"We don't want another Oswald!"

For those of us of a certain age, that phrase, yelled by a hysterical radio newsman amidst the chaos of Robert Kennedy's shooting, will always conjure up sad memories of two brothers dying way too soon, when they still had so much to give to our country.

In our household, that phrase now means something completely different. On the cable station Noggin, there is an old Nick program (for any parents out there, I'm sure you have those cable station numbers memorized!) about a blue octopus who always wears a black derby and lives in "Big City." He shares his apartment with a dachshund named Weenie who wears a hot dog bun as a coat. His closest friend is a penguin who always has to read the daily paper, can never deviate from what he has planned for that day and will never try new foods. (No, his name is not Sarah, although she should demand some sort of royalty from the creators.) There are many other characters on the show, among them:

A flower who roller skates everywhere who would best be described as ditsy

A pair of eggs who speak with English accents

A snowman who is the local ice cream man

"Madam Butterfly" and her baby daughter, Katrina (a caterpillar) who runs the local diner

A rabbit who seems to own and work in every store in town

and "Pongo," a friendly dragon

Elijah has become addicted to this program, and because our cable provider has DVR as part of its service, we have recorded almost every episode. To aid us in finding what Elijah wants to watch, I have listed days and show titles on a cheat sheet for reference. So when little guy asks to see the "Chasing the Ice Cream Truck" episode, I can get it for him without going through 30 different shows, and all the trauma that may bring.

The connection of all this to the title quote of this posting? The octopus' name is OSWALD, and after a morning of watching two or three of these shows (each containing two stories) the quote I mentioned earlier takes on a completely different meaning in our home, and becomes Sarah's and my mantra. Yet I really can't complain because now, whenever I hear the name Oswald, my only thought will be of the sweet character below (drawing by Elijah).