaplan column is about how Lindsey Graham kissed a lot of Trump Butt to persuade the orange prez to aid Ukraine against Russia…and now that Graham's gone, Trump is aiding Russia against Ukraine.

Here's a reminder: If you had a paid membership to Comic-Con International in San Diego this past July, you're eligible for Returning Registration for the one next July!

This blog may be offline and unreachable for short periods of time over the next few days.

The Los Angeles Times has an article about the second coming of Souplantation and it confirms that they'll be reactivating the old, vacant-since-all-the-Souplantations-closed location in Fountain Valley.

When I was very young and very small, one of my favorite people to see on television was Paul Winchell.

Forty years ago today, my friend Frank Ferrante got into the Groucho business with both feet and a painted-on 'stache.

Here's another video of the "bows" at the end of Boop!

The folks who now own the Souplantation business have revealed that the one they're going to open in California will be in Fountain Valley.

In the window below, I've embedded a video of an episode of The Red Skelton Show from sixty (60) years ago but I've set it to start playing in the middle of the episode when Red introduces his musical guests, Simon and Garfunkel.

All the Souplantations in California went away in 2016 and some of us really miss 'em.

A couple of my correspondents were a bit confused about what I was saying about how the Boop!

To go back to the start of this long, wandering essay, click right here.

The making of Fiddler on the Roof…

Our man in Rochester, Dick Halsey, attended the first performance of Boop!

For the first time since July 1, I'm taking a day or two off from blogging to attend to matters that need my attention.

It's very hot lately here in Los Angeles.

This is kind of a gang "thank you" to about a dozen of you who catch typos on this site and write to tell me.

I used to love buffets, not because of the volume but because when you have as many food allergies as I do, it's wonderful to be able to examine food before you commit to eating it.

The finale of the musical Annie as performed in Korea!

It is with mixed feelings that I've decided to track a little of what happens with the National Tour of Boop!

Before he passed away last year, Tom Lehrer released all his witty songs into the public domain and told the world, "Help yourself!"

On the Dana Gould Hour podcast, I told the story of how I discovered, long after we'd begun dating, that my girl friend was related to one of my favorite performers, Spike Jones.

I dunno how many readers of this blog will be interested in this but I figure there must be at least one… Between 1934 and 1959, The Three Stooges made 190 short comedies for Columbia Pictures.

Seth Meyers has fun with yesterday's senate hearing…

By now, I'm sure you all know about the mess yesterday when Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt, during a Senate judiciary hearing, accused former special counsel Jack Smith of perjury.

And I should note here that badges for the 2027 WonderCon Anaheim are now on sale.

Special Prosecutor Jack Smith is appearing before a Senate committee and Republican members trying to put him on trial for special prosecuting you-know-who.

Here's Dora's World, a half-hour TV special from 1974.

You may have seen this before but I hadn't.

Damn Yankees is coming back to Broadway next year, considerably rethought and rewritten.

Robert Rowe wants to know — hey, that rhymes — "Following up on your MAD magazine post, were economics the main reason the magazine had machine lettering instead of hiring letterers?"

In the last year or so, I've become buddies with one of my favorite stand-up comedians, Dana Gould.

Just in case the latest Randy Rainbow video made you eager to see an unparodied version of the musical Oklahoma!

Fred Kaplan summarizes what is known about Trump's little party for Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In the sixties, one of my heroes — Stan Freberg — masterminded a big advertising campaign for Chun King Chow Mein.

If you want to start at the beginning of this long, meandering memory piece, click here.

Time for another Randy Rainbow video complete with a commercial for his sponsor, Ground News.

The Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario (that's in Canada) puts on a lot of musicals that, if their YouTube videos are representative, are pretty damned expert.