A word to the wise

For several days running I've had a serious problem with my PayPal account. For those happy few of you unfamiliar with PayPal, it's a service which allows you to pay over the internet to sellers who don't have credit card accounts. Recently, I sold some goods (original Soundies actually) and accumulated a fairly large balance in my account, but due to a screw-up on the other end, i.e. at PayPal, I can no longer log into said account. And even when I finally was able, after several days of automated phone hell, to speak to a somewhat seeming human being, and then, eventually to a half-dozen more PayPal androids (supervisors, techies, et al) they were not able to solve the log-in problem. The final party that I spoke with told me that they would transfer the funds to my bank account, but thus far they have not.

As for the log-in problem, the final PayPal pronunciamento was that I should keep trying to log-in and maybe they might be able to eventually solve the problem. Yeah, sure! And I was not able to close my account, because one could only do so via the process of logging in to do so. I couldn't believe my ears. Today, PayPal. Tomorrow, the California Department of Consumer Affairs. When I alluded to the PayPal rep that I was contemplating just such a next move, she advised me to "Go right ahead." Might as well have added, "See if I care."

PayPal: a handy service until a snafu arises. Just remember to always have a spare day or two held in abeyance for voice mail runaround, and a snifter of brandy, or better yet, a bottle of tranquilizers at the ready for just such an eventuality.

PayPal is the devil.

Sue's new

Surfing around the net, I note that the terrific cyber commerce site, Dusty Groove has Sue Raney's fine new CD, "Heart's Desire," available at the unbelievable low price of only 12.99. That's a full five smackers less than amazon.com . How can Dusty Groove do it?
volume
volume
volume . . . I suppose.

Mystery singer.

Listen!
Today, I played this for a friend whose reaction was, "My God, she sings worse than Alfalfa."

Memories 'o Merv

Jazz star Helen Merrill once sang an entire number on the Merv Griffin show, the theme from "All in the Family," which was written by pianist Roger Kellaway. I have always assumed that this might have been Merrill's only major U.S. TV appearance. Could that possibly be? Are we THAT un-hip a nation? It is one of the first things I archived from vhs when I bought my vid burner a while back.

I remember one particular Griffin quip that had me laughing long and hard. A five-year-old Janet Jackson (and her family) was a guest on his show. She kept looking up at him very quizically and he finally said, "You think I'm Big Bird, don't you?"

A pretty hip guy, but I just heard a posthumous anecdote related on TV a couple of nights ago to the effect that Merv recently opened an envelope that contained a rather large check for usage of the Jeopardy theme (which he wrote). He gazed at the check a beat and then asked an associate, "What's a ringtone?"

My friend, singer Bill Black, started out in music at just about the same time as Merv. In fact, Bill worked for him very early on in the latter's game show career. I always thought that if I could "get to" Merv that he would have great tales to tell about my off-the-wall late pal. But the idea of going through those layers and layers of "protection" surely surrounding Griffin proved too daunting for me.

My longtime saddle pal David Ehrenstein was a guest on Griffin's show onetime and has a recollection of Merv's entire musclebound male staff being clad in identical Izod shirts. (You do the math.) The appearance required David to wear a tux. And we were so destitute at the time that he had to roll pennies to pay for rental of the garment. That's how poor we were back then. And prrrrractically still are.