Sorry about the absence

Sorry that I've been so quiet. I have been literally working way too many hours and have had no time to even read blogs or news in the last few weeks. Man I need a break.

There are a lot of things going on that I want to comment on. But since I only have a few minutes to spare right now, I am going to stay on a light note and mention some of the more humorous things that I have stumbled across.

The Worst Act... EVER.
One of my favorite films is Mel Brooks' "The Producers" which he made in 1968. I know that there is a new version... which I have not seen. I can't image how they could hope to top the original.

The premise of the story is a sleazy Broadway theatrical producer figures out that he can make more money by producing a flop than a success. So he goes about attempting to put together the worst possible musical production in history. He buys a script from a crazy ex-German Nazi called "Springtime For Hitler". He hires an egotistic beatnik hippie to direct. And he hires the worst actors that have every tried their hand at the art. He reckons that he has a sure-fire flop of magnificent proportions.

Of course things don't go as planned. The play is so bad that is becomes a critical, and unfortunately for him, a financial success.

The Cherry Sisters

Well I found out today, through an obscure link in a comment regarding a blog in Maine, that the story behind the film does has roots in reality. Ever heard of the "The Cherry Sisters"? The seem to have the distinction of producing and starring in the worst vaudeville act in history. Their show was SO bad that local grocers could not stock enough rotten vegetables to sell to the audience.

In 1886, New York City impresario Oscar Hammerstein contracted them for his new Olympia Music Hall in "uptown" Broadway and 44th Street. He was going bankrupt, and needed to figure out at way to save himself. So he decided to book the worst possible act he could find. He succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. In 6 weeks he had paid off all his debts... and the Manhattan tomato sellers made a fortune.

I can't do justice to what is written about these women. Besides being famous for being the worst act ever. They also played a part in the legal history of the United States because a lawsuit they brought against a theater critic for the cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette for his savage review of their show. The courts eventually ruled that the reporters and writers were entitled to write what they felt without fear of defamation and libel. But that was after one judge had ordered this critic to marry one of the Cherry Sisters as punishment.

Here are the links to better coverage of this act, and the amount of fury they unleashed when they took their show on their road throughout the US and Canada.

• Wikipedia Summary
• Radio station WFMU's Lowest Common Denominator magazine has an excellent article.
• The Palimpsest, an Iowa history magazine, has a good article about them.

Robot Chicken's "Golden Girls meet Sex In The City".

I don't have cable or satellite television. So I don't get to watch Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network. But I am very aware of some of the brilliant animation work that is being made and broadcast on that program.

One show in particular that has really caught my eye is Robot Chicken. I've been lucky enough to see samples and out-takes of this stop-action animated show, thanks to sites like YouTube. If you have 3 minutes to watch one sample of this briliant show, then watch this one.

Golden Girls meets Sex in the City

Man... I was on the floor laughing so hard. Another excellent parody is this Star Wars spoof where Emperor Palpatine has to take a collect phone call from Darth Vader after the Death Star is blown up.