My pal Steve Marmel! Wow. I hope folks caught Steve's special on Comedy Central. They're running bits of it now as part of their Indecision 2000 package, so I'm sure they'll be repeating it soon. Steve's also filmed an HBO special, and has some big animation projects in the works.

My pal Patty Cumbie I stayed over a night with my old college friend Patty and her husband Sean when I was up in Minneapolis. Patty is one of my very best friends, and just had a short story published. It's called "Crushed Out," and it's a terrific piece, well-written and full of angst and humor. It's part of an "anthology called The Leap Years" from Beacon Press, and you HAVE to read it. Pat's working on a novel, now, and I can't wait to see it.

Topsy Turvy on DVD This is a weird one. I loved, and still love, this Mike Leigh movie on the creating of Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera, "The Mikado." Other friends of mine whose opinion I respect didn't like it at all, thinking it too long and unfocussed. But to me, the focus was a non-traditional one, being on the creative process itself. The scenes shown from the Mikado itself make me wish Leigh had released a full version of the comic opera along with Topsy Turvy. And Jim Broadbent gives a remarkable performance. At least, now that it's on DVD and video, if you rent it, you won't have wasted too much cash if you end up hating it. But I loved it, and found its three-hour length flew by.