The Larry Sanders Show

Today, I finished watching the DVD's I just got of "The Larry Sanders Show," which was originally aired on HBO from 1992-1998. In this show, Garry Shandling played talk show host Larry Sanders, as a "behind the scenes" look at the making of a talk show.

However, the show was much more about character than just a mockumentary style comedy. It really set the stage for later shows, like Arrested Development, that took the documentary style shooting and ran with it. Also, the characters in Larry Sanders (Larry, his producer Artie, played by Rip Torn, and sidekick Hank, played by Jeffrey Tambor) were just fantastic to watch, because they were human, expressed emotions, and were "real."

So, if you're looking for some good laughs, and some surprising glimpses of emotion that are usually unexpected, then take a look at this show.

I'm on duty this weekend, so there's nothing really big going on in my life, besides watching tv and writing blogs. This Thursday, I'll be going on a harbor cruise in NYC, as a chaperone for a Senior Week trip, which should be fun. I'll be sure to bring a camera for some photos to post here.

All non-graduating students have to be out of the residence halls here by Wednesday at noon, so it'll be pretty quiet soon. It's quiet now, with exams happening, but I'm looking forward to the quiet of no one else in the building...

NP: Frank Zappa - No Not Now

An old wedding...

On May 10, 1851, my great-great-great-grandparents, John Lord and Jane Lang, were married in Newark, New Jersey. They had immigrated to the US the year before, on the same ship. I'm not sure if they knew each other in Ireland, or if they met on the ship coming over, and stayed close in the interim between immigration and marriage.

That's the thing about genealogy, sometimes you learn something from documents, but have no real clue as to what actually went on. There's no old Lord Bible, or papers from a diary, to tell what the real story was.

Personally, I think they knew each other in Ireland, but that's just a guess.

Then, on May 10, 1890, the same John Lord passed away in East Newark, NJ. When you do genealogy for awhile, you're used to seeing coincidences of dates, they're more common than you'd think.

Jane Lord, wife of the aforementioned John Lord, died on March 16, 1912. That was exactly 59 years before I was born. Another date coincidence.

So, if John and Jane hadn't been married on this date, one hundred and fifty six years ago, I might not be sitting here right now, typing to you. That goes for any of my ancestors, on either side of the family. If just one thing had shifted, someone else (like me, but not *exactly* me) might be here, writing about their ancestors John and Jane being married on May 11th, or May 9th.

Kind of Twilight Zone-y, when you think about it....

If I have any photos of John or Jane, I'd put them up here, but I got nothing!

A funny environmental comment...

The other day, in just random conversation, Sue said to me, "I can't wait until we have a house."

As the comment was apropos of nothing that we had been talking about, I said, "Why?"

Her reply: "We'll have a clothes dryer, and I can toast my pajamas before bed..."

"I don't know if that would be terribly energy efficient," I said.

And then the classic response: "True, it really wouldn't reduce the footprint much, would it?"

I thought it was a really funny, quick retort...

NP: The Police - Peanuts (Live)