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Larry David Interview

Larry David is perhaps one of the most brilliant minds on television. Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm are classic shows. But what’s it like to talk to him?

I’ve gotta say, it’s not that exciting. Sure, he writes a good show, but he’s just as boring in real life as you’d think he’d be. He didn’t know the answers to lots of questions, didn’t seem interested in lots of things, had no opinions on pop culture. He was only moderately funny during the interview.

But that’s actually what I expected. He’s not exactly Robin Williams. I asked him when Curb is coming to syndication. He said, “I don’t know, September?” Who’s picking it up, Larry? “I’m not sure.”

Others asked him about movies, the late night show controversy, and television, and he had nothing interesting to say. He didn’t even say much interesting about his own show, actors he’s worked with, or odd stories from behind the scenes. He gets along with Susie Essman off-screen. Big surprise. I still got an article out of it.

Anyway, Larry is still a television hero of mine, but I did indeed curb my enthusiasm for this interview.

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Missing Jim Henson

I remember where I was 20 years ago when I heard Jim Henson had passed away. I was still in middle school, only 14 years old, and I was at my Aunt’s house. I also vividly remember Sammy Davis Jr. dying on the same day, though he didn’t have anywhere close to the influence over my generation the way Henson did.

Naturally, I was upset. Henson was only 53 years old. What he accomplished, particularly with Sesame Street, is a phenomenon that will last for decades.

Considering what the Muppets have been through over the last 20 years, however, I’m not so certain they will have the lasting impact beyond these generations, though they’re really trying. Perhaps I’ll be wrong, but not since the original Muppet Show and the first three Muppet films have they really made a splash on pop culture. Getting the Webby Award for Bohemian Rhapsody is hardly a major step forward.

It makes you wonder what else Henson would have done had he lived. Certainly, the company wouldn’t have been sold to a German business a while back (though I believe the return sale proved to be money-making). Certainly Henson wouldn’t have approved of Pepe the King Prawn being added to the mix. Perhaps the Dark Crystal II would’ve already been made, as well as other imaginative movies like Labyrinth.

One thing is for sure. It’s been 20 years and I’m still mourning his loss.

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Avoid the Magnolia Plantation in Charleston S.C.

The highlight of the Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, S.C.

Over the weekend I went to the Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, S.C. This is a place where slaves used to work for rich, white southerners. And let me tell you, despite a cover charge of $15 a person, and $7 extra for each tour, I’m betting the place looked a lot better back then than it does now.

It has vast network of gardens to walk through… that looks like walking along the paths in the woods near my house. Very few flowers, unkempt statues, and weeds. It has a conservatory… with a bunch of weeds. It has a hedge maze, like in The Shining… that hasn’t been trimmed in months. It has a petting zoo… which I found to be the highlight.

So, we came to experience Southern history and get a look at a place that once housed slaves, and someone is clearly taking the money and rolling around in it because they certainly aren’t putting it back into turning the place into something that it worth seeing. Even the slaves are rolling in their graves at what’s going on there.

Avoid the Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, S.C. at all costs.

 

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Dinner With a 9th Degree Black Belt

I had dinner tonight with one of the most interesting people I’ve met in a long while. His name is Albert Cheeks and he’s a 9th degree black belt, a former international fighter and a member of the Tae Kwon Do Hall of Fame. He studied under my instructor’s instructor, Master Ki Whang Kim.

I’ve been hearing about this guy for the 16 years I’ve been taking martial arts and finally got to meet him. He told us stories about Ki Whang Kim, a martial arts legend as well, about disrespecting Bruce Lee, about Chuck Norris, and many others. I listened intently, amazed at just about everything he said.

If you ever get a chance to have dinner, or even a conversation with a decorated martial artist, particularly one who has been around for many years, buy him a drink and don’t miss the opportunity. You’re sure to hear great stories.

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Twitter and Facebook and the Decline of Interpersonal Communication

Tell me if you know someone like this…

You hear from them all the time. You know what they are doing, all the time. You know what they are thinking. They volunteer this information to whoever wants to know it.

But when you attempt to contact them on a personal, one-to-one level, you never hear back. Not because they don’t like you, but because that’s not the way people communicate anymore.

This is how technology turned us into narcissists, gave us an excuse to be jerks, and made us feel as if we are being communicative when we really aren’t.

Let’s look at the history. People paid attention to smoke signals, letters delivered by the postal service, and the telegraph. People originally answered the telephone, but with the advent of the answering machine and voice mail – which no one uses anymore – and text messaging, there is no reason to even talk.

Once e-mail came around we all had a way to easily write to one another, personally, but got sick of that, too, right? I mean, who wants to say something to someone else without anyone else being able to read it? So, e-mail is a thing of the past. Now, dinner plans are made between two people for all to see… because of…

Twitter and Facebook.

With Twitter, people who want to know what you think can follow you, and you don’t have to follow them. Perfect! That means you get to write what you want, whoever wants to read it can, and you’re being communicative but don’t actually have to interact with anyone else.

Facebook is a bit more cumbersome, because you have to actually accept people as your friends. Who’s got time for that? So you compromise and accept them, then broadcast your thoughts and daily routine to everyone.

There we have it. No more talking, no more letter writing (or e-mails). You, my friend, ARE being communicative on your own terms. You have an excuse NOT to reply to e-mails, text messages, or voice mails, because, after all, what can possibly be said that isn’t important enough to post on Facebook or Twitter?

Technology has officially turned us into complete jerks and made us feel that we aren’t. If you actually took the time to read this, think about how many voice mails you didn’t return, how many e-mails you were too busy to write back to, how many text messages you shrugged off (all from people who you have no problem with), all while updating your social networking site with your thoughts on how good that latte was at Starbucks.