Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Silly Photo to Fill Space- the Tom and Jerry Necktie




One of the items on my Christmas wish list that we published back on Dec. 5 was a Tom and Jerry necktie. We mentioned the same time several months ago when we quipped that a guy can know he's in trouble on a first date if the girl asks: "Which one is the mouse?"

For those of you in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, who were born when Bill Clinton (another saxophone player) was president, Jerry is the mouse (did we really need to say that?! Yes, we probably did).

The Tom and Jerry necktie retails for circa $15 on most online sites, like zazzle.com

An interesting historical note about the characters is that a new incarnation of "Tom and Jerry" appeared on a series with Grape Ape (who looks like a purple King Kong with a baseball cap) cartoons in 1975.

The producers who perhaps later went on to advise George W. Bush (forgive the center-left political humor, kids! and Newt Gingrich if you are reading this) thought it would be a idea to make Tom and Jerry friends instead of the bitter rivals they had been for four decades before. By doing this, they thus ruined the basic plot premise that drove the storyline. A familiar gag that worked as well for kids in Dubai as it did kids in Topeka. And, of course, the new 'toons flopped.

Actually, a Grape Ape lunchbox would be a nifty item to have as well, but there are folks starving on the streets, especially in Detroit (read a depressing, but well-written article in "Mother Jones" about that), so wanting such things seem pointless and trivial.

You can probably find the Tom and Jerry cheaper than $15 if you look hard enough:)


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