Here's to 50 years...

...of The Flintstones, that modern Stone Age family!

First created and aired in 1960, The Flintstones was something of an animated version of Jackie Gleason's famous mid 1950's series, The Honeymooners, set in a Neolithic version of Middle America.  Although I'm sure the kids back then enjoyed the show, most of the humor was aimed at adults and looked at through the lens of history, was pretty topical, with many popular celebrities and institutions of the day immortalized in animation. The Flintstones paved the way for cartoon shows like The Simpsons, Futurama, and South Park. A couple of years later, Hanna-Barbera Studios would repeat the formula with The Jetsons, and set it in a future full of robots, rockets, and flying cars, which of course we're all still waiting for.

I remember watching The Flintstones when I was a kid, and I still enjoy the show. I like the original-don't give me Pebbles and Bam-Bam or The Flintstone Kids-some things you just get right the first time and can't improve on. And I like The Flintstones over The Jetsons, though it's fairly close. It might be like The Munsters vs The Addams Family. Each show, though similar in concept, probably has its loyal core of fans. Personally, I liked The Addams Family better. If you're a Munsters guy, well, we all have our flaws and failings and that's the way life is. Seriously...both were fun shows to watch.

Anyhow...Happy 50th to Fred, Wilma, Barney, Betty, Pebbles, Bam-Bam, and Dino!



Now I happen to like the Harvey Birdman episode, The Dabba Don, with a little different spin on Fred Flintstone-a Fred Flintstone mixed with Tony Soprano- and a different intro:



Love it!

-----------

My brother picked me up a box of stuff from an auction, which ordinarily wouldn't thrill me, but when I opened it, there were a whole bunch of ThinBooks! ThinBooks are great, because you can have a whole library of them and they take up about two feet of shelf space.

Here's one. It's called After Vanuatu, by some guy named Sheffield? Manchester? Sounds like the name of an English city-whatever, I can't remember. The plot involves a mysterious Wave that causes everyone on the island of Vanuatu to disappear. How will the world react to this vacuum? Well, I'll read it to you and we'll see:

AFTER VANUATU

The patrol vessel Ambush circled the island of Vanuatu. Nothing alive moved on the tiny speck of land.

"They appear to all be...gone, sir."

"A shame. Well, where will we build the resort?"

THE END

I dunno. Maybe expand on it and use a bigger country and you'd have something. But that's a ThinBook.

What else have we got here...let's see...The Chicago Cubs-The Championship Years. Good, I like baseball. Your Government's Guide to Fiscal Responsibility. Like to hear how the government takes care of our tax dollars. The Swiss Navy and Sea Power. Military history-awesome. Advanced Acting Techniques by Shatner. I'd like to try acting someday. Stephen King's How to Write a Short Novel. Custer's Indian Fighting Field Manual. I Was A White Guy On The Harlem Globetrotters. Abstinence And You by Bill Clinton. A rarity here-Why We Need Religious Tolerance, printed by the Iranian Government Printing Office. The Greenland Tourist Guide. The New Jersey Tourist Guide. The Ipswich Tourist Guide. Yahoo Serious-Rising Star. A Canadian Love Poem To America. How To Take Care Of Your Dodo Bird. Great Fashions of the 1970's.

These are going to give me MINUTES of great reading! Can anyone out there suggest some ThinBook titles I should be looking for?

Do svidaniya!

yankeedog out.