In the Pink (And White)

SOME peculiar little creatures live in Webkinz World.

The Zingoz, who are vaguely teardrop or round in shape, come in various colors. Wacky is a masochistic little fellow who doesn't mind being booted with a club in order to "go the distance" or hit the target in various games. Zacky searches for treasure. Other Zingoz toss pies with abandon.

Zangoz are lumplike creatures who like to hit Zingoz.

Then there is a little critter called a google. Googles are mostly white, although a rare pink googles exists in the game "Go Go Googles," and look like ducks, with yellow beaks and webbed feet. However, they have no wings. A google asked to wave just gives you a cross look.

The stuffed version is darn cute.

BarneyWhich explains why I bought one.

Naturally, what would one name a google if one was interested in history? Correct: Barney, after "Barney Google," the big-eyed comic strip character that first appeared in 1919 and who had a song written about him in 1923. He was not the first comics character to become famous, but he was probably the first to have his own song. Barney Google owned a race horse named Spark Plug, who was called "Sparky" for short and who lent his nickname to one of the most famous of comic artists, Charles Schultz, creator of "Peanuts." You can read about Barney Google's career here.

Maple LaMarshI said when I adopted the Persian cat and named her "Hilary Booth" that I should buy a pink poodle, a most flamboyantly colored creature, and name her Maple LaMarsh, after the flamboyant organist/actress with the Brooklyn twang who kept the joint jumping on Remember WENN. So welcome also to "Mapes."