MORE SENSELESS ACTS OF BLOGGERY

When it comes to tracking presidential front-runners, I don’t have a lot of time to rate the contenders. Plus I don’t live in Iowa, which puts me at a disadvantage.

So when I heard that Donald Trump was going to run for the GOP nomination, I didn’t take it seriously. I thought it was a pitch for a new reality TV show or something.

But Lewis Black makes a pretty strong case, I must say.



“YR FIRED, AMERICA!”

If I had a billion dollars,

This is dF

Or, "The post everyone else is afraid to write."

As you are no doubt aware, the most important news story in America right now is the revolutions in North Africa and the Middle East the Wisconsin union protests Charlie Sheen’s midlife crisis. Because it matters when famous people lose their shit. Look at how much news coverage Lindsay Lohan got for it. I rest my case.

And I wasn’t going to post anything about it – I wasn’t even bothering to click on the Yahoo headlines, to be honest. But after hearing enough people on Facebook complain that Sheen was getting so much attention (and not seeing the irony of this) and generally denouncing him as an immoral egotistical jerk – and after bedsitter23  noted that his rants were strikingly familiar to anyone who follows professional wrestling – I thought I should say something.

And this is it:

Charlie Sheen is Mr Entertainment.

Seriously.

I don’t mean his sitcom career. Or his movie career, for that matter (although let’s admit, he was good in Wall Street and Hot Shots!). I mean his post-cancellation interviews.


Admit it – most people on television never give an interview that quotable. And it’s pretty much the main reason anyone is bothering to put microphones in front of him. That, and there’s an audience for it.

It’s entertainment, in other words.

Okay. Maybe I’m being a little sarcastic. Maybe even more than a little. Certainly I have no real interest in defending Sheen, his lifestyle or his ego. He doesn’t need my help, and it’s none of my business anyway.

I just find it disingenuous that people feel entitled to pile on him for his behavior from some holier-than-thou standpoint whilst hanging on every word he says and tuning in to see his latest antics – especially when there are far worse examples to be had (see: Mel Gibson, Andy Dick, Mariah Carey, etc).

It’s just entertainment. That’s what entertainers do. And Cancelled Charlie is funnier than Spin City and Two And A Half Men ever were. He should have a Twitter account.* And CBS likes making sitcoms out of Twitter accounts. They could pick up his Twitter feed and get William Shatner to play him. Or Robert Downey Jr. 

Or the Ultimate Warrior. Why not? It’s no weirder an idea than giving Jessica Simpson a reality show where she could melt down in public EVERY WEEK. 

Sorry Charlie,

This is dF

============================

*EDITED TO ADD [10:13am]: He got one. 

And now for something completely different: Larry Griswold, co-inventor of the trampoline, doing dangerous things on live television.




It’s hard not to be impressed by his physical coordination, especially that first tumble down the ladder.

These days, I imagine you couldn’t get away with a bit like this without a billion disclaimers warning people not to do this at home.

Well, maybe you could. That’s what we have America’s Funniest Home Videos for, after all. Because these days, watching a drunk guy busting his ass on a high-dive is only funny if it’s real.

Laughing til it hurts,

This is dF

Hands up if you actually remember this.



Stay on this channel,

This is dF

Good morning. It’s Monday. You don’t feel like dancing.

Morticia Addams will change that.



Play it again Lurch,

This is dF

re: That Leslie Nielsen post:

Not that I’m putting down his work in Airplane! and The Naked Gun. Though if we’re talking about Lt Frank Drebin, I actually prefer his TV origins in Police Squad!, possibly the most underrated comedy in TV history.

Exhibit A:



As for why I like the show more than the films ... it’s mainly because part of the genius of Airplane! and Police Squad! was putting serious actors in deadpan comedy roles. The first Naked Gun film still managed to capture some of that, but by the time the second one came out, Nielsen was a comedy actor doing a comedy movie – and doing it well, mind, but it wasn’t exactly the same.

So in retrospect maybe it’s as well Police Squad! only lasted six episodes. You could only stretch that angle out so far.

Or am I ruining it?

Some kind of a bust,

This is dF

Exclusively for the iPogo, as seen on Sesame Street.



Versatile,

This is dF

In no particular order (after the first item, that is):

1. Meeting friends
Especially snickersaddict  and her husband in Chicago, which I mention first partly because she’d be hurt if I didn’t put her at the top of the list, but mainly because she is officially the first person that I met in real life after meeting first here on the LJs.

Also, I wanted to kick off the list with a photo of the flaming cheese we had at Andie’s.



Of course it was also good to see everyone else, in particular the ones I hadn’t seen since I left the country 14 years ago. I won’t name names because I’ll forget someone, but you all know who you are, and I had a great time with each and every one of you. For those of you who couldn’t make it, the drinks are on you next time.

( Bloggety bloggety gibbity gibbity etc +pancakes and cleavage tattoos! )

Next: Raise the Titanic!

You had to be there,

This is dF

And now, Fred Gwynne feels like saying a beatnik poem.



It says a lot about me that whenever I see a beatnik poetry reading in a Hollywood film, I think of the beatnik episode of The Munsters.

That cat is deep,

This is dF

Sorry you missed it.



Good morning. It’s Monday.

Swimwear optional,

This is dF