Army of One

One last word on Monday's blackout...

When the power shut down around 1 p.m. yesterday, most of us in the Variety newsroom got up from our desks and started milling around. Did the terrorist threats come true? Would our computers be down for hours? And, most importantly, where are we going for lunch to sit this thing out?

One thing was clear: With our computers down, we were immobilized. Useless. Work was going to grind to a halt.

Then, from my desk, I heard the noise. Clack, clack, clack.

I walked closer -- it was coming from Army Archerd's office.

Clack, clack, clack.

I peered in: There was Army, typing away at a manual typewriter.

Clack, clack, clack.

Yup. While the rest of us didn't know what to do with ourselves, Army -- who's still at work, even though his "Just For Variety" column recently ended after 53 years -- wasn't gonna let a piddly power outage stop him from pounding out a story. Apparently we all can still learn a thing or two from him.