By Andy Luttrell, Eastern Illinois

During my brief stint at art school, I felt like Jane Goodall. I spent time interacting with a strange species: artist. Artists are weird. Even though I have respect for them and what they create, I still get confused when I look at some “artwork.” In a tribute to strange pieces of art that are hard to appreciate and seem like nothing more than the work of a wild animal, let’s take a look at some crazy ideas that have been masquerading as art.

DISCLAIMER: I don’t mean to imply that these should not be considered art. I’m just saying they’re weird.

Fountain, Marcel Duchamp – 1917

In 2004, five hundred British art experts decided that the most influential piece of art of all time was…a urinal. Notable French artist Marcel Duchamp purchased a standard Bedfordshire urinal, turned it on its side, and wrote: “R. Mutt 1917” on it. That year, he submitted the piece to the Society of Independent Artists exhibition.

Now, years later, art experts place it above the works of Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and Henri Matisse. I’ll be honest, though; when I see a urinal, my first reaction is “Hey, I kind of have to pee,” but a 1917 issue of the Dadaist publication, The Blind Man justifies the piece when it writes:

“Whether Mr. Mutt made the fountain with his own hands or not has no importance. He CHOSE it. He took an article of life, placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view – created a new thought for that object.”

Valley Curtain, Christo and Jeanne-Claude – 1970

This piece proves just how persistent artists can be in the executions of their crazy visions. What began as a simple idea turned into an expensive and frustrating ordeal. The idea was to hang a really big orange sheet in the mountains.

The 142,000 square foot curtain—that’s 12,780 square meters to the artists (Christo having been born in Bulgaria and Jeanne-Claude in Morocco)—was made of woven nylon fabric and hung gallantly between the mountains at Rifle Gap, seven miles north of Rifle, Colorado.

On August 10, 1972, thirty-five construction workers and sixty-four volunteers finished erecting the bright curtain. Just twenty-eight hours later, however, a forecast of a 60 mph gale storm forced the artists to take the curtain down. The culmination of twenty-eight months of effort (according to the artists) was a big orange curtain that hung in Colorado for a little while. It’s no urinal, but at least it’s exciting.

Today (series), On Kawara – 1966

On Kawara is a Japanese conceptual artist living in New York City. Ever since 1966, Kawara has worked on a long series of paintings titled the Today series. The paintings consist of the date the piece was painted on, and that’s it. If he does not finish the painting by midnight on that day, he destroys it.

Kawara stores each of these paintings in its own homemade cardboard box along with a newspaper clipping from that day. These date paintings have been created in more than 112 cities worldwide, and each painting reflects the language and calendar conventions of its respective country.

Another super-simple series that Kawara has taken part in is I Am Still Alive. In the 1970s, he sent a series of telegrams to friends and colleagues. Each telegram bore the same message: “I am still alive.” Thank goodness.

Twelve Square Meters, Zhang Huan – 1994

Finally we branch into the area of performance art! Chinese artist Zhang Huan had a brilliant idea. In 1994, Huan sat naked on a toilet in Beijing’s East Village art colony. Drenched in honey and fish oil, he exposed himself to swarms of flies and insects. Avant-garde photographer Rong Rong was taking pictures of the artist in the act until a villager walked onto the shoot and called the authorities.

This crazy idea has proved lucrative, however. According to an article for China Daily, photographs of the bug-covered Huan sell for more than $10,000 each. If I had a spare ten thousand bucks lying around, I’d definitely buy a picture of a naked Chinese man dripping with honey. The picture is maybe not safe for work, but if you’re at home (or work at a really laid-back company), you can check it out here.

Examples of Huan’s other works include getting nine people to strip naked on a mountain peak and lay on top of each other to reach a height of one meter (1995) and handing out live doves in New York City while wearing a body suit made of meat (2002).

Untitled, Pierre Brassau? – 1964

If you’ve ever looked at a piece of art and thought, “a monkey could have made this,” you might actually be onto something. In 1964, writers for the Göteborgs-Tidningen (a Swedish tabloid newspaper at the time) had a cunning plan to make a mockery of the art community. They took a 4 ½-year-old West African chimpanzee from Sweden’s Boras zoo and gave him a brush and oil paints. The chimp painted all over the floor, his keeper, and a few canvases. An article for TIME notes that he even ate whole tubes of cobalt blue, a color featured prominently in his work…presumably because of its tart taste.

Claiming the paintings were made by an artist named Pierre Brassau, the hoaxers submitted the pieces to a gallery for exhibition. Monsieur Brassau found an enthusiastic audience. Art critic Rolf Anderberg said: “Pierre Brassau paints with powerful strokes, but also with clear determination. His brush strokes twist with furious fastidiousness. Pierre is an artist who performs with the delicacy of a ballet dancer.” One of the paintings even sold for $90—that would be more than $600 in 2008 money.

Do you think you’re smarter than Anderberg? See if you can differentiate monkey art from people art with this quiz.

Sure, we’ve all learned a lot about historical figures in school (and/or the History Channel) – Washington, Napoleon, Elizabeth I, even Hitler. But could you pick their handwriting out of a lineup? Nebraska Cornhusker Marcy Pursell tests your knowledge of the chicken scratch and elegant script below.

Take the quiz: The Handwriting Quiz

Have you ever noticed how many Star Wars terms and real-war terms seem to overlap? Matt Fischer from the University of Colorado has, and he wants to know if you know your stuff. So, it’s your duty to determine whether each reference is from Star Wars, WWII, or both. May the force be with you!

Take the quiz: Star Wars Reference or WWII Reference?

by Tess Baldwin, Hunter College

Ah, public transportation. In the wake of skyrocketing oil prices, it has become a welcome alternative for people across the world. New York City’s subway system registers as one of the largest and most complex. However, we all have heard horror stories of the underground world. Thefts, incredible crushes during rush hours, leaky roofs, train cars without air conditioning… the list can go on forever. But rest assured, the NYC subway system has tricks up its winding, extensive sleeve, tricks that can make even the most hardened commuters, sweaty, tired and just a bit uncomfortable from the person across the train staring at them, appreciate the uniqueness of the subway.

1. Connecticut Turnpike Connection

One of the lasting public images of the New York Subway is it’s icon token. The tokens were first introduced in 1953. The tokens were adopted due to the fare increase to fifteen cents (the fare had remained at five cents for 44 years, almost bankrupting the subway system in the progress); the fare collection machines at the time couldn’t handle both a nickel and a dime. However, people were determined to avoid paying the fare. Tokens were also used for turnpikes, and it just so happened that their tokens from the 1980s fit perfectly, and fooled the fare machines. It is thought that this error occurred because the Connecticut Turnpike tokens and the New York Subway tokens were made by the same manufacturer. This virtual “token war” continued for a few years, until Connecticut took out their tolls. The subway system phased out tokens in 2003.

2. Manhattan to Manhattan

One of the oddest things about the system can be seen when you are riding the 1 train, which goes from the southernmost tip of Manhattan to near the end of The Bronx. In its journey, it goes over the Harlem River, but here is where one of New York’s greatest idiosyncrasies can be seen: this connection features the only place in New York where you can travel from a Manhattan station over a bridge and water to another Manhattan station. The station on the mainland is on ground that was once part of Manhattan. In the early 20th Century, a ship canal was built, leaving this area an island, surrounded by the river and the ship canal. When the river was filled in, the area became a part of the mainland and, as one would believe, The Bronx. However, the residents campaigned to remain under Manhattan’s jurisdiction, and this area is today considered politically Manhattan. The next stop on the northbound train, six blocks away, is contained in The Bronx.

3. Media! Media!

The original architects of the subway loathed advertising and countless people have had much to say on the subject in the hundred-plus years since. Advertising is seen in every station and is featured in the cars. However, the subway system has been represented in all types of media, from “Take the A Train” and the famous “Subway Series”, to backgrounds on Sesame Street and, most recently, influencing the new Grand Theft Auto game. In can be argued that almost any movie taking place in New York will involve the subway in some way – it is that much a part of the lifeline of New York City. If a movie is being filmed, crews usually use an abandoned station (of which there are many to choose from in the system). The famous Taking of the Pelham 1-2-3 is currently being remade and features stars such as Denzel Washington, John Travolta and James Gandolfini. A popular staple in train cars for 30 years were the Miss Subways, women who graced placards with their images as a form of advertising. Interestingly, the program featured women of all backgrounds, artfully reflecting the diversity of the city from the 1940s to the 1970s. The new incarnation, Ms. Subways, coincided with the centennial of the subway in 2004, although it only lasted one year.

4. Right out of 1904

There are 468 stations in the system, but several more have slipped beneath the radar, glimpsed only through the windows of a passing train or by noting grates, tiles or columns that could indicate where a station used to be. Several stations have abandoned platforms or areas, which are there for all to see. The subway, which was once comprised of three separate systems, features a few relics of the past for each system. People often wonder about the ghost stations, and why they were abandoned. Some, such as the once-heralded “crown jewel” of the original system, the City Hall Station, were closed because of low passenger volume, while others were closed because of close proximity to other stations (usually due to platform lengthening when longer train cars were needed). There are a few that are just mysteries, such as the lower level of the 42nd St. Station, shrouded in speculation. Few people have seen an abandoned station up close, but they, like any other forbidden entity, draw attention nonetheless.

5. Art Cards

To an untrained eye, the subway stations themselves are just places to wait for the train, but they are awash with art and, often, music. There are many unique stations within the system. Many stations feature art from well-known artists, thanks to the Arts for Transit program that helps make the commute more colorful. In the system, you can find flowers, birds, fossils, eyes and even Alice in Wonderland. There are also posters from this program in the subway cars, appropriately known as art cards. In addition, many of the original stations feature beautiful tiling and plaques, put in place so that the stations would be light and airy and would encourage people to travel underground and relieve surface traffic. The Arts for Transit program also sponsors a music program, which features some really talented musicians who make the subway a more pleasant place to be.

It’s a fact: castles have fun names. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, we thought we’d challenge you figure out which of these Irish castle names are the real deals. Bonus points if you know where the made-up words are from. OK, you don’t really get any bonus points, but you should feel good about yourself. Erin Go Bragh!

Try the Wee Irish Castle Quiz and see how much you know!

TV Characters Who Suffered from
Chuck Cunningham Syndrome
by Patrick Hildebrandt

Why do we watch TV? Yes, because we’re lazy, or because our couch is just too comfortable or because that darn gym is just too far of a drive. But more intrinsically, we watch TV because we like and identify with specific characters. Shows really are the sum of their characters. You can have snappy dialogue and sharp production values, but unless you create indelible characters that keep viewers coming back for more, your show will probably fail.

What happens, though, when certain characters on an otherwise successful show just don’t connect with an audience? They’re often written out and given a dignified and acknowledged farewell. But some characters are so unlucky that they are sentenced to the grimmest of all TV deaths: Chuck Cunningham Syndrome, where a character simply disappears, and their absence is never acknowledged and the other characters continue on as if nothing has happened.

Let’s take a look at some prominent examples of this phenomenon—starting, naturally, with the character who started it all.

Happy Days – Chuck Cunningham

If ever there was a poster child of TV character disappearances, it would be poor Chuck Cunningham (Gavan O’Herlihy / Randolph Roberts). Before Al Molinaro ran Arnold’s, before Joanie loved Chachi, and before the Fonz jumped over a fake shark and into television lore, there was Chuck. He was originally the third and eldest child of the Cunningham brood, a basketball player at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Chuck was supposed to be the series’ older brother, but unlike siblings Ritchie and Joanie, he was generally superfluous to the series happenings, and he usually only appeared while en route to someplace else, such as basketball practice. His character never caught on the way Arthur Fonzarelli did, so when producers decided to focus more on the Fonz, the unimportant Chuck was written out of the series.

His removal certainly didn’t hurt the show, as Happy Days ran for nine more years and earned its place as one television’s greatest sitcoms. But Chuck’s disappearance was never explained, and aside from a few passing comments, he was never mentioned again. His departure was so shocking and confounding to fans that they named this TV phenomenon after him. He wasn’t the first, but he is the most prominent example.

Family Matters – Judy Winslow

Remember when Family Matters was a solid show about the working-class Winslow family in Chicago? Neither do I, because that original premise was quickly hijacked by Steve Urkel. The obnoxious, accident-prone, cheese-loving, nasally-voiced antagonist quickly became one of the biggest stars of the 90s, and the show began to focus on him and his exploits, much to the detriment of other family members.

One of those members was Judy Winslow (Jaimee Foxworth), originally the third and youngest of the Winslow clan. As the show moved towards Urkel, Judy, who was never that popular and was rarely featured, was given the axe after the fourth season. Family Matters continued to run for four more seasons, but Urkel’s increasingly strained and improbable antics eventually sank it. As for Foxworth, she later ended up broke and became a porn actress. She seems to have rebounded somewhat; during a 2006 appearance on Oprah she spoke openly about her experiences and her desire to help other young women avoid her mistakes.

That ‘70s Show – Tina Pinciotti

Most fans of That ‘70s Show would consider Donna Pinciotti, Eric Foreman’s formidable friend/love interest, to be an only child. And they’d be mostly correct, since that’s how she was portrayed for most of the series’ run. But in the first season, Donna had a younger sister, Tina (Amanda Fuller). She appeared in one episode and was promptly never seen or heard from again, aside from a cliffhanger-like voiceover ending to a season two episode: “And whatever happened to Midge’s daughter Tina? Confused? You won’t be, after the next episode of That ’70s Show!”

That ‘70s Show has drawn a lot of comparisons to Happy Days, and it’s been suggested that Tina’s disappearance was an intentional homage to Chuck Cunningham. The producers apparently weren’t satisfied, because Donna also at one time had an older sister, Valerie. She was mentioned once, but never seen on camera, and never mentioned again. Donna’s suddenly sister-less existence has provided ample fodder for hardcore fans. And, for some of us, a desire to do that to our own siblings.

Saved By the Bell – Too numerous to mention

Yes, even our favorite pantheon to high school isn’t immune. In fact, Saved By the Bell’s sins are more plentiful than any other show on this list. In the first season, junior high schoolers Zack Morris, Screech Powers and Lisa Turtle played second fiddle to a teacher character, Carrie Bliss (Hayley Mills). When the characters graduate to full-fledged high school, Bliss is gone, along with fellow teachers Tina Paladrino (Joan Ryan) and Milo Williams (T.K. Carter). And the additions of A.C. Slater, Jessie Spano and Kelly Kapowski resulted in unexplained demises for former friends Nikki Coleman (Heather Hopper) and Mikey Gonzalez (Max Battimo).

It’s not simply a matter of changing schools, since ever-vigilant principal Mr. Belding remained on board. The real explanation is a fascinating case study of television production. The junior high/Carrie Bliss episodes were actually from a completely different show: Good Morning, Miss Bliss, created in 1988 and seen on the Disney Channel. The show was canceled after 13 episodes, but NBC thought the idea had merit and repackaged it as Saved By the Bell, shifting the focus to the teens and tinkering with the cast.

This wouldn’t even be a matter for debate if NBC didn’t consider Miss Bliss part of the Saved By the Bell canon; they even brazenly include those episodes in the syndication package, re-titling them Saved By the Bell and using the same classic theme song. The result is a show that’s promoted as one seamless whole, but features some jarring character and continuity problems between the first season and the other four—most notably, the inexplicable location switch from dreary Indiana to sunny California. We’ll save The Tori Paradox for another weekend.

Surely there are other characters who went missing that escaped our attention completely. Do you know of one?

Check out the rest of our College Weekend festivities.

How Much Do You Really Know
About The Presidential Candidates?
By Abby Shepherd

Foreign policy experience, health care plans and national security aside, what do you really know about the politicians running for office? By now, many of us can recite our favorite candidates’ stump speeches and have memorized the delegate count for each state. But it is easy to forget that these superhuman, 24/7 political machines are actually people too.

Barack Obama

The Grammy-winning candidate is already known for his two bestselling books, Dreams of My Father and The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts of Reclaiming the American Dream. But, there is more to the Senator from Illinois. Barack met his wife, Michelle while both were working in the Chicago law firm scene. On their first date, they saw the movie Do the Right Thing. The rest, as they say, is history.

Obama is also publicly known for his ethnicity; his mother was from Kansas and his father from Kenya. But Obama also lived in Indonesia as a child because his mother remarried after a divorce. He has a half sister who is Canadian and Indonesian. When Obama appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, he openly talked about his diverse family. His wife often refers to the family’s Thanksgiving and Christmas as a gathering of the United Nations.

John McCain

After acquiring the appropriate number of delegates to secure the Republican nomination for president, McCain now must turn his attention to the real thing-becoming President of the United States.

McCain comes from a long military lineage. His father was a four-star admiral who served in Vietnam as commander of all US forces in the Pacific. His grandfather saw the Japanese surrender September 6, 1945 when he was stationed onboard the USS Missouri. McCain himself served as a naval aviator and was held as a Prisoner of War for five-and-a-half years in Vietnam.

According to his own book, Faith of My Fathers, McCain admits to holding his breath as a child if he didn’t get what he wanted. This standoff would often last until McCain blacked out.

Hillary Clinton

She has been in the national spotlight ever since her husband was in the White House. Clinton was the first First Lady to then run for public office. She became the Senator of New York in 2000. Clinton and Obama are now in a nail-biting race for the Democratic nomination for President.

As a child, Clinton once wrote to NASA asking for advice on how to become an astronaut. NASA wrote back to Clinton telling her that women can’t become astronauts. Apparently, they can become Senators and run for President.

Clinton received her law degree from Yale Law School and has twice been named one of the 100 most influential attorneys at law in the United States. She also was a staff member for the House Judiciary Committee impeachment proceedings against Richard Nixon.

Mike Huckabee

Although Huckabee isn’t technically in the race to the White House anymore, the former Arkansas governor has too many interesting tidbits to not include him in our list. According to The Thomas Report, a conservative online blog site, Huckabee has about 29 interesting facts to be exact.

Huckabee has appeared numerous times on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report and admits to actually liking the show, which pokes fun at many conservative politicians and platforms. Also, Huckabee is known for undergoing gastric bypass surgery and one of his favorite “diet” foods is Yarnell’s guilt free ice cream. He also likes movie theater style popcorn and received a popcorn machine for Christmas from his wife, Janet.

Ron Paul

Paul is currently running as a Republican candidate, however, his more Libertarian views has earned him a cult following online and among young voters. On December 16, 2007, Paul raised over $6 million dollars in 24 hours which is the largest one-day Internet fundraiser in American political history.

Paul was a track star at Dormont High School high school near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In his junior year, Paul was state champion for the 220-yard dash and placed second in the 440-yard run.

Paul attended Duke University School of Medicine and graduated with a degree in obstetrics and gynecology. He later became a U.S. Air Force flight surgeon and served outside the Vietnam War Zone.

During Ron Paul’s 1988 presidential campaign, when he ran as a Libertarian, John McCain told his campaign chair, “You’re working for the most honest man in Congress.”

Let’s try to keep it civil, but do you have any interesting facts about the candidates?

Check out the rest of our College Weekend festivities.

When Nuns Meet Sports
by Jason Plautz

Athletes are rarely shy about their religion, whether they’re dedicating their MVP award to God or crossing themselves before stepping to the plate. But still, organized religion generally stays out of sports. After all, when’s the last time you saw the Pope and his cardinals go shirts and skins for some pick-up hoops?

Still, I’ve found that nuns have surprisingly strong ties to athletics. Many hometown nuns cheer on their favorite sports teams, but here are four more ways sisters and sports meet. And I promise I won’t use the “nun/none” pun once.

Running Triathlons

You’ve heard of the flying nun, but what about the running, swimming and biking nun? Sister Madonna Buder from Spokane has completed 37 marathons, 300 triathlons and 31 Ironman Triathlons. And she didn’t even start until she was 50. She first started competing because a family member was battling alcoholism, so she thought she could transfer her will to overcome to the ones in need. Buder takes a distinctly religious approach to running, envisioning the finish line as the Pearly Gates and talks about the angels that once cushioned her nasty fall during the biking portion of a triathlon. The 70-something nun holds her own in the grueling Ironman triathlon and says she trains by running or biking to mass every day.

Providing Super Bowl Lodging

With tickets costing upwards of a thousand dollars, Super Bowl spectators this year didn’t have much extra cash to spend on lodging. Enter the Our Lady of Guadalupe monastery, which offered ten rooms at a mere $250 a night with an additional $50 for each extra guest. The sisters hosted both Patriots and Giants fans and offered rather plush accommodations. The monastery was tricked out with a flat-screen TV, a kitchen and a fridge stocked with snacks and sodas. Drinking and smoking wasn’t allowed (natch), but the sisters said the location was ideal because it was only three miles away from the University of Phoenix Stadium, but tucked away in a residential neighborhood that allowed guests to stay out of the hubbub surrounding the big game.

Prognosticating

Sister Jean Kenny, aka Sister Super Bowl, must have some kind of divine help when it comes to her NFL picks. The Chicago native correctly picked the Bears to win the 1986 Super Bowl and since then has picked 17 of 22 Super Bowl winners. But she doesn’t just have a good track record, she also adds a touch of class to the picks by writing poems about each projected winner (read her poem about the 2007 Patriots here). She’s been off the last three years, wrongly choosing the Seahawks, Bears and Patriots, but she still sticks by her picks.

Managing Race Horses

Back in 2005, the nuns of New York’s Little Sisters of the Poor order received a six-month-old horse as a donation. Rather than raising it, they decided to auction the filly, which they christened Poor Little Sister, off. The auction was a success, but when bidding stalled at $5,000, one of the nuns started upping the bids to make sure they’d net a good amount of money. The horse ended up going for $8,000 and the nuns received 20 percent of the horse’s winnings.

Check out the rest of our College Weekend festivities.

The Stories Behind Your Favorite Cereal Mascots
By Nick Hansen

Everyone remembers the wonderful Saturday morning ritual of diving into multiple bowls of sugared cereal while watching hours of cartoons. (Some of us haven’t moved on yet.) Cereal cartoons are one of the largest and most successful advertising trends in history. I still sympathize with the Trix Rabbit for not being able to enjoy a bowl of his fruit-shaped cereal. Here are the stories behind the characters that successfully motivated us to beg our parents to purchase their sugary products.

Horatio Crunch — Cap’n Crunch

One of the grossest things about cold cereal is when it gets too soggy and turns mushy. Captain Horatio P. Crunch was born in response to a survey kids that said they hated soggy cereal. Jay Ward (above) drew the captain and, according to his daughter, based the cartoon on himself. The honorable captain was charged with guarding the Crunch from the evil barefoot pirate Jean Le-Foote. The Captain has protected his cereal from the menace of sogginess so well that there was a movement to promote him to the rank of Admiral. If you look closely at the early commercials, they look familiar to other cartoons of the day. That’s because Jay Ward also animated other popular TV shows like Rocky and Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right and George of the Jungle.

Can you see the resemblance?

Snap, Crackle and Pop — Rice Krispies

Rice Krispies had the distinction of being a cereal you could hear. A jingle for the noisy cereal inspired illustrator Vernon Grant to create the characters Snap, Crackle, and Pop:

“Listen to the fairy song of health, the merry chorus sung by Kellogg’s® Rice Krispies® as they merrily snap, crackle, and pop in a bowl of milk. If you’ve never heard food talking, now is your chance.”

Grant’s flair for fantasy caused him to draw the three characters as gnomes. Snap was the first gnome and appeared in a few solo ads before his brothers came along. When they first started appearing in 1939 they fought against their rivals Soggy, Mushy and Toughy for the hearts (and bowls) of the children. Once the television ads began to be seen by a larger and younger audience, Kellogg’s decided to modernize the three and make them more human-like. Snap, Crackle and Pop are now the longest-running cereal advertising campaign in history.

The Rabbit — Trix

Before he was animated, the Trix rabbit was a hand puppet. The original tagline for the cereal was “I’m a rabbit and rabbits are supposed to like carrots. But I hate carrots. I like Trix.” Catchy, isn’t it? General Mills knew that television was the best way to advertise to kids and they decided to spend 97 percent of their advertising budget on commercials. It paid off: the “Silly Rabbit” campaign was a hit. By 1976, General Mills was worried it was sending the wrong message to kids by having the rabbit always fall short of his aspiration. They decided to do the American thing and let the kids vote whether the rabbit should get a bowl. The Rabbit’s campaign was so successful that more than 99 percent kids voted to let the rabbit have a bowl. The Rabbit has succeed in grabbing bites here and there, but he hasn’t had a full bowl since 1980. And as you can see, it is probably a good thing because it seems to have some sort of weirdly stimulating effect on him.

Tony the Tiger — Frosted Flakes

Cartoon spokescharacters were all the rage in the 1950s. The Kellogg Company wanted an animal to advertise its new Sugar Frosted Flakes to appeal to the younger generation while reassuring mothers that it was OK to let their kids eat a sugared cereal for breakfast. The Leo Burnett advertising agency came up with four different choices: Tony the Tiger, Katy the Kangaroo, Elmo the Elephant and Newt the Gnu. The agency could not decide between a kangaroo or a tiger, but the marsupial was sacked when the feline outsold her by huge margins. The tiger concept was so successful that Kellogg’s sued Exxon Mobile for their use of a tiger in their advertisements.

When Tony first appeared on cereal boxes, advertising critic James D. Wolf said, “I am very fond of breakfast cereals, but a tiger fails to give me a hankering.” Evidently he didn’t realize how “great” Tony would become. If Tony’s singing voice sounds familiar it’s because his voice actor Thurl Ravenscroft also sang “You’re a mean one Mr. Grinch” for the Grinch cartoon. [Stacy's Note: He also sang one of the 'Grim Grinning Ghosts' parts in the Haunted Mansion at Disneyworld.] Tony’s son also had a short lived spinoff cereal called Frosted Rice.

Lucky — Lucky Charms

The concept of marshmallows in a bowl (or “marbits,” as General Mills called them) was easily appealing to kids, but a much harder sell for parents. Lucky was spawned from a concept to base the marshmallows around a charm bracelet. Lucky was replaced for a time in the 1970’s by Waldo the Wizard, but the leprechaun came back within a year. The marbits continued to evolve due to increased product sales every time a new one was added. Lucky’s original charm bracelet included yellow moons and stars, but now are blue moons and shooting stars. Kids could not resist trying to catch Lucky to get his marshmallow-filled cereal. Fortunately, Lucky provided the secret… go to the store and buy a box. Arthur Anderson supplied Lucky’s voice for 29 years, but surprisingly he’s not Irish.

We’ve covered the ACC, Big Ten, SEC and Big 12. Now it’s the Ivy League’s turn.

Take the quiz: Name the Ivy League in 1 Minute.

We’ve got the Pac 10 and Big East ready for next week. If your favorite conference deserves inclusion in this series, leave your suggestion in the comments.