Snoopy

Much like millions of other brats, I lovedlovedloved Peanuts as a kid. Especially Snoopy, of course. There was an almost Pavlovian response to seeing and hearing the CBS Special intro appear on the tv screen when they were about to air whatever classic Peanuts show at holiday time. Vince Guaraldi is best-known for his music on those specials. I had a kickass metal Snoopy lunchbox that I treasured for quite a few years. When I got a Lucy watch for my seventh birthday, I was stoked!!!

When I was in fourth grade, I got a small collection of Peanuts strips from the early-to-mid 60's. It was one of those cheapo repo's that were done just for schools, available through the school's book club. I noticed how different the characters looked. Especially Snoopy, of course. I liked the older-style Snoopy, when he was more dog-like. It wasn't until I was an adult that I did more research and found how cool Peanuts used to look even earlier, in the 50's:


































I find the above designs to be very much a product of their time. They appeal to the sense that the 50's were supposed to be about innocence and sweetness. What made it great was the philosophizing on a larger level coming from characters that were supposed to be small children. Great stuff.

The below is from the very early 60's. You can see that Snoopy is already developing a bulbous head, though he's still very doggish:








By the late 60's/early 70's, Snoopy evolved to the egg-head that is most familiar to everyone. I dunno, it's bland in my eyes. Then again, I think I liked the older designs because of the nostalgia factor. The evolution of the human characters bug me a little, but not as much as Snoopy's evolution. The line quality is something else that bugs me. I liked the smooth linework in the earlier drawings. The evolved scratchiness of the later work doesn't do it for me. I guess I'm just smoov like that.
























Whenever I see ads for Knott's Berry Farm, I just want to puke. I hate the Peanuts characters in that. Not because they're shills for an amusement park, but that they're badly done shills. Blah.


In other news...

I went and got my first flat tire on my Brand New Bike yesterday! Whooooooo! Glad to get that out of the way so fast. Luckily(?!) I did it in the afternoon with plenty of time to take the damn bike back to the bike store for some maintenance. They put in tire liners and new tubes(hopefully they're better tubes than the stock ones), and fixed some other squeaks and misalignments as well. The cool thing on the other squeaks and misalignments...I didn't ask for them to look into them, the dude did it on his own. Coolio! So I'm gonna be riding the bicycle to the husband's parents' pad tonight for Passover. Yeehaw!

Last night the husband and I went to the derby league's favorite bar to drown our sorrows with the Fresh Meat skaters. They were supposed to have had a little exhibition bout last night for their friends and family, but the Fire Marshall shut them down last week. So we had a Pity Party. Some fool brought a Sharpie out, and I started drawing on people. That was the bestest fun ever! I hope to get photos of what I did...they were hilarious!