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Thursday, January 12, 2012

A Confession Of Epic Emotions

It’s time for another Thursday night confessional, and with this one, I’m going to refer back to the blog entry that I wrote yesterday.

Yesterday, I wrote about the E.B. White classic novel, Charlotte's Web.  The book (as well as the two movies that accompanied it) remains one of my all-time favourite books.  And part of the reason why I love the book so much is because it achieves what I feel a great story should.

It allows the reader to get emotionally involved in the characters.

And certainly, Charlotte's Web did exactly that.  I make no secret in letting everyone know in yesterday's entry that Charlotte's Web did in fact make me shed a lot of tears.  Even at the age of 30, I still get choked up thinking about that book.

In fact, I'm finding that the older I get, the more emotionally affected I am to various things.

And this leads straight into my second Thursday confessional.





THURSDAY CONFESSIONAL #2:  I wear my emotions on my sleeve, and can (and more than likely will) shed a tear the slightest moment that I feel sad, or moved.  I also have had difficulty balancing my emotions.





The song up above is by Godley & Creme, and it's a song called 'Cry'.  I figured that this was the song that would best describe the whole point of this note.  Not that Godley & Creme make me cry or anything like that.  But, in general, if I'm watching a movie or television show, or listening to a sad song on the radio, it doesn't take much for me to shed at least one tear.


I realize that by publicly admitting this on a public blog like this one...especially coming from a 30-year-old man who stands over six feet tall and can lift a 50 pound case of butter without a care in the world...that I might have to hand over my man card, or whatever name it's being given these days.  Well, you know what?  I'm going to offer up a defense to keep the masculinity within me by saying that it is absolutely okay for guys to cry.


That's right.  I said it.  I'm a man, and I cry at sad movies.  Nothing to be ashamed of at all.


Case in point, have any of you seen the movie Marley & Me?  I have.  I actually did an entry on the movie back in July.  I was perfectly happy with the movie, and it was a fantastic one to watch, and then within the last 20 minutes of the film or so, it changed tone, and I was left lying on my living room sofa curled up in a ball, my face red and blotchy from having to wipe away tears.  Yeah, Marley & Me was a bad movie to watch.






And, you don't even want to get me started on Old Yeller.  I still have yet to make it through an airing of that movie without wanting to sob uncontrollably.


Even while I was researching songs to post for future entries, I'll stumble upon a song that I hadn't heard in a while, and wonder why it was the case.  Then when I click on the song link, and I get so emotionally involved in the song that my eyes start welling up, it dawned on me that the reason why I didn't listen to the song beforehand was because it would cause me to get emotional about it.


Case in point.  Whenever I do a blog entry on Disney movies, and I'm searching for songs from the movie soundtracks, occasionally songs from other films will make their way in the search engine results.






One song was Elton John's 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight' from the Disney movie 'The Lion King' (which I'll be doing an entry on later this month, in case you're wondering).  I don't know what it is about that song now that makes me feel all sorts of emotion, but I'll admit that song really got to me for some unknown reason.  The funny thing is that I remember being 13 and seeing 'The Lion King' when it first came out, and that song never used to affect me so much back then.  Now, though...hoo boy.


There are many days I look back and wonder why the heck I get so emotionally affected by songs, movies, or happenings that are sad or tragic.  But, I guess it's because I was always an emotional person, right down to my early days as a child.


Now that I'm an adult, I find that I am a lot better at controlling my emotions, but when I was a kid, whenever anyone said or did anything to me that I didn't like, I would burst into tears.  It got to the point where I went home from school crying my eyes out at least once a week...or if it were a really bad week, once a day.


And, I probably realize that having such little control of my feelings back in those days probably did somewhat alienate me from my peers in many instances.  But when you're young, it's sometimes hard to know exactly how to act whenever someone is not very nice to you, and your first instinct is to act in an emotional manner.


So, I did...and back then, I don't think the kids in my class appreciated my emotional distress.


But you know, that was the thing.  We were all kids back then.  Some of us had no emotion, others (like myself) seemed to have too much.  It's hard to find that balance at times, especially as a child.  But, now that I am an adult, I would like to think that I am in full control of those emotions.  Well, most of the time.


Sometimes though, it just feels a whole lot better to just let it all out with one gigantic crying session.  Letting out anger, frustration, stress, grief, whatever the emotion is.  Letting it out is a fantastic, cathartic experience.  You feel so much better once you do let all that emotion out.  I think that's why I don't see crying as a weakness.  Those who aren't afraid to show their feelings are people I find to be incredibly strong.


Now, granted, I realize that there are some people who have a lot easier time showing emotion than others, and that's okay...there's some people who genuinely have a hard time with feelings and emotion.  But, I'll tell you one thing.  If you're one of those people who likes to bottle up their emotions, and try to hide them from other people, that's probably not the way to go.


Years ago, when I was in high school, I went the opposite route of how I acted in grade school.  In grade school, I showed too much emotion, but when I got to high school, I don't think I showed enough.  I kept it all buried inside, because my thought process at the time was that nobody gave a damn, so why bother to tell anyone about my feelings?  Right?


Wrong.


My bottling up my emotions in high school didn't work out very well either.  In fact, that decision lead me down a dark and destructive path.  But, that will have to be told another Thursday, as I don't want to let EVERYTHING out.


The fact is that everyone deserves to have an outlet to let their sadness out.  While it took me a while to figure it out, I found a way to balance those feelings out, and I think I'm a much better person for it.  Whenever I feel the need to let out some steam through tears, all I really have to do is turn on a really sad song or watch a tragedy in film and I can get my release out that way.


It doesn't matter what gender you are.  What your job title is.  What your religious background is, or how you grew up.  I am of the firm belief that showing tears isn't a sign of weakness, or timidness.  If anything, people showing their emotions makes them more human, and really, isn't that a good thing?


So, you know what?  I'm putting it out there.  I cry at sad movies.  And that's okay!


I will say this though...when it comes to watching things on television that are supposed to be sad, it's quite unpredictable for me.  There are some aspects where I am unmoved at all...while there are others that bring on the waterworks.


If someone were, say, killed off on CSI, it wouldn't really affect me.  Mainly because CSI is a show where we expect there to be one dead body in every episode.  After a while, you start to get desensitized to it.  Though the episode of CSI where Warwick Brown was gunned down somehow managed to strike a little nerve in me, just because he was a character that was loved by a lot of viewers.  Seeing him lose his life in such a tragic way would make anyone feel a little knot in their stomach...well, unless you're so desensitized to violence that you just chalked it up as another body in the episode, that is.


Same deal with fictional couples.  If John and Marsha were in love on some unnamed soap opera, and Marsha was poisoned by a serial killer or attacked by bees and died from a severe allergic reaction, or whatever outlandish soap opera plots the hack writers come up with these days, I probably wouldn't show an outpouring of real emotion there.  At the same time, I know people who actually HAVE cried when their favourite supercouples are split up forever.  And certainly some people take their stories very seriously and get so attached to characters that when they get killed off on the show, they really feel like they've lost a member of their own family.






I guess I can only imagine that is the feeling many fans of the soap opera 'One Life To Live' are feeling as their show enters the soap graveyard in the sky tomorrow afternoon.


And sometimes you tune into a show that normally brings you happiness, but something happens at the end of the show, and you're helpless against the flood of tears and emotion that comes from it.


I had that experience once with an episode of Alvin and The Chipmunks, believe it or not.  






I remember it was one of my favourite cartoons growing up, and I never missed an episode.  And when I was watching one particular episode, I thought it was going to be a great episode.  Alvin, Simon, and Theodore wanted a pet, so Dave brought them home a little kitten.  They named the kitten 'Cookie Chomper the Third', or something to that extent.  They even had a little bed made for him and everything.  Theodore even gave Cookie Chomper a teddy bear to sleep with, but Alvin took it away.  Alvin was a little self-absorbed and misguided anyways, so this move didn't surprise anyone. 


But then something happened that none of us saw coming.  I know I certainly wasn't prepared for it.  Cookie Chomper the Third saw a firefly buzzing around the open window in the Chipmunks room, illuminating Alvin's bear, and the kitty managed to escape the room and wander outside...only to get run over by a car.


Surprisingly enough though, I managed to make it through that part okay.  But then the Chipmunks began to sing about their deceased friend, and I completely lost it.  If you're brave, you'll click on THIS LINK to see what I mean.  Isn't it the most saddest song you've ever heard?  It certainly brought a damper on the episode. I didn't even care that the Chipmunks got a new pet after they grieved the loss of Cookie Chomper the Third. I was still upset that the poor cat had to die.


Even now, the song still makes me well up (which is why I posted the link instead of posting it outright in this blog entry).  Even more so now that I recently lost a pet myself.  In July 2010, I had to put my sixteen year old cat down due to him being very, very sick.  It broke my heart.  It also didn't help matters much that I stumbled upon that very Alvin and the Chipmunks episode just one week after my cat died.  






But you know, it's good that I did...watching the Chipmunks grieve for their pet gave me the go-ahead to grieve mine...I think I must have cried all that day.  The next day, I still missed him, but I was at peace with it. I felt better for having let it out.


And, I think that's what the point of this confessional was.  To let everyone know that it's okay to show your emotions once in a while.  


I know I have no regrets in sharing this with all of you.  In fact, I feel better for having done so.


So, you know what...let's have one final song in celebration of that fact.







Wednesday, January 11, 2012

How Charlotte's Web Helped Me Like Spiders





Spiders were something that I was terrified of in my really early childhood.

I'm not kidding either.  From birth until about the age of seven, spiders creeped me out.  I couldn't even be in the same room as a spider when I was really young.  I guess you could say that like Garfield, I really wanted all spiders to die a slow and painful death because I saw them as being nothing more than a creepy crawlie that nobody liked.

If I happened to cross a spider in my earliest years, I would either do one of three things.  I would either cry, I would run out of the room looking for Mom or Dad, or if the spider was tiny and didn't look threatening, I'd find the closest toy I could find and give it a whack.

Oh, I hated spiders.  I believe the word for the fear of spiders is arachnophobia.  And until I was in second grade, I definitely suffered from arachnophobia.

But then in second grade, my attitude towards spiders changed, if only somewhat.  I imagine if I were faced with a gigantic tarantula, a black widow spider, or some of those freakishly huge mutated spiders that live around the equator, I'd still be terribly squeamish.  But your average everyday spider doesn't bother me much at all anymore.  In fact, there's a few spiders that I actually find cool to look at.

Have you ever seen a spider forming a web right up close and personal?  It's probably one of the coolest things in nature that one can see.  Imagine an eight-legged arachnid creating something beautiful and intricate.  Spider webs are almost like snowflakes in the sense that no two are ever identical.  They're almost like works of art.

Well, works of art that double as house fly graveyards and all-you-can-eat snack bars for spiders, anyway.  Spider webs serve multiple uses, you know.

The point is that in the case of most spiders, they're harmless creatures.  Yes, some bite, and some are poisonous, but you wouldn't actually pick them up.  I'll grant you that some spiders are neat to watch, and that spiders actually do a lot of good in this world.

In fact, I'd wager a bet that if spiders could talk to human beings, quite a few of them would be quite nice to have a chat with. 

What caused my about face about spiders in second grade?  Well, I'll tell you.

Back in second grade, there were two teachers that taught the subject at my school.  There was Mrs. Winslow and Miss Johnson (I had the latter).  In most cases, each teacher had their own individual lesson plans, and as far as classroom style went, both of them couldn't be more different from each other. 

Yet, there was one similarity between the two classes.  Both teachers read their classes the same book that year.  A book by author E.B. White that detailed the wonderful friendship between a barn spider and a pig who was the runt of the litter.





That book was Charlotte's Web.

And at the risk of losing a bit of my masculinity by making this statement, I feel it's worth it.





Charlotte's Web made me cry.  The book.  The 1973 animated movie.  The 2006 live-action movie starring Julia Roberts and Dakota Fanning.  It doesn't matter what version it is.  Whenever I read the book or watched the movie, the tears would come a flowing. 

And, the confession day isn't until TOMORROW!  Ah well...

Anyway, Charlotte's Web was first published in 1952, and is widely considered to be one of E.B. White's finest pieces of work.  And, I'll be the first to admit that E.B. White was one of the authors who greatly inspired me to follow the dream I have of making it big in the writing world one day.  So, I've been looking for an excuse to feature this book in my blog.

(Fair warning:  Because I'll be talking about the book, I will be putting spoilers in this blog entry.  Now you can't say that I did NOT warn you.)

The book begins as we visit the Arable family farm.  John Arable's prize sow gives birth to a litter of piglets, all of which are healthy and a good size.

All except one piglet.  The runt of the litter.

And normally what John Arable would have done was taken the runt of the litter to be slaughtered.  Normally.

That was until a little eight-year-old girl spoke up and said 'SAVE THE PIG!'

Well, all right, maybe it didn't exactly go like that.  But Fern Arable saw something in the little piglet, and begged her father to let the pig live, promising that she would take care of it as a pet.  John Arable agreed, and Fern happily gave the piglet a name.  Wilbur.

And Wilbur was a pig that kept everyone busy.  Hyperactive and exploring his surroundings, poor Fern sometimes had a hard time keeping up to him.  But she loved Wilbur very much.  And when it came time to send Wilbur to live at Homer Zuckerman's barn, Fern found it hard to say goodbye.  For a little while after Wilbur was put in the Zuckerman barn, Fern visited Wilbur as often as she could.  But as Fern grew older, life grew more complex, and the visits became less and less frequent.  And the less that Wilbur saw Fern, the lonelier he felt.

It was bad enough that Fern wasn't able to visit as often as she wanted to.  Wilbur's situation was made worse by the fact that the other animals in the barn sort of saw Wilbur as a bit of an outsider, and barely had anything to do with him.  All Wilbur wanted was to have a friend.

And just as Wilbur wished it, a calming voice responded to his wish, saying that she would love to become his friend.  But Wilbur has no idea where the voice is coming from at first.





It isn't until he looks up at the spider web that has formed inside the barn that he meets up with a tiny barn spider named Charlotte A. Cavatica (a clever pun on the scientific name of a barn spider, which is Araneus cavaticus).  Of course, she just wants Wilbur to call her Charlotte.  While the other animals dislike Charlotte because of the bloodthirsty way she catches and prepares her daily meals, Wilbur doesn't seem to share their opinion.  The more that Wilbur and Charlotte talk, the stronger the bond is between the two, and they quickly become fast friends.

They become so close that Charlotte ends up becoming his saviour, so to speak.

When Wilbur happens to overhear some of the animals talking about how Wilbur's destiny is to be roasted and served with yams and mashed potatoes at Christmas dinner, Wilbur is afraid, and is desperate to find a way to survive past Christmas.  But according to what he had heard, the plan appeared to be set in stone.

It was then that Charlotte came up with a clever plan.  Knowing that pigs and other animals were never killed if the were prize-winning animals at the county fair, Charlotte had the idea that if people could see something in Wilbur that would make him win a prize at the fair, he might just end up living to oink another day.

And the way that she does this is by turning her spider web into an instant commercial for Wilbur by coming up with some buzzwords that would have everybody talking.

And, no, none of these words include 'FREE', '50% OFF' or 'SHAMWOW'.

No, the first message was something simple.





SOME PIG.

Nothing too fancy.  After all, Charlotte could only managed to write so many letters in a web.  But her hope was that the farmer would see the message, and rethink his plans to turn Wilbur into a holiday dinner for a dozen people.

And her plan worked.  Within a day of writing the message (and with some assistance from the self-confessed gluttonous rat known as Templeton), Homer, the Arable family, and eventually the local press came around to marvel at the sight of a spider web providing instant publicity for Wilbur.  And that was just the tip of the iceberg, friends.





More words soon followed.  Words like 'RADIANT' and 'TERRIFIC'.  Words that Charlotte felt best described Wilbur.  Words that definitely suited Wilbur's innocent, yet sweet personality.  Eventually, Charlotte's spider web words caused not only the townspeople to look at Wilbur differently, but the other farm animals could see that Wilbur wasn't the runt they had made him out to be.  In fact, they were starting to see the wonderful qualities that Charlotte knew Wilbur had all along. 





And more importantly, Farmer Homer could see that maybe killing Wilbur wasn't the best idea in the world.  Instead, he thought that if he entered Wilbur in the county fair, he was a favourite to win the top prize.  But if Wilbur came home without a ribbon, the threat of becoming a delicious dinner continued to be a worry.

So, Wilbur is loaded up into the back of a truck, with Templeton and a very tired Charlotte.  Although it is widely believed that Wilbur stood a good chance of winning a prize, Charlotte wanted to make sure that Wilbur won at all costs.  And after talking with the defending champion of the Blue Ribbon title (who was far from charming and graceful), Charlotte knew that there would be one final word that she could make that would not only describe Wilbur's personality the best, but also make everyone else see just how special he was.

'HUMBLE'

And, of course, Wilbur was too humble to outrightly brag about winning the prize that he rightfully deserved at the fair.  He wasn't that sort of pig.  He was more interested in seeing how proud he made everyone else...especially Charlotte.

But when Wilbur visited Charlotte to thank her for everything that she did, he stumbled upon Charlotte putting the finishing touches on her latest masterpiece, her magnum opus.  A small sac of spider eggs containing Charlotte's sons and daughters.  All five hundred and fourteen of them.





But with the birth of the magnum opus comes the news that Wilbur was not expecting.  The magnum opus would be Charlotte's last web.  She was a spider on borrowed time, and she didn't have long to live.  In helping Wilbur out, Charlotte maxed out her natural lifespan, and now she was minutes from death's door.  To add to the heartache, Charlotte was forced to create her magnum opus at the fairgrounds because she simply didn't have any energy to go back to the barn.  The last thing she told Wilbur was how proud she was of him, and how much she treasured his friendship.

Of course, this was of little consolation to Wilbur, who was saddened that his best friend was losing her life.

It was then that Wilbur came up with the perfect idea to pay Charlotte back for her kindness and love.  With Wilbur basically forcing Templeton to help, Wilbur manages to pick the magnum opus up with his snout, and smuggles it onto the back of the truck which would take him back home as Charlotte said her final words.  "Goodbye, my sweet, sweet Wilbur."

Hold on a sec...got something in my eye...





...okay, I'm okay to continue.

The animals of the barn mourned the loss of Charlotte, none more than Wilbur himself, who was left devastated by her death.  But at least Wilbur had the magnum opus filled with Charlotte's children.  And all winter long, he looked after Charlotte's kids, the way that Charlotte herself would have.  And when the big day came, all five hundred and fourteen baby spiders hatched out of the eggs and were born into the world.

But when it looked like all of the spiders were going to leave the barn off for parts unknown, Wilbur grew sad.  It was almost as if he were saying goodbye to Charlotte all over again.  Until he heard three little voices calling out to him.

Three spiders stuck around, and decided to make Wilbur's home their home too.  And, Wilbur was thrilled to have Aranea, Joy, and Nellie become a part of his life.  Not only did he have three new friends to play with, but he also now had a reminder of his friendship that he shared with Charlotte.

Charlotte's Web certainly helped me look at spiders a different way.  No longer did they seem all that scary.  In fact, I actually don't mind being in the same room as a spider.  After all, that spider could very well have formed a friendship with a terrific, radiant, humble pig!

But, I think a better lesson that Charlotte's Web taught me was the value of what friendship really was.  Knowing that two friends could inspire and help each other the way Charlotte and Wilbur did throughout the book...it's an example that we should all take after.

It may have been one of the unlikeliest friendships in the world...but wouldn't we all be lucky to have a friend like Charlotte in our lives?

I know I would be.



Tuesday, January 10, 2012

January 10, 1982

Last week, we started off the brand new Tuesday Timeline feature, which is a day where we go back in time to take a look back at significant events that have happened in the world of Hollywood, and other places.

Last week, we took a look back at the life of Dallas starlet Victoria Principal, and some of her achievements over the years. The reason being that we flashed back to the date when she was born.

This week, we're going to be looking back on a date that is a little more morbid. Because the date that we are flashing back to in this edition is one where an actor passed away.

Fear not though. Although he may no longer be with us in body, his work still lives on. Matter of fact, there's one animated series that is currently on the air that seems to embody his spirit quite well...particularly with one specific character.

But, we'll get to that.

For now, let's hop into our time machine and transport back in time exactly thirty years from now.

The date? January 10, 1982.



Granted, I can't really tell you about my own personal experiences about that date, as I was barely eight months old on that date. But 1982 was a year in which quite a bit went on in the world. It was the year that the World's Fair was held in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was a year in which Michael Jackson released 'Thriller', which would become his biggest selling album of his career. And, here's something you may not have known, but apparently 1982 was the year that the 'emoticon' was created!

The things you learn on this blog, huh?

On January 10, 1982, Hollywood said goodbye to one of its finest character actors, who later became a game show panelist. He enjoyed a career that lasted over three decades before he succumbed to a heart attack at the age of 55.

So, who is this person?



Paul Lynde. The man who had a prominent role on Bewitched, starred in Broadway in the musical 'Bye, Bye, Birdie', and was the center square in the television game show 'Hollywood Squares' from 1968-1981.

So, what do we know about Paul's early life?

Paul Lynde was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio in 1926, going to school for drama at Northwestern University. Turns out that Northwestern must have been a great school for budding actors and actresses at the time. Some of the students who attended the school while Lynde was there included Patricia Neal, Claude Akins, and future 'The Facts Of Life' stars Charlotte Rae and Cloris Leachman!

Wow...who knew that Mrs. Garrett and Beverly Ann went to school together in real life? Go figure. The things you learn from Biography.com, huh?

Anyway, back to Paul Lynde.

As it turned out, Paul Lynde just happened to be in situations where he was always surrounded by celebrities. When he got his first big break in 1952, with the Broadway revue 'New Faces of 1952', he wasn't the only new face in the act. He co-starred with Alice Ghostley, Carol Lawrence, and a young Eartha Kitt. He would later star in a short-lived sitcom, 'Stanley', in 1956 alongside Buddy Hackett and Carol Burnett.

Clearly, Paul Lynde was in brilliant company.

By 1960, Paul Lynde was back on Broadway in the role of 'Harry MacAfee' in the musical, 'Bye Bye, Birdie'. His role must have been quite the success, as he was also cast in the 1963 theatrical version. That same year, Lynde recorded a live album, 'Recently Released'.

Shortly after filming the movie version of 'Bye, Bye, Birdie', Lynde began making guest appearances in various sitcoms of the 1960s, including 'I Dream Of Jeannie', 'The Munsters', and 'The Phil Silvers Show' before landing a role on the television sitcom, 'Bewitched'. And here's the funny thing about his time on Bewitched. Did you know that he ended up playing TWO roles in the show? It's true!



Lynde was first brought on the show during the twenty-sixth episode of the series. In that episode, he played a driving instructor named Harold Harold. But that role was only a one-off. It wouldn't be until a few episodes later that he would end up playing the recurring (and more well known) role of Samantha's Uncle Arthur. Check out this clip of Lynde in action below as Uncle Arthur, teaching Darrin how to do a magic trick!



It should also be known that Lynde also lended his voice to animated cartoons, and (here's a little hint for tomorrow's entry...he voiced a rat in the animated movie of the book that I'll be talking about, so keep an eye out for it!)

Perhaps the one television show that many people seem to associate Paul Lynde with was the original version of Hollywood Squares.



For those of you who may not know what Hollywood Squares was, think of a life size version of the classic game Tic-Tac-Toe. The celebrities in the grid would be asked questions, and they would give an answer that were either true or false. If the player answered correctly, they would get a mark on the grid. If they got it wrong, the opponent would get the mark instead. Whoever got three X's or three O's first would win the round. At the end of the game, whoever had the most rounds won, or the most points at the end of the game would win the game and go on to play a bonus round.

In recent years, we've seen celebrities such as Joan Rivers and Whoopi Goldberg in the center square of the grid. Back in the 1960s, the center square was occupied by Paul Lynde. And, would you believe that there were a number of rumours going around as to why Lynde was always featured in that spot?

The most common one that was heard around that time was that Paul Lynde was deathly afraid of earthquakes, which given that Hollywood Squares taped in Hollywood, earthquakes were prone to happen. It was widely believed for a number of years that Paul Lynde was put in the center square because there was the belief that if an earthquake should occur, the center square was the safest spot to be in. Even today, some people still believe this to be the case, even though an A&E Biography special on Lynde stated that Lynde remained calm when an earthquake really DID happen during a taping. He was so calm that it was reported that he was sitting in his seat, tapping his fingers, asking when the show would continue.

Whatever you believe about how Lynde ended up in the center square for so many years, the truth of the matter is that he was put there by the producers. I can see why. Just researching his time on Hollywood Squares and the number of answers he gave when he was asked various questions, it's easy to see why he earned his spot on the grid. His one-liners and quick wit were legendary in the game show world. And, yes, I have provided several examples of this below. Just click on the links below.






This was some funny stuff. Even forty years later, it's still somewhat relevant.

It's also interesting to note that a lot of the jokes that Lynde made seemed to hide a secret (albeit open secret) that he had lived with his whole life. And, no the secret isn't that he had a drinking problem, although that was one thing that WAS known about him.

The 'open secret' was about Paul Lynde's sexuality.

These days, it's no big deal if a celebrity is out and proud (despite the fact that in 2012, homophobia is still very much present, sadly enough).  Back in the 1950s and 1960s however, the prejudices towards gay people were very much amplified. It was widely believed and not a huge secret that Paul Lynde was gay.   It was just not advertised, so to speak. It was never acknowledged or talked about. It just simply wasn't done back then. As a result of this, Lynde never officially came out as being gay.

I think the reason why he didn't was because Lynde knew that it would spell the end of his career. Yet, there were a couple of instances in which his career almost did end.

In 1965, he was involved in the investigation of the death of a 24-year-old man, Bing Davidson, who fell off a hotel room balcony eight stories to his death, due to being intoxicated. Although the death was witnessed by a couple of policemen, the news about the death was kept out of the press. The reason why Lynde was involved? He was in the room at time time, and the man was widely reported to be Lynde's companion at the time of his death. The fact that the news was kept out of public view meant that Lynde's career was spared. But one has to wonder if his alcohol abuse was triggered by the whole incident as well, as he had a number of arrests during the 1970s as a result of him abusing substances.

Lynde did end up beating his addictions, and by 1981, he was clean and sober. So for him to die just months later was tragic.

Today, Lynde's work has been forever immortalized in various clips on YouTube and DVD sets of Bewitched, which can still be sold in various places. And when the animated show 'American Dad' debuted, there's definitely a Paul Lynde vibe going on within the character of Roger. Have a listen for yourselves.



So, what life lessons can we learn about the life of Paul Lynde? It's hard to say. I do think that Paul Lynde might have probably been born a little bit late in life. It must have been really hard for him to have to hide who he really was from everyone because of social mores and customs that kept him from truly being himself. It must have been a really horrible thing to go through. Yet, somehow, Paul Lynde managed to go to work each day and do what he wanted to do, which was entertain people through television and film. Yes, he did have some personal demons in his life (some of which may or may not have been caused by the secrets he was forced to keep in his personal life), but by the end of it all, he managed to beat them. I imagine that had Paul lived past 1982, he would have kept up his healthy lifestyle, because I think he was starting to come to terms with the inner peace inside of him.

And that's what I think Paul Lynde could teach us. To find that inner peace and hold on to it. And, I think if there's anything that Paul Lynde could teach all of us during his lifetime, it's that we shouldn't let anyone tell us what is right or what is wrong for us. We should live our lives the way we want to, and if people don't agree, well, nuts to them.



I only wish that things could have been different for Paul Lynde...but hey, what a difference thirty years makes.

Monday, January 09, 2012

The Story Of Lilo & Stitch

Yesterday in the blog, we took a look back at some of the achievements and goals that Elvis Presley accomplished in his career.  We also did a bit of a study on the final Top 10 hit that Elvis had on the Billboard Top 100.

That hit of course being 'Burning Love', a number two song for Presley in the fall of 1972.

But did you know that several artists have done a cover version of Elvis' last top ten smash?

Bruce Springsteen sang the song 'Burning Love' during several of his concert sets during the late 1990s and early 2000s.  Melissa Etheridge performed 'Burning Love' at a televised tribute concert in 1994 hosted by John Stamos.  John Stamos himself had sang quite a few Elvis Presley songs during his eight year stint as Uncle Jesse on the sitcom 'Full House'.  And country singer Travis Tritt recorded a version of the song in 1992.

And then there's Wynonna Judd.

The flame-haired country singer who formed one half of the successful country duo 'The Judds' with her mother, Naomi, Wynonna had embarked on a solo career ever since the duo broke up in 1991.  Some of her releases were huge hits on the country charts, while others didn't do as well, but she managed to build up a steady fan base on her own.

And in 2002, Wynonna Judd performed a cover version of Elvis Presley's 'Burning Love' for the soundtrack of Disney's 41st animated feature film.

Here's a clip of the song below for you to hear.



And, the movie soundtrack that the song was featured on was the 2002 Disney film, 'Lilo & Stitch', which featured the voice talents of Tia Carrere, Daveigh Chase, and Chris Sanders (the latter of whom also directed and wrote the film).

But why an Elvis song?  We'll get to that a little later.




Lilo & Stitch was a movie that was made with a budget of $80 million, making over three times that amount back in box office and DVD sales.  Released in theaters on June 21, 2002, Lilo & Stitch stood apart from other Disney releases over the years.  It was one of only five Disney animated films to be set in the present-day (well, 2002 present anyways).  It was also the very first animated feature film to be set in the Hawaiian Islands. 



The movie was also notable for featuring a character that was created almost 20 years prior to the actual film being made.  Chris Sanders had actually created the vision of Stitch way back in 1985 in an effort to pitch a children's book series.  The book deal never came to fruition, but luckily for Sanders, Disney execs saw a future in Stitch, and work began on the production around late 2000.

During the course of the movie, there were some scenes that were edited out and (pardon the pun) stitched together before the film was released.  One noticeable one that was changed was a scene in which Stitch was shown flying an airplane through the streets of downtown Honolulu, Hawaii.  It would have been perfectly fine before the 9/11 attacks, but since the production team was still working on the film when September 11, 2001 occured, the location of the plane scene was changed, and the plane itself was changed to a spaceship.

Oh, yeah, that's one detail I forgot to mention.  Stitch was a science experiment created by aliens in outer space.  And it is here that the plot of our movie begins.





Our story begins in outer space where we're immediately introduced to Doctor Jumba Jookiba (David Ogden Steirs), an alien scientist who has apparently done some bad things.  Considering that he is being put on trial when we see him, that's the assumption that the viewer has anyway.

Turns out, he's on trial for performing illegal genetic experiments.  His latest creation is a creature known only as Experiment 626, a creature that while nearly indestructable, is extremely aggressive and out-of-control.  Jumba is imprisoned in a space prison, while the ultimate fate of Experiment 626 was to be exiled to a deserted asteroid.

Of course, it would be a pretty horrible movie if that were to take place, wouldn't it?  And somehow, Experiment 626 escapes during the flight and finds himself landing on Planet Earth.  The Grand Councilwoman released Jumba from custody and pairs him up with Agent Wendy Pleakley (Kevin McDonald) to recover Experiment 626 before he can do any harm.


Experiment 626 somehow ends up landing on a road in the middle of the Hawaiian island of Kauai, where he is almost run over by a transport truck.  He's knocked unconscious, and some people end up taking him to the local animal shelter, thinking that he was some breed of dog.





At the same time, there's a secondary plot that is going on.  It's this plot where we're introduced to a little girl named Lilo Pelekai (Chase), who lives with her older sister, Nani (Carrere). 

TRIVIA:  The word Lilo is Hawaiian for 'Lost'.



Nani, who is only eighteen/nineteen when the film begins, has been taking care of her younger sister since their parents died in an automobile accident.  To complicate things further for Nani, a social worker, Cobra Bubbles (Ving Rhames), has doubts that Nani can provide adequate care for Lilo.  But when Cobra suggests that Nani put Lilo in foster care, Nani dismisses the idea, as the last thing she wants is for the two of them to be separated, given that they're the only family that they have left.

Lilo, meanwhile, has problems of her own.  Aside from the fact that she's had to cope with losing her parents at a young age, she has been suffering abuse from her classmates in addition.  One girl in particular, Mertle, is especially cruel to her, and I'll admit that she's just the type of girl that you really wanted Lilo to punch squarely in the face.  She was awful, and she and her little clique of friends did everything possible to make Lilo feel terrible.  It wasn't nice to see Lilo so unhappy.  And, when Nani overheard Lilo praying for a 'real' friend, she came up with an idea.

She would take Lilo to the animal shelter to adopt a pet for her to take care of.



(Yeah, you can see where this is going, isn't it?)

Lilo happens to come across Experiment 626, falls in love with the little guy, convinces Nani to adopt him, and she decides to give him the name of 'Stitch'.

Hence, Lilo & Stitch.

Of course, having Stitch around causes Nani a lot of trouble.  Nani wants to get a decent paying job so she can prove to the social worker that she is capable of taking care of Lilo.  But when Stitch starts acting a bit rambunctious, Lilo tries to make Stitch understand what being good is, and how to behave less aggressively.  She does this by showing Stitch an example of who she believes is the perfect moral example.  A real model citizen.




Elvis Presley.



Now, do you see the Wynonna Judd connection that I brought up at the beginning of this blog post?  Turns out the soundtrack for the movie contained no less than seven of Elvis' greatest hits.  Two were cover versions.  One by Wynonna, and one by a largely forgettable Swedish ABBA wannabe group known as the A*Teens.  The other five were Elvis originals, featuring hits like 'Suspicious Minds' and 'Hound Dog', just to name a couple.

And that's essentially what the first part of the film is.  We have Plot A, which shows Jumba trying to relocate his experiment before it fell into the wrong hands.  We have Plot B, which shows Nani trying to find a way to convince the social workers that she is capable of taking care of her sister who is still a minor.  And Plot C, which shows Lilo trying to tame a wild Stitch, which is a journey that will keep the audience in...well...stitches. 

I know.  Couldn't resist.

So, eventually, you know that at some point, all three of these plots will intertwine, and the end result ends up being very explosive.  Literally.  And by the time all the pieces are picked up, the final few minutes of the movie is a race against time to save both Lilo and Stitch from a future that could be very bleak.

Now, keeping with the Monday Matinee tradition, I won't reveal the end of the movie...all I will say is that you should check it out.  It's probably one of the nicest, most heartwarming Disney films out there.





Of course, would you expect anything less from a Disney film?

Sunday, January 08, 2012

Elvis Presley - By The Numbers

I have always had a bit of a fascination with numbers.

Yeah, yeah...I know.  The person who absolutely hated math to the point where I almost flunked out of it in high school having a fascination with numbers.  Seems a bit ironic, doesn't it?

The truth of the matter is that when I'm not required to add them up, divide them up, or find the square root of them, I'm perfectly okay with numbers.

Without numbers, you wouldn't know how to tell time, or how warm it is going to be outside, or even what date it is.

(It's January 8, by the way.  Just so you know.)

Numbers can also be used to make bullet points in certain documents.  You can use numbers to make a list, or to put something in order, or to emphasize a fact.

Numbers are great things to use.

In fact, I think that for today's blog entry, I'm going to start off by naming the subject of the blog, and then using a few numbers to talk about some of the accomplishments that he made, as well as some personal tidbits about his life and times.



Our blog subject for today is the one and only, Elvis Presley.  And, going from the first number I will be posting, you'll see why I decided to do today's blog on him.

77 - The age that Elvis Presley would be today had he lived.  He was born seventy-seven years ago today on January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi.



42 - The age that Elvis Presley was when he passed away on August 16, 1977, from cardiac arrest.  Although it was well known that Presley was suffering from serious health issues at least three years prior, it has been said that these health issues were linked to a prescription drug addiction.



80,000 - The estimated number of people who stood outside of Graceland (Elvis' home) on August 18, 1977, when Elvis' funeral took place.

1956 - The year Elvis Presley first had a single chart on Billboard.  That single was "Heartbreak Hotel", and it coincidentally became Elvis' first number one single.

18 - The amount of #1 hits that Elvis Presley had during his career on the Billboard Top 100 Charts, setting a record for the musical artist with the most Billboard #1 hits of all time.  The record remained for years until Mariah Carey tied it in 2008 with 'Touch My Body'.

37 - The number of Top 10 hits that Elvis Presley had during his career. 

1 - The number of wives he had (he was married to Priscilla Beaulieu from 1967-1973), as well as the number of children he had (daughter Lisa Marie was born in February 1968).

1982 - The year Graceland was opened up to the public.  It is now the second most visited house in all of America, being declared a historical landmark in 2006.

2002 - A remixed version of the song 'A Little Less Conversation' was released this year, making it one of the last singles that Elvis Presley would have on the pop charts, released 25 years after his death!

33 - The number of feature films Elvis Presley would appear in during his lifetime.  Most of these films were released during the 1960s.

14 - The number of Grammy Awards that Elvis Presley was nominated for.  He eventually ended up winning three.

36 - The age Elvis Presley was when he won the Lifetime Achievement Award in Grammy form in 1971.



1.5 BILLION - The estimated worldwide viewing audience watching his 'Aloha From Hawaii' concert, the first concert to be transmitted globally via satellite.

That's quite a lot of numbers, isn't it?  But those numbers were significant for Elvis Presley.  Some numbers had happy, successful meanings to them, while others were a sad reminder of someone dying far too young.

There's one final number that I wish to share with you though, and it links to the song I've chosen for the Sunday Jukebox for this week.

1972 - The year that Elvis Presley scored his FINAL Top 10 hit on the Billboard Music Charts.

And, just what was this hit?



ARTIST:  Elvis Presley
SONG:  Burning Love
ALBUM:  Burning Love And Hits From His Movies, Volume 2
DATE RELEASED:  August 1, 1972
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #2

Now, the song Burning Love came at a time in which Elvis Presley was undergoing a bit of a renaissance in his career.

As most of us know, Elvis Presley took over the world by storm when his music began charting in 1956.  During the late 1950s, Elvis' music stood out amongst the crowd, and he made young women drool with anticipation over what he would do next.

Mind you, other singers have had fans fall in love with them at first sight.  The Beatles, Shaun Cassidy, The New Kids On The Block, The Backstreet Boys, Justin Timberlake, and Justin Bieber are prime examples of this.

But Presley did it first.  And, Presley's attitude and performances and gyrating hips caused quite a commotion when he first showed off his act.  In fact, his performance on the Milton Berle show caused quite the controversy when people complained that Elvis and his pelvis were inappropriate for television.

If only they knew what would eventually pass as 'wholesome' television just fifty-six years later...

...but, anyway, during the late 1950s and early 1960s, Elvis was the 'it-boy' of popular music, and between his singles and his movies, he was definitely a household name.  But by the mid 1960s, his popularity was starting to dwindle, and the well of creative genius was going dry.  While the late 1960s brought Elvis a wife and a child, creatively, he was almost at the point of hitting rock bottom.  He went several years without scoring a top 10 hit, and he was beginning to get jaded with the whole idea of music.

So, Elvis decided to try his hand on something that he hadn't done since 1960.

A national television special.



Through the encouragement of his long-standing agent Colonel Tom Parker, Presley agreed to film a television special for NBC to air during the 1968 Christmas season.  That special would eventually air on December 3, 1968, and was simply titled Elvis (though over time, it would have the subtitle of Elvis:  The '68 Comeback Special.  The show was NBC's highest rated show of that season, and it attracted a huge audience (reportedly 42% of the total viewing audience watched the Elvis Comeback Special when it first aired).



It also did wonders for his music career, as he was back on the charts with his highest charting singles in all the late 1960s.  The resulting soundtrack album made it to the Top 10 Album charts in 1969.

And this leads us to 'Burning Love'.  Elvis' last top 10 hit.  Peaking at #2, being held off by Chuck Berry's single 'My Ding-A-Ling'.

Ouch.



Here's a bit of a stunner for all of you.  Despite the fact that Burning Love was a huge hit for Presley, Presley himself wasn't keen on the song.  According to the 1982 biography, 'Elvis: The Illustrated Record', Elvis didn't feel comfortable performing the song at all.  Nevertheless, the song received huge airplay, and was one of the songs featured in the 1972 concert film 'Elvis On Tour'.  It was also prominently featured during Elvis' 'Aloha From Hawaii' concert of 1973.  It is also one of Elvis' final rock songs ever released (as during the 1970s, Elvis had mostly released ballads).

And, why did I decide to feature this song, when there were so many to choose from?  Two reasons.  First, it's probably one of my personal all-time favourite Elvis songs.  At least on my top five list.

And secondly?  This song is also tied into tomorrow's Monday Matinee.

You'll just have to wait until tomorrow to figure out what that movie is.  But here's one hint for you to chew on.  This particular movie celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.

See if you can figure it out before tomorrow.  :)

Saturday, January 07, 2012

Double Dare!

I dare you.  Go on.  I really mean it.  I DARE YOU!



Yeah, well...I DOUBLE DARE YOU!

I TRIPLE DARE YOU!

I sometimes chuckle over some of the stupid, ill-thought out dares that we all seemed to be tempted with in our youth.  I mean it, some of those dares that we were faced with were incredibly foolish and probably could have gotten us killed had the slightest thing gone wrong.

The funny thing is that these dares were handled in completely different ways, and I think it all had to do with what gender one was.

Not that I would know anything about what happens at slumber parties hosted by eleven year old girls or anything, but one popular game that seems to top the list of any entertainment suggestions for these slumber parties is the classic getting to know you game known as 'Truth Or Dare'.

Now, there's always the option for people to tell the truth about themselves, but I can only imagine that most would probably take the dare option.  Because I think most kids probably had the idea that squirting shaving cream down the front of a pajama top would be less of a social faux pas than having a secret spread through school as a result of someone choosing the 'truth' option.

Or, whatever dares eleven year old girls come up with during slumber parties.  Do girls even HAVE slumber parties anymore?

But those were girls.  If you were a boy, like I was, our dares could be much more crazy, wild, and just plain stupid in comparison.

What was worse would be the so called 'Double Dares'.  As if a dare wasn't...well...daring enough, 'Double Dares' were the kings of all dares.  If one were to accomplish a 'Double Dare', they would have the absolute respect of everyone else who was around to witness the dare.

Only in 99.9% of all cases where someone is asked to perform a 'Double Dare', there usually aren't any witnesses as the gutless wonders tend to make themselves scarce, and before you know it, you're standing in the middle of a school cafeteria weraring only your underwear and a touque.

(No, the above situation did NOT happen to me...just describing a possible scenario one might find themselves in by performing a 'Double Dare'.)


Truth be told, I never really got into the whole idea of taking dares.  Truthfully, the only dare I took part in where I got in trouble was back in kindergarten.  I was dared by a classmate of mine to take every single puzzle on the puzzle table and pour them all out into the box with all the blocks inside of them.

Guess who got ratted out to the teacher by the one who dared me to do it in the first place?  And guess who spent the whole playtime hour putting EVERY puzzle back together again?


Oh, I was angry.  But, you know, it WAS my doing, so I took the punishment like a...boy.  I got my revenge though.  The very next day, I tried to bury the kid in the sandbox.  I got in trouble yet again, but that time was worth every grain of sand I used!

I swear, I usually don't advocate revenge in my adult life, but back when I was five years old, it was every boy for themselves!

But you know, all this talk about 'Double Dares' got me thinking about a children's game show that used to air on Nickelodeon years ago...a little over 25 years ago, to be exact.  It was a show that like those childhood days of daring classmates to do silly things for fun, teams of two would compete against each other to answer trivia questions and perform stunts that were usually messy and gross.

As it so happens, the name of the show also happens to be the title of this blog post.



The game show 'Double Dare' is the subject of this blog entry.



Premiering on the then-fledgling cable network, Nickelodeon, on October 6, 1986, 'Double Dare' was a game show hosted by Marc Summers.  Yet, this blogger admits that he had never seen an episode of 'Double Dare' until YouTube came around.  Why was this?  Because our cable package that we subscribed to back in those days never carried Nickelodeon, so I missed out on the whole 'Double Dare' experience the first time around.  It didn't really matter too much back then, as we did have the similar show 'Fun House' that aired roughly around the same time.

The more that I watch it now though, the more I realize that I missed out.

The fact that Geoffrey Darby was listed as one of the creators of the program should have been a good sign that the show would be a good one.  Darby also was a key player behind the scenes of 'You Can't Do That On Television', which was one of my all-time favourite television shows.



And just like 'You Can't Do That On Television', the show 'Double Dare' thrived on its messiness.  And considering that host Marc Summers was battling symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder during the filming of the show, the fact that Marc often dove right into the messy stunts himself says a lot about how committed he was to the show as host!

So, before I go on, why don't I post a link to a classic Double Dare episode.  This was an episode that aired 25 years ago, in the year 1987.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lBk82lp4N0

So, as you can see, the show launches straight into a challenge between two teams (one in red, one in blue).  It wouldn't be a very hard challenge.  It usually was something like undressing out of a bulky costume, or popping as many balloons as you could (which I'll admit to muting the sound out during that segment).  The winning team would win a cash prize which would count towards their total.

The game would then begin.  The host would ask a trivia question in a variety of subjects.  In most cases, the questions would be easy.  If they got it right, more money would be added to the team's total.  If there was a question that stumped them, and they had the belief that the question was one that the other team wouldn't know either, that team could dare the other team to answer the question for double the money.  But, there was a risk involved with that.  The team could 'Double Dare' the team right back for four times the original dollar amount.  And then the team would be forced to either answer the question, or perform a physical stunt for the money.  Regardless of what decision was made, if they win, they win the money.  They lose, they lose the money.  It was just that simple.



Of course, most people would agree that the physical stunts made it more fun to watch than listening to people answer trivia questions.

At the end of two rounds, the cash totals were tallied up, and the team that had the highest total would go to the bonus round, which was a gigantic obstacle course that was filled with disgusting and messy stunts.  The course would have eight sections to them, and each team had to complete the course in sixty seconds or less.  So, each obstacle roughly had to be completed in seven and a half seconds.  It could be done though.  All teams had to do was find the hidden flag in each section.  If the team could grab all eight flags, they would win the grand prize, which was usually some sort of vacation.  But there were smaller prizes for completing each individual obstacle, plus the money that was won earlier in the game.

In short, you could win quite the treasure trove of goodies!

The show became a huge hit for Nickelodeon.  By 1987, Nickelodeon's viewership tripled as a result of the show, and a couple of successful spin-offs were released as a result.

In 1987, 'Double Dare' became Super Sloppy Double Dare, which played out just like the regular version, only with bigger prizes and even sloppier stunts!  Check out this obstacle course from 1989 to see what I mean!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBRw2HnLfMk&feature=related


And in 1988, a version known as 'Family Double Dare' began airing, and this version was one where families would compete against each other for cash and prizes.  And, here's an episode from 1992.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9_Ii3AvqBc


Sadly, all good things had to come to an end, and the Double Dare franchise wrapped up for good in 1993 after a seven-year-run...

...or DID it?

In January 2000, the show was revived on Nickelodeon.  Although the host had changed (Jason Harris was the host of the new show), Marc Summers remained on the program as a creative consultant.  Although the show was more or less the same as the original version (even recycling some of the obstacles from the 1980s run), it did provide fans of a new generation a chance to take part and watch what the generation before them had.  Sadly, this new version didn't have as much staying power, only running until November of the same year.  But, just for reference, here's an episode of Double Dare 2000 for your viewing pleasure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXGZv79apkk


You know though...I know that Marc Summers is 60 years old now, and is busy with his Unwrapped show on the Food Network, but you know, Double Dare celebrated its 25th anniversary in October 2011.  I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind seeing another revival.  Heck, I'd be happy if the Game Show Network aired the reruns of the old shows.  After all, I did miss the original run.