Letterman/Hicks

In case you missed it, something remarkable happened on David Letterman's Late Show last night.

Fifteen years ago, someone from either the show or the network (reports vary) cut a stand-up comedy performance by Bill Hicks from airing on that night's broadcast. Being cut from the show deeply effected Hicks, who tragically died several months later from pancreatic cancer.

Letterman obviously felt guilty about the incident. In addition to taking responsibility for originally cutting the segment, last night he personally apologized to Hicks' mother - and then finally aired the excised segment in its entirety.

Why was it cut in the first place? I suppose it might have been controversial in 1993 - but it doesn't seem even remotely so now. In any case, it was a class move by Letterman - and Mary Hicks, while accepting his apology, doesn't exactly let Dave off unscathed. Well worth watching.

Darkplace: Glasgow

From Darkplace, Garth Merenghi (Matthew Holness) recalls the nightmare of spending a night in Glasgow, Scotland.

I've been to Glasgow - he's being kind.

Macdade Boulevard

Once upon a time I ran a blog devoted to a nearby street named MacDade Boulevard.

One day, I accidentally erased that blog. Like the Collingdale Pretzel Factory, it was suddenly gone.

The pictures still exist, for those who wish to relive the magic.

A few things have changed on old MacDade in the past year - two pretzel stores are down, a Thai restaurant has been renamed, and what was the future site of Chick-Fil-A is now a Chick-Fil-A.

"Drunken Negro Face" cookies

Currently on sale in Greenwich Village - the "Drunken Negro Face" cookie.

Wait, it gets worse...

Pekar on Letterman

Let's watch Harvey Pekar commit talk show suicide on David Letterman's old NBC show.

This scene was recreated in the film American Splendor featuring Paul Giamatti as Pekar. If you saw that film, you know Harvey essentially went on the show looking for trouble in the first place.

Dave gets legitimately angry here, and - according to Pekar's comic strip based on the appearance - reportedly told Pekar, "You f---ed up a good thing." when they went to commercial.

Pekar, who had been a regular guest prior to this appearance, never appeared again. Update: Harvey was banned from the show for a few years, but did return in the early '90s.

22 Panels That Always Work

Here is a classic from an original Mad artist: Wally Wood's 22 Panels That Always Work!!

The theory here is that when you must draw a comic panel consisting of no action - just one or two characters talking - there are at least twenty-two proven ways you can make that panel visually interesting.

Rourke vs. Jericho?

It's beginning to look like Mickey Rourke might just be wrestling Chris Jericho at the upcoming Wrestlemania.

This is a disturbing turn of events, because despite the fact that it will help spike the pay-per-view's buy rate - it can invariably only hurt the careers of both men.

Rourke is just getting his respect back in Hollywood and doesn't particularly need to be involving himself with such an event (I guess the OSCAR vote is in, so it won't hurt him there, but still...). Jericho will inevitably "lose" any such encounter (celebs always come out on top at Wrestlemania - with the notable exception of Pete Rose) - which will just make him look weak in the eyes of wrestling fans.