PBS, PBJ PBR, OMG

I just gotta share this with you. I'm enjoying my second of two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner. Sometimes it's just fun and tasty, that's why. Okay, it's not the PBJ I wanted to share, its the following email. It's from a very good friend of mine, who will remain nameless. He works at a PBS affiliate far away from me, and will share fun, witty and, gasp, important stuff. So, this friend of mine, perhaps the most middle of the road of all of us, tolerant of many things that would send me to the top of a clock tower, sends this email. I laughed out loud. It's copied and pasted from the email, so it appears as written, other than one spelling correction at the end.


He begins...
"PBS is constantly being attacked as being biased to the liberal side of the scale right? You would think during these uncertain financial times they would at least TRY to appear somewhat balanced just to defuse some of the debate about PBS federal funding.

For a start, it would be nice to see ONE kids show that featured a nuclear family. I guess you have to go to Japan to see one of those. The closest thing we have is the show Arthur, Dad stays home and runs a catering business, mom is an accountant. The Dad is constantly emasculated, wears an apron, acts like an idiot.

Dinosaur Train, A bunch of pre-school aged dinosaurs who ride around on a train and have stupid adventures. A veiled happy daycare setting.

Cat in the Hat, two kids who run around with a cat and a fish causing all kinds of trouble. There is a mom in the picture but you never see her, no dad.

Curious George, A gay guy who lives with a monkey in New York City. The women featured in this show are always business professionals or scientists. The men are always bakers, or pizza cooks. I think the monkey is gay too or at least curious.

Sid the science kid, No dad in the picture. Mom drops Sid off at daycare, they BOTH sing and dance as he gets dumped off each morning. Correct me if I'm wrong T (another friend of ours in the email) but I don't remember any kids dancing into daycare every morning. Even the kids that liked the daycare always looked like they would rather be in bed when dropped off.

sorry for the rant, the adult programming starts in 10 minutes. don't get me started on that."

I laughed. The Curious George thing killed me. And with my friend, it was not mean-spirited, just an honest evaluation of what he saw. That's who this man is, "tells it like it is". (No, my friend is not Howard Cosell. I do miss Howard, though, and Dandy Don.)

You know, I enjoy some of the concerts on PBS. I've watched some great Austin City Limits shows. I loved Julia Childs before Dan Aykroyd on Saturday Night Live. I enjoyed the frizzy-headed painter guy, a combination of Mr. Rogers and Bernie from Room 222. I have a secret crush on the yoga lady I see in the mornings. How can one woman be so flexible? And she's no spring chicken. Sesame Street, The Electric Company (Rita Moreno, always a fave)and all those old, black and white shows produced by various college programs. Seems like I remember something about making an apple bird somewhere in the past. But my friend has a good point. And this is a guy who at one time in his life was a confirmed Atheist, anti-government, apolitical kind of guy. A "why can't we all just get along?" kind of guy. I think this qualifies as a perfect unbiased comment.

With all the P's in this one, I just had to add PBR. You know, Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer. And it's cheap cousin Red, White and Blue. I remember an old country song about a guy's patriotism, "...with my red neck, my white socks and my blue ribbon beer." A real country song, real 'Muricun. (American).

Speaking of Real Americans...I met a man today who is 91 years old. He's a WWII vet, wounded in action in Germany. They sent him to France, where the doctors wanted to remove his leg. He told them, "NO. Just put some metal in there and it'll be fine." Then they sent him stateside. They wanted to take off the leg. He told 'em to put more metal in. The leg lasted some 25 years until he was injured in a work accident. Then he fought it as long as he could. Now he's an amputee. He's had a couple of strokes, but what a great guy. The VA is purchasing a lift for him so he can enjoy his basement, and retreat there in time of storms. A neighbor lady looks in on him. His wife died a few years back. This 91 year old stroke victim amputee was as friendly and fun to hang out with as any of my buddies. It only took the VA about 60 years to help him out.

Another man I met today for another VA lift is a Viet Nam Veteran. Agent Orange has attacked his bones. He hasn't worked in years; had to give up his love, his Harley when one day while he was stopped at a light, his leg basically broke and he fell over. Took almost 30 years to get the VA to allow his disability claim. This is a fellow wounded in action in 'Nam. After recovering they sent him to Korea to join a re-formed unit (the others were all killed) and spent time at the North/South Border. 30 years to act on a claim for a wounded veteran, poisoned by Agent Orange. A friend of mine, Denny would tell me, "Ern, that sh#% was everywhere." This man I met now volunteers and raises money for and volunteers his time with veterans in hospital facilities and "old soldier" homes.

You might not agree with war; heck, nobody hopes for war, other than the right wing whackos in motion pictures. But you have to give it to these guys who were drafted, served, sacrificed and then waited patiently for some help. Even the bible speaks of a time for war, a time for peace. There will be wars and rumors of war, etc. It's just something that people will always cause; whether it's a border war, a civil war, "ethnic cleansing" gang and drug wars, there's always a couple of warring factions somewhere. One day, the Prince of Peace will return, and even then there will be a battle before real peace on Earth is realized. Pray for peace, work for peace; but support the men and women who are chosen and now, for those who choose to serve, knowing they are offering even their very lives. There's something bibilcal there, too, huh?

Once this global warming is over (cleverly disguised in Michigan as cold, rainy weather) maybe we'll see spring. You know,back in high school, all the rage was the coming ice age due to GLOBAL COOLING caused by Carbon emissions. This was back in the mid to late 1970's. I don't remember seeing any approaching glaciers, the Great Lakes didn't freeze or overflow and inundate Michigan...Oh well, maybe the next fad will be global temperate, where everywhere it'll always be between 60 and 70 degrees. Not bad, really. See 'ya.