Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Hank Gilbert's "Scoop" and more postpourri

-- My choice for Texas Governor has established a rapid response site for the jumble of news associated with the half-dozen or so Texas gubernatorial candidates. Don't miss the hilarious mugshots of Tom Schieffer and Farouk Shami (who is a dead ringer for Cesar Romero). Update: Ask Kay Bailey's Magic 8 Ball a question.

-- Glenn Smith has been doing some excellent writing over at his new place, but my favorites have been his reminiscences about H-Town back in the day. Here's a bit about Telephone Road, and here's one about Brays Bayou.

-- Passings I should have blogged about: William Wayne Justice, William Safire, Soupy Sales.

Justice was as powerful a liberal lion for us in Texas as Ted Kennedy was for the country. His loss is deeply felt, and recalls a time when the disadvantaged actually had a shot in the legal system. Grits is good. So is Harold Cook.

I loved Safire's column "On Language", little else he said or did. But he was civil, and a gentleman, something conservatives these days gravely lack. As a result I thought this was a little harsh. Serves to remind me that I am hardly the most severe.

And I was a little too young to enjoy the highlights of Soupy Sales' career, but he was a very special comedian. Pee Wee Herman in particular stole a lot from Soupy. This is a nice remembrance, written almost fifteen years ago.

-- Also missed Vic Mizzy, who wrote the theme songs to "The Addams Family" and "Green Acres". Great epitaph: "Two snaps got me a mansion in Bel Air"

-- In the wake of last weekend's March to Stop Executions in Texas, this report says that ending the death penalty could save the United States millions of dollars.

-- Saturday was also the International Day of Climate Action.

-- Two excellent book excerpts: this one has the play-by-play of the 1980 New Hampshire Republican primary debate where Reagan bellowed "I paid for this microphone!" Riveting. And this one is a previously undiscovered Vonnegut.

-- Will Texas opt out of the public option? Signs point to 'no'.

No comments: