Lazy Sunday

The weather can't get much prettier and I am soaking it up. After finishing a really tough but fantastic book this morning called The Underneath (I cried like I was reading Charlotte's Web, which is to say a lot), I've spent part of my day relaxing on the patio watching the birds at the feeder. Jeff bought me some new birdseed from Wild Birds Unlimited and the birds are flocking to it. It's amazing what good seed will do. So I'm sitting outside writing and eating a huge salad and watching the world go by. It's an amazing day. Tonight I'll probably continue my reading jag. I've been working on the collected Sherlock Holmes stories for a couple weeks now and I'm completely hooked.

I also did some baking today, some homemade gingerbread cupcakes which are tasty but not quite as gingerbready as I would like. Yes I know it's not a word, but it makes sense right? I've found I enjoy baking. I really want to get into cake decorating eventually but for right now, cupcakes are right up my alley.

Oh and I have to share. Last night Jeff and I were having dinner when I suggested some bad TV. About a year ago I had picked up the first nine episodes of the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon I watched as a kid. We had never watched the DVD though. So last night we sat down and relived a bit of my childhood. The animation was primitive by today's standards and the violence was pretty tame. Jeff was reading that at the time, the show was considered one of the more violent out there. But all we saw were bad guys getting pushed around or tripped, never killed. The dialogue was cliche and Eric the Cavalier drove me crazy, but the show was still fun. I still like the odd way that the baby unicorn Uni spoke (didn't we have such original names in the 80s?). For $5 I think we got our money's worth.

Tomorrow is Labor Day. I'm probably heading to my parent's house for at least part of the day. For all of you out there, don't labor too hard tomorrow. For me, I'll be on the front porch with a book in my hand and some birds at the feeder. I love long weekends.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Okay by the time I'm actually writing this, it is Sunday morning. I've had family in town all weekend and have been busy with them. I figure I can sacrifice some sleep to write. Oh what am I talking about, I'm never in bed before 2 on weekends. 

As I've mentioned a couple times I'm a huge fan of animation. Originally that was simply Disney films but over the years I have developed a love for all types of animation. Perhaps the same part of my brain that adores children's books, is stimulated by a simple animated film. I had started reading Adam Rex's blogs a year ago or so. And Adam Rex led me to Irene Gallo at Tor. Tor is a wonderful fantasy/Sci-Fi publisher and Irene works with the art side of the business. Let me think, fantasy and artwork. A perfect combination for me. 

And then I found the Saturday Morning Cartoon segment of the blog. I spent a couple days watching each of the animated features. Irene adds a new pair either weekly or every other week. Recent addition Al Dente is classic animation telling the very disturbing and sweet story of a little girl outsmarting a giant. One Rat Short, posted back in October 2008, is one of the saddest, most emotionally complex 10 minutes I've ever seen. I has more personality than some full length features I've seen. How Wings Are Attached to the Backs of Angels is disturbing, dark, and oddly hypnotic. Space Alone is very sad but cute. And Wind Along the Coast or When the Day Breaks just make me happy for reasons I can't describe. Any of the films posted is wonderful in their own way. 

And Knowing is Half the Battle

Okay, I'm going to sound old and crotchety for a moment but....leave my childhood alone!!!! I grumbled a little when Care Bears returned to the stores. I outright laughed when I saw Strawberry Shortcake toys. I even cast aspersions on the Transformer movie with its new merchandise (Hello Bumblebee is a Beetle). But this has now gone too far. They are making a live action film of G.I. Joe. Why can't you leave my childhood in peace????

I've always been a big believer in new stories and new ideas so this premise is pretty repulsive to me on that level. Why can't movie makers come up with their own ideas rather then raid old 80s cartoons? But beyond that, why must every cartoon or toy I ever loved be recycled into some variation of itself and sold to today's kids. I know what will happen. This movie will come out amid a flurry of merchandising. All the kids toys will be huge, hulking, muscle bound figures, completely unlike the more lifelike and honestly more fun figures that I collected as a child. Oh fear not, my parent's basement still holds Snakeyes and Duke figures. With their little attachable guns and backpacks. (Strange that I loved this show, even as a pacifist all the way back then).

To add insult to injury I have found that Brendan Fraser will be in the film. Now I love Brendan. I think he can have amazing depth as an actor (See School Ties or Gods and Monsters) But everything he does lately becomes something of a joke. He is brilliant at campy material. And it looks like G.I. Joe will be a cross between the Mummy and X-Men (both fun movies in their own right). I'm just not sure I'm going to be willing to sit through it with another of my favorite childhood memories.

I'm dreading the fact that eventually I will find out that they are making some odd Smurfs movie or be walking through the toy store to find Thundercats figures (of course this time the Twins will look like they've been doing steroids for years). And again I know I sound old and a little cranky but why can't they leave my favorite shows alone. Transformers was great fun as a cartoon. We had all the original METAL characters. I grew up with those characters. And now a new generation has claimed them as their own. Perhaps the one good thing out of this new movie is that they will release all the old cartoons on DVD. Then I can relive bits of my childhood.

What's Opera Doc

There a huge number of cartoons that I can remember word for word but very few of them quite like the Warner Brother's What's Opera Doc? I can sing along with that little gem and pretend for a moment that I actually know what Wagner's Ring Cycle would sound like. Of course I'm missing a couple hours of it. But that Bugs Bunny cartoon was one of my first introductions to opera although not my first introduction to classical music. 

So I was thrilled on Saturday when I got to go see Bugs Bunny on Broadway with my parents and sister. You honestly can't even begin to describe how much fun it is to watch a 100 piece orchestra play the opening introduction to a Bugs Bunny cartoon. From the initial slide sound to the clopping blocks it brings a huge smile to your face. I was laughing before they even began to show the cartoons. 

The show is a brain child of George Daugherty and has been running in symphony halls for almost 19 years. The idea is that Warner Brothers sampled a lot of classical music when making their cartoons. Of course the most famous being What's Opera Doc which uses Wagner's Ring Cycle and the Rabbit of Seville which uses Rossini. But there are numerous Road Runner cartoons that also uses bits of classical pieces cut in such a way to make them recognizable but abbreviated. Remember a cartoon is only seven minutes long and classical pieces tend to be a bit longer than that. So on Saturday I was treated to a full orchestra playing Rossini, Mozart, Wagner, Strauss, and Smetana while watching some of the funniest cartoons ever made. What could be better?

I was really surprised by how well they pulled this off. The musicians timed their starts and halts perfectly. The conductor used a click track, an invention of Carl Stalling's own (Warner Brother's composer and conductor) to keep track of every little stop and start. And they had to time it beautifully. The orchestra, which gets about a week to rehearse with the new music, did amazingly. Almost every seat in the Civic Center was filled. There were tons of kids there who seemed to love the show. I'm sure for many of them this is their first trip to the symphony. 

My sister and I, along with Jeff and my sister's fiance, laughed harder than most. We've all grown up with these cartoons. They make up our childhood. And as Daugherty said in his opening introduction, it is difficult for many of us to hear the Ride of the Valkyries without thinking "Kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit". This music was introduced to us by cartoons. The cartoons when created were done with a full orchestra behind them. And this show brings all that together for one incredible evening. So much fun.