Stephen Colbert had the week off, as did Jon Stewart. On the 30th they will have their joint rally in D.C. for sanity and/or fear. Colbert was on the daytime gabfest show The View this week. This is the second time in recent weeks he’s made an appearance where he’s dropped his character’s persona. I met Colbert briefly a few years ago, and he’s the real deal.
I’ve avoided getting political for a while now. There seems to be not much point in it. If anybody thinks the Republicans are about jobs and reducing the deficit, they haven’t been paying attention. But what has me riled right now is this:
Google 2.4% Rate Shows How $60 Billion Lost to Tax Loopholes
Google Inc. cut its taxes by $3.1 billion in the last three years using a technique that moves most of its foreign profits through Ireland and the Netherlands to Bermuda.
Google may not be exactly “doing evil” here, but c’mon, the company didn’t come into existence in a vacuum. The Internet was created with tax money. Doesn’t Google think it owes something to the American government?
Even in these recessionary times, there’s always something to buy! As featured previously here and also here, next week there’s a great new CD coming out, called Come and Get It: The Best of Apple Records. It includes a track by Lon and Derrik Van Eaton, and at 5 minutes into this video from Ringo’s 1978 TV special, you’ll see Lon playing fantastic slide guitar on a rockin’ rendition of “Hard Times”. You can hear Ringo say, “All right, Lon!” Thank you, Elaine Staats for pointing this out.
Yes, that’s Carrie Fisher, a year after Star Wars, before cocaine started to wreck her. For me, 1978 was the year after my college graduation, which I didn’t attend. I was working in radio with Cactus Lizzie, and I was broke. I was living in a rented room in a finished basement, and I didn’t have a TV, so I missed the Ringo special, but I remember watching The Rutles with Bismo at his parents’ house.
Something else that’s coming out soon is the DVD of Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him)?
And Sir Paul’s remastered Band on the Run CD+DVD, is a couple of weeks away.
Ya know, it seems that whenever I try to not blog because I have more important things to worry about, I spot something almost immediately that makes me break my self-imposed silence. Dennis and I are hoping to get to Albany on Sunday, to see Joltin’ Joe Sinnott, who is scheduled to be at a comic book show. This would be Joe’s first appearance since having hip replacement surgery, and it’s great that he’s feeling up to getting out and about again.
What has me writing this, however, is this news item from Albany, about a man beaten and robbed of his valuable comic-book collection. He wasn’t killed during the assault, but later died of a heart attack, after being interviewed by police. Here’s a different article that includes a photo of Rico J. Vendetti, who allegedly hired thugs to commit the crime, back in July. Vendetti supposedly was/is owner of this comic-book shop:
Irondequoit Collectibles
125 Pebbleview Drive
Rochester, NY 14612-4118
To add spice to the story, the break in the case came from a tip a hooker gave to a cop. I wonder if Rico had bought a dealer’s table at the show on Sunday? The whereabouts of the stolen collection is unknown. If he already unloaded it, I assume the buyer(s) will come forward.
Need to take a couple-few days off to concentrate on other things. Sorry and thanks.
