myblog

Two things.

1. I am going to tonight's American Idol. My emotions regarding this range from very excited to very nervous for the loss of a certain kind of virginity.

2. Bea does this now, with no goading or teaching by me. Or The Lovely Virginia. She did it all by herself. I think it's because we watched Parenthood while she was cooking.

Buckethead.

Paley Panel

From a panel we did at The Paley Center for Media last year. Pre-Season 2.

Hadn't seen it since then; thought it was kinda neat.

Although I'd shudder to read a transcribed version of my answer. I, uh, like, stammer, and, um, try to, you know, put together ideas of, you know, stuff. A lot.

Rich & Matt talk about Harry & the Boys.

Bea likes Elmo.

At least it's not Barney.

Anyway, she asks for Elmo constantly, either by name, or by the first two notes of his theme song on Sesame Street.

Pretty scary.

In other Elmo news, my friend Jed Resnik, whose blog I recommended to you on July 20, 2006 (and may be moving to a new spot soon), posted this fantastic video of Ricky Gervais with Elmo. It made me very, very happy.

Gervais + Elmo = Hilarity on 'Sesame Street'

Oh, you lucky audio streamers!

Starting Wednesday, my favorite radio personality in the entire universe, T. D. Mischke, will be streaming live via Minneapolis website citypages.com.

He was let go from his home station of almost fifteen years back in December. It broke my heart.

But now he's back!

Here's an article from the Atlantic Monthly about Mischke. It was written in 2000, which is just two years after I became one of his faithful listeners. It's great.

I've been on the air with Tommy twice, once as a listener calling in on one of his no-topic shows, and once as a guest following the first season of Mad Men. Let me tell you: Being on his show as a guest was among the highlights of my adult life.

I. Love. This. Guy.

Please check out his first show on citypages.com, Wednesday, March 3, at 2pm Central. You can find it here.

I'm going early to a meeting so I can be home in time. So we can listen together.

So glad to have you back, Tommy.

RE: Michael's "challenge" from yesterday.

Did you see "Big" Michael's "scary" "challenge" in the comments of yesterday's post?

Here's what I just wrote on that other blog:

Don’t worry. This will be settled shortly.

And you will all have a voice in the matter.

It will take time to assemble all of the necessary elements, but rest assured: It’s happening.

Hey, do you smell that? Mikey’s sweating somewhere.

Keep your eyes peeled. There's a storm a'brewin'.

How dare you, Sir.

In a recent interview, Michael Gladis, ex-friend and current jerk, had this to say about me:

You already know what a geek Rich Sommer is. Do you know that he is one of the foremost experts in the world on Uno? He’s literally been quoted in books about like games because he has one of the most extensive Uno collections in the world, and sold it with a friend of his. That is how big a geek Rich Sommer is. ... I think there’s very definite geek compartmentalization and specialization. And he’s definitely gone towards the board game end.

Well, la-di-dah Mr. High-and-Mighty. At least I wasn't interviewed in Chess Life.

And in response to your accusation, I give you this: My two-hour interview with BoardGameGeek.

That'll show you how big a nerd I'm not. Not.

Wait.

Crap.

I think I may have proved his point.

Ah, screw it. Michael's still a jerk. Even if he's right.

Also, in more me-news, did you see that I was in The Enquirer in December? No? Well, here's the hot and dirty scoop:

Scandalous!

 

Sigh.

Improv Everywhere is one of the main reasons I miss living in New York.

They make New York a better place.

High Five Escalator

I think I figured it out.

I finally figured out how to do Vegas.

1. Attend the SAG Awards the night before you go. And try to take home a statue.

2. Get up early to hop on your plane.

3. Leave the baby with your over-generous and under-informed dad.

4. Spend much of the day rehearsing and playing craps.

5. Have a lovely dinner with your Lovely Wife.

6. See Penn & Teller at The Rio.

7. Spend about an hour and a half backstage with Penn & Teller, not saying much, but smiling and nodding, and realizing that if your 13-year-old self knew that this would ever happen, your tiny brain would have melted out of your tiny skull.

P, me, and T.

8. Spend the next day freaking out about the night before, and preparing for your show that night.

9. Decide to take Penn's adamant advice and see Tom Jones.

10. Learn what a "man" is, and know that you will never fully be one.

11. Perform your tiny part in your tiny show and have a ball.

Sound check.

12. Stay up late and hug your friends.

13. Head home and realize that it just doesn't get much better than this.

So, that was okay.

Package, much?

Last night was ridiculous. Among the top moments:

1. Seeing Emily Blunt, Anne Hathaway, and Meryl Streep for the first time since the premiere of Prada. And they were all as lovely and wonderful as I'd remembered.

2. Having the main topics of any conversation center around, in order: a) my appearances on The Soup, and b) winning a SAG Award.

3. Winning a SAG Award.

Incredible, incredible night.

More later. I have to get on a plane to Vegas in 26 minutes.

SAG Awards.

Hi, all.

Mad Men is nominated for three Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series (Jon Hamm) and Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series (Elisabeth Moss).

Also Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Blog (me).

(hahahahahahahahahahahahahahhhhahahaaahahahahahahah i've still got it!)

Please to watch and root for us!

Sunday, January 24, at 8/7 Central, on both TNT and TBS.

Fingers crossed!

The Actor