Episode Concept For the Sitcom I Never Plan On Writing

Here’s an idea:

The main character(s) fake(s) being poor so Jimmy Carter and Habitat For Humanity will come and build a new house. Hilarity ensues.

Update: Marmaduke

Well, as you may recall, yesterday I wrote a letter to the L. A. Times about the unfunniness of Marmaduke. Today I opened my inbox to find a reply from the Deputy Editor of Features Sherry Stern:

Dear Michael,

Thanks for writing. I, too, wish Marmaduke were more consistently funny.
The problem is that I like to have a few comic strips for children.
Marmaduke one of the few ones anymore that are appropriate for our
youngest readers.

I’m always on the lookout for fresh comics, but most of the new
offerings are aimed for young adults or parents.

I do appreciate your letter.

Sincerely,

Sherry Stern
Deputy Editor, Features
Los Angeles Times
202 W. First St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

An Open Letter to the L. A. Times about Marmaduke

To whom it may concern:

 

I am not normally one to complain however this morning I was reading the comics section of the Times and felt the need to say something about one of the strips. There is an unstated agreement between the writers of comic strips and their readers that the strip should at least try to be funny. Sure, Garfield hasn’t been funny in years, but at least there is the semblance of a lame punch line.

 

Today’s (August 7th) Marmaduke did not even attempt to be funny. In today’s strip, Marmaduke was depicted catching a ball in his mouth as a team of little leaguers swarmed around him with the intent to catch the ball. Meanwhile, a girl stands off to the side and says to her friends “There’s Marmaduke.”

 

There is no joke in this strip; it is merely a statement of fact. Cartoonist Brad Anderson is phoning it in and this is unacceptable. There are many clever and creative cartoonists out there who aren’t getting their shot because long running strips like Marmaduke get to stay on the comics page long after their expiration date has passed. Although it has been a long time since Marmaduke was funny, it has become an untouchable institution just because it’s been around since the Eisenhower administration.  Imagine if other parts of the newspaper were allowed to show the same level of disinterest seen in this Marmaduke. Would we really want election coverage that read “Obama in Europe” or Olympics coverage that was little more than “China is in Asia”?

 

So please, the Great Dane has had a good run, but I believe it’s time to put the dog to sleep. Please, retire Marmaduke and find room for a cartoonist who cares about their craft.

 

Thank you,

 

Michael Darling

Ken Jennings’ Music Trivia Answers

Okay, so nobody commented on the Ken Jennins Music Trivia post, but here’s the answers anyway:

1. Each of these bands has a set of twins as members.

2. Band names are related to films.

3. All have recorded a theme song for a James Bond film.

4. One member of these bands has committed suicide.

5. Eric Clapton was a member of all of these bands.

6. The drummers in these bands are also the vocalist.

7. All of these bands hail from Glasgow, Scotland.

8. These bands all had self titled songs on self titled albums.

9. These bands had to alter their names due to legal reasons.

10. These bands are duos.

11. All have recorded songs where the title is one word repeated three times.

12. These bands take their names from songs by other bands.

13. All have recorded songs about Superman.

14. These names are all complete sentences.

15. These bands have all released albums with one letter titles.

Gone Fishin’ This Weekend

I’ll be in San Francisco this weekend. Yay! However, this means there won’t be any updates on this little blog ’til Monday. Boo! In the mean time here’s Eddie Izzard giving a little travel guide to San Francisco. Also, don’t forget to send in your answers to the Ken Jennings Music Quiz post.

Cheers,

Michael

Update: Reserved For Drive-Thru

A few days ago I posted a picture of a Jack in the Box parking lot sign saying it was reserved for the drive thru. I posed the question asking what it all meant and Victor Kali at the {Clever Name Goes Here} NorCal News Desk provided this answer:

“At some fast food restaurants, some items can’t be prepared as fast as they’d like. To keep the line of cars moving, they may have the customer drive out of the line into an unoccupied area of the parking lot and then bring the food out to the car when it’s ready. So the sign you saw is a so reserved for those picky customers whose orders can’t be filled fast enough and would otherwise hold up the other hungry patrons.”

There you go.

Well, I gues this is the first post.

I have a seeminlgy annual tradition where I start a blog until I lose interest because it seems no one is readins the aforementioned blog. Let’s see how it goes this summer!

So, yeah, this will be my new blog in which I’ll just ramble about whatever comes to mind. It’s going to be a bit random, but for better or worse it’ll be me. Hopefully it’ll be entertaining.

Cheers,

Michael