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Friday, January 27, 2012

Everybody Loves Raymond's Wife!

Having been single for quite a long time, and never being married, I've never had to experience the joys of having in-laws.

EDIT: Oh, wait, that's not quite true, as both of my sisters have gotten married.

I'm talking about having a mother-in-law or a father-in-law. I've never had either one as of yet. But, I have to admit that I always wondered how I would get along with in-laws...hypothetically speaking, of course.

I would like to think that if I ever had in-laws, I would get along with them quite well. Or, at the very least, I would try to get along with them for the sake of my wife.

However, I'm sure that many of you reading this blog entry have had in-laws who have at times driven you a little bit crazy.

Suppose you have a mother-in-law who purposely brings over complete dinners for the whole family. To some, it might seem like a kind gesture of love on the surface. But if you knew ahead of time that the only reason that your mother-in-law was bringing over food because she didn't think that your cooking was as up to par as hers...well, yes, that would be incredibly frustrating.

Or, how about having a garage or basement filled with dozens of appliances and electronics that no longer work because your father-in-law claimed that he could fix them, only to make them even more damaged? Yes, that could be frustrating.

Or, how about when you spend a whole lot of time and effort creating the perfect gift for your in-laws? You spend a fortune on making sure that the gift is of the finest quality, and even spend a little extra to have it engraved. It's a gift that comes straight from the heart. And what happens when they unwrap it for Christmas? They take it to the store and exchange it for something that they wanted more.

That would be the ultimate in frustrations.

And, yet, the above situations have happened to today's blog subject.

You might think that was bad enough. Having in-laws that constantly meddle in every aspect of your life, often causing more frustration than happiness. At least in most cases, they live far enough away that at most, you only have to deal with them once a week or so.

Not so for our blog subject for today. In her case, she was unfortunate enough to live right across the street from her in-laws. Just imagine having your in-laws living so close that they feel a need to come by for a visit EVERY SINGLE DAY. Having them criticize the way you clean the house, or do unsolicited repair jobs around the house, or just dropping by unannounced.

I imagine that would be enough to drive anybody nuts.

On that note, I think we should meet this victim of unfortunate circumstances, shall we? Oh, look...here she is preparing a turkey for a holiday dinner.



Wow. That wasn't awkward to watch at all.



But for Debra Barone, such was life being married to Ray Barone. Unfortunately for her, when she married Ray, she also married Marie, Frank, and Robert Barone...Ray's mother, father, and brother, respectively.



The television show that these characters come from? That would be 'Everybody Loves Raymond'. Debuting in 1996 and running until May 2005, 'Everybody Loves Raymond' was part of the CBS Monday night comedy block, and consistently ranked near the top during its entire run. For nine seasons, the show chronicled the lives of Debra, Ray, and their three children, growing up in a suburban paradise in the state of New York. The show is largely based off of the real-life family of Ray Romano, who himself has three children. Patricia Heaton played Ray's wife, Debra.

The sitcom also starred Brad Garrett as Robert, Doris Roberts as Marie, the late Peter Boyle as Frank, and the Sullivan siblings (Madylin, Sullivan and Sawyer) as Ray and Debra's three children. In later episodes, Monica Horan played the role of Amy, Robert's girlfriend who later became Robert's wife.

TRIVIA: In the pilot episode of 'Everybody Loves Raymond', which aired on September 13, 1996, the original names of the twin boys in the program were Gregory and Matthew, after Ray Romano's real life twin boys. Their names were changed to Geoffrey and Michael after the pilot. The third Barone child, Ally, was named after Romano's daughter, Alexandra.

In the show, Ray works as a sportswriter for a newspaper, while Debra was a homemaker. Prior to marrying Ray, Debra worked in public relations for the New York Rangers hockey team (which probably explains part of how Ray and Debra hooked up in the first place).

Initially, when they met each other, Debra lived in an apartment, while Ray lived at his parents house moving furniture. Ray was delivering a futon that Debra had ordered, and they were setting it up for her when Debra and Ray almost felt an instantaneous connection with each other. I guess if one were to believe in love at first sight, Ray and Debra felt it. Ray even asked Debra out on a date, to which she accepted.

And then Ray walked in on Debra as she was getting out of the shower, and saw everything, and he thought he blew it. Turns out, he didn't. She invited him over to her place, tempted him with her world famous lemon chicken dish, and she fell head over heels in love with him.

The part where Ray almost knocks Debra out cold with the freezer door was just a fluke. Of course, some people who believe strongly in fate may have taken that a sign for Debra to run far, far away.

But Debra was seemingly a glutton for punishment, and married Ray anyway.

It wasn't until Ray and Debra had Ally and were expecting twins that they realized that they needed a bigger place to raise their family. There was no way that they could fit five people in a tiny two-bedroom apartment. They needed a house, and needed one fast. So, when the house across the street from Ray's parents became available, you know who came up with the idea to buy the house?

Yep. Debra.



In Debra's mind, it was the perfect solution, despite Ray's objections. They would have a home big enough to raise their family, and they would also have Frank and Marie across the street to look after their children when they couldn't. Add Uncle Robert to the mix, and it would be fun and games all the time.

Only it wasn't.

Throughout the nine years that we welcomed the Barone family into our households, we saw just how stressed out Debra was. Of course, sometimes it felt really difficult to find any sympathy for her because as we all know, it was her own fault that they ended up there in the first place. At times, she was so stressed out and overworked that it wasn't too uncommon to see her emotionally frustrated and having fractured relationships with everyone in her family.

Despite all of this though, the Barone family care an awful lot for Debra, and they all know that they are probably better people for having her in their lives.

So I thought for this blog entry, I'd use it to celebrate Debra, by accentuating at least one positive quality in each relationship that she has with each one of the adult Barone family members. Because, let's face it, to be able to deal with all of their craziness, she deserves a medal...even though she sort of brought it on herself.



Let's begin with the man that Debra married. Ray Barone. I'd have to say that for the most part, Ray and Debra were very much made for each other, and it's hard to pictured either of them apart. But, just like most husbands and wives, there's always something that they tend to nitpick each other about. Whether they forget to throw their dirty underwear in the laundry hamper, or they don't take out the garbage, or they don't fix the squeak in a cabinet door. You know, things like that.



In Debra's case, she gets annoyed that her husband doesn't seem to take a real active role in helping her with chores or raising the children. Although Ray is forced to watch ESPN and other sports programming for his job as a sports writer, it did seem as though Ray used it as a bit of a convenient excuse to get out of the household duties that Debra asked him to help out with. Ray's even gone as far as faking illness to get out of doing housework. No wonder Debra got frustrated with him.

Of course, Ray's behaviour is easily understood when you take into consideration how he grew up. With a mother who spoiled him rotten, and a father who basically ignored him, he really had two different extremes. It was really hard for him to find a middle ground. I think Debra understood this, and tried to make allowances for him. It proved to be quite a challenge though. Although, one thing that was clear was that Ray really loved his wife and would do anything for her when the time came. He even gave up the Super Bowl for her once. There's not a lot of guys who would give up the Super Bowl for anything.

(Well, actually, I would because I hate football, but that's a moot point.)

And in turn, Debra helped defend Ray from a bully...the mother of one of the girl scouts in their daughter's girl scout troop. So, like I said, when worst comes to worst, they are always there for each other.

But what about the other members of the Barone family?

I'd say that regarding the male members of the family, Debra had a cordial relationship with both of them.



Frank Barone, although he was always one to hide his emotions and was your stereotypical cantankerous old geezer, he seemed to have a soft spot for Debra. I really do think that in his own way, he really liked Debra, and was proud of Ray for marrying a great girl like her.

Certainly he drove the family crazy by breaking the staircase, painting their house a weird colour, and actually driving a car through their living room!



But Frank was a guy who didn't like seeing Debra hurt. And when Debra decided to take on a job at the lodge that Frank was a member of, Frank knew that the other members didn't exactly act like gentlemen. Frank not only stood up for Debra, but made sure that she was safe from the advances of the other men. Once Frank stood up for her, Debra ended up getting enough confidence to tell the lecherous perverts at the lodge how disappointed she was in them.



Debra also has a great relationship with Robert. In fact, I think Debra and Robert probably understand each other the best because they're both in similar situations. Just as Frank and Marie can sometimes drive Debra crazy, it is especially worse for Robert, as he happens to live with Frank and Marie under their roof for most of the series. But that was good in a way, because Debra and Robert would often comfort each other, and give each other advice on how to cope. Robert ended up being a venting post for Debra to vent about Ray, Frank, and Marie, and I'm sure that having Robert as a confidant really helped Debra manage her stress. In turn, Debra probably helped Robert stop feeling sorry for himself, and was Robert's strongest supporter when he and Amy started dating. I think the friendship between Robert and Debra was wonderful, and I kind of wish it was explored more in the series.

Finally, we come to the frenemy portion of the blog entry.



The quality of the clip above is not very good, but it's no secret that Marie Barone and Debra Barone's relationship can be quite dysfunctional at times. Let's take a look at all the things that Marie has done to Debra over the years. She sabotaged Debra's spice rack to keep her from duplicating her own recipes. She purposely tells Debra that she is not a good cook, cleaner, housekeeper, or clothes folder. She insists on taking control over ever little detail in weddings, parties, anything really. She's snobbish, she's judgmental, I think in one episode, Amy's mother once called her a narcissist.



To say that Debra and Marie are much like water and electricity would be an understatement.

But there is one positive thing that I can say about both of them. No matter how much they antagonize each other, both Debra and Marie want what is best for Ray. And I think that while neither one of them would ever show it, I think there's a little bit of respect deep down inside. Deep down, I do believe that Marie thinks that Debra is the best woman for Ray. Though, she'd NEVER admit it.

Another instance came when Debra and Marie ended up having a falling out that lasted almost an entire week. They refused to speak to each other, despite efforts from Ray, Frank, and Robert to get them to patch things up. Weirdly enough, Debra and Marie ended up forgiving each other on their own, as both of them realized how much they missed each other!

I guess maybe in some weird way, Debra and Marie actually get along better when they are taking shots at each other's expenses. They fight and criticize each other constantly, and Marie always manages to find a way to disguise her condescending nature as a compliment to Debra, which I'm sure annoys Debra to no end. At the same time, I don't think either one could live without the other.

It's a real dysfunctional relationship between the two of them, and I don't think I could really do it much justice in such a small space. Maybe if I ever do the Marie Barone blog topic, it'll be explained in more detail.

My hope for today though is that you understand Debra Barone a little more than you might have before...and maybe you'll find that you love her just as much as you might have Raymond.

Well, unless you HATE the show, that is.



Thursday, January 26, 2012

It's The End Of The World As We Know It?



Have any of you seen the film 2012 yet?

I happened to watch it for the very first time...in 2012, funnily enough.

It was shortly after New Year's Day, and the movie was showing on cable television. Seeing as how there was nothing else airing at 12:30 am on a Saturday night, I figured it would be a great way to kill a couple of hours. Or at the very least, it would be a way I could try to conquer my insomnia.



The movie was actually made in 2009, and it starred John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Thandie Newton, and Danny Glover, amongst others. The movie takes a look at the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, which exists in the Mayan civilization. According to many theories, the calendar's 5,125 year cycle is slated to cease right around Christmas 2012. But, what does this mean?

In the movie '2012', this means the end of the world.

It means a world that is broken apart by earthquakes, scorched by volcanic eruptions, and flooded by tsunamis. And, lucky us, the human race gets to be around for the whole thing.

I'll admit that watching it on television, the special effects were quite good. Seeing skyscrapers reduced to dust, Los Angeles sinking into the ocean, and a gigantic wave obliterating the eastern half of North America (which I guess would have been my fate according to the movie), it was a visual sight to behold.

It's just a shame that the storyline completely stunk.

I'm not completely against disaster movies, so as long as they have a clear plot to them. 'Earthquake' was awesome. 'The Poseidon Adventure' was awesome. Heck, I can even find some positive qualities for the movie 'Twister'. But with 2012, the action was so all over the place, I sometimes forgot what movie it was that I was watching. By the end of the movie, when the survivors ended up somewhere in the middle of Africa, I was like...”oh, great...survivors...now the movie can have just as horrible of a sequel one day.”

Not exactly the best attitude one should ideally have for a movie with a somewhat bittersweet end, but I was just happy that the movie finally reached its end.



Of course, that was just a fictional movie. There's no way of what really is going to happen in 2012. That's why I find it so completely baffling that there are quite a few people who actually DO believe that the world is going to end on December 21, 2012. If you log onto the Internet and do a quick Google search on 2012 Doomsday Theories', you'll probably come up with dozens of pages that suggest that, yes, our time on Earth is limited to less than one year. 

 

Even by going on Wikipedia, of all places, there's lots of theories that speculate how the world is slated to end in 2012. Magnetic pole reversals, being swallowed up by a black hole, even colliding with some planet named “Nibiru” (which I'm pretty sure is NOT represented in our solar system whatsoever).

So, how does this lead into my fourth Thursday Confessional? Well, here it is.

THURSDAY CONFESSION #4: I would like to take everybody who actually believes that the world is going to end in 2012, line them up in a row, and just give them one gigantic bitch slap across their gullible faces in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, I can knock some sense into their already malleable minds.

Sound harsh? Good.

There is absolutely NO evidence that the world is living on borrowed time...at least scientifically speaking. None. Scientists and scholars have gone over every single scenario that had been brought up in association with the 2012 Doomsday theories, and they can't seem to make one theory stick. The reason being a total lack of evidence concluding that these theories are factual.

Let's take a look at the geomagnetic reversal theory, which some say will be triggered by a massive solar flare which would destroy the world. For one, the process isn't as instantaneous as they think. According to some scientists, geomagnetic reversals can take up to seven thousand years to complete, and the date in which they begin is impossible to predict. For all we know, we could be experiencing it right now, and not even know it. As for the solar flare theory, although we are experiencing sunspots right now as I type this, the peak of sunspot activity won't actually happen until 2013, and is expected to be weaker than past incidents. So, I think we can safely say that this theory is dead in the water.

If anything, the only thing that these sunspots could likely affect are cell phone towers and satellites orbiting around the Earth...and, well...I suppose for some people, losing their cell phone signal would be the equivalent of a giant meteor destroying their hometown.

And yes, that statement was sarcasm at its finest.

I'm not even going to touch the stupid 'we're going to collide with another planet' theory. If you really believe that we're going to have another planet crash into us as we're doing our Christmas shopping this year, don't you think that we'd actually be able to see it up in the sky by now?



2012 isn't the first time that people predicted that the world would end, either. Remember the so-called Y2K disaster in which our computer systems would all crash, planes would fall out of the sky, and traffic lights would shoot laser beams at people? Yeah, none of that happened. I remember watching the footage of Times Square on December 31, 1999 watching the ball drop, and when 1999 turned into 2000, it was very anti-climactic. I didn't even see so much as a neon sign explode in a sea of sparks. Although, I wonder what those people who built bomb shelters in 1999 to prepare for Y2K are doing with them now in 2012.

There's also Harold Camping, resident doomsday predictor who believed with all his heart and soul that the world would end, not once, but twice in 2011. The first time around, he said that the world would be doomed come May 21, 2011. Surprisingly enough, a lot of people bought into that theory. I actually recall seeing reports of people spending their entire life savings to prepare for the incoming apocalypse.



May 21 came and went without much incident, and Camping was left with egg on his face. That is until he made another prediction that October 21 would be the new doomsday. And just like the last time he failed to make the world end, October 21 came and went without anything bad happening. It was reported after the October 21 prediction that Camping was retiring from the science of predicting the world's destruction. Gee, I can't imagine why. But then again, Harold Camping is in his nineties now, with the Grim Reaper closely following behind. What's he care when the world ends?

But that's the way it has always been as long as this world keeps spinning around. People have been predicting the end of days for centuries now, and each time, those predictions have always come up short.

I'm certainly not saying the the world is invincible. Everything comes to an end sooner or later. The fact is that in almost all cases, we are absolutely unable to predict when the exact moment is that we are going to die. There might be clues, genetic factors, our surroundings can play a part in that, yes. But to pin it down to an exact date, time, second...it's impossible to know.

I mean, I could predict that my death will happen on July 17, 2072, at 11:20:23 pm. And, if it actually does turn out that I am right...well, I won't really care, because I'll be dead. But I could die after that date. I could die before that date. It's all a big mystery.

Nobody knows exactly when the world is going to stop turning. We don't know when humans will be eradicated from the planet forever. So, why stress out about it? Why are we planning for the unknown tomorrow when we should be living today?



(Great...now I have a Kylie Minogue song playing in my brain...)

The point is that I just don't understand why so many people feel the need to obsess over how the world is going to end.

Have we really become that pessimistic?



I mean, there's even a Doomsday clock created by the board of directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago that has been maintained for the last sixty-five years. Supposedly, the minute hand is symbolic for how close we are to a global catastrophe. The closer the minute hand is to midnight, the closer we are to doomsday. As of January 26, 2012, the time on the clock currently reads 11:55pm.

(For the record, the closest we've been to midnight on the clock was 11:58pm, at the height of the 'Cold War' in 1953...the furthest away was 11:43pm in 1991, when the 'Cold War' was declared to be over.)

But the fact that a clock like this even has to exist in the first place...I don't know. It just sounds sort of disturbing, to be completely honest.

If the world is going to end within my lifetime (and I'm certainly not saying that it will because I have made it clear that I do NOT believe in the 2012 Doomsday theories), am I the only one out there who would rather not know when it'll happen? To some, it sounds like I'm living in blissful ignorance, and that's fine. I'd rather go on with my life and live it the way that it was meant to be lived, rather than cower in fear in a bomb shelter while everyone else panics over an apocalyptic event that may or may not happen. Again, I could be the only one who feels this way, but I don't believe in being afraid of the unknown.

There's a couple of reasons why I feel this way.



First, I have to think that regardless of whether we have a catastrophic event happen on Earth during our lifetime, that some of us would be able to get through it and come out stronger people. I mean, looking at some examples in recent history, in 2005, New Orleans, Louisiana was severely flooded, and several coastal cities were wiped off the map as a direct result of Hurricane Katrina. Six and a half years later, the city of New Orleans has made great progress in restoring itself to its former glory. Is there still a lot of work to do? Absolutely. But, that's one example in which people have come together in the face of disaster to try and rebuild their lives. We've had dozens of natural disasters occur all over the world during the last century. Some more severe than others. But none of them have successfully eradicated the human race, or the human spirit. San Francisco was destroyed by an earthquake in 1906, and it was rebuilt. It was damaged again in 1989 by another earthquake and it was rebuilt again.

In case you're missing the point that I'm trying to make...in most cases, the human spirit is a powerful thing, and depending on the disaster, I'd like to think that we're capable of surviving most anything that comes across our path. I mean, the way that some of these people are going about these theories, they almost seem to feel as though we're a weak species, and that's not the case at all. I'd like to believe that we can make it through almost any challenge that comes our way...well, provided people can shut off their iPhones long enough to do so.



But as we all know, that isn't always the case. One just has to go back to April 1986 to see how the nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl forced the evacuation of Prypiat, the Ukraine, and other nearby cities...cities which are still too dangerous to live in. But, that leads into my second point.

While I'm not saying that the world will end in my lifetime or your lifetime, I have a feeling that if it were to end, it won't be because of a natural disaster, or a Mayan prophecy, or the Earth crashing into the sun.

It'll be because of us.

I mean, look at the BP oil spill of 2010, or even the Exxon Valdez spill way back in 1989. They both caused horrible damage to marine life and underwater ecosystems. Or, how about all the threats to human civilization with nuclear war threats, and hidden nuclear missiles? I'm more concerned about the damage that we humans have caused over the last few years than any of the 2012 theories that are floating around cyberspace.

And, that's the whole point that I'm trying to make with this blog entry. I'm not worried about the world ending. If it happens while I'm still here, fine. If not, also fine. But, I'd rather be taken by surprise rather than know for sure when it would happen. Think about it. If you knew when the world was going to end, would you honestly say that you'd live the last few days of your life without worry and fear? I think probably not. I'm better off not knowing, so that if the end did come, I would hopefully be doing something that I loved doing...go out in style, you know?

And, for pete's sake, quit frightening people with these 2012 Doomsday theories! It does no good whatsoever to keep spouting off theories about how the world is going to end. There are so many other ways to spend your time...why not spend it doing something you love to do with people you care about instead of scaring people half to death with theories that are unbelievable, at best?

Then again, what do I know? For all I know, the world very well could collapse on itself on the 21st of December, and then all of you believers of the Mayan Doomsday theories can tell me that you told me so.

Oh, wait, no you can't...we'll all be dead.

No matter how I look at it, I still win. :D



Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Examining the Hundred Acre Wood With Winnie-The-Pooh

I think if I were to go back in time and re-examine each year that I spent in school, third grade would probably be one of those years in which I remember quite fondly.  It doesn’t rank as my favourite year, but I’d say it would be in the Top 3.


In third grade, my teacher was named Mr. Porter, and as far back as I can remember, he was a teacher that I liked.  He had some interesting art projects, his gym classes were mostly ones that I liked because he made sure that everybody participated despite athletic ability, and on Remembrance Day, he would play the bagpipes in real Scottish attire, complete with the traditional Scottish kilt. 

I wouldn’t say that it was all fun and games in his class.  I was known for being quite the chatterbox in third grade, and was probably booted out in the hallway countless times for ‘disrupting the class’.  You know, come to think of it, I think some of those hallway visits were set up by some kids in my class who found it great fun to watch someone else get in trouble by the teacher.  But, I’m not a paranoid person, so we shall never speak of this again.

The point was that I have more positive memories of third grade than negative ones.  In third grade, Mr. Porter made sure that we all had library cards so that we could leave the school to walk to the Public Library every Thursday to check out a few books each week.  I still have the library card from third grade, and have used it ever since...although considering that the last date on the card reads as August 9, 2002, I’m guessing that I’m going to have to renew it if I expect to use it again.
If memory serves me, third grade was the year that I invited most of the boys in my class to my 9th birthday party so we could watch the ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ movie at the movie theater.  Come to think of it, I think that entire year, I was obsessed with the Ninja Turtles, and would often write and illustrate my own Ninja Turtle comic books so that the kids in the class could read them.

(Yes...even at the tender age of nine, I had been bitten by the writing bug.)
I think one of the things I liked best about third grade were the projects that we had to do based on books that we studied in class.  I already talked about how one of the books we read in the third grade was Mordecai Richler’s ‘Jacob Two-Two Meets The Hooded Fang’, and how much I loved it.

That wasn’t the only book we read in class though.
Today’s blog topic is a book that was written in the 1920s about a bear and the many adventures he had in his forest home.  And if you click on the video below, you can see how the title character was created.



Yes, today’s blog entry is the A.A. Milne classic, Winnie-the-Pooh, released in 1926.  A book that has been translated into several languages, has sold millions of copies worldwide, and spawned a sequel, 1928’s “The House At Pooh Corner”


It was also a book that I was first introduced to in third grade.  My class even went to the town arts center to watch a stage performance of Winnie-the-Pooh put on by a local theatre group.


And of course, everyone has likely seen the number of Disney adaptations of the book.  Whether it was the motion pictures, the direct-to-video films, the live action series “Welcome To Pooh Corner”, or the Disney cartoon series, Winnie-the-Pooh was one popular bear.
The Heritage moment video that I posted earlier in this blog entry sort of explains the reason behind the bear’s unusual name.  As you have seen, the bear was named after a real life bear seen at the London Zoo during that time.  It was a Canadian Black Bear who had the name of Winnie (which was named after the Canadian city of Winnipeg, Manitoba).  A.A. Milne would frequently take his young son to the zoo to see the bear, and the boy loved the bear so much that he decided to name his beloved teddy bear after Winnie.  Today, you can see the bear on display at the New York Public Library.


Oh, and the name of A.A. Milne’s boy?  Christopher Robin Milne.


Christopher Robin, as you know by reading the book, was one of the main characters in the book.  And Christopher Robin Milne was responsible for naming other characters that appeared in the book as well, taking the names from various toys that he had played with.  These included Tigger, Piglet, Kanga, and Roo, in case you were interested in knowing.
As for how the ‘Pooh’ in Winnie-the-Pooh came about, well, the answer came about during the first chapter of the novel.

“But his arms were so stiff...they stayed up straight in the air for more than a week, and whenever a fly came and settled on his nose he had to blow it off.  And I think – but I am not sure – that that is why he is always called Pooh.”
I’ll let you interpret that however you like.

The one thing I find wonderful about the book was that the setting was based on a real-life place.
That place was Ashdown Forest, situated south of London.  In Christopher Milne’s autobiography, he went into great detail about how each weekend, he and his family would drive down to the family’s country home to spend time together.  A lot of the features of the forest were used to illustrate Winnie-the-Pooh’s home.  For instance, the “Hundred Acre Wood” was inspired by the real-life “Five Hundred Acre Wood”.  The section of the forest known as “Gill’s Lap” became the fictional “Galleon’s Leap”.  And Christopher Robin’s “Enchanted Place” was based on a clump of trees located on Gill’s Lap.



Further evidence of the influence of Ashdown Forest in the book ‘Winnie-the-Pooh can be seen in the illustrations provided by artist E.H. Shepard.  Shepard took the features of the real life Ashdown Forest and incorporated them into the pictures he did of the landscape.  It has also been said that if one were to take all of the illustrations that appeared in the book, and compared them to real-life locations of Ashdown Forest, the similarities would be striking.


Of course, Winnie-the-Pooh was our main character of the book.  A bear that lived in a house bearing the name Mr. Sanders, Winnie-the-Pooh loved honey, and often did everything in his power to get his fill of honey.  If I remember correctly, he borrowed a blue balloon from Christopher Robin to fly up to the tree tops so he could grab a giant beehive filled with sweet, delicious honey.  While the plan was resourceful, it wasn’t very successful.
Neither was his plan to visit his friend, Rabbit.  After eating every bit of honey in Rabbit’s house (and, while we’re on the subject, why would a rabbit have honey in his house in the first place?), he proceeds to get stuck through the door because he ate too much.



But that was part of the charm and fun of Winnie-the-Pooh.  How he innocently ended up getting caught in some of the strangest situations, and the methods he took to try and get out of these situations. 
At least Winnie-the-Pooh had a great group of friends on his side.

Christopher Robin was Winnie’s only human friend.  He helped Winnie out of some very sticky situations throughout the book, and always had a kind word to say about everyone.


There was Piglet, a small pig named after one of Christopher Milne’s toys.  He was probably the closest friend that Winnie-the-Pooh had, and lived in a “very grand house in the middle of a beech tree”.  He liked to hunt Heffalumps, his favourite food was the ‘haycorn’, and ended up trapped by a flood in the first book.


Next is Eeyore, the donkey that never smiles.  With his monotone voice, and gloomy, depressing outlook on life, it seems hard to believe that he and Winnie share a close bond.  Eeyore’s other main distinguishing feature is his detachable tail, accented by a bright pink bow.  He is one of the few characters who can write.  He lives in the southeastern area of the Hundred Acre Wood known as “Eeyore’s Gloomy Place: Rather Boggy And Sad”.  He seems to have negative opinions towards most of the animals that live in the forest, and his favourite food is thistles.


Then we have the mother/son kangaroo duo known as Kanga and Roo. 
Kanga is the only female character to appear in the two Winnie-the-Pooh books.  She is kind-hearted, and extremely devoted to Roo.  She is constantly looking out for Roo, making sure he gets his medicine for strength, and making sure that Roo stays out of trouble.  She ends up serving as a motherly figure to Winnie-the-Pooh and all of his friends, and her pocket is big enough for both Roo and Piglet to ride inside.

Roo is the smallest animal in the book, even smaller than Piglet.  Some of his adventures in the story include being ‘kidnapped’ by Rabbit, going with Piglet on an expedition to the North Pole, and getting stuck in a tree with Tigger.  He also takes the medicine that Kanga gives him, although he doesn’t really like it very much.


Next, we have Rabbit, who was one of only two characters who were not named after one of Christopher Milne’s toys.  Rabbit lives in a house in the northern area of the Hundred Acre Wood and sees himself as being a wonderful leader, even though his plans don’t always go off as planned.  Rabbit is also quite wary of newcomers.  He was initially cold towards Kanga and Roo when they were introduced in the first book, and also showed similar feelings towards Tigger in the second book, but as he got to know them, he welcomed them into his life with open arms.  He’s more or less a dependable friend to the animals of the forest, though his patience does get severely tested.


Owl lives in a tree (referred to as ‘The Chestnuts’) in the heart of the Hundred Acre Wood.  Widely regarded as the wisest creature in the whole forest, Owl loves to offer advice to the other creatures, whether they want it or not.  He can spell his name “Wol”, can write the word ‘Tuesday’, and wished Pooh a ‘Hipy Papy Bthuthdth Thuthda Bthuthdy.’


Lastly, we have Tigger, the striped tiger who bounces on his tail.  He isn’t introduced until the second book of the series, but when we do meet him, he arrives with a bang.  After sampling every possible food to eat for breakfast, Tigger finds that his favourite food is Roo’s medicine!  Tigger forms such a strong bond with Roo that Kanga actually looks at Tigger as another one of her children!
Quite the motley crew of characters, huh?

Yet, when you put them all together, you have a group that gets along well with each other.
Personality wise, they could not be more different.  But none of that mattered to the group.  They all liked and respected each other very much.  If they did get into a conflict, they managed to resolve it fairly quickly.

And, you know, I think that’s why I have such a fondness for Winnie-the-Pooh.  It’s a classic tale of friendship at its finest.
I’ll admit right now that I wished that I had a group of friends in third grade who I was really close to in the same way that Winnie-the-Pooh was close to his friends.  I wish I had a Tigger who could teach me how to bounce.  I wish I had a Piglet who I could go on expeditions to the North Pole with.  I wish Owl could wish me a hipy papy bt...well, you get the idea.

Come to think of it, that sounds kind of nice right now, matter of fact.


Tuesday, January 24, 2012

January 24, 1943

It's time for another fantastic installment of the Tuesday Timeline, the day where we take a look back in on what happened on this day a number of years ago. It could be from last year, 10 years ago, or even 100 years ago. And since I started up this Tuesday Timeline feature three weeks ago, I've noticed that it seems to be a big hit with all of you who do read this blog.

So, let's not waste any time chatting too much longer. Let us get right to today's date.

January 24 was a rather interesting year as far as historical events goes. And January 24 has a sort of negative connotation associated with it. According to an MSNBC article, January 24th is officially known as the 'most depressing day of the year'! Researchers and psychologists in the United Kingdom made this claim based on a number of factors. With people still in debt from Christmas shopping, the weather being most uncooperative (at the time I'm writing this, we have a real slushy mess of snow, ice, and rain on the streets), and a distinct lack of sunshine, they claim that this makes January 24 a real downer of a day, as far as they're concerned.

That must be terrible for everyone out there who happened to be born on January 24. Some celebrities that were born on January 24 include the following;

Ray Stevens, Neil Diamond, Aaron Neville, Jools Holland, Mary Lou Retton, Matthew Lillard, Ed Helms, Tatyana Ali, Mischa Barton, and the late John Belushi.

We lost quite a few celebrities and public figures on January 24, as well. We said goodbye to Chris Penn in 2006, Thurgood Marshall in 1993, and Winston Churchill in 1965.

There were some interesting events that happened on January 24 in history. Back in 1984, Steve Jobs introduced the very first Apple Macintosh computer complete with a memorable Super Bowl commercial that aired two days prior (which you can view HERE if you're interested). Little did we know that this would be only the beginning for Apple computer products to hit the market.

January 24, 2003 marked the first day of The United States Department Of Homeland Security in operation. And, in 2009, a severe storm strikes the coast of France, killing 26 people and causing disruptions to power services and public transportation.

January 24 seems to also be a date linked with a lot of criminal activity, oddly enough. Whether it was the date that a crime occurred, or whether the date is linked to a criminal's personal life, it appears January 24 played a role.

Way back in 41 A.D., controversial Roman emperor Caligula was assassinated on January 24. One thousand nine hundred and forty-eight years later in 1989, serial killer Ted Bundy was executed in a Florida state prison. In 1993, a Turkish journalist named Ugur Mumcu was killed by a car bomb in Ankara. And, just last year, in 2011, 35 people were killed, and 180 more injured in a bombing at a Moscow airport.

And then there's today's flashback date, which happens to be linked to one of the worst criminal acts of the 1960s in Hollywood.



Today's flashback date is January 24, 1943.

That date happens to be the birthdate of young Hollywood starlet, the late Sharon Tate.



And, sadly, Sharon Tate met a demise that was too cruel for words, a life cut way too short, thanks to the actions of a serial killer and his group of followers, one summer day in 1969.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself here.

A lot of people who were born since 1969 have likely never heard of Sharon Tate. I'll admit that I didn't know who she was until I was in high school, when we did a case study on her murder for one of my classes. And after hearing what happened to her, and the aftermath surrounding her death, I figured that I would use this blog entry to talk about her short, but interesting career, so that everyone can know who she was, and how she was remembered before she became one of the most famous murder victims ever known.

As stated before, Sharon Tate was born on January 24, 1943. Had she survived, she would be sixty-nine years old today. She was born in Dallas, Texas, the eldest of three daughters. From a very early age, it became clear that Sharon was going to grow up to become a performer. She even won a pageant in the summer of 1943 when she was just six months old.

Because Sharon's father was a United States Army officer, this meant that the Tate family was forced to move across the country a lot, often without much warning. This proved to be quite difficult for Sharon to adjust to, and by the time Sharon was a teenager, she had lived in six different cities, and found it difficult to make and nurture long-lasting friendships, as she moved away so frequently.

Because of this, Sharon acted incredibly shy, and was self-conscious about herself, and that people mistakenly believed that she was aloof until they really got to know her better. I can only imagine how hard it must have been for her to fit in somewhere in the world, especially since her world kept changing at the drop of a hat.

As Sharon grew older, people commented on her natural beauty, and she decided to enter some beauty pageants throughout the early 1960s in an effort to boost her confidence. She had high hopes of entering the 'Miss Washington' beauty contest in 1960, but that same year, her father received word that he was being transferred to Italy, and the family moved to the city of Verona.

This move proved to be of great fortune for Sharon though. Shortly after they arrived, she found that she had become a little bit of a celebrity, as a photograph of her in a bathing suit was published in 'Stars And Stripes', a military newspaper. She attended an American school in Verona while she was there, and began to form lasting friendships for the first time in her whole life thus far. It was as if coming to Italy opened up Sharon's world to wonderful things that she had never experienced before.

In 1961, Sharon and her newfound friends got word that the film 'Adventures Of A Young Man' was filming nearby. With the film boasting such big talent names as Paul Newman, Susan Strasberg, and Richard Beymer, they all decided that they had to be a part of it. And, they ended up getting their wish, albeit as background, non-speaking extras. For Sharon though, that was enough. In fact, her appearance in the movie stood out so much that Richard Beymer actually ended up dating Sharon while the film was being shot! That same year, she ended up appearing in a Pat Boone television special which was being filmed in Venice.



Sharon attempted to further her film career by moving to the United States in late 1961, but due to some health problems that her mother was experiencing, Sharon returned to Italy. But in 1962, the entire Tate family relocated to Los Angeles, California, where Sharon was promptly represented by the same agent that Richard Beymer used, Harold Gefsky. Through Gefsky, Sharon underwent a series of screen tests, and almost landed a role on the television series 'Petticoat Junction'. She did not get the role, because it was felt that she lacked the experience to be able to handle it, although she did get some bit parts on 'The Beverly Hillbillies' and 'Mr. Ed' in the meantime. The director of Filmways, Inc., Martin Ransohoff, signed Sharon to a seven-year contract, but initially kept it hush hush at the beginning. As Tate would explain in an interview given by Playboy magazine in the late 1960s, she claimed that the reason Ransohoff did this was to make sure that she was ready to deliver her best work to the audience.

Sharon's first year under contract though was incredibly frustrating though. She tried out for a role in the film 'The Cincinnati Kid', but was turned down in favour of Tuesday Weld. She also auditioned for the role of Liesl in 'The Sound Of Music', but was also unsuccessful. However, Ransohoff would end up giving her several walk-on roles on films in which he served as a producer. Those two films were 'The Americanization Of Emily' and 'The Sandpiper'. At this point, Sharon's personal life was also developing. She had a noted relationship with French actor Philippe Forquet, which ended when both of them wanted different things regarding their careers. She also began a relationship with Hollywood hair stylist Jay Sebring, but rejected his marriage proposal, stating that she wanted to make sure she had established herself as an actress first before settling down.

By 1965, Ransohoff had felt that Sharon Tate had learned enough skills from the minor roles she had to be featured in a major role in a motion picture. The movie was “Eye Of The Devil”, and it featured David Niven, Donald Pleasance, Deborah Kerr, and David Hemmings. In the movie, she played the role of Odile, a witch. She didn't have a whole lot of lines, but she had to set an ethereal tone, and had to keep in character in any instance where she was filming a scene.

And Sharon Tate nailed it.

Her co-star, David Niven, called her a great discovery, and Deborah Kerr had said that Tate could potentially be a great success if luck was on her side. Sharon had said herself that Deborah Kerr had taught her a lot about how to act just by seeing her in action. The movie was filmed in London, and initially, Jay Sebring accompanied her for the film preparations. But when Sebring had to fly back to Los Angeles, Sharon stayed behind in London. It was during this time that she ended up meeting someone who she would become very close with.



Roman Polanski.

Although they didn't exactly hit it off when they first met, Polanski, who was a film producer/director, who at the time was looking to cast his latest project, 'The Fearless Vampire Killers', which was co-produced by Ransohoff. One of the roles in the movie that he was looking to cast was the female lead. Initially, Polanski was looking for a red-headed actress to fill the role, such as actress Jill St. John. Ransohoff convinced Polanski to consider casting Sharon Tate instead. And, Sharon got the role, but had to wear a red wig for the role.



With the filming taking place in Italy, Sharon had a little advantage when she found that she could communicate with the crew in fluent Italian. But where she was succeeding with the crew, she was initially floundering with Polanski, who felt that Tate was trying his patience. It was rumoured that he had shot seventy takes for one scene alone!

As work progressed on the film though, Polanski ended up changing his view on Sharon, and began to praise her performances, which in turn caused Sharon's confidence levels to rise. Eventually, Sharon and Roman Polanski began to date each other, and would eventually get married in 1968.



But Sharon was still struggling in her career, and it was becoming clear that people just weren't taking her seriously as an actress. Shortly after wrapping up 'The Fearless Vampire Killers', she took on a role in the 1967 film 'Don't Make Waves'. Although it was technically Sharon's third project, it was the first one to be released in theaters. Reportedly, Sharon was very unhappy about being in the film, and the film itself bombed at the box office. The film was heavily promoted though, using cardboard cutouts of Sharon Tate in a bathing suit, as well as an advertising campaign for Coppertone based on the movie, and while the film itself was panned, critics did say that they found Sharon's presence to be engaging.



Later on in the year, she won the role of Jennifer North in the movie adaptation of the popular book 'Valley Of The Dolls', a role in which Sharon had great affinity for. The character of Jennifer North was one who was admired only for her body, and given her past experiences with 'Don't Make Waves', I can see how Sharon could sympathize with her character. Sure enough, there were instances of this in the media, as well as how she was treated during the filming. Although director Mark Robson was critical of all the actresses in the movie, he seemed to focus most of his criticism towards Sharon, and Patty Duke (who also starred in the movie) defended Sharon, saying that the director constantly treated Sharon as if she were stupid, and she really was anything but. Magazines had described Sharon Tate as being 'hopelessly stupid and vain'. When word got out about Sharon having a nude scene in the film, the media jumped all over her. Yet, Sharon defended her nude scene, by telling a journalist who asked her about it the following;

“I have no qualms about it at all. I don't see any difference between being stark naked or fully dressed – if it's part of the job and it's done with meaning and intention. I honestly don't understand the big fuss made over nudity and sex in films. It's silly. On TV, the children can watch people murdering each other, which is a very unnatural thing, but can't watch two people in the very natural process of making love. Now, that really doesn't make any sense, does it?”

Not bad for an actress who was constantly deemed 'stupid' by the press, don't you think?

Although the movie itself was critically panned, some critics actually praised Sharon Tate's performance, even though they feared that she would never be taken seriously as an actress. And if anything, Sharon formed a friendship with the other actresses in the film, so she ended up getting something out of filming it. She was even nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in the film, and was now being described as a promising newcomer.

She was also beginning to get more involved with her husband's film projects as well. Although she was not cast in the film 'Rosemary's Baby' (the part instead went to Mia Farrow), she did play an extra in one scene, and visited the set quite often during filming. Although the Polanski/Tate marriage wasn't without its problems, and Sharon grew frustrated over her husband having random affairs with other women. But she stuck with the marriage, believing that as they matured, he would change his ways. Around this time, Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate were getting into the party scene, and they would often host lavish parties at their home where the biggest names in Hollywood at the time would gather. Some criticized the couple for seemingly letting any random stranger into their home, as some of them looked rather shady and sketchy, but they took no heed to the warnings.

They probably should have listened.

By 1969, it seemed as though life was going very well for Sharon. Having two more film projects under her belt, and expecting her first child with Polanski, due in August of 1969, life couldn't be better. She had just finished doing a photo shoot and interview with 'Queen' magazine, and she was doing publicity interviews for her newest film projects. What was interesting was that during one of these interviews, she was asked by a journalist if she believed in fate. Her response?

“Certainly. My whole life has been decided by fate. I think something more powerful than we are decides our fates for us. I know one thing – I've never planned anything that ever happened to me.”

This was a statement that would prove to be quite tragic, for just a few weeks after that, something unimaginable happened to Sharon Tate. When the dust settled, nothing would ever be the same.

It was August 8, 1969. Sharon had flown back home to California alone, as Polanski was held up in London. She was just two weeks from giving birth to her child, and entertained a couple of friends for lunch. That evening, she went out to dinner at a trendy restaurant, El Coyote, with her longtime friend Jay Sebring, actor Wojciech Frykowski, and his companion, coffee heiress Abigail Folger. They returned to the Polanski-Tate residence that evening.

It would be the last night they would ever see.

The following morning, August 9, the bodies of Tate, Sebring, Frykowski, and Folger were found. All four had been murdered. Stabbed to death. Sharon Tate had been stabbed sixteen times. Her unborn child also died. Outside the home, 18-year-old, Steven Parent was also found dead inside a car parked nearby.



Sharon Tate was just twenty-six years old. Her unborn child was named Paul Richard Polanski, and the two were buried in the same casket. Her husband took the murder especially hard, and given all the problems that Polanski had in his later life, it would probably be safe to assume that he never really got over her death.

The killers were identified three months after the murders took place when a prisoner named Susan Atkins (who was in prison for a car theft incident) was bragging about how she had a hand in the murder of Sharon Tate to other inmates. Shortly after this incident, the names of the other perpetrators were named. Charles “Tex” Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel, Linda Kasabian...all three of them were named as accomplices in the murders, themselves part of a commune started up by their leader.



Charles Manson.

Atkins also confessed to having a hand in the murders of Reno and Rosemary LaBianca, which took place one day after the Sharon Tate murder, and implicated another one of Charles Manson's accomplices, Leslie Van Houten.

Through testimony given by each of the people suspected in the murders, police were able to piece together how the crime went about. The details were later made public in the book 'Helter Skelter: The True Story Of The Manson Murders'.

Steven Parent was collateral damage, having been in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was killed first. Kasabian was ordered by Manson to stand outside the house while the others broke in. The group gathered the four people inside the house together and kept them prisoner inside the living room. Watson ordered everyone to lie down on their stomachs. At this point, Sebring attempted to make the group understand that Sharon was pregnant, and he begged them to leave her and her baby be. Unfortunately for Sebring, this plea went unheard, and Watson shot Sebring first. In the commotion, Folger and Frykowski managed to break free, and tried to escape the house, but both of them were overtaken and killed before they got far. Sharon Tate was the last one left alive, and reports were that she begged the group to let her live long enough so that she could give birth. But Sharon's pleas went unheard, and she was the final one to die at the hands of the Manson family.

The end result was that almost everyone involved in the Sharon Tate murders were sentenced to life sentences in prison. Only Linda Kasabian managed to avoid a lengthy jail time due to her taking a deal of 'immunity from prosecution' in exchange for her testimony. The others were sent to prison, where they all remain today. Susan Atkins died in September 2009.

This was the story of a woman born sixty-nine years ago. A woman who wanted to be a star and was well on her way to becoming one. A woman whose spotlight was dimmed way before her time.

It's been years since Sharon Tate was brutally murdered in her home. Looking back on the work that she did in her short career, film critics now describe Tate as potentially becoming a gifted comedienne. And while 'Don't Make Waves' may have been critically panned at the time of its release, it now is considered to be the film where Sharon Tate truly shone as an actress. Even 'Valley Of The Dolls' is regarded as a cult classic.

And, Sharon Tate's death also had a significant impact on how trials were conducted in the state of California, as thanks to the work of her surviving family members, the families of murder victims were able to have a voice at parole hearings. Sharon's death, as tragic as it was, helped bring about change, and brought forth new rights for victims.

It's hard to say whether Sharon Tate would have become as big of a success in Hollywood as Mia Farrow, Patty Duke, or Jane Fonda. I think it's entirely possible that had she lived, she might have had a brilliant career. She very well could have won dozens of awards for film projects. Sadly, her star was one that burned out way too soon. Although, given how hard her family has worked to keep her memory alive, maybe Sharon Tate left behind a legacy after all...one perhaps far more important than having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.



This was the story of Sharon Tate. Born January 24, 1943.