Peanuts by Charles Schulz

"Peanuts was a syndicated daily comic strip written and drawn by American cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950 to February 13, 2000. The strip was one of the most popular and influential in the history of the medium. At its peak, Peanuts ran in over 2,600 newspapers, with a readership of 355 million in 75 countries, and was translated into 40 languages. It helped to cement the four-panel gag strip as the standard in the United States. Reprints of the strip are still syndicated and run in many newspapers."

I wish I'd have seen this yesterday, on the anniversary of the last original Peanuts comic strip. I loved Charlie Brown and the gang. When I was a kid, I couldn't get enough of them. Along with the funny papers, I used to read tons of their paperbacks that my mom would buy for me. I never missed any of his holiday cartoons on TV. In fact, "A Charlie Brown Valentine" comes on tonight, and I'll be watching.

Though I always had dogs (and cats, and birds, and fish, and rabbits, and hamsters, and gerbils, and one turtle), I always wished they were as cool as Snoopy.
Before I lost my innocence (of the world, as well as, you know what), I was totally engrossed with Peanuts, and could really identify with Chuck.

This site gives plenty of info about Charles, Charlie, and the gang.

For His Birthday - A Spotlight on Jack Benny

Yes, once again it's time to celebrate Jack Bennys' birthday. Born on February 14, 1894, which would make him just about 39 if he were alive today. Really!

At this website you'll find a wealth of information about his life and career. There are links on the upper right side of the page to two other pages of info. On the last page, on the bottom left menu, you'll find MP3 links to a four part Jack Benny Story I know you'll enjoy. To save you the trouble, I'll give you the direct download links:

The Jack Benny Story

Part 1 - Talks about Material.

Part 2 - Talks about Education.

Part 3 - Talks about 'Timing'.

Part 4 - Talks about Writers.

Of course, I'm also posting a link to one of his birthday radio shows:

Jacks' Birthday Party (MP3)

In this episode, everyone plans surprise parties for Jack, but being frustrated, thinking everyone's forgotten his birthday, Jack goes to the movies to watch 'The Horn Blows at Midnight', and misses everything.

On a side note, I just happen to have the old radio version of The Horn Blows at Midnight in MP3, but don't remember where I got it. If I got it from a website (as opposed to Usenet where most of my shows came from), I'll be sure to post a link in the future, if I can find it.

Red Skelton - Pledge Of Allegiance, 1969

Thought you guys might like this. Even though it's from one of our great comedians, this isn't really a comedy routine.

In this Flash presentation, Red recounts his old school days when a teacher of his decided to change the routine of reciting the Pledge, by explaining each of the words first. He then recites it, and at the end, he mentions how it would be a pity if the two words added to it since he was a child; "under God", caused the Pledge to be considered a prayer, and removed from schools. He mentions that, because it's been a controvercial issue since they were added.

I still remember saying it myself at the start of every school day. Not many realize that those two words weren't always included. They weren't added until 1954.

To get a little background, here's a site that presents both sides of the argument:

Should the words "under God" be
in the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance?

This site presents in a simple, nonpartisan pro-con format, responses to the core question "Should the words 'under God' be in the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance?"

My own opinion is to leave it the way it is, and get on with more important things in life. It's not hurting anything, and we all know kids don't pay any attention to things that don't interest them anyway. It's only an issue amongst special interest groups. It's worth noting the reason Reds' teacher thought it useful to spend time explaining each word; because they'd been saying it mechanically, and not giving it much thought. To them, it was/is just a harmless (perhaps even meaningless) routine.