Thanks, Kevin!

I have made it no secret that I love to read the “educational” portion of the newspaper. I am referring, of course, to the comics! A few years ago, when I started my blog, I even devoted a blog to them and talked about many of my favorites. You can read about that here:

One of my favorite strips is Drabble by Kevin Fagan. I feel like I have been reading it since it first came out (1979), and that may very well be true. As I stated in the above blog, I found that I related to those characters a lot. The relationship between the father (Ralph) and the son (Norman) reminded me a lot of the relationship I have with my dad.

Over time, I have found that I relate a bit more with Ralph now. Kevin has drawn some very funny strips about golf featuring Ralph. They always seem to be very close to an experience I’ve had while golfing.

I don’t recall when I found that Kevin was on Facebook, but I sent him a friend request and he accepted it. He and I even had some brief conversations on messenger. I was really surprised that he would chat with me.

Since becoming friends on Facebook, I have learned much about him. He shares a lot of great stories, most of which I had never heard before. He was friends with Charles Schulz, the creator of Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang. You can read that story in a biography for gocomics:

https://www.gocomics.com/blog/2810/kevin-fagan-drabble

Fans of the strip can subscribe to the “Daily Drabble” where Kevin features old strips from the past. He shares a lot of the background inspirations for those strips and talks about the evolution of the characters, too. I have loved seeing so many of those really early strips. They are still funny!

He has a brand new book out that features the Drabble’s dog, Wally.

Subscribers to the Daily Drabble had the opportunity to receive a copy of the book from Kevin. He was more than happy to autograph them for subscribers. Today, mine came in the mail. He even drew a picture:

How very cool to have this! What an honor it is to call Kevin a friend!

For 43 years, Drabble has been making readers laugh. It remains fresh and funny today. Just like a good sitcom, I connect with the characters and enjoy the various story lines. I’m happy to add another Drabble book to my library and encourage you to pick one up for yourself!

The world seems to grow a bit darker every day with war, inflation, political nonsense, death, disease and many other depressing things. It is nice to know I can count on a laugh from Ralph, Norman, Wally and the gang on a daily basis. Thanks again, Kevin for a comic institution.

I’m As Mad As Sally!

Earlier today it was reported that all of the Charlie Brown holiday specials will NOT be airing on broadcast TV this year! Instead, it will be moving to Apple TV (a pay service) for viewing. I’m not going to lie, I am sick of all of the various streaming options! I pay for cable and Netflix. Now there is Disney Plus, Hulu, Amazon, and others! CBS and NBC also have their own “pay” services! This just proves it is all about money!

I’m 50 years old, but I have always made it a point to watch the Peanuts specials (and many others). Now, I’m going to be forced to pay to watch it? No, thanks! I’ll go out and buy the specials on DVD. Then I can watch them when I want to! I’ve done the same with many of my favorite TV shows. If you look at my movie shelf, I have my favorites (not all, but most) on DVD.

Growing up, I remember it being a yearly tradition to sit down and watch Charlie Brown’s Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas specials. What a shame that after 60 years on broadcast TV, the almighty dollar has ruined it for kids of this generation!

The Halloween special is just fun. There are some great moments in it. I always thought it was cool that Charlie Brown was actually invited to Violet’s Halloween party! Of course, the story revolves around Linus and his belief in the Halloween entity, the Great Pumpkin. He vows to see the Great Pumpkin and convinces Sally to join him in the pumpkin patch.

I love when the gang goes out trick or treating! One of the things I always laugh at is Lucy’s witch mask! It’s hideous!

When the kids yell trick or treat at one house, the home owner passes out treats and the kids meet at the sidewalk excited to share what each of them got. It is here that Charlie Brown says the funniest 4 words in the special (in my opinion) – “I got a rock!”

As Sally and Linus wait for the Great Pumpkin, the two mistake Snoopy for the Great Pumpkin. Sally realizes that she has missed all the fun of Halloween and at this point loses it! She lets loose on Linus with one hell of a rant:

I was robbed! I spent the whole night waiting for the Great Pumpkin, when I could’ve been out for tricks-or-treats! Halloween is over and I missed it! You blockhead! You kept me up all night waiting for the Great Pumpkin, and all that came was a beagle! I didn’t get a chance to go out for tricks-or-treats, and it was all your fault! I’ll sue! What a fool I was! I could’ve had candy, apples, and gum! And cookies and money and all sorts of things, but no! I had to listen to you. You blockhead. What a fool I was. Trick-or-treats come only once a year. And I miss it by sitting in a pumpkin patch with a blockhead. You owe me RESTITUTION!!

I guess I could easily go off on my own rant about the blockheads who made these classics unavailable to broadcast TV, but what good would it do? In the words of Charlie Brown….”good grief!”

Bedtime Books – Part II

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I usually post a link to my blogs on my Facebook page.  Many of my friends there offered comments about their favorite books.  Many remember chapter books from Judy Blume, The Hardy Boys, The Boxcar Kids, and others.  Some of them, my wife included, reminded me of other “bedtime books”.  So here is a short continuation of yesterday’s blog.

Clifford the Big Red Dog

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There were plenty of Clifford books that I read growing up.  Most of them were hardcovers when I was growing up, but by the time my boys were reading them, they were paperbacks.  I loved reading these.  Dante’ loved watching him on TV (John Ritter was the voice of Clifford).

Curious George

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I think I inherited many of the Curious George books from my aunt.  I remember how much trouble George would cause!  The Man with the Yellow Hat had SOME patience!!  I remember checking out these books from the library in kindergarten.

Winnie the Pooh

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My wife reminded me of Winnie the Pooh.  I think I had a stuffed Eeyore when I was a kid.  I remember so many of his stories.  I think I had the book and record set where you could read along with the records with these because I remember Tigger’s voice!

The Berenstain Bears

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We had SO many of these books!  What I remember about these was that my dad always called them the BerenSTEEN Bears!  I thought that was who they were for years until the TV show was on PBS and the boys watched it.  Only then did I notice that it was STAIN and not STEEN.

Corduroy

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I was reminded of this bear by a Facebook friend.  I remember him, and I may have read this book (and the others), but he obviously wasn’t one who made an impact on me.

Harold

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Harold had a few books, but I remember this one because he drew all over things!  I could relate to this little bald brat!  I drew on many walls, floors, and other places in our house growing up!

Frog and Toad

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I remember reading about these two.  I read a few to Dimitri growing up, and the Youth Theater group here in Flint put on a Frog & Toad play, which was great!  This is one book that I will always make me think of Dimitri.

Thomas The Tank Engine

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Thomas had been around for a LONG time.  Dante’ loved Thomas growing up.  I read him MANY books and he always watched the show!  Thomas and Dante’ go hand in hand for me.

The Little Critter Books

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Here is another one my wife reminded me of.  I can’t believe I forgot these!!  I really LOVED reading these to the boys.  So many great stories!  Of course, Just Me and My Dad was one of my favorite ones!!

Happiness is a Warm Puppy

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I can still remember reading this one as a kid.  I must have read it 300 times.  The binding was ripped, it was falling apart and I still read it.  We always had dogs growing up and it always reminded me of how happy those dogs made me.

Underdog

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From the Little Golden Book collection, I had a few Underdog books that I loved reading!  I used to love watching him on TV.  He was one of the first superheroes I came to know.  I don’t recall this book in particular, but I know I had others that I read nightly.

Babar

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I used to have Babar books – at least 5 of them.  I remember I had to have my mom or dad read them to me.  Why?  Because they were written in cursive!  What kid’s book is written in cursive?!  I remember thinking that it was written in another friggin’ language!!!  These may or may not have been great stories, I really don’t remember because I couldn’t get past the cursive!!

Do any of these remind you of more??  What was YOUR favorite bedtime story?

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