1161: I Also Like It Because It's Not a Musical

One of my favorite plays is Mary Chase's Harvey. For those who don't know, Harvey is the story of Elwood P. Dowd, a nice guy who can see a six foot three and a half white rabbit named Harvey. Elwood and Harvey become close friends which aggravates Elwood's socially up-and-coming sister Veta Louise. Veta decides to send Elwood to a sanitarium on the outskirts of town called Chumley's Rest. After your standard comedy of errors and mistaken identity, Veta, Dr. Sanderson and Dr. Chumley are all on the lookout for Elwood and Harvey.

I was first brought to the attention of Harvey when my cousin played Dr. Sanderson in a high school production. Afterwards, I watched the 1950 James Stewart movie and the 1999 Harry Anderson TV movie which are both just phenomenal. I highly recommend the Jimmy Stewart version but I'm a big fan of Harry Anderson so it's always my go-to. But that first high school production got me on board.

Yesterday, the high school I work at, the same high school mentioned above actually, did another production so I decided to go and watch it. Aside from some sound issues and that it seemed to take most of the cast some time to really find their footing, it was just as I remember it. I love the nuances of Elwood that are sprinkled about the play--mostly his annoying cheerfulness and him always giving his card to people and explaining which phone number they may reach him at--but the character of Veta is much more a daunting task to play because the actress has to not only not believe in Harvey but also believe in him. When Jimmy Stewart didn't win the Oscar for his portrayal but Josephine Hull did for Veta, Stewart praised Hull saying that all he did was believe Harvey was real. Hull had to both believe and not believe.

If you get a chance to ever watch Harvey--it's on occassionally during TCM's 31 Days of Oscar--I highly recommend it. It's an excellent, slightly over-the-top, feel-good story.

from l. to r.: The cab driver, Wilson, Dr. Chumley, Nurse Kelly, Veta Louise, Elwood, Myrtle Mae, Dr. Sanderson,
Mrs. Chumley, Judge Gaffney, Mrs. Chauvenet

Why did it take Gladys an hour to realize that Wilberforce never went to bed? I love the look of utter disdain on Wilberforce's face in the second panel. That is the face of a kid who has nothing left to care about. Or one half of the Menendez brothers.

The one on the right clearly.

1160: Fight the Blocked Number Power

I get a lot of weird phone calls--all from construction supply companies asking for a specific person. I've had my phone number since 2009 so these companies really need to update their information or Lonnie (the guy they keep calling for) needs to quit giving out his old number to people because there is nothing I like better than having someone call me and then insult me.

I honestly think it should be illegal for you to be able to block your number from showing up on caller ID. If you are calling me, it is my right to know what number is calling none of this "BLOCKED" or "UNAVAILABLE" crap.

1159: Hand-Me-Down Clothes and Shows

I found out yesterday that venerable FOX series The Simpsons has not been renewed yet. For those who don't know, if renewed, it would be The Simpsons 27th season making it, for the 7th year in a row, the longest running scripted series in American television history. I stopped watching The Simpsons after the 23rd season and felt it really went downhill after the 11th but if other people enjoy then whatever. From what I hear, there are people who like Supernatural and I don't understand that either.

Pfft. From ages 16-24, my life was basically the same thing only I'm really
from Lawrence and nothing supernatural actually happened.

According to this tweet from Ericka Isabel Vega, who works in the animation department for The Simpsons, the renewal is even past the standard contractual days.

What this means is probably nothing. We will get a full season 26 with about 7 episodes left over for season 27. The Dead Homer Society explains this better and goes into better detail if you care to know what that previous sentence means. What I want to talk about is another tweet that Vega sent out yesterday evening:

@jamesmcnair79 @deadhomers Ouch. You're basically saying all our unemployment would be good. That hurts. :'(
— Erika Isabel Vega (@eiVega) April 7, 2015

Every time someone on The Simpsons runs across someone who wants the show to end, they cry about losing their job. This happened a couple years ago from someone who worked on the music. One would assume that the people who work on The Simpsons are some of the best and that, no matter what season you worked on, having The Simpsons on your resume will open many doors. I always think that the worst times to work on a TV show are the first season and any season after 7 because cancellation is lurking around every lower rating and lackluster episode review. In television, losing your job is inevitable.

As a TV dork, I find this stuff fascinating and always check to see which show is about to be cancelled or which show that maybe should've ended several years ago is going to renewed again. It's a fascinating microcosm of pop culture that while set in stone, is still ever changing.

Based on what I know about Brutus and Gladys' ages, Wilberforce should be glad that he is even alive. Also, is it me or is there some sort stigma these days about only children?

The last panel of Kewpie in Wilberforce's clothes is pretty damn funny.

Stan Freberg, 1926-2015

Stan Freberg, noted comedian, voice actor, writer, radio personality and recording artist, has passed away at the age of 88. Freberg got his start at Warner Bros. in 1944 where he became a prolific voice actor both there and at Walt Disney. In 1951, he recorded "St. George and the Dragonet" with Daws Butler and June Foray, which became a hit in 1953. From there, Freberg started parodying hit songs from the time. Freberg became a huge inspiration to "Weird Al" Yankovic. Stan Freberg replaced Jack Benny on CBS Radio in 1957 but his own Stan Freberg Show was canceled after only 15 episodes due to Freberg refusing any advertisements from alcohol and tobacco companies.

On television, Freberg did voices on Bob Clampitt's Time for Beany, performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, appeared in a recurring role on Roseanne and did voice work on The Garfield Show.

We looked this up at work because some student was saying that he'd just fill out a bracket for every possible outcome and we were saying it would be impossible because it would be in the millions. He claimed it would only be in the hundred thousands. So we looked it up and discovered you would need to fill out over 9 quintillion (9,000,000,000,000,000,000+) brackets in order to get every single outcome. I can barely fill out two, let alone a hundred thousand, a million or 9 quintillion.

1158

1157: At Least Kentucky's Out

The phrasing of "March Madness Championship Game" is weird. Considering March Madness only refers to the tournament narrowing down the teams to four. The Final Four and Championship are not considered part of March Madness, right? Because they are in April. The correct phrasing, avoiding any possible copyright claims, should be "Men's College Basketball Championship."

1156: Brutus Has Not Yet Risen

Let the man sleep in, Gladys. He works hard all day. The house will still be a disgusting mess whether he gets up at 8:00 or 10:00.

1155: Lost Post from Yesterday

This was supposed to post yesterday. I don't know what happened and I don't know why it didn't save as a draft. You would think Google, who can essentially do no wrong in any of their products, would have a better blogging service to compete with WordPress. Anyway, here we go.

Pumpernickel doesn't even look burnt. At least not to me. They should Wilberforce's eyes checked. Pumpernickel looks like this:

Burnt toast looks like:

There's a clear difference in looks, right? It's not just me.

Mother Gargle doesn't live with Brutus and Gladys and she is clearly the only one watching Breaking Bad so she should really stop binge-watching and let Brutus see some of the game.

1154: That Face In the Second Panel Tho...

After a short break, I am back but it's not just The Born Loser that's back but also The Point of Beginning. POB will change its focus slightly but will still just be a hodge-podge of things I find interesting I see. There is a new story up at POB called "Supercat" about an archaeologist who finds a mysterious bracelet that turns him into a superpowered anthropomorphic cat. Go check it out.

You would think after so many years of marriage, Brutus would know better than to tease Gladys like that. Brutus should be lucky she just shoved his hat further down on his head instead of putting it someplace off-panel.

1153: Gladys Is Stupid...

And there are ten teams in the Big 12, none of it makes sense!!

How is it stupid? I'm generally opposed to just about any and all sports endeavors but college basketball is fun. Teams competing, the best one left standing while their opposition lay broken and bloody at their feet. Suddenly, Dick Vitale stands, extends his arm and signals either a thumbs up or thumbs down...

1152: Real Drunks Don't Need an Excuse To Drink

Earlier this week, I mentioned that Irwin Hasen passed away. Aside from drawing the comic strip Dondi, Hasen also did comic books. He was mainly a fill-in for the regular artists but one of his major contributions was the co-creation of Wildcat with Bill Finger for DC Comics. Wildcat would become a member of the Justice Society of America in all of its incarnations.

Haha! Random Nameless Employee is a drunk who is seconds from losing his job and also hits his wife and kids because he'd rather be drunk than anywhere near them.

It's nice that Random Nameless Employee is inviting Brutus out. Brutus needs more work friends than Arnie, Watercooler Guy and Veeblefester.