Dude, I didn't know you were a Philly boy! I used to love going to the Philadelphia Zoo when I was a child. In fact, it was an annual tradition for my family, not to mention school trips, etc.. Have lots of fond memories, though I haven't been there in at least 10 years now - probably more. Heard the elephants are gone, and the lions now have an overhead "Habitrail," so to speak. I'll have to get over there later this summer. Hope a lot of the older buildings are still there. Love the architecture. Half the enjoyment was the animals; The other half was the park-like setting.
I don't know if this happens to people in every generation at some point, but I now have all these mixed feelings as to the past vs the present. I have nostalgic memories of so many different things, yet many of them are in seeming opposition as to how I feel today, such as with zoos and circuses, for example. At one time, my ex and I kept a menagerie of pet rodents: mice, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, rats, you name it. I love rats. You have to have one to appreciate it, but they are definitely one of the most coolest animals I've ever encountered. I'd love to own a couple now, but I refuse to keep anything in a cage or aquarium any more (unless it's hurt, and then, only on a temporary basis.) I also love the Uncle Remus stories. The complete edition may not be my all-time favorite book, yet its definitely in my top twenty and features wonderful stories with some of the richest dialect the English speaking world has ever set to paper. And yet, at the same time, I can understand why some might find exception with the dialect and/or narrative setting, and if I'm reading this book in public, such as on a plane, I feel like some sort of criminal. Hell, I even have nostalgic memories of Gaines Burgers (being I once feed my dog such,) yet if they were around today, I'd balk at the idea of feeding such crap to any animal. I could go on an on with similar examples. Who knows? Maybe I'm becoming more enlightened? Or maybe I'm just becoming more and more of a basket case? Time will tell.
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Moving on to those things "Wacky." "Dusty greasy" chunks is humorous, but I prefer "heavy" chunks. I think it works better with the dog being bonked over and over again on the head.
I know what you mean about Uncle Remus.
Song of the South is still on of my mom's favorite movies (she said once that she thought that it was a happy film and loved the actor who played Uncle Remus and his singing voice) and I still remember it being shown in re-releases in the theater at the Plymouth Meeting Mall and Mom taking my brother and I to see it every time it came out. Ah, those were the days, indeed!
Now, here's the strange part.
Gone with the Wind is just as politically incorrect as
Song of the South is, and yet the first film has been on home video in every way, shape and form, while the second film has been outright banned and banished from home video. What is wrong with this picture here?
Here's a hardcover book that you might like:
Uncle Remus: The Complete Tales (with a new introduction) as told by Julius Lester/illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. This book's just about the closest thing to having the stories in this day and age and it is good reading. You will not find a dull page in it, believe me.
Speaking of rats, did you know that
Willard (1971) and
Ben (1972) are both available from Shout! Factory in Blu-ray/DVD combos? That's something that you'd probably like to get if you like rats.
Willard was also one of Elsa Lanchester's last films before she died (and one of Sondra Locke's first films) and, of course,
Ben has that hit theme song done by Michael Jackson back when he was young (and normal).
And here's an interesting story! In 1990, my family and I took a vacation to England and Ireland. One of the places that we visited the London Zoo. Believe it or not, one of the exhibits had brown rats (
Rattus norvegicus) and black rats (
Rattus rattus)-the same "pest rats" that everyone hates-in two separate enclosures. While my mom and I were looking at the one on the right side of the exhibit, a zookeeper came into the enclosure with a big plate of food, put it down and left, locking the door behind her. The minute she did, those rats were all over the food like vultures at a carcass! It was really something and maybe a possible addition to your bucket list (Mom wasn't too impressed, of course, but I sure was!). All they needed to do was to have a house mouse (
Mus musculus) enclosure there and all three of the major "pest rodents" would've been represented!