Slimed: Nick’s History – Part 1

On January 19, 2014January 21, 2014 By R. PettyIn BooksLeave a comment

Ah… slime. I’ve been watching people get slimed on TV for most of my life. It’s gross, slippery, and green. It’s a staple of the best kid’s cable network, Nickelodeon.

Last year, I read Slimed: An Oral History of Nickelodeon’s Golden Age by Mathew Klickstein. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was very excited to get a behind-the-scenes look at my favorite shows and characters I watched while growing up.

I’ve had a few people ask if they’d like it. My answer is this: If you loved Nickelodeon in the 80s and 90s, yes. I don’t want to spoil TOO much because there are some doozies and surprises – some even shocked me. There was a lot of drama, hurt feelings, good times, and of course, slime.

This week I’m focusing on the random things that stuck out, and next week I’ll get into the drama – and there was a lot of drama. But, let’s keep it light and have some fun!

Scott Webb was one of the early creator’s of the network, and he’s described as “bleeding orange”. He was diagnosed with an eye disease early on and became legally blind. It didn’t stop him though, and with his team, they did some amazing things. If you look at some of the sets and designs, it’s pretty inspiring that a blind man helped create that.

You Can’t Do That on Television was one of the most controversial kids shows ever. I remember my mom banning me from this show, but I watched it at other people’s houses (sorry, mom). But, after reading all about it, I can see why she did. It was dark. It was raw. For example Barth’s Burgers joked about cutting human meat into burgers. There’s no way they would get away with that today!

Many of the kids wore their own clothes. If you go back and watch the shows, you can see the ones that were really low budget (You Can’t Do That) and the ones that weren’t (Clarissa). They recruited a lot of kids from Canada and had them as they were. At one point, they gave a kid $100 bucks for clothes and said buy whatever. If you know Nickelodeon today, you see a big difference because everything is modern and trendy.

The kid actors were schooled on set. There were several tutors and relatives who helped out. One lady was a hearing-impaired foreign language teacher, and many of the actors talk about how crazy it was because she could read their lips and tell whether they were speaking the language correctly.

The crews really cared about the kids. They talk about not using focus groups and talking to the kids instead. They made sure they were safe and educated. And it’s interesting that most of them ended up becoming regular adults with jobs and families; they didn’t get into drugs and partying and blow up the press.

The story of slime. I definitely don’t want to ruin this, but I’ll give you a hint. It was an accident, and the original idea started with rancid food. Alan Goodman, a writer and creator, says that the problem with slime today is that “grown ups got a hold of slime and made it pretty.” It wasn’t pretty back in the day.

Be sure to read next week as I talk about characters, the drama behind Doug and Ren and Stimpy, and the mess that went down when it all changed!

Story of the Month: My Date with Sue the T-Rex

On January 15, 2014January 15, 2014 By James CastroIn Short Stories, Story of the MonthLeave a comment

In September of 2013, I had the good fortune of getting to go to Schaumburg, Illinois, on business. I’d never been to Illinois before and being so close to Chicago was a great opportunity.

A lot of people had advice on what I should do when I get there. I should go to the Navy Pier, go to a ball game, or definitely try the food. The only thing I wanted to do in Chicago, since I had only a short window of time, was see Sue the Tyrannosaurus at the Field Museum — one of the most complete T-Rex skeletons ever found. Being a lifelong fan of dinosaurs and a fan of the Dresden Files, it was the one thing I had to see.

The work-related training course I attended in Schaumburg ended early on the last day, and I set off to the city. My hotel had no courtesy van, so I called a taxi and paid the 20 bucks (yeah) to get to the nearest train station. When I got there, I found the station itself was closed but a woman I met there said, “Don’t worry you can buy tickets on the train.” When the train showed up I got on, got my card ready, and told the ticket guy I needed one to Chicago. He took one look and said, “We don’t take cards.” I explained I didn’t know and the station was closed, he didn’t seem perturbed, but said, “Well, you’ll know for next time.” It didn’t help too much and I felt like I’d stolen a ride, but the fact that it was a cash-only enterprise and used hole-punchers like the Wetzel’s Pretzels discount card I got at the Woodfield Mall was a little unusual and very different from my last experience with mass transit in Washington DC! I was lucky the ticket guy was nice; it must happen a lot.

I rode into town with my head down (since I was a ride-moocher) knowing essentially where I had to go. Walk east from the station and I’m not too far from the Field. It would be a good walk, but I had all day, and how often am I in Chicago?

Once I got to the station in the city, I got out the GPS on my cellphone and started walking. Trusting my GPS, I immediately turned a couple times and traveled along a road for which I couldn’t find a street sign to name it. I passed some interesting city blocks and traveled a bit before I saw something that was awry. I passed small coffee shops and a place that packed eggs…it didn’t look like I thought it would. I saw a few buildings in the distance that I thought might be the outskirts of the town and thought, “I was further out than I thought.” I kept walking, then took a right, and out of the corner of my right eye, I saw the city…

Now I should mention I live in Nashville, which I always describe as a medium-sized city with a small-town mentality and big-city problems. Chicago as it turns out is a MASSIVE urban center. The kind that you really can’t miss…unless you start walking WEST on Randolph Street from Ogilvie Station and take a right on Aberdeen. In my narcissistic mind I had been walking a certain direction…so I just assumed it HAD to be correct! Finally spotting one of America’s hardest-to-miss cities, I headed east on until I hit a dead end then snaked around until I got to Fulton and headed North on Desplaines. Once I got to Grand Avenue, I stuck to it like glue and headed east all the way to Lake Michigan.

Once I saw the Navy Pier I knew I was golden…however I also knew the Navy Pier was north of the Field. I turned south and started walking, keeping the lake to my left. I added the sounds of sea gull caws and rigging clattering to my audio repertoire and spotted the Field in the far distance. I admit I was getting tired, but the idea of seeing Sue kept me going.

I finally got to the large, well-kept park outside the museum and headed up the cleanly cut hills to the Field steps. Once I got to the museum, I saw a sign that said “The Field will close at 4pm, last admittance will be at 330” for an apparent event. It was 3:27…I had JUST made it.

When I got in the woman at the desk said to someone, “There are more coming in. I’m taking this one and the next one and that’s it.” She told me the museum was only going to be open til 4, I said that was fine, and she let me in and the person who came in behind me.

But there was Sue, standing tall in the center of the museum. There were tables and serving areas being set up everywhere, but I didn’t mind. I took pic after pic to make sure I had all the angles. I visited the gift shop, got an “I saw Sue” pin and a T-shirt…and left, all in under the 30 minutes I had until the museum closed.

I then walked back (went to the wrong station, I ended up at AmTrak instead of Ogilvie…it was at that point I decided I’d get a MAP instead of a GPS next time…) and got back to Schaumburg around 6.

I’m looking forward to going back to Chicago to see all the things I walked by at a good clip to get to the museum or to the train station home. I know how to get train tickets and what it costs to get from point A to point B (and generally how to get there) so it’ll be MUCH better next time.

I learned a lot from this trip, which turned a less-than 3-mile walk into an 8-10 mile adventure of narcissism, faulty technology, and idiocy.

In the end, Sue was very worth it…but I had to leave her in Chicago, probably for the best. It wouldn’t have worked out anyway, long distance isn’t good for any relationship. Plus, I think she may be a little too big bone-ded for me anyway 😉

Music: More Than One Voice

On January 12, 2014January 11, 2014 By R. PettyIn OpinionsLeave a comment

The Voice. American Idol. The X-Factor. Three shows with one common theme: singing.

As reality shows about singing competitions flood our culture, it made me wonder what happens to all those people who do something equally, if not more so, important: play an instrument. Why don’t they get the same hype and attention?

I read about music programs getting cut. My son and most of our friends don’t play instruments. Music is not just a good voice and “the look”. Music gets inside you, moves you, and there’s very little as sexy as a good bass line or guitar solo. We need to get our kids off the electronic devices and away from popular TV, and show them there’s more to music than a voice. As Paul Adelstein says in Be Cool, “everyone can siiiing.”

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve come across several talented kids – thanks, YouTube – and I’ve been blown away by how well these kids play. And they’re playing some complicated stuff. I’ve seen covers of TOOL, System of a Down, Iron Maiden, and many more. (Yes, I’m sticking with metal because that’s my favorite). These kids put in the dedication and work to cover some great metal songs, all of which were written by well-practiced, adult musicians.

So, take a few minutes and check out these videos. If a random song about a fox can get 300M+ views on YouTube, these kids deserve three-times that. Enjoy and spread the love!

Off the Top of My Head: On Self-Improvement

On January 8, 2014January 8, 2014 By James CastroIn OpinionsLeave a comment

There’s a lot of talk this time of year about “resolutions” and self-improvement. I took a moment to look back at things over the last year to review a big change I made and see if it can help others in a similar situation.

I spent nine years, 2003-2012, giving everything I could to an organization. Though it was a government organization and not known for productivity, I did pride myself on doing everything I could to be the exception to the stereotype of “lazy government workers.” I wasn’t alone; there were a lot of us there actually who worked very hard to ensure our overall mission was accomplished. I always felt doing the job well was more important than minor rewards, and it wasn’t until I began speaking with people who didn’t work where I did that I realized how bad things actually were. I had been there nearly a decade, was essentially a group leader, volunteered to be a committee chair, accepted lots of extra work and challenges, and had received praise for work I’d done in all aspects of my job…and still made about 25K a year.

My last year there I felt things became clearer. Maybe I was naïve for a long time, or maybe the environment changed. I was told a lot of conflicting things about why I could be moved into a semi-supervisory position but not paid for it. I found out how much money was wasted around the place on silly things like mobile electronic devices, new staff, and PC replacements. All while people were doing hard work for little money and others did very little work for quite a bit. I became pretty angry, disillusioned, and disgusted with the place. I was told, point blank, “We can’t do what we do here without you” only to be immediately told, “You aren’t qualified for any more money,” but I WAS qualified to do the work…just not get paid for it.

I soon realized that maybe I shouldn’t be angry at the place I worked. Yes, they were taking advantage of hard workers by paying them peanuts, piling them up with work, and telling them they wish they could provide raises…but never doing it. That all seems like grounds to be angry…but really I was angry with myself. I complained a LOT about the situation…but never did anything to change it. So when I had the chance, provided by the all-too-important contact who knows something, to break free and start, day one, making more than 10k a year more than I was at the previous place, I surprised everyone, including myself by taking the chance. I was nervous. I don’t deal well with change. I didn’t know much about the job, but I was still confident. I was still me. I’d still give my all to learn it and do it as well as I could. And within my first few weeks at the new place, a supervisor from another department came to see a database I built in my spare time that my supervisor mentioned to him. He came over saying “I was told you made something for us I just had to see…” No one claimed credit or tried to take possession, they just came by to see how it could be used. My first evaluation at the new job I was told how much I was appreciated and even rewarded for the work I do. It CAN happen.

So what was the point of this semi-rant? I know a LOT of people are where I was in 2012. They’re stuck in a situation they don’t like but put up with it because it’s what’s “familiar” or easy. And it is easy. It’s MUCH easier to talk about how you need to change and what you wish was better. It’s harder to do something about it. But you CAN do it, and if it’s affecting you to an extent that it intrudes on your life outside of the situation no one can change it but you. No one owed me anything at my old job. I allowed it to be what it was. No one owes me anything at my new job or anywhere else. Changes occur for those who seek them and stop talking about how they need a change and actually change.

I’ve found it works in all aspects of life. So the next time you start to think “I hate my job/situation/whatever” stop thinking and start doing something about it. If someone as riddled with crippling OCDs and neuroses as me can do it, anyone can!

So happy New Year, RevPub readers. Here’s to a fresh start for those who want it!

If You Want to Write: People Make a Difference

On January 5, 2014January 4, 2014 By R. PettyIn BooksLeave a comment

Happy New Year, everyone! As 2014 kicks off, we’re full of excitement as we set our resolutions or simply hope that things will not suck. In honor of new beginnings and change, let’s talk about something that motivates us: people.

Ueland’s chapter 15 “a fountain of ideas” touches on something much deeper. Yes, we are full of ideas – good and bad – but we need certain things in order for those ideas to blossom. We need courage, faith, rest, and as much as I hate it sometimes, people.

Friends, family, coworkers, strangers. People surround us all the time, and whether we admit it or not, they influence who we are and how we act. They can make or break us. They can build us up or tear us down. In order to be ourselves and write from our true forms, we must decide who is worth our time and energy. We must weed out those who hold us back and doubt our abilities, because with doubt, there are fewer possibilities.

In order to be a fountain of ideas and let our creativity seep out, we must know how to handle people – “to work and shine eternally.” Enjoy these tips!

Avoid negativity: This is my biggest challenge. I feel the need to fix things, but sometimes you can’t. Sometimes you have to stop trying – if only for a few hours – and get away from what brings you down. Negativity can destroy creativity.

Meet new people: I love meeting new cool people. Yes, I hate people as a whole, but every now and then I meet someone who is worth time and attention. My best friends are these people; they are people I have developed long-term relationships with, some for more than a decade.

Pay attention: If you want people to listen to you, listen to them. You can also test your observation skills by really listening and getting to know them. You never know when a small detail will fuel something bigger.

Laugh A LOT: We should laugh as much as possible. It’s a great stress release, and the world is too serious. Find those people who make you laugh until your abs hurt and your eyes tear up. Those people are special.

Take a break: Socializing can be exhausting, and we don’t always feel like chatting. Don’t force it, and take a break when needed. If someone gets upset about it, they’ll live. If they are good for you, they will be there when you’re ready.

Be yourself: Honesty goes a long way, and not everyone appreciates or can handle it. It’s okay. Part of fueling your creativity is to not fear who you are and letting those ideas pour out. Your audience knows when you’re bullstuffing them, so don’t do it. Use the good and bad to write honest pieces.

Feel free to share your tips below, and happy writing!

2013 RevPub’s Year in Review

On December 29, 2013December 27, 2013 By R. PettyIn Random FunLeave a comment

New Year’s steadily approaches, and as we enter another fabulous year of antics and projects, we at RevPub want to THANK each of you for your loyalty and readership. It’s been a hell of a year, and we’re on our way to more great things!

Here’s a look at your favorite posts for 2013:

Psych’s Uzi Flowers: This means the world to me because this was a special gift to a special person. It took more than a month to paint, and I hope it inspired others to think outside the box and exercise creativity.

The 90s TMNT Movie: A staple of most 30-somethings guy’s childhood. If there’s one thing we can do, it’s show our nostalgia for the 90s!

Lindsey Stirling in Nashville: And guess who’s coming back to Nashville in June 2014?! We’re very happy to have her back, and this time we’re going with a group of six. That’s the power of music.

Thanksgiving – The Little Things: This one surprised us a little. My grandma’s very small gesture turned into shares all over Facebook and lots of positive feedback. We’re happy to know so many of you appreciate the little things.

An Illustrator’s Foray into Adobe Illustrator – Week 3: We at RevPub love to learn and try new things. James dove right into Illustrator, and he has produced some amazing art and gifts. We’re looking forward to producing Lil Horseman 2 this year and maybe some new projects.

How to be a Good Fan – Don’t be the Comic Book Guy: James had a blast writing this series, and it went over very well. We’re all fans of something or someone, so it’s nice to be reminded we don’t have to conform or shove it down someone’s throat. The one good thing about people is we’re all different, so we should accept and respect one another.

So, what’s next? We hope to get Lil Horsemen 2 produced, more merchandise up, we’re both volunteering for a special project we’ll discuss later (wink), and we’d like to have a lot of fun!

Revenant Publications