Cartoon Network sans cartoons

What would Cartoon Network be without cartoons? It would be Network. It's understandable they'd want to join the live action teen shows head to head with Disney and Nick. Unlike Toon Disney, they don't have another network to shove the cartoons over to (Toon Cartoon?) that they can position in the upper tiers of the cable bill.
But guess what? I wish the toons were back on Disney and Nick as well. I wish they'd make their own teen live action channel (Toon Teen?) and leave the cartoons where they are (were). That goes for Disney and Nick as well. And I don't like Har Har Thursday, despite the well-done period look of Flapjack, which conjures up Horatio Hornblower.
Whoever is running CN these days is, in my opinion, running it into the ground. It used to be an alternative, now it's as bad as everything you flipped to it to get away from. First, Adult Swim got way too extreme, unlike the relative innocence in which it was born, and then the rest followed.
It seems all CN cares about is bucks. Gone are the brave days when Ted Turner said he would run Cartoon Network at a loss until people wanted it. Which they did. Loyal fans got CN to where it is now. How sad if the shirts decide to change the channel.

Read an Interview with Steve Scott

Sitting in For Indian Town Gap pub listening to karaoke hooked to the wifi. My partner in crime is the uncle of the guitarist for Thousand Foot Krutch. We're talking about all things gospel rock, HM, theology, liturgy, our church backgrounds, and it's all going down easy with the east's best kept secret, the real reason to venture into Amish country: Yengling, the second oldest US brewery (the first is the Boston Beer Company), older than both is Canada's Molson (hail to the great white North), older than all, Britain's Bass, which also had the first registered trademark (the red triangle). We broke off from king and country, but we'll still drink your beer, your highness. Self on the upgraded to iLife 09/ OS X Leopard iBook G4, comrade on the very impressive Fujitsu LifeBook, with a built in sketchpad/ touchscreen. Army dawgs doing karaoke. Pretty much the perfect pub.

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -Ben Franklin.
"We should thank God for beer and burgundy by not drinking too much of them." -G.K. Chesterton.

Celebrate St. Pat's Day

Check the right side for Celtic song samples to celebrate St. Pat's. See more at the Living Dog Store in "A Listening Dog" at alivingdog.com. We lift our Guiness to you.

Darwinists Boycott Louisiana

Follow this link for a great article on Darwinists boycotting Louisiana due to that state's allowing teachers to point out weaknesses in Darwinian theory without fear of recrimination. The irony is that they stormed off to have their convention in Salt Lake City instead. Really? Are Mormons Darwinists? I originally got this article in the Discovery Institute's excellent e-letterr, Nota Bene, but I don't know how to link to an e-mail. http://www.evolutionnews.org/2009/03/an_open_letter_to_the_society_2.html

What do you think are the best new cartoons?

Here's a brief overview of toons you may want to sniff out.
Phineas and Ferb, on Disney, is one of the best-written toons, and has an OK to good look and character design. All of which means it will soon move to Toon Disney. Disney is only using it as a lure for the many discontented viewers who decry the lack of toons on Disney channel. Other toons bounce back and forth between Disney properties (as do Warner Bros. toons on their networks).
In the Jetix block, one of the best, both for art, styling, character design and writing, is Pucca. Minimalist and original, tips its hat to anime without overdoing the stereotypes. Ninjas meet Hello Kitty, with dazzling backgrounds recalling Samurai Jack.
For old school toons, one of the best remains Kim Possible. The writers broke new ground, not only in story, but in dialog. Influences from this toon are apparent in numerous toons since. And unlike so many ploddingly dramatic toons, this one could take itself lightly. So not the drama.
A Cartoon Network toon that takes itself lightly is The Mr. Men Show. Waiting for the DVD, and hoping for more seasons. There is no toon I would rather click on the TV and see. Shows that you don't need complex plots and deep character development. It's a toon, after all.
Johnny Test doesn't have a great look, probably OK to good, but the writing is endlessly witty and the characters surprising, something rare in a modern toon.
On Nick, My Life as a Teenage Robot is a beautifully designed art deco look toon with somewhat complex storylines.
What channel was Squirrel Boy on? Again, the look isn't great, although it is highly watchable. The first person asides by the squirrel and blank looks by the boy make for great deadpan humor.
Biggest disappointments. Everything on Adult Swim and Har Har Thursdays. The Misadventures of Flapjack has great character design, beautiful period nautical backgrounds and styling, inventive storylines, but as with so much on Cartoon Network these days, they take it too far. Chowder is another right on the edge series that would be helped by restraint.
The problem, of course, lies with Fox. Here you have a channel, most of whose shows are unrestrained but highly popular. They also are groundbreaking in cartoons, think of The Simpsons and Futurama, as well as more kid-aimed toons, think Garfield and Friends and Pinky and the Brain. This makes less successful channels think that this sort of mix is perfectly all right. They either pick up and rerun popular Fox shows or make their own not as creative versions.
Could this ever change? Many viewers are very fed up with the current state of TV, and if they voted with their wallets, and voted NO by cutting the cable, and voting YES for DVDs, that would be noted. People would also have to be converted from the Playboy philosophy, and from using it to sell products like Axe body spray by Unilever. This would mean that viewers would have to let companies know that they don't appreciate that sort of advertising and programming. Since TV programming in the US is decided by about five people with Nielsen boxes, there's no other way of knowing what viewers actually think. Since the same ads or ads for the same items run on both kids and more "adult" shows and stations, boycotting the item won't help. Only sending feedback about the advertisements and programming will do that.
"The reason I so abominate pornography is because of the unfortunate people who have to take part in it," Malcolm Muggeridge once wrote. This is also the reason to fight for a majority of G and PG rated films and TV shows. But pornographic animation is very, very sad. The magic ingredient of cartoons is innocence. People who want to work in animation should not be forced to make so-called "adult" cartoons.
Cartoon Network has fallen so far from the high point it reached in the Dexter's Lab era. Watch "Home Movies", and see how even Adult Swim started out relatively innocent. But viewers have conditioned themselves to watch Will Ferrell movies or stand up comics routinely break the first commandment and say things that would get a kids' mouth washed out with soap.
The only way it will change is when people realize they are temples, realize they are given callings, and when those who have callings in the arts, acting, drawing, writing, and performing, choose to offer their gifts back for a higher purpose and follow a higher calling. Viewers and readers, may, for their part, endorse and encourage as much of the arts and media as they can, and vote no with their wallets to the rest. Change media and you change the world. Then we will have a revolution.
(New and old cartoons on DVD are available at CartoonsWithoutCable.com, or link from alivingdog.com).

Now at http://www.alivingdog.com
See what the dog's dug up:
Read an interview with Kevin Miller, lead writer for Ben Stein's film, Expelled.
Watch the ad NBC nixed for the Superbowl (browser dependent).
Read two interviews with musician Larry Norman.
Read two interviews with author Richard Purtill.
Read an interview with musician and writer Steve Scott.
Browse the Living Dog Store: A Reading Dog for books; A Listening Dog for MP3s.
Family friendly links for cartoon and classic movie DVDs, Blu-rays and video downloads.
Watch free movie and cartoon trailers.
"Toys" now links to Zeroidz.com retro robot and space toy site, with links to the Robot Store,and a search box.