Little Idiots in S, M, L and XL

If you thought the James Kochalka/Moby business relationship ended at Moby's introduction in AMERICAN ELF, you're way wrong, chum. They are two of almost a dozen in the Little Idiot Collective of cartoonist folks lending their cute designs to t-shirts, onesies and hoodies at www.thelittleidiot.com. Sara Varon is another name comics fans will know; the others I didn't, though I like the work of Alex Eben Mayer and BB & PP Inc. There's even a sale going on, though it looks like slim pickings for an XL a-hole like myself. Also, they only take PayPal, which just cost them an impulse purchase from me, as now I would have to move some money from checking into my PayPal account, and I might just forget. Link courtesy of last month's issue of CARGO. BTW, Moby's new one doesn't have any blues vocal samples, so while I admire the attempt to grow, it cuts my interest in half.

Memo to Sean T. Collins, re: Doves single, "Black and White Town" - it's good, but it was even better when Martha and the Vandellas released it 40some years ago as "Heat Wave". Christ, what a shameless riff steal. I guess white British bands have plundered enough old black artists, so now it's time for the ladies. I'm being facetious there, but it really is the same riff and very similar beat.

Nice Monty Python article in Entertainment Weekly, with new quotes with all surviving members, occasioned by the new, Mike Nichols-directed, Eric Idle written musical, SPAMALOT, starring Tim Curry as Arthur, King of the Britons, Hank Azaria as Lancelot, and David Hyde-Pierce as...gee, I forgot who, but no matter. It's based on THE HOLY GRAIL, obviously, but with more of an actual story and lots of Idle-penned songs. Not a full Python project, per se, but as Palin says, the reverence to the name has given way largely to greed. He said it humorously, but it's interesting to see some of the old baggage come up from the members. I had forgotten Cleese quit before the fourth season, and as he explains, since there were writing partnerships from the get-go, he was saddled with writing "with the alcoholic", meaning the late Graham Chapman, who became unreliable at that point. Nice to see a short interview with Carol Cleveland as well, who was essential to the Flying Circus when the boys needed a sexier female character they couldn't pull off themselves, and Cleveland had the right spirit and talent to be more than just a pretty face on the show.