phorsenuf
Not so New Rule author
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2003
- Messages
- 19,619
This is my sons original version of his college essay....he pared it down a little. I thought it was pretty cool. Read if you want 
(I cut and pasted it so it may not have formed the paragraphs and such correctly)
Confessions of a Popsicle Stick
Do you remember who your childhood hero was? Maybe it was an astronaut or a firefighter or the President. Mine was none of these, but he influenced me just the same. I watched him every afternoon between the ages of nine and eleven. He was really skinny and had big googly eyes, and a huge yellow nose. His name? Stick Stickley of course! I grew up with him when I was younger, and even though he was a character made from a Popsicle stick on a television show it was always my dream to meet him.
Stick was on Nick in the Afternoon every weekday, and I watched it sitting in my living room on the deep red carpet I never really liked with my feet tucked under the television shelf. To my right was the piano, which needed a paint job and a tuning. To my left was the sliding door to the backyard, and behind me, the couch I never used. Mom was usually busy in the kitchen, or watching her soaps in her bedroom; this left Stick and I alone in each others company. My brothers rarely watched with me, and Im sure no one in my family can reflect on him as fondly as I can. After all, he was the featured star of a little kids program that was shown in between the real Nickelodeon programs he introduced and selected.
That was when Nickelodeon showed some good quality television like Salute Your Shorts and Dude Ranch. They had the vintage episodes of Rugrats and Alex Mack. These were the types of shows kids my age liked to watch; a comedy about everyones dream Summer Camp, a show about Cowboys and horses, and an adventure involving a teenage girl with superpowers. We all found a way to relate to these characters, and it was fun to believe we had the ability to be just like them.
Stick went on crazy adventures all the time, traveling the globe to entertain us and educate us on the fascinating things in life. I remember one day he was talking about immense buildings all around the world, and he showed us places like the Eiffel Tower and the Twin Towers. Those ones were my favorite because they were twins and he stressed the fact that they were the same height. The only difference, he said, was that the boy twin had the antenna on his head. I remember after seeing him go there that I wanted to go visit the Twin Towers some day. Some childhood dreams just wont ever happen.
Stick Stickley was, by far, the coolest person on television, and I loved watching him. He was always happy and had games for kids to play. I also remember that everyday was a holiday on Nickelodeon and Stick liked to celebrate them all. There was Opposite Day, and Pick Your Nose Day, and Hat Day. Stick liked to wear his dunce hat around town and dance with people in the streets. We all got to meet his eccentric mother, and his news anchor had pink hair and a crazy Brooklyn accent.
I miss the old days of Nickelodeon. There was Double Dare, the game show that had outrageous games kids participated in to get money. There was The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, the melodrama about a teenage girl who loved solving mysteries around town. On the weekends, Nick pulled out the big orange couch, and it became Snick. That was when we got to watch shows like Are You Afraid of the Dark? and All That. I remember TLC used to perform on All That before they were a hit group, and they even sang the theme song. I really miss all these shows, and I think Nickelodeon would be a lot better if they brought them all back.
Stick Stickley has since been replaced by day time shows such as U-Pick Live, and Slime Time Live, but none of these can live up to what he created. He was the voice of Nickelodeon, and Im sure millions of kids like me loved seeing him everyday. Unfortunately, I never got to express my gratitude and appreciation for Stick before they took him off the air, and I wish I could write him a letter telling him how much he impacted my life. I even remember his address. He presented it to us everyday as a jingle. It goes like this:
Write to me, Stick Stickley, P.O. Box 963. New York City, New York State, 10108!
I often wonder what would happen if I wrote to him today, and what Nickelodeon would have to say about their reasoning for his disappearance. Do they even know how much he was liked by the public? Do they realize that they got rid of a good thing? Stick Stickley was a childhood icon for many people, and now he is gone. When I look back on my childhood, he was a big influence on me as a kid. He was dependable, punctual, and fun to watch. He helped my imagination grow, he taught me many things, and he showed me my favorite television shows when I wanted them. He was the best friend anyone could ask for.
With the termination of Nick in the Afternoon, Stick Stickley was obsolete. When news of this got to me, I was devastated. I felt like I had lost a friend, and I would never see him again. I kept thinking, Oh, he will come back soon, I know it. But he never did. After Stick left the air, slowly but surely my favorite shows did too. Some held on longer than others, and some are still on today. Salute Your Shorts saluted for the last time, Dude Ranch probably became a parking lot, and Alex Mack was never heard from again. Allen Strange returned to his home planet, the midnight society on Are You Afraid of the Dark? put out their bonfire, and they all disappeared. Now, Nickelodeon consists of Spongebob, and then, believe it or not, more Spongebob. All That is one of the longest running shows on Nickelodeon, but its nothing like it used to be. It has none of the original characters, and its not as funny.
Maybe its the fact that Ive grown up that Nickelodeon isnt appealing anymore, but when they take away your childhood, youre forced to move on. Perhaps that is how television stations function as a whole. They introduce a show, hoping it will attract an audience, then if it does, a few years later they shut it down and rewind. They create a new program to attract the children we used to be. They grab hold of the new generation with the same intensity and manipulative force as they did on us, and they ride that out for as long as they can. Then, they simply repeat the process. So, in all essence, we, as consumers, as viewers of their programming, inadvertently become expendable resources. They treat us so kindly, giving us what we want, drawing us in every day after school or during our Summer vacation, and then, when they think weve had enough, they pull the plug and send us on our way. We become so used to what they offer that when they push us out of the nest and force us to fly, all we can do is spread our wings and find something else to watch.
(I cut and pasted it so it may not have formed the paragraphs and such correctly)
Confessions of a Popsicle Stick
Do you remember who your childhood hero was? Maybe it was an astronaut or a firefighter or the President. Mine was none of these, but he influenced me just the same. I watched him every afternoon between the ages of nine and eleven. He was really skinny and had big googly eyes, and a huge yellow nose. His name? Stick Stickley of course! I grew up with him when I was younger, and even though he was a character made from a Popsicle stick on a television show it was always my dream to meet him.
Stick was on Nick in the Afternoon every weekday, and I watched it sitting in my living room on the deep red carpet I never really liked with my feet tucked under the television shelf. To my right was the piano, which needed a paint job and a tuning. To my left was the sliding door to the backyard, and behind me, the couch I never used. Mom was usually busy in the kitchen, or watching her soaps in her bedroom; this left Stick and I alone in each others company. My brothers rarely watched with me, and Im sure no one in my family can reflect on him as fondly as I can. After all, he was the featured star of a little kids program that was shown in between the real Nickelodeon programs he introduced and selected.
That was when Nickelodeon showed some good quality television like Salute Your Shorts and Dude Ranch. They had the vintage episodes of Rugrats and Alex Mack. These were the types of shows kids my age liked to watch; a comedy about everyones dream Summer Camp, a show about Cowboys and horses, and an adventure involving a teenage girl with superpowers. We all found a way to relate to these characters, and it was fun to believe we had the ability to be just like them.
Stick went on crazy adventures all the time, traveling the globe to entertain us and educate us on the fascinating things in life. I remember one day he was talking about immense buildings all around the world, and he showed us places like the Eiffel Tower and the Twin Towers. Those ones were my favorite because they were twins and he stressed the fact that they were the same height. The only difference, he said, was that the boy twin had the antenna on his head. I remember after seeing him go there that I wanted to go visit the Twin Towers some day. Some childhood dreams just wont ever happen.
Stick Stickley was, by far, the coolest person on television, and I loved watching him. He was always happy and had games for kids to play. I also remember that everyday was a holiday on Nickelodeon and Stick liked to celebrate them all. There was Opposite Day, and Pick Your Nose Day, and Hat Day. Stick liked to wear his dunce hat around town and dance with people in the streets. We all got to meet his eccentric mother, and his news anchor had pink hair and a crazy Brooklyn accent.
I miss the old days of Nickelodeon. There was Double Dare, the game show that had outrageous games kids participated in to get money. There was The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, the melodrama about a teenage girl who loved solving mysteries around town. On the weekends, Nick pulled out the big orange couch, and it became Snick. That was when we got to watch shows like Are You Afraid of the Dark? and All That. I remember TLC used to perform on All That before they were a hit group, and they even sang the theme song. I really miss all these shows, and I think Nickelodeon would be a lot better if they brought them all back.
Stick Stickley has since been replaced by day time shows such as U-Pick Live, and Slime Time Live, but none of these can live up to what he created. He was the voice of Nickelodeon, and Im sure millions of kids like me loved seeing him everyday. Unfortunately, I never got to express my gratitude and appreciation for Stick before they took him off the air, and I wish I could write him a letter telling him how much he impacted my life. I even remember his address. He presented it to us everyday as a jingle. It goes like this:
Write to me, Stick Stickley, P.O. Box 963. New York City, New York State, 10108!
I often wonder what would happen if I wrote to him today, and what Nickelodeon would have to say about their reasoning for his disappearance. Do they even know how much he was liked by the public? Do they realize that they got rid of a good thing? Stick Stickley was a childhood icon for many people, and now he is gone. When I look back on my childhood, he was a big influence on me as a kid. He was dependable, punctual, and fun to watch. He helped my imagination grow, he taught me many things, and he showed me my favorite television shows when I wanted them. He was the best friend anyone could ask for.
With the termination of Nick in the Afternoon, Stick Stickley was obsolete. When news of this got to me, I was devastated. I felt like I had lost a friend, and I would never see him again. I kept thinking, Oh, he will come back soon, I know it. But he never did. After Stick left the air, slowly but surely my favorite shows did too. Some held on longer than others, and some are still on today. Salute Your Shorts saluted for the last time, Dude Ranch probably became a parking lot, and Alex Mack was never heard from again. Allen Strange returned to his home planet, the midnight society on Are You Afraid of the Dark? put out their bonfire, and they all disappeared. Now, Nickelodeon consists of Spongebob, and then, believe it or not, more Spongebob. All That is one of the longest running shows on Nickelodeon, but its nothing like it used to be. It has none of the original characters, and its not as funny.
Maybe its the fact that Ive grown up that Nickelodeon isnt appealing anymore, but when they take away your childhood, youre forced to move on. Perhaps that is how television stations function as a whole. They introduce a show, hoping it will attract an audience, then if it does, a few years later they shut it down and rewind. They create a new program to attract the children we used to be. They grab hold of the new generation with the same intensity and manipulative force as they did on us, and they ride that out for as long as they can. Then, they simply repeat the process. So, in all essence, we, as consumers, as viewers of their programming, inadvertently become expendable resources. They treat us so kindly, giving us what we want, drawing us in every day after school or during our Summer vacation, and then, when they think weve had enough, they pull the plug and send us on our way. We become so used to what they offer that when they push us out of the nest and force us to fly, all we can do is spread our wings and find something else to watch.
