An interview with Stan Laurel from 1957

Conducted shortly after Oliver Hardy died, in this interview, Stan Laurel looks back on his career, with and without Hardy.

When I was in junior high school, I absolutely loved the dual biography, Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy. Comedic actor Dick Van Dyke, who just turned ninety, wrote a beautiful introduction and remembrance for the book. I'd recommend it.

Laurel and Hardy are still my all-time favorite comedians. They always crack me up.

What an amazing memory the elderly Laurel had.

Saturday This and That

These are things that caught my eye this past week.

Fast food changes...
...here.

Anne Meara has died...
...and this New York Times obituary gives surprising facts about a woman who I've always associated with comedy. But she did a lot more.

As if Nepal's people aren't suffering enough...
...sex traffickers, often posing as relief workers, are exploiting the country's girls. No punishment a court might give would be harsh enough.

How is it that wonderful people are so often attracted to nasty people...
...of the opposite sex? A researcher claims to have found the answer. (It's plausible.)

Esther and Purim...
...was part of this week's readings for our congregation's Journey Through the Bible. This is a good article on Purim. Esther is a real hero of Biblical faith. Like Joseph, God used her to bring deliverance to His people.

Probably the most creative use of a baseball rain delay ever...
...and it will crack you up. What's even funnier about it is that players from both teams got in on the fun.

Is the Chinese government underestimating the United States?...
...This very good and short article regarding the current face-off in the South China Sea suggests that it is.

An eerie gallery...
...the last known photographs of 49 famous people. Amy Winehouse looks to be in the prime of life. Jim Hendrix, Freddie Mercury, and Steve Jobs all look vulnerable. You find yourself wanting to tell James Dean, "Don't climb into the car." None of us knows the day or moment of our demise. For all our pretenses to the contrary, we are never really in control.

How Luther showed that Christ is in the Old Testament...
...to Donovan Riley. This is one of the best short pieces on this subject I have ever read. It mirrors my own experience of reading and studying the Old Testament, as mentored by Luther's writings. This is the one article you should be sure to read of all linked here.

It's a joy to watch for the athleticism it required...
...but this catch probably cost him a shot at becoming baseball's all-time home run king. Ken Griffey, Jr. was one of my favorite players. And unlike many of his contemporaries, there has never been a hint that Griffey, whose swing was the purest and most beautiful I have ever seen, took Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs). Every hit legit! And he was an amazing defending outfielder, deserving of mention in the same breath with Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle.

Woody's and Kelly's Lutheran Problem

Thanks for sending the link, Dave!

David Frye is Dead

Back in the day, all our Nixon impressions were really impressions of Frye imitating Nixon. He suffered the same fate as that previously dealt to Kennedy impersonator Vaughn Meader, whose comedy career largely went away when JFK was assassinated.

Following Nixon's resignation, Frye was seldom seen or heard again. Imitation may be the highest form of flattery, but as a source of income, it usually has pronounced ups and downs.

Real NFL Players Mentor the Detroit Lions

All in good fun, folks!



I loved the line, "It's so adorable."

"Keep going straight and fast!"

My son just alerted me to this recently. It cracks me up!

George Carlin, Satirist, Has Died

George Carlin, the undeniably clever comedian who, a decade into a career that was comprised of typical Borscht Belt schtick, took his comedy in a self-consciously countercultural direction, has died.

It was probably inevitable that the decade that triggered Carlin's comedic transformation would inspire some satirizing court jesters to express the antiestablishment feelings of millions toward the war in Vietnam, the struggle for civil rights, White House lies, and the everyday hypocrisies of American life, among other things.

But Carlin, whose trademarks had been silliness and tuxedos in five-minute bits on The Ed Sullivan Show, initially seemed ill-fit for the role of a bearded, ponytailed, convention-tweaker in blue jeans.

When this new Carlin emerged in the late-1960s, it was jarring for those of us accustomed to seeing him sandwiched between such benign acts as Topo Gigio and Russian circus dancing bears.

No doubt much of what animated the comedy of Carlin in the four decades since his "conversion" is anger. Anger is often the motive power of comedy and Carlin found much about which to be angry. The Pentagon Papers demonstrated that both Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon had lied to us about Vietnam, for example. Hypocrisy was widespread among the elites in politics, corporations, and the churches.

But as it relates to the churches, Carlin, I believe, made the same mistake common to such contemporary atheists as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, confusing the hypocrisy and disinformation sometimes peddled by those who claim to speak for God, from marginally Christian parents to culture-apologists masked as theologians, for authentic faith.

Carlin, who grew up in what appears to have been a culturally Christian family, apparently got a bad dose of misinformation about the Judeo-Christian worldview and he apparently never thought to disabuse himself of the pseudo-Christianity he encountered.

He attributed some of society's worst woes to a version of religion to which he was most intimately exposed, a superstitious junk religion rooted not in the grace of God extended to sinful human beings, the source of all hope in Biblical faith, which is the common proclamation of those in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

He claimed, for example, that all opposition to obscenity and pornography was rooted in "religious superstitions" that regarded sex and the human body as dirty and evil.

The attitudes Carlin describes are exhibited by misinformed Christians. But an examination of the Bible, the book which Christians regard as the Word of God and which in my Lutheran Christian tradition is seen as "the authoritative source and norm of its proclamation, faith, and life" will demonstrate how off the mark he was in his characterization of the Judeo-Christian view of sexuality.

The Bible has an elevated view of sex. According to Genesis, the Bible's first book,human beings created in the image of God were made male and female, indicating that sexuality was part of what made God's creation of humanity "very good."

Sexual intimacy therefore, was meant to be part of every married couple's life, from the beginning, a fact underscored by the fact that when first created, Adam and Eve, were naked and unashamed.

The joy of sexual intimacy between husband and wife is celebrated in the Song of Solomon, a book filled with subtle yet unmistakable pictures of various romantic and sexual encounters.

Sexual intimacy is protected in the Bible. The point of the Sixth Commandment--"You shall not commit adultery"--isn't to prevent the human race from enjoying their sexuality, but to ensure that this high expression of love between a husband and wife is protected from cheapening, from "adulteration." Martin Luther explains the commandment in The Small Catechism:

We are to fear and love God so that in matters of sex our words and conduct are pure and honorable, and husband and wife love and respect each other.

If those operating under a Judeo-Christian conception of the human body and sexuality sometimes object to gratuitous sex (and violence, for that matter) which appears in movies, video games, TV shows, and standup comedy routines like Carlin's, it isn't because the Bible regards the body as dirty. Quite the opposite.

The New Testament portion of the Bible says that the body is "the temple of the Lord." And when Adam and Eve hide from God because of their nakedness, it's not because their bodies are inherently evil, but because of an awareness created by their fall into sin, that their bodies can be used for sinful purposes, only some of them of a sexual nature.

As a Christian who regarded Carlin as a talented, if misguided, voice of our times, I regret that he never enjoyed a positive relationship with someone who truly reflected the Judeo-Christian view of sex and the human body. (I regret too, that he never took the time to find out about it for himself.)

Carlin's experience, sadly, isn't uncommon. We Christians allow legalists parading as Christians to hijack our faith. While they flap their jaws and invoke their crude cartoon versions of Christian faith, we keep silent. So, the Carlins of the world draw erroneous conclusions about Christian faith and the ability of all people--whatever their faith--to speak to and understand one another is hampered. No wonder then, that the wise pastor (and Doctor of Philosophy) Gerald Mann has said that one mission of today's Christians is cleaning up the bad reputation given to God by those who misspeak in His Name.

It's just one aspect of George Carlin's passing that saddens me today.

Comic Brings Laughter to Amelia Church

Could you use a good laugh?

The laughs will be in ample supply on Saturday, May 19, starting at 7:00PM, when comedian Marty Daniels brings his wacky worldview to Friendship Lutheran Church, 1300 White Oak Road, near Amelia.

Daniels is currently involved in a major tour, taking him to huge venues in the Midwest and South.

Marty Daniels has been called lethal, outrageous, and quick-witted, among other things. He generates laughs based on humorous observations of the absurdities of life, even those of the church. He also happens to be hilarious!

Daniels spent 15 years working as a popular radio personality in mainstream and Christian radio. Always a visionary, he helped build one of the nation’s top radio stations from the ground up in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.

Over the past 20 years, Marty has helped plant churches, worked in comedy clubs and on college campuses, and been instrumental in the start-up of several business ventures. His squeaky clean comedy has inspired laughs for everyone from the sick, the homeless, the elderly, and grief stricken to top figures in industry, politics and entertainment. His corporate shows earn rave reviews.

An interesting element of the May 19 performance is that Daniels' first comedy CD will be recorded then.

Daniels also happens to be the brother of Friendship’s pastor, Mark Daniels.

You won’t need a ticket for this evening of fun. A freewill offering will be received. EVERYBODY IS INVITED!

For more information, contact the Friendship Lutheran Church office at 513-752-5265.

To find out more about Marty Daniels' comedy, go here and here.

Want a Laugh?

Then, by all means, go over to the web site of my brother, comedian Marty Daniels. There you'll find clips from his new CD and a video of him in action. (To listen to the audio clips, you'll have to join ShoutLife.com. But it's free and once you do, you'll gain access to a whole lot of artists' clips, some of them really great.)

I think once you've gotten a taste of Marty's comedy, you'll want to book him for your next corporate or church event!