My cat Morty is ready to go Halloween hairball-or-treating for bite-size chum and popcorn shrimp.
One of the ways he gets into the mood is by watching movies of the supernatural -- meaning, dogs. Here are a couple of spooky shows, according to the kit. There's a snarling monster and another about the undead.
Morty's watching "Bunnies in Paper Cups," which he finds sadly lacking compared to "Ocean Whitefish and Tuna in Sauce in a Whiskas® Pouch" and "Cod and Shrimp in a Dish With a Kitty Paw Print Drawn on It."
Big weekend at a fall festival, subjected to kid beam-girl, belting out heinous songs from "Annie" and then some, and then some more, followed by two and one-half hours of divas-dueling "Dreamgirls."
I missed the birthday (Oct. 9) of the French film-maker, writer, and comedian Jacques Tati (1907-1982). He directed only nine pictures, largely sound era silent movies of sorts, but he is considered one of the top masters in cinema circles and internationally beloved for his iconic screen character, the quirky Monsieur Hulot.
The Fabulous Fox Theatre on Atlanta's Peachtree St.
I took that picture last November, near dawn, driving in to begin my work at the showplace on "Radio City Christmas Spectacular."
Fans of the venue have seen numerous photographs of the famous marquee and building frontage during its 81-year history. I doubt, however, you've caught this next view of the same area, snapped near dusk:
Actual Messages I Wrote, Forgot, Then Found While Cleaning Out My Correspondence Folders
05/14/09
I'd like to have those things. We're running low on clutter.
05/23/09
Watched THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER (1941) tonight for the first time. Good and fascinating. I'm told Daniel Webster is related to me, distant cousin or something. He never writes.
06/01/09
On behalf of Cheetos, let me just say, I HATE YOU!!
06/05/09
Beauty. It's the next best thing to Agnes Moorehead on a raft.
06/02/09
The good news is I cleaned out my car. Want some six-year-old Life Savers? Never been opened.
06/03/09
Oh, we don't hate you, Scott. We're grateful to learn this bad news, although I think we're now kaput on Mallowmars.
I rarely eat whole eggs, but do the Eggbeaters thang. I'm down to only a beak or two a month.
Well, I'm feeling ready for a snack. Tonight: cinderblock. Low sodium and stays crunchy in coconut milk. You can also break into the coconut with it.
On Sept. 29, actor Tony Curtis died. The following day was the 50th anniversary of the premiere of "The Flintstones." Curtis, as it so happens, is fondly recalled for having voiced his caveman incarnation in a 1965 episode, "The Return of Stoney Curtis."
Fifty years ago this morning, I opened my eyes to a great new old world -- a place called Bedrock. The previous evening, "The Flintstones" debuted on prime time network television and I was there.
The strange, comical, prehistoric universe of Fred and Wilma and Dino Flintstone, plus their nifty neighbors, Barney and Betty Rubble, was too delicious for this 8-year-old Neanderthal to resist. My friends, too. "The Flintstones" became the first communal obsession of our youth, followed, three months later, by Walt Disney's "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" and, three years down the path, Beatlemania.
What had been intended as TV's first animated sitcom for adults — note the product placement for Winston cigarettes — was hijacked by children. We loved the show and were soon teaching ourselves to doodle the characters' pictures during school. I can draw Fred at the click of a pen or the hammer of a chisel.
It wasn't long before producers Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera revamped the concept to pander to kids with the introduction of tot Pebbles (followed quickly by Bamm-Bamm). Great move, boys. The moment that happened — February 2, 10,000 B.C. (We were on tape delay) — the show was altered and ruined forever.
The TV rule of "adding brats to beloved formats doesn't work" was proven once again, or so I told "Lucy" loser Little Ricky.
The chums and I were out of there, moving on to something else, maybe Arithmetic, but probably "The Jetsons."
My first-run "Flintstones" experience was entirely in black-and-white, which was the broadcast norm in 1960. On this page, I've featured the original opening sequence from seasons one and two of the series, plus the end credits for Winston. My memory is the cigarette company was an alternating sponsor, so not prominent each week; therefore, here's a somewhat reworked *generic* closing taken from the color elements.
I prefer the early "Flintstones" title sequences. I owned the vinyl record of the superior, jazzy theme, "Rise and Shine," and played the tune incessantly in my bedroom. There were additional musical selections, including the toe-tapping "Split Level Cave."
But, after 48 years of repetitive TV exposure, the updated "Meet the Flintstones" title footage is better known. I like it well enough. With its drive-in theatre imagery, how could I not?
The closing with the children and Barney and Betty can be seen in this foreign adaptation, although the music track is different than in the U.S. version:
My cat Morty is ready to go Halloween hairball-or-treating for bite-size chum and popcorn shrimp. 
I ogled it lovingly, mostly because I can recycle this joke.
Image via Wikipedia
