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Friday, July 29, 2011

TGIF: Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!!!

Popularity is a funny thing.  Almost everyone has wanted it at some point, but very few seem equipped to handle the pressures and the frustration that can accompany it once they get it.

It is very much true that being popular can bring forth a lot of perks.  You always have people who want to talk to you, your life is never dull and boring, and you can take comfort in the fact that popularity frees you from having to go through hardships.

Or does it?

As much as everyone has claimed that they want popularity at some point in their lives, it really isn't all it is cracked up to be.  Sometimes, the quest for popularity and importance causes people to act in ways that they don't normally act, and can end up alienating those closest to them.  There are cases in which someone who seemingly has everything they could ever want on the outside, is really insecure and worried about what others are thinking on the inside.  Sometimes, they are so stressed out over being popular that they'll go to unscrupulous depths to maintain it, even so much as risking the good stock that had been built over months and years.

Have you ever known anyone like that?  I'm sure that everyone has at some point.

I remember years ago, I used to be really good friends with someone in school.  This would be going back to around the ninth grade or so.  We became friends in a keyboarding classroom, and this person happened to be a good friend to me during the whole ninth grade.  It was great.

Then around tenth grade, I noticed that my friend was hanging less around me and more around a group of people who used to make fun of me.  I didn't think much of it, as my friend was still talking to me, but something was different.

By eleventh grade, I rarely got to talking with my friend because the guy had gotten encircled in the clique that I had no shot of being a part of.  Whenever I did talk to my friend, the response given was kind of smarmy and sarcastic.  I couldn't quite understand why my friend was acting this way, especially since I hadn't done anything to warrant it (and even if I had, nobody was honest with me about it if I did do something that pushed my friend away).

It was almost as if I didn't know who my friend was.  The more time passed, the more my friend turned out not to be a friend at all.

Over the first few months of eleventh grade, I had become the victim of some rather nasty rumours, as well as been the target of some not-so-nice messages sent to my student computer account.  Fortunately, my computer teacher was a guru at tracking messages sent through the school computer network, and managed to trace the messages to a couple of people who were in my grade.

One of them was my former friend.  Encouraged by his new friends to play those not so harmless tricks on me.

I felt humiliated and betrayed.  I felt hurt.  Disgusted.  How could this person have done this to me?  What were their motivations?  What did I do to deserve such cruelty?

Oh sure, the person apologized once they were caught, but by then the damage had been done.  At the time, I thought that I couldn't trust this person again after that.  How could I?  It was like my friendship meant absolutely nothing to this person, and by the end of it all, I was the one who looked like the fool.

It's been several years since that incident happened, and honestly, I don't really know how to feel about this person now.  Now I can look back on it and realize that I really didn't lose that much out of the deal, and since that day, I've become a lot better at figuring out who my real friends are.  Still, it's a bit hard to predict how I would act if ever I happened to run into this person again.  I tell myself that I would be cordial and polite, but at the same time, I honestly don't know if I would respond with anger or with pity.  Or, maybe I would just ignore the person entirely and focus on those who really do matter.  For the record, it's been almost fifteen years since that incident, and in that time frame, I have forgiven this person...but I never forget (good thing too, or else this would have been a bland blog).

All because my former friend had chosen temporary popularity over a friendship that could have lasted for years.  Or, maybe the friendship might not have lasted six months.  The real shame in all that is that we'll never know.

Of course, that's just one example.  In my situation, the quest for popularity soured a friendship, but at least it ties in with the subject of the blog entry, which is that popularity isn't as glamourous or exciting as one would be lead to believe.  It also shows that sometimes, even the popular people can have issues or problems that not even being elected prom queen or student body president can overcome.

This lovely lady, who had two lovely sisters, and who all had hair of gold like their mother, seemed to have it all.  Great looks, great smile, pleasant disposition, and everyone seemed to love her.  It even spurned some hard feelings from her younger sister who constantly complained about...



...Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!

That's right boys and girls, today's subject in this blog is all about popularity, and who else could express this subject better than Marcia Brady from The Brady Bunch?



I know what you must be thinking.  The Brady Bunch?  Really?  You're going to do a blog entry on a television show where the family seemed so perfect that it was almost frightening?  Believe me, I know all about it.  If you've ever read the book Justin, Jay-Jay, and the Juvenile Dinkent, there's a section where they're watching the Brady Bunch, and the main character is so disgusted with it that he comes up with a parody of the theme song.  Good book.  I recommend it.  In fact, I may write a future blog entry on that book.

At any rate, the reason I wanted to focus on The Brady Bunch was to show that despite the facade of perfection and happiness, each of the characters had some major flaws to them.  And, we won't even discuss the apparent behind the scenes stories from that set!

(Though, we may talk a little bit about the actress who played Marcia...but that will come later.)

To me, Marcia Brady is one of those characters that seems to have it all, but yet, if you delve into her character a little closer, you'll see that there are pockets of insecurity, jealousy, and even a little bit of damaged self-esteem.  Three traits that one might not really associate with Marcia Brady at first glance.  Certainly, you might see those traits in other Brady kids.  Jan Brady, especially.  But writing this blog about Jan would have been seen as too easy.


The Brady Bunch premiered in September 1969, and the whole premise of the show was to showcase the blending of two families into one.  Mike Brady fell in love with Carol Martin, and in the pilot episode, they get married.  Mike's three sons (Greg, Peter, and Bobby), and Carol's three daughters (Marcia, Jan, and Cindy) become instant step-siblings, and before you knew it, the family was one cohesive unit.

If this at all seems too cookie-cutter perfect to you, it's because it was (I mean, on the couple's honeymoon, they took the kids, the cat, the dog, and their maid Alice for crying out loud).  The ratings for the show never cracked the top ten during its five season run, and got mostly negative critique, but yet the show stayed on the air until 1974. 



When we were first introduced to Marcia Brady, the image we see of her is one of confidence, maturity, and beauty.  By all accounts, it seemed like Marcia Brady was the poster girl of the early 1970s.  Beauty, brains, empathy...she was portrayed to be the girl that every boy wanted and that every girl wanted to be like.

More importantly, she was seen as the popular Brady.  Everyone loved Marcia (though Jan certainly disliked her on occasion).

Sometimes, though, that quest to remain popular, or to maintain the confidence that she was known for could get her into trouble.

Take the episode of the Brady Bunch where Marcia wins the role of Juliet in the school's performance of 'Romeo and Juliet'.  She is determined to put everything she has into the play, not even being aware of the fact that her actions have alienated those close to her.  The episode was called 'Juliet Is The Sun', and originally aired on October 29, 1971.
The reason why I wanted to feature this episode in particular is because it's one that illustrates my point beautifully about how sometimes the so-called popular people don't always have it easy.  Marcia had some misgivings about playing the lead role in the play because she didn't think she was pretty enough to go on stage (a sign of low self-esteem), as well as the fact that she didn't think her acting skills were up to par (her doubting her own abilities).

You see?  Anyone can fall victim to doubting themselves.  Believe me, I have been where Marcia Brady was a number of times in my own lifetime thus far.  I know exactly how she felt.  I mean, Greg even said it best when he said that it was a shame that people couldn't see themselves the way other people did.  I mean, people loved Marcia, and didn't see anything wrong with her.  Marcia didn't see that in herself, and that conflict was the catalyst for what was to come.

I can understand the rest of the Brady family wanting to cheer her up and give her enough self-confidence to believe that she can handle the role of Juliet.  It was a noble gesture on their part, and I'm sure that their intentions were all well and good.  

Alas, we all know by now that the road to hell is paved in good intentions, and Marcia Brady was well on the way down that road as her attitude and ego improved.  Some would say that her head got a little bit too fat.  She started to act snobbish towards those around her, got into fights with the other Brady children, and was incredibly rude to the boy who played Romeo.  She changed the lines around, she hogged the bathroom to brush her hair, and she basically turned into a person that nobody wanted to be around.

You see, once Marcia got into the idea of starring in the play and realizing that it could make her the talk of the school, she let the excitement all go to her head, and her personality was affected negatively as a result.

In short, she was becoming anything but popular.  In fact, it got to the point where her attitude got so terrible that people were getting very frustrated with her.

Marcia was so concerned with trying to control everything and everyone around her that she failed to see how much she herself had lost control.  It ended up costing her the role of Juliet, and that was a really bitter pill for her to swallow.  As Mrs. Brady told her, she had brought it all on herself.

I think there's something we can learn from that.  It's okay to have dreams.  It's okay to be involved in something that will get you noticed.  It's even okay to want to have friendships and connections.  But when that desire causes you to act in such a way that nobody recognizes you, it can be a big problem.  In Marcia's case, it worked out for her, as she saw the error of her ways and took on a smaller role so she could still be in the play.  Sometimes, the damage done can be so great, it's not always that easy to repair.

Certainly, this hasn't been the only brush that Marcia has had with doubting herself, or letting her emotions cloud her judgment.  When she got braces, she thought she was ugly.  When she got a football right in the schnozz, it made her self-conscious about her appearance, especially when she was turned down by a boy (though, Marcia turned down a plain looking boy to go out with the jerk in the first place).  And, just like Jan showed her bright green eyes of envy frequently on the show, Marcia herself could be struck with insecurity and jealousy, especially when it came to someone dating the person she was interested in.

Popularity is something that Marcia Brady seemed to have, but for some reason, Marcia had instances in which she doubted it.  And, when she tried to do something about it, it usually turned for the worse for her.  It almost seemed like she was trying too hard to impress other people.  All she had to do was be herself, and the people who really mattered would like and respect it.  In some ways, I almost feel bad for Marcia Brady, because she sometimes didn't even know just how good a person she could be. 

And, you know, I can identify with her in so many ways.

I guess as we grow older, the impact of popularity is lessened to the point where we don't care what others think of us.  For quite a few of us, popularity isn't even a factor in our day-to-day lives (well, unless you happen to work in the entertainment industry, and even that's a little sketchy).  As long as we love ourselves, then others will grow to love us too.  It's admittedly a lesson that I didn't learn for quite a while, but I'm so glad I did.



Sadly, the actress that played Marcia Brady has had her own rise and fall.  Maureen McCormick, who turns 55 next Friday, was very popular on the show The Brady Bunch, and it made her a star.  After the show ended in 1974, her career and personal life completely took a nosedive.  She had gotten involved with drugs, and because of her addiction, she ended up losing a chance to be in Raiders Of The Lost Ark in 1981.

(Talk about life imitating art, huh?)

Eventually, she managed to settle down.  She got married, had a child, and through the love and support of her husband and former Brady Bunch castmates, she has managed to come back from her addiction.  She has managed to take on bit parts on television shows in recent years, but will her star beam as brightly as it did during her Brady Bunch years?  Who can say, really?

The only conclusion that we can make from looking at Marcia Brady (and Maureen McCormick) is that balancing popularity and fame with reality can be extremely delicate, and that it doesn't take much for your stock to plummet. 

The road to popularity can be filled with smooth sailing, provided that one has the tools equipped with them to handle it.  The downside is that sometimes, you have to gather them up one by one before you can make any effort to repair any damage done along the way.  It can be a lifetime struggle sometimes. As long as you believe in yourself that you can do it, and not let your ego stand in the way of the progression of personal development, I have to think that the end result is that we'll end up okay.

And hopefully you'll soon see that popularity will just be a word found in the dictionary.

And that's perfectly okay with me.


Thursday, July 28, 2011

Thursday Night At The Arcade: Final Fantasy V

Suppose you have four people who have absolutely nothing in common with each other.  They have no ties to each other, or if there are ties, they are so loosely tied that they could come undone at the slightest movement.

I mean, let's take these four character types.  The guy who likes to travel and embark on exciting, and sometimes dangerous adventures.  The pampered woman who appears to live a life of luxury, but deep down inside has strong feelings for how people treat each other.  The tomboyish woman who hangs with all the guys and embarks in a life that most others would never touch.  And there's the man who may appear frail and useless, but instead boasts high intelligence as well as a past that will automatically change your opinion of him.

At first glance, you'd think that these people working together would be an impossibility.  That they would be so different in their thinking and their beliefs, and how they act, and other things that they would end up fighting after ten minutes.


That's part of the reason why I love the game Final Fantasy V so much.  In that game, you had four people (with the same character traits that I discovered up above) coming together for a common goal.  Which if you've ever played a Final Fantasy game before, you'll know that the main one is to save the world from evil forces.  At any rate, the four may be completely and totally different from each other, but they work beautifully as a team unit.



At the head of the pack, you have Bartz Klauser (or Butz, if you've played the original SNES version released only in Japan in 1992).  Bartz grew up in the small village of Lix.  He was the son of one of the famous Light Warriors who sealed away the evil Exdeath inside the world, to keep him from taking over.  His mother passed away when Bartz was small, and when Bartz turned seventeen years old, his father passed away as well.  His father's wish was for Bartz to travel the world, and from that moment on, Bartz travels the globe looking for adventure.  He isn't quite alone, as he is accompanied by his faithful Chocobo, Boko.  However, Bartz isn't exactly a people person, and likes to spend as much time alone as possible.  For the most part, he's content just riding the world on his Chocobo.

Next to Bartz, you have Princess Lenna Charlotte Tycoon.  Lenna is the daughter of King Tycoon, and she has grown up living a life of luxury.  Despite this, she has a kind heart, and cares for other people, even putting herself at risk to save others.  She can be impulsive at times, as her brave nature can get her into trouble, but she is a loyal friend to have.  She loves dragons, especially wind drakes, and during the course of the game, she risks her life twice to save the life of the dragon.  She survives, but not without much scolding from others.  It's later revealled that Lenna's mother died from an illness which could be cured by the tongue of a Wind Drake, but since there was only one left in the world, the queen did not want to kill the dragon so she could live.  This event shaped Lenna's belief of putting others before herself.

Behind Lenna is Faris Scherwiz.  When we're introduced to her at the beginning of the game, we see that she is the leader of a pirate crew, and has a pet sea-dragon named Syldra.  In fact, when we first meet her, we actually don't know that she is a her at all.  Bartz mistakes her for being a man!  In truth, Faris went by another name.  She was born Salisa Scherwil Tycoon, and if that name sounds familiar, it's because she happened to be Lenna's lost sister.  An accident caused Salisa to be lost at sea, and when she was found by the group of pirates she would eventually become the leader of, she was given the nickname of Faris.  Due to the fact that female pirates were not nearly as respected as male pirates, she was raised male.  Eventually, the sisters are reunited with each other, and Faris briefly returns to Tycoon Castle.  In the end, she can't leave the pirate life behind, and it proves to be advantageous to the group's final fight.

Lastly, you have Galuf Halm Baldesion.  An elderly man who Bartz and Lenna happen to stumble upon in the middle of a forest.  When we're first introduced to him, he has absolutely no idea who he may be, as he seems to be suffering from amnesia.  He remembers bits and pieces of his life, but they're all fragmented and lost.  Bartz and Lenna decide to take him on as a companion in the hopes that something he'll see will jar his memory and help him remember who he is.  What they don't find out until later on is that Galuf was in fact one of the Light Warriors that helped seal Exdeath, along with Bartz's father.

There's actually one more character that comes into the fold, and that one character actually replaces one of the above characters who ends up dying midway through the game...but I'm not going to spoil it, should you want to play the game.

So, how does the game start off?  We know who the key players are in this game, but what does this have to do with Exdeath?  Who exactly is Exdeath, and why is he so dangerous?


It all has to do with crystals.  Initially, there were four crystals, each one representing an element.  Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth.

One millennium before the current setting of the game, a mage named Enuo imperiled the world with something called 'The Void'.  It was a vortex that could suck up whole communities.  The people of the world fought back with a set of twelve powerful weapons which effectively dispatched Enuo, but the Void was unable to be destroyed completely.  The decision was made to split up the four crystals into two sets.  As a result of this action, the world was split into two, and Enuo was trapped inside the dimensional vortex between the two worlds.  As long as the crystals remained intact, Enuo remained sealed.

One thousand years later, both worlds continued to flourish, ship building became an effective method of travel, and towns grew.  Unfortunately, in the middle of the second world, in Moore Forest, a tree was being possessed with demons and evil, and created the antagonist of the game, Exdeath.

(You couldn't make this stuff up if you tried, people.)

Anyway, the Four Warriors of Dawn (comprised of Bartz' father, Dorgann, Galuf, Xezat, and Kelger) fought against Exdeath, and used the power of the crystals to seal him up in the first world, and peace briefly returned.

Thirty years later, however, something strange happens, and the winds start to die down, and the air becomes stale.


That was the eighteen minute long introduction to the first part of the game.  If you don't have time to watch the whole thing, basically, what happens is that King Tycoon goes to the Wind Shrine to find out why the wind is dying out, and is witness to the crystal exploding in the shrine, and something happens to the king.  Meanwhile, Bartz is outside camping with Boko when he sees a meteorite come crashing down towards the Earth.

Unlike real life where a meteor hitting a planet would likely be quite apocalyptic and deadly, these ones just leave behind a little crater.  It's inside one of those little craters where you run into Lenna.  Lenna immediately gets abducted by goblins, and you have to kill them to get to know the princess a little bit better.

Because let's face it, failure to rescue a princess from goons makes for one very awkward and disasterous date.

After the fight scene, Bartz and Lenna introduce themselves, and then they hear a faint noise in the distance.  There they meet the amnesiac Galuf (who apparently travelled to the area ON the meteorite, making this storyline even less believable), and it is here where our story really kicks off.

And, by now, you're probably completely lost. 

You'll just have to take my word for it that the game sounds a lot better than I described it. 


In all seriousness, it is.  Although it wasn't released in North America until 1999 (which is when the PlayStation anthology with Final Fantasy V and VI inside of it came out), Final Fantasy was a really great game, and the story makes more sense when you play it.

If you are a fan of role playing games, you'll definitely like this one.

One of the reasons I enjoy this game is the class system.



You can make your characters anything you want to be, because just like Barbie, there's dozens of job classes that you can make your characters be.  They can be Geomancers, Knights, Mages, Timekeepers, even Dancers (and by dancers, I mean tap and ballet...not dances with stripper poles).

And, no there are no job classes for prostitute, drug dealer, or McDonald's fry cook either.

With dozens of combinations to choose from, you could make your characters as powerful as you want them to be.  In fact, there are some secnarios where you have to have a job mastered in order to proceed (such as if you have to cross a pit of spikes, a Geomancer can show you the way to go).

But more importantly, the reason why I have a soft spot for Final Fantasy V is sort of linked to my opening paragraph.  The characterization works and blends in such a way that you find yourselves rooting for each of the characters both individually and as a whole.

Bartz's backstory of losing his parents, and using it as a way to pursue his dream of adventure is poignant, and yet, tragic at the same time.  In many ways, Bartz's parents were all that he had to rely on.  When they were both gone, he had lost any and all ties keeping him in the village of Lix.  It wasn't until late in the game when Lix is attacked by Exdeath that we see all of the emotions bubbling up to the surface, and we see Bartz show any emotion.  Naturally, his friends help him through, and that was the moment they all wanted to fight.

With Lenna, you know about the dragon tongue story where she wanted to kill the dragon to save her mother, but relented when she learned it was not what she wanted.  There's a point in the story where the Wind Drake is sick, and the only way to save it is by feeding it dragon grass.  Earlier in the game, a scary incident involving dragon grass has scared the dragon, and the dragon won't eat it.  Lenna decides to show the dragon that the grass is safe by sampling it herself, full well knowing that it is poisonous to humans.  The dragon sees Lenna eating it, and decides to eat it too.  Lenna risked her life to help the dragon, which the others thought was incredibly stupid (I agree, by the way), but at least it showed that Lenna had compassion for others.  She eventually recovered and continued on with the quest.

Faris also lost someone close to her.  At the beginning, the pirate ship that they are all on gets caught in a storm, and is almost sucked down a whirlpool.  Syldra, Faris's sea-dragon friend pulls them to safety, but ends up dying in the process.  Faris is devastated.  Later on in the story, Faris is reunited with the spirit of Syldra, and learns how to call her as a summon...proving that friendships don't end after death.

As for Galuf, he perhaps makes the biggest sacrifice of all in the quest to save the world from Exdeath...but that's another tale for another day...

Regardless, Final Fantasy V is a great game to play, and for all of you gamers out there, it's worth checking out.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Across The Pond And Beyond: The Macarena

I am convinced that the more people who partake in a fad, the more obnoxious it becomes.

We all have been caught up in the idea of the 'next big thing'.  One little craze or object or gimmick that seems so innocent and non-threatening at first, but soon explodes into the newest 'must have' or 'must do'.

Right off the bat, I can name a few examples of this from my childhood.  Remember the Skip-It?  That little plastic thing that you hooked around your leg and swung around so that you could skip over it over and over again?  Everyone at school during third grade seemed to have one, so naturally, I had to get one too.  Mine was blue, and it had a counter to tell you how many times it went around in one full rotation.  It was great for a while, but by fourth grade, it seemed like every family had at least one Skip-It on sale at a garage sale.

Then there was the asinine fad that developed in the 1990's where girls would dye their hair with Kool-Aid packets.  Thankfully as a guy, I never took part in this fad, but I know some girls who walked into school with cherry red, lemon lime, and even Purplesaurus Rex coloured hair.  I think the fad ended when some of these girls were attacked by bees out on the playground.

You see...some fads were sillier than others.

Fads even made appearances on dancefloors, night clubs, and high school proms.  You had the Hustle, Disco, Electric Slide, conga lines, and step-dancing over the years.  It seemed like for a one year cycle, a party just wasn't a party until you danced to the latest dance craze.  Then the next year, it was something completely different.  It was a never ending struggle to keep up.

Fifteen summers ago, one particular dance craze swept the nation and spread like cold germs inside a public school.  Almost everyone I knew of could do this dance back in the day, and the song reached a few milestones of its own.

It was a dance craze based on a song recorded about four years prior to the year it really hit it big on the charts.  What made the song even more unique was that it was a song that was entirely sung in Spanish at first, but after a remix where English lyrics were mixed in with the Spanish ones, the song dominated the 1996 music charts.

(Though, given that 1996 was a very weak year on the Billboard Charts...at least in my own opinion...I can see why it had such staying power.)


SONG:  Macarena
ARTIST:  Los Del Rio
ALBUM:  Fiesta Macarena
ORIGINAL RELEASE DATE:  Summer 1993
U.S. RELEASE DATE:  August 15, 1995
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  #1 for 14 WEEKS!!!

I imagine that I've probably lost some of you readers along the way for even mentioning the most requested song of 1996.  I can't say I blame you.  At the time of its release, I found Macarena incredibly irritating.  I think part of that reason being that it was played everywhere, all the time.

Macarena was on the Billboard chart for sixty weeks total, fourteen of which were spent at the top position.  That meant that a lot of people were buying the record, listening to the record, dancing to the record, requesting the record.  By 1997, the song itself had sold eleven million copies, and made Los Del Rio incredibly wealthy.


The popularity of the Macarena took over the world in 1996.  It was played at various sporting events, dance clubs, convention halls.  You name it, it was being played.  A reported 50,000 people danced to the song at Yankee stadium in 1996.  The song was played at the 1996 Democratic Convention in an effort to get all of the delegates excited about the election.  Regardless of what your feelings are about the song, you have to admit that for a song to be played during a politcial convention, it had to be huge.



There was even a Christmas themed album that was backed up by the Macarena beat!  And yes, my workplace has played it during the holiday season.  And yes, I find it more irritating to listen to than the original!  And I know it's not Christmas yet, but if I had to suffer through it all holiday season, then all of you will too!  HAHAHAHAHA!!!



Have I scared you all away yet?  I certainly hope not.  This blog entry isn't over yet.

I just wanted to illustrate the scary power this song had.  Taking over the radio airwaves, check.  Keeping songs away from the #1 spot for a quarter of the year, check.  Bastardizing Christmas carols, check.

The power of the Macarena was incredible.  You wanted to look away, but you couldn't.  You wanted to turn the dial to another station, but it was playing on all of them at once.  Like it or not, the year 1996 was not the 'Year of the Rat'...it was the 'Year of the Macarena!'

Then 1997 came, and the Spice Girls invaded, and the Macarena was flattened by a healthy dose of girl power.

Another fad bit the dust.

Though, it was a nice little distraction while it lasted.

It seems hard to believe then that it took four years for the song to reach the top of the Billboard charts.


Yet it was all because of these two men up above. 

Los Del Rio was comprised of two men.  On the left is Antonio Romero Monge, and on the right is Rafael Ruiz.  Both of them are from the town of Dos Hermanos in the country of Spain. 

In March of 1992, they toured South America, where they invited to a private party thrown by Venezuelan empresario Gustavo Cisneros.  It would be at this party that the conception of Macarena would come to be.

At this party, the entertainment was provided by a flamenco dancer who impressed Los Del Rio immensely.  In fact, Antonio Romero Monge was so inspired by the dancer that he wrote the chorus to the song on the spot.  He decided to make the subject of the song after the flamenco dancer, but chose to use the name of Ma'dalena.  The initial chorus was;

"Dale a tu cuerpo alegría, Ma'dalena, que tu cuerpo e' pa' darle alegría y cosa' güena'"

Which loosely translated means, "Give your body some joy, Magdalene cause your body is for giving joy and good things too".

Either that's really broken English, or the song isn't nearly as innocent as we were all lead to believe.

At some point, Ma'dalena was changed to Macarena, and the song was released in the summer of 1993 in Spain.  I don't know exactly what date it was, but apparently a possible one could be given in this Heineken commercial.



Not quite exactly HOW the Macarena came to be, but a nice little distraction, nonetheless.

In all actuality, when the song was released in 1993, it was nothing like the version that made the song famous three years later.  It was initially a soft rumba like dance song.  Over the next three years, the song would be re-recorded and re-released five additional times.  The song became very popular in Spain and Mexico, as well as Puerto Rico.  The popularity in Puerto Rico was especially evident because a politician used it as an unofficial song during his election campaign.  The song was played all over Puerto Rico as a result of this, and because Puerto Rico was a base for most cruise ships to dock at, thousands of people heard the song as a result.  It might have been the starting point behind the Macarena infusion.

It wasn't until 1995 that the song began to make its way into popular American culture.  That year, it was remixed by the Bayside Boys and produced by Grammy award winning producer Carlos de Yarza, and by the summer of 1996, the song was a powerhouse on the Billboard charts.

So, I guess the lesson that one can learn in all this is not to give up on your dreams.

Granted, I may not have been the biggest Macarena fan out there, but certainly millions of other people really dug it.  It remains a fixture at many wedding receptions and other celebrations, so clearly it has made a mark. 

And, hey, it took four years for Los Del Rio to have the song become a worldwide smash.  But they made it happen.  As someone who has dreams of making it in the world of publishing, it does give me hope that I can achieve success later in life.  I mean, neither Ruiz or Monge were spring chickens when they had their breakthrough song.  If anything, it shows their resiliance, and their fight to keep the dream alive, and that's something that I want to do to.  I won't rest until my name gets out there in the publishing world, and even if I have to wait until I am 65, so be it.  If there's anything the Macarena has helped me understand, it's that success can happen at any age, and that if you're resiliant and strong enough, and have a little bit of luck along the way, you can have success too.

Although I never want to hear the Macarena ever again.  I'm sure after this blog post, none of you would want to either.  Though, if you insist on doing it, or wanting to learn it, here's a guide in pictures.  Enjoy.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Defending The Hoff...and Baywatch

A couple of nights ago, I was unwinding from a long work day with a little television. 

Well, okay, I watched Big Brother.  It is my guilty pleasure of the summer (one that I'll likely write about in this blog at some point during these hot and humid weeks).

It was the show that aired afterwards that admittedly inspired the subject for this blog entry.

It was a brand new show that premiered on Sunday night.  The show was called 'Same Name'.  The way I would best describe it is Undercover Boss meets Access Hollywood.  A person who happens to have the same exact name as a well-known celebrity trades lives with the celebrity in question for one whole week.  There, they'll get to experience the trials and the tribulations of their same named counterpart.  In some cases, they seem to fit in well, while in other cases, the culture shock is painfully present.

Why do I bring this show up?


The first episode of the series focused around television and German charts hit-maker David Hasselhoff.  In the show, he traded places with another man named David Hasselhoff Jr.  While the non-famous Hasselhoff lived the life of luxury, the famous Hasselhoff got up at six a.m., mowed dozens of lawns, and learned how hard the other Hasselhoff family worked.

I really liked watching the show, if for no other reason being that it sort of broke stereotypes that most of us may have had regarding the entertainment industry and celebrity world.  As the non-famous David Hasselhoff discovered, he had the idea that the celebrity world was snooty and stuck-up before embarking on this adventure.  What he found was that the celebrity David Hasselhoff's family, friends, fans, and contacts were nothing of the sort.  They treated him with love, respect, and kindness, which impressed him a lot.  At the end of his adventure, he was even allowed to take KITT (the car that he drove on Knight Rider) for a spin.

At the same time, celebrity David Hasselhoff really developed a friendship with the non-famous Hasselhoff family.  He pitched in and helped them out, he attended a family reunion, and he genuinely seemed to enjoy himself in this experience.  At the end of the episode, he even bought them two brand new lawn mowers, a scholarship for the Hasselhoff's young son, and a trip to see him in concert in Germany.  It appeared to me that he got just as much out of the experience as the non-famous Hasselhoff did, and it was really cool to see.

Granted, shows like Same Name are probably edited in such a way that they feature only the best or only the worst of everything, but I really do feel that David Hasselhoff managed to get a lot out of the experience.

Life hasn't always been so good to David Hasselhoff however.  It's hard to overlook the video of a drunk Hasselhoff attempting to scarf down a cheeseburger while his daughter filmed him.  It was almost painful to watch, really.  He has also had to deal with a boatload of personal problems such as the dissolution of two marriages, and a bizarre incident where he slashed his tendon in an accident involving a chandelier breaking above him, as well as alcohol-related problems. 

For now, he seems to be on the straight and narrow, and one thing that I can say about David Hasselhoff is that he does have a great sense of humour.  He played himself on the Spongebob Squarepants movie (and coincidentally has the bust of himself used in the movie prominently displayed inside his home), and he was the subject of a celebrity roast hosted by Seth MacFarlane on Comedy Central.

There's also his singing career, which really never took off in North America.  More often than not, it is mocked in North American culture, such as this literal video version of his cover of 'Hooked On A Feeling'.



And, you know, given his penchant for poking fun at himself, and his reaction to his own roast, I reckon he'd get a kick out of it.  But, in all honesty, his singing career did strike a chord in European fans, in particular, Germany.  Did you know that in 1989, he had two number one hits on the German music charts?  That's quite impressive, especially when you consider that well known artists like James Brown and Bruce Springsteen have never had number one hits of their own in their own country! 

Maybe there's more to the Hoff than we all thought, huh?

Of course, television made him a star in the first place, and his television resume was quite impressive.  One of his first roles on television was on the soap opera 'The Young and the Restless".  He played Snapper Foster for seven years!  Considering that many soap actors are lucky to get a contract for a year or two, that is definitely a good run.  Following his leaving the Y&R in 1982, he starred in 'Knight Rider', where he enjoyed a four season run.  I would love to talk about Knight Rider some more, but I was kind of young when it aired, and honestly, I don't even remember watching one full episode of it.

Though I do know KITT, and I loved that car.

No, instead I'll talk about his third big show.  A show that I myself watched for quite a few years.  A show that much like David Hasselhoff has gotten a bad rap, and is made fun of quite often.  A show that you all probably know.


Baywatch.  A show that found new life in syndication.  A show about lifeguards in California doing what they do best.  Saving lives, cleaning up pollution, managing work and personal relationships.

All in little red swimsuits.

I'll readily admit to watching this show the first few years it was on.  I think I was thirteen when I hit my peak of Baywatch watching.  The storylines were somewhat predictable, but I liked watching it.

Well, okay...I liked watching the female lifeguards.

Okay, okay, I had a Pamela Anderson poster of her in her Baywatch uniform hanging on my bedroom door for three years, are you satisfied now? 

(And, this is coming from someone who actually preferred Alexandra Paul and Yasmine Bleeth...)


Certainly, that was one of the main complaints that I heard about Baywatch when it was in its heyday.  It was too sexist.  Looking back on it now, I can see where they're coming from in some ways.  Did anyone find it a little too convenient that whenever Baywatch aired a classic slow motion sequence, Pamela Anderson featured in well over half of those shots?  I don't see it as much of a coincidence, really.

The show was often made fun of in popular culture.  The storylines were often panned as being everything from incredibly dull, to impossibly farfetched.  A lot of the actors on the show (in particular during its later seasons) were mostly cast for eye candy, and admittedly had about as much acting experience as a ninth grade drama student, and the show even relocated to Hawaii during the latter third of its entire run.



It even inspired a parody of the show called 'Son Of The Beach', which was created by Howard Stern in 2000.  I've seen a few episodes of this show, and well...let's just say that it's pretty raunchy stuff.  I'll leave it at that.

So, you would think that I would have a difficult time with this show.  I may have painted David Hasselhoff in a somewhat decent colour, but can I do the same with Baywatch?

The answer is...I will most certainly try.

First things first, one must realize that Baywatch wasn't just a one season show.  When it premiered on April 23, 1989 on NBC, many people didn't expect it to last one whole season.  As a matter of fact, after the first season, NBC wanted to pull the plug on the show.  It was through the efforts of Hasselhoff and the creators of the show that a new deal was reached to syndicate the show on cable television, because they believed in the show enough to see it last longer than one year.  The show took a break for one season, and debuted in syndication on September 23, 1991.

The decision to kick off the 1991/1992 season on cable television was a risky one, but as we would later see, it was a risk that paid off.  Not only did the show last an additional ten seasons (the show ended in 2001), but it was also the show that David Hasselhoff had the longest run on (he played Mitch Buchannon until the tenth season).  There was even a reunion movie that aired on television in 2003.

The show became a global phonomenon as well.  Not only was the show a hit in America, but at one point, the show was airing in every continent of the world except Antarctica.  The show even got recognized with a Guinness World Record, with a reported 1.1 BILLION people watching Baywatch all over the world.

Not bad for a show that was almost cancelled for good, wouldn't you say?



Now, for the acting.  It wasn't Shakespearian or even Broadway calibre, I must admit.  But, there were some acting diamonds in the rough.  I always thought Alexandra Paul (who played Stephanie) had some acting chops.  Other actors and actresses were either established actors before Baywatch, or had some minor success after the show.  These include Parker Stevenson, David Charvet, Yasmine Bleeth, Kelly Packard, Mitzi Kapture, and of course...Pamela Anderson.


And, say what you want about Pamela Anderson and all of her...assets.  People probably would not have watched the show as much if she hadn't have appeared on the show in the first place.  I get why some might have been annoyed at seeing her in the show, but to be honest with you, I really couldn't imagine the show without her.  Yes, the show premiered without her (Pamela Anderson joined the Baywatch cast in 1992 after leaving her role on the sitcom Home Improvement as the original Tool Time girl), but at the height of Baywatch, she was front and center in a lot of storylines.  I don't know if they necessarily worked in her favour, but I really never complained.  I know she tried her best, and that's all that really counted.

In fact, I'll let you in on a confession.  I actually stopped watching Baywatch the same year Pamela Anderson left.  Though in all fairness, she left in 1997, which is when most of the cast that was on when I began watching Baywatch left.  I kind of grew attached to the cast that was on when I started watching Baywatch in 1994, which is why I chose to post the video of the 1994/1995 season opener.  Mitch, CJ, Stephanie, Caroline, Matt, Logan, Hobie...they were what I remember about Baywatch.  They may not have had the most believable storylines, or even the most believable acting, but it's the cast that I most remember when I remember Baywatch.  It was a cast that really seemed to feed off of each other, and it was a cast that really seemed to have a lot of chemistry with each other.  There was no awkwardness that you might have seen on other shows.  In the reunion movie, most of the 1994 cast agreed to take part, even Alexandra Paul, whose character was killed off in 1997. 

When that 1994 cast was all but gone in 1998 (save for Mitch and Hobie), it just wasn't quite the same show for me, and by then, the plots kept getting recycled, and well, when the show relocated to Hawaii, that was the final nail in the Baywatch coffin.  That was the jump the shark moment for me as far as I was concerned.



It should be also made known that while the show could easily be seen as a live action version of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, it didn't exactly start that way.  During the first part of season one, there were only two female characters credited in the cast.  Shawn Weatherly and Erika Eleniak.

During season one, Weatherly's character of Jill was eaten by a shark, leaving Erika Eleniak as the only female leading character from 1990-1992.  And, rewatching those episodes, I actually find that I liked those shows better because the plots and the stories were more believable...but maybe that's just my opinion.



I guess my final opinion of Baywatch is that it set out to do what it accomplished.  The producers wanted a successful show about lifeguarding, and they got their wish.  But there was far more to it than that.  I thought the show was a bit underrated in a way.  Yeah, it did have some eye candy to gaze upon, I won't deny that...but it was fairly educational.  No, it didn't exactly teach you how to do CPR (or maybe it did and I missed that episode), but it did show a side to lifeguarding that seldom really saw.  Could you imagine being a lifeguard on a crowded California beach?  You would have to be on guard at all times, because on a beach that size, it would be very easy for someone to slip under the water and not be noticed.  In all actuality, I probably gained a whole new respect for the lifeguarding profession by watching Baywatch.  Before when I was kid, I used to not like the lifeguards for being so strict with the rules, but watching people in peril on that show (even though I knew they were actors) helped me understand why those rules were put into place. 


So in that sense, I salute Baywatch.  And, for that matter, I salute the Hoff as well, for showing us that there really is life out there beyond a red swimsuit and a viral video.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Monday Matinee: Liar, Liar

Have you ever told a lie in your lifetime thus far?

For about 99.9% of us in this world, the answer is yes.  The other 0.1% are either newborn babies, or in complete and total denial.

The truth is that most of us lie at some point.  It could be an instance where you're trying to spare someone's feelings.  Maybe you're lying to get a day off of work or school?  Maybe you lied about not doing a homework assignment, or getting a task done.

It happens.  I'll even admit to bending the truth a few times myself.

In retrospect, I can't really remember what it was that I lied about most often.  In all honestly, the likely cause was something to do with trying to get out of trouble.  Say I accidentally broke a mirror with a baseball that I shouldn't have been throwing in the house in the first place.  When my parents tried to give me trouble for it, I'd tell them that my sister broke it instead, or that I tripped and fell, and the mirror broke my fall, or that aliens invaded Canada and smashed every mirror in the neighbourhood, or whatever farfetched story my childlike mind came up with.

The problem with telling a lie is that at some point in time, they always come back to haunt you with a vengeance.  On the instance in which a lie was found out (which in the case of my childhood was always), I would end up in more trouble, and end up confined to my room or something like that.

Certainly lying to someone in general is something that is usually not condoned, and we should always strive to tell the truth whenever the need arises.  Especially if the lie that you are telling hurts the person you're lying to.

I think this would be a good time to bring up today's Monday Matinee.


Liar, Liar is a movie that was released in March of 1997.  It starred Jim Carrey as Fletcher Reede, a defense lawyer who has one flaw.

He lies.  He lies a LOT.

On one hand, this has proven to be a blessing for Fletcher.  Because of his bending of the truth, he wins case after case, which allows him to climb further up the corporate ladder of the firm he works for.  However, Fletcher's compulsive lying has a downside.



As a direct result of his lying, he is jeopardizing the relationship that he has with his young son, Max (Justin Cooper).  Because of Fletcher's desire to move up in the firm, he often puts work before his parental responsibilities.  He breaks promises to Max, and then when his ex-wife Audrey (Maura Tierney) confronts him about it, he lies and makes up a whole plethora of excuses to cover his own behind.  It's also implied in the movie that the reason why Audrey and Fletcher's marriage broke up was also due to his lies and deceit.

In other words, Fletcher is introduced as a cad who will basically spoonfeed lie after lie to his loved ones in order to satisfy his own selfishness.

I wouldn't classify Fletcher Reede as being a very sympathetic character at the beginning of the film.

One day at work, Fletcher's luck seems to be improving.  He is representing a woman named Samantha Cole (Jennifer Tilly) in an expensive divorce case, and if Fletcher can pull out a win, it may be enough to become a full-fledged partner in the firm.  However, in an incredibly sleazy back-up plan, Fletcher decides to sleep with his boss, Miranda (Amanda Donohoe) in a last ditch effore to become a partner.

As if this idea didn't make your skin crawl already, picture this.  The very night Fletcher was doing the horizontal Macarena with boss lady was the same night as his son's birthday party.  A party that Fletcher promised that he would attend.  So, when Fletcher ended up being a no-show at the party, it really broke Max's heart.  In an effort to cheer Max up, Audrey lights the candles on his cake, and tells Max that he can wish for anything he wants, and maybe it will come true.  Max blows out the candles, and...well...



Fletcher Reede, this is your life after one gigantic dose of instant karmic retribution, courtesy of your five year old son.

Truth hurts, doesn't it?

I mean, obviously, nobody would ever go up to a random woman and tell her that the real reason people are nice to her is because of her ample bosoms.  Well...okay, maybe some actually would, and they'd get a fist full of knuckles as a parting gift.

But this was what would plague Fletcher Reede the entire day.  From 8:15 that very night until 8:15 the next night, Fletcher Reede would be incapable of telling a fib, a white lie, a humongous whopper. 

Which proved to be incredibly problematic for Fletcher, for the timing could not be all wrong.

For one thing, Fletcher discovered that his ex-wife was planning to marry her new boyfriend (Cary Elwes), and that she and Max were leaving Los Angeles to move to Boston.  Having conversations with his ex-wife, and Fletcher telling Audrey that he skipped Max's party to boink the boss certainly didn't diffuse the situation any.  In fact, it made Audrey's decision to leave that much easier.

Then there was the problems at work.  Beforehand, he could lie his way out of awkward situations smoothly, and kept his social status high by telling his co-workers half-truths to keep them on his good side.  But when the ability to lie was taken away from him, and he was forced to shower them with brutal honesty, and possibly ending any social connection that he may have had.

Basically, if Facebook was around in 1997, he would have been unfriended.  A lot.

Try as he might though, Fletcher could not tell a lie.  He couldn't even write lies, or type lies, or do anything lie-related.


Now comes the kicker.  This all happens on the very day that the Samantha Cole trial is to begin.  There is a witness that is willing to testify on behalf of Samantha Cole, and is even willing to commit perjury to do it. 

But that wouldn't even be an option because Fletcher was unable to even ask a question where the answer would result in a lie.  During the course of the trial, he even objected to his own questions, which confused the opposing attorney, and angered the judge.

Add the fact that Miranda (who was still scorned over Fletcher's candid confession after their night together) had overheard Fletcher confess to being unable to tell a lie, and planned to use this to sabotage his chances of ever becoming a partner.

Basically, Fletcher was in a really precarious position, and he needed to find a way out.

Knowing that all of this started when Max made that birthday wish, Fletcher raced over to his son's school and pulled him out of class so that he could cancel out his previous wish and have things go back to normal.  Max isn't keen on the idea however, and refuses to honour Fletcher's wish.  Fletcher tries to explain that everyone lies in the world, including his mom and her new boyfriend.  Max isn't buying it, and in one of the most truthful statements in the whole film, Max tells Fletcher that his lies make him feel bad. 

It was at that very moment that Fletcher got his light bulb moment, although his light bulb wasn't shining very brightly at the time.

And, that's as far as I'm going to go with this, because I do not like spoiling movie plotlines (even if the movie is almost fifteen years old).  All I will say is that the light bulb moment flashes brilliantly at the Samantha Cole trial, where ironically enough, his inability to lie helps him win the case.  It is in the aftermath of the case that Fletcher really takes Max's words to heart, and makes an impulsive decision to stop Audrey and Max from leaving. 

Again, you'll just have to watch the movie yourself to find out how it ends.


I really enjoyed this movie a lot.  Jim Carrey was brilliant in the film, and all of the actors really made an unbelievable plot a little more believable. 

This movie also taught me a very important lesson about the subject of lies.  Lies can hurt people, even when you lie to spare their feelings.

If anything, this movie helped me learn how to be more truthful to others about how I am really feeling.

I really don't like showcasing too much of the negative aspects of my life in this blog too much, because I'm at the point in my life where I don't feel a need to showcase that piece of my life anymore.  I got it all out of my system now, and now that it's out, I feel so much better about myself.  It is true what they say about the truth being able to set you free.  I know that by being so open and honest about the pain and the struggles that I went through in my past, it has freed me to become the man I am now.  Which isn't a bad guy, if I do say so myself.

I wasn't always so honest though.  I didn't always tell the truth about what was happening with me in school.  When people saw that I was upset and they asked me what was wrong, I would always fib, and tell them that I was fine, and that they shouldn't worry.  The truth was that I wasn't fine.  I really needed to talk to someone about the bullying that I went through, and the emotional abuse that I was subjected to at school, but I lied about the real impact that it had on me because I was worried that people wouldn't take it seriously.  I honestly thought that most of them would say that I was overreacting, or that I was making it out to be bigger than it was. 

So, I kept my real feelings bottled up inside for a long time.  By the time they came out, they had been festering in bitterness and anger that I wasn't exactly sure of how to manage them.  It's taken time, but I think I'm a lot better at handling it.  Still, I kept lying to others about how I felt, while simultaneously lying to myself.  It was almost a vicious cycle.  The more I told others that things were okay when they really weren't, the more I ended up lying to myself. 

I managed to break that cycle, but I know how Fletcher felt in the movie.  Yes, it's a fictionalized situation that is very unlikely to happen.  The point is that the more lies Fletcher told in the movie, the more he hurt those closest to him.  And by hurting those closest to him, he ultimately ended up hurting himself the most.

Ultimately, Fletcher Reede saw the error of his ways, and he tried to set things right so that he could find his inner peace again.  I'd like to think that I'm doing the same, although my journey is nowhere near over at this stage. 

At least I can look back on this blog entry and say that it was written with one hundred per cent honesty.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Sunday Jukebox - A Commentary On The Death Of Amy Winehouse


I'm sure by now, everyone reading this blog has heard about the death of troubled soul singer Amy Winehouse, who was found dead at her home in London on July 23, 2011 at age 27.

As news quickly spread through media outlets and throughout social media, it became very clear that everybody had an opinion on Amy's passing.  Lately, it seemed that she was beginning to stray from the road to fame to dilly-dally in the land of infamy.  With her drug and alcohol dependency being well-documented, and the British paparazzi scrutinizing every move she made, it was almost as if Amy Winehouse had become a joke in a sense.  No longer known for the sultry, soulful voice that won her so many accolades just five years earlier, it was almost as if we were watching the media tear her apart with stories and articles that may or may not have been the whole truth.  Add in her relationship drama and bouts of irrational and erratic behaviour, and we were witness to a recipe for disaster in the making.

I certainly am not going to make any excuses for the way she lived life, but I do feel that there were some aspects that were quite unfair in retrospect.
I hate the way that the media descends on the personal problems of celebrities like vultures who haven't eaten in ten days, and then proceed to publish a slew of half-truths just to sell their magazines and keep their sponsors happy.  In fact, it infuriates me.

Yes, Amy Winehouse had her problems.  Yes, Amy Winehouse could have sought help at any time, but refused.  Yes, Amy Winehouse had some inkling that she would have to be in the public eye if she was to pursue a recording career.  Yes, Amy Winehouse's death could have been avoided. 

At the same time, no, I don't feel Amy Winehouse deserved the poison and vitriol and mean-spiritedness that some of these gossip rags had the gall to print.  She needed the same things that all addicts need.  Tough love.  Support.  The knowledge that there is life in sobriety.  Instead, all that the media gave her was scrutiny and despair, which may have sped up her demise.

I'm not saying that the press did not have the right to write any publicity for Amy Winehouse.  But there are limitations as to how far someone can go to get a story.  In fact, Winehouse herself obtained an injunction against a group of paparazzi for taking unwanted photos of her for publication under a United Kingdom law known as the 'Protection from Harassment 1997' act.  Soon after, photographers and paparazzi could not go within 100 metres of her home, and they were barred from taking photographs of her inside her home, as well as the homes of her immediate family and close friends.  The reason she did this was to protect herself and her family from them due to safety concerns.

I guess the opinion that I have regarding this is that I believe the statement 'all publicity is good publicity' is a load of horse dung.  Clearly, Amy Winehouse was uncomfortable with paparazzi invading her personal space, and I can't say I blame her one bit.  It is true that as a celebrity, Winehouse should have expected to give interviews and allow herself to be photographed, or filmed, or what have you.  Under the right circumstances, she would have been more than happy to have allowed it.  But some of those photographers crossed a line they had no business crossing in the first place, and in my honest opinion, it was one factor that may have lead to the self-inflicted destruction that would inevitably cost Amy Winehouse her life.

But, don't get me wrong.  I know that in the end, Amy had every possible opportunity in the world to try and overcome her addictions, and to become a better person.  The whole point for this blog is not to make judgment calls on anyone, and to not judge anyone harshly without reason.  Nobody knows what went on inside Amy's head except Amy, and while her death is heartbreaking for her family as well as her fans, there is something that we can learn from it.

Her problems with substance abuse have been well documented in the press.  While some media outlets skewered and distorted facts to make the articles more sensationalistic in nature, the fact remains that even Winehouse herself had admitted to the overuse of drugs and alcohol.  Winehouse's family speculated that the death of her grandmother may have kick-started Amy's dependency of substances, and in the summer of 2007, was hospitalized due to an overdose. 

Ironically enough, it was during this time period that Amy's singing career really began to skyrocket.  Having had great success in the UK with her 2003 debut album Frank, Amy's second album Back to Black received even more critical praise.  She had attained American success with the album, and at the 2007 Grammy Awards, she was nominated for six awards, and won five of them.  The categories she won an award in included 'Best New Artist', 'Record Of The Year', and 'Song Of The Year'.

Amy's personal life seemed to be hitting speed bump after speed bump, but her career was on smooth sailing.

I have heard that the irony pill is a really bitter one to swallow, and in the case of Amy Winehouse, not even sucking the juice out of fifty lemons could be as bitter as the irony that surrounded Amy's success.  For it was this song that really put her on the map.  A song that is the very definition of tragic irony, given her ultimate fate.


ARTIST: Amy Winehouse
SONG: Rehab
ALBUM: Back To Black
DATE RELEASED:  October 23, 2006
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #9

Although the song was initially released in the United Kingdom in late October 2006, it wouldn't be until early 2007 until the American audience was introduced to Amy through this song, which peaked at #9 on the American charts (and #7 on the UK charts).

What makes this song stand out is that the lyrics of the song are autobiographical.  The story behind the creation of the song was that Amy's management team wanted her to check into an alcohol treatment center, and she flat out refused to go.  She talked to her father about it and asked him his thoughts about it, and what she should do.  Her father told her that she should try it out but felt as though she didn't need it at the time. 

Hence the chorus,

"They tried to make me go to rehab, I said no, no, no
Yes, I've been black but when I come back you'll know, know, know
I ain't got the time and if my daddy thinks I'm fine
He's tried to make me go to rehab, I won't go, go, go.

Quite the song, eh?  Now that Amy Winehouse has passed on, these lyrics become even more haunting.

It's important to know that Amy Winehouse did attempt rehab on a couple of noted occasions, and I do believe that she wanted to better herself, especially after what would become one of her final public appearances before her death.

June 18, 2011 was supposed to have been a good day for Winehouse.  It was the kick-off to her 2011 European tour in Belgrade, and it had all the makings of being a great show.  It turned out to anything but.  It was bad enough that she had forgotten song lyrics as well as the names of her band members, but on top of that, she could not remember what city she was in.  She was reportedly booed off of the stage due to her being too intoxicated to perform, and three days later, she cancelled the remainder of the tour.

Did she have every intention of wanting to change after that incident?  Nobody can say for sure.  Certainly, she had sought help from a variety of sources in the past, but you could tell that she was, at best, flippant over the matter.  I would like to believe that she meant it when she said that she wanted to sort herself out, and honestly, I think in Amy's mind, she wanted to believe that too. 



Nobody could have known what kind of an impact Amy Winehouse would have had in the music business five, even ten years into the future.  Sadly, we will never know.  What we do know is that in the short time Amy Winehouse was alive, she breathed new life into the British music industry, and revived the genre of soul.  Her success in the United States helped up-and-coming British singers Duffy and Adele gain a following within America, and even current popular artists like Lady Gaga admits to being influenced by Amy Winehouse.  Amy's distinct look and unconventional appearance gave other women the strength to go after their dreams.  After all, if Amy could have success on the charts, there's no reason why they couldn't.

Amy Winehouse also had one of the best musical voices that I myself have ever heard.  Rich, soulful, smoky...it was very pleasing to the ear.  What was even more astounding about it was that Winehouse possessed real natural talent.  Unlike some of the current crop of singers and recording artists out currently, Amy never needed a voice modifier or crafty editing.  Her talent was real.  And that's the cruelest twist of fate in this very sad event.

As of this writing, we really don't know what killed Amy Winehouse.  However, no matter what the cause of death, it is sadly another example of great talent being lost forever, and a lesson for all of us in the horrible effects of drug and alcohol abuse.  I guess in some ways, I'm glad that I never so much as went down that road, even though I could have easily succumbed to it in my youth.  I'm happy that I didn't.  Watching people like Amy Winehouse lose everything because of it makes me not want to touch another drop of alcohol ever again.  And I've seen too many people do that to themselves to start anytime soon.
I just hope that when the dust settles and all the pieces to the puzzle are put together, that Amy Winehouse will finally be able to rest in peace.  More importantly, I wish that one day, people will look past the tabloid reports and the demons that haunted her in life, and in death, remember her for the musical talent she brought forth in a life that was cut too short.
 


Amy Winehouse
1983-2011

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Saturday Morning: Chip 'N' Dale's Rescue Rangers

On yesterday's entry, I talked about how the typical sitcom seems to be losing its lustre against cheaply made reality programs.

Today, I'll be talking about the death of Saturday Morning cartoons, and how I wish that somewhere down the line, network executives will realize that we don't want extended weekend news programs, or infomercials.  We want Saturday mornings back to the way they used to be, with hours of cartoons.

I'd even watch a half hour of nothing but retro cereal commercials, just so I can watch the Cookie Crisp robbers or Fred Flintstone get cheated out of yet another box of Fruity Pebbles by Barney Rubble.

In fact, I'm just going to come out and say it.  I hate that the children of today are getting gypped out of the opportunity to experience a good old-fashioned Saturday morning cartoon experience.  I hope that with this blog, I inspire a lot of memories and fond remembrances of cartoons gone by for people my age and older.  I also have a secondary goal of introducing these wonderful cartoons to the kids of today with great hope that they can take even a little bit of the Saturday morning magic that we adults wish we still had.

Back when I was a child, you had cartoons that aired all morning long, and then around noon, they would break for the weekend news break.  On some stations, the cartoons would continue running until six o'clock in the evening.  That's almost ten solid hours of cartoon watching!

Mind you, I didn't spend ALL ten hours in front of the television.  That would have just been silly. 

Truth be told, when a lot of the Canadian channels used to air cartoons until six o'clock, they would just rerun the more popular cartoons that aired earlier in the day.  This worked for me though, because back when I was younger, I usually only watched the one network (more often than not, it was NBC), and watching them in the afternoon, I could get caught up on the shows that aired on ABC and CBS.  Good times to be had.  For many years, I would watch cartoons on and off, and had so many fond memories of watching them all.  Of course, you knew that Saturday cartoons could only air for so long, and around five o'clock, when Global aired The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show, that the end of another Saturday was here.

I guess I feel bad for the children of today.  They can choose between news programs, informercials, and four-year-old episodes of Hannah Montana and That's So Raven.  To me, that's not even a choice at all.  It's pathetic that Saturday mornings are so...well...dull now.  Especially looking back and knowing that they weren't always.

Case in point...this block of cartoons that I used to watch on a station called ITV (which later became Global Edmonton).


The Disney Afternoon.  Two hours of classic Disney cartoons that would air from 3:00-5:00 pm Ontario time.  They showed all the classics such as Gummi Bears, Darkwing Duck, Tale Spin, and so many more.

I'm forming a tear in my eye just thinking about it.

The way the Disney Afternoon worked was that they would air cartoons and sometimes depending on where you watched it, you'd have a host broadcasting viewer birthdays, or going on live remotes that were Disney themed (on the station I watched it on, the host was Mike Sobel, who is now Global Edmonton's weather personality). 

There were lots of shows that I could have featured as a part of the Disney Afternoon.  Heck, I could have done a blog entry on the Disney Afternoon itself.  But that would take away from the joy and the excitement that each show would bring.  So I thought that I would open up the Disney Afternoon vaults and look at a random show, and try to find out why I liked it so much.  (And at some point, the whole schedule will be posted as future entries.)

So to kick it off, I'll start by featuring a show that was one of my favourites in the Disney Afternoon block.



Ah, Chip 'N' Dale Rescue Rangers, how I do love you!

I'm being absolutely serious as well.  If I could make a list of all of my favourite classic Disney characters ever, Chip and Dale would make the top of the list each time.  These chipmunks always kept me entertained in their classic cartoons, but were more of less forgotten about over time in favour of more established characters such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

That was until the late 1980's when the chipmunks were given a new lease on life.

Created by Tad Stones and Alan Zaslove, when the Rescue Rangers show was first thought up, Chip and Dale weren't even to be a part of the show initially.  Some of the characters that would appear in the show were created and managed to stay on, but the lead character was supposed to be a mouse named Kit Colby, dressed in a fedora and fluffy collared jacket, much like the character of Indiana Jones.  The idea was pitched to Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg who loved the idea, but weren't too keen on the creation of Kit Colby.

Eisner suggested dropping the character of Kit Colby, and replacing them with Chip and Dale, since they were already established Disney characters.

After the show was retooled to include Chip (given Kit Colby's outfit), and Dale (given a Hawaiian shirt that made him resemble Magnum P.I.), the show was given the title of Chip 'N' Dale Rescue Rangers.  The premise was for Chip and Dale to open up a detective agency and solve crimes that were too small or insignificant for the police to be called in.

A preview episode of the series debuted on August 27, 1988, and seven months later in March 1989, the official series kicked off.  Below is the episode 'Catteries Not Included', the preview episode that aired back in 1988.




The reason why I chose this particular episode was because it was the first one that debuted on television (despite the fact that it is labelled episode two, but also because it does a great job of introducing and establishing the characters.  It also explains why Chip and Dale opened up the detective agency.

If you've seen the episode, the little girl in the episode was looking for her lost cat, and the police flat-out refused to help her in finding him, saying that lost cats were out of their jurisdiction.  So Chip and Dale took on the case, trying to reunite the cat with its owner, while at the same time stumbling onto a bigger mystery in the process.

That's really how every episode worked.  They started off on small cases, but inadvertedly ended up contributing to solving a bigger mystery, or stopping larger crimes. 


Naturally, the main driving forces behind the success of the Rescue Rangers were Chip and Dale.  Chip is the more serious of the duo, and is so responsible and eager to get the job done that he's often accused of being a sort of killjoy.  Sometimes, he is so set in his ways and the orderly manner in which he likes to work that he often has arguments with Dale, who is way more laid-back.  Dale has a mischievious side to him and sometimes gets into trouble with his irresponsible personality.  He likes to have fun in his spare time, and has an addiction to sweets.

Basically, Dale is quite a bit like I am...only I have Chip's responsible nature.  Most of the time.

Chip and Dale do make a great team regardless, and often their teamwork (while usually on different pages in the same book) blends well and gets tasks accomplished.  With arch-enemies like Fat Cat and Norton Nimnul creating one mad scheme after another, the detectives always had to keep an eye out for danger.  But they didn't just do it alone.  They had three friends who were willing to help them through.


First, you had Australian mouse Monterey Jack (or Monty for short), a mouse descended from a long line of travelling mice.  He spent years touring the world before running into Chip and Dale and joining the detective agency.  He even had a personal score to settle with Fat Cat after he was responsible for destroying his home.  Monty proves to be a great ally for Chip and Dale.  With his huge size, he definitely has more strength than the others on the team, however he has a quick temper.  He also has a weakness, related to his strong addiction to cheese products.  Whenever he sees cheese or smells cheese in any form, he is immediately drawn to it.  Even his eyes show off a hypnotic glow whenever cheese is in the picture.



Next, we have Zipper, a green housefly who happens to be the sidekick of Monty.  Don't let his small size and unintelligible gibberish (which only Monty and other insects can understand) fool you into thinking he's weak.  His intense loyalty towards his friends can give him superhuman strength when the situation calls for it, and his ability to fly and sneak into small spaces are a huge asset to the team.



Lastly, you have Gadget Hackwrench, a female mouse, and the mechanic and inventor of the team.  She was the one who designed the Ranger Plane, and can take ordinary household items and turn them into something fantastic and useful.  Sometimes her inventions can stop working, or even fail entirely at the worst possible moment, but she does try new things.  Chip and Dale both have a crush on her...crushes that remained unreciprocated for the duration of the series.  Monterey Jack treats Gadget like a daughter (he was friends with her deceased father), and it was Monty who introduced Gadget to the team.

I think this show was a fond favourite of mine because it showed us that size is insignificant to determination.  Nobody would expect a couple of chipmunks, two mice, and a housefly to break open some of the biggest cases in the whole city, but they managed to do exactly that.  It may not have been exactly what they wanted to do, or they may have done it by accident trying to solve another case, but the fact remains that at least they made the effort to make things right, when their human counterparts never gave it a second glance.

The Rescue Rangers were my heroes, and until they left the Disney Afternoon timeslot in the fall of 1993, I watched them every Saturday.

I just wish other kids could enjoy them just as much as I did.