Category: default || By jt3y

SpongeBob who? Not everything was better in the "good ol' days," but some things were --- and one category that was better (in my never humble opinion) was "animated cartoons." Golden Age Cartoons has enough pop culture goofiness to satisfy your cartoon jones for hours --- and right now it has special Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry Christmas-themed material. (Tip of the Tube City hard hat to Tim Blair.)

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While you're there, you'll see that Felix the Cat is more than a clock with wig-wag eyes. He was one of the first stars of animated cartoons, and the original cartoons from the 1920s and '30s are still full of trippy, surreal goodness. Return to those thrilling days of yesteryear at The Classic Felix the Cat Page.

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Speaking of those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear, it's no secret that I love old-time radio ... "Dragnet," "Fibber McGee & Molly," "Jack Benny," "X-Minus-One." I don't know how I missed this Web page at Salon.com called --- you guessed it --- Thrilling Days of Yesteryear. Ivan Shreve writes about old radio shows, some TV and other items of nostalgic interest.

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When it comes to nostalgia, you can't help but think of "The Flintstones." At least I can't. Whenever I think of nostalgia, I always think of poorly animated Hanna-Barbera cartoons that rip off "The Honeymooners," transplanting the characters haphazardly to pre-historic times and using lots of lame rock puns.

Anyway, if you thought "The Flintstones" was a documentary, you'll love the new "Creation Museum," currently under construction near Hebron, Ky., which explains how dinosaurs co-existed with humans in the Garden of Eden, and how the tyrannosaurus rex was the terror that original sin unleashed. "You'll run into this monster lurking near Adam and Eve. How's this possible? Find out soon!"

Golly gosh, I can barely wait!

Some how I missed last month's conference in downtown Picksberg at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center that was organized by the people behind the museum, a group called "Answers in Genesis." Unfortunately, they're not coming back to our area any time soon. (I wonder if any of the attendees made it up to the Carnegie Museum while they were in town? Probably not, because they couldn't learn anything from a group of people who they consider "willfully ignorant.")

I don't know when I'll make it to the museum, but if you go, make sure to take your Polarock camera --- I'll want to see some pictures. (Tip of the Tube City hard hat to Boing Boing.)

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I'm embarrassed to admit that I thought this show was funny when it first aired, and knowing my sick sense of humor, I probably would still think it was funny now. Anyway, the producer of "Sledge Hammer!," the short-lived mid-'80s TV sendup of the "Dirty Harry" movies and shows like "Hunter," now has a Web site.

Please: I deserve your pity, not your scorn. Or as they might say down in Hebron, Ky., "hate the sin, love the sinner."

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Erie bloggers (geez, I hate the word "blog") have their own Web site.

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How did a gearhead such as myself miss this? From the people who brought you "Wonkette," it's "Jalopnik," a daily online magazine (I really, really hate the word "blog") devoted to gossip about cars and the automobile industry.

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How did I miss this, too (or is that "two")? Jay Leno (you may have heard of him; he's on TV) is writing a very readable and entertaining column for Popular Mechanics.

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The Global Schoolyard Rhyme Project is exactly what it sounds like. Now you can insult fifth-graders in whatever language you choose!

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And finally, via Atrios, more evidence that irony is dead:

On Oct. 4, "Bush introduced Mike and Sharla Hintz, a couple from Clive, whom he said benefited from his tax plan. Last year, because of the enhanced the child tax credit, they received an extra $1,600 in their tax refund, Bush said. With other tax cuts in the bill, they saved $2,800 on their income taxes. They used the money to buy a wood-burning stove to more efficiently heat their home, made some home improvements and went on a vacation to Minnesota, the president said."

But on Tuesday, we learn that a "Des Moines youth pastor is charged with the sexual exploitation of a child. KCCI learned that the married father of four recently turned himself in to Johnston police. Rev. Mike Hintz was fired from the First Assembly of God Church, located at 2725 Merle Hay Road, on Oct. 30. Hintz was the youth pastor there for three years. Police said he started an affair with a 17-year-old in the church youth group this spring."

Um, yeah. The good Rev obviously had the "child tax credit" confused with the "marriage penalty." Or something like that.