If someone asked me if I was creative, I'd probably say not too much. I'm okay but I seem to do better if I'm surrounded by seriously creative people. Hence the reason I've got some pretty fun memories of growing up with my brother. He's hands down the funniest person I've ever known. But to top that off with his creativity, it makes him pretty frickin' hilarious!

When we were fairly young, Mom bought us a tape recorder. Bear in mind this was the late 70's, early 80's so it was just one of those hand held things that played tapes but it also had a condensed microphone built in so you could record things like...YOUR VOICE! That was huge for us then. We made up commercial jingles for ficticious products like Bea's Peas. The jingle started out with the word "Bea's" in successive higher notes. Then the song started: "Bea's Peas are delicious, wherever you may buy them in your local grocery store..." Something like that. I know the last line was something about the freshness date being from 1970-something. It was actually pretty catchy for a couple of little kids. We also had a spot for Hospitality Hospital but it must not have been that great cuz all I remember is the name.

One night my friend spent the night and we used that recorder for all it was worth. The best thing that came out of those sessions is something I still actually find myself saying to this day. Derek pretended he was calling a swanky restaurant and he asked "Excuse me but you carry lobster?" Rhonda, in a Shmoo-type voice, replied, "No, they are too heavy." It was just the voice that made us crack up so hard.

Our crowning glory, however, with this recorder, was anything we did with Pudding. Pudding was a stuffed mouse that I had gotten as an Easter present one year from LeVine's Toy Shop. He was small & gray with a white belly, little white felt paws, black button eyes and a shoestring tail. I loved that mouse. When I got him, he was a little ball of fur. That got worn off pretty quickly and now you can see the netting that holds him together. Oh, yeah, I still have Pudding. He's sitting about 5 feet away from me right now on my stereo. I love that little guy.
One year at the state fair, one of us won the 45 record of Merle Kilgore's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." Derek & I would play that record at 78 speed and make Pudding lip sync the words. Now that was kinda difficult considering Pudding doesn't have a mouth. But we made it work. There was a part in the middle of the song that goes, "A boo, a boo, a boo." Pudding would scrunch up his little face and get lower with each "a boo." To us it was the funniest thing ever. We'd do it over & over...

Anyway, one day we decided to record a soap opera starring all the stuffed animals we had. Believe me, we had a ton. The soap opera would be based on "Dallas" and the title of our episode was, you guessed it, "Who Shot P.M.?" P.M. standing for Pudding Mouse, obviously. Pudding played the JR Ewing character that was ruthless and cruel and everyone hated. All the animals were suspects: Acorn, Fuzzy, Cleo, Jellybean, Pie, Midnight Sun...but at the end they were all proven innocent when Sunset Snake admitted to Pudding as he lay dying that she was the one who "sssssshot" him.

I think that P.M. had been faking the whole dying thing and that after the confession, he jumped out of bed and started railing at her. I think. I just basically remember the confession and Derek's voice on the tape: "WHO SHOT P.M.?" in a sinister, Shadow-like way. It was all fun.

I don't know where that recorder is anymore and I'm pretty sure all the tapes have been busted by now. But I'll always have the memories. And Pudding.

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