I swear I'm a human pin cushion ...

... Off to get my allergy shots. Three of them. The nurses are probably going to yell at me because I haven't been in since March. Supposed to go at least every three weeks, if not every two weeks. But at $25 an office visit, I stretch my time between visits as long as I can.

Probably just as well that I'm getting my shots today. Just got done mowing the lawn, so I kicked up a lot of grass and pollen.

And now the biting flies are out. Found that out when I had to spray myself down with Off! twice. Those little buggers are nasty. And the dogs are particularly vulnerable to them. B*stards.

Harvey Korman 1927-2008

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Harvey Korman, the tall, versatile comedian who won four Emmys for his outrageously funny contributions to The Carol Burnett Show and played a conniving politician to hilarious effect in Blazing Saddles, died Thursday. He was 81.

Korman died at UCLA Medical Center after suffering complications from the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm four months ago, his family said. He had undergone several major operations.

A natural second banana, Korman gained attention on The Danny Kaye Show, appearing in skits with the star. He joined the show in its second season in 1964 and continued until it was canceled in 1967. That same year he became a cast member in the first season of The Carol Burnett Show.

His most memorable film role was as the outlandish Hedley Lamarr (who was endlessly exasperated when people called him Hedy) in Mel Brooks’ 1974 Western satire, Blazing Saddles.

“A world without Harvey Korman — it’s a more serious world,” Brooks told the AP on Thursday. “It was very dangerous for me to work with him because if our eyes met we’d crash to floor in comic ecstasy. It was comedy heaven to make Harvey Korman laugh.”

On television, Burnett and Korman developed into the perfect pair with their burlesques of classic movies such as Gone With the Wind and soap operas like As the World Turns (their version was called As the Stomach Turns).
Burnett was devastated by Korman’s death, said her assistant, Angie Horejsi.
“She loved Harvey very much,” Horejsi said.

In the ’70s, he and Tim Conway, one of his Burnett show co-stars, toured the country with their show Tim Conway and Harvey Korman: Together Again. They did 120 shows a year, sometimes as many as six or eight in a weekend.

RIP Harvey. Say hello to Dick Martin and Sydney Pollack. You will all be missed.

Photo: Korman as Hedley Lamarr in Blazing Saddles

Maybe Hurley is next ...

... Ed's brother Chris and his wife Julie welcomed another boy into their Maine household last week, when Sawyer Phoenix Munz was born.

Their first child is named Jack. And Chris and Julie say they don't watch Lost.

Sure they don't. So with Sawyer up, could Hurley or Kate be next on the agenda?

Check out Chris' blog here.

Go Cubs Go!

Who woulda thought, that on May 29, 2008, that the Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Rays would have the best records in baseball? The Cubs maybe, but the Rays?

The Cubs are on a roll after sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers out of Chicago last night with a come-from-behind 2-1, 10-inning victory. The Cubs have always had trouble winning one-run and extra-inning games, but they've been able to do that with a little more regularity this year, not counting last weekend's implosion at Pittsburgh. But I digress.

In any case, they have a great chance to increase their NL Central lead over the surprising Cardinals and Astros with a four-game series against the Colorado Rockies. The defending NL champions look like anything but, with injuries knocking them for a loop. This is a good chance for the Cubs to flex some muscle against a team that could be really down in the dumps.

And while all is well and good at home, they've got to start winning a little more on the road. At least get to .500. They should have swept the Pirates last weekend, as Kerry Wood suffered a blown save in one game and Alfonso Soriano dropped what would have been the last out of the game the next day.

But that's all in the past now. Onward and upward. A special season continues.

Reality rewind

I know it's a little late, but I gotta give my two cents worth:

Survivor: Ugh. How Parvati ended up winning what had been a fairly exciting season is beyond me. No more All-Star stuff. Let's hope this next trip to Africa is a good one.

Big Brother: Ugh again. Adam? ADAM???

American Idol: Well, we knew a David would win. I just wanted it to be Archuleta, not Cook. Though he is good, as was the season.

And now, we're only a couple of months away from the return of The Amazing Race, which rumor has it, just completed filming season 13 in Portland, Ore. Season 14 follows next spring.

Can't wait.

Wow, it has been a while ...

More than a month since my last blog. Sorry about that.

Been pretty busy though. For example:

*Went back to Little Rock to see my sister Sue, pictured, who considering everything, is doing pretty good. She still needs to gain some weight, but all in all, not bad. Doesn't she look cute with that short hair and glasses?

*My sister Brenda graduated from college, which was the main reason for the trip to Little Rock in the first place. She and mom are the only college grads in the family. Congrats!

*Went to Philadelphia last weekend with my Nitro softball team. Not a good weekend. Oh Philly is OK, had a great time while we were there. But we just didn't play all that well. Went 1-2 in round-robin, and actually had a chance to win all three. But we went 2 and out in the double-elimination, scoring a grand total of three runs. In slow-pitch softball. Ouch.

*My work softball team, however, is 2-2. We get back in action this Saturday, weather permitting. We've had two Saturday's rained out in the past month.

So there you have it. I'm back.