What Were We Thinking?


Happy Halloween everybody.
Last night and the night before that we, as a family, sat down and watched the Halloween classic, It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Afterward, my wife and I were like, why is this a kids classic? My four year old son liked it so much the first time he wanted to see it again and then again the next day. So I had to step back and figure out why my son liked it and why my wife and I said, why?

An adult classic.

Watching It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown as an adult in a politically correct world is weird. Charlie Brown is basically the neighborhood punching bag. Everybody calls him blockhead and he takes it. Dr. Phil could help him I think. Lucy, well she is the neighborhood bully. Yet, nobody ever stands up to her. And where is DCFS when you need them? Pigpen hasn't had a bath in who knows how long and Linus stays out all night until 4am laying in a pumpkin patch unnoticed by any adults. Then you have the war loving Snoopy flying around during WWI shooting his guns like a wild man.

A kids classic.

Any parent knows that when you tell your child not to do something, they automatically want to do that exact thing. We tell our son not to use "ugly" words. Words like shut-up, stupid, and poopy head to name a few. Our guy does pretty well and we believe he understands why. We also know that if he hears others using a designated "ugly" word it means he has found a loophole in the policy. Which is why I think he likes It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. The show is full of shut-ups and stupids. He never heard blockhead before, but now that he knows it is an ugly word I'm pretty sure we'll be hearing that around the house. Mind you, our son is smart enough not to call anyone a blockhead. I just feel bad for the self-esteem of his stuffed animals.

I'm not saying I'm never going to watch this cartoon again. I still like it. I just find it funny how times change. This cartoon would probably never make it to air today as an original kid cartoon. I think as a whole we should realize we a wound way to tight.

I'll have to remember that when my son tells me, "shut-up blockhead".

The Mean Blogger Versus The Hawaiian Bore

If you haven't heard, yawner Steve Dahl is changing stations. Ironically, this whole chain of events started right after I pointed out that Mr. Dahl was boring. Coincidence? Maybe. But, the facts, that I'll use, point to me causing this crazy turn of events.

Fact 1.
9/28/07
I blog about Mr. Dahl being on WGN Morning News. I describe his "act" as tired and boring.

Fact 2.
9/28/07(Later that day....)
In a clear move of insecurity, Mr. Dahl, reads my blog and, as per usual, turns the criticism into a bit about me being "wheelchair mean" instead of dead-on accurate.

Fact 3.
10/02/07
Sun-Times article by Robert Feder , Deathwatch, sites poor ratings for WCKG as a whole and told of a future format change, including a new home for Mr. Dahl. Mr. Dahl in his blog responded by jumping all over Robert Feder. He didn't deny anything however.

Fact 4.
10/26/07
Sun-Times' Robert Feder confirms what he predicted three weeks earlier, Mr. Dahl is moving.

The point I'm trying to make is, Watch Out! This blog has shown it has the power to make things change. Remember the Cubs?

Score.
My blog 2
Cubs 0
Dahl 0.

Who's next?