hiway29

Going back to Bluzeman's post, the song he said everyone gets wrong is 'The Weight", ( not 'Take a load off, Fanny')

As usual, it seems that the Angels are not given due respect. It may be because they're too far west, lived in the Dodgers shadow for so long, or they can't settle on where they're from. Don't be surprised if they're there at the end.

I'm conflicted as usual on who I'd like to see. It's genetic for me to root for the Yankees since I lived for them as a kid. Otherwise , I'd love to see the Chisox in the series, and I won't be disappointed if the Angels make it in. I'm even ok with the Bosox, except, it starting to look like the wild card team wins it all more often than not, and that kind of bothers me.

In the National League I guess I like the Cards. The Braves are still a yawner, the Padres are in a division that shouldn't even qualify, and at this writing i dont know if Houston or Phillie gets the wild card.

I still don't quite understand the math, but if they tell me the Yankees won, who am I to argue.

So, if the Sox lose, and the Indians win tomorrow, there's a play off on Monday. At least it's at Fenway-I can't remember when the Sox last played on the road.

It still looks like the Yankees and Bosox are fated to meet yet again this year in the playoffs. Especially if the Yankees play the Chisox, and Boston plays the Angels first. If the Yankees face the Angels first, it could be over for them, and Chicago just may pesky themselves past Boston. That's my 2 cents anyway.

Was happy to see Jeter get 200 hits again, putting him with Lou Gehrig on Yankee stats, which is pretty fast company.

I can see mvp going either way as far as Ortiz and Rodriguez, and am not losing any sleep over it.

Maybe I was a bit harsh. But comparing Bat-Fink to Courageous cat is pretty accurate I think.

That's not to say they're the WORST cartoons. I watched more Courageous Cat than I care to remember as a kid, largely because it was 'created' by Bob Kane, who 'created' Batman. Except Bob Kane wasn't really the creative force behind Batman, and quickly found a way take the credit for the work of others, but that's another story.

For worst cartoon ever, I'd nominate Spunky and Tadpole off the top of my head.

Aren't you all glad I'm back from vacation and rambling on about cartoons again?

Bat-Fink-how could I have forgotten Bat-Fink.

One of the worst cartoons this side of Courageous Cat ever made.

I have-Reggie Jackson

Ortiz is a wonder tho

Hey, I DON'T know who said that-I'll take an 'educated' guess and say Birdman.

I dig your Alex Ross produced 'Green Lantern' avatar, George. DC comics, after a decade of insanity where they 'killed' off most of the characters that made them, found a way to bring ol' Hal Jordan back to life.

They did have kids in 'Get Smart', Sudo, twins if memory serves. I was thinking triplets, but I may be thinking of the triplets in 'My 3 Sons, that Robbie and Katie had ( to maintain the '3 sons', since Don grady appeared very little on the show by that time-which had already been on several years too long-but I digress).

'Get Smart' kinda 'jumped the shark' when Max and 99 got married. It almost became a domestic comedy. The show also switched networks, from NBC to CBS at that point.

I saw Don Adams a few years ago at a 'nostalgia show', where 'has been' tv stars show up to sign pictures and stuff. He was looking poor at the time, with liver spots on his face and hands, but hey, it was still Don Adams.

A fine, fine, comedian.

With the Angels in post season there will be renewed debate on just what to call them. The LA Angels of Anaheim will not flow on national tv.

Personally I was fine with Anaheim Angels, yet I understand the move for marketing purposes. It is all about the money ultimately. If the Rams could be the LA Rams when they were in Anaheim, what's the difference.

It became a huge thorn for the Dodgers tho. They still refer to them as Anaheim on their scoreboard, and their publicity campaign this year is 'THIS is LA baseball.'

If it is, then they should be embarressed. The new Dodger czars dismantled a nice, up and coming team, and fielded a AAA team for most of the year. Yes they had injuries, every team has injuries.

Anyway, the nail biting at Fenway wil start in 2 days. At this point I remind myself that it's only a game, the players are hired mercenaries, millions in China don't care, and the outcome really has no affect on my life at all, except that it makes me feel good if my team wins, and bad for a few minutes if they lose.

Sometimes I think it's all about rubbing other people's noses in it. If your team wins , one can crow and laugh, as if THEY had anything to do about it . That's why I generally stay detached from team hoopla.

Still, the 10 year old Yankee fan does rise to the surface, and I hope they win. I can't say I'm confidant tho.

It doesn't get any tighter than this does it.

Both the Yanks and Sox have the ability to either shine or fall apart. The Sox have to be happy to playing out the season at home though.

The problem with bestowing 'sainthood' on a player is that they usually have more games to play. Babe Ruth's last days as a player were a huge fall from 'godhood'. I doubt that Schilling is that near the end.

I'm still amazed That the yankees are there. They were awful for much of the season, and are still quite capable of coughing up a game.

The real disappointment is starting to look like the White Sox though. What is wrong with Chicago teams anyway?

since noone else will say it here-Let's go Yankees !

I'll be gone the same days as you sudo, only I'm headed for New England. I'm sure the room can use a break from cartoons.

Have a good trip.

well, i woulda listened to Kathy but I don't have the proper coordinates :(-->

I agree Bluzeman, 'The Stand" as a mini series was not the Stand as a book. They rarely are. I have huge issues with 'The Lord of the Rings" films, tho they do have merit.

As far as the 'great white north' theme-I got it in 1 note-but I assumed everyone figured that :)-->

I'm gonna give Kathy a listen now...

I remember being moved when the girl (Frannie?)

played 'Don't Dream it's Over" by Crowded House in the second episode.

I took a drive down Wierwille road a couple of years ago while passing through. I slowed down to take a look at the fountain, and was immediately tailed by security, who bird dogged me until I was well on my way. I thought of pulling over and letting them question me, but I just didn't feel like dealing with it, and I was already weirded out from just going down that road.

I'm still wondering why they let the old roa camping area get overgrown with weeds and bramble. Very un-way like, especially since the rest of the joint looked as obsessively groomed as ever.

Only a guess, but was it for 'The Stand'?

'Space Angel" also had the superimposed lips, tho 'Clutch Cargo' is the classic example. I used to watch Clutch every morning before school, and I have vivid memories of being creeped out, especially by the kid, Spinner. The lips were always so wet looking, with glimpses of tongue.

The Marvel Super Heroes cartoons were done as cheap as is humanly possible, yet I have an affection for them. Forget animation, they were basically moving slide shows, but they shot the art right from the comic books,so alot of the great Jack Kirby, and Gene Colan art was unfiltered.

It was shoddy tho, and a little off setting when they would take say, the Hulk's head out of context from another artist, and throw it in, mish mashing art styles, and anything actually animated was ridiculous.

They did fill in alot of blanks for Marvel's world for me though. I also dug the theme songs. Oddly, they didn't feature Marvel's 2 biggest properties, Spider-Man, and Fantastic Four, but we did get Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Iron Man, and Sub-Mariner.

As far as Warner Bros vs Jay Ward cartoons-Keep in mind that the great Warner cartoons were made for the movie theater, at a much higher budget, and with full animation.

Rocky and Bullwinkle was made for television, with limited budgets and animation, and really should not be compared as far as animation quality.

Bullwinkle, ( as well as other early tv cartoons , Yogi Bear for example)were extremely successful solutions to the limitations set before them. They weren't trying to out Bugs Bugs Bynny-they were just trying to be funny.

And, as is often the case, many of the artists , writers, and actors, spent time at

several studios, and learned to work within the boundaries given them-and it has not changed to this day.

Thanks, George !

And I would love to see 'Fractured

Flickers' again. George's memories are sharper than mine. It was also produced by Jay Ward, and used the same actors (June Foray, Paul Frees, Bill Scott) as in the Ward cartoons.

I wonder if they're avaiable on dvd ?

The lady you're referring to is June Foray, George, one of the best cartoon voice actors ever. Yes, she was the voice of 'Rocky', as well as every female from princesses, to witches.

She also did voices for most of the other studios since the 50's, and is still very much alive and well.

I'm not sure that they never rehearsed, though there was clearly a free spirit atmosphere that June may have been 'embellishing' a bit. As far as I know, Jay Ward never did a voice, and 'Doris' would have been June herself.

I'm headed for the east coast for a week or so, and will gladly turn the board over to other subjects. I really don't plan on being so long winded , or 'know it all'-one post just seems to lead to another.

ala-You certainly have good taste in liking the great Warner Bros cartoons. At their best ,possibly the best ever for laughs and craftmanship.

Noone ever claimed that Rocky and Bullwinkle featured beautiful art. (Though I have to say that I find the simple, graphic designs really interesting and have learned alot by them)

What 'Bullwinkle' especially had was great writing, and top notch voice actors. They appealed to children, even while making their parents chuckle over jokes that went over the kid's heads.

Tooter Turtle was part of 'King Leonardo and His Friends', as was the Hunter.

"Rocky and His Friends", later 'Bullwinkle", featured the cartoons just mentioned by George.

It was some oddball distribution package, that mixed the Rocky and leonardo cartoons in some market.

I'm with you, George, concerning the Fleischer Superman cartoons- a whole other topic.

Cartoon geeks never learned how to use forks and knives. They only eat McDonalds by hand, or Count Chocula by spoon.

Ala- well-no, Casper was not a tool of the spiritualists, unless the producers had religious beliefs that I'm not aware of.

Casper was originally made as a one shot cartoon in the 40's by 'Famous Studios", which was in itself the successor tp Fleischer, which made Poeye,and Betty Boop.

Joe Oriolo, (sic) had an idea for a cute cartoon about a ghost who just wants to make friends, but of course scares everyone unntentionally. When it proved to be somehow popular, a series of Casper cartoons, all on the same theme, were made.

'Harveytoons' was an outgrowth of 'Famous Studios in the late 50's. There was a line of comic books featuring casper( as well as Little Dot, Little Audrey, Sad Sack, and Richie Rich). In order to make the books more interesting, they put Casper in an Enchanted Forest, with new characters such as Wendy, Spooky, The Ghostly Trio, and others. In my opinion there was a charm and innocence to these comic books, that made them ideal for young children. At least I read them when I was 7 years old, and knew it was all make believe.

When they decided to make new Casper cartoons for TV, they borrowed heavily from the comic books, and introduced Wendy and the others to TV.

Unless one just can't accept the concept-there is nothing whatsoever about these cartoons that would lead anyone into spiritualism. Most people in the animation field are too busy churning out work, and trying to last another day, to be so thought out.

When i was in the cult, EVERYTHING was suspect, so it doesn't surprise me that your brother would have heard that, just because there was a ghost and witch .

If anything, those cartoons were SO cute, it would have driven kids to more entertaining fare like the above mentioned Rocky and Bullwinkle-at least that's the affect they had on me.

I should clear up something that is often misunderstood-for those who even care.

Leonardo Lion had nothing to do with Rocky and Bullwinkle-though the art style on both shows have similarities.

There have been some syndication packages that have included Leonardo cartoons with Bullwinkle,and shown in the same half hour, which has led to the belief that they were produced by the same studio.

As much as I like the leonardo cartoons, and I do, they are not nearly as well written, or 'adult', as the world of 'Rocky and Bullwinkle. The Jay Ward studio produced 'Bullwinkle, (and Dudley Do Right, Fractured fairy Tales, Mr Peabody, etc), while another studio , that I can only recall as 'Total television', made Leonardo, Tooter Turtle, The Hunterand the Fox.

It's a common misconception, but if one can't be anal retentive in here, where can one be?

Jay Ward also produced Super Chicken and Tom Slick.

'Total Television', also made Tennessee Tuxedo.