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Sunday, September 21, 2014

Unpretty

Once again, it's time for a SUNDAY JUKEBOX entry, and this time around, I'm going to be doing another one of those "can Matthew write a blog entry in just two hours" kind of entries.

You see...I'm writing this just a couple of hours before I get ready for a secret party that will be held in honour of a milestone that is being celebrated for a family member, and since I will be working the very next day, I only have a limited time to get all my points across.

(Mind you, by the time you read this, I will already be at work, and the party will already have come and gone.  But don't worry.  If you're interested, I'll fill you in on all the details in a future blog post.)

Anyway, today in the Sunday Jukebox entry (and every entry that I've done for 2014), we'll be taking a look at a #1 song that topped the charts.  And this week, we'll be going back in time fifteen years to September 1999.

Now that was one month that symbolized a lot for me.  It was the beginning of my final year of high school, and I was so excited to get the year over and done with.  What that meant for me was getting out of that building, and getting far away from various people who I did not care for.  It also meant that I was really entering adulthood, and I sort of had this naive way of looking at the world back then.  I knew that kids could be cruel, but I had this mentality that as we grew older, we became less cruel and instead became more tolerant towards others.

How misguided was I?

I mean, don't get me wrong.  There's been lots of instances in which I've seen people grow better with age.  Simultaneously, there's also been instances in which people become complete jerks.  Now, whether that has to do with nature vs. nurture, I have no clue.

But perhaps one of the things that drives me crazy about people is the fact that some people are so judgmental of others that they feel that they have to act a certain way or look a certain way to be considered "beautiful" or "handsome".  I mean, you see it all the time in magazines and commercials, especially with the female gender.  Women being airbrushed to the point where they become unrecognizable.  Women who fall victim to "photoshop liposuction".  Women who have their teeth whitened so much that their smiles appear to look like they glow in the dark.  And we won't even get started on the things that ad execs do to women and their breasts.  I often wonder if any of the women featured in those ads have anything natural about them with the way that they're edited for the covers of Vogue, Cosmopolitan, or even Maxim.

And here's the whole thing about these ads.  They're purposely manipulated to present the image of what society considers to be the "perfect" woman.  The only catch is that there is no such thing.  Unfortunately some people look at these manipulated images and they feel that in order to be taken seriously, or to get noticed, or to get respect, they have to do whatever is possible to be able to look like that person.

Or worse, you end up changing your outside to impress someone who claims to love you only for them to not be satisfied with the changes and they demand that you try something else for you to be more physically attractive to them. 

I mean, yes, you can buy hair if yours won't grow.  You can even fix your nose if someone says so.  You can even buy all the make-up that has ever been made.  But if you can't look inside yourself and find the real beauty that can be found inside of yourself, then you won't feel beautiful - and in some cases, if you don't feel beautiful yourself, it's difficult to make anyone else feel the same way.

Hmmm...that kind of reminds me of something.  Oh yeah.  This song.



ARTIST:  TLC
SONG:  Unpretty
ALBUM:  FanMail
DATE RELEASED:  August 10, 1999
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  #1 for 3 weeks



As far as I can remember, this was one of the last TLC songs that I can remember being such a big hit.  In fact, it was the last #1 hit that TLC ever had.  It wasn't long after this song was released that the "L" in TLC (Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes) was killed in a car accident in April 2002 at just 30 years of age.  The other two members of the group (Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins) and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas) have continued singing and touring under the TLC name.

And certainly before Lisa Lopes' tragic death, TLC was certainly one of the biggest selling female R&B groups of their era.  Releasing their debut album in 1992, the group has gone on to sell millions of records, and have released dozens of singles.  In fact, their 1994 album "CrazySexyCool" had no less than four singles that hit the Top 5, and had sold in excess of up to 23 million copies!



But if you were to ask me what my favourite TLC song is of all time...well, I'd put "Unpretty" in my top five list.  It is such a great song with a fabulous message - albeit presented in a video which contains some rather disturbing scenes.

But in the context of the video, the scenes are necessary to present the message that the song is trying to present.

In the video (which reportedly cost over one million dollars to film), there are several different scenarios that feature a woman in a situation where she feels "unpretty".  But there are two that seem to stand out in this video.

In one, you have Chilli and her boyfriend who appear to be visiting a cosmetic surgery website.  Chilli's boyfriend thinks that bigger is better and he really wants Chilli to have a breast enlargement so that he can see her as being even more beautiful.  Now, Chilli isn't exactly all that keen on doing the surgery, but she is basically convinced that doing the surgery is the only way that her boyfriend will stick around, so she goes ahead to book the appointment - reluctantly.

In the other situation, you have a girl, no more than sixteen or seventeen who happens to have curves and a booty - which is absolutely fantastic.  The problem is that this girl doesn't seem to think that's enough.  She sees all of the waif and thin models on the cover of magazines, and she wants to get thin like them at all costs - even if it means developing an eating disorder to do so.

But here's the thing.  It's not their bodies that are unpretty...it's the attitudes that society and loved ones have towards them that make them feel that way in the first place that I really find unpretty.  There was absolutely nothing wrong with either Chilli or the girl in the video.  They were and are beautiful.  But because the media and their lovers told them that they were beautiful, but they'd be so much more beautiful if they did this and that...well, that's just crazy talk.  It's also a sad commentary on self-esteem, isn't it?

At least you can say that things have gotten a lot better in terms of self-acceptance.  The last ten years or so have been a great decade for female acceptance, as artists such as Katy Perry, Meghan Trainor, and Lady Gaga have released songs about loving yourself and all your two thousand parts.  I believe even Dove has launched a worldwide self-esteem program for women to develop more confidence about their bodies and themselves which is also awesome to see.

And in the case of this TLC video, the video has a happy ending.  The teenage girl shreds all the photos of the skinny girls she has worshipped and puts on her bathing suit with pride.  And after Chilli witnesses another patient get their breast implants out in a painful manner, she runs out of the hospital, takes a deep breath, and proceeds to judo chop her presumed to be ex-lover for even suggesting such a thing.

I call that a real "pretty" ending. 

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Sgt. Bilko

Lately I seem to be typing out a lot of abbreviated blog entries.  For some reason, my September has been incredibly busy.  So, when it comes to today's SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES POST, I'm going to be a bit on the brief side.  This movie post is mostly going to be presented in the form of trivia about this movie.  I suppose it best fits with the whole idea of my not revealing any movie endings in this and any movie post that I do. 

I will be the first one to admit that while today's feature presentation did have a lot of star power, it tanked at the box office.  The movie didn't even make enough money to break even.



And as it so happens, this movie discussion will be the ninth of a ten part series.  As you well know, I bought a collection of family favourites at my workplace some time ago, and have been watching one of these movies a week and writing a blog about them.  Some of the movies were hits (at least in my opinion).  Some of the movies were misses (at least in my opinion), but I would hope that at least it inspired some memories (both good and bad) and discussion about these movies.



Anyway, for today's edition of the blog, we're going to be taking a look back at a movie that was inspired by a television show from the 1950s.  It was a show known as "The Phil Silvers Show", which featured comedy actor Phil Silvers in the role of a Master Sergeant at a fictional U.S. Army post in the middle of Kansas where he was in charge of several soldiers.  However, the plot of the show was centered around this man's questionable work ethic.  Often he would use his time coming up with get rich schemes, or passing the buck to other people.

Basically, he spent more time trying to get out of work than actually doing work.

Now, as a television show, this formula worked well.  It lasted four seasons on CBS between 1955 and 1959.  But when this concept was remade as a feature film in 1996, it didn't do so well.

I mean, it wasn't as though Steve Martin didn't try his best to make the movie a success.  I think he did what he could.  But unfortunately, his take as Sgt. Bilko simply didn't resonate with the audience.



And that's the whole summary of the film Sgt. Bilko, released in March 1996.  It was a movie that had a great cast, but a really terrible script, and while Martin, Dan Aykroyd, and the late Phil Hartman did their best to save the film from getting panned, the end result was mixed to negative reviews with only a 32% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Ah, well...it still did better than Ed.

Anyway, as I'm on a time crunch, so this post will mostly be all about the behind the scenes trivia for this movie and not so much about the plot - however, I suppose that if you were old enough to watch back in the 1950s, it would read like an extended length episode.

So, instead of focusing on the plot of this film, let's have a look at some of the people who worked on the film, some of the on-set secrets, and other tidbits of fun from this movie.

And yes...I really did say tidbits of fun!

01 - Brian Grazer was a producer on this film...and I suppose that every great producer has to have one film flop in order for them to learn from their mistakes and go on to produce greatness in the future.  After all, he did win an Academy Award for his work on "A Beautiful Mind" six years after working on this film.

02 - Another key player in this movie is music producer Alan Silvestri.  He also worked on "Back to the Future" and "Forrest Gump".

03 - This was one of comedian Chris Rock's first roles in the world of film - though he had already established himself as a stand-up comic long before Sgt. Bilko was released.

04 - Country singer Travis Tritt starred as himself in this movie.

05 - Michael Keaton and Albert Brooks turned down the role of Sgt. Bilko.

06 - On the flipside, Robin Williams and Billy Crystal actually lobbied for the part before it was ultimately given to Steve Martin.

07 - Phil Silvers' daughter Cathy has a role as Lt. Monday in this film.

08 - Look closely at Bilko's stripes on his uniform in the movie.  Each gold stripe is a service stripe, and each stripe represents three years of service.  Since he has nine stripes on each arm, he has been in the service for 27 years.

09 - The film's budget was $39 million.  It only made $37 million at the box office.


10 - Just two years after making this movie, actress Debra Jo Rupp was cast as Kitty Foreman on "That 70s Show".

And, yeah.  That's really all I have to say.  I promise that next week's entry will be a little more in depth as I will have less of a time crunch to worry about.  In the meantime, I can promise you that next week marks the conclusion of the 10-part series...and I saved one of my favourites for last.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Chocoholics Anonymous

Hey, everyone!  Welcome to another edition of FOODIE FRIDAY - which could end up sounding more like a diary entry than a food entry, but considering that I would say that 65% of this entry has to do with food, I'd classify that to be enough to make it a Foodie Friday post.

Even though I openly admit to this blog being about a particular vice of mine.  A vice that try as I might, I can't seem to break free from. 

I guess I should explain.

I have always been a fan of sweets.  A lot of people I know don't really have any sort of sweet tooth, but I certainly do.  I wouldn't be surprised if the first tooth that ever grew in my mouth was a sweet tooth. 



I just always seem to remember as a kid always having a fondness for sweets.  One of my earliest memories involves the chocolate candies called M&M's.  At the time I tried my first milk chocolate M&M candy (back in those days, they were known as plain M&M's), I remember wanting more.  I ended up eating half a bag of the colourful candies.  And this was during a time in which the colour selection for M&M's was rather bland.  Back in '85 or whatever year this event took place, the only colours you could find were orange, green, yellow, brown, and the defunct tan.

(Yes, Virginia...there was once a world without blue and red M&M's.)

Of course, that was the only the first memory that I HAVE of eating chocolate.  Reportedly my parents have said that my first taste of chocolate was when I was a year old.



I don't know how many of you remember the chocolate bar called Jersey Milk, but that was apparently my first candy bar that I ever ate.  It's kind of similar to a Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bar, but made by Neilson.  On occasion, I still like eating Jersey Milk candy bars - you know - strictly for the nostalgia purposes.

I also had other favourites when it came down to all things chocolate.  I remember loving the combination of peppermint and chocolate early on in my childhood, and I think I ate my fair share of Junior Mints, York Peppermint Patties, and Aero Peppermint bars.  As I grew older, I also discovered the joy of combining peanut butter and chocolate together when I tried my first Reese Peanut Butter cup.  And I also remember being a fan of nougat, and during my entire elementary school career, I was rarely seen without a Mars bar in my pocket.



I also remember coming up with all sorts of wild and crazy theories over how the Cadbury people got the caramel inside of those Caramilk bars that have been a part of my childhood since forever.  My theory as a child involved freezing the caramel in bar format and then pouring the hot, melted chocolate over the caramel which melted the caramel inside each square.  Somehow, I don't think that was correct, but it was nice to speculate.

CONFESSION:  At 33, I STILL don't know how they do it.

Anyway, my love for chocolate didn't just stop at chocolate bars.  For many years, my favourite ice cream flavour was chocolate.  I used to drink chocolate milk all the time as a little kid (until I had to sell it as part of my job years later and developed a dislike for it), and when it came to cereals, I always went for the ones that had a lot of chocolate in it.

You know, Count Chocula, Cocoa Pebbles, Nesquik...cereals like that.  It might not have been the greatest or most nutritious breakfast, but it kept me nice and hyper to sit through six hours of cartoons on Saturday mornings.

(The flipside was that chocolate cereal made me hyper and extremely talkative in class which often got me into trouble at school.)

But, the reason why I wanted to talk about this is to offer up a major confession.  My vice, if you will.

My name is Matthew, and I am a chocoholic.

It's true.  I can't go without chocolate.  Lord knows I've tried to give it up.  I tried going cold turkey, and I ended up lasting less than twelve hours before I was popping Riesen candy chews into my mouth.  I literally can't go one whole day without even sampling at least one tiny bit of chocolate, be it a chocolate chip cookie, or a chocolate covered granola bar, or even a whole container of mini Rolos.


I suppose that there are worse things that I could be addicted to.  I could be addicted to cigarettes (yucky), alcohol (I more or less am a practicing teetotaler), or drugs (never touched them, never will touch them).

But if any of you out there have a way for me to cut back on sweets, I'm all ears.  :)

Thursday, September 18, 2014

I Want My Sesame TV!

Hey, guys!  I'm going to make this entry on a little bit of the short side today because there's a lot of stuff going on right now, and I'm trying my best to simplify things as much as possible.

That said, even though this is going to be an abbreviated blog entry, I guarantee you that this is one that you are all going to enjoy. 

First things first, I have a question to ask of you.  How many of you remember the days in which MTV used to play music videos?

Well, chances are that if you were born before 1990, you probably remember that period quite well.  And certainly when MTV was in its infancy, the station played all music videos, all the time.  It basically reinvented the way that we listened to music by featuring innovative and creative four to seven minute video clips to promote singles and albums. 

But as MTV began to age, the very thing that turned it into a cable television staple began to be phased out, only to be replaced with really cheaply made reality programs, shows about teen wolves, and reruns of Degrassi.  It's funny.  Most people seem to find themselves and mature by the time they turn thirty, but MTV actually seems to be regressing as it ages.  It's kind of a sad thing to see - a once awesome channel turning into complete garbage.  I mean, I suppose it kind of redeemed itself a bit by re-airing episodes of "California Dreams" and "Saved by the Bell", but now that they've stopped doing that, it's sort of boring.

Now, here's another question for you. 

Do you remember when Sesame Street used to air music videos?

I know, it seems like a silly question here, but go on.  Just think about it for a second.  Remember years and years ago back when Sesame Street was in its infancy?  It used to have really creative video clips in between shots of Sesame Street that taught us the letters of the alphabet, shapes, colours, and how to count to twelve (or twenty if you grew up watching Sesame Street in the eighties like I did).  And sometimes, you'd see some of your favourite Sesame Street characters and their friends put on MTV worthy music videos during the one hour long show.  I think you'd see at least one per episode.

Of course, seeing these Sesame Street music videos makes me incredibly sad now.  Although I am way too old to watch Sesame Street right now, I've caught glimpses of it as I was channel surfing, and I have to wonder what year it was that it basically turned into the Elmo show.  Don't get me wrong...Elmo's definitely got a huge presence on Sesame Street, and I certainly do understand why little kids love him.  But I also don't think that Elmo should take over half of the show to introduce us to Elmo's World either.  Thankfully, I don't think that Sesame Street has deteriorated in quality the same way that MTV has done, so at least it has that going for it.



But still, just like most people wanted their MTV, I find myself wanting to go back to the days in which I wanted my Sesame TV.

So, I thought that I'd do something similar to Total Request Live - only with Sesame Street music videos.  And, because I'm on a time crunch, I thought that I would only do a Top 5. 

I think this'll be a fun topic for
TUBE TALK THURSDAY.  So, what are my five favourite Sesame Street music videos?  Have a look!



5.  BUS STOP SONG

I always used to love it when celebrities would drop by Sesame Street.  Of course, back when I first watched this video as a kid, I had absolutely no idea who the "Four Tops" even were.

For those of you who aren't sure who they are, they're responsible for such hits as "Reach Out I'll Be There", "Can't Help Myself", and "It's The Same Old Song".  They were really big during the Motown era of the 1960s. 

Anyway, they appeared on an episode of Sesame Street to talk about how much fun it was to wait for the bus, and they showed us how to read a bus stop sign.  It actually made me want to go on a bus when I was little.

Of course, riding a bus as an adult isn't nearly as much fun as Sesame Street made out to be.  Still, I liked it.



4.  HONK AROUND THE CLOCK

Okay, maybe it was the disco ball.  Maybe it was the clock with the light up numbers.  Maybe it was the dozens of Muppets that honked their horns by squeezing their noses.  I'm not sure what it was about this video that made me enjoy it so much, but I have to say that its simplicity was key.

Oh, and it also had the added bonus of teaching kids how to count to twelve - a handy skill to have when going into kindergarten.



3.  1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Counting to five was never any cooler in this country infused Sesame Street video.  It literally looked like you were watching a Muppet infused version of Hee Haw or something similar. 

Even the singer was based on a popular country singer.  Of course, to avoid copyright infringement, the singer went by the name of "Polly Darton".  Though, I suspect that Dolly Parton probably loved the fact that Sesame Street turned her into a character. 

And certainly Polly Darton helped millions of kids learn how to count to five. 

Oh...I suppose that it goes without saying that Polly's song was based off of Dolly's #1 single "9 to 5".  She's hardly the first famous person that Sesame Street spoofed.  They combined Madonna and Cyndi Lauper into a new character who sang about how much of a cereal girl she is.  And of course, there was also a character who called herself Meryl Sheep.



2.  HEALTHY FOOD

Okay, I'm not exactly sure why Cookie Monster is trying to be like Flavor Flav in this video, but you have to give Cookie credit for bringing rap music to Sesame Street.  This is also the turning point in which Cookie Monster decided to bring other foods into his cookie-only diet to educate children about not eating too much junk food.

So, with singing apples, pineapples, and broccoli stalks singing "healthy food" over and over again in the background, Cookie Monster talks about how healthy food is delicious and nutritious.  Though, we never actually see him DIGEST any of the healthy food.

Probably because if Cookie had eaten his background singers, he might get arrested for murder.  Ah well, it's still interesting enough to put in the #2 spot.



1.  WET PAINT

I hear that this particular video scared a lot of young children when it first came out, but I really liked this one.  I'm not sure who the lead singer of this Muppet band is supposed to be though.  To me, he looks like a combination of Adam Ant, Elton John, and the lead singer from Men Without Hats.  Regardless, I love the New Wave feel of this video.  It's like J. Geils Band's "Freeze Frame" meets Devo's "Whip It".  And of course, the prerequisite Sesame Street cows are a cameo that is always welcome.

So, what do you think?  Do you have a Sesame Street music video that should've made my list.  Please post it in the comments below!

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

What's On Your Mind?




I have no idea where I'm going with this WHO AM I WEDNESDAY post, so I'm just going to go into the depths of my mind (which admittedly can be a very scary place) to see what's lurking in there.  I have no idea where I'm going with this, nor do I know exactly what I'm going to say.  All that I do know is that I'm really going into this entry with blinders on.

Well, here goes nothing.

September 17, 2014

So, what's been happening with me lately?  Honestly, not a whole lot.  At least not at the moment anyway.  I have lots of plans coming up towards the end of the month, and some plans made in October as well with Thanksgiving and Halloween coming up.  But right at this moment, I'm helping out with the planning of a massive sale that is set to take place at my job. 

And this massive sale is kind of a double edged sword for people.  For customers, they love it because they can get food, beauty products, electronics, toys, and seasonal stuff for extremely low prices.  For store managers and district managers, they love it because all that customer traffic will likely bring in a ton of profit for the store and the company.

Myself?  Well, I don't mind serving customers, but I do mind it when they get angry with me because we run out of a particular item in the sale.  I really don't like that at all.  In fact, I'll be perfectly honest.  I hate it.  I don't get paid nearly enough to take abuse from people who obviously have anger issues and probably should have stayed home and shopped online.  But unless there is a way that one can invent a mood-altering laser gun that transforms surly shoppers into perky purchasers, there's not much I can do about it but smile and nod.

(Though I'll be fair.  95% of all customers I deal with are awesome people.  Unfortunately, I only tend to remember the bitter, crusty, evil 5% that really shouldn't go out in public ever again.)

This being said, I have a major confession to make here.  It may very well explain why I became such an easy target for people to pick on, or make fun of.

I don't do well with confrontation.  At all.  Now, granted, when it comes to dealing with people in a workplace setting, there's very little that you can do.  After all, you make one false move and before you know it, you're given your pink slip and shown the door.  Or, in extreme cases, the boys in blue come out, slap silver handcuffs on your wrist, and you end up in a jail cell where orange truly is the new black.

But in all other aspects of life and living, I seem to be that way with practically everybody around me.  I have great difficulty standing up for myself and whenever I'm in a situation where I am confronted by someone else, I have a really hard time dealing with it.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that I don't work well with people who are angry.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that I've seen and witnessed a lot of dysfunction between people in my life.  Or, maybe it has to do with the fact that even though I'm in my thirties and should have a firm sense of who I am by now, I still find myself crumbling under pressure when people question some of the choices I've made, or when people openly ask me questions that I don't feel comfortable answering, or even if people are being complete jerks.

I don't feel like I've lost my edge.  I feel like I never had any edge to begin with.  And I'm not really exactly sure how to go about improving this.

I suppose it's like this.  My whole life has been all about making other people feel happy - and sometimes I feel as though that I'm sacrificing my own happiness to do exactly that.  Unfortunately, as someone who admittedly has a hard time adapting to extreme change (though not nearly as difficult as Sheldon Cooper from "The Big Bang Theory"), I just sort of adapted to being the meek, quiet, shy person that most people seem to see me as.

I hate being that person.  Yet, no matter what, I don't know how to change it. 

I wish I could find a way to believe in myself enough to not let the opinions and comments of other people affect me negatively.  I wish I didn't act like such a doormat around Type A personalities or extremely aggressive people.  I wish that my store sold boxes or bottles of assertiveness at this big sale that is coming up so that I could improve my confidence and not be so afraid of people.  Unfortunately, I fear that purchasing assertiveness in stores is as much of an impossible dream as those mood-altering laser guns that I spoke about a few paragraphs above.

At first, I thought that it was in relation to the social anxiety that I've struggled with most of my adult life, but I can't really say for sure that it's the root cause.  There's a slight connection, but it's more like one of those spotty WiFi connections that you'd get at a dodgy coffee shop.

(That metaphor was so lame, but again, we're going into the depths of my brain here.  I think a lot of lame things.  You were warned at the beginning of this blog entry.)

In reality, I believe that the real reason why I lack assertiveness in my life is because I hate the idea of hurting other people's feelings.  It doesn't matter whether mine got hurt in the process...so long as I made sure that everyone else was happy. 

It's a horrible way to live, might I add.  Because people who live that way always put themselves last, and people who do that basically stop enjoying the good things that life has to offer.

I know.  I've been living that way for such a long time.  And unfortunately, I've sort of gotten used to it.

I think what I really need to do is just grab life by the horns and just take off somewhere and be by myself for a little while.  Like go out and live in a log cabin for half a year, or take an extended vacation on my own terms, or basically be in charge of myself and only myself for even a little bit.

After all, like that cosmetic company says...I'm worth it. 

Now to muster up the courage.  That's the tricky part.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

September 16, 1972

It's time for another edition of the TUESDAY TIMELINE for this week.  It's the sixteenth of September, and I decided to give this edition of the timeline a musical theme for today.  Consider it a bonus Sunday Jukebox post.

Only on Tuesday.  But hey, at least it's a #1 hit that we'll be taking a look at.

But before we get into that discussion, I thought we'd have a look at some of the other events that took place on this date throughout history.  What happened on September 16?  Well, quite a lot actually.

1776 - The Battle of Harlem Heights takes place during the American Revolutionary War

1812 - The Fire of Moscow starts, and over the next seventy-two hours, three-quarters of the city would be destroyed

1880 - The Cornell Daily Sun - America's oldest, continuously independent college daily paper - begins publication

1908 - The General Motors company is founded

1920 - Thirty-eight people are killed and four hundred injured after a bomb is detonated in front of the J.P. Morgan building on New York City's Wall Street

1924 - Actress Lauren Bacall (d. 2014) is born in The Bronx, New York

1927 - Actor Peter Falk (d. 2011) is born in New York City

1928 - Approximately 2,500 people are killed when the Okeechobee hurricane makes landfall over Southeastern Florida

1945 - The surrender of Japanese troops in Hong Kong is accepted by Royal Navy Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt

1947 - Almost two thousand people lose their lives when Typhoon Kathleen strikes Japan

1955 - The military coup to unseat the President of Argentina, Juan Peron, is launched at midnight

1959 - In New York City, broadcast from live television, the first demonstration of the first successful photocopier - the Xerox 914 - takes place

1966 - The grand opening of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City takes place

1970 - King Hussein of Jordan declares military rule following the hijacking of four civilian airliners by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

1975 - Papua New Guinea becomes an independent nation

1987 - The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion

1992 - Manuel Noriega is sentenced to 40 years in prison for drug trafficking and money laundering

2003 - Sheb Wooley, singer of "The Purple People Eater" dies in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 82

2009 - Mary Travers of Peter, Paul, & Mary dies at the age of 72

2013 - A gunman kills twelve people at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.

We also have some celebrity birthdays to share as well.  So, I want to wish all of the following famous faces a happy birthday today.  Happy birthday to Janis Paige, B.B. King, Takao Tanabe, George Chakiris, Jules Bass, Susan Ruttan, Ed Begley Jr., Mickey Rourke, Kurt Fuller, Eric Vail, David Copperfield, Jennifer Tilly, Jayne Brook, Richard Marx, Molly Shannon, Katy Kurtzman, Marc Anthony, Amy Poehler, Shalane McCall, Tina Barrett, Musiq Soulchild, Flo Rida, Alexis Bledel, Sabrina Bryan, Madeline Zima, Kyla Pratt, Teddy Geiger, Sarah Steele, Nick Jonas, and Jake Roche.

All right.  So, what date will we take a trip to this time around?



Well, how about we go back 42 years ago today to September 16, 1972?  I don't remember ever featuring a Tuesday Timeline from 1972 before.  If I did, it was when I was first starting off the Tuesday Timeline entry.  Regardless, we're going back in time to 1972.

Now, one thing that I will say about 1972 - even though I missed it by nine years - is that the music from that particular year was awesome.  You see, 1972 was one of those years in which there was a lot of social activism.  People were still protesting the Vietnam War, feminists were out in full force demanding equal rights, and the African-American population were also making their voices heard demanding equality.  So, as a result, the musical charts were filled with lots of music that symbolized this new era from John Lennon's "Imagine" to Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman".



In fact, come to think of it, today's topic has to do with racial harmony.  For it was 42 years ago today that a song by Three Dog Night hit the top of the charts.  A song that was inspired by a real-life event of the past that wasn't quite such a pleasant experience - particularly for those involved in it first hand.



ARTIST:  Three Dog Night
SONG:  Black and White
ALBUM:  Seven Separate Fools
DATE RELEASED:  July 3, 1972
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  #1 for 1 week

Yes, long before the release of Michael Jackson's "Black or White", Public Enemy's "Fight the Power", and even War's "Why Can't We Be Friends", Three Dog Night tackled the subject of racial harmony with their chart-topper "Black and White".  And, believe it or not, this song is NOT an original Three Dog Night composition.  In fact, the lyrics of this song were written nearly twenty years before Three Dog Night even recorded their own version!

The song itself was written in 1954 by David I. Arkin and Earl Robinson, and was inspired by a real life event which took place on the seventeenth of May, 1954.

That was when the United States Supreme Court voted in favour of ceasing all racial segregation of public schools in the "Brown v. Board of Education" decision. 

It seems hard to believe now, but six decades ago, public schools in the United States were racially segregated.  There were schools for white students, and there were schools for black students.  This was the norm for several decades (dating all the way back to 1896), and back in the 1950s, racism was unfortunately a part of life - in particular in the Southeastern United States in which prior to 1954, no less than eighteen states had racial segregation in schools as a requirement.

When the decision was made to end racial segregation by unanimous vote by the United States Supreme Court in 1954, it did allow black and white students to attend the same school.  Unfortunately, there were still some people who actively fought against the ruling, with some people attempting to use their political power to physically keep black students from entering white public schools.



Perhaps the most famous example of this would be the Little Rock Nine case, in which nine African-American students were not only bullied and humiliated by many of the white students who attended Little Rock Central High School during the 1957-1958 school year, but were actually blocked from entering the school by then Governor of Arkansas Orval Faubus.  Of course, President Eisenhower made sure that the Little Rock Nine could attend school there, but judging by the picture up above, that road was not an easy one.

Now, here's where the song "Black and White" comes into play.  In 1956 and 1957 respectively, both Pete Seeger and Sammy Davis Jr. recorded the single, with the original first verse going a little something like this.

Their robes were black, Their heads were white
The schoolhouse doors were closed so tight
Nine judges all set down their names,
To end the years, and years of shame.

Yeah, I'd definitely call that a sign of the times.  Definitely a social commentary song for sure based on the decision to desegregate schools sixty years ago.

Now, flash ahead to September 1972, and Los Angeles, California based band Three Dog Night's own version topped the Billboard charts.  But with racial segregation being a thing of the past for eighteen years prior to this song's release, the band opted to come up with their own take on the opening verse of the song.

The ink is black, the page is white
Together we learn to read and write
The child is black, the child is white
The whole world looks upon a beautiful sight

I mean, think about it for a second.  The old verse was a social commentary on a recent event that had taken place that shaped the way that people not only viewed the educational system, but viewed themselves as well.  It was a song that forced people to take a look within themselves to point out their own prejudices and it made people really come to debate whether they wanted to continue with the way things were, or really take the step to create badly needed change that would make everyone feel more inclusive.

But with this new verse, it showed everyone what life was like since that decision was made.  Certainly in 1972, racial tensions were far from perfection.  Heck, in some places, racism is still a problem in 2014.  But it's nice to know that enough changed between 1954 and 1972 to make people realize that skin colour means virtually nothing when it comes to teaching people right from wrong, educating people so that they become capable of great things, and most importantly, loving people and accepting people for who they are in every possible way imaginable.

That was the message that Three Dog Blind released in 1972.  And forty-two years ago today, that message became the biggest hit on the Billboard charts.

Monday, September 15, 2014

Spelling and Punctuation Matter!

I'll be perfectly blunt with all of you.  Spelling mistakes happen to the best of us.  In fact, as someone who gets really annoyed by bad spelling and misuse of punctuation and grammar, even I'm the first one to admit that I've made spelling errors in a variety of different places.  I've misspelled words in homework assignments, Facebook comments, and I'll admit that over 1,213 blog entries, I've made a couple of errors in this very blog.  But you know, sometimes that's the way that the world works.  Sometimes mistakes happen, and you usually have two choices when dealing with them.

You can either erase the mistake and write it correctly, or you can leave it to laugh about later on.  I'm positive that most of us - if given the opportunity to - will try to fix any mistakes that take place because I'm sure that most of us don't like to make them.

Ah, but here's the key point that I want to make.  What if you lose the opportunity to correct yourself, or what if you don't have time to make any last minute edits to your copy that you submit to a publisher or editor?  Well, you might end up getting a little bit of egg on your face when you realize that your spelling and/or grammatical mistakes are in full view to the general public.  In fact, I'll be providing a really funny example of this at the very end of this blog.

However, some of these mistakes that have appeared in newspapers, magazines, and even screen captions on news programs can make you laugh and chuckle over the ridiculousness of how it is presented.  Sometimes the errors are so blatantly obvious that you can't help but chuckle, but other times the typos completely change the meaning of a sentence, going from harmless to hilarious with just a simple transposition of letters.

And in this edition of FUNNY MONDAY, I found exactly twenty examples of some of the funniest typographical and grammatical errors that I've found from the internet.  Maybe you'll laugh, and maybe you won't.  Either way, I had fun finding them!

As always, I want to give credit to You Can Be Funny, 11 Points, hockeydrunk.com, thewire.com, bohemian.com, poynter.org. My Typo Humour, and my personal favourite, Get Thee To An Editor!

I love that title! 

All right, so are we ready to kick off today's entry of typographical blunders?  Let's get to it!



1.  Sometimes, the words can be spelled perfectly correctly, just put in the wrong order.  But I would love to be able to live in a house that has the power to destroy fire.  Maybe it has a waterfall guarding the front door?



2.  I'm not exactly sure that this is really the most hygenic way to keep warm, but whatever floats your boat, I suppose.



3.  Well...if I had to pull an all-nighter, I'd probably type headlines like this as well.  Or, perhaps he's just drunk.  Or perhaps he died and did a faceplant in the keyboard of his laptop.  Too bad there's no follow up article.



4.  I'm not exactly sure where this mystical, magical place known as "Missippi" can be found, but apparently they can read and write there.  Maybe it's somewhere near "Loisana", or "Floda"?



5.  I don't know.  Does we?



6.  Guess what!  If you're impaired, you can legally drive in the UK!  This lady says so!  Maybe this was done during the annual purge there?  Oh...wait.  That movie's a fictional one?  My bad.



7.  My question is...how can you tell if you have a wrong one?



8.  Leave it to a guy named Wenster to give Webster some competition in the wordsmith game.  I suppose Wenster helped get "selfie" in his own dictionary first!



9.  Well, isn't this headline chock full of irony?



10.  You're right.  The text inside the spark logo isn't a misprint.  The text beside it on the other hand makes me very nervous.  Maybe I need to calm down with a nice glass of orgainc milk.



11.  Fruit is not a font.  This publisher learned his/her lesson the hard way.



12.  We also may never know why this person failed his grade seven homonyms quiz.



13.  Unbeknownst to the person who created this headline, they proved their point marvelously.  And THAT'S no lie.



14.  I'm honestly not sure if this headline is real or an elaborate fabrication.  But what a royal f@#$-up this turned out to be, huh? 



15.  Sometimes, it's not the way you write the word, but the order in which you type in the keys.  But, you can't really get too mad at this person.  After all, the "R" and "F" keys are in close proximity.  And technically they did spell a proper word.



16.  This headline reminds me of that lesser known Madonna hit.  "Come on, vouge.  Your face has got too much rouge, you know you don't need it..."



17.  At least the newspaper can admit to making mistakes by printing a "correrction" once in a while.



18.  SERIOUSLY?!?



19.  I think it's awesome that they now have laws for drunk driving (maybe they learned their lesson from image #6).  Now they need to do something about drunk headline captioners.



20.  Oh, FOX News.  No.  Just no. 

And, now for my example.  One that I didn't catch until...oh...four months after I posted it.  Sigh.

When I was coming up with the new look for 2014, I wanted to redo the logos.  A friend of mine came up with the heading for 2014, and I wanted to come up with an avatar to match.  Which I did.  Have a look.





Now, it didn't take me until just now to realize this, but the website address for the blog is written wrong, using an "@" sign instead of a period.  It's a minor mistake in retrospect, but one I should have caught.  So, joke's on me! 

But hey, nobody's perfect.

In the meantime, I did some playing around and redid this avatar and here's the finished product.





Now, I know it doesn't quite match the logo up above...at least, not yet anyway.  All I'm going to say is that 2015 is just three and a half months away.