11:40 p.m. - 03.01.2003
O.G. Readmore
This is a group effort entry.
I've had the unexplainable desire the last few days to name my first child O.G. Readmore.
The only problem I foresee is when the child approaches me, like they do with their parents, and asks me what the O.G. stands for.
This is where the group effort comes into play. Do I tell the kid:
a. "O.G. stands for the words your mother cried-out upon both your joyous conception and birth, thanking the higher power - now go clean your room you little sh*t."
b. "O.G. means nothing - like TJ Hooker. Go wash my car or you're grounded."
or do I try to curry favor for the child on the playground by saying:
c. "It stands for Original Gangsta, like the name of the Ice-T cassette your mom and I were doin' it to when we made you. Now go brush your teeth, you have moss growing all over 'em."
Thoughts?
I don't suppose I could tell the truth. About how the real OG Readmore was a loveable, tick-infested alley-cat in a ratty waistcoast with matching spats that encouraged youngsters to open a book every Saturday morning, only after a five hour marathon of sugary cereals, cartoons, and sugary cereal commercials. Please, I don't wanna hurt the kid's feelings...
***
( hit this link for great ABC Weeknd Special memories.
The ABC Weekend Special was just that. When it came on, the noon sun was beginning to stream into the living room that had been a dark whirl of cartoons for hours prior. The sun only magnified the upcoming Saturday morning headache.
The Weekend Special, and the one or two shows leading up to it, signaled the beginning of the more "adult" saturday morning in my mind, and the end of cartoons.
I only remember glimpses of a few shows - but those images have stayed burned on my brain ever since.
The Red Room Riddle is without a doubt the scariest thing ever created for children. (Except maybe the anime version of Jack and the Beanstalk that ran on HBO around the same time.)
I don't remember anything of the Red Room Riddle save for an image of a glowing red ball floating in what was a child's room that looked turn of the century. And a wicked laugh. I had a fear of red lights for some time simply from this image. I would give anything to see it again. Even though I have tracked down many a childhood image-memory - and most are never what you remember - I have a feeling that the Red Room Riddle was some scary #%*&! It really did contribute to my first remembered nightmare.
The other ones I remember were Zach and the Magic Factory - a two parter and it seemed to me the only the first part ever aired. I waited week after week for part two, and it never came. I enjoyed this one because it had mystery (it was a Magic Factory) but it was a bit more lighthearted fare. Some Saturdays I just couldn't handle a serious adult drama like Red Room. ;)
I also remember the one about the Child of Glass, a "story about a boy who finds a girl who was killed years ago from a father who could not find some diamonds. She could not find rest for some reason, but was helped by the boy when they find that the diamonds were sewn into her glass doll". That one was creepy as well.
Of the cartoons I remember The Trouble with Ms Switch, Bunnicula, Zuccinni (sp?) about the ferret, The Great Bunjee Adventure, and Puppy's Further Adventure which broke my heart everytime. Not so much that they were orphaned puppies looking for the way home, but that one Collie carried around an old shoe in place of a puppy it had lost. Heavy stuff for a 6 yr old.
They need to bring them all back, with the School House Rock, and those other health cartoons about "Beans and Rice", and "Exercising your Choppers" with a faux Fonzy, And "Have a Saturday (it's a Sunday)", or "Hanker for a hunk of cheese!"
Not for the children mind you. For us. Kids need their own identities and memories. But don't deny me mine.
Is anyone remembering ANY of this?Anyone? Nothing? Great. I'm already a dinosaur.)
�
�