Carrots are Divine

When McVey and I first lived together, it was as freshmen in a college dorm. Other than sharing a room with a brother nine years older than me for a short time, I had not occupied a bedroom with someone else for an extended period of time.

One of the great things about our living situation was that McVey’s dad was a technophile. He had the newest of everything as soon as it rolled off the assembly line. And whenever he bought a new toy, he gave his “old” equipment to his son. As a result, we had a receiver, tape deck, and speakers that were on par with just about anyone in Jester East.

The cd player, however, was mine. For some unknown reason, my parents had given me a Pioneer 6 cd changer for a Christmas present. I was never into purchasing music. I was one of those guys that recorded songs from the radio on to cassette. At the end of college, I still did not own enough cds to fill the 6 cd changer. I ended up trading it for a Tandy 386.

Every night, we would decide which cds to load, put it on random, and retire to our single beds that were about three feet away from each other. Inevitably, we would talk about some topic until sleep overtook us. I would like to say these were noble, soul searching topics. However, one night we were talking about the misanthrope that is Scrappy Doo. At some point, McVey uttered the phrase, “Scooby Doo was the most predictable cartoon ever.”

This is how we learned that our next door dorm mates eavesdropped on us outside our door. We heard raucous laughter, followed by the sound of a door slamming, and through the wall heard someone chortle, “Mother____ers talking about Scooby Doo.”

If I get around to it, I will write more about Royce and Big Joe, including their suggestion on how to obtain fake IDs and the time one of them confronted McVey in the hallway... while naked.

In any event, I wrote that story to set up the fact that I can talk about cartoons. I watched plenty growing up. You can figure the era. Saturday mornings with the Super Friends, Laff-A-Lympics, Underdog, Quick Draw McGraw, Yogi Bear. After school watching went from Mighty Mouse, Felix the Cat, and the Banana Splits Offerings of Wacky Races and The Adventures of Gulliver to the then cutting edge animation of Battle of the Planets and Star Blazers.

But nothing topped Saturday morning and 90 minutes of Warner Brothers / Merry Melodies. By the time I got to high school, the show was an hour long. When I came home from college it was a half hour. By the mid 90s, it was gone, replaced by Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

So, when Julie told me we were going to Pittsburg to her cousin Maggie’s wedding shower, I immediately thought, “There’s a cartoon museum in Pittsburg.” We went to the Toonseum our first day there and it was worth the trip. It is not huge, and while we were there was not exactly a huge permanent exhibit to write about. Disney drawing desk, check. Original sketches of Toucan Sam and Dennis the Menace, check. Wonderfully knowledgeable curator, double check.

But if you haven’t seen the Art of Akira exhibit, you are missing out. I don’t think that large scale cooperation and dedication to drawing can be put together again. The story of Akira’s creation as a movie, the effort put into the work, and the far reaching effects alone made the visit a delight.

But standing there, and seeing the craftsmanship of the cells, made me enjoy the movie so much more. There are layers and layers of artists’ visions that deserve appreciation. I was amazed we spent so much time in a not large space. When we started the tour, they had us watch a YouTube video about the exhibit. It was a mood setter. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBAJdtPVnZc)

And there is a decent selection of books at the Toonseum. If you haven’t checked out Ho Che Anderson’s King or Blegvad’s Leviathan, they have it for you.