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Wednesday, November 30, 2016

The Pop Culture Addict Advent Calendar 2016 Schedule!



Tomorrow I will be beginning the POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR.  This year I'll be doing it a little differently.  Don't worry though...I'll still have lots of Christmas fun.  It's just that with the lack of time I have and the fact that over five years, I've blogged about almost everything Christmas, I'm going to make this more personal.

Here's the tentative schedule for the next 25 days.

SUNDAYS - Christmas Carol Sunday
MONDAYS - Christmas at School
TUESDAYS - Tuesday Timeline
WEDNESDAYS - Wednesday Wishes
THURSDAYS - SCROOGED!
FRIDAYS - Jem Reviewed!
SATURDAYS - Holiday Programming


To explain a couple of them - Christmas at School deals with various art projects, Christmas activities, and all the stuff we did when we were kids.  Wednesday Wishes are about some of things that I wanted for Christmas, as well as traditions associated with the holidays.  Thursdays are going to be a fun day as I point out that not everything about the holidays is enjoyable, and I select some items that I would be happy if they got rid of permanently.  And Saturdays, I'll talk about Christmas specials and Christmas movies.

The Tuesday and Friday entries won't change much.  And I'm actually kind of relieved that I can attempt to put a Christmas spin on three of the Jem Reviewed entries.  When we get to December 23, I'm going to have a LOT of issues, but I'll try to figure something out. 

So, that's the schedule.  And then once Christmas is over, I'll be doing a week long review on the Good and the Bad of 2016...or, in this case...maybe just the bad...

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

November 29, 1972

This is the last Tuesday Timeline for November...and I realize that November hasn't been that busy of a month here in this blog.  I promise that I will rectify that when December arrives - and I'll give you a heads up on what to expect in tomorrow's blog entry.  I think it's something that a lot of you will like.  At least, I hope so.

For now, let's see what happened on November 29 through the history pages.

1612 - The Battle of Swally takes place

1776 - The Battle of Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia concludes

1777 - The city of San Jose, California is founded by Jose Joaquin Moraga

1781 - A disturbing crime takes place when the crew of the Zong - a British slave ship - murders 133 African slaves by dumping them into the sea in order to claim insurance

1830 - An armed rebellion against Russia's rule in Poland begins, setting forth the November Uprising

1832 - Poet/novelist Louisa May Alcott (d. 1888) is born in Germantown, Pennsylvania

1847 - The Whitman Massacre takes place, which serves as the catalyst for the Cayuse War

1877 - Thomas Edison demonstrates his newest invention - the phonograph

1929 - Richard E. Byrd - an American admiral - leads the expedition to fly over the South Pole for the first time

1940 - Singer/songwriter Denny Doherty (d. 2007) is born in Halifax, Nova Scotia

1944 - The first human surgery to correct blue baby syndrome is performed by Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas

1949 - Comedian/actor Garry Shandling (d. 2016) is born in Chicago, Illinois

1950 - The United Nations forces are left with no choice but to retreat from North Korea after being forced to leave by North Korean and Chinese soldiers during the Korean War

1961 - Enos, a chimpanzee - is launched into space

1963 - The Warren Commission is established by Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of John F. Kennedy one week earlier

1965 - Alouette 2 is launched by the Canadian Space Agency

1975 - The Silver Connection single "Fly, Robin, Fly" reaches #1 on the Billboard charts

1981 - Actress Natalie Wood drowns under mysterious circumstances at the age of 43

1986 - Actor Cary Grant passes away, aged 82

1991 - Actor Ralph Bellamy dies at the age of 87

2001 - George Harrison, singer, songwriter, musician, and Beatle, passes away at the age of 58

2004 - Actor John Drew Barrymore passes away at the age of 72

2005 - Actress Wendie Jo Sperber loses her battle with breast cancer, aged 47 years of age

2009 - Four police officers are gunned down inside of a coffee shop in Lakewood, Washington - the shooter was shot and killed two days later

And for celebrity birthdays, let me send out some birthday greetings to the following people; Vin Scully, Diane Ladd, Meco, Suzy Chaffee, Jeff Fahey, Joel Coen, Howie Mandel, Hinton Battle, Cathy Moriarty, Kim Delaney, Tom Sizemore, Andrew McCarthy, Don Cheadle, Cork Graham, Ellen Cleghorne, Jonathan Knight, Larry Joe Campbell, Brian Baumgartner, Sarah Jones, Anna Faris, Lauren German, Simon Amstell, The Game, Lucas Black, and Imogen Thomas.

So, quite a lot has happened on this date.  I definitely had no shortage of topics to choose from.  But since Christmas is coming soon, I thought that I would make today's Tuesday Timeline subject toy related.  Why not, right?



That's the reason behind why I chose the date of November 29, 1972 as today's destination.  Because it was on this date 44 years ago today that kicked off what could be considered a multimillion dollar industry.  And it forever changed the way you looked at a specific game.

The industry, of course, is video games.  Ever since 1972, video games have been through a lot.  We saw 8-bit graphics turn into 3D graphics.  We saw Mario change his look about a couple of dozen times.  And we even survived the video game crash of 1983 which very nearly crippled the industry beyond repair.

And I can imagine that quite a few of you that might be reading this entry have probably asked for at least one video game related item for Christmas this year.

Trust me.  I know.  This Christmas, I want the Classic Mini NES that has thirty games preloaded onto it.  I also know that I am NOT going to be getting it because you cannot find it in stores and people have the gall to charge up to fifteen hundred dollars for it on eBay.

Yeah, like I really want to pay $1,500 for a video game system that only costs $90 here in Canada.  Capitalism can be a good thing for economic stimulation, but I'd classify that to be electronic extortion!

Not even the video game system that featured today's Tuesday Timeline subject - The Magnavox Odyssey - cost that much!  Adjusting for inflation, it only cost $560 in 2016 bucks to buy it (It was worth $99 in 1972 - the year it was released).

And yes...believe it or not, they did have video games back in 1972.



Okay, so the video game "Pong" was extremely basic in presentation and gameplay.  It was more or less a crude way to play electronic tennis.  But would you believe that it was 44 years ago today that "Pong" made its appearance in video arcades all over the United States?  And that it is easily considered the video game that started the entire gaming industry?

Now, as I mentioned before, the game appeared as part of the Magnavox Odyssey console (though it wasn't called Pong).  But the actual arcade game was developed by Atari (which once served as the most successful company in gaming consoles before Nintendo dethroned them in the mid-1980s).  And, it was largely inspired by the table tennis game that was included with the Magnavox Odyssey - which would spark a lawsuit between Magnavox and Atari a few years later.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

We can thank Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell and Allan Alcorn for the creation of Pong.  Although Alcorn had zero experience with creating electronic simulation games, Bushnell believed in his abilities enough to assign him a special project of sorts - a project meant to be a warm-up exercise for the finished project.  What Alcorn ended up creating was the video game "Pong".  Though the story of how Pong came to be varies depending on who you talk with.  If you believe Bushnell's story, the game idea was based on a game he played on a PDP-1 computer all the way back in 1964.  However, Alcorn maintains that Bushnell only got the idea after playing the tennis game on the Magnavox Odyssey, and assigned the project to Alcorn in the hopes of creating a better looking product.

It wasn't long after Atari released "Pong" that Magnavox filed the lawsuit against them, citing infringement against the patents that Ralph Baer (the creator of the Magnavox Odyssey) had in his possession.  Bushnell ended up settling with Magnavox out of court - largely due to the fact that the legal fees to keep the court case going would have likely bankrupted Atari.  Magnavox offered Atari an agreement to become a licensee for the price tag of $700,000, and other companies that would produce Pong (Colecovision, Intellivision, etc) would have to pay royalties.  Magnavox would also obtain the rights to any and all products that Atari developed within a year after the case was settled - a clause that Atari successfully managed to avoid by postponing all major releases until after the year deadline expired.

All that trouble for what could be considered the simplest video game every played.

Seriously, it's tennis.  You move the white bars around to bounce a moving ball across the court.  If you end up missing the ball, your opponent scores a point.  It's really simple - and I'm fairly sure that if you allowed a millennial to play the game, they'd probably get bored after thirty seconds.


But back in '72, it was the game to own...and we wouldn't have modern day video games without Pong!

Friday, November 25, 2016

Jem Reviewed: Episode 36 - Music is Magic



All right...it's a new week of Jem Reviewed.  And considering that last week's edition was so bad that I sort of gave up at the end, I'm hoping that Episode 36: Music is Magic is a lot better.  After all, the show's title is named after one of the Jem songs I liked during season one.  And, I'm going to wager dollars to donuts that the song will be making a reappearance at some point.



For now, let's watch as The Great Kimberini makes a huge fool of herself in front of all the Starlight Girls.  Apparently, Kimber has a side hobby of practicing magic tricks, and she's decided to practice on the girls.  So, if you happen to see Deirdre, Krissie, and Lela dead on the floor, you'll know Kimber tried to saw them in half.  But I don't think Jerrica would even let Kimber do that.



Besides, it doesn't look like Kimber is even that skilled with trying basic tricks such as getting out of a locked chest.  Ba Nee has to rescue her with the skeleton key that Kimber had her hold.  Some magician you turned out to be!



Well, maybe Kimber can learn some things from the actual magicians that will be appearing at the place the band will be performing.  It's a place called Magic Island (how original), and they will be performing alongside real magicians and illusionists for a primetime "Music and Magic" television special.  Sounds like a really cool idea, and I'm sure it's going to be a big hit.



Well, okay...it looks like someone wants to sabotage the event because we see them tearing apart the poster.  My money's on Eric, but we'll see.

By the way...have you noticed that the animation for this episode isn't all that great?  It's very different from the 35 episodes that we previously watched.  Well, in this week's Jem Trivia, I can tell you why.  Of the 65 episodes that were made, 59 of them were animated in Japan.  The other six were animated in South Korea - whose animation budget clearly wasn't as high as Japan's.  But it did save them some money overall.  One way you can tell that it's a Korean production (aside from the bad animation) is the fact that in these episodes, Raya has been made Caucasian.  Whitewashing at its lamest.  For future reference, the episodes made in South Korea are 36, 43, 46, 48, 56, and 58.



It's time for the Holograms to meet up with the rest of the illusionists.  First, they are greeted by magician Devon Silverstone.  I'm guessing that they couldn't legally use the name David Copperfield because of the fact that he didn't give them permission - or they couldn't use it because of the character from the Charles Dickens novel.  Either way, Copperfield might have been too busy chasing Claudia Schiffer to really care.  Silverstone's eyes seem to be focused entirely on Jem, and he magically makes flowers appear.



But then we're introduced to Marla "Get Your Hands Off My Man, Bitch" Martell, who clearly is disgusted by the attraction between Devon and Jem - mainly because she makes it painfully obvious that she wants to be in control of his...magic wand, so to speak.



And to prove it, she makes a snake appear in the flowers that Devon just gave Jem.  My, Marla must be really fun at parties.



Fortunately, another pair of magicians come along to lend a hand by taking care of the snake.  Yeah, I suppose having Jem hospitalized for getting bit by a poisonous snake would be considered bad for ratings.  The man who made the snake disappear is named Frick, and his homely looking sidekick is Frack, his assistant.  But before you think that Jem has found an ally, think again.  Frick is not happy with Jem and the Holograms being there because he doesn't like sharing the stage with non-magicians.  Sorry, Kimber.  I guess you have to go home.  And Frick also complains about the other band that is set to perform alongside them.  Uh oh...do I even want to know who this other band is?



Oh look...when the moon hits your eye like a huge Misfit pie, that's anything BUT amore.



But you want to know what IS amore?  The song "Abracadabra".  This ain't the Steve Miller version either.  It's a brand new Misfits song, and it is absolutely phenomenal.  The visuals, the music, the lyrics.  I was worried that the Misfits had used up all their great song stylings, but this one is a keeper.  Easily a contender for favourite Misfits Season 2 song.

Oh, and of course, the Misfits are trying to make THEMSELVES the main performers so that they can force Jem and the Holograms out.  Of course they are.  That's their whole purpose of existing!



Fortunately, Devon interrupts the action to ask Jem to marry him.  No, wait.  He just wants her to be his guinea pig for a new magic trick.  Either way, Jem agrees to the trick, provided that it doesn't take too much time.  I'm guessing just based on the giant box on stage, it's one of those classic disappearing rock star tricks where Jem escapes from the box and reappears behind a curtain on stage.



At least, that's what is SUPPOSED to happen.  As soon as Jem enters the box and Devon starts doing his magic spiel, the box explodes in a gigantic fireball and Jem is nowhere to be found!



OH MY GOD!  DEVON KILLED JEM!  YOU BASTARD!

The strange thing is that there is no body present, so I'm thinking that the trick worked like a charm.  I'm also thinking that the trick was actually sabotaged on purpose and that the perpetrator has Jem locked up in a different location. 



The number of suspects is quite high, and my first instinct is that for someone to get away with it, they would have to know magic themselves.  So, Kimber's out as a suspect.  And I'm thinking Devon is out as well, since he genuinely looked shocked at Jem's disappearing act - unless he's a really great actor.  If I were the Holograms, I'd suspect Marla or the Frick/Frack combo, as both expressed dislike for her.



But no, the Holograms have suspected the Misfits because they seem to be all on stupid pills.  Though, it does lead in nicely to the Jem and the Holograms song "It Could Be You" - which again is a fantastic song.  Say what you will about the animation of this episode - the music is incredible this time around.

The Misfits, of course, deny the accusations, and it is decided that the three groups (magicians, Holograms, Misfits) split up so they can cover more ground in locating Jem.  Seems reasonable.



Group #1 contains Pizzazz, Marla, and Kimber, who seem to be on a side stage away from the main stage.  The stage is loaded with dozens of magic props as well as musical instruments.  And almost immediately, Kimber and Pizzazz are frightened by the suddenly appearing image of a frightening monster. 



Marla is quick to point out that the image is nothing more than a hologram being projected via a machine.  See, Kimber...you of all people should recognize a hologram when you see one!  See?  Stupid pills.  Of course, most Holograms don't shoot laser beams at random women, and poor Kimber gets locked in a giant sarcophagus as laser beams seemingly make Marla disintegrate!  



And to make matters worse, the creepy orange monster grabs a hold of a shrieking Pizzazz and both of them disappear in a cloud of smoke!  It's official.  Someone DEFINITELY doesn't want the show to go on.



Luckily for Kimber, Aja's group arrives in time to help her out of the sarcophagus.  But because Kimber didn't see the moment in which Pizzazz and Marla disappeared, she's unable to know where they could have gone.  The groups decide that splitting up is not the way to go, and they regroup.



They soon find themselves in a basement of the theatre, where thanks to some quick thinking by Devon, they have enough light to see.  And Raya thinks that she sees Jem locked up in a cage in the corner.  Oh, that's just too obvious.  You know there has to be a catch.



Sure enough, when Raya enters the cage, she finds that "Jem" is really a cardboard cutout.  And when Raya tries to leave the cage, it locks behind her and spins her around in a cloud of thick smoke.  It seems that Raya is our next person to pull a disappearing act...



...or she turns into a tiger that is set on making Stormer her next meal.  Funny...I would think that if the tiger really was Raya, she'd want to bite off Jetta's face before attacking Stormer.  Either way, more quick thinking from Devon blinds the tiger long enough for them to get away, and for Devon to lock the tiger back into the cage it came from.  So, I'm officially crossing Devon off the suspect list too, meaning that Frick and Frack are looking mighty guilty to me - well, unless Marla staged her own disappearing act.



But before the group can approach them, Frick decides to pull out a tarp to hold them off, loses his grip on the tarp, and somehow finds a way to make Devon, Roxy, and Aja disappear!  Oh, sure...that's a great way to prove your innocence!



For the remaining people left - Kimber, Stormer, Shana, and Jetta, it's all the proof that they need to suspect that Frick is the one who masterminded the whole plan and kidnapped all of their friends.  They immediately chase after them, and plan to make them reveal where their friends are.



But just as the girls have the magicians cornered, they're ambushed by a gigantic cannon that shoots balloons and confetti all over them!



It shoots them with such force that all of them end up sliding down a hidden trapdoor where they all land in individual cages that are sealed up tight!  



Kimber looks around and sees Jem, Aja, Raya, and the others have all suffered the same fate as them.  Well, okay, Pizzazz is locked in a coffin and Roxy is dangling upside down in a straitjacket.  But with everybody locked away in the catacombs of the theatre, it seems as though none of them could be guilty.



That is, until Frack opens up his door and announces his evil scheme.  It seems as though Frack was getting a little tired of being Frick's second banana, and he decided that he would use his own magic skills to take over the whole Music and Magic show!  Oh, and he locked up the Holograms and the Misfits as well, because he refuses to share the stage with anyone.  So this whole plot was to make him a star, was it?  Well, Jem is determined to stop him.  Of course, it's pretty hard for Jem to do anything locked up.



But as soon as Frack leaves to start the show, Kimber remembers that she still has her skeleton key on her.  You know, the key that can open up any lock?  Kimber tries the key on the lock of her cage and successfully gets out!  Thinking she's onto something, she runs over to Jem's cage and frees her!  Kimber saves the day yet again!



As Kimber runs around the area unlocking Holograms, Misfits, and magicians, Marla approaches Jem and apologizes for treating her so badly at the start, which Jem accepts.  I think Frick also apologizes for having a psycho assistant, but I can't remember that part.



Unfortunately for Pizzazz, she's the last one to be rescued, and Kimber's skeleton key breaks in the lock.  Since they have no time to waste, the Holograms and the magicians go on ahead to try and stop Frack from destroying the show...leaving Roxy and Stormer to try and get Pizzazz out with a handsaw!  Oh, why do I get the feeling that this isn't going to end well?  Though kudos to Paul Dini for including so many sight gags!



On stage, Frack is definitely enjoying the limelight of being the sole performer of the show, and he truly believes that he has gotten away with the perfect crime.  Well, that is until the curtain opens up behind him, and Jem and the Holograms are standing there along with Frick, Marla, and Devon.



Stunned, but surprisingly prepared, Frack uses his powers of magic to make the magicians fall on stage thanks to a game of 52 Pick-Up!  But what Frack doesn't know is that Jem has her own book of tricks - or rather, an earring of tricks.



With help from Synergy, Jem clones all the members of her band six or seven times to really confuse Frack.  Then when Frack uses his magic wand to attack one of the groups, he turns Jem into an ugly green monster that makes him retreat! 



He backs up so much that it allows the Misfits who are backstage to kidnap him and tie him up in a straitjacket!  You know, when the Holograms and the Misfits work together, they actually become stronger.  I just wish their silly feud didn't get in the way all the time.



With Frack now tied up, the show can go on.  But Devon approaches Jem and is blown away by how she made those illusions appear!  He tries to get her to reveal her secrets, but Jem doesn't take the bait.  Instead, she and the Holograms perform a song.



And that song is - of course - "Music is Magic".  It was originally performed in Episode 5, and I named it one of my favourite songs from Season 1.  I'm really glad they reused it for this show, and I'm really glad that it received a better music video than the one used in Episode 5.  All in all, this episode - in spite of its flawed animation - is one of the better ones of Season 2.  Actually, on the whole, the first part of season 2 (with a couple of exceptions) has started off really strong.  I like it!

But as the show ends and the Holograms prepare to go home, they wonder whatever happened to the Misfits.





Uh-oh...looks like Frack escaped and took his revenge by tying the Misfits up and making them miss the whole show!  But again, kudos to Paul Dini for creating great sight gags - as well as a fantastic episode!




The next episode of Jem Reviewed helps kick off our POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR!  And in that episode, Jem tries to perform a Christmas miracle by bringing the members of a 1940s jazz band back together for one more record!

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

November 22, 1963

Today on the Tuesday Timeline entry, we're going to visit an event that some of you might remember experiencing...and others probably have read in a 20th century history textbook.  But whether you were alive to hear about it or not, we're going to talk about it - as well as offer up some thoughts on some current events.

So sit back, help yourself to a cup of tea (with or without sugar), and let's have a look at the events of November 22 that did not make the cut for the main subject today.

1718 - Edward Teach (a.k.a. Blackbeard) is killed in battle off the coast of North Carolina

1812 - Seventeen Indiana Rangers are killed at the Battle of Wild Cat Creek during the War of 1812

1837 - William Lyon Mackenzie calls for a rebellion against the United Kingdom when his essay "To The People of Upper Canada" is published

1908 - The Albanian alphabet is established

1921 - Actor/comedian Rodney Dangerfield (d. 2004) is born in Deer Park, New York

1924 - Actress Geraldine Page (d. 1987) is born in Kirksville, Missouri

1928 - Ravel's "Bolero" hosts its premiere performance in Paris, France

1932 - Actor Robert Vaughn (d. 2016) is born in New York City

1941 - Country singer Terry Stafford (d. 1996) is born in Hollis, Oklahoma

1943 - The Cairo Conference is held

1954 - The Humane Society of the United States is established

1955 - "Three Stooges" star Shemp Howard dies at the age of 60

1963 - Novelist Aldous Huxley passes away at the age of 69

1968 - The Beatles release "The White Album"

1975 - Juan Carlos becomes the King of Spain

1977 - British Airways begin offering a flight between London and New York City aboard the semisonic Concorde Jet

1980 - Actress Mae West passes away at the age of 87

1986 - Mike Tyson becomes the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history winning the title at just twenty years of age

1987 - A pirate dressed up as Max Headroom hijacks two television stations in the Chicago area

1995 - "Toy Story" - the first animated feature to be made entirely in CGI - is released

1997 - INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence is found dead inside of a Sydney hotel room, aged 37

2001 - Mary Kay Cosmetics founder Mary Kay Ash dies at the age of 83

2002 - Over one hundred people lose their lives in an attack in Nigeria - the initial targets were people involved with the Miss World beauty pageant

2005 - Angela Merkel becomes the first woman to serve as Chancellor of Germany

And for celebrity birthdays, I want to wish the following famous faces a great day today; Terry Gilliam, Tom Conti, Billie Jean King, Steven Van Zandt, Tina Weymouth, Kent Nagano, Lawrence Gowan, Richard Kind, Donny Deutsch, Jamie Lee Curtis, Lenore Zann, Mariel Hemingway, Winsor Harmon, Brian Robbins, Kristin Minter, Mads Mikkelsen, Boris Becker, Mark Ruffalo, David Pelletier, Fiona Glascott, Tyler Hilton, Scarlett Johansson, Austin Brown, Candice Glover, Katherine McNamara, and Madison Davenport.

Okay, so today's Tuesday Timeline date is one that will live in infamy - in particular if you lived in the United States at the time - or more specifically, Dallas, Texas.



For it was on this date in Dallas - November 22, 1963 - that shocked the whole world.  By the conclusion, the entire way we looked at the world was forever changed.

In fact, I have some photographic evidence of the importance of this day.  Last Christmas, I received a gift of a pop culture desk calendar where each entry talks about something that happened in either the 1960s, 1970s, or 1980s.  It's been a lot of fun to reminisce about these things, and I've even posted each page on my Facebook page to get discussions going.

This was the entry for today.



Now, while I definitely was not around to witness the assassination of John F. Kennedy (come to think of it, I was still in the womb when the 1981 attempt on Ronald Reagan took place), my parents remember it vividly.  In fact, my mother was watching "As The World Turns" on television when the show was interrupted to report the news of Kennedy's death.



The story of Kennedy's death is one that almost everybody knows by now.  At the time of his death, Kennedy was visiting the city of Dallas, Texas with his wife, Jacqueline.  He was in town to try and smooth other tension that erupted within the Democratic Party.  And because Kennedy's arrival had already been broadcast to the people of Dallas-Fort Worth, at least 150,000 to 200,000 people lined the streets of the city, just to get a glimpse of him.  The President and First Lady boarded the Presidential limousine that would take them to their destination, and up until they reached Dealey Plaza, everything went according to plan.

But when the limousine turned onto Elm Street, that's when things took a dark turn.  Three shots were fired towards the limo, and within a matter of seconds, President Kennedy was dead - the cause of death being a gunshot wound to the head.  Also injured in the shooting was Texas Governor Jogn Connally and spectator James Tague.

The perpetrator of the assassination was Lee Harvey Oswald - a former U.S. Marine who had recently returned to the United States following a three year stint in Russia.  Though he was initially arrested for the unrelated murder of a police officer when he was apprehended, it didn't take long for the truth to come out, and Lee Harvey Oswald was formally charged in the sniper attack on President Kennedy.



Of course, we also know that no trial ever took place for the assassination on Kennedy.  Just two days after Kennedy was killed, Lee Harvey Oswald was shot by nightclub owner Jack Ruby as he was being transferred to the county jail.  The shooting was broadcast on air, and a famous photograph taken by Robert H. Jackson was printed in nearly every newspaper in the country.  Oswald died just under two hours after being shot by Ruby.

With Kennedy dead, Lyndon B. Johnson stepped in as President, and at the funeral services of President Kennedy, I think nearly everyone's hearts broke when they saw John F. Kennedy Jr. give his father one final salute.

It seems hard to believe that fifty-three years has passed since that fateful day in Dallas.  As a result of the shooting, security on all future Presidents has been increased permanently, and aside from the 1981 attempt on Ronald Reagan, there has not been any attempts on the life of an American President - at least no attempt that has been widely reported, anyway.

I guess that's why I don't find it a laughing matter when people joke about wanting to kill a President, or a Prime Minister, or anybody within the government structure.  We don't have to like them or agree with what they say, but we do have to respect them enough to not want any harm to come to them.

I know that many people are very upset about Donald Trump becoming the 45th President of the United States - and to be honest with you, I'm right there with you.  You see, when I think about the qualities I equate with being a President - compassion, dignity, eloquence, leadership - I can't say that I would use those adjectives to describe Trump, a man who some might say wouldn't even know the meaning of the word diplomatic.  But, he was elected by the majority of the American people who voted, and barring some fluke, he is going to take control of the United States of America when he is formally inaugurated in January.

Now, while I definitely don't agree with him being President, I also don't agree with people who wish to see him assassinated, or even joke about it.  I'm sure that the last surviving member of the family - Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg - would be the first to tell you how devastating the effects of an assassination can have on a family.  And to be honest with you, while I still think he needs to take some lessons on being a decent human being and not being so much of a xenophobic, homophobic, racist and sexist - he may just surprise us all and make decisions that really might "make America great again".  I really don't believe this will happen, but at this point, there's nothing that can be done.  I definitely don't think it warrants threats against his life.  For that matter, I don't think Barack Obama should have had to deal with people wanting him dead, nor did George W. Bush before him, and so on and so on.

I think instead of threatening with weapons, we should use our words and keep the dialog open.  Like the actor from the Broadway show "Hamilton" did when Mike Pence was in the audience.  While I don't know if calling him out on stage was the way to go, I do applaud the actor for having the courage to keep the dialog going. 

Ultimately, I think all Americans need to do this.  Keep the dialog open and try to come up with solutions that unite - not do things that continue the divide.

Though, I do understand...easier said than done.  Still.  Isn't it worth trying?