When I asked my kids how they discovered Mike and
Matt Chapman’s website, homestarrunner.com, I was surprised to learn they’d
heard about it the old fashioned way: on the school bus. As a dutiful parent, I
had to check it out; I’ve seen too many Web cartoons featuring animals
interacting with common household appliances. What I discovered is a site
packed with goofy animation, retro games, and a strong cast of characters.

As early television cartoons demonstrated, good
scripts and excellent character voices can compensate for limited animation.
Today’s animators use Macromedia Flash to produce cartoons based on this
principle. My son, Will, tells me that the “Brothers Chaps” have inspired a new
wave of flash animation on the Web, influencing major sites like
bonusstages.com, redvsblue.com, and others. Like Jay Ward’s Rocky and
Bullwinkle, the toons on Homstarrunner don’t “talk down” to their audience and
are infused with a zany anarchy on the outer edge of wholesome.

Here’s what Will says about Homestar: “I love the
hilarity and originality that Homestar offers. One of my favorites is the
‘Crazy Cartoon’ email where Strong Bad parodies bad web cartoons in ‘Sweet
Cuppin’ Cakes.’ My sister and I check for Strong Bad Emails every Monday,
Wednesday and ‘some days,’ for those are the days that Chapmans update the Web
page.”

And yes, that’s actual fan email culled from the
10,000 received each day. It’s a site my kids love to frequent, and if you
don’t mind yours talking like a clueless Elmer Fudd, I’d recommend you let them
check it out.

— Stan Merrell

This week for families:

Barnes & Noble Pittsford Thurs, Jan 6, storytime and
craft with Memorial Art Gallery Workshop, 10 a.m. | Fri, Jan 7, PJ storytime
with Rochester Children’s Theatre, 7 p.m. | 3349 Monroe Ave. 586-6020

Brighton Memorial Library for pre-K: Mondays 10 a.m.;
for toddlers: Mondays 10:30 a.m.; for families: Thursdays 7 p.m. | 2300 Elmwood
Ave, 784-5300

Henrietta Public Library
Storytimes for toddlers: Tues, Jan 11, 10:15-10:45 a.m. | for preschoolers: Tues, Jan 11,
11 a.m. and Wed, Jan 5 and 12, 10:15-10:45 a.m. | for grades K-3: Thurs, Jan 6,
4-4:45 p.m. | for families: Mon, Jan 10, 7-7:30 p.m. | 455 Calkins Rd.
359-7092, www.hpl.org

Music and Dance Classes Saturdays. Ages 3-5,
9:30-10:30 a.m.; ages 6-10, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Cobblestone Arts Center. 398-0220

RMSC Strasenburgh
Planetarium 657 East Ave. Giant-screen film: Bears,
Wed-Fri 4 p.m.; Sat 2, 4, 8 p.m.; Sun 1, 2, 4 p.m. | Star shows: Hubble’s Universe: Sat 1 p.m.; I See the Sky: Sat 9:30 a.m. | Laser
shows: Beatles Laser, Sat 9 p.m.; Pink Floyd Laser, Sat 10 p.m.; Holiday Songs and Skies with Mr. Jack Frost,
Sat 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., Sun 3 p.m.|
$4-$7. 271-1880, www.rmsc.org

Rochester Museum and Science
Center 657
East Ave. Surprise! It’s Science,
through May 2005 | Rochester’s Frederick
Douglass, through January 2006 | Live
Science! demos and theater, Sat 2, 3, 4 p.m.; Sun 1:30, 2:30, 3:30 p.m. Sat
3 p.m. show sign-interpreted | Ongoing exhibits include: AdventureZone, Carlson
Inquiry Room, At the Western Door | Hours: Mon-Sat 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun 12-5 p.m., closed Sat, Dec 25. Tix: $5-$7.
271-1880, www.rmsc.org

Seneca Park Zoo 2222 St Paul St. Tues, Jan
11, little ducks: colors and shapes, age 2, 10:15 or 11:30 a.m. $18 | Mon-Tues,
Jan 10-11, creatures of the night, ages 4-6, Mon 9:30 a.m., Tues 1 p.m. $22 |
Wednesdays, book and beast, 11 a.m. | Hours: daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tix: $5, $4
seniors, $2 kids. 467-9453, www.senecazoo.org

Strong Museum 1 Manhattan Square. Arthur’s World, through Jan 23. |
Long-term exhibits include National Toy
Hall of Fame, Can You Tell Me How To
Get To Sesame Street? and Super Kids
Market. Hours: Mon-Thurs 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Fri 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sat 10 a.m.-5
p.m., Sun 12-5 p.m. Tix: $7; $6 seniors, students; $5 children. 263-2700

Stunting Clinic Sat, Jan 8. Groups of 5-6,
pre-register, Premier Cheer, 1150 University Ave, Bldg 5, 2:30-5 p.m. $15.
244-CGYM, www.premiercheerinc.com

The Wizard of Oz Sat-Sun, Jan 8-16. TYKEs, UpStage3 Theater,

Auditorium Center, 875 E Main St, Sat 10:30 a.m.,
Sat-Sun 1 p.m. $10. 723-6080

YMCA Camp Arrowhead Fri, Jan 7: open house,
Southeast Family YMCA, 111 E Jefferson Rd, Pittsford, 6 p.m. | Saturdays:
winter wonders, ages 5-10, 10-11:30 a.m.; snow survival, ages 8-14, 12:30-2
p.m. | 383-4590, www.ymcacamparrowhead.org

Resolve to connect

The new year is here, and it’s time for many things.
I’ll skip the resolutions. There’s just one thing I’d like to make time for:
gratitude. Each night I try to remember what I’m thankful for: warm beds for me
and my family (and everyone I know), enough food, plenty of space in our house.
The list can go on indefinitely, but what often stops me in my tracks is my
gratitude for connections.

I am a part of several families, and fill many
roles: mother, wife, sister, daughter, and more. I am also connected to
friends, neighbors, and others. Many days I am thankful for a brief yet
meaningful connection with someone in my life.

At this time of the year, when many take stock of
their lives, perhaps noticing what is lacking, I offer the bounty of
connections. Sometimes it can seem that we are islands of humanity,
occasionally bumping into one another. I suggest that we are intrinsically
connected — to each other and to all of humanity. The connections are there,
even when we forget them.

Many of us feel the universal brotherhood of man as
we watch our South Asian brothers and sisters torn too soon from life, or torn
apart by the grief wrought by earthquake and tsunami.

As we venture into yet another new year, armed with
various resolutions, maybe we need just one: to search out those connections,
and make more of them.

— Lynn Malooly

This article appears in Jan 5-11, 2005.