- 05:32 Can't sleep. Hafta get up for hair/makeup test soon. And it's moving day. We picked the best time to move. Really good timing. Just kidding. #
- 09:29 I CAN'T BELIEVE I HAVEN'T MENTIONED THIS. Watch my shoutout in the 1st 3 mins. of the 2nd half of the latest #KPCS! Thanks, @kevinpollak! #
- 09:53 Hoo boy. Movers are here. Here we go. I will now be freaking out for the next... 36 hours or so. PS Did film test for MM today. WE'RE BACK! #
- 10:57 I read the script for the 1st ep. of Season 3. You will not be disappointed. I left a rambling msg. on my boss's VM about how good it is. #
- 11:09 @chorl Mad Men will be back on sometime late summer. I hear AMC will be making an announcement soon. Glad you guys are as excited as we are! #
- 12:38 Confirmed that @jonhamm is a fakey mcfakenstein. I was duped! That again: @jonhamm is NOT Jon Hamm. I thought his last tweet seemed fishy. #
- 12:53 @erockappel directed a great @funnyordie video with Adam West (and cameo by Charlie Sanders). I love it. Check it: tinyurl.com/c4krdf #
- 13:03 Yep. RT @_iheartzombies: that kinda bums me out. at least you're real.....riiiiight? #
- 15:08 @charlietodd wrote a book about Improv Everywhere (frozen grand central, no pants subway rides)! Go preorder it! tinyurl.com/cvzuzq #
- 17:34 Phase Two of the move. We're unloading at the new place. Then begins Phase Three: Living Out Of Boxes. #
- 19:50 Movers are done. We are sitting on our couches amidst boxes and boxes. Sighs of relief. And glasses of wine. #
- 22:55 Long day's journey. Soooo sleepy. #
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- 07:42 Did I really hit 400 followers the day after I did my history of Uno? May have to do it all over again. That's too many uneducated people. #
- 08:30 The Kid has learned the "e-i-e-i-o" part. Without any coaching. Child development freaks. me. out. #
- 15:34 Why are rugs so expensive? #
- 17:40 @jgarlin Now we need to get the whole Curb cast on Mad Men. You need to work Matt W. a little harder. #
- 17:43 The one day I don't go to Habit. RT @NeverNotFunny: Big meeting ft. Jimmy, Matt and Pat today @ Habit. New ideas are afoot in NNF-land... #
- 18:08 Moving, even out of a shitty apartment, can be a little emotional. #
- 18:40 No, no. That'd be awesome, yes. But I work in what's called "basic cable." RT @dandunford Did you guys get a house? If so, that's awesome. #
- 19:51 I have funny friends. @charredcat is one of them. tinyurl.com/56omoa #
- 21:11 Just got into a discussion with The Lovely Virginia about whether baggies used for board game pieces should be packed with kitchen baggies. #
- 22:38 Got the ol' Mad Men haircut today. Much less Hitlerian than last year. This does not make me sad. #
- 23:03 oh my god adam lambert needs to go away forever PLEASE #
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- 01:57 Home. Sleepy. Long day of Uno facts tomorrow. Must get some sleep. #
- 08:48 Here we go, folks. It's 1971. Merle Robbins, wife Marie, and son Ray, loved playing cards. They decided to design a game of their own. #Uno #
- 09:15 Merle was a barber in Cincinnatti, so spending a lot on production was not easy, but they got together $8K to make the first 5K decks. #Uno #
- 09:19 I am already being accused of not knowing this off the top of my head. Ask anyone who knows me in real life. I know #Uno. Defense ended. #
- 10:20 The original print run was on sub-par cardstock, and the back of the cards had a green tint. I've seen photos. They weren't pretty. #Uno #
- 10:31 Via friends and local businesses, the decks sold throughout Cincinnati. One guy in particular, Robert Tezak, took a shine to the game. #Uno #
- 10:52 Tezak was a funeral parlor owner in Joliet, IL. He offered to buy the game from Merle. IIRC, the sale was $20K + 10 cents/deck sold. #Uno #
- 10:54 Might have been $10K. Memory's a little fuzzy on the number. But what matters is the 10 cents per deck sold. That = a shit ton of cash. #Uno #
- 11:21 So Tezak took the game back to IL and founded International Games. #Uno #
- 11:54 Chances are, if you own any Uno product from before '91, it bears the IG logo. #Uno #
- 12:11 So here's my favorite part. Uno blows up. Boatloads of cash. So Tezak's next logical step, a few years into the 80's? #Uno #
- 12:32 Why, (allegedly) smuggle drugs to China in between decks, of course! #Uno #
- 13:17 So, once the word starts to get out about the drugs, several things happen. The timeline is tough to suss out, but here goes. #Uno #
- 13:18 And this is all ca. '92, I think. #
- 13:22 Tezak sells International Games to Mattel for a buhjillion dollars. #
- 13:28 Tezak completely drops off the map. #Uno #
- 13:31 "Somehow," the building housing the incriminating evidence burns to the ground. #Uno #
- 13:34 Tezak is found and charged with arson. He served, I think, 11 years. He was released in '03 or '04. #Uno #
- 13:36 He has some crazy conspiracy theory, and still maintains his innocence. #Uno #
- 13:58 Unfortunately, it's a fairly bland story once Tezak is behind bars. #Uno #
- 14:38 Mattel went on coming up with shitty variations on the theme and making lots and lots of money. #Uno #
- 14:39 They brought in Sababa Toys, who have created a ton of licensed decks with special cards (Simpsons, MLB teams, Nat'l Parks (yep), etc.) #Uno #
- 14:41 And the Robbins' (RIP, Merle) keep on raking in the dough, I do believe, at about 10 cents per item sold. #Uno #
- 14:42 (Should that have been Robbinses?) #Uno #
- 14:51 So, that's everything I know about Uno. I'm sure I made some date or money errors, but you get the gist. Hope you were enraptured. Bye. #Uno #
- 16:47 @andrewzilch There will be photos. Eventually. #
- 16:58 Oh my god! Black Sheep is a terrible movie! #
- 19:42 Just met Shelly Berman. He's a Mad Men fan. RIDICULOUS. #
- 20:52 twitpic.com/453ui - Mad Men panel at ATAS for the Emmy folk. #
- 21:21 Just heard we're getting scripts for 3.1 tomorrow. I am, ahem, quite excited. #
- 21:56 I am asleep on my feet and I have to socialize. This is the part of my job that I'm really, really bad at. #
- 23:53 Man, I really let you guys have it with Uno facts today. Thanks for not coming to my home and ripping the phone from my hands. #
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Sorry for no blogs, ever. I've been working. I'm shooting a mini-series with James Van Der Beek and Treat Williams. It's long days and we're cranking along. It's going to be the next Mad Men. Just kidding. But it's still fun to do, and those guys are making the long days easier.
Also, I've barely seen my kid awake in the last week. So I hope that makes you feel better about me not blogging.
(I like imagining that you are enraged at my lack of blogging, you six readers. Makes me feel powerful and important.)
I am ashamed to admit that I have signed on for Twitter. It's a much quicker outlet, and it's a jillion times easier to post to than Vox when I'm away from the computer. @richsommer, if you're looking to hear from me a little more often during the busy times.
Anyway, hope all is well. Please enjoy Jon Hamm on Jimmy Pardo's podcast as a parting gift. It's awesome. Go to the 4/6/09 post at pardcast.com.
