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Friday, August 12, 2011

TGIF Actor Spotlight: Valerie Harper

I thought that I would try something new for the Friday celebration of sitcoms gone by...mainly because I seem to be running out of television shows to talk about (actually, I'm not, I'm just trying to get more bang for my buck).

Instead, for this edition, I thought that I would do a sort of actor profile for this segment, just because I think that there are a lot of actors and actresses that really deserve to have the spotlight on them once in a while.  In the case of this actress, she's had quite a bit of success in the television world, and has played some very memorable characters on screen.  But that was nothing compared to the fight that she would endure during the filming of one of her sitcoms where the end result could have cost her dearly.

But, let's get to that a little later.


Today's TGIF blog entry is all about the talented and lovely Valerie Harper.  Her wittiness and comedic talents helped guide her through a long-lasting career, and she acted in musicals, television, and film.  And might I also add that she looks amazing, even into her early seventies!

Speaking of the early seventies, that was ironically enough the time period where Valerie Harper's name started being heard all throughout living rooms in America, and the rest of the world.

Although she had bit parts in feature films, and had done most of her acting work through stage productions, it wasn't until a casting director noticed her at a small theatre performance that she got her first big break.  In 1970, she was cast in a brand new sitcom set to debut on September 19 of that year.



Although the show was called The Mary Tyler Moore show after its star, Valerie Harper managed to score a really decent role.  She played Rhoda Morgenstern, who was best described as a wise-cracking Jewish New Yorker, who also happened to be Mary Richards' (Moore) best friend who lived in the apartment above her.  The Mary Tyler Moore show became one of the most talked about programs of the 1970's, and ended up running until 1977.  The premise was that Mary Richards was a thirty-year-old independent career woman who didn't need a man to support her or love her to be what she wanted to be.  Something that back in 1970 wasn't exactly shown.  As women's liberation groups started to gain ground, and more and more women were beginning to seek out careers, they looked up to Mary Richards.  They figured that if she could make it, then there was hope for them as well.

What really made the show take off in its first years were the scenes that showed the friendship between Mary and Rhoda, such as in this scene.


No jealousy between them.  No man to come in between them.  They were just really good friends, and they know that whenever one had a problem, they could always talk it out (much to the amusement of the studio audience).



Rhoda's character proved to be a huge hit though.  So huge that in 1974, after the fourth season of The Mary Tyler Moore show, the idea was pitched to give Rhoda a spin-off.  Spin-offs were very risky.  A few managed to have long-lasting success, but the track record for spin-offs wasn't very high.  However, it was a risk that Harper decided to take on.  Valerie Harper left The Mary Tyler Moore show at the conclusion of season four, and in 1974, Rhoda premiered.


Now, that's not to say that Valerie Harper cut all ties with The Mary Tyler Moore show, as Mary Tyler Moore herself guest starred in some episodes of Rhoda, and when The Mary Tyler Moore show ended in 1977, Rhoda was there to say goodbye.  There was even a reunion movie between Mary and Rhoda that aired in early 2000.

Still, when Rhoda premiered on September 9, 1974, it managed to break a record upon its first airing.  Would you believe that when Rhoda first premiered, it debuted at the #1 position on the Neilsen ratings scale?  And that no other television show can boast that distinction?  Ever? 

Eight weeks later, on October 28, 1974, the episode where Rhoda gets married aired, which saw the cast of The Mary Tyler Moore show appear on the show to give their blessings.  Apparently, Rhoda Morgenstern's wedding to Joe Gerard was such a huge success in the ratings that it was the highest rated television episode from 1974-1977 (when the miniseries Roots premiered).  The wedding episode surpassed the ratings for Monday Night Football, and when the episode was over, Howard Cosell reportedly welcomed everyone back to the game as he had not been invited to the wedding.  CBS even started receiving actual wedding gifts to give to the fictional couple.

And that's how you have an impact on the audience.  And that was all because of Valerie Harper's portrayal of Rhoda. 


Although the fictional marriage did not last (and what many fans of Rhoda believe to be the show's 'jump the shark' moment), the fact that the show ran for four and a half seasons did show that Rhoda could have just as much success as Mary Richards.  Part of it came from the fact that the show did have a strong cast backing her up.  In the picture above, you see Nancy Walker as Rhoda's mother, and Julie Kavner (who some may know better as the voice of Marge Simpson) as Rhoda's sister, Brenda.

But Rhoda was the star of the show, and Valerie Harper helped make Rhoda a believable, sympathetic, beloved character for many who grew up watching the show.

I will say though that my first experience with Valerie Harper wasn't with Rhoda or The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  Since I wasn't born until the early 1980's, I completely missed both of these shows during their original run.  Though I was lucky enough to witness Valerie's next venture into having sitcom success.  Sadly, the way this sitcom experience ended for her was on a sour note, and it actually caused one of the biggest behind-the-scenes battles reported.



The television sitcom, Valerie, premiered on NBC on the first day of March, 1986.  It starred Valerie as...well...Valerie.  Valerie Hogan was a working mother trying to balance a career with raising three boys, all while her husband worked as an airplane pilot.  Often, this would be the source of much of the conflict and comedy of the sitcom, as Valerie would often have to deal with the situations by herself.  Her sons included girl-crazy David (Jason Bateman), bookish nerd Mark (Jeremy Licht), and the athletic, but incredibly irresponsible Willie (Danny Ponce).  Often times, Valerie would often end up in the middle of it all, and would be left to try and sort out the various problems of the boys.  When Valerie gave David a job at the antique place where she worked, David's laziness and nonchalant attitude for the job really gave her a headache.  When Mark ended up mooning the school assembly, Valerie was mortified and furious.  And when Willie started developing a potty mouth, she was forced to wash his mouth out with soap to get him to stop his attitude.

It was basically a day-to-day challenge every day for Valerie.


The show itself was a family comedy, but I don't think it was as preachy as other family sitcoms were.  In fact, looking back on older episodes, I thought that the humour really was quite good.  Valerie Harper was brilliant in the role, and she had one-liners that could stun almost anyone.  The lessons learned in the show were presented realistically, and without any sort of sugary sweetness.  There was some slapstick comedy, but it didn't overshadow the main point of the show, which is what Valerie Harper wanted.

In fact, an episode called "Bad Timing" aired in early 1987, and focused on the issue of teen sex.  The episode was presented candidly, and even showcased the first prime-time use of the word 'condom'.  That episode was later released on home video, specifically for teachers and health educators to show to students in schools, but I can't really say that I remember watching it in health class...anyone out there who did?  I'd love to hear from you!

For the first two seasons of Valerie, the show followed that formula without any concern, and ratings were quite good.  However, Lorimar Telepictures (the company that produced Valerie) and Miller/Boyett productions wanted to make some changes to the program.  Because of Jason Bateman's rising star power, the company wanted to move the focus of the show to the younger cast members, instead of making it a family show with family based issues.  As well, due to the recent success of Perfect Strangers (another Lorimar and Miller/Boyett show that premiered just three weeks after Valerie), the company wanted to add more slapstick comedy in place of the more realistic humour that Valerie had during its first two seasons. 

By then, Valerie had managed to obtain some creative control for the show (considering that the show was named after her, the decision made sense), and she vehemently disagreed with the idea, and wanted to continue the show the way that it was.  When the show went on hiatus during the summer of 1987, both sides continued to battle over what was best for the show, but neither side seemed to budge.

So when the decision was made to write Valerie Hogan (and Valerie Harper) off the show, needless to say, it came as a huge shock.  Not just to Valerie Harper, but to television viewers in general.  Very few shows continued on after the main character left the show, and the outlook for Valerie was not so good. 

The decision was made though to get a new female lead.  Sandy Duncan was brought onto the show as Sandy Hogan, Valerie's sister-in-law, and when season three premiered, the opening was changed accordingly.


Now, granted, that was the 1990 opening of The Hogan Family, which was the series THIRD name change.  When the show came back in 1987 after Valerie Harper's firing, the show was known as Valerie's Family.


It was explained that sometime during the hiatus on 1987, that the character of Valerie Hogan was killed off in a car accident (that's ONE way of making sure that she would never come back), and that Sandy would be coming in to help raise the three boys.  What made it kind of peculiar was that in Sandy's introductory episode, the kids didn't seem all that broken-up about Valerie's death.  They even got into a food fight!  It just didn't seem to ring all that true until it was explained that Valerie had died six months ago.

The real grieving episode didn't come until a few weeks later.  In an episode specifically designed to teach families about having an escape route in case of a fire, the Hogan family household is severely damaged by fire.  The entire second floor and attic was a complete write-off, and the family lost quite a few belongings.  One of the more touching scenes in that fire episode was when David entered the charred remains of his bedroom and picked up a seared photograph, burned beyond recognition.  Although we cannot see the image inside, David's reaction makes it implied that the photograph was of his deceased mother, Valerie.  Sandy happens to witness the scene, and David and Sandy embrace each other with tears in their eyes.

Now, I'm not doubting that the scene (and for that matter the episode) was not moving.  It was.  And I am certainly not downplaying the acting ability of Sandy Duncan.  She brought her own stamp to the show and did a fantastic job.  And the show ended up running until 1991, so it was proof that the show could survive having a key player leave the show.

Truth be told though, there was a sense of hollowness in the fact that for this episode to take place, we had to kill off Valerie, and that's a decision that I never really agreed with.  Looking back on the whole show's run, some of my favourite episodes were the ones where Valerie was still in them.  Sandy was perky and cute, but Valerie was real.  And that's to the credit of the actress playing her.

Instead, it seemed as though the producers had the last laugh on Valerie Harper.  They killed off her character, burned any and all remnants of her in the fire episode and made out as if she had never existed.  And I don't care what people say.  It just didn't seem right to treat Valerie that way.  There would have been no show if she hadn't have kicked it off, and deep down, I think everyone knew it.

Valerie proved that she did have one more ace up her sleeve though.  In 1988, she countersued Lorimar for breaching her contract after they attempted a lawsuit of their own for claiming that she illegally broke her contractual agreements for the show.  Here's a news report on the story.



And, well...here's the end result.


Now, my honest opinion is that I'm happy that Valerie stood up and fought this.  Some may disagree with me on this point, but I really do think that Valerie ended up getting a raw deal, and here's why.

Suppose that I got the opportunity to take this blog and turn it into my own television show (not that it would actually happen to me, but let's just play along here and say that it did).  I would want to have as much control over the production of the show as I possibly could.  I would certainly like to have brainstorming sessions from others over what ideas would work and what ones I should forget about, but I would like to think that I would have the opportunity to stay as close as I could to my original vision.  So for someone to come in and start making changes to my own work would bother me a lot. 

Keep in mind that when I describe the word 'changes', I don't necessarily mean people coming in to offer ideas on how to improve it.  I'm all for constructive criticism and hearing ways in which I can attract more viewers.  The problem arises when so many changes come at once that it becomes less like my vision, and more like someone else's.  I think that's why I can understand why Valerie was so frustrated with Lorimar.  She had a vision for a sitcom that really seemed to be doing well, and that people really seemed to take to.  Clearly one of those 'if it ain't broken, don't fix it' scenarios.  Lorimar ended up wanting to change the show so much that it wasn't what Valerie wanted at all.

And if you can't believe in a new vision, it's hard to give your all towards it.

There's a lot of conflicting theories behind what really happened to make Valerie leave, but it seems the one that is widely believed is that Valerie was in fact fired from the show due to the conflict she had with Lorimar.  Regardless of what it was, I know that if someone logged onto my blog and told me exactly how I should run it, I would not take too kindly to it, and I'd probably stand up for myself.  Just like Valerie did for herself.

And in the end, she was given vindication to the tune of nearly two million dollars.

That's why I probably admire Valerie Harper more than other actresses in the business.  She has the talent, she has the looks...and she has major guts.

Valerie Harper, I salute you.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Thursday Arcade: Princess Tomato In The Salad Kingdom + Commentary on the UK Riots

You know, this is supposed to be the blog entry about video and arcade games, and believe me, I will be talking about a video game that very few might not have even heard of a little later on down this entry.  But, I really want to speak out about some current events that are going on in the world that I will attempt to segway into this video game to link them together.

I'm sure by now that everyone has heard about all of the rioting and violence that is currently happening in England as I type this.  The damage is widespread, the crime is outrageous, and a few people have even lost their lives as thousands of people have taken to expressing their viewpoints through fear, force, and brutality.

It all began on August 4, 2011 when a 29-year-old man was fatally shot by British police officers in the Tottenham area.  Two days later, friends and family of the deceased launched a protest march to seek justice for his death.  Initially, the protest was done peacefully, and the group had camped outside of the police station demanding answers behind the man's death.  But when a group of younger people armed with weapons approached the area, it got ugly really fast.

It's really hard to say what exactly caused the riots to become more violent and widespread.  Obviously the above protest against the shooting was one reason, but other reasons include gang culture, recreational violence, unemployment concerns, police tensions, and criminal opportunism. 

As of this writing, the riots have spread to London, Manchester, and other major cities in Britain.  Fires have destroyed several shops, and people are becoming victims of violence, crime, and abuse.

A similar incident happened back in June 2011 upon the conclusion of the Stanley Cup finals in Vancouver, Canada.  When the Canucks lost the cup, people in the city turned over police cars and set them ablaze, as well as looted several downtown shops.

To me, it is absolutely unfathomable for me to watch people who should know better taking part in such destructive activities.  I don't care what these people think they are fighting for, or how good an excuse they may have for their uncouth behaviour.  When people lose their businesses or homes to a group of people setting them on fire, that's wrong.  When people are being robbed of their possessions just because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, that's wrong.  When people lose their lives over a senseless excuse to cause trouble, that is absolutely inexcusable.

The thing that I find quite disgusting about the way that this is unfolding is the fact that so many children are getting involved in this.  Children as young as ten years old smashing windows, breaking into stores, and stealing from innocent people.  First of all, where are their parents?  Are they just sitting back and doing nothing about their unruly kids, or are they actively taking part in the riots themselves?  And secondly, do these children really think that the actions that they are undertaking are going to HELP them?

I mean, let's look ahead to five, ten years down the road.  Some of these kids will be teenagers.  Assuming that they try applying to colleges or wanting to look for work, how good is it going to look when there is a record of them actively taking part in the London riots of 2011?  I'm going to take a shot and say that it's not going to look good for them at all.  And, the idea that these kids think that they won't get caught?  Hello?!?  This is 2011, the year where social networking, Blackberries, and Iphones are readily available to snap your picture.  All it takes is one person to tag you in a photo where you're setting a car on fire and voila, instant criminal record.

And do these people realize that for every child that takes part in these senseless riots are millions more who are absolutely scared over what is happening?  I mean, what kind of an example are they setting?

These riots are not the way to go.  They are, at best, a cowardly demonstration that people only seem to want to be a part of to 'join the bandwagon', and to 'feel like they are a part of something bigger'.  The problem is that so many of these people don't have anything to fight for, and they're just using it as an excuse to cause trouble and mayhem.

That's shameful.

I mean, a lesser example would be someone invading someone's vegetable garden at their house, and destroying everything inside of it.  Uprooting carrots, smashing sunflowers, flooding the soil, and stealing as many veggies as you could.  They may think about how they have really scored a great deal, but they don't realize, or don't care about repercussions.  They don't realize that maybe that vegetable garden is one of the sources to providing food for the whole area and that because of their selfishness, others will have to pay for it.

That's how I see the end result of these riots.  The riots will eventually get under control, but then what?  You have thousands of people who will now have criminal records because of it.  Businesses that may or may not be rebuilt, and people who may or may not be homeless.

It's pretty disgusting. 

The only thing I can say in all this is that I hope that those innocent people in Britain stay safe and try to stay out of the fighting and the despair, and to NOT go the route of the angry vigilante, because that will just make things escalate.  And for those of you who are taking part in this senseless violence, please stop now.  You're only causing more of an embarrassment for your country, and eventually, you will get caught and have your name associated with a terrible and stupid fight forever.

The rioting needs to stop.  Yesterday.

Now, onto today's featured video game.

Earlier, I brought up the comparison of the riots in Britain to destroying a vegetable garden, and this game sort of lies along that thought. 


The reason I wanted to talk about this game is because not a lot of people in North America have played this game, or even so much as heard of the game.  It did develop a cult following though, and I'm one of the first who will admit to playing this game a lot when I was younger.

Princess Tomato In The Salad Kingdom was first created back in 1984 for Japanese computer systems.  It was ported to the Famicom game console in May 1988, and was released in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System three years later in 1991.

The storyline for the game is a simple one, and it's probably one of the few instances of entertainment where it's okay to play with your food.  It is in fact encouraged for them to do exactly that, since 95% of all the characters in this game are fruits and vegetables!

One day, the evil Minister Pumpkin invades the Salad Kingdom and kidnaps Princess Tomato.  In addition, he steals the Turnip Emblem, and imprisoned both of them in his castle, nestled in the middle of the Zucchini Mountains.  From there, he assembled a group of humans, known as the 'Farmies' to wreak havoc in the Salad Kingdom.  They harvested vegetables for eating, they destroyed vegetable gardens, they made the citizens afraid to leave their homes.

(Now do you see the connection with the first part of this entry?)

The disappearance of Princess Tomato and the constant invasions of the kingdom by the Farmies wreaked havoc on King Broccoli.  (On a side note, I am still trying to figure out how a stalk of broccoli can spawn a tomato...I mean, I got the whole tomacco thing that The Simpsons created, but this defies all logic.  Though, then again, so do vegetables that can talk and have feelings)

King Broccoli ended up dying of despair and heartbreak, but before he passed away, he enlisted the help of a knight named Sir Cucumber to bring Princess Tomato home with the promise of her hand in marriage.

(Apparently, arranged marriage is popular in the vegetable kingdom.)

So, Sir Cucumber sets off on his quest to rescue the princess from Minister Pumpkin.  In the first stage of the game (there are nine levels altogether which takes you through such places as Orange Park, Peanut Plateau, Spinach Heights, and even Saladoria Prison!) you come across a thirsty persimmon named Percy.  If you managed to get some water for him, let him take a sip of it, and he'll be so grateful that he'll accompany you on your way.


Just be warned.  At the end of each stage, Percy will lose some items that you've collected along the way.  Luckily, they aren't very important.  And Percy, despite his small stature does prove to be a huge ally in Sir Cucumber's mission.

Now, a little section on the mechanics of the game, just based on this screenshot.



You didn't believe me when I said that all the people, places, and things in the game all have a name directly linked to your grocery produce section.  I mean, Miss Apricot and Miss Lemon?  A banana as a waiter?  The Tutti Frutti Trio?  Yeah, you'll eventually meet every possible fruit and vegetable in this game from apples to yams.

Anyway, the game is your standard point-and-click game where you cannot move any further in the game until you solve puzzles.  Perhaps you have to deliver a sandwich to a person sleeping on a bench, or suppose you need a secret item to pass through a resistance base.  You just have to use the commands on the left and right hand side to your advantage.

If you want to schmooze someone for information, you might be wise to click on the praise button to butter them up.  If you see an item on the ground, the take button is your friend.  If you have to buy something from a store, the buy button is available, but only if you managed to find enough gold pieces to afford it.

There's also a Percy button, which is usually just Percy mumbling on about nonsense.  Though at certain times, he does offer up some hints to move on from one puzzle to the next.

Oh, and the fight button?  I'll explain that one now.  Occasionally, Percy and Sir Cucumber will run into enemies at random spots.  Usually they'll run into a couple of Farmies, but there are a couple of boss battles.  You'll fight a monster named Bananda, you'll run into a trio of monsters, and eventually you'll have the big battle with Minister Pumpkin.

But fear not...you need not use weapons, or fire, or magic to attack them.  You just have to know how to play rock, paper, scissors.

Yes.  Rock, Paper, Scissors.



This is the battle screen.  You are on the bottom of the screen, and your opponent is on top.  Your challenge is to win more hands of rock/paper/scissors than your opponent.  It's really not that hard, and in most cases, you will get a second, third, or eighteenth chance to conquer your foe (there is one battle that you can get a Game Over in, so be warned).  The mechanics are pretty simple though.  Paper beats rock.  Rock beats scissors.  Scissors beats paper.  It's not as hard as you think, and it's pretty simple to win.

Intrigued yet?  Want the chance to play?  Lucky for you, the game appears online for you to play whenever you want!  The link is below!

http://nintendo8.com/game/751/princess_tomato_in_salad_kingdom/

Hope you enjoy it, and hope you don't mind the simplistic graphics...it is a game that is almost three decades old, after all.  :)

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Across the Pond and Beyond: Astro Boy

How many of you out there dreamed of having a super power as a child?  I'm sure everyone out there has read a superhero comic book, or watched a super hero movie, or watched reruns of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.  So, I would hope that most of you would have an answer to the following question.

So, what superpower would you want to have?  Would you want to have the ability to walk through walls?  Have the ability to burn things with laser beams shooting from your eyes?  Would you want to have the permanent ability to fly?

It's a question that I always thought I could answer easily, but as it turned out, it's proven much more difficult as time goes on to pinpoint what super power I would want.

At first, I thought that X-ray vision would be the way to go...but I'm not one who likes to be spied on, so I can't imagine others would want to be either.  Then I thought about flying, but with my general discomfort for heights, that one was scratched off the list.  I also even briefly considered having the superpower of super human strength, but I shelved that idea after realizing that I could accidentally hurt someone if I didn't know what my own strength levels were.

In the end, I suppose that the one power I would probably want is the ability to teleport anywhere I wanted to in the world.  It would eliminate air fare, and I could see all of the beauty that the world has to offer in microseconds.  Yeah, teleportation would be cool.

Until then, I guess all that we can do is dream.

Unless of course, we created a robotic version of ourselves with all the super-human qualities that we ourselves might want.  Wouldn't be quite the same, but it would satisfy us for the time being, at least.


Yet that's exactly how Astro Boy came into our hearts almost sixty years ago. 

On this week's edition of 'Across The Pond And Beyond', we visit the country of Japan, where anime and manga are king.  And where a story about a little robotic boy made a huge impact not only in Japan, but all over the world.


Meet Astro Boy.  He really is a nice boy when you get to know him, but if you ever make him mad, he'll use his strength and his power to make you regret it. 

Oh yeah...he's also a robot.

The concept of Astro Boy was brought forth almost six decades ago.  In 1952, a man by the name of Osamu Tezuka drew up the sketch of Astro Boy, and in April of that year, the first appearance of Astro Boy was in a manga volume.

In case some of you are unfamiliar with the term manga, it's basically a Japanese comic book.  The word manga is loosely translated to 'whimsical drawings'.

And Osamu Tezuka was considered to be the 'God Of Manga' back in the day.  In addition to Astro Boy, he would also be linked to other animated series, such as Black Jack and Kimba The White Lion.

The manga proved to be a huge success in Japan.  So much so that in 1963, the manga series was adapted into a Japanese cartoon.  Below, you can see the original Astro Boy opening in Japanese.


Over the years, the show has been made and remade, and dubbed and redubbed so that a wider group of audiences could be entertained by Astro Boy.  The original series was brought to the United States shortly after the 1963 Japanese debut.  In 1980, a second version was made in Japan, and was brought over to North America in 1982 (which is the version that I grew up with).  A third version came out in 2003.



And in 2009, a computer animated version of Astro Boy was released in theatres, with Freddie Highmore as the voice of Astro.  So, Astro Boy is clearly one of those shows that have been seen by generations of kids.

So what was the appeal of Astro Boy?  And how did Astro Boy come to be made?

Due to various dubbings and translations from the original Japanese version, a lot of the origins of Astro Boy have been changed over the years, but the basic plotline remains the same.  Just for the sake of argument (and because there were a lot of changes from the original version and the 1980s version), I'm going to refer to the characters as they were referred in the 1980 series, just because it was the one I was most familiar with.  Though I'm sure if you want the original names of the characters, you could probably find them online somewhere.

Anyway, Astro Boy is set in the future, in a time where humans and robots live amongst one another.  The 1980 television series revealled that the Astro Boy series took place in Tokyo, Japan in the year 2030 (which considering that 2030 is less than twenty years away makes me feel old all of a sudden).  Astro Boy is created by a scientist named Doctor Tenma (though in the version I saw, he was named Astor Boyton II).  To cast a creepy shadow on Astro's creation, the robot was designed to look exactly like the deceased son of the scientist.  When Astro was first created, the man was initially kind and loving towards his creation, and showed him as much love as he could.  However, when it dawned on him that a robotic child could not fill the void of his lost son, he rejected his creation, and sold him to a nearby circus.

(Hey, it was Japanese manga...you want strangeness, go watch an episode of Sailor Moon.)



Eventually, Astro was rescued from circus life by the new interim head of the Ministry of Science, Professor Ochanomizu (or Dr. Elefun in America, or Professor Peabody in Canada) saw Astro in action, and decided to adopt the robot as his own.  The professor was a staunch robot-rights activist, and longed for a world where humans and robots lived side-by-side among each other in peace.  As Astro settled in to life with the professor, the professor treated him with kindness and warmth.  As time passed, the professor was surprised to notice that Astro had superior strength and skills, and that he was capable of showing human emotions, going against what Dr. Tenma insisted was an impossibility for a robotic boy.

From that moment on, Astro uses his powers to fight against evil and injustice.  His enemies were mostly robot-hating humans, out-of-control robotic machines, and even space invaders.

To make the series even more soap opera like, Astro was given an evil twin named Atlas.  The conflict between Astro and Atlas was a recurring theme during both the manga series and the television cartoon.

But, Astro had a lot of tricks up his sleeve and down his rocket powered red boots.  With over 100,000 horsepower and seven secret super powers, anyone who tangled with Astro was doomed from the very beginning.

And Astro wasn't exactly alone either.  As a gift to Astro, he was presented with a robotic sister named Uran (Sarah in the English localization), that the professor built for him.  Astro would also have 'parents' introduced to the series as well, to help him really feel like part of a family, which was important to him, since his original creator turned his back on him.

Still, you had to feel for Dr. Tenma.  As someone who is currently childless, I have absolutely no idea of what it would be like to have a child.  The idea of any father losing his child in a tragic way is absolutely horrible.  I can't even imagine how I would feel if I lost a child.

So, I guess I can see why Dr. Tenma worked so hard to try and create an exact duplicate of the child that he lost.  The fact that his son had actually given Dr. Tenma the idea to create a robot boy just before he died made him even more determined, as he was granting his child's final wish.

Of course, Dr. Tenma learned the hard way that nothing can ever replace a loved one.  Still, the way he abandoned Astro Boy was a bit cruel.  I understood why he did it, but I don't necessarily have to like it.

That's why when Astro was rescued by someone kind-hearted and patient, it was really cool to watch him grow and learn about the world, even though Astro was just a robot.  The professor didn't see him that way.  He knew there was something special about him, and he wanted to help him find out what it was.

I guess if there is a lesson that Astro Boy can provide for us to learn, it's that anybody can have an impact on someone, no matter how much of a wall they may put up for themselves.  The truly persistent and caring people of the world can find a way to break through those walls to bring out the greatness and inspiration that someone might not even be aware that they have.

And that's worth more than rocket powered boots in my honest opinion.

Tuesday, August 09, 2011

OMG! This blog is about texting!!! Isn't it GR8? Well...not really...

Remember how a couple of days ago at the end of my blog posting that I posted a video of Weird Al Yankovic's 'Amish Paradise'?  It was meant as a joke posting to offset a rather serious one that I talked about.

The more I think about it though, the more I think that song sort of describes me in a sense.

As far back as I can remember, I have never really embraced the idea of having the newest technological devices, or having any interest in keeping up with the latest gadgets and gimmicks that seemed to be offered up every six months or so.

In some ways, I almost feel like if there is such a thing as reincarnation, that in my previous life, I must have been Amish.

I have no interest in wanting to get a Kindle, as I prefer paper books anyday.  I certainly don't need an Iphone, Ipod, or Itunes in my Ilife.  And the only blackberry I would buy is in the produce department for $2.97 a container.

That's not to say that I have completely ignored technology as a whole though.  I do own a Nintendo DS and play it quite often.  I have a DVD player (and am thinking about upgrading to Blu-Ray at some point).  And obviously, I would not be writing this blog if I didn't embrace the wonder of the personal computer (though I do also enjoy writing in a notebook).

One thing that I swore to myself that I would never get would be a cell phone.  For years, I had thought that cell phones were one of the most obnoxious inventions ever invented in the history of modern technology.


For years, I always saw cell phones as more of an annoyance than an asset.  Though it wasn't necessarily because of the phone itself.  It was more because of the people using them.


I mean, sure, back when cell phones were quite rare, it was nice to see them appear.  It's hard to forget the massive paperweight sized monster of a mobile phone Zack Morris used in the early nineties on Saved By The Bell.  Since then, technology evolved in such a way that the cell phones shrunk in size and increased in how much it was capable of.

Unfortunately since then, the people using these cell phones have become more reckless and irresponsible in using them.

Take an incident that happened to me about ten years ago.  I don't even remember what movie it was that I had to review for my school newspaper that I worked at, but regardless, I had to go to a movie premiere to review the film for the entertainment section.  It was a really big deal for me because I had never been to a premiere for a film before, and since it was my first experience at a premiere, I wanted it to be perfect.

I know I probably overprepared for the movie, but I dressed up for the event (not like suit and tie...more like my best pair of jeans and a decent sweater), and I was really looking forward to being one of the first people to see the new movie that was out.

As it happened, the movie theatre was completely packed, so finding a seat was harder than I thought it was.  It also didn't help matters much that my bus got held up at every red light possible and I ended up just making it in time to see the previews.

I ended up finding a seat within the first four rows of the theatre.  I normally don't like sitting so close to the movie screen, but since I was assigned to review the film, beggars could not be choosers.  I ended up sitting right next to this woman who was impeccably dressed.  She looked as if she was about five, six years older than I was (I was barely 20 at the time this incident happened), and I was thinking that it was going to be a nice day to watch a movie.

I thought wrong.

About a half hour later, I hear chattering near me.  At first I thought nothing of it, as people sometimes talk during movies to ask their dates if they wanted more popcorn, or excusing themselves to use the washroom after one too many gulps of 7-Up from their oversized drink cups.  But for some reason, I thought that the chattering was a little too intense, and that the source was extremely close to me.  It made it hard to concentrate on the film because of it.  So, I looked around the theatre to see what the source was, and as it turned out, the woman sitting next to me was talking on her cell phone DURING THE MOVIE.

As if that wasn't bad enough, I could hear every word she was saying.  Therefore, it wasn't hard to pick up on the fact that not only was this idiot talking to someone on a cell phone during the movie, but the fact that she was on the phone with her boyfriend ENDING THE RELATIONSHIP is the epitome of classlessness, in my own personal opinion.

Honestly, I wanted to strangle this woman.  Like, seriously, I had a job to do, and her cell phone gabbing was preventing me from doing mine!  I wanted to say something, I really did, but then if I had and she caused a disturbance, I would have possibly been thrown out of the theatre.  In all likelihood, she would have been the one to go, but I didn't want to take the risk.

So, I sat in silence while the ignorant doughhead dumped her boyfriend through a handheld phone, while secretly wishing that the below scene from 1000 Ways To Die happened...



...well, okay, I'm not THAT violent.  But I can probably name about a dozen people who would be.

I think that incident sped up my total dislike for cell phones...more specifically cell phone users.

I know some people will argue with me about how important cell phones are to them, and how they cannot imagine life without them.  To which I reply 'you were doing just fine ten years earlier, weren't you?'.  But, I admit begrudgingly that cell phones if used correctly can be an asset.  If your car breaks down, you can call a tow truck.  If you're running late to a dinner event or a work related task, you can let them know in seconds.

In fact, in December 2010, I broke down, and received my very first cell phone ever.  It's nothing fancy.  Just a simple pay-as-you-go mobile phone that you add money to with phone cards.  It's the perfect plan for me, as I very rarely use a cell phone except for emergency purposes.  That's all I need to do with mine.  I don't need to go on the Internet with it, or play Angry Birds on it, or listen to music on it.  I just need it to make calls.

But, lately, it seems as though cell phones aren't really being used to make phone calls anymore.

Lately it almost seems as though talking on a phone using the phone keys and your voice is going 'old school'.


Apparently the thing that the cool kids are doing nowadays is something called texting.  I'm sure that I don't need to explain text messaging to all of you.  Chances are that 95% of you reading this blog have sent at least one text message to someone.  I'll even admit to sending the odd text message.  Heck, a few of you might even be accessing this blog through your handheld phones right now!

I don't text very often though.  For one, I tend to be quite verbose (as if you couldn't tell already), and the idea of typing in a text message with all of those kooky abbreviations doesn't appeal to me.  Of course, considering that there was a time where people got charged by the letter, it made sense why people tried to text in shorthand whenever possible.

I'm also very anal about spelling mistakes, so I tend to text in complete sentences written with immaculate grammar and spelling.  Not exactly the way the 'cool kids' text, but then again, I never really wanted to be a cool kid anyway.



Maybe I'm kind of acting like an old fogey when I admit this, but I really don't see the appeal of condensing perfectly good English words into a combination of letters and numbers that look more like binary coding or license plate numbers than an actual message.  Worse is when they take some of that text speak and incorporate it into e-mail messages, discussion forums, Facebook statuses, or even homework assignments!  Just because you can text doesn't mean that people automatically have the right to bastardize the English language.



Maybe on a funny T-shirt, it can be cute to look at, but just personally speaking, I much appreciate receiving a message that looks like a lot of thought went behind it.  To me, reading a message that is peppered with C U L8R, LOL, GTG, and other abbreviations is incredibly hard to understand.  I'd rather people took the time to type out the full words.  But, I guess that's just me, I suppose.

And some people I know are so obsessed with missing a text that they take their cell phones EVERYWHERE THEY GO.  At the supermarket.  At school.  In church.  I even recall someone who was in the bathroom talking on their cell phone as they...well...you know.  Classy.

It's almost become like a sort of addiction of some sorts.  I can recall one instance where I almost got plowed into by someone who was texting while steering a shopping cart.  I mean, common sense should tell you that driving any sort of vehicle, whether it be a car, truck, or shopping cart and texting is NEVER a good idea.

And people seem to take their cell phones to the world's most awkward and unacceptable places.  I've seen people bring cell phones to funerals.  I've seen people take cell phones to the bathroom (as I said before).

And while I admit that having my cell phone kept me in contact with the outside world when I was recovering from surgery, I certainly didn't use it while I was undergoing a medical procedure, or something similar.  I wouldn't have wanted THIS to happen.


Now, granted, this is an extreme example, and you more than likely are not going to be stabbed to death while trying to reach your cell phone on an acupuncture table, but the fact is that texting is an activity that is not without risk.  Text messaging can be a safe way to communicate with your friends, but only if you use common sense.  It's absolutely baffling to me to see how many people are so absorbed with their cell phones and gizmos to understand that there are dangers behind tuning everything else around you.

The stats are that accidents related directly to irresponsible use of a cell phone are rising.  Tests done by experts have seemingly proved that driving while texting was more dangerous than driving drunk.

Texting while driving has resulted in many accidents on the road, some with fatalities.  In fact, on September 12, 2008, a head-on collision between two trains in California killed twenty-five people.  The result of the crash was blamed on the operator of one of the trains, who had sent dozens of text messages while the train was in motion.

The idea of texting while driving is a notion that I would never partake in.  I'm not a very good driver undistracted...I don't need any additional things to monopolize my attention.  Common sense should tell people that texting while driving is not safe by any means.  It can become so easy to lose control of the wheel, and before you know it, you end up hurt or worse.

I know this blog entry sounds more like a public service announcement, but it's important.  I'm sick of people getting hurt and losing their lives because they can't seem to go anywhere without their phone.  Yes, it's handy to have for emergency purposes, but it shouldn't be a permanent appendage to your body.  And just like everything else in life, there's a right place and a wrong place to use a cell phone. 

I've talked about the lighthearted moments, like sitting beside someone at a movie theatre, but it's important you all see just how deadly texting while driving can be.

The following video may be a bit difficult to watch.  There are some graphic scenes in the video, so young kids may not want to watch.  But if there was ever a video that can show people just how deadly texting while driving can be, this is the one to watch.

Monday, August 08, 2011

Monday Matinee: The Little Mermaid

I'm sure that those of you who have been following this blog with some regularity the past two and a half months know that I often like to combine details of my own life with the subject of this blog.  That's just a part of what my writing style is.  Anybody can just talk about something that they saw on television or listened to on the radio in a monotonous measure.  I personally like to link those pop culture tidbits to a real life event in my life.  Sometimes, the memories are pleasant.  Other times, I wish they never happened.  But that is what the essence of life is all about.  Mixing the highest of highs with the depths of despair we encounter day after day.  Somehow, we manage to make it through another day, and life goes on.

The memory that I have to share with you today is a happy one, and one that happens to be linked to the movie that is being featured today in this blog.  That being said, the way that this memory came up might seem a bot unorthodox and even just plain weird.  Nevertheless, it's a memory that will always bring me great joy, and a memory that I'll likely continue to remember as I age and mature further into adulthood.

To begin the story, we'll have to revisit a particular period in my life.  A period that started off like any normal day.

It was September 2000.  I was just beginning living the life of a university undergrad student.  I was nineteen years old, living in Ottawa, Ontario, dreaming the dream, and trying to make it work.  It was about a week after going through Frosh week.  A time in my life most memorable by contracting food poisoning within the first week of classes.  Needless to say, it wasn't exactly one of my finer moments.

After about a week, I was ready to go back out there and face the world again.  By happenstance, my roommate and a couple of his friends were going to head out to the Rideau Centre (a large shopping plaza in the heart of Ottawa), and they asked me if I wanted to tag along.  Since I had spent a week in bed suffering from the after-effects of digesting tainted pizza, I was all for the idea of going out.

So, picture myself, my roommate, his friend, the two girls who lived down the hall with us, and another girl who also lived on the same floor we did, crammed inside a tiny car on our way to the Rideau Centre.  It was an experience that I'll never forget.

So, we got to the Rideau, went off in separate directions, bought some things for our rooms back at the dorms, and went on our merry way.

At some point, we had decided that just driving through the streets of Ottawa wasn't enough for us.  We needed to have some sort of cruising music to get us back home in style.  'Radar Love', 'Love Shack', heck, we would have even played a rousing chorus of Hanson's 'Mmmbop'.

Alas, the CD selection in the car we were in was quite limited.  Limited as in, there was none.  Add to the fact that the radio in the car wasn't working properly, and we were pretty much out of luck.

Ah, but not so!  One of the girls who was in the car with us had some CD's in her purse that she took along with her.  She grabbed a random CD out of the handbag, popped it in the disc player, and we sat back, waiting for some really rockin' music to blare out the open windows of the car on this abnormally humid September afternoon.

So imagine our shock and awe when this song began to play.


And I was like...HUH?

Just picture a group of eighteen and nineteen year old college students zooming down the heart of Bank Street without a care in the world...and having a song sung by a talking crab blasting out in full volume all the way down the street.

Surprisingly enough, we all had a laugh over the mishap, and what might have been an embarrassment for some turned out to be absolutely hysterical for the six of us in the car.  It was a hoot.  I loved every minute of it.

When we got home, the girl that had the CD confessed to us that the Little Mermaid soundtrack actually belonged to her five year old sister, who was in love with the Little Mermaid movie, and somehow she accidentally grabbed the CD with her when she was packing up her stereo.  And because we were noble, kind, open-minded people, we all told her to her face that we believed her story.

Even though we secretly suspected that she had fibbed a bit in the origin of the soundtrack's appearance in her CD rotation.

At any rate, this seems like a good opportunity to introduce the subject of the blog for today's Monday matinee!




My first experience with the Disney film 'The Little Mermaid' was quite a while back.  The first time I watched the movie in full was during fourth grade.  It was one of those holiday parties that we used to have in class (for some reason, I want to say that it was our fourth grade Valentine's Day party, but I'm not too sure).  After we had our Valentine's Day cake that the teacher brought in, and after we exchanged valentine cards, it was time to watch a movie for the rest of the class time.  This would be back in the winter of 1991, when Disney was just started to release their wide catalogue of movies onto VHS tapes.  One of those movies that had come out of the Disney vaults was the Little Mermaid, which one of the girls in out class brought in for us to watch.  Naturally, all the girls in my classroom were excited about the movie.  A lot of them had seen it in theatres when it debuted on November 14, 1989, and most were looking forward to it.

The boys in my class were a little less than enthused.  They would have rather seen the Ninja Turtles movie, or Batman, or even Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  Anything but the Little Mermaid.

I was a little bit intrigued though.  I had never seen the Little Mermaid in the theatres, and while most boys my age shunned the film, I actually wanted to see it.  As a kid, I had seen Bambi and Cinderella in the movie theatre in the days when Disney would re-release movies in theatres, and had my eyes glued to the movie screen the whole time while shoveling handfuls of buttered popcorn and Sour Patch Kids in my mouth.

Basically, as a kid, I had never seen a Disney film I DIDN'T like.  I was willing to give The Little Mermaid a chance.  I'm really glad I did too because it really was a masterpiece.  So much so that the movie is often credited with the beginning of a renaissance of sorts for the Disney company and animated movies in general.

The movie is loosely based on the fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.  It follows the basic plotline of the tale, but in true Disney fashion was changed enough to have a happier ending.

Because in the original version, the little mermaid ended up losing her life, which would have just ended any and all hope of having Disney pop out a couple of direct to video sequels and prequels.



Our heroine of the story is Ariel.  Ariel has just turned sixteen years old.  She's beautiful, she's got the voice of an angel, and she has fiery red hair, which seems to contrast with her soft-spoken voice and fragile looking appearance.

Oh, and she happens to be half human, half-fish.

That didn't seem to deter Ariel.  For the first sixteen years of her life, she had a happy childhood living under the sea in the kingdom of Atlantica.  Still, she had always dreamt of what life was like in the upper world beyond the crests of waves and ocean tides.  She often goes up to the surface to get updates about the human world courtesy of her seagull friend Scuttle.  She also goes on the hunt for human artifacts that have fallen into the ocean over the years with her pal Flounder.  Everything she finds seems to have some sort of value to Ariel.  It could be something valuable like a candelabra or a statue.  It could be something worthless like a fork.  It didn't matter to Ariel.  Her increasing curiosity of the human world combined with her attraction for odd looking things helped Ariel amass a sizeable collection of human artifacts and treasures.

Basically, Ariel was an underwater hoarder.



However, like the popular show 'Hoarders' that currently airs on A&E, Ariel had a reason for the accumulation of junk, much like those featured on the show.  Ariel really wanted to be a part of the human world.  She was fascinated by it, and didn't think that it was as scary a place as her father, King Triton, or Sebastian the crab had let her believe it was.  As Ariel said herself, how scary could a place be if it had beautiful things inside of it?  King Triton believed differently.  Because his only interaction with the human world was through fishermen, he assumed that all humans were predatorial, and therefore must be avoided at all costs.  He assigned Sebastian to watch over Ariel and Flounder to make sure that she never ventured up to the surface again.

Fate had a way of interfering in Ariel's life.  In this case, fate happened to be a member of royalty.

As it so happened, Ariel, Sebastian, and Flounder happen to witness a birthday celebration for Prince Eric.  The celebration takes place on a ship and once Ariel lays eyes on Eric, it is immediately love at first sight. 

Shortly after the celebration kicks off, a wild storm enters the path of the ship that the party is on, and the strong winds and powerful weather cause the boat to start sinking into the ocean.  Luckily almost everyone on board escapes without injury, but Eric happens to go down with the ship while trying to save his dog.

Ariel manages to rescue and revive Eric by singing to him, but when he wakes up, she's forced to leave as a search party locates Eric.  Eric never forgot the voice that sang to him, and vowed to locate the woman who saved his life, unaware that Ariel herself had her own wish.



So we have our conflict.  Eric wants to find the woman who saved him to thank her profusely and because he probably would like to get to know her better, not realizing that she is a mermaid.  And Ariel wants desperately to be a human so she can be a part of Eric's world, but knows that it would be an impossibility.

Ariel reluctantly returns to life under the sea, but her loved ones notice that she is behaving strangely.  King Triton questions Sebastian about Ariel's behaviour, and in a moment of weakness, Sebastian tells King Triton all about the incident between Ariel and Eric, which makes Triton very, VERY, angry.

Want to see an angry father in action?  Take a look.


Yeah...you do NOT want this guy on your bad side.  Nuh-uh.

Still, you had to really feel for poor Ariel.  We know that she did nothing wrong.  She saved Eric's life.  That was the right thing for her to do.  I'm almost certain that if the situation were reversed, Eric probably would have done the same thing.  That's why King Triton destroying the one place Ariel had that brought her happiness and hope seemed to be the ultimate act of cruelty.  It broke Ariel's heart to have everything she held on to destroyed with the zap of a trident, and it made her extremely vulnerable.

On the other hand, it made the appearance of this character seem timely.


Enter Ursula.  A sea witch who lives in one of the gloomiest places in the whole undersea world.  She and her two minions, Flotsam and Jetsam wreak havoc in their lair, transforming innocent mermen and mermaids into polyps by offering them false promises and reneging on any deals she made with them.

Ursula made your skin crawl with her deviousness and callous behaviour.  But Flotsam and Jetsam took advantage of an emotionally distraught Ariel, and had Ariel believing that Ursula could make her wildest dreams come true.

Ariel ended up making a deal with the devil.  Ursula could turn Ariel into a human for three whole days.  If she ended up getting a kiss from her one true love, she could stay a human forever.  If not, she would revert back to mermaid form after the seventy-two hour deadline was up.

Like all shady deals with loan sharks, the cost of the deal proved to be very steep.  In order for Ariel to shed her fish tail for a pair of gams, she would have to give up her voice.  She would gain the ability to walk, run, and dance, but lose the ability to talk or sing.

A desperate Ariel saw no other choice but to accept Ariel's deal, and within moments, Ariel's voice became a possession for Ursula (in the form of a necklace), and Flounder and Sebastian were forced to bring Ariel up to the surface before she drowned.  Of course, Ursula had no intention of making sure that Ariel's dream of becoming human permanently, and sent Flotsam and Jetsam to spy on her to make sure she didn't succeed.



As it so happened, when Ariel reaches the surface, she immediately runs into Eric, who seems pleased to see her.  He suspected that she was the one who saved his life, but is disappointed when Ariel was unable to speak.  Because this girl could not sing or speak, he thought that there was no possibility that she was the one, despite Ariel's best efforts to make him believe it.

Regardless, Ariel is suspected to be one of the survivors of the shipwreck disaster (the one that Ariel saved Eric from), and she is brought to the palace as a guest of Prince Eric's.  By Ariel's second day of being a human being, she and Eric grow closer, and have a romantic boat ride.  Sebastian witnesses the whole thing, and the hope that Ariel and Eric will seal the deal with a kiss prompts this song.



Yeah, you saw the part at the end where the boat flipped?  That was courtesy of Flotsam and Jetsam, who were serving as a distraction for Ursula to put the finishing touches on her plot to get what she wanted.

She ended up disguising herself as a woman named Vanessa who was eerily similar in appearance to Ariel herself.  Thanks to the voice that she stole from Ariel, it was fairly easy for her to get Eric's attention.  Once she did, she cast a spell on Eric that made him forget all about Ariel and to make him marry her.

Day three comes, and Ariel is depressed over hearing the news that Eric and Vanessa were going to get married.  At first, she is emotionally distraught when the barge leaves, but thanks to a little eavesdropping by Scuttle, she discovers that Vanessa is really Ursula.  While Sebastian leaves to alert King Triton of this development, Ariel, Flounder, Scuttle, and others try to sabotage the wedding long enough for Ariel to plant a kiss on the still hypnotized Eric.  It takes a little effort, and a lot of confusion, but the necklace around Ursula's neck is eventually broken.


Alas, the moment comes but a microsecond too late.  The sun sets down over the horizon, and Ariel's legs become fins once more.  This prompts Ursula to make one final attempt to kidnapping Ariel and disposing of her once and for all, leaving Eric and the rest of Ariel's friends to try and save her from Ursula's evil clutches once and for all.

Keeping with tradition for the Monday matinee, I won't spoil the ending for this movie by telling you EXACTLY what happens...though considering that a sequel was made in 2000, you pretty well know that Ariel at least survives the ordeal.  How she does it...well...my lips are sealed.

The Little Mermaid was a movie that a lot of boys in my fourth grade class didn't really want to watch.  In the end, I'm really glad I did. 

It really goes to show that just because someone tells you that a place isn't right to be in, or that a certain group of people are dangerous doesn't mean you have to believe it.  Ariel certainly didn't believe that, and during the course of the movie, she really seemed to adapt to both the human world as well as the sea world.  Once her loved ones saw how happy she was with Eric, they made it their mission to see that Ariel's happiness lasted as long as it could.

Another thing to note is the huge support system that Ariel had along the way.  When Ariel's father was strict and dominating, and she felt as though she was being misunderstood, she could always count on Flounder and Scuttle to be there for her no matter what.  During the course of the film, Sebastian changed his ways to want to help Ariel, and in the human world, Eric was nothing but a perfect gentleman to Ariel, solidifying any feelings that she had for the prince.

She didn't exactly make the best choices in life (I mean, seriously, what was she thinking making that deal with Ursula).  Somehow though, it all seemingly worked out for the little mermaid.  I guess if you wanted to pardon the pun, it worked out swimmingly for her.

I guess in many ways, I can relate to Ariel in that I was kind of a dreamer when I was a boy.  I always dreamed of what life was like in another world, and how I longed to be a part of someone else's world.  And sometimes my family didn't quite understand me as much as I would have liked them to...but I won't go into too much detail here, as there's some things that I'm not ready to discuss about that.  When I am ready, they will be dealt with, I'm sure. 

The point is that Ariel survived as long as she did by having that hope and that support system.  Sure, Flounder didn't have to collect human belongings for Ariel's grotto...he did it because he loved Ariel enough to want to see her happy.  And nothing made her happier than being around human possessions, for it was just one step closer towards Ariel making her ultimate wish come true.

I think that's why I'll always have a soft spot for The Little Mermaid.  After reading this blog entry, I encourage you all to rent the movie at one of the few video rental stores still around, or choosing it from Netflix, or downloading it on a computer.  And when you do watch it, I hope you'll have just as much of a soft spot for this movie as I did.

Not only did it bring back memories from childhood...but it reminded me of that carefree September day cruising down Bank Street to the tune of 'Under The Sea'...knowing that for one brief moment, I was having the time of my life with people who had become a part of my world...a world that I never knew, but wanted to be a part of.

Sunday, August 07, 2011

Sunday Jukebox: Gangsta's Paradise by Coolio featuring L.V.


Nineteen ninety-five was a year that could be considered a monumental one in my life and times thus far.  A lot happened that year, and on some aspects, it was a year of highs and lows.

High.  I graduated elementary school, winning the grade eight faculty award for English.

Low.  Both my mother and sister had to have surgery.  Two days before my 14th birthday.  Not exactly the happiest birthday I can ever remember.

High.  Going on my very first ever overnight trip.  The grade seven and eight class went to Toronto, Ontario where we played at Canada's Wonderland, saw a musical, and ended up at a science museum.  Lots of fun...wish I could do it again at age 30!

Low.  Having my very first date...and never seeing her again after that.

(And, you thought that stuff only happened in the movies, eh?)

My retrospective of 1995 has been filled with ups and downs, this is true.  There was one other major significance of that particular year that I am still debating about whether it was a high or a low.  For years, I just assumed that the whole experience was all one gigantic rock bottom period (and in a way, it still is).  But then again, I look back on how it all began, and I just don't think my first year was as bad as the others, and I think maybe it was the high point in a period of blueness.

September 5, 1995.  The day I entered high school.

And as it so happened, I have a story that goes behind today's Sunday jukebox entry related to my high school experience.

I guess you could say that it was a really low point in a class that usually brought me highs.

Although I only dabbled in the art known as music from grades six to nine, the four years I spent in music class were some of my fondest memories.  When I was eleven, all of us sixth graders at my elementary school were given the option to play a musical instrument.  I settled on the baritone, since it was really the only instrument I could play.  For four years, I played the baritone at music festivals, school concerts, and various band practices.  If not for the fact that my high school schedule caused conflicting, I probably would have stayed in music class, but alas, it was not meant to be after ninth grade.

Through the instruction of Mr. Tripp (my band teacher from 1992-1995) and Mrs. Quick (1995-1996), I grew to have a new appreciation for music.  I never really bothered with music much when I was a kid (I didn't even have a radio in my room until I was thirteen), but taking music classes opened up a world that I never really knew existed, and I guess I have both of them to thank for that.

Now, once I entered grade nine, I found that music class was a bit different in ninth grade than it was in sixth or seventh.  In elementary school, we just had to learn how to play instruments and read sheet music.  In grade nine, we actually had to write and perform our own compositions, which was a challenge.  Fortunately, if you had the right group of people working with you, it seemed to work out splendidly, and as long as all of the people were on the same page, it seemed to work out well.

Unfortunately, I was one of those people who almost always seemed to get stuck with group partnerships that crashed and burned from day one.

Sometimes, it wasn't the person, but the combo of instruments.  I remember working on a duet with a girl named Sarah who I thought was a sweetheart and who always treated me with respect...but I have to question the logic of pairing a baritone with an alto sax.  I worried that I would drown her out, and I think I might have done so a couple of occasions.  Nevertheless, Mrs. Quick gave us both a great mark, so I think it worked, even though I didn't know for sure if it would.

Most often than not, I was stuck with a group who didn't want to put forth any effort, or who couldn't agree on an idea no matter what.  And the project almost always was a failure.  Back in those days, I wouldn't quite say that assertiveness was in my vocabulary at the time.  Honestly, I wish it were, because then maybe some of my music assignments could have been salvaged.

Such as one class project that was a train wreck from the very beginning.

The assignment was one that was given to us about three weeks into the course.  Mrs. Quick wanted us to mime a scene based on a piece of music that was recorded over the last twenty years (so, from 1975-1995).  Problem number one was that I wasn't actually picked to be in a group.  I was assigned to a group.  And the group I was assigned to was a group where none of us had anything in common, and where nobody could agree on a song to perform.

Mrs. Quick had a small selection of cassette tapes that we could select songs from, but most of the choices were songs recorded during the disco era.  And if there was one thing that we at least agreed on, it was that even in 1995, disco was considered dead.

To add insult to injury, the day before the project was due, all of us were at a stalemate as to what song to choose.  At the very last moment, one of the group decided on a song that was quickly rising up on various Top 40 charts at the time, and we ultimately chose the song below as the soundtrack of the project from hell.



ARTIST: Coolio (featuring L.V.)
SONG: Gangsta's Paradise
ALBUM:  Dangerous Minds Official Soundtrack
RELEASED:  August 9, 1995
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  #1 for 3 weeks





Here's a bit of a confession.  Although Coolio had been around for at least a couple of years, and had a couple of hits, I had never heard of him before this song.  No offense to Coolio and other entertainers like him, but rap music was never really my thing.  I might have liked it in the days when Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer were big, but that was a loooooooong time ago.  Although, some of Eminem's stuff is okay.

Anyway, this was the song that we as a group basically agreed on for no other reason than the fact that we needed a song to use, and we had zero time to plan.

When it came time for us to present our song, all three of us basically had no storyboard concept and no idea as to what we were doing.  It was basically us trying to mimic the improv artists on 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?'

And I'm pretty sure that had we done that performance on that show, we would have gotten it cancelled.

Boy, did our project suck.  For one, all three of us misinterpreted the song's meaning, so all three of us were doing our own thing.  One guy was standing around making weird faces while the other one ran around the room hiding behind furniture pretending not to get shot.  I was suffering from something called stage fright, and since everyone else was basically doing whatever the wanted, I couldn't follow, and I ended up throwing Monopoly money to the classroom filled with kids who had the weirdest look on their faces.

By the time the whole fiasco ended, I think we got sympathy applause from the teacher, and maybe two kids out of politeness or pity.  The rest of the class...well...crickets chirping.  That's all I can say.

In the end, we were all to blame for the D+ we all got as a grade.  None of us could work together and build towards a common goal, and as a result, our teacher was right to give us a bad mark.  At least sixteen years later, I can own up to it.  I don't know about the other two, but I guess it didn't matter, since I never really talked to them again after that.  Maybe they blamed me for the screw-up, I don't know.  It doesn't matter upon retrospect, really.



Of course, anyone who has heard the song may recall that it featured prominently in the movie Dangerous Minds, which was about a teacher (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) who was assigned to teach in a school filled with troubled kids who were into the gang lifestyle, and whose lives were filled with drugs, crime, and violence.  Looking back on it, we could have done a lot with that movie synopsis, only the problem was that none of us had seen the movie.  For one, by the time that school was in session, the movie had stopped playing in theatres, but yet it was too soon for it to be released on VHS.

(Yes, boys and girls, there was life before DVD and Blu-Ray.)

I think our biggest problem was that we took the lyrics to the song a little too seriously, focusing too much on the money and power, and too little on what the song really was all about, which was that living a life as a 'gangsta' really wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.

Though, looking at this song through older eyes, I think I could easily put this song to use in a different way.  For Gangsta's Paradise can loosely be somewhat autobiographical.

No, I've never joined a gang.  No, I've never done any drugs.  Truth be told, I've never even so much as held a gun, let alone pulled a trigger on it (unless Super Soaker water guns count).

But the more I think of it, the more I realize that high school for me was kind of like a suburban white crust version of a Gangsta's Paradise.

Let me explain.

Going from eighth grade to ninth grade was a real culture shock in a variety of ways.  You went from a school that had a graduating class of sixty-two, to a school where your class was almost three times that number.  That's a pretty significant thing.

The school I went to was one of those schools where...I don't know exactly what the most politically correct or diplomatic way of saying this is, so I'm just going to come out and say it.

I was the token poor kid in a school of rich, spoiled, entitled brats.  If you didn't fit in with them, you just simply didn't fit in at all.

Certainly, I had acquaintances in high school, but the majority of close friends that I had I didn't form until the year I graduated.  Most of the people I went to elementary school with went to the rival school, so I didn't really have many connection there.  But quite a few of the kids in my high school class didn't really acknowledge my presence, and some even made judgment calls about me without even getting to know me.  It sucked, but there was very little that I could do.  I had come into high school with mediocre expectations at best, and I wasn't expecting to become everyone's best friend.  I just wish that some of them could have not been so judgmental.

But even beyond that, it kind of shocked me that so many of the students of the high school I attended were dabbling in self-destructive behaviour.

I mean, my school was in the middle of a residential neighbourhood with a hospital and park surrounding it.  In short, you'd think that the last place bad things could happen would be at my high school.  Especially since a good three-quarters of the student body were from well off families and who seemed to have it all.

But if one were to peel away the endless layers of Guess jeans, leather jackets, and hundred dollar sneakers, they'd find a group of people so desperate to belong to something that they end up selling themselves short to get the acceptance they crave.

I saw it a lot at my school.  I can't even begin to tell you how many of the supposed cool kids got high in Victoria Park every lunch hour.  Or how many skipped classes to get drunk.  More than I could count on one hand and one foot, at least, if not more. 

But it didn't matter to them about getting a good education as a school that prided itself on its academic excellence.  They wanted to fit in with the 'cool crowd' at any cost.  It's just a shame that by them being in the cool crowd, that it made them look even less cool to those who actually did go to school for the reason it was intended.

But hey, as the song lyrics go, they were educated fools with money on their mind.  I honestly think that some of the people used the money that they had on their mind to buy the drugs and alcohol that got them through another high school day.  It was almost a pity to see.

Even worse were those antagonists in the school who purposely made it their mission to terrorize other students who weren't in their group, or who might have had different values than others.

In fact, I'll probably get massively flamed by some of the people I went to high school with if ever they put two and two together, but at this stage in life, I could care less if I ever saw those people again.  But I honestly thought that most of the people I went to high school with acted in such a way that if I were to run into them on the street, I'd still be completely turned off.

Quite a few of them acted like arrogant jerks for no reason than to flaunt their importance in the school.  As if being the king and queen of the second floor hallway was something to be proud of.  They took great pleasure in bullying people, physically and emotionally harassing other students.  All in a school where the authority figures mostly did nothing but look the other way.  Pretending that such horrible things could never happen at a prestigious high school like the one I attended.

But it did.  And I was witness to a lot of it. 

Mainly because I was the target of such abuse, but I wasn't the only one.  Far from it.  I know quite a few people who were terrorized and bullied by students who felt a sense of entitlement.  We had a group of tenth graders who basically kept all the other students away from the benches outside of the school cafeteria for months before a group of students forced the principal to do something about it.  That's what those of us outside of the main cliques of the school had to deal with every day.  Having to actually take the long way to classes or having to change lockers because you invaded the turf of a group who felt you unworthy.

They acted like gangsters.  Gangsters in designer clothing, mind you, but thugs who felt the need to have as much power as they could get no matter who they walked all over to get it.  And they mostly got away with it due to a lack of concern and communication made by those in charge of the school.

It was absolutely shameful and disgusting. 

They were so blinded by the so-called joy of hurting others around them that they weren't seeing just how much they were hurting themselves.

Tell me, why were they so blind to see that the ones they hurt were us and themselves?

I guess that's why I feel like my school was sort of like one of those 'Gangsta's Paradises' that Coolio sang about all those years ago.  It wasn't quite as dangerous as the school featured in 'Dangerous Minds', but high school was a pretty scary place to go to if you weren't a part of the in-crowd.  Although knowing what I know now about the so called in-crowds, I was more than happy to have been an outcast instead of a complete jackass of a person.

In the end, I managed to survive my own version of the 'Gangsta's Paradise', and for me that is one of the biggest highs that I could ever take from my high school years.  I'm sure that I'm not the only one who can make that claim either.

For it doesn't matter whether it is an inner city school in a poverty-stricken county, or a rich, luxurious private school filled with the best that money can buy.  Any place can have the tendency to become a Gangsta's Paradise.

It's up to all of us to make sure that doesn't happen.

One last thing to end this note on a high...shortly after Gangsta's Paradise was released, Weird Al parodied this song.  You can find it below!