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Tuesday, March 20, 2012

March 20, 1985

Today is Tuesday, and you know what time it is?  It is time for another trip back through time in the weekly Tuesday Timeline.  And boy, have I got a story to tell for today!  It’s a tale that is filled with strength, courage, and inspiration, and it is a story that is incredibly heartwarming.  I think you’ll like this edition of the Tuesday Timeline a lot.

But, first, as we do every Tuesday, we’ll take a look back on the significant events that took place on this, the twentieth day of March.

We have got a lot of things to talk about before we get to today’s date, so let’s get right to it by wishing people a happy birthday.

If you’re celebrating a birthday today, then let it be known that you also share a birthday with some famous folks.  These people include Carl Reiner, Hal Linden, Paul Junger Witt, Bobby Orr, William Hurt, Jimmie Vaughan, Louis Sachar, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Spike Lee, Holly Hunter, Kathy Ireland, Liza Snyder, Michael Rapaport, Paula Garces, Bianca Lawson, and Christy Carlson Romano.

And, here are a selection of famous events that happened on this date.

1602 – The Dutch East India Company is founded

1616 – Sir Walter Raleigh is freed from the Tower of London after a 13-year imprisonment

1760 – The “Great Fire of Boston” destroys 349 buildings

1852 – “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe is first published

1861 – The city of Mendoza, Argentina is completely destroyed in an earthquake

1914 – The first international figure skating championship is held in New Haven, Connecticut

1916 – Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity

1956 – Tunisia gains independence from France

1974 – Attempted kidnapping of Princess Anne and her husband by Ian Ball fails

1987 – The FDA approves the use of AZT, an anti-AIDS drug

1990 – Imelda Marcos goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering

1999 – Legoland California opens up

2003 – Operation: Iraqi Freedom kicks off in the early morning hours as the United States and three other countries begin military operations

2006 – A cyclone strikes the coast of Australia, leading to the country’s 2006 banana shortage

Wow, March 20th was a wacky date in history, wasn’t it?  We saw people getting freed from towers, we saw Iraq getting invaded, and in Australia, yes, they had no bananas, they had no bananas that day.

Now, the date that I have chosen is one that is quite inspiring, as I stated before.


We’re going back to March 20, 1985.

But before we take a trip back to that date, I thought that I would get into the mood by posting a song from the same year that we’re flashing back to.


The video above is the song “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)”, recorded for the soundtrack of the 1985 film “St. Elmo’s Fire”.  Written by David Foster and John Parr, Parr took the song and made it a #1 hit in September 1985.  But, let it be known that the topic of the blog entry is not the film “St. Elmo’s Fire”.  While it was a wonderful movie, the film was actually not released until June 28.

But, here’s the thing.  When the song was recorded, it really wasn’t meant to be included in the film “St. Elmo’s Fire”.  The song was actually written in response to an event that was announced exactly twenty-seven years ago today, on March 20, 1985.  It was an event that captivated the world, and raised awareness on a cause that was near and dear to the person who kicked the event into gear. 


For it was on this date in 1985 that Rick Hansen’s “Man in Motion” tour was announced in the media, the actual event beginning just hours later.

Now, I see some of you wondering, what was the “Man in Motion” tour?  Who founded this event?  What exactly was the event?  Would you like to know how the “Man in Motion” tour came to be?  I bet you do. 


I’d like to introduce you to Richard Marvin Hansen, though most of you probably know him best as Rick.  Born in British Columbia, Canada on August 26, 1957, Rick spent the first few years of his life the same way an average child would.  He grew up in the community of Williams Lake, British Columbia, and he spent the first fifteen years of his life doing what other boys did.  He attended school, he had a loving family, and he really had a lot of success in the field of athletics.  When he was a teenager, he was already making a name for himself in the world of sports, actually winning all-star awards in five different sports.  I couldn’t even dribble a basketball in grade school gym class, let alone win even one all-star award.  For Rick to win five was nothing short of remarkable, and it seemed as though nothing would stop him.

But fate would step in and change Rick’s life forever.

When Rick was just fifteen, he was involved in a serious accident.  He and a friend were riding in the back of a pick-up truck when the driver of the truck started to lose control.  The truck smashed into a tree, and Rick was thrown from the vehicle.

As a result of this accident, Rick suffered a spinal cord injury, and he ended up being paralyzed from the waist down.

I have to say, not that I have any experience with spinal cord injuries at all, but I imagine that for most people who have either sustained them, or who know someone who has had spinal cord injuries, it must have been an incredibly devastating event.  To go from being able to walk to being confined to a wheelchair would be an incredibly tough pill for anybody to swallow.


Yet, Rick Hansen seemed to take what happened to him all in stride.  He wasn’t going to let the fact that he couldn’t walk stop him from living his life.  After enduring years of rehabilitation, he graduated high school, and ended up being the first person to complete a degree in physical education at the University of British Columbia.  Not only that, but Rick also refused to let his injury stop him from doing the one thing that brought him joy before the accident.

Sports.

Rick Hansen enrolled in various championships involving wheelchair basketball and wheelchair volleyball, even winning several.  From there, he progressed to wheelchair marathoning, and competed in both the 1980 and 1984 Paralympic Games.  During this time, he won nineteen international wheelchair marathons, three of which were world championships.  And, his performances in the Paralympics also garnered much attention, as he ended up winning six medals total between 1980 and 1984, including three gold medals, two silver medals, and one bronze!  And, on top of all that, he still found time to coach high school basketball and volleyball teams!  I’m exhausted just typing all that out!

Certainly Rick Hansen found a way to take what happened to him and turn it into a positive.  But it wasn’t until 1985 that he would take that infectious positive attitude and turn it into a worldwide spectacle.


Inspired by Terry Fox’s “Marathon of Hope” in 1980, in which Fox had intended to run across Canada after losing a leg to cancer, Rick was inspired to do the same in the name of spinal cord research.  As many of you may well know, Terry Fox’s plan to complete his “Marathon of Hope” was sidelined midway through due to a recurrence in his cancer, and sadly, Fox passed away in 1981 before completing his marathon.  Rick Hansen was so inspired and motivated by the courage and strength that Fox showed during his own marathon attempt that he was more than determined to follow through with his plan.

In fact, Hansen’s plan was more ambitious.  Rather than simply stop at a cross-country tour, Rick wanted to circle the entire circumference of the world in his wheelchair.

It was a noble plan, and the first of its kind.  And, certainly I imagine that some people were convinced that he would not be able to achieve such an inspired and ambitious goal.  But, Hansen stuck to his guns, and in March 1985, the “Man in Motion” tour kicked off in Vancouver, British Columbia.  If you click on the link below, you’ll be directed to an interview that Rick Hansen gave with Canadian journalist Valerie Pringle about the tour which aired on CBC Television on, you guessed it, March 20, 1985.



And, so, the “Man in Motion” tour began.  Initially, the “Man in Motion” tour didn’t get much media attention outside of Canada, but as Rick travelled to more and more countries, the attention grew.  By 1986, he was the subject of much attention from international media outlets, and he was awarded the title of Canadian Newsmaker of the Year in 1986 (he would also earn the title in 1987 as well).  A lot of companies ran endorsement deals and ran commercials in support of Hansen’s tour.  Below, you can watch a commercial for McDonald’s supporting the “Man in Motion” tour from 1986.


(And, yes, I remember that ad as if it aired yesterday!)

Over the next two years, Hansen’s tour continued.  He visited such places as the Great Wall of China, the Eiffel Tower, and he even stopped off in Miami, Florida to do some fishing!  And, if you click on every place I mentioned in this paragraph, you can watch clips of Rick Hansen at each of these places and many more.  Seriously, watch each one, and really take note at the pure joy and the determination that is shown on Rick’s face.  Total inspiration if I ever have seen it.


The “Man in Motion” tour ended on May 22, 1987, when Rick Hansen arrived back at Vancouver.  Upon his arrival at BC Place Stadium, he was greeted by thousands of people, and many people welcomed back a hero.  After twenty-six months, 40,000 kilometres in a wheelchair, and visiting 34 different countries, Rick Hansen’s tour was over, and he ended up raising $26,000,000 for spinal cord research!

Today, Rick Hansen is still widely considered to be a true Canadian hero.  His wheelchair that he used on the “Man in Motion” tour is now displayed in the BC Sports Hall of Fame, and it is reported that a film project based on Hansen’s journey with the tentative title “Heart of a Dragon” is in the works.


In the twenty-seven years since the beginning of the “Man in Motion” tour, Rick Hansen continues to be an inspiring Canadian icon.  He started up the Rick Hansen Foundation in 1997, and since it was founded, it has raised upwards of over two hundred million dollars for spinal cord research and programs designed to improve the quality of lives of people afflicted with spinal cord injuries.  He also started up the Rick Hansen Spinal Cord Injury Registry, which allowed doctors and experts across Canada to share vital information on what worked and what didn’t when it came to specific spinal cord injuries.

Hansen received the Order of British Columbia in 1990, was inducted into the Terry Fox Hall of Fame in 1993, was inducted into the Canada Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, and in 2007 was awarded a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame.  These days, he is focused on his work with the Rick Hansen Foundation, and is married to his wife, Amanda Reid, and has three daughters.

Rick Hansen’s story could have had all the makings of being a devastating tragedy.  The fact that Rick refused to let his injury define him in a negative sense is nothing short of inspiring.  I mean, here you have a man who was left paralyzed following an accident, and yet he never once felt sorry for himself, or wanted others to take pity on him.  Instead, he took his disadvantage and made it an asset, and as a result, educated the world on spinal cord injuries, and raised awareness for the cause. 


As a result of this, I am honoured to dedicate this blog posting to Rick Hansen, a real Canadian hero.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Run Lola Run x 3

Have you ever heard of the phenomenon called the butterfly effect?

The term itself is in relation to meteorology and weather. The butterfly effect is defined as the sensitive dependence on initial conditions where a small change at one place in a nonlinear system can result in large differences to a later state.

Or, for those of you who are not scientifically minded (of which I myself am a person who does not understand many scientific principles), it basically means that the slightest change of variable can make the difference between having a small rainstorm and a hurricane that is capable of massive destruction.

The phrase was coined by American mathematician and meteorologist Edward Lorenz, and the phrase was derived from the theoretical example of a hurricane's formation being contingent on whether or not a distant butterfly had flapped its wings just weeks beforehand.

I know what you're thinking. It seems incredibly farfetched and ridiculous to blame all the hurricanes and tornadoes on a single butterfly. Almost impossible, right? In most cases, yes, this theory seems crazy. But, if you really examine the theory at work, in particular in various works of pop culture, it really is a fascinating study.

Just think about it like this. Have you ever been in a situation that could have turned out incredibly different had you just gotten out of bed just one hour earlier? For example, consider this scenario. You're supposed to go to work for seven in the morning. Unfortunately, you end up hitting the snooze button on your alarm clock a half dozen times, and you end up waking up at 6:59. Clearly, you're late for work, and you're struggling to get showered, and get your clothes on, and out the door, all the while blaming yourself for being late in the first place.

So, imagine your shock and horror when you realize that as you pull up to the parking garage at work that there are fire trucks parked outside of your office building. The entire floor where your office was located is ablaze. It is there that you find out that an electrical fire on your floor started a fire, which resulted in an explosion that caused all the offices to burst into flame. And, it is there that you find out that the explosion took place at the precise moment that you were supposed to clock in for work. Would that not be a situation where you step and and look at how incredibly lucky you were? If you were living that situation for real, and realized that had you not hit the snooze button so many times, you more than likely would have been french fried in your very office?

That's the type of scenario that could best describe “the butterfly effect” in movies and television programs. How somebody's entire life can change completely just by being in the right place at the right time in the right moment. Sometimes, the change could result in improving your life. Other times, it could start the death countdown. And, what about the various people who you bump into on your travels? How would their lives differ as a result of this?

Today's blog topic deals with a movie that explores exactly that. What happens if you're caught in a situation that starts off the same way? Supposing that a loved one gets themselves in a precarious position, and you have a limited amount of time to fix the problem and help out your loved one. But when time is of the essence, every minute counts.

We're going to take a look at one woman's quest to save her boyfriend from harm by helping him do one task that could save his life. Actually, we see three different attempts by the woman to be able to help her love get out of the mess he got himself into, and in all three attempts, something different happens at the beginning of her journey that changes the outcome of the eventual ending.

Remember how I said that I was going to spotlight a wider variety of films for the Monday Matinee posting this year? Well, as it turns out, this week's feature presentation comes to us from the country of Germany. While the film itself is in German, there are versions available with English subtitles, so it'll make it a bit easier to follow along with the already complicated storyline of the film.



The film is the 1998 film, “Run Lola Run”. Released in Germany in the summer of 1998 and worldwide the following year, the film starred Franka Potente in the role of Lola, a woman desperate to help her boyfriend, Manni (Moritz Bliebtreu). “Run Lola Run” was issued in Germany with the title “Lola Rennt”, and was filmed entirely in the city of Berlin. The movie itself was critically acclaimed, with the film being nominated for 41 awards total between 1998 and 1999. Of the 41 awards, it ended up winning over half of them, with twenty-six wins. Some of the accolades the film won were the Audience Award given out by the Sundance Film Festival, Best Film at the Seattle International Film Festival, and won seven awards at the German Film Awards. Actress Franka Potente also earned positive reviews for her performance in the film, earning a Bambi Award (Germany's oldest media award) in 1998 for her portrayal of Lola.



I first saw “Run Lola Run” in a college film studies class. If I remember correctly, it was the very first movie that we studied in that class. And, while it was a film that I had trouble understanding at first, eventually I managed to put the pieces together and I realized what an interesting film it was.



As “Run Lola Run” begins, we see Lola at what is presumably her home receiving a phone call. It's Manni, her lover. But, unfortunately, there's no time for lovey-dovey chit chat or “I love yous”. Manni is in a bind. No, actually it's worse than that. Manni made such a boneheaded mistake that his whole life is in danger unless he can right the terrible wrong that he caused.



You see, Manni's occupation isn't exactly all that respectable. He is your everyday, common criminal. And, apparently, common criminals seem to attract the attention of German lasses with flame red hair. But that is beside the point. Manni's criminal ties have come back to bite him in a big way. He was supposed to hand over 100,000 marks (which was the official currency of Germany at the time the movie was filmed) to his crime boss, but accidentally left the money behind on a train. What made the situation even more dire was that Lola was supposed to pick him up at the train station, but ended up being unable to, as her moped was stolen while she was out purchasing cigarettes.

(Let this be a lesson to you...cigarettes can be hazardous to your health in more ways than one.)



Anyway, Manni relays the problem. He has to get the money to his boss. Problem is, he doesn't have it. Even bigger problem? He has only twenty minutes to deliver the money to his boss. If he fails, his life is over. The only clue he has to go on was that he saw a homeless man take the bag with the money in it, but the train left before Manni could go back inside to retrieve the bag. So, Manni's under the assumption that the money is gone forever.

Fortunately, Manni has a plan to try and fix the situation. Though, considering that Manni left one hundred thousand marks on a train carelessly, it can be said that any plan Manni has would undoubtedly end in failure. And on paper, Manni's plan sounds really ballsy and stupid. He plans to rob a supermarket of all their money, and from there he would have the necessary funds to pay back his boss...

...and risk going to jail or getting killed in the robbery attempt. But, again, this idea is from a man who has acted carelessly within the first five minutes of the film.

It seems at though Lola, at least, appears to understand the seriousness of Manni's situation, and comes to the intelligent conclusion that the way that Manni plans to get himself out of trouble is not exactly the best way. Lola's plan seems much better. Considering that her father is a banker, she believes that she can convince him to lend her the money.



And, so, Lola's journey begins. All three of them.

It is here that the story gets a bit complicated. We see Lola rushing to help Manni out as best she can, but we see three different outcomes, which are based on the variables surrounding Lola exiting her apartment.

Therein lies the butterfly effect that is prominently displayed throughout the course of the film. How one insignificant event can cause the lives of so many to change based on the actions that the protagonist takes.



Sure enough, in each of Lola's three journeys, the opening differs. In the first one, Lola sprints past a hoodlum with a nasty looking dog. The second one shows Lola tripping over the dog, causing her to have a temporary limp. In the third one, Lola actually leaps over the punk and his dog as she travels down the stairs of her building. As a result of this, each of the three scenarios start off with staggered times.

So, you can imagine that knowing this fact, you would expect three completely different endings to each of Lola's scenarios, right? Right. All three of Lola's journeys end in a drastically different way. And, of course, I'm not going to tell you how each one ends, because well...you know. But, I can offer this. One ending can be seen as good. One ending can be seen as bad. And, one ending is so absolutely bizarre that you will be looking at the screen going, “HUH?!?”

No, seriously, that was my reaction.

But, just going back to the genius of “Run Lola Run”, I thought that it was brilliant to have the story split off into three potential “What if” scenarios. Even more brilliant was that none of us knew which story was the true story. I suppose we could assume that the third and final arc was the real McCoy, but do we really know that?

The film also uses a lot of “flash-forward” scenes, depicting what the fates are of every person Lola happens to meet in each scenario, and once again, depending on what happened to Lola at the very beginning of each run, the fates of the people are different. For instance, take the woman who is pushing a baby stroller down the street. She makes an appearance in all three story arcs. In two of the three scenarios, Lola collides with the woman, while in the third one, they miss each other. Depending on what happened to Lola at the beginning, the fate of the woman drastically changes. In one, the woman ends up losing her baby to Child Protective Services, and she resorts to kidnapping another baby to make up for it. In another, the woman ends up finding a lottery ticket and winning a fortune!

We also see scenes involving Lola's father (who appears to be the biggest jerk in the world regardless of what story arc we are watching), the business associate of Lola's father (who oddly enough gets involved in a car accident in two of the three situations), and some random woman who happens to be walking by (who depending on the situation teeters between life and death).

Really, I recommend this film to everyone. Don't let the loud techno music beat and the fact that it is entirely in German stop you from watching this film. There's a reason why it was critically acclaimed, and there's a reason why I regard the film so highly. Part of it is due to the charm that Franka Potente displays in each one of the scenarios, but part of it is the unpredictability of the whole film. You literally don't know what is going to happen next!



So, go out and rent or download “Run Lola Run” today. I promise that you won't regret it. Who knows? Your watching the film might not only affect your life in a positive manner, but you never know what might change on the outside world...as “Run Lola Run” definitely proves.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Champagne Wishes and "Cranberry" Dreams

This Sunday Jukebox entry is all about dreams.  Dreams are something that we all have in our lives.  I don’t know a single person in the world who doesn’t have a dream that they wanted to achieve.  Whether or not those dreams actually come true is another issue altogether.  The point is that we all have them.

I think it’s obvious to most of you reading this blog that my dream is to be known for my writing.  I would definitely love to make a career in writing, and have people take notice of my thoughts and ideas.  I guess in some ways, starting up this blog has helped me achieve part of that dream, and I’ve certainly gotten some positive feedback as a result of it.  Now, if I can only find a way to make money doing what I love, I would be all set.  But, that part remains a dream.

Can you imagine how depressing the world would be if our dreams did not come true?  Disney would cease to exist if dreams disappeared from the world.  Why, people have dreamed of going to Disney World for eons since the park was built!  And, think of all the products that we would be without had someone not had a dream to make life better?  We wouldn’t have automobiles, airplanes, microwave ovens, computers, the Shticky...


...well, okay, let’s scratch that last one.

And, if you want a supreme example of how dreams have made the world a better place, you need not look any further than the poignant speech that Martin Luther King Jr. Made on August 28, 1963.  The “I Have A Dream” speech remains one of the most inspirational speeches ever given in American history, and if you click on this link, you can read the transcript of this speech.

Now, what does the topic of dreams have to do with the blog entry for today?

Keeping in step with the Irish themed weekend, I thought that I would tell the story of an Irish band that had dreams.  The band had dreams of making it big in the world of music, and ended up making their dreams come true.  Though their success waned in recent years, in 2010, they reunited once again to give it another go.

The story begins in 1989, in the Irish community of Limerick.  Two brothers, Noel and Mike Hogan, formed a band known as “The Cranberry Saw Us”.  Mike was the bass player of the band, while Noel played guitar.  Rounding out the band was drummer Fergal Lawler, and lead singer Niall Quinn.

For a few months, the band played together, but in early 1990, the band hit a roadblock when Niall Quinn decided that the band wasn’t right, and quit.  The three remaining members were stuck, as they were now without a lead singer.  And without a lead singer, the dream they had to make it big in the world of music would not come true.

So, they immediately put together an ad looking for a new female lead singer for their group, hoping that fate would bring them someone who worked well with them, and who had natural, but raw talent.


Fate brought the band Dolores O’Riordan.

She arrived at her audition and immediately started writing song lyrics to previous demo tapes that the band had recorded prior.  Dolores returned with a set of lyrics that the band absolutely loved, and hired her on the spot.

Those lyrics, by the way, were a rough draft of the song “Linger”, which would be a song that brought the band later success in the mid-90s.  But, I’m getting a little bit ahead of myself.


Shortly after O’Riordan was hired, “The Cranberry Saw Us” recorded a homemade demo tape, and started selling copies of it.  Their first effort did well for a band just starting out, and they managed to sell three hundred copies.  For a demo tape, this was decent.  Following this, the band opted for a name change.  Instead of The Cranberry Saw Us, they shortened their name to simply “The Cranberries”.  A second demo tape was made, and this time, the band had sent the tape out to various record companies based out of the UK.

The tape had been recorded at the Xeric studios, which were owned by the man who would later become The Cranberries’ first manager, Pearse Gilmour.  The demo tape the band made got a lot of attention in the British press, as several record companies actually got into a bidding war over who would sign the band!

Definitely a great sign for The Cranberries.  I mean, I think most people would be proud to garner so much interest in their talent and work, and I can just imagine the band giddy with excitement over the bidding wars!

In the end, the band opted to take a deal with Island Records, the same record company that helped launch U2, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, and Robert Palmer to mainstream success.  This was supposed to be a great new beginning for The Cranberries, but almost immediately after they started recording their first EP entitled “Uncertain”, the band began to fall out with their manager.  After a series of recording sessions that proved to be a complete disaster, the band and Gilmour reached a breaking point, and in early 1992, the band fired their manager.

Fortunately, this move ended up being a good move for the band.  Just two months after Gilmour was shown the door, the band hired a new manager, Geoff Travis, in March 1992, and with their new manager and assistance from famed record producer Stephen Street, the band went to work re-recording the material for their first album.  During this time, the band also did some touring in Britain, Scotland, and of course, Ireland to promote their music further.

And in September 1992, The Cranberries achieved yet another dream.  That was the month that they released their first single...a single with an appropriate title.


ARTIST: The Cranberries
SONG: Dreams
ALBUM: Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?
DATE RELEASED: September 29, 1992
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #42



“Dreams” was a song that did eventually garner moderate success worldwide, although it did take a while for it to make an impact.  “Dreams” was released six months prior to the band’s debut album “Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?”, in the spring of 1993.  A second single, “Linger” (which you might recall was the very song that helped Dolores O’Riordan secure her spot in the band as lead singer) was also released around this time, but initially failed to make much of an impact on the charts.  Although both “Dreams” and “Linger” were both decent songs, which sounded quite different from the hip-hop and grunge acts that dominated the charts in early 1993, the band struggled to make a dent in the charts.

That is until the band decided to go on tour in support of another band, Suede.  Their participation in the tour caused MTV to take notice, and almost immediately, the band’s music videos found themselves in heavy rotation on the network.  In the case of “Dreams”, viewers were lucky, as over the course of two years, three different versions of the music video were filmed.

(The version of the song that I posted was version number two.)


Because of the band’s success on MTV, The Cranberries ended up seeing their singles re-released in 1994.  “Linger” was re-released in February 1994, and the “Dreams” re-release came three months later in May.  The songs charted much higher in the UK the second time around, and in the United States and Canada, listeners got their first taste of The Cranberries in 1994.  Both “Dreams” and “Linger” had moderate success on the Billboard charts, but did much better on the “Airplay” charts, with “Dreams” peaking at #14. 

In many ways, 1994 could very well have been the year of The Cranberries.  They had finally been recognized for their musical contributions.  They embarked on their first North American tour.  They were one of the headlining performers for the 1994 revival of the Woodstock music festival.  Dolores O’Riordan achieved a personal high when she married tour manager Don Burton in July of that year.  And, in the fall of 1994, the band released their second album, “No Need To Argue”. 


The band’s sophomore effort proved to be even more successful than their first.  Singles from the band’s second album included “Zombie” (#1 in the UK), “Ode To My Family”, “I Can’t Be With You”, and “Ridiculous Thoughts”, and by the end of 1995, “No Need To Argue” had sales of triple platinum...higher than the band’s debut.

However, just one year later, the band’s popularity on the charts began to decline.  The band’s third album, 1996’s “To The Faithful Departed” was a mild departure from their initial style.  Gone were the dreamy melodies of “Linger” and “Dreams”, and in their place a harder rock edge.  And certainly, the album’s first single, “Salvation” reflected this change.  Other singles from the album included “Free To Decide” and “When You’re Gone”, but both of those singles didn’t have as huge of an impact as their songs from their previous album.  It wasn’t that the songs were terrible...far from it.  I just think that by 1996, the new style wasn’t exactly what the general public gravitated towards.  After all, 1996 was the year of the Macarena, the Backstreet Boys, and the Spice Girls, which were topping the charts.  Not exactly the style that The Cranberries were known for. 

Their next two albums also failed to make an impact.  1999’s “Bury The Hatchet” spawned the mildly successful “Promises” (which coincidentally is one of my all-time favourite Cranberries songs, which you can listen to below this paragraph), but other than that, the album bombed.


So did 2001’s “Wake Up And Smell The Coffee”.  Although their 2001 effort reunited the band with Stephen Street, the album only managed to peak at #46 on the Billboard 200, a disappointment when you consider that at their peak, their albums were in the Top 10.  After releasing a greatest hits compilation in 2002, the band split up one year later, almost eleven years to the day that the band’s first single was released.


But, despite the break-up, the various members of the band continued with music.  Dolores O’Riordan, in particular, embarked on a solo career beginning in 2004, and released two solo albums between 2007 and 2009.   But, as we would learn, the band could not stay apart for long, as the group reunited for a North American and European tour in late 2009.  And, in 2012, the band released their sixth studio album, “Roses”.  Since the album was only released last month, it’s too soon to tell whether The Cranberries will once again have major success on the charts, but I think that as long as they enjoy what they are doing (which they seem to be doing), then that’s all that they could ask for.

So, what have we learned by taking a look back on our spotlight of The Cranberries?  Well, one thing we can say is that The Cranberries never gave up on their dreams to be a great success story.  Their road to stardom was not an easy one.  Certainly, their first project was plagued with problems, as well as an unexpected firing of a manager.  By all accounts, the project was set up to fail.  It is to the credit of the band that they pushed through the bad to find the good within.  Their rise to success was very slow going.  It took the band a year and a half since releasing their first single to get noticed.  But once they were, they pulled no punches.  The band worked incredibly hard to get to where they wanted to go, and although it took them some time, they reaped the rewards of a job well done.

And, really...isn’t that the only way to feel success when all of our hard work causes our dreams to come true?  At least, that’s how I like to see it.  But, what do you think about dreams?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Magically Delicious!





Hello, everybody!  I hope that you’re having a very happy St. Patrick’s Day!  I’ve turned this whole blog green in celebration of the day.  It’s a day where we all claim to be a little bit Irish, where we wear shirts in different shades of green from emerald to olive, and where it isn’t all that unusual to drink a beer that happens to be the same colour as a four-leaf clover.


From Shamrock shakes to pots of gold, today is a day that truly brings forth the luck of the Irish.

(Note to residents of Canada...there is a Lotto 6/49 drawing today, so today is a day in which you might want to put that Irish luck to the test.)

But, today also brings forth a bit of a quandary.

Today happens to be St. Patrick’s Day.  But it also happens to be Saturday.  And, as many of you regular followers of the blog know, it is supposed to be a day in which we talk about a particular Saturday morning program or educational television show.

My initial plan was to try and feature a program that had a strong Irish influence on it.  Surely there had to be some cartoon character or show that had some Irish background behind it.

After about a couple of weeks doing research, I came up completely empty.

The only cartoon characters that I could find from that area were Count Duckula and DuckTales’ Scrooge McDuck...and neither one are from Ireland (in case you’re wondering, they are English and Scottish).  So, that was out.

I briefly considered spotlighting the Canadian television program, “Harrigan”.  The show featured Barry Dale as the iconic character of Harrigan, a leprechaun who sang songs, danced, and hung around with his friends, Mr. Green and Miss Sunflower.  Based out of Kingston, Ontario (though originally filmed in Ottawa), the show featured artwork from viewers, and ran both original episodes and re-reruns on Canadian television between 1969 and 1992.  And, just for a little bit of trivia, the star of the show later opened up a local pizza franchise called Godfatha Pizzas.  If customers came into the pizzeria, recognized Barry Dale, and sang the Harrigan theme song, they’d often get an extra topping, or a free slice of pizza!  Sadly, I don’t think the deal is any good these days, as Dale moved to the United States about ten years ago.  But, here’s a video of the classic jingle below.


There were just two problems with featuring Harrigan as the blog topic for today.  One, because the show aired exclusively in Canada during the 1960s and 1970s, it’s doubtful that many people would remember it.  I barely even remember the show myself (though for some reason, I remember the jingle).  And, secondly, very few clips of the show exist, as many of the original tapes were not transferred onto DVD’s or anything else similar.  As a result, most episodes of Harrigan wore out and are forever lost.  So, therefore, my blog entry would only be one typed page at most.

So, I was left with a quandary.  I had a St. Patrick’s Day entry that I had to get done, but I had absolutely no clue as to what I would choose as the subject.  I’m usually great at picking topics by the seat of my pants, but today was a toughie.

And then, a couple of nights ago at my workplace, I was inspired.

As some of you may know, when I don’t do the blogging thing, I do the stocking thing in the food department at a major retail chain.  And, as part of my job, I am constantly going in and out of the stockroom, bringing all sorts of delicious goodies like marble cheese and chocolate milk to the people.

On one of these trips back to the stockroom, I passed by a couple of skids filled with breakfast cereal.  I honestly don’t know if it was on sale, or whether it was just overstock, but whatever the case, that cereal saved this blog.

If I couldn’t do a blog entry on a cartoon character or a Saturday morning program, then why not do a blog entry on a delicious cereal that I used to eat when I was a kid? 

(Or, at least it WAS delicious when my age was still in the single digits.)

To sweeten the deal, the cereal that I have chosen happens to have a spokesperson that definitely fits the theme of St. Patrick’s Day.


That cereal is Lucky Charms.

It seems hard to believe, but Lucky Charms have been around for five decades now.  Created in 1962 by John Holahan, Lucky Charms were first sold in stores two years later in 1964, distributed by General Mills.  The idea for the cereal came about when General Mills issued a challenge to their team of product developers to create a new cereal.  At the time, the company had garnered a lot of success through their two biggest selling cereals (Cheerios and Wheaties), and the challenge was to take one of the cereals and innovate them to create a brand new delicious cereal.  John Holahan’s idea was the winning one.  He found that by adding Brach’s Circus Peanuts to Cheerios, it made a very tasty combination, and General Mills agreed.  Though, instead of Circus Peanuts, little marshmallow bits in pastel colours were substituted.

In 1963, the plan to bring the new cereal to store shelves was firmly in place.  The name Lucky Charms was chosen for the cereal after one of the people on the development team suggested that the cereal be marketed around the idea of charm bracelets.  And, because some of the original lucky charms involved four-leaf clovers, the idea to have a leprechaun as the spokesperson for the cereal was almost a no-brainer.


TRIVIA:  The original name for the Lucky Charms leprechaun was L.C. Leprechaun, but his name was changed to Lucky a short time later.  He was voiced by legendary voice actor Arthur Anderson until 1992.

When the cereal was ready for the public to buy in 1964, changes were made during the cereal’s first year.  Originally, the oat cereal was not sugar-coated, but when the first sales reports did not look promising, executives agreed to dust the oat cereal with a small amount of sugar.  The sales greatly improved.  Furthermore, the marshmallow bits themselves underwent some changes as well, including making them more brightly coloured, as a way to market the cereal to children.  Ultimately, the creator of Lucky Charms, John Holahan, had admitted that the cereal itself was a lesson in creative marketing.  Based on the effort and creativity used to bring Lucky Charms to breakfast tables all over the world, I would definitely agree with that statement.


I’m sure that if you were to ask any child between the ages of four and fourteen what their favourite part about Lucky Charms cereal is, I imagine a good number of them would say that the marshmallows were the best part.  When I was that age, I know that my answer would have been the same.

But, over the years, the Lucky Charms marshmallows have changed quite a bit!  I was actually looking at a box of Lucky Charms the other day, and I honestly thought that it was an imitation cereal!  That’s how much they have changed.


It seems hard to comprehend now, but when the cereal first came about in the 1960s, there were only four marshmallow shapes.  The original marshmallow shapes included green clovers, yellow moons, orange stars, and pink hearts.

TRIVIA:  Of the four original marshmallow shapes, the green clovers (though they went away for a bit and came back) and pink hearts are the only original shapes that are still found inside a current box of Lucky Charms today.  Told you they changed a lot!


For the first decade or so, the cereal only contained those four shapes.  But over the 1970s and throughout the 1980s, three more shapes would eventually be added to boxes of Lucky Charms.  The first of these marshmallow shapes to be added were blue diamonds, in the mid-1970s.  In 1984, the cereal added purple horseshoes to the mix.  Five years later, the rainbow was completed with the addition of red balloons

The 1990s was a decade of change for Lucky Charms and its marshmallow shapes.  An eighth marshmallow was created in 1992, a rainbow shape with three different colours.  But, in 1994, changes were made to the original Lucky Charms line-up that had us saying good-bye to two long-standing marshmallow shapes.  That year, the yellow moons turned blue, and the blue diamonds became pots of gold.  As a result of this change, the jingle for Lucky Charms changed to this...






“Hearts, stars, and horseshoes, clovers and blue moons!  Pots of gold and rainbows, and me red balloons!”

More changes to the marshmallow line-up were brought forth as the 1990s ended, and the 2000s began.  The green clovers were taken away in 1996 and innovated into leprechaun hats (the clovers returned in 2004).  And later, the orange stars were transformed into orange shooting stars.

TRIVIA:  In 2011, the shooting stars were introduced in five more colours, including red, yellow, green, blue, and purple.

The most recent marshmallow creations have included yellow door marshmallows that if milk is poured over top of them reveal a skeleton key hole inside.  Magic Mirror marshmallows were introduced in 2006, and in 2008, hourglass marshmallow shapes were introduced.  That’s quite a lot of marshmallow shapes, isn’t it?  And, we’re not quite done yet!

Occasionally, special limited edition marshmallows would be added to Lucky Charms.  The limited edition marshmallows didn’t last very long, though.  As well, there were also innovations made to the existing marshmallows over the years.  The list of these temporary marshmallows and marshmallow innovations include the following;

1986 – Whale shaped marshmallows were added to Lucky Charms for a limited time.

1990 – Pine tree shaped marshmallows were temporarily added to Lucky Charms.  I don’t remember why this was the case, but the fact that 1990 was the 20th anniversary of Earth Day might have something to do with it.

1991 – The red balloons and orange stars were combined into a super-marshmallow.  For a limited time, the red balloons had orange stars inside of them.

1994 – The marshmallow shapes had sprinkles added to them on a temporary basis.

1998 – The blue moons were once released with a yellow curve line.

2000 – The rainbow shapes became sparkling rainbow shapes.

Have I filled your brain with enough marshmallow shape trivia yet?  Well, you can relax now.  This blog on Lucky Charms has come to an end.  But, before I go, why not post one more classic Lucky Charms advertisement?



After all, they are magically delicious!

Friday, March 16, 2012

The Happiest Days Of Richie Cunningham

Welcome to the 301st blog entry in the Pop Culture Addict's Guide To Life!

And, for the 301st entry, I thought that it was time to feature another TGIF character spotlight. It's been a while since I've done one of these, and I thought it might be fun to try. Past character spotlights that I have done over the years included Full House's Stephanie Tanner, Three's Company's Jack Tripper, and Donna Martin from Beverly Hills 90210.

For this subject, we're going to take a trip back to 1974, when we first met this character on television.

Or, was it really 1954?

Yeah, that was the first gimmick that the show did. It was actually set twenty years prior to the current date. Set during the 1950s, we all got a look back on what life was really like in the 1950s and 1960s through the eyes of a group of high school students who hung out at Arnold's Drive-In.



Of course, I'm talking about “Happy Days”, the popular ABC sitcom created by Garry Marshall. And, the sitcom had an incredibly long shelf life. Beginning as a mid-season replacement for ABC on January 21, 1974, the sitcom ran for over a decade, ending its run in September 1984. A total of 250 episodes were filmed, and still reportedly airs in syndication on cable channels all over the world.



I admit that I was a little young to remember the show when it first aired. I wasn't even born when the show debuted, and I was only three years old when the show ended its original run. In my early childhood though, I believe our CBC affiliate used to air reruns of the show after Fraggle Rock (or maybe it was before, I can't really remember). But because I loved Fraggle Rock, I often ended up watching “Happy Days” as well.

I actually loved the show. I didn't quite get all the jokes, and I certainly didn't understand why people wore poodle skirts and the men all had bad haircuts when it was clearly 1987 (yeah...I had a very poor concept of history back in those days), but I just found myself mesmerized by the program.

I think part of it was the characters. It didn't matter that I knew what the characters were doing or not...each one had their own distinct personality, and from the minute you saw them appear on screen, you knew them by their character names.

For instance, you knew that the Japanese guy behind the counter of the drive-in was Arnold. You knew that the guy wearing the leather jacket who told everyone to 'sit on it' was Fonzie. You knew that the girl and the boy who ended up getting their own spin-off show were Joanie and Chachi.



(At the same time, when I was younger, I always mixed up Ralph Malph with Potsie, and vice versa.)

But the character I've chosen to spotlight is the character who was originally conceived to be the star of the show (before the character of Fonzie grew in popularity). After all, when the cast wasn't hanging around Arnold's, they were always at his house. In fact, in earlier seasons, the show only used two sets...Arnold's, and the Cunningham family residence.



Today, we're taking a look back on the character of Richie Cunningham, portrayed by Ron Howard.

Certainly, Richie Cunningham wasn't the first major role that Ron Howard played. Many people who remember “The Andy Griffith Show” remember him as Opie. But, to me, whenever I see Ron Howard in interviews, or watch one of the movies he directed, I'll always see him as Richie Cunningham. That's just how much of an impact he had with the character.

The show was set in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the first few episodes of the series made Richie the focus of most of the episodes during the first two seasons. Take the plot of the very first episode (All The Way) for instance. In that episode, Richie goes on a date that Potsie arranged for him. The girl's name is Mary Lou, and the buzz around school is that Mary Lou is considered to be a girl with a bit of a “reputation”. Although nothing of that caliber actually happens on the date itself, Richie, not wanting to be seen as a loser, makes his friends believe that something DID happen.

Not exactly what one would classify as Richie Cunningham like behaviour, is it?



But then again, during that first episode, Richie did a lot of things that could be considered naughty. Sure, to the eyes of his parents, Howard and Marion Cunningham, Richie was the perfect son. With his red hair and innocent demeanor, he looked almost like a real-life version of Archie Andrews.



But, Archie Andrews was never innocent. And neither was Richie Cunningham either. Some of the things that he ended up doing included the following.

  • he got drunk at a stag party (Richie's Cup Runneth Over)
  • he snuck out of the house to watch a drag race that Fonzie was competing in (Guess Who's Coming To Visit)
  • Richie tags along with Potsie to see a stripper (The Skin Game)
  • he was tempted to help Fonzie cheat in school when he re-enrolled (Fonzie Drops In)

Certainly upon first glance, these activities may make one paint the character of Richie Cunningham in a rather bad light. But, if we watch the very episodes that I have highlighted, you'll see that the situations usually end up being a good thing for Richie. I don't recall him guzzling down the booze in any episode after the one he got drunk in, so I guess he learned his lesson. And, you really think that Richie would allow Fonzie to get through life by cheating through it? He was tempted, yes, but he stuck to his guns, and as a result, I actually believe Richie and Fonzie became better friends as a result of Richie's refusal to let Fonzie cheat.

It was really nice to see.

Of course, there were situations that Richie managed to find himself an accidental victim of, and it was up to him to decide whether to make the right choice or not. I can think of one episode in particular where he was in such a spot.



It was the second season episode entitled “Big Money”. First of all, I thought it was pretty ingenious of the producers and writers to have an episode surrounding the 1950s quiz show scandals where the shows were often rigged in the name of ratings. And, sure enough, that was the very dilemma that Richie was faced with. Richie ends up becoming a contestant on the popular game show “Big Money”, and at first he does quite well. This is all great news for Richie, as he has the chance to win five thousand dollars in cash (which might I add that in the mid-1950s was worth a ton). Problem is that time runs out in his first appearance for him to get to the final question. So, with the taping of the next show the following day, his family and friends get together to try and cram as much general knowledge inside his head so that he may be able to have the best possible chance to win the money. I think that Richie could have had a great shot to win on his own, as he was always considered to be quite intelligent. But, unfortunately, Richie wouldn't have the opportunity to play fair. The host of the program had slipped Richie an envelope containing the answers to the questions, guaranteeing Richie a win. So, the question is...does Richie cheat and take home the five thousand dollars, or does he not cheat, and go home without the cash?

You can click HERE to find out. I'm sure that the answer is one that isn't surprising to those of you who have watched the show, but I think it's fun to watch old episodes anyway.

Over the course of the first few seasons, I think that there are a ton of moments in which Richie really had some of the happiest days of his life. And, some of those happiest days were spent trying to make other people happy.

It's hard to forget that Richie was the one who invited Fonzie over to his family's home for Christmas in the episode “Guess Who's Coming To Christmas” (which coincidentally was the last episode that Richie's brother Chuck appeared in before walking through the black hole where missing children from television sitcoms go). One season later, Fonzie actually ended up moving into the Cunningham house when Richie suggested that he move in after Howard started worrying about the family finances. At first, Howard was not up to the idea at all, but eventually, he caved, and Fonzie ended up staying.



If anything, having Fonzie living with the Cunninghams helped strengthen the tight bond between Richie and Fonzie.



And, Fonzie was just as wonderful of a friend to Richie as Richie was to Fonzie. When Richie was being bullied by a couple of goons who made fun of him while he was on a date, Fonzie encouraged him to learn jujitsu to defend himself. When Richie was having a bit of trouble finding a woman to date, Fonzie decided to help Richie out by setting him up on a double date. The girls? A couple of women named Laverne and Shirley, who happened to get their own show shortly after they appeared on Happy Days!

And Richie actually shares a personality trait with this blogger. No, I don't have red hair, have Marion Ross as my mother, or have an annoying sister named Joanie. But, I do love to write, and Richie Cunningham loved to write on the show as well. Some of the show's funniest episodes involved Richie's work with the school newspaper. One episode took place on the set of the television studio where the show “Howdy Doody” filmed, and Richie's assignment was to snap a picture of Clarabelle the Clown without her makeup. It was a nice lighthearted episode filled with laughs and hilarity.

But Richie's gift with words once got him into trouble, and it almost cost him his friendship with Fonzie as a result. The episode was titled “The Muck-Rakers”, and it started off quite innocently when Potsie ended up breaking a tooth on the school cafeteria meatloaf. Richie goes undercover to expose the terrible conditions of the school cafeteria, and write an article detailing all the terrible violations he spotted inside. The article proves to be a huge hit, and Richie decides to do a follow-up almost immediately. The problem is that in the follow-up, he puts in information regarding Fonzie's unusual fear of liver...information that Fonzie didn't want anyone else to know. Fonzie practically begged Richie not to print it in the article. But, Richie does, and Fonzie is furious. It would seem that the friendship was over, but if you click HERE, you'll see the clip where Fonzie and Richie hash it out.



By season five, Richie has found the love of his life, one Lori Beth Allen. And, just like any other instance in which Richie has had dates, the first date he had with Lori Beth didn't go as planned. The episode “Hard Cover” has Richie meeting Lori Beth for the first time at the college library (a suggestion by Fonzie). They immediately hit it off, and Richie decides to go back to her dorm hall to know her better. If only Richie knew that at ten o'clock every evening, the entire dormitory went into lockdown. But, as you know, Richie lost all track of time, and he ended up locked inside the dorm. This was really a serious situation for Lori Beth. Because the dormitory was all female, if a male happened to be caught inside after the doors were locked, it meant immediate expulsion for poor Lori Beth. And, this episode can be watched HERE. Take my word for it...it's worth every minute.

(For the record, Richie and Lori Beth end up getting married towards the end of the series.)

I think there's one final episode that I really should post when talking about Richie Cunningham. It was an episode that was almost his last.

Of course, when the episode title happens to be “Richie Almost Dies”, I think it's a pretty clear indicator that you know what the ultimate conclusion is for the episode, but the episode is fantastic, just because we saw some things that we never thought we would.

In the episode, Richie finally manages to save up enough money to buy himself a motorcycle. It's been a dream of his to own one for a while, but Howard and Marion are very worried about Richie owning one. They fear that he would get hurt riding one. Of course, Richie doesn't take heed of their warnings. As far as he was concerned, he had to have the motorcycle, and he looked forward to giving Lori Beth a ride.

But, Richie ends up having a really bad accident. An accident so severe, he ended up in a coma. Marion and Howard are absolutely devastated over the accident, and when the doctor reveals that there's a possibility that Richie may not come out of the coma, everyone is very upset.

Of course, none are more upset than Fonzie. In fact, watch the clip below to see some rather powerful acting by Mr. Henry Winkler regarding Richie's accident. Some might think that the clip hasn't aged well, but I think that it was poignant for the time.



TRIVIA: When the Happy Days 30th anniversary special aired in 2004, Henry Winkler revealed during the filming that Fonzie's breakdown was actually done intentionally per the request of teachers who taught abused children. They wanted to show that it was okay for someone as “cool” as Fonzie to show emotion.

And, just so you were wondering, Richie did survive with nothing more than a broken arm. I mean, the episode was called “Richie ALMOST Dies”.

That's about all that I have to say about Richie Cunningham. As many of you know, Ron Howard's contract role came to an end in 1980, but over the next four years, Ron Howard would continue playing Richie on a recurring basis. He even appeared on the series finale in 1984 (presumably right around the time that he was working on the film “Splash”). So, I thought to close this blog entry off, I would post Richie Cunningham's final appearance on the show. I think it pretty much says it all...though what the heck is up with that moustache?