The Turner Merger, Jungle Kats from Borneo and unshaven Geese..

From: chance <chance_at_unix.infoserve.net>
Date: Fri, 31 May 1996 07:49:56 -0700

>Ryan "B-Ko in a blue dress" Kelly wrote:
>
>>Me, I'm Ryan Kelley! Give me a nickname to add to my collection! If you need
>>one, I'll give you one! How about Waisgoos? (A stubble goose used to
>>entertain travelers at carnivals)

>Hey, I'm no Waisgoos, okay, I'll admit I used to be Michael the Leopard Boy
>from Borneo, that was just for the customers. If you want more nicknames I
>have a million of them. Literally!
>
>Geez, is everyone on this list flipping out or is it just me?

Hmm. Bisexual Anime, obscure references to little-known carnival attractions
(in the name of the lord, what, pray tell, is a "stubble goose"? "Boris" with the
"Don Johnson" look perhaps?), all CAPS rants as the sole indication that the
Army of Reason is in full retreat before the Dark Forces of Glucose? The dread
 mention of the mystical Leopard Boy from Borneo after a post full of Anne Rice
 faux-French?

Ehh...sounds like business as usual to me. Chuck some Olga-fied
"Lonely Russian Women" into the mix and you've got a banner week.

Meow.

Other news. The Time Warner/Turner merger is on the front burner once again.
The forecast for Hanna-Barbera and The Cartoon Network reads like the weather
most of us have been having for awhile:

"continuing unsettled with a ridge of high-pressure expected
 in New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. Some areas may experience
 executive reign - heavy at times."

Heh. Seriously, the merger deal that may be good for us Katfans is hung up
due to a disgruntled major shareholder and some concerns of the U.S. Gov't
anti-trust folks. Turner Entertainment and Time-Warner Communications
tying the knot will require the assent of the biggest Justice of the Peace of all,
as the resulting entity will be a communications behemoth with an *awful* lot
of control over what we all see and hear. I can't see the Gov't interfering to
any large degree though, as a similar deal just went down between
Disney and Cap Cities (ABC Network), and Westinghouse is/has/will be doing
something with CBS along similar lines. In short, if there's something to be said
that either Disney, Westinghouse, or Turner/Time Warner don't agree with - your
chances of hearing it just dropped significantly. (Hey, I'm an honours graduate
of Paranoia 101!).

I've forecast the announcement of the marriage prematurely before, so I won't
repeat the error save to say that quite a few people are suddenly talking about it
all again after a long absence, and the press is following suit. I just hope I'm
wrong about Cartoon Network Animation being created apart from H-B to
address pre-merger concerns expressed by Time-Warner. That would likely
be a "bad thing" in the layoff department WRT any restructuring of H-B.

(Do any of us really care about this stuff, or should I stick to subjects like
  Callie's ear-rings?)
_____________________________________________________
"Dedicated to the indomitable spirit of the sled dogs that relayed
 antitoxin six hundred miles over rough ice, across treacherous waters,
 through Arctic blizzards from Nenana to the relief of stricken Nome in
 the winter of 1925. Endurance, Fidelity, Intelligence." -- "Balto"
_____________________________________________________

Received on Fri May 31 1996 - 10:50:07 PDT