NPR people, "click" here. All others, I would like to tell you about a cartoon that Theresa and I saw on the TV last night. It was an episode of a late '60s series called MOBY-DICK. In this version, Moby-Dick swims around with two kids on his back. In the episode we witnessed, some underwater bats began attacking the children for absolutely no reason. "It's the Aqua-Bats," one of the children said, sounding relatively calm, as if Aqua-Bats were a normal everyday concern in his world. Long story short, Moby-Dick defeated the Aqua-Bats. But I was surprised to learn that Moby-Dick was capable of elongating himself like Plastic Man. Also, the children tended to hide inside Moby-Dick when trouble arose - a tactic which, as we know from the Bible and Pinocchio, is problematic. To conclude, I would like to note that at one point Moby-Dick battled a giant Portuguese Man-O-War, and we were given to understand that when head-butted, this sea creature would merely split in two and become two angry, hepped-up sea creatures, then four, and so on. No explanation was given, though from my limited experience in marine biology, I am fairly certain it was unusual behavior. The name of the episode was "The Aqua-Bats." It was all over in seven glorious, hallucinogenic minutes. We took turns pinching one another long into the night. I thank you for your time and attention. The Aqua-Bats thank you. A coda: I have learned through "googling" that there is a band called the Aqua-Bats. For all I know, they took their name from this very cartoon. And finally, would it surprise you to know that the "Min-Aquabats" (pictured) are the oldest amateur water ski team in the United States of America? I thought you would like to know!
