6/5/25-The Animaniacs

I just was reviewing some of my recent posts and realized that a lot of them have been downers.  I'm depressing myself reading them.  Hopefully this will be a more positive post.

Back in my early Navy days when I was in Nuclear Power School in Orlando the days were pretty long.  We had to be up early for breakfast and had morning military responsibilities.  The longest day part of the day was class.  We were basically in the classroom from 8am to 3pm.  The evenings were consumed by studying time back in the classroom (much of the stuff we learned was classified and couldn't be taken out of the class).  Most people had required study hours that they had to check in with the watch to get signed off.  Things like 15/5, meaning 15 extra hours a week spread out over at least 5 days was not unusual.  All that lead to a lot of time in the classroom.

It was definitely important to find somethings to do outside to distract yourself from the constant studying.  For me that was every weekday getting out of class and rushing straight back to my room to watch the WB Television station.  I watched the adventures of Babs and Buster Bunny in the Tiny Toons Adventures, but the real highlight was Animaniacs at 4:30.

The Animaniacs was a cartoon based on the fact that in the 1930's, looking for new new characters, the WB animators came up with the Warner Brothers and their Warner Sister-Yakko, Wakko and Dot.  They were so crazy they were locked into the studio Water Tower, never to be heard from again, until they escaped.  They basically ran amuck causing mischief all over the studio and greater Los Angeles.

They sung songs about history (Ballad of Magellan) and geography (50 States and their Capitals).  They met historical figures like Albert Einstein or made fun of Saddam Hussein.  They drove their psychiatrist to pull out his own hair.

Some of their gags don't meet the modern standard for political correctness, and that showed when they tried to reboot that show in the 2010's.  It just lacked the edginess of the original.

It was a welcome distraction from the stress of learning nuclear theory, thermodynamics and chemistry.  Especially knowing that after my hour of peace I'd get dinner and back to the classroom.

Most importantly when Cindy found out she had married a 22 year old who scheduled his day around watching a cartoon she didn't realize her mistake and leave me.