Vital Viewing (Another Nice Mise-en-scène You've Gotten Me Into Edition)

 

Comedian Oliver Hardy was born on this day in 1892 (he died in 1957.) Here's a 1950 TV interview he did right as he was about to set sail for France: 

The interviewer makes mention of Hardy being part of a famous comedy team, so without further ado, let's see that comedy team in action:

Uh...That's not the comedy team I had in mind.

That's more like it, pilgrim!

In 1956, two of the funniest men who ever lived got together one last time to have their picture taken, though you'd be forgiven if you didn't immediately recognize the one on the right. So what accounts for Oliver Hardy's gaunt appearance? It seems the comedian, spooked by a mild heart attack he had suffered in 1954, went on a crash diet, shedding a whole 150 pounds. However, in a letter to an acquaintance, Stan Laurel speculated his longtime comedy partner had cancer. We do know that a series of strokes felled Hardy about a year after this photo was taken. At least the master of the comic reaction was able to give us one final feat of foolery for the camera.

Quips and Quotations (High Crimes and Misdemeanors Edition)

 

All I really know is, I got a check...And then all hell broke loose.

--Stormy Daniels

In total, 34 false entries were made in New York business records to conceal the initial covert $130,000 payment...Further, participants in the scheme took steps that mischaracterized, for tax purposes, the true nature of the reimbursements.

--Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg

Minutes before he's arraigned on charges in New York, Trump was dealt his latest significant defeat in the Jan. 6 special counsel investigation.

--Kyle Cheney, Twitter

A federal appeals court in Washington rejected an emergency bid by former President Donald Trump to block several top aides from testifying in the special counsel investigation of his effort to subvert the 2020 election.

--Kyle Cheney, Politico

Honesty is the best politics.

--Stan Laurel, Sons of the Desert