The 23rd Annual Cincinnati Radio and Nostalgia Convention

Wow! One convention over and we're gearing up for a different one already. If I'm correct, this is the earliest that the Cincinnati OTR Convention has ever announced. The reason for that is the exciting news that organizer Bob Burchett has gotten Jack Benny doppelganger Eddie Carroll to agree to appear along with regulars Bob Hastings, Rosemary Rice and Esther Geddes. As a smaller convention, the regular guests (as well as the regular attendees) have come to feel like family over the years and the event itself an annual family reunion. It simply wouldn't be the same without them. Here's the first convention flyer for this 23rd year. Mark your 2009 calendars now.

Exclusive Christa Helm Pics

Okay, so last night's re-edited update on 48 HOURS MYSTERY really did contain some fascinating new info (and my credit with John was still there!). It also quintupled traffic here to the site so for all of you new folks here today looking for Christa Helm, here's some more exclusive shots from her essentially unreleased 1974 movie, LET'S GO FOR BROKE.

My Date With Swamp Thing

Saw this at the local supermarket the other day and snapped a quick cell phone pic. Wished I'd have thought to show it to the real SWAMP THING's co-creator Len Wein yesterday in Columbus!

Mid-Ohio Con Report

Well, I made it to Mid-Ohio Con! Finally! That's the good news. The bad news is that the car was having increasing issues (it wasn't just paranoia after all!) on the return trip so we won't be driving back up on Sunday. Sigh.
First of all, the drive up was fine, though. We left Kentucky about 8:30 AM and arrived in Columbus around 10:30. The directions from the website were short and easy to understand and we lucked right into easily accessible parking right down the block.
I must say that overall, I felt somewhat disappointed but I can't really say why. Maybe it's the simple reality that after all these years of being unable to attend due to the fact that I was in retail management and it was always held on the biggest shopping weekend of the year it couldn't possibly have lived up to my expectations. Don't get me wrong! Wasn't bad (except for the food prices!) just not as great as I was expecting.
I got to see but not meet Lou Ferrigno (looking amazingly good and a little lonely at his table), Jason Mewes, Len Wein, Chris Claremont, Joe Kubert and the Batmobile (and not the velvet covered one I saw with Adam West at a car show in the eighties)!
I spoke with Bob Layton who was a guest at the only other con I ever attended in Columbus back in 1980 along with Mike Nasser (now Netzer) and he said the two hadn't seen each other since. I also spoke with unsung artist Keith Pollard who said he really enjoyed hearing that his name is a popular search term on my blog.
I found Mark Evanier and Tony Isabella hanging out at Mark's table and spent an enjoyable few moments there (didn't stay longer because we accidentally cut in line), then my wife and I spoke with Tony a bit longer and promised to see him later. Sorry, Tony.
As stated yesterday, I was able to meet FACEBOOK friends Kenn Minter (aka Percy Trout) and Marc Tyler Nobleman, author of BOYS OF STEEL,. In fact, we not only enjoyed Marc's presentation on SUPERMAN but son bookdave amazed us all! Marc projected an image of 6 issues of SUPERMAN from different eras and asked if anyone would like to try to place them in chronological order. My son raised his hand and proceeded to pretty much do just that, mixing up only the two that I wasn't even sure of myself. I'm raising a clone.
Son bookdave also purchased a print of Link from LEGEND OF ZELDA by an artist named Jeremy Dale and had it signed. Mr. Dale was enjoyable to speak with and his art is just a delight. I'm definitely watching for his stuff going forward.
I finally got to meet David Mack...or re-meet him. I'm told I used to have long discussions with him at Comic Book World in Florence, Kentucky (who were also represented there. Hi, Paul!) when he was much younger and unknown. When I told him this, he actually recognized me from when I managed the Waldenbooks where he hung out in the eighties. We spoke briefly and he was gracious enough to give me several recent issue of his great KABUKI and sign them! Thanks, David!
The "gorgeous" model and pinup girls who were supposed to be there representing fanboy wetdreams seemed somehow a tad too...well...slutty to me. Every single one I saw. Sorry, ladies. I'm sure you're perfectly nice folks but...bookdave felt the need to avert his eyes as one passed. The cosplay folks were cool, though, with an excellent Colossus, Beast, 2 good Batmen and one guy dressed as Spidey wearing the shoeless FF costume and paper bag mask from one seventies story! Obscure but wonderful! My favorite, though, was a two year old Flash...who evidently felt the need to run everywhere to live up to his costume.
As for the dealers, I never thought I'd say this but I left a comic book convention without buying one single comic or book and I hated that! There were tons of bargain boxes but mostly with eighties stuff and up. There was one major exception who offered lots of poor to fair condition silver age for three bucks but I still didn't find anything. What I was really looking for were comic strip reprint trades. Found one guy with a good selection but ridiculous prices. I tried to quiz him on a few unmarked L'IL ABNERS but in spite of my best efforts couldn't get him to give up the political discussion he was having with someone. Oh, well.
We did spend far too much money on grey market dvds of old TV shows that I have no question will never be legitimately released. Despite my rationalization in buying them, it would take my family at least a year of that spare time we never seem to get in order to watch them all!
After that, my wife's once-broken back became an issue and so we decided to head out a tad early. That's when the car transmission became problematic. Then we ran into a thirty mile or so single lane highway on the way back that lengthened our trip in a questionable vehicle by an hour. My wife had to pry my hands from the steering wheel when we finally arrived home. Back to the shop for the car...again.
I feel in a way as though I've accomplished a goal I set out to achieve many years ago. I wish things had gone smoother but all in all it was an enjoyable afternoon with family and friends old and new. And with all the shows we got, it doesn't matter if there's a single good thing on TV this season. It'll be next season before we're out of things to watch now. Who knows. Maybe by then, we'll have a different car.

At least we made it back in time to watch Christa on 48 HOURS MYSTERY tonight!

Comics and Christa

Well, unlike last year, the bad stuff seems to be happening all around me but not to me. At work, we've had employees taken to the ER and multiple family emergencies. At home, bookdave was down so far with a cold he almost didn't get to go collect his five (ahem! That's FIVE!) medals yesterday for last year's school tests. BUT...I'm doing okay (Got a check in the mail for two short stories today!) and the car seems reasonably okay (A couple little rumbles but I'm paranoid) and there's money in the bank so (fingers crossed) it looks like Destination: Mid-Ohio Con early in the AM! FINALLY! I look forward to seeing Tony Isabella for the first time in about 16 years, Mark Evanier for the first time in two decades and meeting folks like Facebook friends Marc Tyler Nobleman and Kenn Minter for the very first time! If I can dig it out after last year's debacle, I MAY even wear my BOOKSTEVE'S LIBRARY t-shirt so if you're reading this and you see the shirt in Columbus tomorrow, please come up and say hi!

And whether you go or not, don't forget tomorrow evening's special 8 PM updated rerun of THE LAST TAKE on CBS 48 HOURS MYSTERY. The Christa Helm case that we've championed here for a couple of years now continues to move forward and CBS producer Anthony Vindetti promises new information in this second showing. Here's a preview.

Watch CBS Videos Online

The One...The Only...? Groucho!

Mark Evanier yesterday noted here-http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2008_10_01.html#015942 an ad for a collection of OTR comedy bits in which the "Groucho" featured on the cover is, in fact, Frank Ferrante, a noted Marx impersonator.

Seemed like a good time for me to trot out this copy of HOLLYWOOD ALBUM 2, a 1979 collection of celebrity obits from the NEW YORK TIMES. The cover features four then recently deceased stars-John Wayne, Ethel Waters, Elvis Presley and...Groucho?? No. Not really. THIS Groucho is, in actuality, legendary photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt! The man who took the famous V-J Day Times Square photo was done up in disguise for a decades-old LIFE article and obviously the editors (or at least the cover designer) here were fooled.

UPDATE--UPDATE--UPDATE

When I did the above, I wasn't able to find my copy of LIFE GOES TO THE MOVIES which features the original "Groucho" photo. Since then, I did find it (exactly where it's been on the shelf since 1999. Ahem! New glasses maybe?) so here's the proof of the above.

Movie That Fell Through the Cracks # 42

We're overdue for a good movie here. How about this one? Coming close on the heels of THE BLACK BIRD, George Segal's almost legendarily unfunny comedy "sequel" to THE MALTESE FALCON, is Peter Falk's THE CHEAP DETECTIVE, an all-star Neil Simon comedy from 1978. Made near the end of Simon's golden period, it is an episodic spoof of various Bogart pictures including THE MALTESE FALCON. In between COLUMBO episodes, Falk had played a Bogart-like role in Simon's delightful MURDER BY DEATH a couple of years earlier and due to his demanding TV contract ( It demanded he get lots of money and lots of time off and would turn in money-making COLUMBO episodes pretty much when he damn well pleased and that semed to work for everybody) found the time to expand it into a whole feature.
The fun in these kind of pictures, of course, appears in the character roles and here a bizarre assortment of them are played by an equally bizarre assortment of wonderful actors:
Eileen Brennan-She had appeared opposite Falk in MURDER BY DEATH and was headed toward a career high of her own.
Stockard Channing-Not longer after making her initial TV splash.
Dom Deluise-I think there's some kind of law that he's in all of these all-star thingies.
John Houseman-Orson Welles' former Mercury Theater partner had begun acting late in life and taken an Oscar for THE PAPER CHASE (a role he would later comtinue on television).
Fernando Lamas- Argentinian actor with a marvelous voice made famous when spoofed on SNL by Billy Crystal in the early eighties.
Paul Williams-Talented songwriter but untalented and, in fact, grating as an actor.
Sid Caeser-I believe this was in Sid's self-proclaimed "forgotten" era (due to prescription addictions) but he's still funny!
Louise Fletcher-Nurse Ratched could be funny!
James Coco-Another holdover from MURDER BY DEATH, Coco was a brilliant actor who rarely had a chance to do anything but Dom Deluise impressions.
Madeline Kahn-Always amusing ( particularly with Mel Brooks and/or Gene Wilder) but never the favorite to me that she is to many.
Ann-Margret-Always beautiful and fun, she was here coasting on the downslide of her acting career after her acclaimed performance in TOMMY.
Phil Silvers-He always looked "wrong" to me without his glasses!
Nicol Williamson-Legendarily quirky actor, memorable here as the "head of the Cincinnati Gestapo." Imagine that line in a packed free preview audience in the middle of Cincinnati!
Marsha Mason-Described in the ad as Simon's favorite actress, she was, at the time, also his wife!
Abe Vigoda-Ok. I'll go for it-Still alive as of today's date.
So what's not to love here? And yet if it's on DVD, it's certainly not a big seller and I haven't seen it on cable or TV in more than twenty-five years.