*A Collection of
Antiquarian Curios & Relics*
"Tragedy is
when I cut my finger.
Comedy is when
you fall into an open sewer and die . . ."
--Mel Brooks
COMIC
GENUS
I was a naive, foolish
tween. "While the other kids were Rocking Round the Clock, We
were hopping and bopping to the Crocodile Rock." On Thursday
nights, I was glued to an old black and white TV set in the attic watching SCTV
and Monty Python's Flying Circus on PBS, while most of my fellow
Americans were tuned into Welcome Back Kotter and Barney Miller.
Yes, I'm sad to say, I am
partially to blame for our National Debt. Sure PBS is only responsible
for $445 million of the federal debt, and it is considered small potatoes
compared to the US military budget ($756.4 billion) and Social Security ($803
billion), but as astute mathematicians like Glenn Beck, author of Dreamers
& Deceivers (no comment) (9781476783895) 27.00, Rush Limbaugh, author
of Rush Revere and the American Revolution (9781476789873) 19.99, and
Michael Savage, author of Stop the Coming Civil War (9781455582433)
26.00 are quick to point out, it was the straw that broke the camel's
back. Much like the comedy sketch in Monty Python & The Meaning of
Life, in which a waiter tries to foist a wafer-thin breath mint on a
grossly obese restaurant patron, this federal program had exploded and then
drenched us in a wintry mix of blood, flesh, and food. And now for
something completely different . . .
Former member of Monty Python
and perpetually bankrupted John Cleese (I have three words for you John,
pre-nup, pre-nup, pre-nup) takes us back to the 'Golden Age of English Men
Dressing Up as Women' in his new book, So, Anyway (9780385348249) 28.00.
Without any question, I am sure that that this book will find it's way onto the
bathroom reading table next to my toilet.
Meanwhile, SCTV alum and
Ed Grimley look-alike Martin Short regales us with tales of derring-do as a
comedian on TV shows like SNL and movies like ¡Three Amigos! in
his latest offering, I Must Say (9780062309525) 26.99. Did you
know Martin Short dated Gilda Radner? Yeah, me neither. I must say.
Speaking of SNL and Gilda
Radner, I direct you to Exhibit A: Amy Poehler and her comicography, Yes,
Please (9780062268341) 27.00. You may recall Amy as Sarah Palin in .
. . Oh wait, that was Tina Fey, author of Bossypants (9780316056878)
15.99. Alright, so isn't she the star of that HBO show Girls that
everybody's talking about? No, wait, that's Lena Dunham, author of Not
That Kind of Girl (9780812994995) 15.99. Parks and
Recreation! She's Leslie Knope on Parks and Recreation! Whew!
Thanks a lot Obama!
Superficially
Deep Thoughts with Jack Not-So-Handy
Are Louis C.K.
and Andrew W.K. related? Are they cousins or something?
Odds & Sods
The Pride of
Charlevoix and our good friend, W. Bruce Cameron stopped by to sign our copies
of his latest, Midnight Plan of the Repo Man (9780765377487) 24.99. W.
or Bruce, as his friends call him, is responsible for such dog-centric
bestsellers as A Dog's Purpose (9780765330345)12.99 and A Dog's
Journey (9780765330543) 14.99. As usual, first come, first served . .
.
Benny
Volvovski's The Who, The What, and the Where: 65 Artists Illustrate the
Secret Sidekicks of History (9781452128276) 24.95 is my quirky book
of the week. A goodly amount of these secret sidekicks are actually the
wives of famous men. "Behind every great man . . ." Well,
you know the sayin' . . .
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