The Chris Moeller Archives

Cleaning out the cupboard

Here's a random collection of notes and news stories, none of which I can stretch into an extended, coherent idea...

- A talented supporting actor on "Seinfeld" has passed away. Barney Martin, who played Jerry's father, Morty, suffered from cancer, according to the Hollywood Reporter, and died Monday at the age of 82. Martin, contrary to popular belief, did not sell rain coats for a living, but instead had an impressive list of supporting acting appearances on shows like "Hill Street Blues," "The Golden Girls," and "Murphy Brown." I saw him just last week on DVD as a whino on the pilot episode of "Night Court" from 1983. Martin was not in the pilot episode of "Seinfeld." He was the second actor to play Morty, joining the show in the second season in "The Pony Remark" episode. He appeared in more than 20 episodes over the life of the show.

- Has anyone notified the mainstream media that Donald Rumsfeld is being sued by the ACLU and Human Rights First for human rights violations in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay?

- Jose Antonio, executive director of the International Society of Sports Nutrition told the Boston Globe last week that the hysteria over steroid use in America reminds him of the film "Reefer Madness." "More people have died of Benadryl and Tylenol overdoses than ever died of anabolic steroids," he said.

- The government reports that 500,000 school-age children have used steroids. Of those, we would need to link steroid use to 100 deaths (not just two) to match the 1 in 5,000 death rate for liposuction surgery. Lipo remains a perfectly legal tool in Americans' battle to achieve the perfectly sculpted body.

- You can throw out all of your speculations about the future of "Arrested Development" on FOX. The network's entertainment president, Gail Berman, is leaving to become a top exec at Paramount Studios. We're back to square one. Enjoy "Arrested" star David Cross' comments at defamer.com .

- I have high hopes for "The Office" on NBC. It debuts Thursday night at 8:30 central. I haven't watched NBC in prime-time since I caught a "Will and Grace" episode in 2002.

- Jim Edmonds became a Cardinal five years ago today. The principal player who went to Anaheim in the trade, Kent Bottenfield, is a Christian Rock musician today. True story.

- A co-worker of mine used to date a ballplayer who is in training camp with the Cardinals this spring. The relationship ended badly. She and I frequently chat about the player's prospects for making the team, and ultimately getting "legs" under his Major League career. He's getting up in years, and I offered the opinion to her that some guys at his stage of their career will never make it. They have one or two faults in their game, I said, that the league is able to exploit. "Does he have one or two faults?" I asked. "Yes," she said, "his lying, for one."

posted by CM @ 10:09 PM