Search This Blog

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Sidewalk Talk With Shel Silverstein


There are some books that exist in this world that for whatever reason seem to stick with you in life. No matter how old you get, and no matter how many years pass, you can look back on that book and it makes you smile every time.



As it so happens, I have a story to tell you about a book from the author of which this blog entry is based upon. Oddly enough, it takes place during a year in which I did not enjoy at all.



It was when I was in the first grade, which was a year in which I was not a happy boy. I didn't like my teacher, and I always felt as though I was more of an obstacle than an asset in that whole class. It was not my happiest experience, and if I had the chance to go back in time to that year, I would have pulled my younger self out of that classroom and taken him to a different school altogether. But, unfortunately, I don't know Christopher Lloyd, and I don't have a DeLorean that can take me through time.



But, as it so happens, I can think of one pleasant memory of first grade.



The way that the classroom schedule worked (at least as far as I can remember, as it has been twenty-five years since I began first grade), was that after the lunch period, the teacher would take attendance, and then for about a half hour, we would do some sort of math lesson. Then after the math lesson (along with the classwork that we had to work on), it would be story time. All of us kids would gather around the bright blue carpet and the teacher would grab the story time chair to read us a story, do show and tell, and play classroom games like Heads Up, Seven Up' until the afternoon recess bell sounded. Most of the time, the stories would be popular books starring the Berenstain Bears, or stories that were written by Robert Munsch. Sometimes, the teachers would even swap classrooms, and we'd have the classroom teacher from the other grade one class come in to read us stories.



(For the record, I always hated it when Mrs. Bradford had to leave...I wished that she could have stayed as our teacher instead of having the teacher that I had that year.)



However, for all the dislike that I had for the teacher I was stuck with, she did make one decision that I approved of.



Whenever she was the one who read a story to the class, I remember that she would almost always grab a specific book to read. It was a very distinctive looking book. It was bright white in colour, and had cartoon drawings all over the front cover. And whenever our teacher grabbed that lovely white book, I remember my classmates and I squealing with glee. We loved that book.



The book was actually a collection of poems. But, not just your standard, run of the mill poems. I'm talking about poems that made kids laugh. They were a collection of poems that were written for a younger audience in mind, addressing many childhood problems and concerns. Each poem was absolute genius, and conveyed every possible emotion that one could feel. In fact, I'm going to post an example from this very book right now.



EIGHTEEN FLAVORS



Eighteen luscious, scrumptious flavours

Chocolate, lime, and cherry

Coffee, pumpkin, fudge banana

Caramel cream and boisenberry

Rocky road and toasted almond

Butterscotch, vanilla dip

Butter brickle, apple ripple

Coconut and mocha chip

Brandy peach and lemon custard

Each scoop lovely, smooth and round

Tallest ice cream cone in town

Lying there (sniff) on the ground



Poor guy. But, you can really see the change in emotion from the beginning to the end. At first it's a grand exhibit of all the different kinds of ice cream that the person has (and yes, there really are eighteen), and it sounds like a happy poem. But when you get to the end, and you realize that the kid has dropped his gigantic ice cream cone on the ground, you can't help but feel bad for the child. I mean, granted, having an ice cream cone with eighteen scoops on it is gluttonous, and my parents would never have allowed me to have an ice cream cone of that size, but I think we all have been in a situation where we have bought an ice cream and we accidentally drop it on the ground. It's happened to me, and one of the reasons why I love this particular poem is because it's an event that I lived. It's an event that a lot of kids experienced. I think the author really had a way with words, and really knew how to get the attention of his audience.



The poem comes from the 1974 book, “Where The Sidewalk Ends”. And the author of the above poem is the late Shel Silverstein.



Today's blog entry happens to be about Shel Silverstein.



My first experience with Silverstein's work was during those first grade story sessions. I was just so drawn to every poem and every word that he wrote. Who knows, maybe that book kind of opened up something inside my head, and made me realize that what I really wanted to do in life was write professionally.



Or, at the very least, write. The professional thing, I'm still working on.



“Where The Sidewalk Ends” was a classic collection of Shel's best works. With poems having titles like “Ridiculous Rose”, “Peanut-Butter Sandwich”, and “Sarah Cynthia Silvia Stout Would Not Take The Garbage Out”, it made millions of kids laugh and smile. The best part about the book was that each poem would be published alongside drawings and cartoons sketched by Silverstein himself. Take a look at another poem from the book to see what I mean.



Of course, cartooning wasn't anything new to Silverstein. It was after all how he got his start.



Born in Chicago in 1930, Sheldon Allen Silverstein started drawing at a very early age. When he was twelve, he was already tracing the works of Al Capp, the cartoonist behind the popular comic strip Li'l Abner. He graduated from high school in 1948, and shortly thereafter, attended the Art Institute of Chicago. He dropped out after one year, but around that time, his first sketch was published in the Roosevelt Torch (a student university at Roosevelt University). His cartoons also appeared in Pacific Stars and Stripes, and upon returning to Chicago published his first book (Take Ten), and had his work featured in such magazines as Sports Illustrated and Look. During this time, he supported himself by selling hot dogs at Chicago ballparks.



In 1957, Silverstein got a huge break when he became a leading cartoonist for Playboy Magazine. As a result of this job, Silverstein ended up journeying all over the world to create an illustrated travel journal with reports from out of the way places. The feature was called “Shel Silverstein Visits...”, and the feature took Silverstein to such locales as Mexico, Paris, Africa, Spain, Fire Island, the Chicago White Sox training camp, and even a New Jersey nudist colony! Silverstein created twenty-three of these installments, all of which were collected in the 2007 book “Playboy's Silverstein Around The World”.



Perhaps one of Silverstein's best known cartoons was printed in 1960, as the front cover of the book “Now Here's My Plan: A Book Of Futilities”. The cover depicted two prisoners chained to a wall with one of them telling the other one “Now here's my plan”. Many people thought that the image was too pessimistic, but Silverstein defended his work, saying that there can be a lot of hope that can be found in the most dire of circumstances, and he did the cartoon solely to encourage questioning and analysis.



But, the above book was one geared towards adults. How did he make the leap into children's literature?



It all began in 1964. 1964 was the year that Shel Silverstein wrote and illustrated the children's classic “The Giving Tree”. For anyone who has ever read the book, the book is about a little boy and an apple tree that the boy loves to hang around. The reason being that the tree basically provides the boy every single thing he desired. If the boy wanted a snack, the tree gave him an apple or two. If the boy wanted a swing, the tree allowed the boy to hang a swing from its branches. When the boy grew older, the tree actually allowed itself to be cut down so that the boy could build a boat! A few decades pass, and the boy, who is now an elderly man, comes back to the tree stump. At first the tree stump seems unhappy because after years of giving him everything he wanted, it feels that it has nothing left to give. But to the tree's surprise, the man smiles and tells the tree that he doesn't need much more than a quiet place to sit down and rest. The tree is happy to grant his request, and the man is just as happy to sit down beside his old friend once again.



As for me, I loved the story, and I highly recommend it to anybody. But a lot of critics attacked the story almost immediately after it was released. They claimed that the boy was acting very selfishly and that the book wasn't providing a good example for children. They claimed that the friendship between boy and tree was one-sided, and that the tree gave and gave and gave while the boy took and took and took.



The truth is, I see it differently...especially now that I can read it through adult eyes. The way I see it, the relationship between the tree and the boy mimics the exact relationship that a parent might share with their child. In the early years of childhood, parents do almost anything to make their children happy. They take them places, buy them things, make them lunches, provide them shelter...they do so much for their kids, usually not expecting anything in return. Parents often sacrifice a lot of their time and money to give their children opportunities and fun...much like the Giving Tree did with the young boy. A lot of parents do this because they have so much love and devotion for their children, and want nothing more than to see them happy. And, more often than not, one of the saddest moments that parents have to go through is letting their child go (whether it be for their first day of school to having the child move out to start their adult life). The parents naturally feel sad because they feel that they have done all they can do for their children, and they worry that the child won't need them anymore. So, when the child comes back home for a visit, their mood instantly perks up. Do you see the parallel between a parent/child relationship and the relationship between the Giving Tree and the Taking Boy? At least, that's how I see it anyway.



But I think that's what made Shel Silverstein such a success in the literary world. His writing was so poignant and captured so much emotion, but at the same time was ambiguous enough to leave the work open to several different opinions and viewpoints. It was brilliant to see, and he remains one of my all-time favourite authors as a result.



And it wasn't just the literary world that Silverstein thrived in. He also made an impact in the world of music, writing songs for some of the biggest artists of the 1960s and 1970s. Have you ever heard of the Johnny Cash classic “A Boy Named Sue?”



Silverstein wrote that song for Cash, and it became a number one hit for Cash in the summer of 1969, winning a Grammy Award in 1970. He also wrote songs for Waylon Jennings, Loretta Lynn, Gordon Lightfoot, and Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show. Many of the poems he wrote in “Where The Sidewalk Ends” were put onto an album release in 1983, with Silverstein shouting, singing, and performing the poems himself. The audio version of the book was so successful that Silverstein won another Grammy Award in 1984 for Best Recording For Children!



Shel Silverstein's professional life was filled with many highs, but his personal life was marked by a couple of tragedies. His love, Susan Hastings (mother of one of his children), passed away in 1975, just one day before their daughter's fifth birthday. Tragically, Silverstein's daughter, Shoshanna (the daughter he had with Hastings), passed away in 1982 at the age of eleven. He dedicated “A Light In The Attic” to his daughter, and the illustration next to the dedication was of a flower, as in Hebrew, Shoshanna means 'lily' or 'rose'. In 1983, his second child, Matthew, was born, and Silverstein's 1996 book “Falling Up” was dedicated to him.



Silverstein continued to write, draw, and and create new stories well into his final days, and in May 1999, Silverstein died at his home in Key West, Florida at the age of 68.



Although Silverstein is no longer on this Earth, his work will continue to live on. His books are still widely popular today, and if I ever have children of my own, I will definitely be picking up a copy of 'Where The Sidewalk Ends' so I may be able to share the poems that I loved as a kid with them. After all, people say that in life, you have to take the best things from each year and share them with others. And ultimately, Shel Silverstein's work was the best part of the entire first grade year.

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

March 6, 1912

Today’s Tuesday Timeline entry could be one of the “sweetest” entries that I have ever written.  In fact, I might have to say that the content within this blog is quite “delicious”.  But, again, it’s all a matter of personal opinion, so I won’t waste much time with writing any more cryptic clues to this entry.  Let’s get right to it.

It’s March the sixth today, and as I was doing research on various events on this date, I notice that March 6th was quite a busy day in history.  Let’s take a look back on some minor events that took place on this date.

1521 – Explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Guam.

1820 – Missouri Compromise; Missouri enters Union as slave state, but the rest of the Northern part of the Louisiana Purchase is made slavery-free.

1834 – York, Upper Canada, is incorporated as Toronto.

1840 – The very first dental school, The Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, is opened.

1869 – Dmitri Mendeleev presents the first periodic table to the Russian Chemical Society.

1899 – Bayer registers aspirin as a trademark.

1951 – The trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg begins.

1957 – Ghana gains independence from Great Britain.

1981 – Walter Cronkite leaves the CBS Evening News after nearly two decades.

1992 – One of the first computer viruses, the Michelangelo virus, begins to affect computer systems worldwide.

So, as you can see, March 6th was a date that had a lot of history associated with it. 

March 6th also has a lot of celebrity birthdays associated with it.  Celebrating a birthday today are Mary Wilson (The Supremes), David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Kiki Dee, Rob Reiner, John Stossel, Tom Arnold, D.L. Hughley, Connie Britton, Moira Kelly, Andrea Elson (from ALF), Shaquille O’Neal, Michael Finley, Bubba Sparxxx, Eli Marienthal, and Hannah Taylor-Gordon.

We also said goodbye to a few celebrities on March 6th.  Author Louisa May Alcott passed away on this date in 1888.  Composer John Philip Sousa died eighty years ago today, in 1932.  And Dana Reeve, the widow of actor Christopher Reeve, passed away on this date in 2006. 

So, what date have I decided to feature in this entry? 


March 6, 1912.  Exactly one hundred years in the past!

This is the furthest that the Tuesday Timeline has ever gone back.  But, I really wanted to make this date the subject for today, because it happens to be the date that a staple of kitchen cupboards and school lunchboxes was born.


Today we celebrate the 100th birthday of the Oreo cookie.

I love Oreo cookies.  I always have loved Oreo cookies.  I can’t remember a time in my life that I didn’t eat Oreo cookies.  I guess in some ways, Oreo cookies are a sign of weakness for me, because if there are Oreos present in any form, I usually cannot resist them.

(Well, unless they are those special edition Strawberry Milkshake Oreos which sound sort of disgusting.)

It’s hard for me to pinpoint when exactly I tasted my very first Oreo cookie, but if I had to wager an estimated guess, I would say that it was shortly after I started getting my baby teeth.  I can remember being three years old at the home of my grandparents, sitting on the outdoor wooden staircase in the backyard which was attached to the clothesline, licking the cream filling from the Oreo cookies.  I think maybe that was one of the reasons why I continue to enjoy Oreo cookies even now.  Eating those delicious chocolate cookies takes me back to a more innocent time when everybody in my immediate family was still alive (of my four grandparents, only one survives).  It’s impossible to calculate exactly how many Oreos I’ve eaten during my entire lifetime, but I reckon that it must be in the thousands.

In most current advertising campaigns (particularly the ones that aired over the last ten years or so), the Oreo cookie is deemed ‘milk’s favourite cookie’, but honestly, I didn’t even need a glass of milk to enjoy the goodness of Oreo cookies.  It was almost a rite of passage to go around with a chocolate cookie smile all day long (or so I’d like to think, anyway).


I even have managed to take my love of Oreo one step further by occasionally treating myself to Oreo themed treats.  My favourite Dairy Queen Blizzard flavour for instance?  You guessed it.  And, you know how some supermarket bakeries have those cookies and cream cakes?  If someone has one of those cakes for a birthday celebration or a party, I cannot leave until I have a piece.  Those cakes are irresistible...especially when they are garnished with Oreo pieces!

Man...I’m getting hungry just writing this blog piece.  I really should get paid (even if it is only in Oreo cookies) for providing the company free advertising.  But, you know what they say...if you love it, you have to share it with the world.

The Oreo cookie was founded on March 6, 1912 in New York City, in the Chelsea district.  Developed by Nabisco, the cookie was manufactured specifically for the British market, and the design of the cookie was much simpler than the design that is currently used.  The modern day design was created in 1952.

As far as providing a detailed history of the Oreo cookie, I admit that the information that I have doesn’t really allow me to go into much detail about the creation of the Oreo cookie.  But, I do have a ton of trivia facts that I can share with all of you.  Some of these facts, you likely already know, but there is also some information that you might actually be surprised at knowing!

1 – The original name of the Oreo cookie was the Oreo Biscuit.

2 – Although the origin of the name ‘Oreo’ has not been officially confirmed, several theories exist behind how the cookie got its name.  One theory stems from the French word for ‘gold’, which is ‘or’, because when Oreos were first packaged, the colour of the package was gold.  Another theory was that the cookie was named after the Greek word ‘oreo’, which meant beautiful or nice.

3 – Although Nabisco has distributed Oreo cookies since they were created in 1912, Canada distributes them under the Christie label.

4 – An estimated 491 billion Oreo cookies have been sold and consumed since they were created, making it the best selling cookie of the 20th century.

5 – In the 1920s, the company began selling Oreos with a lemon filling instead of the iconic cream filling, but they were discontinued just a few years later.


6 – The first Double Stuf Oreo cookie was manufactured in 1975.

7 – Count the flowers on the face of a standard Oreo cookie half.  There are a total of twelve on each face.

8 – The Oreo cookie inspired a song parody by Weird Al Yankovic, which was released in 1990 to the tune of “The Right Stuff” by the New Kids On The Block.  Listen to it below!


9 – Oreos manufactured in China have some rather unique flavours of cream filling, including mango, blueberry, and green tea!

10 – You might notice a bit of a taste difference between American Oreos and Canadian Oreos.  The reason is because in Canada, the Oreos are made with coconut oil.


11 – When the McFlurry was introduced into McDonald’s Restaurants, Oreo was one of the flagship flavours, and is still widely popular today.

12 – Oreo cookies have had dozens of advertisements that were memorable in so many ways.  The one below happens to be one of my favourites.


13 – In 1984, a Big Stuf Oreo was introduced (it was an Oreo that was several sizes larger than an average Oreo), but was discontinued seven years later.  I guess the 13 grams of fat and 316 calories per cookie was too much.

14 – A second type of Oreo (with vanilla cookies and chocolate filling) was manufactured with the name ‘Uh Oh Oreo’.  It was rebranded as the ‘Golden Oreo’ in 2007, with the traditional cream filling.


15 – Taking advantage of the neon colour phase of the early 1990s, Oreo cookies dyed the colour of the cream filling in bright shades of hot pink, day-glo yellow and electric blue during 1991 and 1992. 

16 – Oreo cookies also put out special holiday themed cookies for holidays such as Halloween and Christmas.  I particularly loved the Winter White (Oreos dipped in white chocolate), and Oreo Mint (Oreos dipped in mint chocolate) cookies the best, but all of them were quite tasty.


17 – A breakfast cereal was manufactured based on Oreo cookies called “Oreo O’s”.  Picture Cheerios cereal in the same flavour and colour as an Oreo cookie, and that was what the cereal was like.  Unfortunately, you can’t find it in stores anymore, as it was discontinued five years ago.

18 – There was at one time a National Oreo Stacking contest.

Have I bombarded you with enough Oreo trivia yet?  That’s quite a lot to digest, I know.  But, considering that the cookie only celebrates its one hundredth birthday once, this is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the popular cookie.

And, as a special treat to selected countries, Oreo has put out a special birthday themed cookie!


Beginning in February 2012 and running for a limited time only, you can pick up a golden package (or standard blue in the United States) of Birthday Cake Oreo Cookies.  The cream filling on the inside is flavoured like vanilla cake icing with bits of rainbow coloured sprinkles mixed in (and might I add that I have sampled these special celebratory cookies and they are absolutely excellent at that).  I couldn’t think of a better way for the cookie to celebrate 100 years, and I am actually recommending that you at least try them.  But, you better hurry, because they are available for just a limited amount of time.

And, so ends our look back on March 6, 1912.  Now, if you excuse me, I have to go to the store to restock my Oreo supply.

Monday, March 05, 2012

Jurassic Park

I often think about the various places that I have gone in my life, and honestly, I’m sorry to say that outside of a couple of provinces in Canada and New York State, I haven’t really had many opportunities to see this great big world of ours. 

It’s something that I have a bit of regret about, to be completely honest with you.  I mean, I know that my life isn’t over yet, and I still have time to make good on my promise to see more of this planet, but I always felt kind of bad that my only experiences with outings are mostly comprised of school field trips.

Not that these field trips weren’t fun, mind you.  But, when you consider that many people my age have likely gone out and seen the world, it makes the desire to see the world even greater.  I mean, here’s a mini-confession for all of you.  I’ve never even been inside an airplane aside from a display model inside the wing of a museum dedicated to aviation.  But, again, there’s still time for me to remedy this.

Still though, some of the field trips that I went to during my school years were quite memorable in themselves.  At the end of eighth grade, my whole graduating class went on a bus trip to Toronto, Ontario where we stayed for two days.  We went to Canada’s Wonderland, saw Phantom of the Opera, and visited a science museum.  That was probably one of the best moments of my entire life (well, aside from the fact that I lost my wallet with $40 cash at Canada’s Wonderland...thank goodness I kept extra cash hidden away in my suitcase or else I would have really been screwed).  I also remember going to Montreal, Quebec once in Grade 11, which was also fun (well, aside from the fact that my group got lost in Old Montreal and held up the bus ride home for an entire hour while they searched for us).  And, there was also the time we visited the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa, Ontario which was a fantastic experience (well, aside from getting in trouble for playing on the escalators recklessly).

Wow...funny how I ended up having a great time on all of these field trips despite the bad luck that ended up being associated with them.

Even field trips that were closer to home ended up being a blast.  When I was in kindergarten, we took a tour of a chocolate factory (which was fine until I realized that we were up high, and I was deathly afraid of heights).  Still though, it was fun.  We also took a trip to our local Memorial Center where there was a safety fair going on, and we drove little motorized carts across a course, watched safety demonstrations, and got a free balloon at the end of it all. 


But one place that I can still see in my mind quite often was a field trip to a location known as “Prehistoric World”.  The park is located in Morrisburg, Ontario, and all I can say is that it is extraordinary.  The park is covered with life-sized replicas of every kind of dinosaur that ever existed.  There were triceratops, and brontosauruses, and Tyrannosaurus Rex!  The way the park is laid out was done up almost exactly like what the world would have looked like during the dinosaur era, with lots of leafy green areas.  It’s been about twenty years since I have been at Prehistoric World, but I recommend the place highly.  It’s a great way for children to learn all about the dinosaurs.  I can still remember all us little kids standing next to a life-sized replica of a dinosaur, and being in shock and awe over how big they really were.  It was a good thing that the dinosaur models weren’t actual dinosaurs.  If they had been real, I would make sure that I hung around the dinosaurs that were known herbivores. 

Actually, that would even be a bad idea, because with my luck, I’d probably end up getting stomped to death by the foot of a giant dinosaur.

Nevertheless, Prehistoric World was a fun experience, and I’m happy that I went.

Of course, Prehistoric World was a recreation of an actual prehistoric world with fake dinosaurs.  But what if the dinosaurs inside of Prehistoric World came to life?  What if you could go and visit an actual amusement park where the star attractions were actual living and breathing dinosaurs?  Would you be excited?  Thrilled?  Scared out of your mind?

Well, as it turns out, today’s Monday Matinee happens to deal with that very situation!


Yes, today’s feature presentation is the Steven Spielberg film “Jurassic Park”, which premiered in theatres on June 11, 1993.  The film starred Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Richard Attenborough.  It was based off of the popular novel of the same name, written by Michael Crichton.


“Jurassic Park” was a film that was widely praised, largely for the use of special effects and computer generated imagery.  It grossed a grand total of over $900 million dollars worldwide, and until it was surpassed by 1997’s “Titanic”, was the most commercially successful film of all time.  Two sequels for the film were released in 1997 and 2001 respectively, and word is that a fourth film is in the works for a 2013 release.

But for the sake of today’s blog entry, we’re going to focus on the first (and in this blogger’s opinion, the best) film.

The film begins in the fictional area known as Isla Nublar, off the coast of Costa Rica.  It is in this location that a new theme park is being built by John Hammond (Attenborough).  Hammond is the CEO of International Genetic Technology Incorporated (also known as InGen), and he has used his millions to finance the theme park.


Jurassic Park.

Jurassic Park is a theme park that much like the Prehistoric World that I visited as a boy was dinosaur themed.  But the difference was that on Jurassic Park, the dinosaurs were real.  They were cloned from the DNA that was taken from inside insects that were preserved in prehistoric amber.  In Hammond’s eyes, the theme park would be a financial success, and he believed that everyone in the world would pay big money to see a real live dinosaur.

But when the park is near completion, an employee of the park is the victim of a dinosaur attack, and as a result of this attack, the investors who have pumped money into the creation of the park are naturally concerned about the safety of the park.  Through their spokesperson, lawyer Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero), the investors insist that a team of experts inspect the park to ensure that the area is safe before opening up the doors to the general public.


A team of three experts decide to take on the job...mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm (Goldblum), palaeontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Neill), and paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler (Dern) agree to head down to Jurassic Park to evaluate the land.  Tagging along for the ride are Hammond’s own grandchildren, Lex and Tim Murphy.

On the way to the island, Hammond asked his experts their opinions about what he has been doing.  He wondered what they thought about the idea of recreating dinosaur species.  Surprisingly enough, only Gennaro expressed any optimism about the idea.  The three experts had their own conflicting opinions on what their feelings were on the subject, but they all seemed to express doubt and uncertainty over the idea.


Once the team arrives at Jurassic Park, all three experts are completely stunned to see living dinosaurs.  Immediately, they begin their exploration of the park, and one of the first things that they come across is a sick Triceratops, and the group sets out to explore the area.  






When a sudden storm rolls in, the majority of the group decide to take cover in the cars that they rode in on through the park.  The only one to stay behind is Dr. Sattler, who stays behind with the park doctor to take care of the Triceratops.

TRIVIA:  Some of the storm scenes that aired in the film were shot during the actual filming.  The film was shot on location in Hawaii beginning in the summer of 1992, and many scenes were shot just before Hurricane Iniki struck Hawaii on September 11, 1992.  So, when you watch some of the storm footage in the film, you’ll have an idea of when the scenes were shot!

As the weather gets worse outside, inside the Jurassic Park complex inside, there’s just as much danger.  Computer programmer Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) is actually working as a mole, stealing secrets and dinosaur embryos from InGen.  He is willing to do anything in his power to get the secrets out so he can be rewarded handsomely by the company he really shows his loyalty to.  But in his quest to get access to the embryos, he makes some careless mistakes.  For one, he disables the security system for the whole park.  One might not think that would be such a huge deal, but consider this...the security system powered up the electric fences that were used to keep the most dangerous dinosaurs within an enclosed area.  With the electric fences losing their charge, the dinosaurs charged right through the barriers.  So, thanks to Nedry, the park was now overrun with dangerous and deadly dinosaurs.


The security shutdown causes the group of cars carrying Dr. Grant, Dr. Malcolm, Gennaro, and the Murphy kids to be confronted by a gigantic Tyrannosaurus Rex.  The attack by the Tyrannosaurus was costly for the group.  Gennaro ended up getting devoured by the huge dinosaur, and Dr. Malcolm was seriously injured.  Somehow, Dr. Grant and the Murphy kids survived the attack, but end up lost in the middle of the jungle.

Meanwhile, Dr. Sattler and game warden Robert Muldoon (Bob Peck) happen to come across the site of the attack, and happen to come across the wounded Dr. Malcolm, who fills them in on what happened.  But before the group could venture into the jungle to look for Dr. Grant and the children, the Tyrannosaurus comes out of hiding to prepare for round two.  Luckily, the group manages to stay out of harm’s way, and make their way towards the Jurassic Park visitor’s center.

Realizing that the dinosaurs are completely out of control thanks to the shutdown of the security system by Nedry, the group at the visitor’s center must find a way to turn the system back on.  The problem is that the codes that Nedry used were tough to crack.  It seemed that Nedry was the only one who knew how to turn the system back on, and Nedry wasn’t talking.


No, seriously.  In Nedry’s escape attempt, he was blinded and killed by a Dilophosaurus, thus proving that karma could work both ways.


Can the group find a way to reactivate the security system?  Would they be able to locate Dr. Grant and the Murphy children?  What happens when Dr. Grant comes upon the realization that the dinosaurs are breeding on their own?  And will our team of heroes get out of Jurassic Park alive?

You’re going to have to watch the movie yourself to find out those answers!

So, that was our look back on Jurassic Park.  While the idea of having a theme park filled with living dinosaurs might seem like a fantastic one, watching the movie’s plot as it unfolded maybe showed us that maybe the modern world wasn’t ready to live among prehistoric creatures after all. 

Well, at least not living prehistoric creatures, anyway.

I mean, I’ll give credit where credit is due.  Jurassic Park was pleasing to the eye and before Nedry caused the beginning of the end of the theme park, appeared to be a calm and relaxing place.  But, I’ll gladly choose Prehistoric World every time.

At least with Prehistoric World, you don’t have to worry about getting eaten and chased by a hungry group of Velociraptors.



Sunday, March 04, 2012

The Jockey Who Became A Monkee

No matter what era you grew up in, teen idols were always present.  You know the ones I mean, right?  The ones on the front cover of such magazines as “Tiger Beat”, or “People Magazine”?

Certainly in the era I grew up in, there was no shortage of teen idols that girls often idolized.  I think when I was in the fourth grade, almost every girl in my class had either a “New Kids On The Block” pencil case or a “Beverly Hills 90210” trapper keeper.  As if that wasn’t enough, the girls would often discuss which New Kid or 90210 star they liked the best.  If I remember correctly, Jordan was the most popular New Kid, while as far as 90210 was concerned, it was a toss-up between Luke Perry and Jason Priestley.

As far as I was concerned, I really didn’t care for those teen idols...though I did have minor crushes on Alyssa Milano, Sarah Lancaster (from Chuck and SBTB: The New Class) and Tiffani-Amber Thiessen...all of whom could have been considered teen idols for boys.

But really, you could go back in time to almost any era and pick out one teen idol that many girls idolized.  Back in the late 1950s, I think it is a safe bet to say that Elvis Presley made every woman’s heart throb with each rotation his hips made.  During the 1970s, I’m sure many women had pin-ups of David Cassidy, Donny Osmond, Andy Gibb, and Leif Garrett plastered all over their bedroom walls.  During the 1990s, Justin Timberlake and the rest of the boys of *NSync garnered almost as much attention as the Backstreet Boys.  And, I suppose that looking at 2012, the current flavour of the month happens to be Justin Bieber, who turned eighteen just days ago.

So, as you can see, the whole notion of teen idols is nothing new.  They’ve been around for decades, and will likely be around for decades to come.

Today for the Sunday Jukebox, I thought we’d celebrate the life of one of these teen idols.  During the 1960s, he was a member of one of the most talked about and loved groups at that time, and he found himself the subject of much adoration from female fans (both real and fictional).  Sadly, he passed away on February 29, 2012.  His memory will forever live on, and today’s blog entry will take a look back on his brilliant career.


I’m of course speaking about the late Davy Jones of the Monkees, who died of a heart attack.  He was 66 years old.

Born December 30, 1945 in Manchester, England, Jones got into the world of show business at a very early age.  When he was 15, he landed a role on the British television show ‘Coronation Street’, playing the grandson of long serving character, Ena Sharples.  Although his time on the soap was brief, it set the stage for future projects, only he didn’t know it at the time.  Shortly after appearing on ‘Coronation Street’, his mother passed away due to complications from emphysema.  He decided to give up his acting career at that time, and was interested in becoming a jockey.

Of course, when Davy Jones’ trainer, Basil Foster, was approached by a friend of his who was looking for people to cast in a stage performance of the musical ‘Oliver!’, Foster immediately recommended Jones.  Jones was promptly cast as the Artful Dodger, and got rave reviews for his performance.  After appearing on the London musical scene, he reprised the role for Broadway, where he was nominated for a Tony Award.

His experience with doing the play garnered attention from all media outlets, and in 1964, he was invited to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show along with his co-star Georgia Brown.  As luck would have it, his appearance took place on February 9, 1964, which was the same exact date that The Beatles made their American talk show debut.  And Jones would later recall watching the crowd go crazy over The Beatles (by all accounts teen idols themselves), thinking that he wanted to have the same attention that the Beatles had gotten on that night.

I wonder if Davy Jones could have predicted that just two years later, his wish would be granted...


In 1965, Davy Jones released a single with the title “What Are We Going To Do?”, which made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 in August of that year.  Shortly thereafter, he would be signed to Colpix Records (owned by Columbia), and released his first solo album.  It was a nice way to break into the music business, and I’m sure that Jones enjoyed the success a lot.  But, in 1966, his star would glow even brighter when he became a member of the quartet known as ‘The Monkees’.

The Monkees were the brain-child of Robert Rafelson and Bert Schneider.  After seeing the success that The Beatles had with their movie “A Hard Day’s Night”, the duo decided that they wanted to do a television show about a rock and roll group.  Originally, the concept was to cast a pre-existing rock group, and ‘The Lovin’ Spoonful’ was briefly considered.  However, since they were already under contract to a record company (which would have prevented Screen Gems Television to market the music from the show on a record), they were dismissed as a possibility.  The search to create a new band for the show began in the autumn of 1965.


Over the next few months, The Monkees would be formed.  The band comprised of Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, and of course, Davy Jones.  Their first single was ‘Last Train To Clarksville’, which was released in the summer of 1966, and within a few weeks, the television show debuted on September 12, 1966 on NBC.

Of course, one of the problems that arose with forming ‘The Monkees’ was attempting to figure out what each member’s role was in the group.  Initially, the idea was toyed around for Davy Jones to become the lead singer solely, a decision that was reportedly unpopular with the other three Monkees.  It was eventually decided by the band that Micky Dolenz would become the lead vocalist on most of the Monkees singles, though Jones would sing lead on some songs, one of which you’ll be viewing a bit later in this entry.

Another problem came down to the idea of who would play what instrument.  Particularly the drums.  None of the four members of the Monkees knew how to play the drums.  Nesmith and Tork didn’t attempt to learn how to play, as both of them were already very proficient in guitar and keyboards respectively.  Davy Jones tried it out, and while he did quite well, his short stature made it nearly impossible for people in the audience to see him very well.  Dolenz, being the only member left who could sit in on the drums took on the role of percussionist.  Tork managed to teach Dolenz some basic techniques, and learned how to play professionally on his own time.

So, when you watch a standard episode of The Monkees, you’ll more than likely see a line-up like this.  Dolenz would play drums, Jones would be the front person of the band, Nesmith would play the bass and guitar, and Tork would be the keyboardist.


As the television show screened more and more episodes, the band became more popular as a result, and soon, Davy Jones’ dream to be as huge as The Beatles had become a reality...or least it had in his mind (because let’s face it, it would be very difficult to become as big if not bigger than The Beatles).  The increased popularity of the television show meant that fans were salivating over the idea of the band performing live.

In December 1966, the fans ended up getting their wish, as the four members of the group (against the wishes of Screen Gems head of music Don Kirshner) set out on tour, with Hawaii being their debut performance.  What was even more amazing was the fact that the band did well in their live performances despite having very little time to rehearse.  Between filming the television show and recording songs for record releases, the band didn’t have enough time to sleep, let along perfect their performance skills.  So, the fact that they did do as well as they did not only showcased their natural talent, but showed what quick learners they were.


In fact, some of the live performances were used in the television series!  In particular, in the episode ‘Too Many Girls (Fern and Davy)’ opens with a live version of the song ‘(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone’.

And by doing live concerts, the band received widespread adoration from fans, almost to the point where it reached the levels that Beatlemania had.  By 1968, the Monkees were considered to be one of the best selling groups worldwide, and Jones’ dream of success had finally been achieved, as well as the success of Dolenz, Nesmith, and Tork.

But while the Monkees were riding the waves of success and their bonds of friendship strengthened, the relationship that the band had with Don Kirshner was fractured beyond repair, and after Kirshner released an album without the band’s permission, and violated agreements that he had with the band, he was dismissed by the band in early 1967.  Kirshner would later have a hand in creating the fictional band, The Archies.

The television show ran for two seasons, and the possibility of the show continuing for a third was very much possible, but by then, the band had lost interest in the project, and in February 1968, the show was cancelled.  Three years later, The Monkees would split up.


Of course, once the Monkees disbanded in 1971, that didn’t mean that Davy Jones’ career ended.  Not by a long shot.

The same year that the Monkees broke up, Jones started up a New York City street market called “The Street”, and collaborated with Doug Trevor to put on a television special entitled “Pop Goes Davy Jones”, which featured The Jackson Five and The Osmonds.

He would also appear on an episode of ‘The Brady Bunch’, where he would meet Marcia Brady.  He sang the song “Girl” on that episode, which many fans of Jones associate with being his most remembered hit.  He also continued acting over the next few years in everything from movies to sitcoms to even being drawn in animated form (The New Scooby-Doo Movies).  He even managed to revisit a hobby he once loved, which was horse racing.  He won his first race in 1996 (at the age of 50), and was a spokesperson for Colonial Downs racetracks in Virginia for many years.


And, of course The Monkees would reunite with each other several times during Jones’ lifetime.  In 1996, all four members reunited to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band.  A new album was also released that year, “Justus”, which would ultimately be the very last time that the band would play as a foursome.  A second reunion tour for the band’s 45th anniversary occurred in 2011, with Jones, Tork, and Dolenz in what would be the final time Jones would perform as a Monkee before his death.

Jones is survived by his third wife, Jessica Pacheco as well as his four daughters, ranging in age from 23 to 43.  He was also survived by the three surviving members of The Monkees, who all spoke about his passing and his life fondly.  Michael Nesmith’s tribute was particularly touching.  Here’s what he said about his former bandmate and friend, Davy Jones just hours after his passing.


“All the lovely people.  Where do they all come from?  So many lovely and heartfelt messages of condolence and sympathy, I don’t know what to say except my sincere thanks to you all.  I share and appreciate your feelings, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.  While it is jarring, and sometimes seems unjust, or strange, this transition we call dying and death is a constant in the mortal experience that we know almost nothing about.  I am of the mind that it is a transition, and I carry with me a certainty of the continuity of existence.  While I don’t exactly know what happens in these times, there is an ongoing sense of life that reaches in my mind out far beyond the near horizons of mortality and into the reaches of infinity.  That David has stepped beyond that view causes me sadness that it does many of you.  I will miss him, but I won’t abandon him to mortality.  I will think of him as existing within the animating life that insures existence.  I will think of him and his family with that gentle regard in spite of all the contrary appearances on the mortal plane.  David’s spirit and soul live well in my heart, among all the lovely people, who remember with me the good times, and the healing times, that were created for so many, including us.  I have fond memories.  I wish him safe travels”.

Well said, Mr. Nesmith.

I guess perhaps what I’ll remember Davy Jones for the most was his music.  Although I was born 15 years too late to appreciate The Monkees in their heyday, I fondly remember watching the television show on MuchMusic back in the late 1990s, and I remember what incredible stage presence Davy Jones had, both as a young man, and as a man into his sixties.  And, Michael Nesmith was right.  Although Davy Jones has passed away, he’ll never really disappear.

I think this song by The Monkees is the song that I’ll remember the most because of Davy Jones.


ARTIST:  The Monkees
SONG:  Daydream Believer
ALBUM:  The Birds, The Bees, & The Monkees
DATE RELEASED:  January 13, 1967
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  #1 for 4 weeks
Wherever you are, Davy Jones, keep daydream believin’.




David "Davy" Thomas Jones
1945-2012

Saturday, March 03, 2012

Wild & Crazy Kids!

Due to my overwhelming weekend schedule (most of it being work related), this blog entry is going to be a little smaller than you normally would see in A Pop Culture Addict's Guide To Life.

(Of course, to some of you reading this right now, maybe that's considered to be a good thing.)

But, anyway...today's Saturday morning feature deals with a show that aired on Nickelodeon. It debuted on January 4, 1990, and lasted for three seasons, ending its run in December 1992.



It was a show known as 'Wild & Crazy Kids'.

And, I loved it!



It's been years since I watched an episode of Wild & Crazy Kids straight through, and after watching some episodes of it on YouTube, I must admit that it hasn't really aged all that well. The early 1990s were a wacky time where neon colours and high top sneakers were high in fashion, and in a fact that kind of makes me feel old, I realize that a lot of the kids who appeared on the show are now in their mid-30s with wild and crazy kids of their own.

However, watching the show back then provided so many fond, fond memories of carefree summer days, where the only concern we had was to have as much fun as possible.

I think some of the best times of my entire childhood were the summer months. For one, I was away from the confines of school for two and a half months. Not that I necessarily hated to learn, but any excuse to get away from the kids who didn't like me was always a bonus. For another, I was enrolled in a summer parks program which allowed me to meet brand new kids, and where we would always do activities that were very similar to the ones that were featured on Wild and Crazy Kids.



The way the show worked was that a large group of children would be divided up into teams, and each team would have a specific colour. One of the good things about the show was that the show had infinite colours of T-shirts for the kids to wear, so there could be as many as six different teams competing for the same event. Each event was hosted by one of three hosts, and the hosts would change throughout the course of the series. But, I'll have more information on that later.

Most of the events were based off of playground games, such as Red Light, Green Light, and Simon Says, but with a bit of a messy twist. Given that the show aired on Nickelodeon, a television station known for airing messy shows such as 'Double Dare' and 'You Can't Do That On Television', there had to be some messiness involved. For instance, the Red Light, Green Light game might involve the contestants carrying a giant cream pie behind their backs, and once they got to the red light, green light caller, they could smash a pie in their faces. Or, they could have a tug-of-war event where a large group of children played tug-of-war with professional wrestlers.

There were also sports themed events as well, with one of the most popular ones to be featured being the Dizzy Bat Home Run Derby. This game featured kids playing against adults, and one advantage that the kids would have was that the adults would be forced to spin around the bat three times, causing their balance to be severely compromised.

I should also note that while most of the events that took place were featured in an outdoor setting, there were some events that took place indoors. One common indoor location was a shopping plaza, and if you click below, you can watch a shopping mall obstacle course filled with several events where four teams (blue, peach, pink, and purple) would compete to see who would earn the most points.



One thing that really stuck out about the show though was that the show didn't really offer much of anything in terms of prizes (or if they did, I'm blocking that part out). It didn't really need to. As long as the kids had fun throwing pies at adults, or running through a shopping mall, then there really was no need to reward them with riches.



(Did you get that Biggest Loser Season 13 producers? You don't need cash prizes to run a reality show! And these are contestants that are 14 and under!)



That's really all I have to say about the mechanics of the show 'Wild & Crazy Kids'. It may not have aged well over the course of time, but by gosh, it was a fun show when it was new and fresh. I would have done anything to have been a part of that show. Heck, I would have just been happy to get a Wild & Crazy kids T-shirt (in purple, of course) to wear. I mean, when I think of what my childhood summers were like, I think of Wild & Crazy Kids.

I only regret that I didn't have the opportunity to throw pies at any adults during my whole childhood.

I guess to end off this entry on Wild & Crazy Kids, I thought that I would offer up a list of trivia facts associated with this show. A lot of them are probably common knowledge, but there's some interesting facts that I never really knew about the show itself. So, let's get on with it.



1 – Although the show didn't air until January 1990, a pilot episode was filmed in 1989, with three entirely different hosts. The hosts for the pilot episode were Matt Brown, Leslie Hibbard, and Cory Tyler.

2 – There were two different female hosts during the series run. Annette Chavez was the female host during the 1990 season. In 1991, she left the show and was replaced by Jessica Gaynes during the remainder of the series.



3 – Omar Gooding was one of the male hosts of the series, and if that last name sounds at all familiar, it's because he is the brother of actor Cuba Gooding Jr.

4 – The other male host of Wild & Crazy Kids was Donnie Jeffcoat, who later found fame on the soap opera 'One Life To Live' playing the role of Joey Buchanan. He also appeared in a role on the WB show '7th Heaven'.

5 – The show was briefly revived in 2002, with host Mati Morajelo. The show however failed to make as huge of an impression as the original, and was taken off the air after ten episodes.

6 – Some of the shows (in particular during the 1992 season) were filmed on location at theme parks all over the United States. Some of these locations were Six Flags Magic Mountain, Universal Studios, and Raging Waters, Wild Rivers.

7 – As mentioned above, the show used a lot of different coloured T-shirts, which often meant that there could be as many as six different teams competing in events. But during the first season, the show changed clothing companies, so as a result, the shirts in the first season were more neon coloured than in future seasons. Which made sense, given that day-glo fashion was all the rage in 1990.



8 – One of the challenges that was played on the show was a gigantic sized version of Twister, involving hundreds of kids.

9 – Wild & Crazy Kids often had celebrity appearances, especially during the show's final season. Most of the time, the celebrities would be involved in a challenge, and once the challenge was completed, the hosts would give them a Wild & Crazy Kids T-shirt, welcoming them to the club.
10 – Some of the celebrities that appeared on Wild & Crazy Kids included Roseanne star Michael Fishman, Saved By The Bell star Lark Voorhies, and Full House star Andrea Barber.

11 – Wild & Crazy Kids would often have crossover shows with other Nickelodeon programs. In 1990, Double Dare host Marc Summers appeared on an episode, which was titled 'Double Dare vs. Wild & Crazy Kids'. There was also a crossover with Nickelodeon show 'Salute Your Shorts', where cast members Venus De Milo, Michael Bower, and Danny Cooksey appeared.



12 – Before he became a member of the New York Jets, D'Brickashaw Ferguson appeared on the program as a contestant.

13 – Before he became famous, Tobey Maguire made an appearance on the series finale of Wild & Crazy Kids.

14 – The below clip comes from my all-time favourite episodes of Wild & Crazy Kids.