What On Earth?-Column #10, March 2003

My, how time flies! OK, As you know, Spring is around the corner, and that means for all of us, a time to start seeing blooms! Well, I'll tell you why.

Last month, almost the ENTIRE nation saw blankets and blankets of snow, which is why we've seen the name "Blizzard 2003" in the headlines. And, as you know, what that means, is that snowstorms like these can make the headlines of the day, whether you watch the TV, listen to the radio, or even read the paper. Snowstorms like these can cause havoc on the roads, and happiness for those who are staying home, especially the kids, since when snow closes the schools, those little bundles of joy start TROTTING out the door, to play in the snow, or make some sculptures. In the case of many other people, some had to go to work, and some decided to DRIVE! WHAT A STUPID THING TO DO! Why can't you just CARPOOL instead? Or, like I like to do, TAKE THE BUS OR THE TRAIN! That's so easy, and on days like that, the transportation companies won't charge you a CENT just to use their buses or trains. I'm sure many of you want to see that's a good thing.

Now, on the last week of February, the television world lost a nice neighbor to many kids and their parents. Fred Rogers, host of PBS's critically-proclaimed "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," died at the age of 75. Many of us grew up with him, as his TV neighbors, young and old. Many of the friends he made on the show, include the Speedy Deliverer Mr. McFeely, Bob Trow, Chuck Aber, and Betty Aberlin. But, most of all, we all know that the show's famous for TWO things: The toy trolley that Mr. Rogers used for the Neighborhood Of Make-Believe, and of course, the Neighborhood itself, where many of the puppets voices', including those of King Friday and Prince Tuesday were those of Mr. Rogers. He was not only the creator and host of the show, he was also the show's executive producer and composer to the show's songs, which include the theme song "Won't You Be My Neighbor?", "It's Such A Good Feeling", "It's You I Like," and "You Are My Friend (You Are Special)." Our condolences go out to his family.

On a more heart-lighted note, if you saw the syndicated version of "Millionaire," we had our FIRST BIG WINNER: Kevin Smith, a retired-truck driver from LA, correctly answered Meat Inspector, as to what Uncle Sam was before he became an American Icon. I'm proud of him, and this will make you TWICE AS PROUD:

This month, Game Show Network is doing a documentary of Michael Larsen, the unemployed ice-cream truck-driver who took CBS's hit TV game show "Press Your Luck" for an UNBELIEVABLE $110,237 in cash and prizes, just by memorizing the patterns of the big game board that the show was famous for. His brother will take part in the Whammy premiere, facing the two losers from the big two-day event, and Peter Tomarken will be there, too. Why was it two days? Well, Larsen was so busy racking up a lot of money and extra spins that, well, like the Energizer Bunny, he just kept GOING AND GOING AND GOING AND GOING AND GOING AND GOING. Now, even though he made some bad real estate investments and lost the money, and died in 1999, he's a name many game show freaks like me will remember for a long time.

And, as I noted at the top of the column, Spring is just around the corner, and that means it's time to start bringing out those flowers. And for many of us, it means two words: SPRING BREAK! I'm sure many of you are those who like to go out of town. Well, I did that 3 years ago, when Karen was so busy checking out which colleges she'd like to attend. Rice was on the list, so we took a two-day trip to Houston to see what life at Rice was like. But, as my family knows all too well, she chose Stanford.

This year, I TURN 20 YEARS OLD. It's something I've been looking forward to for quite some time. I've been thinking about life at 20 ever since the start of this year, and as I reflect the moments of the past, it's been a semi-bumpy ride, from the 1993 WTC Bombing to 9-11, from the Challenger tragedy to that of the Columbia, it's been a good ride, which leads me to my next big story:

As you know, we, as Americans, are running out of options, ideas, and most importantly, TIME, to see Iraq disarm. Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi President, is consistently denying he has NONE, even though we've sent inspectors there for over 4 months. It's been 12 years since we've heard this, ever since the 1991 Gulf War, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, when Bush Sr. was still President. Now it's up to his son, DUBYA, to make sure that Saddam is gone. Not just his weapons, and not just his cabinet, but Saddam himself NEEDS TO GO. I don't see myself joining the many men and women of the armed forces out there, but I do see myself standing by those who are in a between war and no war predicament. You see, many of us think that there will be casualties, which I agree totally, but there may be TOO MANY CASUALTIES for us, and the Iraqi people that want to see Iraq liberated and Saddam gone. The Kurds, who've been supporing us ever since the 9-11 attacks, and who are living in a separate region of Iraq, are supporting us now, as well as many other Anti-Iraqi groups. They many not hate their own nation, but they SURE hate the man who's ruling over them now, calling us and our allies TYRANTS. US TYRANTS? He's the Tyrant, not us, and certainly not the Kurds or the Iraqi people.

Well, how are things going for this A-Teens fan? Well, their new album, New Arrival, is out, and contains some songs from Pop Til You Drop, their 3rd album. Anything I'd like to say about it? Well, I'll just say it's good.

Last, but not least, it's OSCAR TIME! I hope you've gotten your picks on the ballots, and I hope they walk on the red carpet with the trophies. I've been thinking it for quite some time, and I've also been thinking about this for quite some time:

This is the month where we celebrate St. Patricks Day. As we know, we see pictures of leprachauns and pots of gold. And we all see ourselves GREEN WITH ENVY. And, as an old tradition, if ANYONE noticed you not wearing green, you'd get PINCHED.

Well, Life after 20 should be a ball. So, I'll just wrap this up, and say, We're going to bow down to Saddam, and we're going to accept his words that we're TYRANTS? WHAT ON EARTH! Or, as John Stossel would always say, GIVE ME A BREAK! Until then, this is John Lee saying "Go HOME!"