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Friday, July 22, 2011

TGIF: I Love Lucy

I'd like everyone to pause for a moment to remember a television institution that seems to be on life-support in the year 2011.

The television sitcom.

Certainly, there are some sitcoms that are doing well on the television landscape currently.  How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, and Two And A Half Men seem to be trucking along just fine (although that last one will be interesting with Ashton Kutcher replacing Charlie Sheen).

However, for every current sitcom that is on the air, there is about a hundred reality shows being crammed down our throats.  I'm not the type of person to completely dismiss all reality television, as I'm the first one to admit that I watch Big Brother on a regular basis, and I'll readily admit to rolling my eyes in amusement at Rachel hiding in a bush after Jeff and Jordan yelled at her...

...alas, I'm going on one of my world famous tangents that I'm known for.

The point is that I'm not completely against the latest television trend of reality television, as there are some shows that I find interesting, entertaining, and in some rare cases, educational.  (I know, hard to believe, huh?)

I should also note that I do not include shows such as Jersey Shore, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Paris Hilton's My New BFF, and any show that features Flavor Flav, real housewives of wherever, or New York (the person, not the state).

That said, the recent obsession for reality television shouldn't put sitcoms and other scripted shows on the backburner.  The actors on those shows are fantastic to watch, and plus, many writers would be out of work if television became all reality, all the time.  As a self-confessed Big Brother addict, not even I would want to see that happen.

That's why for this blog entry, I would celebrate the life of the traditional sitcom by featuring one that is widely declared as one of the best television sitcoms ever made.  A sitcom that blended warmth with slapstick comedy, and whose star was just as remembered for her comedic timing as she was her red hair. 

A sitcom that celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.


I Love Lucy starred Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, who were husband and wife in the show, as well as off-screen.  The show debuted on CBS on October 15, 1951 and ran until May 6, 1957, followed by several one hour episodes that ran under different titles until 1960.  During its run, it ranked at the top of the Neilsen ratings for four of those six seasons.  In fact, when the show ended in 1957, it was still at the top of the pack.  The only other shows to end their run with the same success were The Andy Griffith Show and Seinfeld.  It won five Emmy awards, and was constantly ranked one of the all-time best television programs by several media and entertainment magazines.



Part of that success lies in the show's namesake.  With her quick wit and her penchant for physical comedy, Lucille Ball really was the belle of the ball in every episode that she appeared in.  Desi Arnaz was equally charming as Ricky Ricardo, who had established himself as a successful entertainer.  To round out the cast, you had William Frawley and Vivian Vance as Fred and Ethel Mertz, who also had a background in show business, and who often jokingly made fun of each other.  Lucy and Ethel would become best friends, and the two of them would often get into a lot of mishaps together.  Lucy always wanted a career in stardom, and wanted desperately to have the same success in entertainment as Ricky, Fred, and Ethel had.  Any attempt she did make turned out to be a complete disaster, which set the tone for quite a few episodes of the serial.

The show was one that I loved as a kid.  Obviously, I was not born when the show originally aired on television.  However, years ago a television network based out of Kingston, Ontario called CKWS used to air the reruns of the show.  If I remember correctly, it always aired when I went home for lunch, and I would usually watch the show then.  Sixty years later, the show is still syndicated in dozens of countries, and is still beloved by fans both new and old.


The show was an entertaining one to watch on television, but there were plenty of other things that happened behind the scenes that were just as amusing, thought-provoking, and even shocking. 

You know where this is going right?  If you guessed that I was going to turn this blog entry into a list of bulleted points that has trivia about the show, you would be right.  I did it on July 2, I did it on July 12, and now I'm doing it for July 22.

Hey, I have to have some pattern here, right?

So, are you ready for some trivia and facts about the show and its stars that you may or may not know?  I bet you are!

1.  We'll start off this list of trivia on a sad note.  None of the four original stars of 'I Love Lucy' are still alive.  Willam Frawley died in 1966.  Vivian Vance passed away in 1979.  Desi Arnaz lost his battle with cancer in 1986, and Lucille Ball, the last of the four died in April 1989.



2.  Originally, Vivian Vance was not the first choice to play the role of Ethel Mertz.  Other actresses considered for the role were Bea Benaderet and Barbara Pepper.

3.  Ironically enough, when Vivian Vance's name came up as a possible Ethel Mertz, Lucille Ball herself was a little wary of Vance in the role.  The initial description of Ethel Mertz was that of an older, homely woman, and Vance had a more glamourous appearance than what the writers planned.  Vance insisted that with make-up and practice, she could achieve the vision that everyone wanted of Ethel Mertz, and after a few rehearsals, Lucille Ball got used to the idea.  The two women would form a strong working relationship, and became very good friends.  It also helped that they had such strong chemistry on screen for moments such as this one.



4.  While Vivian Vance got along well with Lucy and Desi, it wasn't quite the same cordial relationship between her and her on-screen husband, William Frawley.  They worked well enough on camera for viewers to take to the couple, and never showed signs of a fractured relationship on screen.  Off screen though, they greatly disliked each other.  Reportedly, the feud stemmed from Vance being unhappy about having a man who was much older than her as her on-screen husband (at the time the series debuted, Vance was 42 and Frawley was 64).  Frawley overheard Vance complaining about him repeatedly, and was greatly offended.  The relationship was frosty ever since.

5.  The relationship was so strained between Vance and Frawley that it effectively nixed a proposed spin-off to 'I Love Lucy'.  In 1960, Lucille and Desi proposed a 'Fred and Ethel' series to the two actors.  Despite his feelings for Vance, Frawley was more than willing to go ahead with the spinoff idea, but Vance flat out refused for the reason that she never wanted to work with Frawley again.  After that, neither one of them had anything to do with each other.



6.  Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz both were excited at the prospect of William Frawley taking on the role of Fred Mertz, as he had already established himself as a Hollywood actor.  Others weren't quite so enthusiastic.  Executives from CBS had heard of Frawley's notorious instability and his excessive alcohol drinking (one of the main reasons why Barbara Pepper did not get the role as Ethel Mertz).  Desi assured the executives that Frawley would not be a problem, and he informed him that if he ever showed up to work drunk, or missed work because of alcohol, his character would be written out of the show.  To Frawley's credit, he always showed professionalism at work, and his drinking was never a problem on set.  As a result of this, Desi Arnaz became one of Frawley's few close friends.

7.  William Frawley's contract had an unusual clause within it.  Because he was a huge fan of the New York Yankees, he had it stated in his contract that if the Yankees made it to the World Series, he would have the time off from work until the World Series was over.  As it happened, during the run of 'I Love Lucy', the only year that the Yankees didn't make it in was 1954.  As a result of this contract, Frawley missed two episodes.

8.  Everyone knows of the classic 'I Love Lucy' opening, which I posted near the beginning of this blog entry.  But, did you know that it wasn't the original opening?  The opening which most of us are familiar with were created specifically for the syndicated showings and reruns.  The original openings showed an animated Lucy and Ricky Ricardo advertising the sponsors who helped fund the program.  The original sponsor was Philip Morris, which was a company that made cigarettes (could you imagine a cigarette company sponsoring a television program these days?)

Just to show you how different (and disturbing) these openings were, I happened to find one from 1953.



Again...you'd never see openings like this on current television shows.  Well, unless the ads encouraged one to QUIT smoking, at least.

9.  The Ricardos lived in New York City, and their address was 623 East 68th Street.


10.  Desilu Productions was founded by Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball in 1950.  The initial reason behind the creation of the company was to produce a vaudeville act starring the couple.  There was however another motive behind the creation of Desilu.  Upon hearing that CBS executives wanted to create a television version of the popular radio show 'My Favorite Husband', Desi wanted to show them through their act that the public could accept a marriage between a Cuban and a Scotch-Irish American.  That television project evolved into 'I Love Lucy', and following a cut in salary, Desi and Lucy retained full ownership and creative control.

11.  When the original pilot for 'I Love Lucy' was filmed, Lucille Ball was already pregnant with hers and Desi's first child, Lucie.  Although she was showing, the show never made any references to her pregnancy at the time.  CBS felt that talking about pregnancy on the show was in bad taste, and ad agencies even told Desi that showing a pregnant woman on screen was not a good idea.  Ah, the fifties.  Lucie Arnaz was born on July 17, 1951.

12.  During the filming of season two, Lucille Ball became pregnant again, and the decision was made to write the pregnancy into the show.  CBS did not want any of the actors saying the word 'pregnant' on the show, so instead, Lucy was 'expecting'.  Even the episode title was written in such a way that the word pregnant wasn't technically used.  The episode title was 'Lucy Is Enceinte', which is the French word for pregnant.  The moment where Lucy tells Desi the exciting news can be found below.



13.  The birth of Little Ricky was featured in the episode 'Lucy Goes To The Hospital'.  It was the very first instance of a birth being broadcast on television.

14.  The episode in which Lucy gives birth first aired on January 19, 1953, which happened to be the exact date that Lucille Ball gave birth to Desi Arnaz, Jr.  Which coincidentally makes Lucy's pregnancy either one of the shortest ever, or Lucy never showed signs of being pregnant until very late into the pregnancy, as she told Ricky she was pregnant on December 8, 1952!

15.  A reported 44 million people watched the episode where Lucy gave birth to Little Ricky...more than the inauguration of President Eisenhower, and more than the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.


16.  Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Jr. appeared on the very first issue of TV Guide magazine in 1953.

17.  During the 1950's, several Hollywood stars found themselves blacklisted for having affiliations with the Communist party, and Lucille Ball was one of the actresses that was accused of having ties to communism.  During a warm-up of an episode of 'I Love Lucy', Desi Arnaz filled the audience of the show in about tales regarding Lucy and her grandfather (who some would say inspired Lucille Ball to go into acting), and defended his wife against the rumours surrounding her communist ties.  He told the audience at the time that "the only thing red about Lucy is her hair, and even that's not legitimate."  When Lucy came out to join Desi on stage, she was given a standing ovation.

18.  Although the show 'I Love Lucy' ended in 1957, the show was re-tooled slightly and shown as thirteen one-hour episodes for the next three years under the titles of The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show and The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.  The series officially ended in 1960, which was the same year that Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz divorced.

19.  There were 194 episodes produced in the whole run.  This one just happens to be my favourite one.



20.  Did you know that the iconic theme song for 'I Love Lucy' had lyrics to it?  You never did hear them until the episode entitled 'Lucy's Last Birthday'.


So there you have it.  Twenty facts about 'I Love Lucy' ranging from light fluff to absolute shock and awe.  I hope it was an interesting read for all of you out there.

You know, it's been well over two decades since we lost Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, but I'd like to think that they live on in some form.  The show is well-loved by many, and more often than not, you can see lots of other shows and movies spoofing moments from the series. 

'I Love Lucy' is widely considered to be one of the best television sitcoms ever made.  Because it WAS.  Can a sitcom attract the same love and warmth and charisma 'I Love Lucy' achieved?  Some have.  Some haven't.  Whatever the case, 'I Love Lucy' should serve as a template for how successful sitcom writing and producing should be.  It shouldn't be about how much a person makes per episode, or how much to spend on production costs, or throwing gasoline on the flames of celebrity feuds.  If anything, the reason why 'I Love Lucy' worked so well is because the actors never had any egos (or if they did, they kept them in check while performing), and because Lucy and Desi cared so much about every detail of the show, and guided it through many years of stories and laughs.

If more people cared about their own shows the same way the 'I Love Lucy' cast and crew cared about theirs, maybe shows like Jersey Shore wouldn't be on the air right now.

Of course, that's only the opinion of this blogger.  What do you think?  I'm interested in your thoughts.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Thursday Night At The Arcade: Tetris

I wanted to give all of you a little bit of a reward for following these posts over the past couple of months.  This blog has been a great release for me and has allowed me to process my thoughts in a public venue, so thank you for supporting this.  I hope to have a lot of fun with this blog, and I think today's entry will be one of those fun ones, with the inclusion of the application below!

http://www.freetetris.org/

I really wanted to post the actual game inside the blog post itself, but after attempting for nearly an hour to do so and having no luck with it, I had to post the link to it instead.

Either way, this post is all about Tetris!



By now, I'm sure that almost everyone has played at least one game of Tetris, or at the very least has heard of the game.  But, did you know that the concept of Tetris was discovered in Russia (which was a part of the fomer Soviet Union at the time) in 1984?

A man by the name of Alexey Pajitnov came up with the original Tetris game while he was working for the Dorodnicyn Computing Centre of the Academy of Science of the USSR in Moscow, Russia.  (Try saying that five times fact).  On June 6, 1984, the Tetris video game was officially released in Russia, and two years later, in 1986, the game was brought over to North American shores.  Little did we know that over the years, the game would become so popular that people could end up playing it on their mobile phones, online, and various other sources.


Though the game had success on desktop computer consoles, it wasn't until the late 1980's that the Tetris game really started to take off in America.  In 1988, computer game publisher Henk Rogers happened to discover the game while he was in Las Vegas, attending the Consumers Electronics Show.  Having had the inside information that Nintendo was planning on releasing the Nintendo Game Boy, he wanted to get the attention of Minoru Arakawa, who at the time was the head for Nintendo of America.  He suggested that instead of going with the original plan to package the Game Boy with Super Mario Land, that they instead include Tetris.  His argument was that while a Super Mario title would attract the handheld console to male players, a puzzle game like Tetris could appeal to everyone.

Rogers secured the rights to the game from both Spectrum HoloByte and Tengen (which had secured the license to release the game in Japan).  He also got the attention of Robert Stein who had secured permission for both companies to distribute Tetris through company Mirrorsoft to seek rights for it to be distributed with the Game Boy.

It took some time for the deal to finally be reached, including a battle between Rogers and Kevin Maxwell for the rights to the Game Boy patent of Tetris, and a legal battle in the courts between Nintendo and Tengen, but in March of 1989, the deal was secured by Nintendo for all rights to the console and handheld versions of Tetris.

The Game Boy version of Tetris was released in August 1989, and over the next twenty years, has sold some 35 million copies.  Official Nintendo Magazine ranked the game #5 on their list of 100 Best Nintendo Games, and in August 2008, Nintendo Power Magazine said that Tetris meant more to handheld gaming than any other game.  Even the creator of Tetris has said that the 1989 Game Boy release was his favourite version, as it matched his original vision almost perfectly.

So, what made Tetris a success? 

Part of it was the puzzle aspect.




You have seven Tetris pieces that one must rotate and twist to form lines at the bottom of the screen.  Above, you will see them all.  They are the I-Block, J-Block, L-Block, O-Block, S-Block, T-Block, and Z-Block.  If you line them up in such a way that the line fills up the entire bottom, the line will disappear, and you will score points.  The more lines you clear at once, the more points you get.  It's simple enough to get a single line, and quite easy to get a double line.  Triples are a bit harder to master, for you can't create one without an I, J, or L-Block.  To get the Tetris (clearing four lines at once), only an I-block can assist you in that goal.  So, there's a lot of strategy involved in the game, especially since the blocks fall faster as the game progresses.  If the blocks reach the top, the game ends.



It's quite simple, really.

I know that I've played many, many games of Tetris in my lifetime thus far, and I can tell you that I'm a pretty decent player.  There's a website online called Tetris Friends, and on that site, you can compete with up to six players at once to beat them in a series of challenges.  On some, you race to get the highest score, or you have endurance competitions to see who can last the longest, or you race to clear 40 lines the quickest.  I haven't been on that site in forever, but whenever I did play, it was all business, and no pleasure.  I don't like to brag, but I slayed quite a few competitors on that site.

In fact, here's a screenshot of the Tetris Friends site, in case you haven't been.


Oh, and to add to the competition, you are encouraged to clear triples and Tetrises, because every one you do clear, you end up sabotaging your opponents by adding more lines to their own game.  Be warned though, they can attack you right back. 

In closing, it's important to realize just how much of an impact Tetris really has had in the world.  It's a simplistic puzzle game, but it has entertained gamers for almost thirty years now.  Perhaps what is most fascinating about the game is that it seems to have influenced pop culture so much.  Granted, this example below is in Spanish, but it was all that I could find.



And, to finish off this blog entry, one of the coolest Human Tetris videos I have ever seen!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Across The Pond And Beyond: Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone

Every writer dreams of getting his or her big break in the world of literature.  Whether their ambition is to have the top-selling book on the New York Times best-seller list, or simply just to have anybody read their work, those who are serious about the craft will try anything to get their name out there.

In some ways, it's one of my main motivations towards starting up this blog in the first place.  I have quite a lot to talk about, and I'm ready to just let it hang out there for people.  Sometimes, I hope that something that I say here really resonates with someone, or lets them know that there may be someone who has gone through exactly what they have.  In a few cases, the subjects I choose for blog entries might inspire some thought-provoking discussions.  In fact, there's been a couple of entries on this blog that have inspired a lot of comments on my personal Facebook page, which have undoubtedly given me some new angles to look at.  In fact, I've been thinking of creating a fan page for this blog, just to give more people the chance to read it and comment.  What do you all think? 

Of course, nobody said that the whole pursuit of writing as a sole career would be easy.  Would it be my all time dream to make a good living as a writer?  I'll admit it...it would be my ultimate dream come true.  I'm well aware that the odds of some publisher locating this blog and signing me up for a million dollar book deal is less than one per cent.  However, I'm a firm believer in the quote 'you'll never know unless you try', so this blog is my response to that quote.  It may help my work get discovered, and it may not.  At least I'll enjoy the process for however long it lasts, right?  That's ultimately what's important in life.  Passion for your work.  I certainly wouldn't be spending so much time writing if I didn't enjoy doing it.  I have always loved writing stories and using my creative juices to make up stories and entries, and I imagine that I will continue to do it until I take my final breath on this earth.

The author who I am featuring in this particular blog entry was one of those writers who never gave up on her dream and ended up having huge success with it.  What's interesting about it is that she managed to come up with the idea that made her a millionaire during one of the hardest periods in her entire life.

The journey for her began in 1990, on a train ride between Manchester and London, England, where a 25-year-old woman named Joanne Rowling was struck with a sudden idea for a novel.  During the four hour ride, she was bombarded with images and visuals of wizards and magic.  In her visuals, she pictured a young boy attending a school of wizardry for the first time, and from there, she had formed a full length story in her mind.  Upon arriving back home, she immediately wrote down those ideas as soon as she could, thinking that she could write a captivating story.

Over the next few years, she was dealt a lot of horrible blows.  She had lost her mother just months after she came up with the book idea.  She had a marriage that ended, and she was left to bring up a daughter as a single parent without a job.  She was forced to rely on government benefits packages to get through, and was diagnosed with depression.  It was not a good time for her on the personal front.

In her creative mind, however, she couldn't have been more inspired.  Drawing from her personal tragedy and hardships, she used some of that emotion to bring rich, deep, characterization of all the key players in the story.  She continued to work on her manuscript tediously, even resorting to writing chapters in coffee shops and delicatessens while trying to get into a course to become a teacher and supporting her toddler aged daughter.

By 1995, she had managed to finish her very first manuscript on an old typewriter, and with help from Bryony Evans managed to secure a literary agent to represent her.  She was rejected by at least a dozen publishers before being accepted by a small publishing company by the name of Bloomsbury, along with a £1500 advance for the manuscript.  Part of the reason why the publishing company took a chance on her was because the chairman's eight-year-old daughter had read the first chapter and wanted to read more, but he wasn't sure if she could make it as a children's author.  Luck was on her side in 1997 though.  The Scottish Arts Council had given her a grant to continue writing, and in June of 1997, her first book officially hit the shelves in her native UK.  In 1998, the book had garnered so much interest in the UK that an auction was held in the United States for the rights to publish the book overseas.  Scholastic Inc. had won the auction after paying $105,000 for the rights to the book, the first fortune that would come her way.



That book was Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.  (Or, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States).


Joanne Rowling decided to use the pen name of J.K. Rowling, for fear that had she used her full name, she might not have been taken seriously because she was a woman.  In the end, would it really have mattered though?  The Harry Potter series became a global success, selling over 400 MILLION copies, and as of March of this year, Rowling's net worth is around the tune of one BILLION dollars.  Not a bad achievement for someone who just eighteen years ago was just scraping by.

She just didn't get rich through her books alone.  In 2001, the books began to be made into movies, all of which were blockbusters at the box office.  The final movie of the series was released on July 15, 2011, and already it has been receiving much critical praise. 


Part of the reason why the movies inevitably became as successful as the books was due to the fantastic casting of all the actors in the films.  Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, and Daniel Radcliffe as Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter respectively made the books come to life with their accurate portrayals of the characters.  With a time period of a decade in between the first movie and the last movie, we literally watched all three actors grow from preteen children to young men and women.  The fact that all three actors speak so highly of their roles, and have had nothing but fun bringing the world of Hogwarts to life just adds to the magic and beauty behind each Harry Potter installment.

So, since we're truly at the end of an era with the second part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in theatres and cinemas all over the world, I figure that I'd use this blog entry to look back on how the whole Potter-palooza began.



Now, I've mentioned before that the first book in the series was released in 1997 under the name Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.  That name holds true for the United Kingdom, Canada, and presumably most of the world.  In the United States, the title of the book and the movie was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.  Why the reason for the name change?  It's hard to say.  On a personal note, if I was eight when the book came out, I'd probably pick it up more if it had the sorcerer title.  At eight, I wasn't quite sure what a philosopher was, but I sure knew what a sorcerer was.  I had read enough Sabrina The Teenage Witch comics to know that by heart!  However, with absolute honesty, I think that the name should have stayed the way it was originally meant to be, which is why I titled this entry the way that I have.

That, plus I'm Canadian, and that's the title we associate with Harry Potter's first year, so there.  :)


Since we're talking about the first book/movie, I figure I'd drop a little bit of a confession here for all of you.  Around November of 2001, I was invited to go to the premiere of the first Harry Potter movie by a friend of mine named Kitty.  Kitty had an extra ticket available, and she wanted to know if I would like to go.  I never turn down a free movie, so I agreed.  It was the premiere screening in Ottawa (where I had lived at the time), how could I resist?

The only thing was that I was kind of a 'muggle' about the whole world of Harry Potter.  I hadn't even so much as read a paragraph of a Harry Potter book, let alone the whole book itself.  By the time the first film debuted in North America on November 16, 2001, J.K. Rowling was already halfway through the Harry Potter series in book form, and yet, here I was going in to see the film adaptation of a book that I had never read.  I was worried that I wouldn't like the movie, or that I would sleep right through it.

Of course, neither one of those things happened.



I suppose that you don't need me to repeat the plot too much, as anyone who has seen at least one of the movies or read one of the books knows exactly what exactly happens to our young wizard.  Harry Potter's parents were James and Lily Potter, a pair of wizards, making Harry a pureblood wizard.  Tragedy struck when Lord Voldemort slayed Harry's parents.  He had tried to kill Harry as well, but something prevented him from doing so.  Harry Potter was left with a scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt as a souvenir of the battle, and Voldemort was rendered powerless.  Over the next ten years of his life, Harry was forced to live with his aunt and uncle.  Problem was that Harry didn't exactly like his aunt and uncle, nor did he like his bratty cousin, Dudley.  Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon showered all their love and devotion to Dudley while treating Harry horribly.  In fact, when Harry kept getting letters in the mail, Vernon did everything in his power to keep Harry from getting them.

However, in this scene from the movie, Rubeus Hagrid comes to visit Harry Potter to not only reveal that he has been accepted as a student at Hogwarts School of Wizardry, but to give him a little birthday gift.



Don't worry...the badly spelled cake is just one of the gifts.  Hagrid reveals to Harry that he is in fact a wizard...a fact that his aunt and uncle kept a secret from him for his whole life.  It is here that Hagrid delivers the news that he has been accepted into the Hogwarts School of Wizardry.

Since the school is a school that offers residency, Harry makes no hesitation in choosing to go.

After a quick trip to Diagon Alley, and an even quicker withdrawal from Gringott's (where Harry discovers that in wizard currency he's almost as rich as Bill Gates), he buys all the school supplies he needs, such as a magic wand, a book of spells, and an owl named Hedwig.  From there, he boards the train to Hogwarts at King's Cross Station from the hidden platform of 9 3/4.


It is on the train ride that he meets up with two very special people.  The first person he meets is Ron Weasley, a little red-headed boy from a very large pure-blood wizarding family (all the Weasley children have, are or will be attending Hogwarts as the series continues).  He has a sense of humour, and is often the one who makes the wittiest remarks.  He also introduces Harry to the delicious world of wizard candy, such as Bertie Bott's flavour beans, and chocolate frogs.  Harry also meets Hermione Granger, who was born to a pair of muggles.

(Muggles are people who can't use magic or wizard spells, in case any of you were wondering.)

Despite Hermione's parentage, she is one of the more intelligent of the group, always looking for extra credit assignments, and thirsting to find knowledge.  She can come across as a bit of a know-it-all, but deep down inside, she means well.

At first, Ron and Hermione have sort of a love-hate relationship, especially in the first couple of movies, but both of them have mutual respect for Harry.  Other characters in the book that the three meet at Hogwarts include Neville Longbottom, an oafish character who is a mediocre student, but is loyal to his friends.  Draco Malfoy appears as Harry's nemesis throughout the books, and his minions, Crabbe and Goyle, are his loyal followers.  As well, you have the faculty of Hogwarts including Minerva McGonagle, the transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts, Severus Snape, a teacher who takes personal interest in Harry Potter himself, and Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, who often provides Harry and his friends with words of wisdom.

During the course of the novel, Harry experiences what it is like to be at a school for wizards, and has a lot of fun during his stay.  He gets placed in Gryffindor house with Ron and Hermione, and seems to grasp the schoolwork quite well.  He really comes into his own when he joins the Quidditch team, which was only natural, since his father also played on the team years earlier.  I wish I could find a video with accompanying dialogue, but I think this video explains it all.




Of course, there are some scary moments that Harry must face as well.  When Harry, Ron, and Hermione discover that a three-headed dog happens to be guarding a stone called the Philosopher's Stone (or Sorcerer's Stone in the USA), and that the stone grants immortality to the person who has it in their possession, Harry makes the wrong conclusion that Snape is the one after it to return Voldemort back to human form so that he can finish the job he started in trying to dispatch Harry.

Of course, trying to keep someone away from the stone wasn't an easy task for a trio of eleven year olds.  Not when you had to face challenges like this.


And that's not even the epic main battle for the end of the first book!  But am I going to show you what it is, or tell you how it ends?  Nope.  You'll just have to read the book for yourself.

I will tell you one thing though.  After seeing the first movie, it prompted me to search the library for a copy of the first book so I could read it all the way through to see what parts were cut out from the movie.  That's how good the movie was.  After reading all of the books straight through, I'm proud to say that the whole Harry Potter journey was one worth taking.  Whether you read the books or watch all the movies, I guarantee you that it will be a story that you'll never forget.

J.K. Rowling certainly won't ever forget the boy wizard she created on that train ride long ago.  One could say that the wizard changed her life.

I suppose in this case, Harry Potter spread his magic onto the real world, one child at a time. 

Even us adults can get in on the fun.  I remember five years ago, my sister threw a Harry Potter themed party together for the neighbourhood kids in her area, and all of the family got to play a role.

(I was the Sorting Hat!)

In fact, to close off this blog entry, I'm going to show all of you some pictures from that party five years ago, and maybe it'll inspire you all to come up with your own ideas for Potter parties, now that the series has wrapped up.  As far as new adventures for Harry Potter go, J.K. Rowling is reportedly working on some new material, so never say never.  But, it is a joy to know that so many people have been touched by a series of books in a world where Angry Birds and XBOX 360's seem to dominate the world.

At any rate, here's the pictures of the party from October 2006.

This was the sorting hat prop.  When the kids would come up to the podium, my sister (who was dressed as Professor McGonagle) would put the hat on their heads.  Behind the curtain, I was standing there with a karaoke machine microphone on echo, where I would say "BETTER BE GRYFFINDOR", or whatever house I called.  This divided up the kids into the four houses.


The party took place at my sister's house, and she had every room in the house done up like one of the classrooms, and each person played a faculty member (my sisters played McGonagle and Professor Trelawney, a neighbour played Snape, etc.), and they asked the kids questions about the books and movies to get house points.  Above, you'll see the "Potions" classroom.


At the end of the classroom tours, the points were added up, and the team that had the most points won the House Cup, seen up above.  The year we hosted this party, the Hufflepuff house won the competition, but all four teams did a fantastic job.  They wowed even me!


On any normal day, this would just be a garage.  However, on the night of the party, it was magically transformed into the banquet hall of Hogwarts.  Because the party was before Halloween, we strung up pumpkin lights to pretend they floated above the kids heads just like the movie.  You can even see that the podium looks authentic on a miniature scale.


Sadly, the party didn't go completely perfect.  Because of a thunderstorm that happened while the party went on, we had to cancel the outdoor part.  You can see that my sister has a really big backyard, which we would have used to our advantage.  If it hadn't rained, we would have hung Quidditch brooms from the trees and put golden snitches randomly around the yard.  You can sort of make out a wooden structure, which would have been Hagrid's hut, and there was a small greenhouse out back which would have been the herbology classroom.


Dementor!  Dementor!  This was just one of the many outdoor decorations that we had outside.


Finally, at the end of the night, each kid went home with a special lootbag, filled with all sorts of goodies, such as pencils and Harry Potter stickers.  My sister happened to find some Bertie Bott's Flavour Beans in the States (the ones that taste like boogers and dirt), and decided to mix them up with regular Jelly Belly beans, just to see what the kids would say.  Needless to say, the Bertie Bott's beans weren't a hit, but the party was a huge success!





Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Today's Special Is...Today's Special

I used to hate going into department stores when I was a child.

Unless we took a detour to the toys and games section of a store, having to be dragged from store to store by either my parents or two sisters was incredibly boring.  Keeping in mind that this was during a time before Nintendo Game Boys, it was pure torture to stand around and look at the floor while they browsed through clothing racks.  Especially when a trip to the children's department never came out of the whole visit to the store in the first place.

There was another reason why I didn't like going to department stores.  I hated mannequins.

Mannequins used to creep me out for some unknown reason.  The fact that they were people dressed in the latest fashions from 1985 or whatever staring at you with porcelain eyes and not moving an inch.  It wasn't really a good feeling.

Even worse still were those mannequins that were only half completed, or only showed the upper half of the mannequin's body to show off a dress shirt or a blouse.  Some of them were even headless.  The four year old version of myself was thinking to myself "what the heck did that poor mannequin do to get his/her legs chopped off"?

I think I was only like that for a couple of years.  Over time, I began to accept the fact that mannequins were always going to be there, and that they weren't really as scary as I initially thought they could be.

Although part of that could be because my parents were introducing me to the wonderful world of TVOntario, and a certain show where the main star was a mannequin that came to life was very popular at the time.  It was a show that I grew to love, and watch loyally for years.  Even at the age of 30, I still find myself watching old episodes, wishing that children nowadays could have shows like this to watch today instead of Teletubbies, or whatever non-educational kids show happens to be on now.


Today's Special was a show that originally aired in Canada on the TVOntario network.  It originally ran from 1981-1987 on that network, and played on reruns for many years.  The show proved to be successful in Canada, and even aired in the United States on Nickelodeon. 

The show took place at a department store in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the show was actually filmed on location at the old Simpson's Department Store on the corner of Yonge and Queen Street West.  You can't go and see it though, because Simpson's was bought out by the Hudson Bay Company years ago, but The Bay is now in the location today.

Below, you'll see the main cast of the show.


From left to right, there's Jodie, Sam, Jeff, and Muffy.

Jodie works the overnight shift at Simpson's, in the children's department.  Her job is to come up with new and exciting displays for the children's department each week.  It usually relates to the theme that the episode is based on, such as hats, ice cream, and adventure.



Working alongside Jodie is Sam Crenshaw, the overnight security guard.  He does his rounds through the store to make sure everything is safe and secure.  He does so with the help of his trusty computer, TXL, who also serves as entertainment for the viewer.  TXL will often cut into the show to display an activity or a game for the viewer to play.  She also is our link (and narrative) to the Mime Lady, a woman who mimes everything she wants to say because she cannot speak.



Also living in the store is a little mouse named Muffy.  Granted, with health codes and practices being very strict nowadays, the idea of a mouse in a department store could get the place shut down.  Apparently in the early 1980's, such practices were lax, because Muffy lived in a hole in the wall of the store without a care in the world.  Although she did not like Sam's cat Penelope, she was a kind-hearted mouse who had the quirky trait of speaking in rhyme all the time.  She had a great relationship with Jodie and Sam, and while she could be a bit of a prankster at times, she meant well.  (On a personal note, Muffy was my favourite character in the whole show.)

There were other guest stars on the show as well.  Mrs. Pennypacker worked in the storage room, and appeared sporadically.  Muffy's cousin, Mort was a frequent visitor as well, and just like Muffy, he talked in rhyme all the time.

Perhaps the star of the show is Jeff, and what makes Jeff unique kind of ties to the whole opening paragraphs of this blog entry. 

Jeff was originally a mannequin. 

Whenever Jeff puts on his magic plaid hat though, and someone says the magic words, then Jeff will miraculously come to life.  And, do you know what those magic words are?

I'm sure you do.

Hocus Pocus Alimagocus!

Whenever Jodie, Sam, or Muffy said those words, Jeff would transform from mannequin to human.  Although Jeff had only been a human for some time, he learned rather quickly about what life was like out there through Jodie's mentoring and the friendship that he had with Sam and Muffy.  There were some restrictions though.  For one, Jeff could only stay human as long as he was wearing the hat.  If the hat was knocked off, he would revert back to mannequin status until someone said the magic words.  Jeff could also never leave the store, because if he did, he would turn back into a mannequin permanently.  There were some ways he could get around that, such as being able to go on the roof of the store.  One time he even got to appear on a stage production by stowing away in a life-size suitcase, but for the duration of the series, Jeff never really got a chance to leave the store. 

On a side note, I wish that Today's Special had a proper series finale where Jeff finally got the chance to be a human full-time and have the life that others did.  I suppose that would be kind of an impossibility though.

I really struggled to find an example of this wonderful show that I could show you.  Every single episode is worth posting in this space because I have so much love and affection towards this show.

In the end, I decided to post the 1983 two-parter episode 'Our Story'.  It shows how each of the characters arrived at the store, and their fight to stop the store from being demolished.  You can see it below.


So I suppose you're wondering what the point of this article is.  What did I learn from Today's Special?

Oh, heaps of things.

Because each show had a theme, you learned lots of basic life lessons and tricks along the way.  It worked really well for children, because each child had their own interests.  More often than not, Today's Special focused on such topics that kids could really enjoy.  I know I had my favourites.

The show even had holiday themed shows for Halloween and Christmas, which was nice to see.

Perhaps some of the most poignant lessons that the show taught children were life lessons.  And some of these episodes were serious in nature, and some of them had really sad endings.  I thought that was okay though.

Remember how I lamented that Jeff never got to be a human being at the end of the series?  He almost got his chance.  On the episode entitled "Wishes", all the characters were given a wish to use, and Jeff thought it would be the perfect chance for him to wish that he could become human forever.  However, Jodie, Sam, and Muffy were careless and made wishes that they did not want, such as turning themselves into sandwiches accidentally.  Jeff had no choice, but to use his wish to make everyone back to the way they were.  Everyone was celebrating this, until they realized that Jeff had made the ultimate sacrifice.  Seeing Jeff staring through the window at the world that he would never know still breaks my heart 25 years later.

Although not all the episodes were serious and sad in nature, they seem to be the ones that I remember the most, because of the lessons that I took away from them.


Take the episode "Phil's Visit", for instance.  Phil was a photographer who was hired to take pictures of the display that Jodie worked on for hours, and he had asked Muffy to be his personal assistant.  Phil was regarded as one of the best in the business, and he had won much accolades for his work, so naturally everyone in the store was excited about his appearance. 

Phil did have one major flaw.  He was an alcoholic. 

When Muffy accidentally stumbled across Phil sneaking a drink from his flask, he initially got very angry at Muffy.  But when Muffy promised not to tell anyone about it, it was business as usual.  Still, Muffy was very conflicted as to what to do.  When Phil sneaked another drink and verbally berated Muffy, Muffy got scared and worried.  When Phil stumbled and destroyed the castle display that Jodie made, Phil yelled at Muffy to the point where she was in tears, and Jeff and Jodie tried to find her.  Muffy found her way to Sam's computer room where she told Sam everything, and really, as uncomfortable as it was to watch, it served as a valuable lesson.  At the beginning and end of that episode, Jodie was explaining to all of us that if we knew someone had a drinking problem that we should tell a responsible adult even if they are told not to by the person.  Because Muffy told Sam what was going on, there was a possibility that Phil could have been rehabilitated, although we never did get any resolution as to what happened to him.

There were other memorable shows as well.  The episode on "Hospitals" made me fear hospitals less after we saw Muffy get her tonsils out without much trouble.  The episode on "Fire" taught me a lot about fire safety.  And while the episode about "Butterflies" was a sad one to get through, it effectively taught kids about the death of a loved one.

I will be one of the first people who will readily admit to wanting Today's Special to come back on TV, or at the very least get released on DVD.  I don't have any children of my own yet, but I know that when I do, I would want to show them this wonderful show.

Today's Special was just...special.  It didn't have any bells or whistles, or famous faces, or aliens with televisions in their chests.  It was just great children's television.


Monday, July 18, 2011

Monday Matinee Double Feature: Stand By Me & Now And Then

I have a special treat for all of you blog readers out there.  For the first time since I started off this blog (and quite possibly one of the only times that I will ever do this), I am featuring two movies in the Monday Matinee entry.

Why?

To tell you the truth, I wanted to feature each of these movies separately, but the more I looked at them both, the more they sounded like the same movie plotline.  There are definitely some major differences between the two movies, this is true.  One movie has four teenage boys as the main stars, while the other features four teenage girls.  One is set in the late 1950's, while the other is set in 1970.  One takes place in Oregon, the other one in Indiana.  Finally, while both of these movies feature the stars going on an adventure, each one is different, and has its own twists and turns that make both movies interesting to watch.

They are two of the best examples of 'coming of age' movies that I can come across at the spur of the moment, and part of it has to do with the rich character development and the wonderful plot devices that both films use.

These two films are "Stand By Me" released in 1986, and "Now And Then", released in 1995.

We'll look at each film one at a time, and come up with conclusions about each one, and maybe along the way I can find out some things about myself in revisiting these two films.  Won't that be exciting?

Why don't we start off by going in chronological order, shall we?


Stand By Me was released in selected theatres on August 8, 1986, and two weeks later premiered nationwide.  The film's plot was taken from a novella written by famed author Stephen King back in 1982 entitled The Body.  Set around Labour Day weekend 1959 in the town of Castle Rock, Oregon, the movie features four friends who set out on an adventure to locate the body of a young boy named Ray Brower, who had died from being struck by a train.



Up above are the four boys who are the stars of the movie.  Going from left to right, you have Teddy Duchamp (Corey Feldman), Vern Tessio (Jerry O'Connell), Chris Chambers (River Phoenix), and Gordie Lachance (Wil Wheaton).



As it so happens, the story is narrated by an adult Gordie Lachance (whose adult version was played by Richard Dreyfuss), who is writing the memoirs of his youth experience, which includes the search for the body, and the dangers they faced along the way, including outrunning a train on a bridge, falling into a swamp filled with leeches, and once they find the body, defending himself and the rest of the boys from Ace Merrill (played by Kiefer Sutherland) when he tries to take the body.

It sounds like quite a busy movie with an unbelievable plot, but it really was one of those movies that really tugged at the heartstrings for a lot of people who watched the movie. 

The reason why is because the film (and for that matter, Stephen King who wrote the novella) really fleshed out the characters and made them so memorable.  It was like you could identify with at least one, if not ALL of the boys.

Let's start off with the narrator of the movie.


Gordie for some reason was always my favourite character in the whole film.  Gordie was probably the boy that I was most like as a kid.  Quiet, studious, loved to write and tell stories.  Uh-huh, that was me in a nutshell.  Hell, that is me in a nutshell.  I guess that's why I probably identify with him so much, because he and I were quite similar in nature.  In fact, I think I actually owned the same shirt he's wearing in the above picture.  There is one major difference between him and I, and that was his family life.  After the tragic death of his brother Denny, who Gordie was close to, he had zero relationship with his father.  In actuality, his parents never really paid much attention to him anyway, but after Denny's death, his father chose to ignore him.  Gordie narrates the whole tale as an adult. 

Along the course of the movie, there are several key events that seem to define Gordie.  During a camp-out, Gordie entertains the other boys with a story (which includes the infamous puke scene), which confirms the idea that he's a born storyteller.  During their encounter with the leech scene, he actually passes out cold when he yanks one out from inside his underwear (though I admit if I found a leech in my shorts, I'd probably pass out myself).  This incident causes the boys to rethink their plan to find the dead body, but Gordie makes the decision to press ahead because they've come too far to give up now.  Once they locate the dead body, it is a gruesome reminder for Gordie that his father loved Denny more than him.  This scene is where Ace pops up, and Gordie manages to scare him away with a handgun.

Where did Gordie get the handgun?  From his friend Chris.  Here's the scene below.


It's here that we move on to our next boy, Chris Chambers.  Despite the fact that he came from a long line of criminals and alcoholics, and despite the fact that he brought a GUN along with them, he claims that he's not like that.  In all actuality, Chris wanted to have a life away from the crime and the negative stigma that seemed to plague his family.  He even confided to Gordie that he hated being stereotyped because his descendants dabbled in criminal activity.  His greatest fear was not being able to make something of himself, and he wanted desperately to break out of that cycle.  Hoo-boy, can I relate to that one!!!  In the end, Chris did manage to get out of the cycle, and managed to build a success out of himself, but his ultimate fate is one that seemed so cruel that...well, you'll have to watch the movie and read the book to find out.


The other two boys didn't seem to have as much of a storyline as Chris and Gordie did, but I can still find things about both of them that stand out.  Teddy for example came from a really abusive childhood.  It was bad enough that he had poor eyesight and had to wear glasses, but he also had to wear a hearing aid.  It was due to the fact that his father had burned his ear by holding it next to a hot stove, and as a result, his hearing was permanently damaged, and he was physically scarred.  He also had emotional wounds from the abuse he suffered, and as a result of the combination of physical and emotional trauma, his future didn't end up so bright.  As for Vern, he was a lot like me physically.  He was the overweight, timid kid, who was often the butt of jokes.  Yeah, can't imagine why I could relate to that one. 

Ultimately though, it didn't matter what backgrounds each of the four boys came from.  They were friends, and they had a really great adventure where they discovered more than a dead body.  They found themselves along the way, and while it either helped or hindered them, it was one summer they will never forget.  I think Gordie summed it up best looking back on it when he said "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anybody?"

I think this quote is the one that will serve as the transitionary moment where we switch from one movie to another.



While Stand By Me dealt with teenage boys coming to age, the movie Now And Then centered around four teenage girls.  The movie, which was released on October 20, 1995, differed a little bit from Stand By Me.  Whereas in Stand By Me, we saw only Gordie all grown up, in this film, we see all four women as adults, both at the beginning and the end of the movie (although Demi Moore narrates all throughout the film).

Just like Stand By Me though, each of the four leads had their own distinct personalities, and during the summer of 1970, all four of them have life-changing revelations as they save up for a treehouse while embarking on an unsolved mystery.



Once again, we'll go from left to right in identifying the girls.  From the left, you have Tina "Teeny" Tercell (child actor Thora Birch, adult actor Melanie Griffith), a child of socialites who are never home who has ambitions of making it big in Hollywood as an adult (a dream that eventually comes true).  Next to her is Samantha Albertson (Gaby Hoffmann/Demi Moore), who narrates the film.  She is described as the token weird girl who has an obsession with seances, astronomy, and aliens, and whose family drama bothers her immensely, and ends up shaping the way she herself views relationships as an adult.  Then you have Chrissy DeWitt (Ashleigh Aston Moore/Rita Wilson), who could best be described as a sheltered young lady.  Her own mother was very overprotective, almost overwhelmingly.  It was like Chrissy would have been trapped inside a bubble if her mother had anything to say about it.  As a result, she was very awkward around boys, and her sexual education was very basic, if not non-existant.  She was responsible though, and did keep all the treehouse money safe.  As an adult, she is expecting her first child, which she gives birth to at the end of the movie.  Finally, you had Roberta Martin (Christina Ricci/Rosie O'Donnell), the only girl in her house after her mother died in a car accident.  She puts on a tough persona, and even tapes her chest to appear more tomboyish, but inside, she's still deeply hurt by her mother's death.  When we see her as an adult, she is a doctor who happens to be 'living in sin' with her boyfriend.



The basic plot of the film is that the girls want to buy a treehouse for them to have meetings in, and they save up the whole summer to buy it.  During this time, they try to avoid the Wormer brothers, who tease the girls every chance they get by throwing water balloons at them, and making all of the girls (especially Roberta) very angry.

At some point, the girls decide to head to the cemetery where they wish to perform a seance.  In fact, you can watch it here.  Don't worry, no scrolling necessary, it starts up almost immediately.



This seance kicks off the main plot of the movie...a mystery.  You may have seen the part where the lightning bolt strikes right behind the girls.  That lightning bolt cracked open a tombstone inside the graveyard.  The stone marked the grave of a young boy, who the girls affectionately called "Dear Johnny", and their mission is to find out who he was, and how he died, since he died when he was a child. 

The group tries searching for answers at a couple of libraries, but seemingly seem to come up short.  During one of these searches, Roberta comes across the article where it reports on her mother's fatal car accident, and she immediately copies the article and puts the photocopy in her pocket.  After this scene, Samantha discovers that Dear Johnny and his mother were killed in a tragic manner, but have no idea how as some pages have been ripped out.  Undeterred by this, the girls keep searching for the truth.

I'm going to stop right here to talk about the friendships within the friendships, which is one reason why I felt this movie worked really well.  All four girls were really close with each other, but there were two distinct groups that really seemed to bond.

One was Chrissy and Roberta, which seemed like an odd match, as Roberta was tough as nails, while Chrissy was as harmful as marshmallow fluff.  They worked well together though.  For instance, when the girls went for a swim, Roberta jumped in the lake and pretended to drown, which freaked the other girls out, especially Chrissy.  Chrissy gave Roberta mouth to mouth, but when Roberta confessed her trick, Chrissy punched her out!  Chrissy admitted to Roberta that she was her best friend, and didn't want to see her die.  Roberta's fascination with death likely stemmed from the fact that she had lost her mother at an early age, so it kind of made sense why she would pretend it was a game of sorts.  Needless to say, Roberta promised Chrissy that she would never do it again.  As adults, Roberta was the one who delivered Chrissy's baby, cementing their strong bond as adults.

On the other side, you had Samantha and Teeny growing closer.  When Samantha found out that her parents were divorcing, it was a big deal to her.  Keep in mind that back in 1970, divorce was still considered very much a taboo subject to talk about.  It was something that people just didn't do.  So, when Samantha confided to Teeny about her fears of not having a normal family, Teeny comforted her by saying that no family is ever normal.  Teeny was there for her through her fears and to help Samantha feel better, she divided a bracelet she was wearing in half and gave one part of it to Samantha as a token of friendship.  Ot was a simple gesture that Samantha really seemed to appreciate.

On their way home, Samantha loses her bracelet and when she and Teeny stop to look for it, they discover it in a storm drain, where Samantha crawls inside to retrieve it.  It's where we see one of the more emotional moments of the whole movie.


Now, unbeknownst to Samantha and Teeny, the introduction of Crazy Pete and how he ended up saving Samantha's life is a key part in guiding the girls to a nice little conclusion to the Dear Johnny mystery.  The girls find out what really happened to Dear Johnny and have one final meeting in the cemetery to pay their respects to the deceased.  Outside of the cemetery, Samantha runs into Crazy Pete one final time, and with that meeting holds the last piece of the puzzle together, but since I don't like spoiling everything about movies, you're just going to have to find the answer yourself by watching the movie.

That is quite a lot to digest, isn't it?  These two movies are definitely worth checking out though.  Both of them are as I said before, the perfect coming of age movies to watch.  The characters are so incredibly powerful, and you can really feel for all of them and the trials they had to endure.  The plots for both were outstanding, and it is always a moving experience seeing the moments that bond people together and help shape them into adults.

I've been fortunate to have had re-established connections with a few of my old classmates back when I was twelve and thirteen (the age that all the characters were supposed to be in the films), and I'm happy to report that we're still very close today as we were way back in 1993.  It truly is a remarkable feeling to have known someone for all those years and still get along today.  How we all grew up together to become the people we are now.

It's a beautiful feeling.

On a sad note, there is one more similarity that both films share.  Both of the films have had one of the young stars pass away.  River Phoenix of Stand By Me died in 1993, while Ashleigh Aston Moore lost her life in 2007.  Through these two films though, they do live on. 

I'd better end this blog entry before I get really choked up here...below is the 1995 song 'Now And Then', performed by former Bangle Susanna Hoffs.  Enjoy!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Sunday Jukebox - "Legs" by ZZ Top

I always loved watching some of the music videos that would grace the early days of MTV and MuchMusic.  Well, back in those days that those two channels actually showed music videos anyways.

What some don't realize was that a lot of the music videos released during the 1980's were like watching little four or five minute movies.  Each one had a plot, a main character, a few supporting characters, and the lyrics of the song done by the singer or the band in the video acts as the dialogue of the music video.

Not all of the videos followed this formula.  Many of them were just headshots of the band, or showed band members dancing in front of a green screen dodging flying objects.  But, quite a lot of them did.

Last week, we did a study on Madonna's 'Material Girl' video, which had a concrete plotline, and worked as a mini-movie.  Certainly, a lot of Madonna's videos follow the 'let's tell a story in five minutes' method, and that's probably why Madonna became so successful.

Other artists who have done this successfully at least once include Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, Pearl Jam, Mariah Carey, and the group that is featured in today's blog entry.

And as it so happens, this is one video that sort of has a double meaning to it, and depending on your point of view, it will go from one extreme to the other.

Some people will claim that the video can be quite sexist.  It can be demeaning to see women dressed scantily and causing all sorts of mischief throughout the video, and that it isn't appropriate to showcase women like Barbie dolls.  And that's fine, they're certainly entitled to their opinion.  I on the other hand am firmly on the opposite side.  I feel that the video brings forth a positive message throughout the song.  It not only shows people standing up to bullies, but I actually feel that it promotes empowerment in women, and tells them that they can be strong and powerful if they really put their minds to it.

I'm certain that you want to see this video to see what I mean.  Don't worry...it's just below this line.



ARTIST:  ZZ Top
SONG:  Legs
ALBUM:  Eliminator
DATE RELEASED: May 18, 1984
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #8

Wow...that song hit the charts the same day I turned three years old.  That makes me feel old.

It could be said that the 'Eliminator' album was the one that most people seem to associate with the band ZZ Top.  Certainly with hit songs like 'Legs', 'Sharp Dressed Man', and 'Gimme All Your Lovin' on the album, it certainly helped put them on the map as musical artists.

But, did you know that the band had formed fifteen years earlier in 1969?


The band currently known as ZZ Top was founded by Billy Gibbons, Dan Mitchell, and Lanier Gregg in 1969 in Texas.  The original line-up only lasted a few months before Mitchell and Gregg departed the band.  They were replaced by Dusty Hill and Frank Beard shortly after, and have been that way ever since.

With the release of their first album in 1971, the band developed a following in Texas as well as other Southern states, and by 1975, they had achieved popularity by touring all across the United States.  They took a little hiatus in 1977, and returned to the music scene in 1979, with Gibbons and Hill now sporting their signature beards (ironically enough Frank Beard was the only member who chose to go beardless).

Although the band had a lot of success with tours throughout the 1970's, it wasn't until 1983 that the success began to spill over onto Top 40 radio with the 'Eliminator' album.  It was so popular that it is currently ranked at #396 in Rolling Stone magazine's Top 500 albums of all time.



The name 'Eliminator' came from a term used in the world of drag racing, and it also happens to be the name of the above car that Billy Gibbons had a hand in designing (and which appears in the video).  The album had a total of five singles released from it, and 'Legs' just happened to be the fifth and final single that charted.

So let's talk about 'Legs', and why the video itself seems to divide people, despite the fact that it won the award for Best Group Video in the 1984 MTV Video Awards.

If you watched the video, you know what the storyline is.  You see this young woman, who is very much what one would call the 'Plain Jane' type.  She dresses conservatively, she wears glasses, and she doesn't really speak very much.  You get the impression that she wants to come out of her shell, but isn't sure how to do that.  She does have one thing going for her...she has nice legs. 

Hey...someone had to say it.

On a break from her depressing job at a shoe store where she is treated terribly by the other staff members and customers there, she finds herself in a diner where the patrons and staff aren't much better than the ones at the shoe store.

Which kind of makes you wonder what ghetto mini-mall she happened to find herself stuck in.

When she tries to order lunch, she's hit on by men who treat her like she's fresh meat, while the women in the diner immediately pounce on her insecurities and her fear.  Even the staff seems to go out of their way to make her totally uncomfortable.

Well, all except one kind-hearted young man behind the counter.  I guess you could call him her knight in blue plaid.

Unfortunately, our knight in blue plaid is also an easy target for the people in the diner, and they have no problem inflicting as much harassment on him as they do with the customer of the day.

It appears that the girl is feeling overwhelmed by being there, and once she gets her order, she tries to leave as quickly as she can, but in the process ends up leaving behind a slice of cake, and her glasses.  She hurries back to the shoe store, where once again, she is belittled and bullied by the other staffers there, with one even rudely stepping on her hand.

During this time, our knight in blue plaid finds the items she has lost, and hurries over to the shoe store to return them.  Although the woman is very appreciative of this fact and responds with a smile and and thank you, her bosses will have none of it, and throw him out of the store.

At this time, the Eliminator pulls up behind the alleyway of the shoe store, and three women help our knight in blue plaid up on his feet before entering the store through the back.

It is here that our salesgirl meets the three girls and the staffers who made her life a misery have instant karmic retribution served up to them on a silver platter.  For some reason unknown to me, the band itself soon pops up, and hands the saleswoman the key to the Eliminator.

Cue the makeover montage!  The Eliminator girls give our meek and timid salesgirl a whole new look to try and get her to feel more self-confident about herself.  New hair, new clothes, new shoes from the store she works at (now that the sales staff couldn't be nicer to her after being served up a nice dose of Eliminator justice).  It kind of reminds me of a caterpillar crawling inside a cocoon to show off the bad butterfly that it can become.

Before you know it, the salesgirl, all decked out in her hot little ensemble now has a lot more confidence inside her pink pumps, and wastes no time in telling others what she thinks of them.  She had so much confidence that the losers who tried to impress her by being rude to her got burned.  It was beautiful to see.

Oh, and her knight in blue plaid?  He and her reunited, and they hopped in the back of the Eliminator where they both lived happily ever after.

It was almost kind of like a 1980's version of Cinderella, in some weird way.

Now for the divide.

As I said earlier, there are a few people that I know who find this video a bit sexist.  And honestly there may be a couple of arguments for that.  Some of the claims that I've heard from others include that the video objectifies women in a negative way, and treats them like sex objects.  The idea that the three women who help our salesgirl happen to be Playboy models certainly didn't help alleviate those thoughts.



But if one were to take a second glance at the video, they might see something beyond the models.  I think it's a great message myself.  It shows a woman who initially let people walk all over her and treated her like garbage finding her inner strength, and telling herself that she was worth more than that.  When she shed her old image to try on a new set of clothes, it was almost symbolic, for she was shedding her shell that prevented her from being the confident, self-assured woman that she knew she could be.

She also knew that the only people whose opinion mattered were the people who thought highly of her no matter what she looked like, or how she dressed, or how she acted.  Which is probably why knight in blue plaid got the girl at the end of the video.  Who knows?  If this was an actual couple, by now they might be celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary, thinking about that day when fate brought them together at that greasy spoon, and how angels made sure that they found their way to each other.

Only their angels had chest-length beards.