#midnight breakfast

So what, pray, is Snagglepuss up to now? (A Fanfic Friday Crossover unto Bright Star)

The following is to be imagined as a George Harvey piece for no less than the Hillsdale Morning Star, with third-page prominence likely:

The least likely place to find a celebrity of any stature at bar-closing time in Hillsdale would have to be Sophie Mae's Blue Plate Cafe, even with its being open all hours.

Such was where yours truly found no less a celebrity than Snagglepuss the other night, nursing a ham-and-cheese omlette with hash browns and coffee for no reason other than a midnight breakfast "out on the road." Which, to none other than Mr. Heavens to Murgatroyd himself, was heading towards rendezvous towards a Road Trip to End All Road Trips with many of his fellow characters from the Hanna-Barbera stable beginning at none other than the Wall Drug Store of "Free Ice Water" sign fame, and continuing eastward to numerous other destinations that will eventually culminate in an appearence at next month's Moxie Festival in Lisbon, Maine.

"Which, Mr. Harvey--", Snagglepuss began.

"You can call me George here," replied I.

"--is nothing less than celebrating all things Moxie."

"I believe you're talking the soft drink Moxie?"

"Correct. Which, admittedly, is an acquired taste known largely to New Englanders."

"So what exactly led to your coming up with a road trip to the Moxie Festival?"

"Huckleberry Hound and I, in case you enquire, like to come up with creative places to host Character Convocations, which you might say are a mix of reunion, meet-and-greet even, for many of us Funtastics from the Hanna-Barbera cartoons we grew up with well into the mid-1980's or so. Which have used as backdrops the likes of the Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, Fiesta--"

"I think I recall a few of those with Ralph Edwards in my day."

"How correct you are. We decided to keep alive the spirit of those Fiesta days when Mr. Edwards, host and creator of the namesake game show, would bring along several emerging Hollywood stars over to celebrate the annual Fiesta in what had formerly been Hot Springs, New Mexico."

"And I understand Mr. Edwards got the name changed when the show had its ten-year annoversary back in 1950."

"Originally for publicity. But for some reason, George, Huck and I thought it might be interesting to bring back the spirit of those Fiestas."

"Can you think of a few others as followed since?"

"Ahh yes ... we had a presence at the Minneapolis Aquatennial, again recalling when you had celebrities there by the score. Even if it's not exactly what it used to be."

"As in--"

"Down to only about a week, and the Torchlight Parade the only such."

"I get it now somewhat."

"Subsequently to be followed with a setup at the Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival ... and believe you me, we Funtastics certainly had a ball enjoying downhill and cross-country skiing ... snowshoing ... snowboarding ... even ski-biking!! And can you imagine the crowds in downtown Steamboat Springs joining us for selfies ... oh, and most recently, we were in Wisconsin Dells for their fall festival, Wo-Zha-Wa."

"I wonder myself what that means."

"As my boon companion there and guide thereto, Crazy Claws, explains, it's the Ho-Chunk term for 'fun time.' Crazy Claws 'himself' served as host and guide to the whole, and even helped out in arranging parade and meet-and-greet appearences galore."

"That's pretty interesting ... tell me, where are you planning to stop this time?"

"Among stops in mind will be the World's Only Corn Palace, in Mitchell, South Dakota ... not to mention the SPAM Museum in Austin, Minnesota ... as well as a special presence at the Steamboat Days festival in Winona, Minnesota--"

First Kitten: Do you like to climb poles? Second Kitten: No; I'm not that kind of a cat.

--from Capt. Billy's Whiz Bang, December 1924

Sometimes, those midnight biscuits-and-gravy breakfasts the Cattanooga Cats are legendary for can generate some innovative ideas for improving their concert tours. Especially when some variety as goes beyond merely performing light-hearted and whimsical country-flavoured pop music (not to mention Scoots bringing up some anecdotes and thigh-slappers of stories drawing heavily on personal experience to open the second part of the show).

Yet at the same time recognising they're not quite the sort for Branson, Missouri; it seems they prefer carefully-nuanced country and hillbilly-music acts with subtle conservative propaganda messaging such as can appeal to a largely "poor white" audience whose patriotic feelings are crude, base and easily malleable along Shepherd of the Hills Expressway and 76 Country Boulevard.

So it came as no surprise to hear Kitty Jo "kick things up a notch" in terms of maintaining their relevance and audience appeal, if not so much on tour than at the stage of Cattanooga Klatsche, their Gatlinburg coffee house and artisan roastery, by suggesting something in the vein of that "feline circus" act as part of the Sundown Ceremony on Key West's Mallory Square as a distraction which, while not quite entr'acte material, certainly would offer more than a common concert experience bound to be stale and dated.

In effect, a side act of trained stunt felines pulling off a number of gymnastically-inclined acts bound to include a pole-climbing sequence bound to make the Wacky Races' Rufus Ruffcut look like a second-rate reject from a travelling lumberjack show of the cheapest sort. Especially considering that the climbing poles are also doing yeoman duty as scratching posts ... and the whole scored to reechy-sounding, hackneyed even, circus music to draw out the laughs, in particular a campy-sounding band version of "California, Here I Come" during the pole-climb act.

If the charge laid here, reader and fellow Hanna-Barberian, is likely one of trying to outdo The Banana Splits in seeking to reclaim their name from an awful horror-film treatment vis-a-vis concert antics and the reading of choicest examples of fan mail ... than Country, Kitty Jo, Groove and Scoots could be said to be "guilty on all counts, but for mitigating circumstances." (Especially those of a competitive nature.) Whether such will work or no (especially with the critics) is anybody's guess, which only time will answer.

**************