DO YOU REMEMBER SATURDAY MORNING CARTOONS?

From days of long ago............

From uncharted regions of TV channels......comes a legend, the legend of Saturday morning cartoons!

For those of you not old enough to know, cartoons were something that you couldn't just watch any time you wanted. Especially before streaming media came along like Youtube, Netflix, Hulu, and such, and even before cartoon network and nicktoons tv, cartoons were rare and could only be seen at certain times of the week. Saturday mornings were the prime time to see brand new cartoons, some of which could ONLY be seen on Saturday mornings.

Keep in mind that Television was set up differently 30 years ago. Nickelodeon was in its infancy and believe it or not, they had none of their own cartoons and very few other cartoons. Cartoon network didn't exist yet so you couldn't just watch cartoons all day. Even after school, cartoons were hard to find. Disney Channel used to have day time cartoons but the big problem here was that the Disney Channel was a pay channel, just like HBO and Cinnemax. If you wanted it, first you had to have cable, THEN you had to order and pay extra just to have it, something not everybody did. Cable was its own thing and not everybody had that. Satellite dishes were all alone and they didn't have companies like Directv or DISH. So where were all the cartoons?

Saturday mornings! If you had cable or not, everyone still got NBC, CBS, and ABC. As for Fox, it wasn't around either but later I'll explain how Fox used cartoons to pol-volt into a major network. For a kid there was nothing better than waking up on your day off from school and watching TV all morning with shows JUST FOR YOU! Kids weren't catered to as much as they are now, like I said before, we didn't even have a network that was just cartoons for us to watch.  Each channel had its own lineup and they all competed for children viewers. ABC is owned by Disney (not sure if you know that) but they had a lot of Disney cartoons that you couldn't find anywhere else.

At the end of each network cartoon morning came a finale show that really just topped off the end of the morning and helped to transition into a slightly older viewing audience. Saved By the Bell was one of these, Pee Wee's Playhouse was another. These live action shows were geared towards kids but they came at the end of a long line up of cartoons.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions.....
With NBC, ABC, and CBS all fighting  for ratings a kid has a really tough choice on what to watch. ABC had the upper hand in the Disney shows but that didn't mean NBC and CBS were fighting for second and third place, no, on the contrary, each kid has his or her own preference and in some households you didn't miss a certain show. I would guess that in most houses, like ours, you flipped back and forth to what you liked the best in that time slot, giving you 3 choices. (before FOX)

I'll now take you through a typical Saturday morning in the 1986-1987 season as I chose what to watch. First show of the day was Wuzzles on ABC, a Disney cartoon that was created to help push their stuffed animals, the Wuzzles, although short lived, was a must watch considering the alternatives. Next you had a choice, would it be The Gummi Bears or the Care Bears? Surprisingly the Gummi Bears were on NBC even though it was a Disney cartoon. Disney had two bear cartoon shows on at the same time but on different channels.....genius for marketing, HOWEVER a bad move for ratings because clearly Gummi Bears was a must watch, leaving ABC to pick up the scraps of younger viewers with their Care Bear show. (A year later "Care Bears" was exclusively shown on The Disney Channel, making it inaccessible for us nonpaying customers.)

Next, at 9:00 am things got tough. You really had to put thought into the next one. Smurfs on NBC, Muppet Babies on CBS, and Flintstone Kids on ABC.....shit just got real. I watched all 3 but our house was a Smurf house and you didn't miss the Smurfs in our house. However the Smurfs had an hour and a half block so you could watch the Muppet Babies and when it was over switch back to the Smurfs. None of that mattered because at 10 on ABC came the Ghostbusters and I always wanted to see that. After that you had a toss up between Pound Puppies and Punky Brewster.

By 11:00 am TV was starting to get old and you could really sense an end to your morning cartoon day. This is when Pee Wee's playhouse came on CBS and it was something you didn't want to miss, unless Alvin and the Chipmunks was good. Either way Bugs Bunny and Tweety was just one thing I never cared to watch and although this is a complete guess, it must have been swallowed up in the ratings for that time period.

At 11:30 am I was usually tapping out but CBS did have a cool show they put on here, it was called CBS Story Break, and if I was still watching TV at this time I knew it was the end of my day. It was a cool cartoon show that had a new and different story each week. Like most of these Saturday morning shows, the opening title sequence and theme song was the best and the only part worth watching. Of course this was in 1986-1987, in 1988 CBS Story Break came on at 12:30 and it stayed there for years and remained my clear signal that the cartoon day was over.

In 1988 at 10:30 CBS introduced us to Garfield and Friends, a new favorite and one we never missed. The only thing it was up against was the cartoon Alf, and we all knew that show was a sick joke compared to the true real-life Alf that we all knew and loved. We also got "Hey Vern, It's Ernest!" Which came on at a 11, being a live-action show that signaled the end was near to our cartoon day. My older sister and I were big fans of Ernest and we always enjoyed this one.

In 1989 NBC put Saved By the Bell on at 11:30 and there was NO other choice. One simply did not turn on the TV at 11:30 am and miss Saved By the Bell. Unlike most of the other "end of the dayers" kids actually looked forward to this one. But now we were on the doorstep of the 90's and an end of an era was in sight, although none of us could see it.

By this time adults started to get wise to what kids liked on TV. In 1990 Nickelodeon had exploded in popularity and dubbed themselves, THE FIST NETWORK FOR KIDS. What do kids like? Cartoons, and why wait for Saturday mornings when they could be putting stuff on during the day, after school, AND on weekends? Besides that, there was a new channel in town. FOX.

Fox was a brand new station and needed to play catch up, but instead they decided to turn things upside down by gaining an audience no one else really cared about until now, kids! Fox put cartoons on all morning and right after school, this had our attention and honestly they did have some pretty good shows. So when it came to Saturday mornings, they were already right in the thick of things! And although NBC, CBS, and ABC had far superior cartoon shows, "Bobby's World," a FOX original, was watched frequently in our home.

Although at this point in my life Saturday morning cartoons were seeming less important and other things had my attention, there were some pretty awesome shows that appeared during these years. Some notable ones were "Hammerman," that was M.C. Hammer's superhero cartoon show, "Wish Kid," that was Macaulay Culklin's cartoon show, "Where's Waldo," a cartoon made from the idea of the popular books, and "Back to the Future," a cartoon version of the movies. This was also when you could see NEW episodes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The Saturday line up desperately tried to keep viewers interested but with so many more options during weekdays, the excitement just wasn't there. I would watch the Ninja Turtles 5 days a week after school, why would I want to watch it again on Saturday morning? It's like being forced to finish your ice cream before you can have some cake. Perhaps I was just getting older and cartoons weren't as appealing to me anymore? I think more accurately the face of TV was changing.

 Kids got their cartoon fixes everyday after school and whenever they wanted from Nickelodeon, who, by the way, was starting to make their own brand of cartoons called, "Nicktoons," in 1991. These cartoons were shown at night in prime time instead of Saturday mornings. Then in 1992 the dagger was sunk deep into the heart of Saturday morning cartoons when the Cartoon Network was launched. 24 hours a day of nothing but cartoons made Saturday mornings seem so unimportant and nothing special, and honestly at this point, that was true.

Cartoon Network also was the beginning of the end for the USA Cartoon Express, an idea of putting a block of cartoons on in the early evening. This had always been the odd man out with its strange time slot and bad cartoons but the once odd man out was now becoming the norm and early evening cartoons were being shown on many stations. USA was a cable network so it didn't really have an impact on the early 80's TV audiences. USA lost most of it's Hanna-barbara cartoons when Turner bought them, taking them away from USA and straight to the Cartoon Network.

It was the beginning of the end. In 10 short years there would be a channel souly for Nicktoons, the cartoons made my Nickelodeon and the demise of Saturday morning cartoons would be a distant memory that no one remembered. No longer do kids anticipate Saturdays like they once did. No longer will kids know the excitement of getting to see brand new shows ONCE a week. Saturday morning cartoons will go down in my generation's memories as a thing of the past that was made extinct by technology and changing times. We will always look back fondly on these mornings.

I for one can still remember lying on the living room floor watching the claymation beginning to Pee Wee's Playhouse, enjoying every second of the opening theme song and hearing my dad yell at me to turn off that crap.

Kids today are totally missing out on an event they'll never have the privilege of knowing, but that's just my two cents.

Resturant Review: Cacharel, Arlington Texas

I am going to review the fine dining venue, Cacharel in Arlington Texas.

I was looking for somewhere fancy and classy, the place I was hoping the Reunion Tower would have been. (Read my review of the Reunion Tower to get the whole story on that DUMP.) I haven't been able to find the place of my sophisticated and classy dreams....UNTIL NOW!

Trust me when I say Cacharel IS the place you're looking for if you want a fine dining experience, and I carefully and purposely use the word experience, because that is EXACTLY what you'll get when you dine there, and I use the word DINE because that is EXACTLY what you'll be doing there, not eating, not hanging out, but dining. This place is the romantic, old world restaurant that is perfect for an elegant night on the town or special occasion.

When you first arrive at Cacharel you will notice it is on the 9th floor of a 9 story building. This makes the view the best in all of Arlington. Not nearly as high as the Reunion Tower, HOWEVER, the view actually was ten times better for ten reasons. The second you step off the elevator you realize very quickly that this place is going to be fancy. When I walked in they addressed ME, not the other way around. They called me by my name, (i had made a reservation before hand), I didn't have to say who I was and that I had reservations there, I was COMPLETELY IMPRESSED at this point and this was the first minute. They told us we had to wait just a few minutes, which surprised me because I could see many empty seats plus I had made reservations. We waited in a very high class area with leather sofas and fine art on the walls. We were told we had to wait because they were getting a very special table ready for us, ok, I forgave them for this wait, IF it were true. It was true. Our table was a table set for two in a corner with two big windows, very cozy, romantic, and secluded enough to be personal but open enough to still feel part of the restaurant, in a word.....perfect. The view was wonderful as well, you could see all of Arlington lit up at night and Dallas in the distance. Right away we knew what kind of a night we were in for, and it was the first 5 minutes.

The atmosphere was exquisite, that's right, I said exquisite and for the first time in my life I get to use that word to describe something. The lighting was low not just to create an ambiance, but so you could see out of all of the windows without an annoying glare, UNLIKE the Reunion Tower. There was classical music playing, should you expect anything less??? No, you shouldn't. The tables had elegant table cloths and EVERYONE sitting at them was dressed up, not a single pair of jeans in the entire place. At this point our waiter approached us with the menus.

Here is the difference between real waiters and the ones we are all used to. This waiter was a true waiter, he didn't bring us water, he didn't bring us the bread, he knew what he was doing and he did it well. He was overqualified to do his job and THAT'S who you want waiting on you. Oh he knew his stuff and his timing was perfect, there was NO waiting, NO rushing, NO wondering where he was or what he was doing. He explained the menu and the food, after we ordered the wine, which he got RIGHT when he brought it to us, we looked over the menu and the others brought us bread and filled our water glasses. We were being waited on hand and foot the way you would expect, UNLIKE the Reunion Tower.

The menu was amazing in itself. It is changed DAILY and seasonally. The date was printed right on the page which proves that it is changed daily. Everything on it sounded so good and they had classics like lobster and steaks, but I went with the pork chop. This was no ordinary pork chop, it was a huge, so thick and cooked so perfectly I was confused at how they did it. There was a sauteed mushroom sauce and it was all on top of mashed potatoes. It was by far the best pork chop I've ever had in my life. When I first bit into it I was shocked because I thought it was raw in the middle, but after a few chews I realized that it wasn't raw, it was cooked perfectly and was sooooooo juicy I had first thought it was raw. Yes the three course meal was expensive but I have never had a Caesar salad made like that before, everything was hand made from scratch, not a single boxed prepackaged frozen food item in the whole kitchen. And it showed.

All in all I give the Cacharel an A+ for the view, atmosphere, ambiance, and class. I give it another A+ for the food, arguably the most important part of any restaurant. I give it an A+ for our waiter, Captain Chris and for the service. I give it an A+ for location, it was only 15 minutes from home and being on the top floor of a tall building gave it that little something extra special. For the Cacharel as a fine dining experience I give it my best score ever, an A+++. If you want a romantic, classy, refined, cultured, special night with excellent food, service, and atmosphere, then there is ONLY one place that can give you all this and more. Cacharel. Do yourself a favor and make a reservation tonight, as for me I'll be getting ready to make one for Valentines Day because there is no where better for a romantic evening, but that's just my two cents.

Restaurant review: REUNION TOWER, DALLAS TEXAS

One of the most recognizable and famous buildings in all of Dallas is the Reunion Tower, located in downtown Dallas. It actually is a revolving restaurant, the kind you see in tv and movies and think, are those things real? Well, yes, yes they are. This giant ball spins and you can see all of Dallas lit up at night while you dine on expensive food! The perfect spot for a fancy, romantic, memorable evening, right? WRONG. This place SUCKS and I'm going to share exactly why I think so.

As you might expect, a restaurant that rotates so you get a 360 degree view of a beautiful city would have a very high class expensive menu, and Reunion Tower is no exception. Shouldn't the food be wonderful for the price of it? You would think so but not here. I may be getting ahead of myself, let me start from the beginning.

I had reservations, as you know a classy restaurant takes reservations and it's part of the fun and experience. At the door, and by door I mean the bottom of the tower, we were stopped by a guard asking if we did in fact have reservations because if not, we could not start our ascent. This part was actually cool and I was able to say, why yes, yes I do have reservations! He just got done stopping a family from trying to go up to the top so right away I was pleased. Unfortunately this is where the good things ended for the evening.

Once you arrive at the top of the tower and get off the elevator I was surprised that my first reaction was to how loud the place was. It sounded like a sports bar or the inside of a restaurant kitchen, this surprised me because I was expecting a romantic quiet enchanting evening, not a club scene. Excuse me for being a romantic but nothing says NO romance like a sports bar. It was at this point when I spotted my first, (but not my last) person wearing jeans, which was a strict rule in their dress code, NO JEANS ALLOWED. Well, there were a ton of jeans up there and quite honestly, that pissed me off. Have some class. OR go to a sports bar where they love jeans and eat wings, I wanted a fancy classy romantic dinner and jeans have no place in that kind of setting.

The place was packed, not just with people, but tables and the entire area was very cramped and small, this also surprised me, I'm not sure why I expected more room but in my mind I did. I think the reason was simple, more people, more money, so let's cram as many people as we can get in at one time to make the most money off of them. Well that sucks for being romantic when people are very close to you and it's very loud because there are so many people. There is an actual bar area and people were standing there drinking and watching baseball on some big tv's. Again, this surprised me because I didn't expect a bar scene up there.

 We were led to our "table" I use the term loosely because it was the size of a chess board. Not only was it small but I kid you not, it wasn't even near a window......................right................not near a window............in a rotating tower made for the view, the table was not next to the window................seriously..............honestly, not near a freaking window people! First of all, what the hell??? Why would there be tables not next to a window in that place? I was actually kind of furious at this point because the mini table was facing a WALL, but don't worry folks, it was a glass wall so I did get a great view of the people eating in front of me! When I wanted to see the view I had to look beside me and right over the next table, (that one was right up against the window) and the poor people just had to deal with me looking right over their over priced dinner. Even had I been placed at a window table the view wasn't that great because there were so many lights inside that it caused major glare so I saw some of the city with myself looking back at me for most of the night. Now at this point I said to myself, wait just a damn minute.....I had a reservation and THIS is the table I get??? Please excuse my vulgarity but the Reunion Tower gets a big FUCK YOU for that one.

Now in comes the worst part of the night, the waiter, Vince. The biggest dickhead asshole waiter I have EVER had at any place including fast food places. He started out by bringing us the wrong wine, thanks Vince, you horse's ass, I'm sure he didn't care, after all wine is so cheap and all, why not pay for the wrong kinda. Next he brought us the menu, wait until you hear about this! We will come back to Vince as there is much more to say about this spineless prick later.

The menu attempted to be upscale and fancy and as we know rich people eat the worst tasting food. The menu wanted to be Asian cuisine as many of their specialties were Asian sounding but in the end it just all sucked. We both ordered the overpriced salmon. No where did it mention this dish being a spicy one, I know that for sure because I especially avoided spicy food as I can't stand it and it causes acid reflux in me. They brought out a complimentary tiny plate of asparagus covered in God knows what and it really sucked and made us honestly question if it was just left overs from some other guest's plate. The 40 dollar salmon came and it was about 4-5 inches long. 40 dollars......for that, I know. EACH, not for both, each tiny salmon dinners were 40 bucks but hey they came with a bowl of white rice, the most elegant of all rices I suppose??? Uncle Ben's rice to be exact, that is if I had to guess, it was that quality. I take one bite and I have to reach for the water as I start to gag with the amount of hot spice in my mouth. This salmon was COVERED in that stupid Japanese hot sauce shit, what's it called? Wasabe? I was pissed but thought the next bite would be better.....nope. I said, there is no way I can eat this, it's far too spicy for me. Not the waiter's fault, but for my taste it is just too spicy. Now, when I pay 40 dollars for a bite sized piece of salmon and it sucks ass, I expect to get treated like a king with apologies and offers of something else or the meal being free. Note, I would not have taken any of these offers but I did EXPECT them to be made. NOT A SINGLE FUCKING WORD FROM VICE THE FUCK FACE.

After a long time I hadn't had more than one bite, this was clearly obvious. I know what you're saying, why didn't you tell the waiter? Why didn't he ask when he came to check on us? Good questions you guys! Number one, Vice the dick NEVER CAME TO CHECK ON US ONE TIME. And two, at the end of the night if the person didn't eat their dinner at all, they shouldn't have to say anything to anyone about it, it should have been asked to them by the waiter because it's their job and it's the restaurant's job to please the customer. Now I'm starting to get mad because this isn't Denny's for crying out loud, it's the nicest place in Dallas!!! Where is the service??? Let me tell you where Vince was, after all I had a perfect view of this cockbag through my invisible wall.

Vince is walking around and I see him through my glass wall and I see him spot my plate of uneaten food and me sitting there looking pissed. He then ROLLS HIS EYES, stops in his tracks and turns around and walks the other way. I can only assume he has had this happen to him before because I just believe the food at Reunion Tower sucks. I see him talk to a fellow waiter and he actually POINTS AT ME, again, I know this because of my clear wall, and I see that guy look over. Soon it's time to clear the table, so now I know Vince will have to confront me and IF I was going to be nice, that went out the window. Low and behold, Vince himself does NOT come to clear the table, the other waiter he was talking to does, and this guy doesn't say one word about the uneaten food, he just takes the plate and leaves. I was like, WOW, really??? What a pussy Vince is but surely he has to return with the check right???

I'm waiting for Vince and then he walks by and just slaps down the check without me even seeing him because he did it behind my back!!! I was like, WHAT THE....WHERE DID THAT COME FROM....I paid for both dinners because that is how I am. They weren't worth 40 bucks each and the service wasn't worth a cent but I paid and placed the check right in front of me on the other side so he would have to take it in front of me. Vince quickly walked by and grabbed the check off the table without saying one word and without stopping, he just walked by and grabbed the bill in one smooth motion. What a dick head. Vice I hope you read this some day, you're a jerk.

 For those of you wondering I did give Vince a tip, the standard 15% on our bill. Overall the entire dinner bill was over 100 bucks. I spent 100 bucks to eat white rice. Not worth it in any way. The only cool thing of the night was a guy proposed to his girlfriend right in front of us, I mean I saw it because of my clear wall but that was pretty neat. Other than that, I think this place sucks but that is just my two cents......and 100 dollars.

Extra about Vince. Vince you're a jerk.....you're a jerk. Here I am, trying to have a nice romantic dinner, and you're a shitty waiter that isn't fit to work at Burger King. You're a jerk. Enjoy that big tip you prick, I hope you went home and said, Geez that was a nice classy guy because I didn't deserve any tip, let alone the full tip for a dinner that expensive. He didn't do his job, and what little of his job that he did try to do, he messed up. Without Vine the place still sucked but he just was the icing on the cake. A tip, I should have broken the tip of my shoe off in his ass.

Maybe I sound entitled, maybe I should uppity and rude for wanting to be treated like royalty but the truth is I don't act like that unless the situation allows for it. A place like that should treat you like a king because it's part of the experience, this isn't a sports bar or your local dive. If a place has a dress code and charges you triple digit prices....you should get treated like the most special guest they've ever had, every time you go, by any waiter, on any night, for any reason, period. Reunion Tower did none of these and in fact, did the opposite. I would return someday hoping that this night had only been a fluke, but I don't have high expectations, as I did the first time.

In the end, The Reunion Tower wrote a check their reputation couldn't cash.

BUGS I DON'T KILL

There are some bugs I just refuse to kill. Most of these insects or arachnids have earned my respect and the right to live! Some of them are helpful or useful to mankind and therefore earned a free life pass from me. Others are just plain cool and I wouldn't kill them for that one reason. Honestly I have killed many of these bugs on my list, another reason why I have stopped the killing.

The Lady Bug. 

Look how cute this thing is, who wouldn't like a lady bug crawling around? With their unmistakeable red with black spots, the Lady Bug is a child favorite.
They aren't scary or harmful in anyway and they say they bring good luck. I remember once in college one landed on my pencil and crawled around my hands all class. I then got an A on the test and was it due to the luck of the lady bug?? I sure didn't study so you make your own conclusion! Either way, I won't kill lady bugs.

The Daddy Long Legs. 

Fitting name for such a long legged bug. There is no reason to kill a Daddy Long Legs is there? I can't see any harm to these gentle killers. Did you know that the Daddy Long Legs is the most poisonous of all spiders??? Their venom could easily take down a full grown human and still have enough kill power to do more damage, HOWEVER due to its tiny mouth, the Daddy Long Legs can't bite us, and so we remain safe! Once when I was 4 I remember my dad telling me if you kill a Daddy Long Legs it will make it rain. I didn't believe that cock and bull story and promptly stepped on one, later that day, it rained. It was years before I realized that was just a coincidence.....or was it??? Yes it was, but I still won't kill them.

The Honey Bee. 

Who likes honey? Not a diabetic? Well.....other than that, we all do! And we have the Honey Bee to thank for that sweet secretion that makes our tea ten times better! "But Andrew they sting people so I hate them." Oh ya? Well they die the instant they sting people so it's a fair trade off don't you think?? Besides, Honey Bees only sting if they are threatened and most stings come from misunderstanding, like stepping on a bee or when a bee hive falls on someones head. Honey Bees also spread pollen and without that we wouldn't have fruits for most vegetables, so think about THAT next time you're enjoying some water mellon or carving up a jack-o-lantern, that was a bee's doing. Honey Bees are the only insect that dances as a way of communicating and how can you not be impressed by that?
If you don't mess with them, they won't mess with you and because of that, I won't kill them.

The Praying Mantis. 

Coolest bug on earth??? Find me a better one. How cool are these guys? They are just awesome, they look like aliens and monsters and robots all rolled into one. Also just the word "mantis" sounds awesome. I had one in my apartment once in college. I caught him and put him on the house plant to live, and once I helped him catch a horse fly. They are so unique looking, even for an insect. Here's a crazy fact for you, in this state they are protected and killing one is illegal! So I guess my no kill policy is trumped no matter what, but then again think about it, what other bug does the state have people step forward and say, "don't kill this." I have never killed a praying mantis and I never will.

Spiders.

I know it sounds crazy that a guy doesn't skill spiders, trust me, I'm asked all the time to kill them. But I really like them and I see absolutely no reason to do so. They say if there were no spiders we would be over run with gnats and flies. Well I hate both of those stupid bugs so I say, more spiders! I'm also not afraid of them, owning a tarantula named Webster. It's annoying when people say, "I hate spiders." No, you're afraid of them, big difference, what you hate is your own pathetic child-like fear. Sure there are spiders that can and do kill people but dogs kill people too and you never hear someone calling for their husband to come and step on a chihuahua. I sure don't want to be bit by a spider, many have venom that could kill you, but so many more don't. My tarantula is a very shy, timid, gentle creature and people would know that if they just took the time to get to them. Spider webs can be some of the most beautiful things in nature and its amazing how they make and use them. Like them or not, spiders do a lot for us and for that reason, I'll do them a favor and not kill them. This picture is of a pink toe tarantula, just like mine!

Wooly Caterpillars. 

Also known as wooly bears, these moth caterpillars supposedly tell the weather. Not too many bugs can tell the future but there are people that swear by this belief. I don't think it's true myself, but they were a childhood favorite of mine, always easily caught and shy, they would roll up in your hand, unrolling themselves later to walk across your fingers. They were soft and fuzzy and very recognizable in their red and fastidious black. I have always liked these guys and in the early fall time when they are crossing the road I intentionally try to miss them and will swerve out of the way. Think that's going too far? There is a place that holds a wooly bear festival every fall to celebrate these little guys.....that may be going too far. I see no reason to kill them. 

Lightning Bugs. 

Or fire flies, have butts that light up, how cool is that? As a child I used to spend many summer nights murdering these bugs for no reason, as many kids did. I also caught them in jars. Our back yard always had lightening bugs flying around during the summer nights. Now that I'm older I have come to appreciate the skill that must come with lighting up an entire part of your body. It's very impressive. Did you know that the glow worm is the larvae of the lightning bug? They are harmless but I've killed so many in my lifetime that now, I won't kill a single one. What would summer be for a child without lightning bugs? 

Butterflies. 

First known as "flutter bys," which makes a million times for sense, are on the list of bugs I won't kill. Give me one good reason why anyone should kill a butterfly? There are none. They are peaceful, graceful, delicate, flower suckers and really neat to watch if you ever get the chance. They also do some pretty amazing things, such as migrating 1,000's of miles. I remember my dad hit a butterfly with his car's radio antennae on the way to Pittsburgh, this butterfly was wrapped around the antennae for 2 hours and when we stopped in Pittsburgh, it actually got off and flew away. The butterfly has definitely earned a spot in my no kill zone. And I ask you, what would old women get tattoos of if we had no butterflies?? 

Well there you have it, the list of bugs and the reasons why I just don't kill them. Every once in a while I'll add another bug to the list but as for now, the rest will get smashed and squashed and killed without the slightest hesitation. What bugs are on that list? Ants, wasps, moths, gypsy moths, gnats, and mosquitos just to name a few. 

HOW DID RICHIE RICH DIE AND BECOME CASPER???

So when you look at Richie Rich and Casper side by side it's pretty obvious that Casper is in fact, the ghost of Richie Rich. 

So the question now is....how did he die??? Richie Rich was known as the richest boy in the world and Casper was known as the friendly ghost (a rip off of another friendly ghost but that's another blog) but what caused Richie Rich's death? An accident, a rare childhood disease, suicide, murder??? The mystery has been surrounded by secrets for years UNTIL NOW when I shall uncover the mysterious death of beloved Richie. 

There are few clues out there about the death of Richie Rich for me to find when I searched HOWEVER you'd be shocked and horrified at what I could come up with when I had to. Here are a few nightmare scenarios for you to think about. Each one a very probably cause of death for our poor richest kid in America. 

Scenario 1. SUICIDE

Was it possible that Richie Rich was so depressed that he would take his OWN LIFE? This reporter thinks so. I know, I know, if you had all the money in the world wouldn't you be so happy that killing yourself would NEVER enter your mind? Maybe, but consider the fact that if you have everything, what do you have to look forward to or live for? Richie may have been so lonely and bored with all of his things that he started to glamorize death. This picture proves that the only joy Richie got out of life was reading morbid literature and fantasizing about death and the after life. Note the amount of money Richie had, so much he just SAT on it like a freakin chair because he had so much of it he didn't know what else to do. Yes, killing himself would make a lot of sense, BUT there is more than one way to kill a child. 

                                                 

Scenario 2.  FATAL ROBOT ACCIDENT.

Richie Rich was so rich (how rich was he!?) He was so rich that he actually had robotic engineering decades before it became public practice to get dressed by a robot. Surely the robotics of the previous century weren't as good as they are today. Perhaps one day there was a terrible accident and the robotic hands that once dressed this little boy tore him limb from limb or at the very least, strangled him to death. We see here in this file photo that the tie is getting tied awfully tight around his plump little neck. Yet, there are many ways to die accidentally and when you live the life of a super billionaire, you're bound to be involved in some risk taking behaviors. 

Scenario 3.  SHARK ATTACK. 

A favorite past time of any rich person is taking costly vacations to tropical destinations, PERHAPS one such vacation turned out to be VERY costly for Richie Rich indeed! Richie Rich always had dumb ideas and indulged in them. Being dragged along in the middle of the ocean by a cruise ship can only be classified as a bad idea, but Richie wouldn't see it this way. I can only assume that the bright gold color of his dingy produced massive amounts of sharks and Richie Rich ended up being shark bait. I saw Jaws, it doesn't take much to get eaten by a shark. 

Scenario 4. FREEZES TO DEATH IN ALASKA. 

Keeping up with the expensive vacation idea, Richie Rich frequents Alaska as one of his favorite hot spots, which in fact turns out is not hot at all but in reality, pretty damn cold. Richie Rich, being a diva must tan on the hour every hour, even in sub zero temperatures. Despite all the warnings from his eskimo tour guide, he attempts to soak up some rays from the midnight sun, and in a matter of seconds, freezes to death. On the verge of death himself, the eskimo tour guide has no choice but to feed Richie's frozen carcass to his sled dog team in order to survive. (There was no scientific evidence to suggest this last part of the scenario but you have to admit it sounds pretty likely.) 

Scenario 5. SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE 

Richie certainly would have had many young girls after him. Knowing he could never find anyone that truly loves him for who he is and NOT just for his money, he becomes a man-whore. Richie sleeps with every girl he meets and many high-class hookers. Eventually this lifestyle catches up with him and he gets a case of full blown aids. All the money can't save him from this disease and Richie ends up dying a slow painful death. Keep in mind Richie lived over 60 years ago although his Casper ghost still roams the earth to this day some say, back then they didn't have the same kind of medicine that we do now. 

Scenario 6. STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND 

We now have evidence that support reasons to believe Richie Rich's ship went down off the coast of Costa Rica. With very little survival skills, hell he can't even dress himself without a robot, Richie and his family would have lasted for mere days before thirst and hunger drove them to insanity, far too weak to even act on their crazy urges, Richie Rich and his family would have perished on the beach. And their bones will bleach in the sun. 

Scenario 7.  MURDER 

By the butler, in the kitchen, with the poison sandwich! How would you like to be a slave to the world's biggest spoiled brat? Ask Cadbury, Richie's faithful servant and personal bitch. After years of watching Richie blow his money on stupid things after being paid peanuts by cheap parents, Cadbury decided he couldn't take anymore of it. He was sick and tired of the monetary puns that Richie would use on a daily basis and one day he snapped! So trusted was the butler that he easily slipped rat poison into Richie's daily "sandrich" and watched as he ate his own doom. Most people would kill for the money but Cadbury did it for the cheap thrill of it, (excuse the Richie-esque pun there.) He also got away with it!   

       

                                                                                              

Scenario 8. DRUG OVERDOSE 

Many famous people die of drug overdoses. Could Richie Rich be in this category?? Fact number one, Richie Rich had a thing for the ladies and would get them at any cost (not a pun that time.) Fact number two, for a kid that rich steroids and human growth hormones would have been readily available. Fact number three, Richie clearly had an addictive personality. Fact number four, Richie's favorite thing was showing off, and what better way to show off to prepubescent girls than having huge muscles before any other boy his age? Just look at the chest on this kid, genetics can only do so much for you, this is a body of someone that has been juicing. Richie could have easily become obsessed with using steroids and ended up overdosing on them. 

                                                                             

Scenario 9. HUSTLED THE WRONG GUY 

Richie could do anything he wanted right? Let's just say he stayed home playing on his pool table all day while his friends were in school. He would actually get pretty good. So let's say for the sake of argument that Richie, out of sheer boredom, went from pool hall to pool hall hustling people. No one would suspect a child to be a pool hustler and even less would suspect the amount of money he could put down on a game. Each night Richie suckered some idiot into playing pool with him only to screw them over by beating them and taking their money. One night Richie ended up hustling the wrong person and found himself dead. How likely is this scenario? VERY. 

                                                                            

Scenario 10.  DIED OF OLD AGE

No hold on a second! No way he could have died of old age, he is just a boy! ......or was he? What if Richie Rich used his billions of dollars to keep himself looking and feeling young? What if he was much older than his appearance led on? What if he had that disease Gary Coleman had that made him look like a kid but he was actually an adult? There is a good chance Richie was really Richard Rich and he was an old man the whole time. What if he just died of old age? On a likely scale of 1 to 10, this scenario would be a 10. 

                                                                      

Scenario 11. GETTING HIS HEAD RIPPED OFF BY IRON MAN

Hey, it could happen to anyone. 

                                                                       

Well there you have it, some pretty compelling evidence no? Did I prove that Richie Rich and Casper are one in the same? Absolutely. Did I solve the mystery surrounding Richie's death? Not even close. But what I did do was raise some very interesting questions. Sure there are far more than just 11 ways to die and I did show what scientists would call "overwhelming definitive proof." But I'm not willing to agree with them just yet, because in my eyes this mystery remains unsolved. Is Richie Rich dead? Certainly. Is Casper his ghost? Again the answer is certainly. How he died though remains a secret even to me, the world may never know. I will leave you with one more resounding question, if Casper has not been seen in quite some time is it possible, NAY PROBABLE, that he is now in hell? I think again, I answered my own question with this last bit of evidence. 

                                          

CARLISLE CAR SHOW, THE CHRYSLER NATIONALS

My weekend at the Chrysler Nationals was very eventful. I met a lot of great people, I saw a lot of great cars, I had a lot of fun, but most importantly my Challenger got to do what it loves most of all, sitting there getting attention.   Click on any pic to enlarge it. 

The Chrysler Nationals at Carlisle PA is one of the biggest car shows around and when it comes to MOPAR, some say it's the biggest in the country. People came from all over to go be in this show. I saw license plates from PA, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan, Illinois, Virginia, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Kentucky, Alabama, Minnesota, Maryland, Florida, Ohio, and Ontario Canada! I'm sure there were more, but those are the ones I actually remember seeing. There is so much to do and see there that one day just doesn't cut it, that's why I was there for all three days. I had my Dodge Challenger in the show so many people got to see it and they would stop and talk to you, again I met some very nice people. There are 110 Dodge Challengers in this picture, let alone the others you can't see, plus the others spread out of the other parts of the show AND not to mention that this was taken on Friday and on Saturday there were even MORE. The grass you can see and where that dude is standing was full of cars. Can you spot mine? Good luck. 

One person I met was Sonny Shroyer HIMSELF! You all will remember Sonny as Enos Strate from The Dukes of Hazzard. I've been watching that show since I can remember, and I got to tell Mr. Shroyer himself that fact. I also invited him back to my Challenger because I tried to lure him there so I could get a picture of him in my Challenger but he was too smart for me and made up some excuse of why he would just come by later! haha, he never showed up. BUT I got his autograph plus an amazing memory that will last me a life time. 

Where else can you see several General Lees in one spot?? Not too many places and a view like this is almost impossible in day to day life, but not at the Chrysler Nationals! Here it was like being in Hazzard county and I have the mullet pictures to back that up. 

Showing my Challenger was really fun. I didn't have to win a trophy. When I saw a family come up to my car, and their young boys lined up in front of my car to have their pictures taken while giving the thumbs up accompanied by huge smiles, well I knew awards didn't matter then. I'd like to point out to the winners that THOSE KIDS chose MY CAR out of over 100 cars to take their pictures in front not one of the "winners" of the show, so you know what?? I'm the real winner aren't I? Also check out this picture, which car is this random guy taking a picture of??? Mine. I'm allowed to be partial. 

The burn out competition was really cool to watch. I just happen to have the winner right here doing his winning burn out. Believe it or not, this is his daughter's car. 

There was Dyno testing if you wanted to test your car. This guy was testing out his horse power, but something tells me he already knew exactly what he was making...I just think he wanted everyone else to know too! 

Notice the HIS and HER license plates. These cars are owned by a very nice Canadian couple. They actually both bought the same car and then were annoyed when they kept running into each other at car shows. Eventually they got to know each other and like each other and one day fell in love. They are now married and travel from car show to car show! They were very nice people and coming from Ontario had a very long drive. When I asked whose car had more HorsePower the wife quickly responded with ME, I DO! 

New Challengers weren't the only thing Carlisle had to offer though. As you can see there was a huge assortment of everything MOPAR, including Jeeps. Check out this 1973 Dodge Charger, who on earth would buy a Charger that color??? Well this guy and me apparently! 

Look who is crowning the Daisy Duke contest winner! Who else would know Daisy better than Enos himself??? No matter who won this contest, they can still consider it second place because Catherine Bach will always be number one.

Yes, that says 528 Hemi. It was in a 1968 Dodge Charger. 

Although it did rain and we had some very dark clouds it was still a wonderful weekend. If you're a die hard Mopar fan you HAVE to get to Carlisle, you won't be disappointed. I had a great time and I will be back next year. I only hope to some day drive through those gates in my 1974 Dodge Charger. Until then, I'll keep coming back with my Challenger.