Eatin' Habits

CARTOON CRISIS

Hi, I'm Bo Lumpkin and I've been thinkin'.
Ole R.E. Cline, our couch potato reporter read my article "Learnin' To Read" lamenting the demise of real "Comic Books". He says they ain't all that todays younuns are missin'.
COUCH POTATO REPORT- CARTOON CRISIS
I can remember when Saturday mornings and every afternoon TV was geared to children. There were cartoons, real cartoons, not this Pokemon and Digimon garbage. What's up with all the people having pointed chins and ears. Haven't their artist ever seen normal people.
Network television is almost completely devoid of real cartoons. Theirs are all dragons or characters that look like they were made for Public Broadcasting.
What happened to "Bugs Bunny", "Tom and Jerry", "Popeye" and all the other good stuff. I know you can find some of this on the Cartoon Network sandwiched between the twenty four hour marathons of "Scooby Doo", but why should parents have to buy cable or a satellite for their children to get to watch decent cartoons.
This is America People, we are supposed to own the airwaves. Just because cartoons can be seen on expensive cable and satellite stations does not mean that the major Networks don't have an obligation to provide decent cartoons for the rest of us.
I miss "Yogi Bear" and especially "Boo Boo." I may be a couch potato without cable but that doesn't mean I should be discriminated against. I would sit down and write a letter to the FCC and complain about the situation but that might make me miss the next infomercial on my favorite network.
I'm R.E. Cline with the Couch Potato Report.

Since I haven't been able to post much the last week I am adding a comic today too. Check out the one below.

Thank ya'll so much for the comics and the feed back. When I get a chance I want to share some of the feedback with ya'll so keep checking.

Write me at bo@bolumpkin.com

Sirens and Excitement

LEARNIN' TO READ

Hi, I'm Bo Lumpkin and I've been thinkin'.
I hear people talkin' all time about younguns not being able to read. Not only are they not able to read when they are in grammar school (I don't think they call it grammar school anymore because they don't teach that much grammar) but they can't read when they graduate from High School.
I've always said that not reading is just as bad as not being able to read. I have always loved to read and I can trace my love of readin' all the way back to when I was a youngun. I loved comic books. My uncle worked for a 5 and 10 cent store,(they ain't none of them around no more). They were sort of like dollar stores are today, they were filled withe a big assortment of cheap stuff.
They sold comic books in the 5 and 10 cent store and when they would bring in the new issues they would tear the covers off the old ones and throw them away. My uncle would get the old ones and put them in a box and bring them to me. I would love to see him coming with a box of comics. I would read them all, even the ones I didn't particularly like. Back then there were the 10 cent comics which were your regular price and the 25 cent comics which were thick and were special issues.
Most adults felt like you were wastin' your time readin' them ole comic books. Maybe so but I learned a lot of words and most of all I learned to love readin'.
When I was a youngun they had comic books in all the 5 and 20 cent stores, some grocery stores, and in all the drugstores. You could find them almost anywhere. I was in the bookstore yesterday and I went lookin' to see if I could find some comic books. I found 'em.I was sorta shocked and it shore saddened me.
They had books they called comic books, they was all fancy bound and the cheapest one I saw was about $14.99. (As spoiled as younguns are today they still can't afford that). Most of them were of characters that looked like little foreigners like you see on Saturday mornin cartoons. Some looked like heavy metal lookin' characters and I didn't see a talkin' dog or duck among 'em.
What happened to Donald Duck, Sad Sack, and Combat? Where are the cheap little books on cheap paper that younguns can afford and that they enjoy? They seem to be gone and I don't know where or why.
I'm Bo Lumpkin and I've been thinkin'. No wonder younguns can't read. No one is publishin' anything that they want to read or that they can afford. Whatchall think?
Ya'll send me an e-mail to bo@bolumpkin.com or just click on the comments below. If ya'll run up on any comics or as we used to call them funny books how about letting me know.

Ya'll check out my comic strip below. I posted twice today because I have a new character for the comics.

Sarge Retired

LEARNIN'

DID YA'LL NOTICE?

Hi, I'm Bo Lumpkin and I've been thinkin'.
I've been thinkin' about how gas prices went up to nearly $4 a gallon. They are back down around $1.50 a gallon now. Don't get me wrong, I ain't complainin' about them goin' down. I was just wonderin' why all that stuff that went up because gas was so high is still up even thought gas prices have come down.
I understood that they would need to raise the prices in restaurants and in grocery stores because of high gas prices. I even understood why the gas company that delivers my propane added a $4 charge for delivering my propane(even though I am on a monthly route).
The thing I don't understand is why things are not going back down. I realize that the news media keeps telling us the economy is bad but if that is the case why are prices still as high as they were when the economy was good.
I reckon some things are just too complicated for a pore old ignorant country boy like me to understand. One thing I do understand though is that until they quit charging me to stop at my house and sell me propane I'm goin' to be usin' my electric heaters and if that gets too high I've got a lot of trees that could be turned into firewood. You don't have to have a degree in economics to fight back if you are hard headed enough.
I'm Bo Lumpkin and I've been thinkin', I reckon we have a little something to say about the economy by how we spend our money.
Ya'll leave me a comment or send me an email to bo@bolumpkin.com

CPR -THE COUCH POTATO REPORT

Hi, I'm Bo Lumpkin and I've been thinkin'.
I ain't the only one whose been thinkin'. Today I want to share some comments from R.E. Cline. He is thinkin' about administerin' a little CPR- Couch Potato Report on a semi-regular basis. If he decides to do that I will put a link on my site so you can just click on it to go there. So here is a sample,

The Couch Potato Report

We are living in an amazing time especially as far as television and other news media go. We just had a president elected mostly by the media. We are in the midst of a financial crises, created mostly by the media and the problem is even their entertainment programing stinks.
I used to enjoy sit-coms. Sit-com stands for situation comedy. The problem is now that there is a whole lot more situation than there is comedy. There is not one of them on TV now that is fit for a family to sit down and watch together. Most of the so called drama shows are not much better. It seems that they take the worst of what is in the news and dramatize to make their programs. I am beginning to wonder if the writers ever settled their strike. I couldn't tell the difference when they were on strike and when they came back.
We have all always complained about commercials but I think they are scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas. If you want to entice someone to buy your product you should at least make sure they know what you are selling. Sometimes I really don't know what is being advertised and when I do the commercials really don't make me want to go out and spend my money.
I think they really ought to get creative on some of these insurance commercials. The same company uses a green lizard in one commercial and a cave man in another. I think it would be really funny to put them both in one commercial except if he were really a caveman they would probably come on the set and find the caveman roasting the lizard on a stick.
What's with the King on the Burger King commercials. Would you really trust him around your children? I'm still trying to figure out what the deal is with the two goobers at Sonic. They must be appealing to someone, they have been selling chili dogs and tater tots for several years now.
I'm R.E. Cline, your professional Couch Potato and this is my report.

TUCKERED OUT

Hi, I'm Bo Lumpkin and I've been thinkin'.
I reckon that's about all I've been doin' is thinkin' and I've had me a pretty bad spell of writer's block. Actually I ain't had time to do the research that I should have been doin'. Things get hectic around this time of year, what with all the ball games, the family gatherin's, the programs at church, visitin' them what has the miserables and all and sometimes I feel like the man who got on his horse and rode off in all directions. Sometimes I get all tuckered out just tryin' to keep up with what's goin' on.
The bad thing about it is that I've got all sorts of gadgets that are supposed to make keeping up easier. I bought me one of them electronic personal information managers but I can't figure out how to get anything from it onto my computer. I have to type it in there and then I have to copy it to my computer so I don't use it anymore. I bought me one of them ipod's so I could show people my pictures and movies and it didn't work right either so I took it back and got another one. I hope it works but I reckon it ain't goin' to help me do much writin' or drawin'. I bought me a digital voice recorder so I could just talk into it when I get an idea and since I bought it I haven't had an idea.
I am about to run out of places to carry things when I go anywhere.I usually carry my laptop, my camera, my cell phone, my ipod, and the digital recorder. I have so many cases I look like a bell hop.
I guess some folks are worse than I am, especially about cell phones. I know a fellow who doesn't have a car, he doesn't have any furniture but he just bought a new cell phone and pays about $70.00 a month for his service.
I'm Bo Lumpkin and I've been thinkin' if ya'll know of any new gadget out there that will make my life easier don't let me know. I'm so busy now with all these gadgets I ain't got time to learn how to use it.
Ya'll leave me a comment or write me an email to bo@bolumpkin.com.

Honest Mistakes

Whoppers

BOOMER THE MIGHTY HUNTER

Hi, I'm Bo Lumpkin and I've been thinkin'. In just about every country and every culture there is a rite of passage into growing up. I reckon around here it is when you kill your first deer.
Boomer came by the other day with his huntin' clothes on and he still had blood on them and I knew by that shy smile he had on his face he had killed a deer. He didn't want to just come right out and announce it even though he was about to bust so I let him off the hook.
"Boomer," I said, "What is that all over your clothes? Did you spill something on yourself?"
"No sir," he smiled, "Me and my daddy just got through cleaning a deer."
"Did your daddy kill one today?" I asked, knowin' the answer.
"No sir," he smiled, "I killed it. It was a little five point but daddy said it was a real good first deer."
I went on over him and made a fuss and it really tickled him and it did me too just to see him so happy. He went through every detail from the time they left the house to the time they got through cleaning it. I knew then that he was a real hunter. The real joy of huntin' ain't in the killin', it's in the sharin', it's in the experience of a daddy and a son spendin' time together and doin' somethin' special. Most of all it's in the tellin'. He'll be tellin' that story for the rest of his life. If I had a little more time I'd tell you about my first one, even though I don't hunt much anymore except with a camera, I still remember all the stories, and when I get around a bunch of other men I still tell 'em.
To be honest with you, my first deer was illegal and the game wardens took him. They took my deer but they can't ever take away the story. Boomer now has a story. I hope he has many more to come but this one will always be special.
Before Boomer left I asked him if his brother Arlis had killed a deer. Boomer just shook his head, "I think Arlis is too lazy to hunt. About the only way he would kill one is if it come in the house and got between him and the TV."
I'm Bo Lumpkin and I've been thinkin', I am afraid I've got more in common with Arlis than Boomer these days when it comes to huntin'. About the only way I'm likely to get another one is in self-defense.
Whatchall been thinkin'? I'd sure like to know and I bet there are a lot of folks who read this that would like to know too. Leave me a comment, or you can send me an email to bo@bolumpkin.com and tell me about the exciting things goin' on in your life.

Taller Than That

Hi yall, I'm Bo Lumpkin and I've been thinkin'. When deer huntin' season opens it sure does liven up the conversation down at the Grab Sum Grub. Everybody wants to talk about deer huntin'. I even like to talk about it myself, I don't hunt much now. I ain't near as mad at 'em as I used to be I reckon.
Huntin' has changed considerable since I was a young man. We enjoyed it back then but what we really enjoyed most was havin' deer meat on the table. I know the proper name for deer meat is venison but I didn't know it then. Back then it was just deer meat and I still think of it that way.
Somewhere along the way folks quit huntin' deer for the meat and started huntin' for horns. Them horns don't even make good soup but some folks are just right proud of them. They brag about how wide a spread they were and how long the main beam was and all that. They even have professional folks that will measure them and give them a certain number of points.
Me and Old Odis was sittin' and listening to a bunch of them talk about these trophy racks they was collectin' and having mounted and hanging on their walls in their mobile homes. Old Odis lives in an old converted bus down by the river and I reckon he has killed more game and caught more fish than anyone I know but he still does it for the meat. One of them was talking about killing an 8 point with a twenty inch spread. He knew Odis probably had killed more deer than everyone else in the room but he also knew Odis wasn't a trophy hunter. "Odis," he said, "I'll bet you never killed a deer over twenty inches have you?"
Old Odis just got up and turned to go, "Yep, I killed lots of 'em."
The guy knew Old Odis was prone to stretch the truth and he said, "You mean you have killed a deer over twenty inches."
Old Odis just shrugged, "Shoot yeah, I've killed a lot of does taller than that," and Odis walked out the door without seeing how the other's reacted.
I'm Bo Lumpkin and I've been thinkin', this is one time Old Odis was probably tellin' the truth. Odis still hunts for food and I reckon it don't make much more sense to rate a deer on the size of it's horns than it does to rate a man on his hat size.
Whatchall think about it? Leave me a comment or maybe you even have a good deer story you want to share with everyone. Either leave a comment or send me an email to bo@bolumpkin.com

Good Melon

Hi ya'll, I'm Bo Lumpkin and I've been thinkin'.

Ain't it amazin how much louder temptation knocks than opportunity. I reckon just about everybody gets tempted sooner or later and a whole lot of the time our resistance depends a whole lot on whose lookin'.

I was down at the Grab Sum Grub early one mornin' last week when Bro. Ben Shorter, pastor of the Gatorhead Baptist Church, stopped by the round table and sat with all us coffee drinkers. He hadn't been in all week and someone asked him where he'd been.

"I went down to the Hilton in Jackson for the week. We had a Bible conference there. One of the bellhops told me that he didn't particularly like these Baptist meetings. He said "All these Baptist preachers get here with the Ten Commandments in one hand and a hundred dollar bill in the other and they try to leave without breaking either one of them."

One of the men spoke up and said, "I don't reckon outside the preachin' and singin' there is much excitement that goes on at one of them conferences is there?"

Bro. Ben just smiled, "Well we didn't have too much excitement at ours other than in the services but that same bellhop told me about the last conference another denomination had there. He said that they had a group of salesmen there for a convention at the same time and both groups had a banquet scheduled on the same night. The Hotel had prepared angel food cake for the preachers for dessert and they had prepared spiked watermelon for the salesmen. Someone in the kitchen got the two banquets mixed up and sent the cake to the salesmen and the spiked watermelon to the preachers."

"I'll bet that really got some folks riled up," I said.

"The bellhop said it really didn't seem to upset anyone. He said the salesmen liked the cake well enough and a good many of the preachers were seen putting those watermelon seeds in their pockets."
I'm Bo Lumpkin and I've been thinkin', Whatchall been thinkin'. Leave me a comment or send me an email to bo@bolumpkin.com. I'd shore like to share some of them thoughts with my other readers.(Both of 'em)

SOUND IDEAS