Too hot to hoot

[austin_dern]

I think my new department is trying to kill me. It's an unintentional thing, of course; what happened was I went to a seminar, and the guy speaking was really, really sick. As in hacking and coughing and sneezing several times a sentence. And he'd been sick for a month. I understand the need to carry on with your responsibilities despite illness, but somewhere around the third week I'd, you know, see a doctor. I don't have evidence that he actually infected me, but I have got a mild cold and slightly more severe dehydration, and going right into my class days. Naturally.

I'd gotten the DVD sets of the first two seasons of The Bob Newhart Show. For a while I was taking it one episode per day, to savor the experience, but yesterday I had the thought to just play one more episode ... and when that was done to play just one more ... and one more ... and, well, now I've watched 18 episodes in two days. It's hard to stay restrained when the option is somebody who can be riotously funny just by blinking, shrugging a little, and saying, ``No.'' At least I've got the second season to linger over.

Police and Thief has got its new season started. Next week appears to be the School Play episode; the advertisements suggest the theme is going to begin on Romeo and Juliet, and in some way involve kids in cardboard costumes with Autobot and Decepticon logos on their chests. This would be a take on the play I haven't seen before, but that has promise. And I could swear the entertainment news bit said one Singapore Idol contestant had a day job of ``street eyebrow plucker''. I don't see how that could be, but I also can't think of what it might have really been that I misheard it like that.

Trivia: Giovanni Domenico Cassini's names for the moons of Jupiter, used in the tables he published in 1668, were Pallas, Juno, Themis, and Ceres. Source: In Search of Planet Vulcan, Richard Baum, William Sheehan.

Currently Reading: Fury, Henry Kuttner. Wow. It's from back in the days when five years could be covered in a sentence and not feel like it was skipping. Also includes an introductory essay from C L Moore where she describes their writing process and how she recognizes her parts (which in this book wasn't much).

Comments

[xolo.livejournal.com]

I always liked Kuttner's "Gallegher" stories, with the robot bottle-opener who was probably insane, but could possibly foretell the future as well. Kuttner's work is always kind of hard to classify.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

I've always liked Kuttner -- well, you know my tastes for that era of science fiction -- but Fury is a particularly intense piece. Even if it uses a bunch of honestly pretty silly stock ideas, some from general science fiction (Earth totally destroyed by war, overthrow of the oppressive regime) and some that are just Kuttner's own quirks (he's got this thing about blue eyes), they're delivered with a particular passion I haven't often noticed in his stories.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

So, you've been assigned to the new department then?

Bob Newhart is the master of the pause and minimal response, indeed. It's interesting to hear his comedy monologues, where he's got to do most of the talking; he's at his best there in skits where he's being someone else as well. Not too many comedians have that.. reactive quality. George Burns, I think, as to a lesser extent Candace Bergen and the cast of Are You Being Served?

--Chiaroscuro

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

I have, yes, at least officially; that may change if the other department decides they'd like me more.

Bob Newhart has the blessing of perfect timing, which so few people understand. George Burns had it very easy to be funny, though; I believe as he once observed, all he really had to do was say, ``So did you hear from your cousin, Gracie?'' and listen.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

Ahh. Sounds like a most opportune dilemma then. :)

And, I recall George Burns saying that Gracie got the laughs so naturally when she did the setups and he the punchlines.. that reversed the effect was doublefold, and he kept his straight-man role going after that.

He was funny without Gracie, too, but.. moreso with her.

--Chiaroscuro

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

It's a real treat hearing them on the old-time radio stations. Growing up most of my experience with George Burns was the Oh, God movies and jokes about how he wasn't dead. Hearing him with something particular to do was a bit of a shock.

I never did catch the end of Gracie's run for President. She was running for the Surprise party. Their mascot was a kangaroo.