rapidtrabbit

Gee first Whitney, now Donna... :(

Happy Birthday today to...
phoenix_audubon!

Happy Birthday today to....
renniefox and chrisbcritter!

Time Warner Cable's internet provider service no longer to be represented by that bird.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Time-Warner-Cable-Kills-the-Roadrunner-119519?nocomment=0


There could be a number of reasons for the re-branding: Time Warner Cable is no longer part of Time Warner Inc, the liscensing deal with Warner Brothers Animation to use the character name may have expired or Cable no long wishes to pay the royalties, or the branding may have simply outlived its usefulness as a marketing tool.

It's funny how through much of the time that Road Runner was Time Warner Cable's internet brand, that the bird himself was hardly seen on TV, with Looney Tunes having dropped off Cartoon Network and Boomerang, so there were likely many folks out there who didn't even realize that the bird was an actual cartoon star. Well, here now Time Warner Cable is dropping the brand name, and coincidentally, classic Looney Tunes has returned to Cartoon Network along with the new Looney Tues Show that include newer CGI Road Runner cartoon shorts.

I remember the one day I helped out a certain 'yote "sell" the bird years ago...

I did the first of my two annual appearances as Rabbit at Wild West City in NJ today on Mothers Day. There were no other cast to join me so this was the first time in quite awhile that I was the solo character in town, but it was a fun visit. There were at least a couple of guests who asked me "where the wolf was", and another parent even remarked how she remembers RTR here when she brought her now-grown son to WWC when he was a kid. Wow, I've really been coming here that long now?

Here I am helping a young cowgirl have fun riding my quarter horse.

Of course I cracked it up "for effect"...

Note lower left corner...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/books/maurice-sendak-childrens-author-dies-at-83.html

He has said that he never wrote a children's book, that he didn't know how to write one.

Already had errands to do on arriving back home, drop stuff off at the cleaners, get a haircut and run to the shopping mall to swap out my cable modem at the TW store.

Tonight we went fursuit bowling in Albany OR with a whole bunch of fursuiters from the Portland area. Thanks to mousepaws, I got to be Clifford The Big Red Dog.

Things are coming along nicely there, still looking to be up and running in 2 years.

Saw "The Pirates: Band of Misfits" this evening.
"My booty is bigger than your booty..."

Today cheffrancisco and I spent the entire afternoon up in Mt.Hood OR visiting the protector of perhaps the greatest collection of inactive (but hopefully re-activated in the future) carousel horses anywhere in the USA let alone the world. Duane Perron and wife Carol have for decades been rescuing historic carousels from defunct locations, preserving and storing them in the hopes of finding new active homes for them. Unlike many "collectors" who have covetted individual horses and carousel parts for their antique monetary value, the Perrons have either repopulated emptied carousel frames or kept whole rides intact. That has not been a simple effort as it sounds, mainly due to economic factors, and at present they are safeguarding nearly 20 complete but disassembled carousels trying to find buyers for them who will run them as whole attractions. At the same time, the Perrons have formed a museum to educate and enlighten the public about this often neglected or overlooked artistic part of our entertainment culture. This museum has had two past locations in the Portland region and is presently in the process of building a new home that will actually house three working rides, but those plans are somewhat slow in moving forward. The visit was arranged for us by an associate of Duane named Mark who had to first present Duane with the idea of being interviewed by a rabbit (puppet) even though my monthly column in The Carousel News magazine has been published for a couple of years now, but he was willing to have a go at it.

Me with a horse from Philadelphia carousel #15 that I've ridden in the New York City area until several years ago. This ride started out in service in uptown New York City before embarking on a century-long sojourn that would take it back and forth coast-to-coast across the USA.


We first drove up to a huge barn in the mountain where all the stored mechanics of the many carousels in the museum collection have been warehoused. There were gears, cranks, sweeps, motors, rounding boards, drive mechanisms and signage all stacked and stored all over this building about the size of a football field, where also it is hoped the museum would take shape again. Then we drove over to the Perrons house a couple of miles away where his detached studio stabled literally hundreds of carousel horses and animals (in this relatively more-secure location apart from where the machinery was), mostly identified with a ride that sat disassembled in the barn we saw earlier. It was quite an impressive array to behold.

All of the Perron horses waiting to get back on their rides again.


Finally I sat down with Duane in his house where we taped an interview for the RTR Show and he told of his longtime involvement with carousel preservation. Look for the conversation on an upcoming RTR episode.

Rob and I are driving to Hood River to tape for the RTR show tomorrow. En route today we stopped by Salem's Riverfront Carousel for a ride where I caught the brass ring! Gee, maybe that means my luck could be changing (especially after some stuff last week). Funny how to claim your free ride you exchange the brass ring for a wooden nickel....I was always taught not to accept wooden nickels from anybody.

Tonight in Clackamas we had dinner at the Ram Brewery with mousepaws and Dan, was nice to seem them again.

Arrived tonight in Eugene OR spending the week with cheffrancisco.