In mourning for Saturdays...

I spent last Saturday morning watching TV with my kids. The thought of doing so put a smile on my face. After all, I remember vividly my boyhood Saturdays. I would get up at 6:00 am and start watching "Rocket Robin Hood". Then I would switch channels and catch something called "The Hilarious House of Frankenstein" with Vincent Price - who clearly needed some cash in a bad way. Then after grabbing a bowl of cereal I'd settle in for the "A list" cartoons. The major networks at the time ABC, NBC and CBS would have Saturday morning blocks of cartoons and live action kids stuff. I was mesmerized by Johnny Quest, Scooby Doo, The Herculoids, Space Ghost and Hong Kong Fooey just to name a few. Then there was the live action stuff, The Shazam/Isis Hour one of my favorites. Throw in some classic WB hilarity from Bugs, Daffy and the crew and I was thrilled. These shows opened up different worlds and inspired me to create, write and draw my own new worlds. But, perhaps more importantly - they made me laugh. Ok, so the reason I bring all this up is to make a couple of points. 1. What the heck happened to Saturday mornings????? I watched some of the worst cartoons on Cartoon Network, Nick and YTV. And when I clicked over to the major networks to see the "A list" cartoons - there were news programs? HUH? Saturday mornings used to be for kids. Now they donate even more time to news. And not the Edward R. Murrow news either. That TMZ, what to wear, who's sleeping with who, who hates who gossip stuff. Seriously, Saturday mornings used to be a break from "reality". If you wanted reality you got it every other day of the week. But, I guess the argument is that now we have 24 hour cartoon channels and we don't need to turn the major networks over to the kids. Have you watched the stuff on these cartoon networks? This brings me to point number 2. When did the decision get made that cartoons had to play to the stupidest kids? Listen to the dialog in the WB cartoons. Sure, they weren't Shakespeare, (actually, I'm pretty sure they used some Shakespearean dialog in a few cartoons) but the writers assumed that you could understand both dry and slapstick humor. They played with language. And if they didn't have the best writers - at least you could be sure that your kids would be safe watching them. Be silly, but not stupid. Now it seems that every thing is coated in boogers, belches and barf. (Nice alliteration, eh?) I'm not a censorship guy. In fact, I believe very strongly in the power of changing the channel. But what do I change it to? I know there are other "channels" to find my beloved cartoons like DVD's and youtube, but I feel like we should take Saturday mornings back. No more news on Saturday mornings. There's enough out there. More cartoons about adventure and fun. Bring back the live action stuff. Make 'em campy. Or don't. Take pride in the writing. Expect some intelligence from your audience - it's there, trust me. Give Saturday mornings back to kids...they deserve it. It's a rest from the grind that we inflict on them. If anything change it back to the way it was for slackers like me. If you keep me happy and sedated then I won't start my own network and bury you...

Excuse me while I Gag-a lot...

Read something that just about made the right side of my brain implode. It seems that a certain performance artist - "Lady" Gaga, has been made Creative Director of Polaroid. Not spokesperson, Creative Director. Let's look at her credentials shall we? Accepted to Julliard (for music) - but didn't go. Dropped out of another college. Then signed to So Def Records at 17 and now, she's the flavor of the month. She plays on SNL, dabbles in "fashon", plays with the (giggle) Back Street Boys and makes Rolling Stone's top 100 list and cover. That's "Lady" Gaga's resume. And now she can add CD to the list. Like advertising and everyone working in the industry doesn't have enough problems with credibility right now. I've known guys - heck, I'm one of them, who got our college degrees in non-creative schools. Then put our lives on hold for two years to attend ad school. By the way, if you're looking for a stellar ad school check out thecreativecircus.com. We learned our craft. We started as juniors and worked our way up. We did all the junk no one else wanted to do. We worked until 2 am. We worked over holidays - put our families second and all the time clawed and grasped at that CD title. And now I have to take a look at this bleach blond street walker...er, performance artist that gets to put Creative Director on her resume that I'm pretty sure is written in crayon. Evidently, I've been going about this all wrong. To get my next job I need to stop working so hard and just show up to the next Toronto Addy dinner wearing nothing but bubbles...pfft.

You can't go home again...but you need to plant some roots.

This has been a very interesting time for me as you can see from the previous blogs. I'm trying to figure some things out as I make the turn into my 40th lap. Last night I had a bit of an ipifany. I think a lot of the anst I feel boils down to one thing It isn't a job that will make me feel happy or whole. It's about a sense of belonging - a feeling that you really love where you are. And at about 4:35 this morning it dawned on me that perhaps one of my biggest problems is that I haven't really put down roots anywhere. My early teens set into motion a nomadic existence. I left Don Mills, Ontario and went off to a boarding school in Saint Louis. And while I did make friends in the city I spent 12 years of my life in - they too were nomadic. They came to the boarding school from Texas, North Carolina, California and so on. So when we broke for vacation they fled like migratory birds, (spawning salmon is a better metaphor). Since then I've lived in Atlanta, Conneticut, Texas and now here in Dundas. Each stop led to friendships that were inevitably fractured by moves, lay-offs and in some cases divorces (not mine, but Lord knows we came close a few times). I think there's a lesson to be learned in this hobo-like existance. Find a town you love and go from there. Don't move for family, cause it tends to bring up old wounds. Don't move because of friends - they tend to move away. Don't move for a job - they tend to down size and leave you out in the cold. Find a town that loves you and love it back. Find a community that FEELS right to YOU. All this thinking got me looking around, and I found a site that was helpful - findyourspot.com. You enter a bunch of likes and dislikes and it gives you a list of cities or towns that match your ideals. First one for me was a surprise, Greenville, South Carolina. So I'm looking at this town with a population of 56,000 and I'm eyeing it. But believe me I'm looking at number two with some longing, Olympia Washington. It's nestled on a magnificant paninsula in South Puget Sound and sounds lovely. Raleigh, Lynchburg, Tacoma - hey, even Saint Louis made the list. I know you can't go home again - but if you never had a home to begin with, can't you create one?

New Year's disappointment...

I felt like Superman. Now I feel like George Reeves.
Some people ring in the New Year with champagne and laughter. Some ring in the New Year with family and friends. I rang in the New Year with hope. I really felt that 2010 was off to a good start. I was in talks for a good job. Not a great job, but definitely a step up in pay and position. The HR people loved me. They thought I was a shoe in. Their offices were going to be closed for the holidays but they would be talking to me in the New Year and get the ball rolling. I let out a sigh of relief and allowed myself to enjoy the holidays. I actually let go off the stress I'd been carrying for the past 2 months. I just found out today that they "decided to go another way." Huh? What's wrong with the way we were going? I thought it was lovely. The sky was blue. The road was smooth. Why not go my way? So, 2010 starts pretty much the same way the last part of 2009 did, uncertain and more than a little scary. But I started to think about this whole "not my way" thing. Maybe there's something I can do to make my way even more attractive. So, I'm revamping my site in the next few days. I'm going to start being more aggressive in my writing and drawing. Who knows, this whole thing may just be a pivotal moment in my development. Maybe it's time I started asking different questions. Maybe "my way" isn't within the world of advertising after all. Maybe, I'm about to move away from what I think I should be doing - towards what I was made to do. Hopefully I'll have this figured out and I'll be ringing in 2011 with family, friends and laughter. You can have the champagne - I never trust anything the French invented.

Trading in my pen for a crazy carpet...

2009 is almost done and I'm feeling introspective. I say I'm feeling introspective because I haven't been able to write anything of note in a while now. I've been paralized by my current situation and I'm finding it hard to write how I'm feeling. The words flee my body rather than trickle through my finger tips. Maybe it's my current employment situation, or maybe it's that I'm soon to be 40. Whatever the reason there is one positive thing that has come out of this condition. I've stopped pondering and thinking. Before you let out a collective gasp that is sure to fog even my computer screen-let me clarify. I think that as a writer, one is tempted to isolate themselves and write. Or, at the very least isolate yourself and ponder writing. The problem with being so centered on prose is that you forget to experience life outside your writing. The Catch-22 is that writing is infinately better when it comes from experince. Your writing and creativity are boyed by the textures of life - the stuff going on outside your window. So, perhaps in this creative down time or cycle, I should just be happy experiencing what is happening in the now. So, I'll bundle up, get outside and leave my pen at home. Or, maybe even use my yellow pad as a crazy carpet. Then I'll file all of these experiences away and bring them to life when a muse comes knocking. That is IF the muse can find my door...and I'm actually home.

AAUGH!!!!

I'm kinda at the end of my rope. I'm broke. And when I say broke I'm not talking about woman broke. You know, where women say they don't have money, but the actually have about $900 in the bank and a couple of twenties in their purse. Nope, I'm broke. I honestly can say I have less then a five in my bank and a few coins in my pocket. Oh, did I mention the bills are due? The reason for this financial distress is that I'm out of work and have been since Sept. 11th. Why am I out of work? Because I left. Why did I leave my place of employment of 3 years? Because I trusted a "feeling". I woke up one morning and thought that perhaps I could do better for my family. That perhaps I could move home and be of assistance to my mother and sister (who was in the middle of a custody situation between her husband over my niece). However, I've been here now for 4 months and nothing...the money I had saved is gone and Christmas is coming. It got me to wondering, why did I listen to that voice in my heart? I keep listening for guidance and the voice that said "move" has now gone silent. Maybe my frustration is so loud that I can't hear it. That or the arguments with my wife are so loud I can't hear it. I'm beat up by this whole thing. I'm trying to keep the faith and listen for that voice. I'm hoping for a Christmas miracle... but I keep thinking of that Charlie Brown Christmas special when Linus turns to Charlie and says, "Of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you're the Charlie Brownie-ist." That's me right now. 3 months ago the football was there for me to kick, but today I ran up and someone pulled it away...good grief.

Nice bit of advertising...

I saw this today and actually like it quite a bit. It strikes a chord and makes me think. I think it's the most you can hope for in today's rush, rush world where we are bombarded by a flood of images and noise. This would make me stop and think. It's one in a series of ads featuring world leaders all saying the same thing. To me that's lazy writing - but maybe the writer's hope was that the repitition of the same phrase really drives home the argument. Fine. I'm just saying with this kind of high profile ad, I would have written a different quote for each one...but maybe that's why I'm an unemployed writer...