http://snichael.com Blog of Mike Snider, MAD Magazine's "Most Ostracized Writer" Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:25:27 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Well, for those who haven't heard, the Heritage Auction of original MAD art (see posts below) was held last Friday and took in an amazing $750,000 - more than double the pre-auction estimates. Good for them! That should keep the DC/TIME, Inc. wolves away from the magazine's door for awhile ... http://snichael.com/2008/11/17/mad-auction-update-a-mystery/ [Note: In a display of impeccable timing, here now is this blog's first post about "MAD-TV" -- the very week it's being CANCELED by the Fox Network after 14 years on the air!] There's never been much of a connection between the show and the magazine besides the name and ... http://snichael.com/2008/11/14/mad-tv-rip/ If you've been anywhere near a radio this past week, you know that Christmas music has started! (In fact, some stations were already playing it on Halloween Day!) Am I the only one who finds it a little unsettling? No, not just the extra-early onset of Christmas music...I'm talking about ... http://snichael.com/2008/11/09/have-yourself-a-merry-recessionary-christmas/ Every four years, we elect a President; and every four years, we turn into a nation of Sore Losers & Sore Winners for weeks or months after the election. Since it's almost that time, how about if we all take the pledge...c'mon, raise your right hand and repeat after me... If my ... http://snichael.com/2008/10/29/take-the-presidential-supporter-post-election-pledge/ More about the Heritage Auction of the LAST pieces of original MAD art that I talked about in my last post: I must be getting Old-Timer's Disease or something - because I had read years earlier, but forgotten, that Frank Jacobs, in the book "MAD - Cover to Cover," referred ... http://snichael.com/2008/10/25/mad-selling-its-soul-at-gunpoint/ Well, I'm not sure if this news falls into the category of "alarming for the near-term future of the magazine," but MAD is selling at auction what they say is the LAST of the original art from their vaults. (And it must REALLY be the "last," because they said the ... http://snichael.com/2008/10/18/the-last-auction-of-original-mad-art-really-we-mean-it-this-time/ You KNOW you're Really a MAD Writer when...you spend almost as much time trying to "game" the MAD editors as you do actually writing! Half the challenge of selling articles to them on a regular basis is anticipating what type of stuff they're more likely to buy -- before you ... http://snichael.com/2008/10/14/you-know-youre-really-a-mad-writer-when/ Today on Wall Street, there are only 2 positions: "Cash"...and "Fetal" Q. What's the capital of Iceland? A. About $3.50 "I went to buy a toaster -- they threw in a free Bank!" Q: In these busy market times, how can you get the attention of your broker? A: Say, "Hey, waiter!" Q. What ... http://snichael.com/2008/10/10/trolling-the-www-for-wall-street-gallows-humor/ (Snichael Press Associated) - If you're a lonely man who watched Thursday's vice-presential candidate debate and asked yourself, "Is that woman winking at ME...repeatedly?" - the answer is a resounding "Yes!" Faced with collapse in the polls, the McCain-Palin campaign is trying out a radical new vote-getting strategy: deliberately targeting a ... http://snichael.com/2008/10/03/sarah-palins-last-ditch-strategy-targeting-lonely-male-stalker-vote/ True Story #1: During one of the 4 MAD Trips I went on (1987-93), a group of us were engaged in our favorite MAD Trip activity, sitting around drinking and talking - there was me; longtime writer Frank Jacobs; Jack Albert, MAD's attorney for most of the Bill Gaines era; ... http://snichael.com/2008/10/01/mad-magazine-a-pair-of-true-stories/