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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Attack of the Angry Birds!


Have you ever seen the Alfred Hitchcock film, “The Birds”?

The film, which was released in 1963, depicted a situation where killer birds swarmed over a seaside town in California.  The birds attacked children, adults...nobody was immune.  I’ll readily admit that the movie made me fear birds for about a month afterwards, and I even talked about the movie for a spell back in October when I wrote about Alfred Hitchcock.  You can read that blog entry if you click HERE, but only if you want to.

At any rate, it’s never quite explained what exactly happened to the birds in the film to make them go absolutely insane with murderous intent, but whatever it was, it must have made them mad enough to leave bite marks and scratches all over Tippi Hedren’s face.

In short, they were some mighty angry birds.

You know, come to think of it, today’s blog entry also focuses on angry birds as well.  Only, in this case, these birds are more fun than frightening.

Of course, I’m talking about the app that made smart phones buzz with anticipation, and is played by millions of people both online and through their 4G networks.


This blog entry is all about “Angry Birds”.

You might have noticed that I have blown up the font a little bit larger than normal.  This is intentional.  For one, the game itself has only been around for two and a half years, so there’s very little information to dig up in regards to the game.  And, for another, I’m sure that most of you out there would rather PLAY Angry Birds instead of reading about it.  So, I’ll make this entry short with the promise that if you read it in full, you can find a link to the online version as a reward.

(Or, you could simply scroll down to the bottom.  Either way, it’s incentive, right?)

So, how did Angry Birds begin?


In 2009, a Finnish mobile video game company, Rovio Mobile, began to brainstorm ideas for a new video game to be downloaded onto mobile phones.  Staff began reviewing various game proposals, and eventually came across a character design sketched by senior game designer Jaakko Iisalo.  The design showed a cluster of angry looking birds that had no visible legs or wings.

It was a simple design, but the development team seemed to like the sketches very much.  At the time though, they weren’t exactly sure what sort of game they were going to do, but they knew that they had to incorporate the bird design at some point.

As the game was developed, programmers and developers were puzzled on what kind of antagonist the birds would have.  They knew that they had to have some enemy, but weren’t sure of what to do.

But then the “swine flu” epidemic of 2009 was plastered all over the news, and soon after, the development team had their answer.


Pigs.

More specifically, pigs in a brilliant shade of green, in various sizes.  The pigs were sketched out, and became the main enemy of the little red birds.

Now things were moving along.  Soon after, the concept of the game was created.  Taking inspiration from physics-based games such as “Crush the Castle”, the team went to work on designing the game levels for the game.

I suppose this is a good enough time as any to describe how the game is played.



You start each level with a small group of birds.  As is the case with every level, these birds are very, very, angry.  Most of the birds are red in colour, but there are variations as well.  Yellow birds, for instance, increases its speed the longer it flies.  Blue birds can split off into three smaller birds.  Black birds will explode on contact with whatever it hits, and white birds can drop explosive eggs onto the ground.

Now, in each level, you have a slingshot that you can use to shoot the birds at whatever angle you wish.  The object of the game is much like the classic storybook “The Three Little Pigs”, only without all that huffing and puffing.  You have to knock down the structures (which can be made of wood, ice blocks, or stones and boulders).  In the process, you want to turn our pigs into bacon, ham, and sausage by making their own buildings cave in on top of them.  If you succeed in killing every pig before you run out of birds, the level is completed, and you move onto the next round.

The game was officially released on December 11, 2009, and almost immediately became a huge success all over the world.  Praised for its addictive nature, comedic gameplay, and a relatively low cost as compared to other popular mobile games, the game quickly became one of the most downloaded mobile app of 2010.

Here’re some more facts for you about the game.  Did you know that between mobile phones and online, the game has been downloaded over one billion times?  That’s a lot of people playing Angry Birds, isn’t it?


Angry Birds has also spawned a multimillion dollar merchandising empire on top of the game downloads.  You can buy Angry Birds T-shirts, pajama pants, board games, and stuffed animals of all your favourite Angry Birds characters.  Believe me, my fifteen year old niece is obsessed with Angry Birds to the point where a quarter of her wardrobe is filled with sweaters with bright red flying birds stitched front and center on them.

The original game became so successful that four spin-off games were created between 2010 and 2012, including “Angry Birds Rio”, and “Angry Birds Space”. 

Believe it or not, there are even plans in the works to create an animated series, or a movie based on the Angry Birds franchise.  Not sure how exactly that will work out, but considering that a movie based on the board game “Battleship” is set to be released on May 18, I suppose anything is possible.

It seems hard to believe that a video game about angry birds would have even a spot in the competitive marketplace...at least it did back in the days before it was created.  But while the birds in the game were angry, the developers of the game couldn’t be.  After all, those angry birds netted them a huge fortune!

Now, as promised, I have included a couple of links to the Angry Birds online game.  If you happen to use the Google Chrome browser (which is the browser that this blogger currently uses about 95% of the time), you can click on this link to play the Angry Birds online game.


I haven’t tested this link on other browsers, so I don’t know if it works.  But, if it doesn’t you can use this one as well.  It’ll take you to the Rio version.


Happy playing!  J

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

May 15, 1940


It seems hard to believe, but we're halfway through the month of May. I tell you, this year is just flying by. Or, maybe I'm just getting older.

Whatever the case, we're going to take a look back on a specific event that took place on May 15th. Before we do that though, let's take a look at some of the other events that also took place on this date.

For celebrity birthdays, we have quite the eclectic list. Born on May 15 are Jasper Johns, Wavy Gravy, Madeleine Albright, Trini Lopez, Lainie Kazan, K.T. Oslin, Brian Eno, Chazz Palminteri, Mike Oldfield, Lee Horsley, Dan Patrick, Emmitt Smith, David Charvet, Ahmet Zappa, David Krumholtz, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, and Alex Breckenridge. And, a very happy birthday to all of you!

And, here's a look back at some of the happenings in history on this date.

1536 – Anne Boleyn stands trial in London on charges of treason, adultery, and incest. She is eventually condemned to death

1567 – Mary, Queen of Scots, marries James Hepburn, her third husband

1648 – Treaty of Westphalia signed

1701 – The War of the Spanish Succession commences

1718 – The world's first machine gun is patented by lawyer James Puckle

1755 – The community of Laredo, Texas is founded

1800 – George III of the United Kingdom survives assassination attempt by James Hadfield

1811 – Paraguay declared independence from Spain

1817 – The Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason opens in Philadelphia, the first privatized mental hospital to open in the United States

1862 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill into law which would lead to the creation of the United States Department of Agriculture

1905 – The city of Las Vegas, Nevada is founded

1919 – The beginning of the Winnipeg General Strike, nearly the entire city population walk off the job

1928 – Mickey Mouse debuts in his first cartoon, “Plane Crazy”

1932 – In an attempted coup d'etat, Inukai Tsuyoshi, the Prime Minister of Japan, is killed

1943 – Joseph Stalin dissolves the Comintern

1958 – Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3...exactly two years later in 1960, Sputnik 4 was launched

1969 – People's Park “Bloody Thursday”; Governor Ronald Reagan fences off park from student protests which sparks a riot

1970 – Two students are killed on the campus of Jackson State University by police during student protests

1974 – Ma'alot Massacre; 31 people are killed, including 22 children

1991 – Edith Cresson becomes the first female Prime Minister in France

2008 – California becomes the second state to legalize same-sex marriage; overturned by Proposition 8 just months later

2010 – Just three days shy of her 17th birthday, Jessica Watson becomes youngest person ever to sail around the world solo and unassisted, without stopping


2011 - Wildfires in Alberta destroy part of the community of Slave Lake

That's quite a lot of history that took place on May 15, isn't it?

So, when are we going back in time this week? Well, I'll tell you.



The date is May 15, 1940. The place is San Bernardino, California. And the legacy of the blog topic for today has admittedly been mixed, depending on who you ask. If you're looking at it through a businessman's point of view, it could be declared one of the most successful franchises of all time. But, if you look at it through the eyes of nutritionists, doctors, and Morgan Spurlock, you might have a rather negative view of the company which has boasted sales of “99 billion served and counting”.



Regardless of what your stance is, we're going to look at the history of the fast food joint known as McDonald's, which opened up its first restaurant on May 15, 1940.

Are you lovin' it so far?

To begin this tale of how this franchise grew into a multi-billion dollar company, we've got to take a look at how this story began. And to do that, we're going to go back in time a smidgen further, to the year 1937.

That year, a man by the name of Patrick McDonald opened up a restaurant known as “The Airdrome” (named for its close proximity to an airport) in Monrovia, California. Would you imagine that hamburgers were only ten cents, and all-you-can-drink orange juice was five cents? Oh, to be able to go back to those prices again!



Patrick McDonald had two sons, Maurice and Richard (or Mac and Dick, as they liked to be called). They were instrumental in relocating the restaurant to San Bernardino, California in 1940, and with the move came a name change.

And with that, the “Airdrome” was rechristened as “McDonald's Famous Barbecue”.

For eight years, the McDonald brothers did quite well with their restaurant, but came to a conclusion that the bulk of their profits came from the hamburgers. So, the brothers made the decision to change up the format in October 1948. The brothers closed up their successful car-hop restaurant format, and simplified the menu. The menu would only include hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries, milkshakes, soda, and apple pie. The car-hops were eliminated to make the restaurant more of a self-serve operation. The name was changed once again, simply to “McDonald's” in December 1948.

Five years later, the McDonald's brothers began to franchise McDonald's, and some of the first locations to get a McDonald's were Phoenix, Arizona, and Downey, California.



TRIVIA: The McDonald's restaurant in Downey, California is the oldest surviving McDonald's location that is still in business today.

Right around this time, the McDonald's brothers created the company's first mascot, a little man known as “Speedee”, which was used to promote the restaurant's quick service. The Speedee logo is still present at some locations, like the Downey, California one, but Speedee was replaced by the red, yellow, and white clown known as Ronald McDonald, in 1963.



TRIVIA: The first actor to play Ronald McDonald was Willard Scott, who looked NOTHING like the image that most of us would associate with Ronald McDonald.

So, the McDonald brothers were doing well with their franchise, and continued to make a lot of money with their small chain of restaurants. But in 1954, their franchise would explode with the introduction of a third business partner.



When businessman Ray Kroc received word that the McDonald brothers had used eight of his own Multimixer milkshake machines in their flagship San Bernardino location, well...their milkshakes brought Mr. Kroc to their yard, and he just had to check and see what all the fuss was about.



He was quite impressed with the McDonald brothers business model, and recognized a gold mine when he saw it. So, he gave them the suggestion to franchise their restaurant all over the country. However, the McDonald brothers weren't sure if they were ready for such a huge responsibility. It was only after Kroc stepped in and offered to do all the heavy workload that they agreed to take him on as a partner. So, on April 15, 1955, Kroc's first McDonald's opened up in Des Plaines, Illinois, and the rest as we say is history.

Today, the restaurant has over 33,000 locations in 119 different countries, serving an average of 68 million customers every day all over the world, and now makes a profit of three billion dollars a year!

And, looking at the rich history of the company, there's a lot of stuff to talk about. So much stuff that I would require a blog entry that has eighteen thousand words. And, one thing I've learned is that nobody wants to read a blog entry THAT long.

So, I thought I'd highlight a few of the more interesting things that have come out of McDonald's 72-year history and talk about them in a bullet point list. Some of these are positive achievements, but there's a few negative points as well. Either way, I hope you enjoy a brief look at McDonald's history since it began on May 15, 1940.

MCDONALD'S TIMELINE (A Brief History)

1958 – McDonald's sells its 100th million hamburger. That same year, Tampa Bay opens up the company's first location in Florida.

1959 – McDonald's opens up its 100th location in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

1960 – Boston, Massachusetts gets its first McDonald's, the first location to open up in New England.

1961 – The McDonald brothers sell Kroc business rights to their organization for $2.7 million. Initially, the brothers agreed to a “handshake agreement” with Kroc, which stated that they would get royalty payments on the gross sales. But because they failed to get the promise in writing, Kroc refused to give them anything. To add salt to the wound, while the McDonald brothers kept their original restaurant, they failed to retain the right to use the name McDonald's. They were eventually put out of business after Kroc opens up a McDonald's a block away. Nice, huh? The same year, Hamburger University opens up, with a first graduating class of 15 students.

1962 – The first McDonald's with inside seating opens up in Denver, Colorado.



1963 – The creation of Ronald McDonald. Soon after, an entire group of McDonaldland characters would arrive including Grimace, Birdie, the Hamburgler, Fry Guys, and Mayor McCheese. The same year also brought forth the creation known as the Filet-O-Fish.



1967 – Canada becomes the second country to franchise McDonald's, the first location opening up in Richmond, British Columbia.

1968 – The first Big Mac is made.

1970 – McDonald's opens up a restaurant in Costa Rica, the third country to begin franchising.

1971 – McDonald's begins its huge growth in the world, opening up its first locations in Australia, Japan, Amsterdam, Germany, and The Netherlands. France and Great Britain would also open up locations in 1972 and 1974 respectively.

1973 – The Quarter Pounder and the Egg McMuffin are introduced to the menu.



1974 – The very first Ronald McDonald house, a charity for critically ill children, is opened up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1975 – The McDonald's Drive-Thru is introduced as a method to serve soldiers at nearby Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, Arizona. Within years, almost all McDonald's locations would utilize it.

1977 – A breakfast menu is added to McDonald's

1978 – The 5000th McDonald's restaurant opens in Japan.



1979 – The first Happy Meal is produced and sold in the United States.

1980 – The launch of Chicken McNuggets proves highly successful in McDonald's locations, prompting a relaunch of a previously failed product, the McChicken.

1984 – 1984 was a rough year for the company. Ray Kroc dies on January 14, a man by the name of James Huberty killed 21 people at a McDonald's in San Diego, California, and the company lost millions in their Summer Olympics “When the US Wins, You Win” campaign...due to the Soviet Union boycotting the event and having the U.S. Team win more gold medals than the company was prepared for!



1987 – A plane crashes into a McDonald's in the Wasserburger Landstrasse, killing fourteen people inside or near the restaurant, as well as on the plane.

1990 – The first McDonald's opens up in the Soviet Union, which was the largest McDonald's to open up at the time.

1992 – McDonald's Coffee Case – Stella Liebeck sues the restaurant after receiving third degree burns from a spilled coffee at the drive-thru window.

1993 – McDonald's sells its 100 billionth hamburger. That same year, the McCafe line is launched in Australia. It would eventually be launched in other countries.

1997 – The first McFlurry is made in a Canadian McDonald's location.

2003 – Launch of the McDonald's “I'm Lovin' It” campaign.



2004 – Morgan Spurlock releases documentary “Super Size Me”, which details Spurlock surviving on nothing but McDonald's, which wreaks havoc on his health. That same year, McDonald's eliminates its supersize options from the menu.

2006 – Donald Gorske enters the Guinness Book of World Records for eating the most Big Macs in an entire lifetime, with over 25,000 consumed.

And, that's only scratching the surface! There's lots more information to be found about McDonald's online and in books. You just have to know where to look.

And, so ends our look back on May 15, 1940. Did you love it?


Monday, May 14, 2012

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad


In this world are hundreds of objects which are fantastic by themselves.  Yet, by combining some of these objects together, the whole ends up being more extraordinary than its parts.

There are lots of examples of this out there.  Peanut butter and chocolate mixed together creates the work of art known as the peanut butter cup.  Vanilla ice cream is a tasty enough treat made all the better by hot fudge.  And for some people, a simple glass of orange juice gets a kick by adding a tiny splash of vodka.

(Of course, one person’s tiny splash might equate to half a bottle, but that’s their choice.)

Today’s blog subject is a movie that is one of my favourites.  The reason why is because it takes two subjects that I absolutely love, and combined them together into an unexpected and hilarious box office smash.

I have always loved stories, books, movies, and songs that have an aura of mystery and action.  From murder mysteries to crime dramas to secret missions, all of these grab my attention.  In fact, when I was a teenager, I once contemplated studying law or becoming a private investigator. 

And then I saw my first autopsy on CSI and it sickened me off the profession for good.  Even though I know that they don’t really DO autopsies on CSI, it still makes me wince.

Regardless, I always loved a good mystery, especially if the case is especially tough to solve, and if it has a lot of dramatic car chases or action sequences.

On a completely unrelated note, I’m also a huge fan of parody.  I liked watching Saturday Night Live or MAD-TV, I’m notorious for changing around song lyrics around the holidays in something I like to refer to as “The Bastardization of Christmas Past”, and I love watching people doing improv.

I love parody so much that I even did a blog entry on the subject, which you can read HERE, if you wish.

So, given what I have said about combinations being blended together, you can imagine where I’m going with this, right?

Today we’re going to look back at a movie that successfully combined an action-filled detective story with the fine art of parody.  It’s a movie that was released on December 2, 1988, and spawned a couple of sequels in 1991 and 1994.  The movie was made on a twelve million dollar budget and ended up making over six times that at the box office.  And with the movie boasting such star power as Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, Ricardo Montalban, George Kennedy, and O.J. Simpson (well, before his infamous murder trial in the mid-1990s anyway), it was destined for success.



I’m sure by now, you’ve guessed what the movie is, but let’s watch the intro anyway.


Yes, we’re going to take a look back at the 1988 film, “Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad”.

But do you know where the name came from...the Police Squad portion of it, at least?


Well, the story behind that came six years prior, in 1982.  That spring, ABC debuted a new television program called “Police Squad”.  It was created by the team of Jerry and David Zucker, and Jim Abrahams (who also worked on the successful 1980 motion picture “Airplane!”), and like the movie, Leslie Nielsen was one of the stars.  The show itself was a spoof of police dramas, and incorporated dozens of sight gags, slapstick comedy, and wordplay.  The show was critically acclaimed, but for whatever reason, ABC pulled the plug on the series after only a half dozen episodes had aired.  Despite this, the show gained a cult following, and it was this following that garnered interest in the Naked Gun movie.


Neilsen reprised the role he played on the Police Drama series, Lt. Frank Drebin, a detective who unbeknownst to him causes a whole lot of mayhem and unfortunate circumstances for innocent bystanders during his investigations.  Despite this, he always managed to put the right person behind bars.

And certainly, as the film begins, we see Frank Drebin in action right away, successfully dismantling an anti-American summit held by such figures as Fidel Castro, Mikhail Gorbachev, Ayatollah Khomeini, and Idi Amin, amongst others.  I could describe what happens, but I think a video is worth a thousand words in this case.


Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Officer Nordberg (Simpson) is at a harbour, investigating a heroin operation on a nearby barge.  The head of the organization is the dangerous Vincent Ludwig (Montalban), and once Ludwig’s cronies get wind of Nordberg’s presence, they shoot him over and over, with Nordberg eventually falling overboard.


Miraculously, Nordberg survives the multiple bullet wounds, and ends up in hospital.  But, Nordberg’s situation goes from bad to worse, as the police suspect that Nordberg was secretly involved in Ludwig’s drug trafficking scheme.  Drebin agrees to try and clear Nordberg’s name, but his commanding officer Captain Ed Hocken (Kennedy) gives Drebin twenty-four hours to accomplish this task.  Drebin is assisted by a police force scientist named Ted Olsen (Ed Williams), and Olsen gives Drebin a weapon in the form of a cufflink.  If pressed correctly, the cufflink could shoot a miniature tranquilizer dart that would temporarily knock an assailant out cold for a few hours.  Remember this for later...it makes an appearance within the last 20 minutes of the movie...though you’ll have to see it for yourself, as I never reveal movie endings.

But, Drebin soon realizes that the road to proving Nordberg’s innocence (which actually seems quite ironic given what would eventually happen to the person who played Nordberg) is not going to be easy.  You see, Ludwig had his own secret weapon.  And that secret weapon was named Pahpsmeir (Raye Birk).  Pahpsmeir happened to be a little bit of an inventor himself, and he has invented a beeper which could also be used as a mind-control device.  One click of the beeper, and the unsuspecting victim could be told to do ANYTHING with post-hypnotic suggestions.  Ludwig also learns that Pahpsmeir invented the device as an aid in Ludwig’s plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II by making someone else do the deed under hypnosis.

TRIVIA:  This part of the plot was based from the 1977 film, “Telefon”.

An attempt is made on Drebin’s life shortly after Drebin meets with Ludwig, accidentally revealing that Nordberg survived the shooting.  He manages to take control of a doctor at the hospital where Nordberg is recovering, and attempts to kill Nordberg at the hospital.  Luckily (or unluckily depending on your perspective), Drebin foils the plan, and ends up in a “dramatic” car chase.


However, Drebin ended up with another problem.  He ended up falling head over heels in love with Ludwig’s assistant, Jane Spencer (Presley).  Jane is unaware of Ludwig’s criminal past, and once she discovers the truth, she firmly aligns with Drebin, and shares everything with him...in more ways than one.



Well, at least you can say that they were responsible...much more so than some people that I’ve known in my lifetime at least.  J

So, here’s our situation.  Ludwig is the head of a drug trafficking operation.  He has joined forces with Pahpsmeir, a man who has invented a device that can turn people into trained assassins with the press of a button.  Pahpsmeir’s goal is to assassinate the Queen of England, but Ludwig seems to want to use it to get rid of Nordberg.  Meanwhile, Drebin is trying to prove that Nordberg was framed by Ludwig and his henchmen, but is finding that danger lurks everywhere.  To complicate matters, he has fallen in love with Jane.



It all comes to a head when some of Frank’s poor choices lead him to nothing but trouble.  It’s bad enough that he accidentally sets Ludwig’s office ablaze.  But when he believes that Ludwig is going to kill Queen Elizabeth II at a reception, Frank causes an international scandal, which ultimately leads to him being removed from Police Squad.

So when Jane comes to Frank with the information that the assassination attempt on the Queen is set to happen at a California Angels baseball game, and that the assassin is rumoured to be one of the players in the game, Drebin is left with a tough choice.  Does he sit back and do nothing and let the Queen take a bullet?  Or does he risk getting arrested, and go to the game to protect the Queen and foil Ludwig’s plans once and for all?

And with that, I’m going to close the case file on this film, which I believe to be a perfect balance of two genres that I enjoy.  Combining the thrill of action and the suspense of mystery to the farcical nature of parody was a tough feat for any director.  Luckily, David and Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams did a fantastic job with it.

Sadly, Leslie Nielsen passed away in November 2010, so with his passing, the Naked Gun series officially comes to an end.  But, I’ve only tackled the first film.  Maybe next year, I’ll revisit the series and talk about the sequel...

...hmmm...actually, it was called 2 ½, wasn’t it?  What would it be called then?  A halfquel?  A sequel-half?  A Sequalf?

Quite the conundrum, isn’t it?  Much like this one final scene...

Sunday, May 13, 2012

A Song For Mama


Hello, everyone!

Today is the second Sunday in May, and if you happen to live in North America, you already know what day it is today.



It's Mother's Day!

Today is a day in which we are to celebrate mothers all over the world. It's a day to do something very special for our mothers, so I have decided that I will dedicate this blog entry to my own mother. Regardless of whether she sees this or not, I'm sure that either way, she would be happy to know that I did that.



And certainly, Mother's Day is a day in which millions of phone calls are made, millions of flowers are sent, and dozens of kitchen appliances are sold in retail establishments all across the country.

But, do any of you know how Mother's Day came to be?

It all began in the year 1870. A woman by the name of Julia Ward Howe issued the “Mother's Day Proclamation”, which was a pacifist reaction to the carnage of the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. Below this paragraph, you can read the proclamation in full.

Arise, then, women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts, Whether our baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly: "We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies, Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."
From the bosom of the devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice." Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war, Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means Whereby the great human family can live in peace, Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar, But of God.
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask That a general congress of women without limit of nationality May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient And at the earliest period consistent with its objects, To promote the alliance of the different nationalities, The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

The proclamation was linked to the beliefs that Howe had. She strongly believed that women had a responsibility to shape society at a political level.

It wouldn't be until years later that the first modern day celebration of Mother's Day was first celebrated. On May 12, 1907, Anna Jarvis held a small memorial for her mother, who had died two years previously. Anna's mother, Ann, had founded an organization called “Mothers' Day Work Clubs” in five cities to improve sanitary conditions at workplaces, and provided necessities to both Union and Confederate soldiers, maintaining its neutral stance.



Shortly after her memorial, Jarvis lobbied to make “Mother's Day” a recognized holiday in the United States, and in 1914, her wish was granted, as Mother's Day was officially recognized on May 10 of that year.

However, it's interesting to note that by the 1920s, Jarvis had already grown tired of the very holiday she helped create!

Well, the commercialism aspect of it.

Reportedly, she and her sister spent their entire fortune campaigning against what the holiday had become. In fact, Jarvis issued this statement regarding the popular activity of giving out greeting cards on the holiday.

“A printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write the woman who has done more for you than anything in this world. And candy! You take a box to Mother – and then eat most of it yourself. A pretty sentiment.”

Her bitterness certainly made evident.

But you know, she did have a point.



Mother's Day, much like any other holiday these days, is way too commercialized. It's almost as if you have to buy your mother a new loveseat, a 42-inch television, a Tassimo coffee maker, and a florist's entire selection of daffodils and chrysanthemums in order to make this the best Mother's Day ever.

And it really shouldn't have to be that way.

You don't have to select the most expensive cards or gifts to show your mother just how much you love her. You just have to be creative. You can make her breakfast in bed. You can take her out for a picnic if it's warm enough. Even just spending the entire day with her would be a perfect present.

Material things don't mean anything these days. It's the thoughts behind them that count, as well as the precious time that you spend together. For those of you reading this who have had to say goodbye to their mothers, I'm sure that you would give almost anything just to have more time together.

Wow, I've spent so much time talking about Mother's Day that I completely forgot that I have to post a Sunday Jukebox song today.

But, which song to pick?

There's not really a whole lot of selection when it comes to finding songs about Mother's Day. Very few songs even have the word mother in the title.

There's Tracy Bonham's “Mother Mother” from 1996, but that song's a little bit too loud, and the tone isn't exactly appropriate for the theme of the day.

Then there was the lesser-known Spice Girls hit “Mama” from 1997...but I already did a blog entry on the Spice Girls a while ago (though the song itself is not bad).

As it so happens, the song that I eventually settled on was also released in 1997. It's a song that marks the final Top 10 smash a particular R&B group had on the charts. And, I can't think of a better song to showcase on the blog for Mother's Day.



ARTIST: Boyz II Men
SONG: A Song For Mama
ALBUM: Evolution
DATE RELEASED: November 11, 1997
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #7



Boyz II Men was made up of Michael McCary, Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, and Shawn Stockman. McCary left the band in 2003 due to health problems, but the band continues touring as a trio. The above song was also featured in the 1997 film, “Soul Food”, which starred Vanessa L. Williams, Nia Long, Vivica A. Fox, and Mekhi Pfifer. The film is basically about an extended African-American family that is held together by long standing family traditions. But when the matriarch of the family suffers health problems, the family is at risk of falling apart.

I have actually never seen the movie myself, so I can't say for sure what it is really about...but judging by descriptions and plot summaries that I've read, it does illustrate the importance of the mother of a family. In most families, the mother really is the glue that holds the family together. She deserves to feel special on Mother's Day, and every other day of the year.

I know that I feel that way about my own mother. Sure, we may have our fights and quarrels, and sure she may drive me absolutely crazy. But she loves me...and I love her too.



Happy Mother's Day to my mother and all mothers everywhere!

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Just Like Mom


I’m going to begin today’s blog entry by asking all of you a couple of questions.  Don’t worry, they won’t take too long to answer, and you will not be graded on your answers.

Here’s the first question.  How many of you remember being in the kitchen with your mother helping her make something edible?  Did you help her prepare breakfast?  Did you help stir the soup while your mother prepared the pork chops?  Did you help frost freshly-baked cupcakes with your mother and end up eating half of the frosting yourself?

In my case, I remember “helping” my mom out a lot when it came to her making various baked goods.  To this day, my mother remains one of the best bakers I have ever known (and even though she’s in her mid-60s now, I still encourage her to open up a bakery, as she’d have a little gold mine on her hands).  She can make chocolate chip cookies, brownies, apple pies, chocolate cakes, banana bread...all from scratch!  She is absolutely amazing.


Of course, when I say that I “helped” her, I ended up doing tasks that didn’t really seem like helping.  Usually my contribution was licking out the bowl used to mix the cake or brownie batter.  But you know, it was a fun experience, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

And this leads to my next question.  Would you believe that there was a children’s game show that aired in Canada in which one of the challenges of the show was to bake something? 

Have a look for yourself.


That was a clip from the Canadian television series “Just Like Mom”, which aired on CTV from 1980-1985.  A total of 595 episodes were taped, and reruns aired as recently as 2010 on Canadian cable channels.  The show was created by Catherine Swing, a former Miss Canada winner, and actress who co-hosted the show the entire run.  I have absolutely no idea if the show aired in the United States or not, but in case it didn’t, consider this your introduction to the program.


I’ll get to the reason behind the bake-off in a few minutes, but for now, I thought that I would describe the format of the show, while watching some clips from an episode at the same time.

But before I go on, I would like to state something.  With the exception of one clip posted, I purposely chose clips that featured the first host, Steven Young.  Although Steven Young only hosted the program from 1980-1981, I am NOT a fan of the second host, Fergie Olver.  At the time, Olver and Swing were married to each other, but they have since got divorced.  And the reason why I decided not to post any clips of him in action is because I found him to be a bit on the...creepy side.  Since I want this blog to be mostly positive in nature, that’s all I’m at liberty to say, but I’m sure that if you type in the words “Fergie Olver” on YouTube, you’ll see what I mean. 


Then again, it was the early 1980s.  Who knows what was acceptable then?  I’ll let you make your own judgment.

At any rate, the host was the only change in 1981.  The game format stayed the same the show’s entire run.


The game was played almost like the “Newlywed Game”, only instead of a bride and groom you had a boy or girl who went on the show with their mother.  The moms were sent into seclusion while the children were asked a series of questions by the host.  In earlier seasons, the kids could select a question from one of five choices, but in later seasons, a question was assigned to each of the three teams.


When the moms returned back to the soundstage, the host asked them the very same questions that were asked to their children.  If the mother’s answer matched their child’s, they would win points for their team.  Two question rounds were played in each episode, and depending on the round, questions would range in value from ten to twenty-five points.

In between the two question rounds was the part of the show that this particular blogger liked watching the most.  And, you’ve seen a clip of it in action above.

The bake-off.


The bake-off was hosted by Catherine Swing, and took place inside a kitchen set.  The three children, decked out in aprons and chef hats, were given a recipe from a cookbook.  The recipe was read aloud by Swing, and for reference, a copy of the recipe was kept on hand for each of the children.  The recipes were more often than not baked goods, which included bread, cookies, and pastries. 

Here was the catch.  The children only had a minute (some episodes had a 90-second time limit) to prepare the recipe.  I don’t even know a whole lot of moms who would only take sixty seconds for preparation time.  My mom needed at least fifteen minutes alone.  So, you can just imagine how hectic the bake-off was.

Oh, and there was also one more thing.  Producers made sure that all of the ingredients and cooking utensils were present so the child could follow the recipe exactly.  But, they also included some bonus ingredients that did not belong in the recipe, such as orange soda, pickles, spaghetti sauce, and marshmallows.  And contestants were told that they could use whatever was in front of them.

So, as you might expect, some of the concoctions that were created were kind of...well...unique.  Here’s an example below of what I mean, and fair warning...you’ll need to crank the volume to full blast to hear it.


It’s true what they say...Gatorade goes with anything.


Once the mixture was done, they were placed in the oven to cook while the second question round went on.  After the completion of the second round, the “delicious” treats that the children baked were offered to the mothers, who looked at them with a mixture of pride and terror.  Each mother got a sample of each dish, numbered from 1-3.  Each mother had thirty seconds to sample each dish, and make their choice as to which dish they believed was made by their own child.  I tell you, some of the reactions of the mothers were priceless, and I get the feeling that some were upset that they were only given one glass of water to wash everything down!

The mothers had to hold up a numbered paddle to announce which dish they thought their child had made.  If the mother guessed correctly, the team was awarded fifty points.

At the end of the game, the team that had the highest total would be brought to the bonus round.  In that round, the child would be asked by the host to spin a gigantic prize wheel.  The wheel had sixteen spaces on it, with each space corresponding to a prize.  In most cases, the prizes were related to the sponsors of the show, so you’d have prizes from Robin Hood flour, Chuck E. Cheese pizzeria, or Playmobil Toys.  But there were four spaces that had Walt Disney characters on it, and if the child was lucky enough to land on one of these spaces, they would win a family vacation to Walt Disney World.  Later seasons would give all contestants a trip to Camp Onondoga regardless of whether the team won the game or not.

And, that’s your look at one of the quirkiest, funniest (and some might say creepiest) game shows that ever came out of the Great White North.  I hope you all enjoyed it. 

If anything, watching the clips of that old show takes me back to those days when I was a child, licking the sides of the mixing bowl while my mom baked brownies and chocolate layer cakes.  Those were the carefree days that I think I miss the most.

Actually, you know what, even though I’m almost 31, I bet my mom would STILL let me lick the mixing bowl! J