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Thursday, March 22, 2012

How "Resin" Almost Hardened My Heart

I have always enjoyed writing.  Even when I was a youngster, I was always scribbling away on sheets of paper.  Sure, my ‘R’s looked a little bit weird, and sometimes I wrote the letter ‘N’ backwards, but I still enjoyed writing.


I think that was the one constant throughout the first nineteen years of my lifespan.  No matter what the situation, I was always writing things down.  Although my daily journal in first grade was mostly made up of fictional events and dreams that I had, I still enjoyed doing them (probably one of the only things I actually got out of first grade, matter of fact). 

Throughout school, I always managed to do quite well with creative writing assignments, book reports, and any other project that involved writing.  Projects like those came easy to me.  Just yesterday, I talked about how I wrote and drew my own picture books for my third grade class to read, and that was just one example.  If the assignments involved writing in some manner, I had the confidence to get that A+ grade paper. 

I do believe that the various teachers that I had in elementary school saw potential in my writing abilities as well, because from second grade to eighth grade, I was placed in the advanced English curriculum for elementary school students.  There weren’t many kids in the group.  I think of the average twenty-seven student classroom, a third of us were in the advanced program.  But, I didn’t mind it much, because the kids in the accelerated program did a whole bunch of cool activities associated with them.  Sure, it involved a lot of extra class work, and a lot of writing, but as someone who loved writing, I was really in my element.

I even won the Grade 8 faculty award for English when I graduated from elementary school seventeen years ago.

(Wow...I graduated elementary school seventeen years ago...now, I feel old...)


During high school, my writing interests were unfortunately stagnated by the fact that I never really had much of an outlet to bring them forth.  Unlike many high schools in the area, my high school never really had much of a high school newspaper.  And, I imagine that if it had, the majority of the paper would be devoted to sporting events and fundraising drives (neither of which really piqued my interests).  Sure, there were a couple of ideas to bring forth a school newspaper during my time there, but ultimately, the plan didn’t come to be, due to a lack of participation. 

So, during high school, I mostly did my writing outside of school hours.  I wasn’t exactly the most social of high school students, so I spent a lot of time by myself, just writing away.  Although during my high school career, I did manage to enter a couple of writing contests, where at the very least, I placed an honourable mention for competing.  But, during high school, I really wish I had more of an opportunity to use my writing skills to their maximum potential.

In fact, it wasn’t really until I graduated high school, and enrolled in my brief stint at university (which is another story altogether), that I had the ability to really showcase my work.  But, this is where the Thursday Confession takes an interesting twist.  And, I realize that this confession will completely contradict everything that I wrote in my opening paragraph.  So, I’m just going to come out with it.


THURSDAY CONFESSION #12:  I almost gave up writing after a terrible personal experience.

Yes.  You’re reading this statement correctly.  I almost gave up writing.  An incident happened to me while I was enrolled in my short-lived university stint that left me feeling so hurt, and so betrayed, and so angry that I swore to myself that I would never write anything ever again.

The weird thing about it is that the decision that I came close to making had nothing to do with unconstructive criticism, or even constructive criticism.  Anyone who knows me very well knows that as far as my writing abilities are concerned, I am open to most kinds of criticism.  As long as people are respectable in their opinions, I will listen.  In a lot of cases and in my experience, it turns out their points were valid, and helped me become a better writer as a result.

No, to begin this tale of betrayal and broken promises, we have to go back in time a dozen years.

It was September 2000, and the beginning of the school year.  I was trying to get adjusted to being away from home for the first time in my life, and I was basically a small fish in a gigantic ocean.  Though, it was strange...unlike the stench of insecurity and obnoxiousness that permeated the corridors of my high school, the university residence halls were filled with friendliness, compassion, and kindness.  I had never experienced those feelings at any point during my formative years.  As a result, I admit that I may have let my guard down for the first time in who knows how long.  And, ultimately, I think that probably contributed to what eventually happened that made me almost hang up my pens for good.



Anyway, a couple of people were looking at the bulletin board hanging up in the main hallway of my residence floor.  This was a board where work study program applications, upcoming floor parties, and university campus clubs advertised events.  As it so happened, one of the posters on the board advertised two of the campus newspapers, and both were looking for writers.  One of them was The Charlatan, which was the main newspaper of the university campus.  However, I was warned ahead of time by some upper-years that it was very difficult for first-year students to get their work published in there, so I dismissed that idea.   But the listing for The Resin - the newspaper delivered to students who lived in residence -  looked promising.  So, when the meeting was called in the cafe downstairs, I decided to go, to check it out.

And, I will say this.  From the first meeting, I was automatically blown away at how much opportunity there was to write.  The newspaper was run by students, and printed for students.  The newspaper covered a wide variety of subjects and topics that seemed interesting.  And, plus, you could also score free CD’s and go to movie premieres, provided you wrote a review for them.


And that’s what I did.  My first couple of months writing for The Resin helped add to my music collection.  The first CD review I did for that newspaper was “Maroon” by the Barenaked Ladies, and I guess the staff really liked it.  They liked it so much that they started to assign more CD reviews to me.  I reviewed albums by Great Big Sea, Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams, Everclear, The Tea Party, and some other lesser known Canadian bands.  Eventually, I graduated to reviewing concert performances.  In one month alone, I saw performances by Blue Rodeo, and Wide Mouth Mason.  In the case of the latter, I ended up interviewing the band for an exclusive feature!  Those first few months that I wrote for The Resin were some of the best times I can ever recall.

I would estimate that before the Christmas break, I wrote about thirty articles for the newspaper alone.  Most of them were CD and concert reviews.  I ended up doing a few movie reviews during my time there, and I believe that I even wrote a few front page news articles for the publication.  I guess the only gripe that I had with my time there was that my work was largely ignored by the people who lived in residence.  Although The Resin was free to every residence student, nobody really read it.  I think I actually remember one person throwing their copy in the trash without reading it, which happened to be the one and only issue where a story I wrote was the dominant front page story.


Ouch.

But, you know, back in those days, it didn’t matter to me if people read my work.  The fact that I even had something in print gave me the illusion that I did have something good enough to publish.  As long as I had the desire and the will to keep on writing, I figured that my break would come.  I even sacrificed my weekends to work on the newspaper by copy editing and designing advertisements for businesses who sponsored the paper.  That’s how much I loved working for that newspaper. 

Or, rather, volunteering for the newspaper.  I never got paid for my work the first few months.  But, that was fine.  I could always use it as a reference for volunteering, and I had so much fun helping with the newspaper that I didn’t need to be compensated financially for it (though as a broke university student, it would have helped greatly, I admit).

As the calendar changed from 2000 to 2001, I was on top of the world.  I had done not too badly on my mid-term exams, and I still had a blast writing for the Resin.  But, then something happened that before the end of the school year was out, would have me taking back every bit of praise that I had for The Resin forever.

It all began in January 2001 when one of the editors resigned from his position.  The position of co-editor was posted, and I thought that I would apply for the job, just because I had the experience with working on the paper.  Unfortunately, the job went to another person who was a year ahead.  My disappointment was evident, but I kind of figured that I wouldn’t get the position anyway, so I wasn’t broken up about it.

Just one week later, we had our staff meeting in our usual place, and I was asked by the current editors to stay behind at the meeting.  Turns out that the editors knew I had applied, and apologized to me for not getting the job, and they came up with a proposition.  They worked out a deal with the university residential offices on campus to start paying me for my services effective January 11, 2001.  I absolutely jumped at the opportunity, thinking that all of my hard work had finally paid off.

But, as the weeks turned into months, I quickly learned how much a promise by The Resin was worth.

February 3 – After nearly four weeks, I still had not gotten any sort of payment from The Resin, so I asked the editors what was happening.  They assured me that money was on the way, but that it would be in the form of a lump sum payment.  That should have been a red flag moment for me, but as I was still wearing rose-coloured goggles at that time, I took their word to be gospel, so I waited.

By the February reading week, I still had not heard anything, but again, like a lot of other students, I went home during that time.  In all likelihood, the offices for The Resin were closed during that week, so it would have been a waste of time to try.

By the first of March, 2001, I was losing patience.  I still had not been paid a dime since I was promised that I would be.  Two months had passed, and still nothing.  It was beginning to be very frustrating.  At this time, the positions for editors were posted.  I had come to the conclusion that the current pair of editors that we had at the time would be moving off campus the following year, and since I was planning to stick around residence, I figured that I would apply for the job.  With my experience working for the newspaper, plus all the work I did for the paper, I was a shoo-in.  And, had I gotten the position, then maybe I could be persuaded to overlook the fact that the company had seemingly forgotten the first promise they made me.

Well, guess what?  I didn’t get the editor position.  And, guess what?  The people who did get the positions were the same people who ran the paper the year before.  I was thinking to myself “what was the point of even having the interview if the same people were going to be hired anyway?”

By this point, the rose-coloured glasses were yanked off and smashed on the ground.  I was fed up with being used and mistreated and lied to by an organization that gave me the runaround for two months.  I typed out a scathing letter of resignation to the editors of the newspaper, and I did not hold back.  I certainly didn’t use profanity or salty language, but I definitely was not writing a letter that was filled with sunshine or rainbows.  I was incredibly furious, and I let it all out.  I wanted them to know my anger.

But once I had sent the letter, it didn’t make me feel any better about myself.  Especially when I got a reply from one of the editors in response to it.  Upon first glance, it seemed as though the editor was trying to defend the reputation of The Resin...but reading between the lines, I could tell that she was really hurt by it.  Back then, I wanted an outlet to get all the pain and hurt that I was feeling out of there.  It’s only now that I see that the way I handled it was not the right way to go.  I should have hashed it out in a meeting behind closed doors rather than handle it the way that I had, and I do regret it. 

But, two weeks after that incident, I had gotten a call from the same editor in my dorm room, where she informed me that there was something waiting for me at The Resin offices.  I was warned by a couple of my friends to ignore the request, as the paper had already caused me enough frustration, but I needed to have closure once and for all.  So, I went to the offices one final time, and I had thought that it was the lump sum payment that I had been promised almost three months earlier.  I admit that I felt bad for how the situation had soured, but at the very least, I was getting what I had asked for, so in a way, I had felt it was a bittersweet victory.

But then I saw the amount that was written on the cheque, and my eyes bugged out...and not in a good way.  I’ll put it to you like this.  Just based on the amount of hours that I spent working on the newspaper over the last three months in both writing articles and copy editing, I reckon that I ended up making a little less than ninety-seven cents an hour.

97 cents an hour.

And, so, after getting the cheque, I walked back up to my residential floor, walked inside the storage room on the floor, and in the darkness collapsed on the floor and burst into tears.  It may sound a bit melodramatic upon retrospect, but I had spent so much time and energy on that newspaper, and for it to end so badly, I was absolutely exhausted.

As a result of this terrible experience, I swore to myself that I would never write another article, story, or limerick ever again.  If all that it led to was hurt feelings and getting screwed over, I wanted no part of it.  I was done with writing for good, and I had a brief period where I no longer enjoyed writing anymore.  That’s how negative of an experience it was at the time.

To me, the fact that I had finally gotten paid after getting the runaround wasn’t the issue.  Many of the people who lived on my floor told me that I should have just ripped up the cheque, and that the final payment that I had gotten was insulting.  But, you have to understand that during this time, I was a broke university student.  I didn’t feel any guilt for using The Resin’s money to do some laundry, or buy food.  The little payment that I did get, I was owed anyway.  I think I was more hurt and betrayed by the fact that an organization that I once looked up to and respected really used me to their advantage.  In the end, I was left looking like a fool.  If only they hadn’t had made that offer to pay me in the first place, things would have ended so differently.  I was enjoying what I was doing for free, and I was already getting a lot out of the job, such as free CD's and writing experience.  But because they made that offer, and reneged on their promise until I spoke up and said something, that experience was ruined for me.  I find that to be the most unforgivable part of that whole experience.

But, on the positive side, that was a learning experience.  I learned many lessons from that time in my life.

1 – I learned that when somebody makes a promise...GET IT IN WRITING

2 – I learned that when resolving a conflict to not let emotions get in the way

3 – I learned not to let one bad experience sour me on my dreams


That third lesson is arguably the most important one.  A few months later, 9/11 happened, and I was inspired to write an article about the effect it had on online communities.  Instead of going to The Resin, I pitched my idea to The Charlatan, and to my surprise, it was put in the newspaper as a feature article.  It was nice to see, and that moment helped me realize that writing was something that I still wanted to do.

The epilogue of the story is quite complicated.  I now realize that the fault of what happened to me in regards to The Resin scandal of 2001 was solely at the feet of the organization that printed the paper.  I realize that the editors weren’t exactly blameless, but I do also realize that I don’t blame them as much as I used to.  I honestly believe that they were merely pawns in the chess game that was being played with me by the owners of The Resin.  I actually hope that one day, I can run into the former editors once more, so that we can finally have the conversation that we should have had eleven years earlier.  But, when I left The Resin, I did come to a point of mutual understanding with the editors, so at least I can say that something positive came out of it.

It’s funny though.  I was used by The Resin, and as far as respect went, I certainly didn’t get much given to me, but as badly as it ended, I still have some fond memories from that time.  I never would have gone to concerts if not for them.  I wouldn’t have interviewed people if not for them.  I actually believe that I became a better writer from my time there.  Of course, most of those good times occurred before 2001, but still, those good memories are all that I have to hold on to, because they prevent me from becoming bitter over the experience.

Because let’s face it, the subject of bitterness makes for difficult writing.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

A Crayola Kid For Life!





I can’t think of a single time in my life where I did not have at my disposal some sort of writing utensil and a stack of paper.

I’m being serious here.  Some of my fondest childhood memories involved heading down to the local department store, and practically begging my parents to shell out the loose change they had to buy a bundle of lined paper and a package of crayons, markers, coloured pencils, whatever.  When I was growing up, I would be constantly creating various arts and crafts.  Most boys my age were playing with Transformers, WWF action figures, and Micro Machines.  I was just as content with a doodle pad and a ball point pen.  I loved drawing pictures, and scribbling in margins, and illustrating my own picture books.

I still have this fond memory of life in third grade.  When I was in the third grade, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were one of the most popular television shows in the world, and I was a huge fan.  I was such a fan that I would often design and draw my own Ninja Turtles picture books.  Most of the time, I was finished in-class assignments early, so I took the free time that I was given to draw my creations. 

I regret to say that I no longer have these books that I created.  Third grade was twenty-two years in the past and sadly I think I accidentally tossed them in the garbage.  It honestly didn’t matter much, because as to be expected with 9-year-olds, my artwork was quite childlike, and my vocabulary wasn’t exactly huge.  But, I did spell the names of all the turtles correctly, so at least I had that going for me.  And for what it’s worth, I remember asking my teacher, Mr. Porter, if I could display my “books” on the book reading table for the rest of the class to read.  He agreed, and I was surprised to see so many of the kids in my class taking a peek at them.  Whether it was to make fun of them, or whether they were really interested in them, I can’t really say.  But, I did have the claim to fame in that I was the only self-published author in my third grade class.  At least that’s something, right?

But, this blog topic isn’t about self-publishing.  Nor is it about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  But it is about a subject in relation to these two topics.

After all, in order to create these books on a subject I absolutely adored in my childhood, I needed to have good, quality art supplies, right?  I needed to have supplies that were durable and long-lasting enough to last me several hundred pages, but yet still provided bright colours, sharp images, and just overall fun.


Enter the wonderful world of Crayola crayons, markers, poster paints, and coloured pencils.


I can’t remember a time in which I didn’t love Crayola products.  One of my earliest memories of Crayola products comes from my very early childhood.  Back in those days, I used to love McDonald’s Happy Meals (these days, I hardly ever go inside a McDonald’s), partly because of the fact that inside each one, there was a special treat.  And one year, McDonald’s gave out Crayola art supplies.  It wasn’t much, just one marker, or a package of three crayons.  But, when I reached inside the Happy Meal box and pulled out the bright red marker inside, I was instantly a fan.  I think I coloured with that red marker until the whole thing dried out.

Over the years, I have owned several Crayola products, and I have so much to say about the Crayola products that have made appearances in my lifetime so far...but before I go into that, why not have a little bit of a history lesson behind the creation of Crayola, and how it evolved over the years.


The year was 1885.  In New York City, cousins Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith (whose names were printed on the labels of every Crayola crayon for a number of years) started up the company, only back in those days, the company was simply known as Binney & Smith. 

It may surprise some of you to know that when the company was first founded, it wasn’t initially a company that made art supplies.  Instead, it focused on the manufacturing of industrial dyes and pigments.  Some of the earliest products that the company manufactured at first were red iron oxide pigments for use in barn paint, as well as carbon black chemicals that were not only used to make tires black, but to also increase the lifespan of the tires.

In 1900, the company started manufacturing the first of what would become many writing utensils, the slate school pencil.  Four years later, the company invented the first “dustless” white chalk, which would win a gold medal at the 1904 St. Louis World Fair!

And, it was right around that time that Binney and Smith would end up creating their flagship product, as well as the popular name associated with the product.

It began in 1902, when Binney and Smith developed the Staonal marking crayon.  Shortly after that, Edwin Binney and his wife, Alice Stead Binney, started the development on a line of wax crayons.  The crayons were first sold on June 10, 1903, and originally came in eight colours.  These colours were red, yellow, blue, orange, green, violet, brown, and black.

But instead of having the product go under the Binney and Smith name, a new name was coined.

Crayola.


The origin for the name was originated by Alice Stead Binney, and the name came from two sources.  The “Cray” came from the French word for chalk, ‘craie’.  The “Ola” came from the word oily (to simulate the feel of the wax crayon).  Put them together, and you have Crayola!

Originally, the crayons would only come in eight colours, but by 1905, there were several packages of various sizes to be had.  Various packages that could be bought at the time were counts of 6, 7, 8, 12, 14, 16, 18, 24, 28, and 30 (of these, only 8’s, 16’s, and 24’s are sold today).  In 1926, Crayola purchased the Munsell Color Company product line, and as a result, twenty-two new colours were added to the Crayola line-up.  Additional colours included carnation pink, grey, peach (then called flesh), and various mixtures of colours including blue-green, blue-violet, and red-orange, among others.    A few years later, Crayola combined its lineup with Munsell’s colours to create a Drawing Crayon 52 Color Assortment.  In 1949, Crayola introduced the 48 count, the first box to be featured in a non-peggable floor box.  Nine years later, the company would bring out its first 64 count box, with a built in crayon sharpener!

As of 2012, the popular crayons can be bought in 8’s, 16’s, 24’s, 48’s, 64’s, 96’s, and 120’s.  A 150 count package in a telescope shaped case was introduced in 2006, which contains all 120 current colours, plus special Metallic and Glitter crayons.


Other products that the company has made over the years include markers (introduced in 1978, with washable ones produced since 1987), coloured pencils (introduced in 1987), and various other products including glue, construction paper, calligraphy pens, poster paint, erasers, and even safety scissors!  I still remember the gift of a Crayola caddy that I received for a Christmas gift, and using the poster paint to...ahem...decorate my toys!  I still even have a Crayola crayon gift set with collectable case that I got back in 1991!  And, I still use it today!

When you look at it, there’s a lot of history that is associated with the various colours that Crayola has introduced in its over 100-year history, and I thought I’d take this time to share some of those trivia facts about the crayons (and all things Crayola for that matter) with all of you.

1 – For all the Crayola crayon colours that have existed over the years, there are some colours that are not retired.  The list of thirteen Crayola crayons that are no longer manufactured are;


Lemon Yellow, Navy Blue, Teal Blue, Thistle, Mulberry, Maize, Blizzard Blue, Violet-Blue, Blue-Grey, Orange-Yellow, Green-Blue, Magic Mint, and Raw Umber.

2 – Eight of the Crayola Crayons listed above were retired in 1990.  The eight colours replacing them were Wild Strawberry, Vivid Tangerine, Dandelion, Jungle Green, Cerulean, Royal Purple, Fuchsia, and ironically enough, Teal Blue!


3 – Binney & Smith acquired the rights to Silly Putty in 1977.

4 – Some Crayola colours were renamed due to cultural or sensitivity issues.  These colours include;

Flesh to Peach

Indian Red to Chestnut

Prussian Blue to Midnight Blue

5 – A Yale University study concluded that the scent of Crayola crayons is one of the twenty most recognizable scents for adults.  It came in at #18, beating out bleach and cheese!


6 – A commemorative postage stamp with a picture of a box of Crayola crayons on it was issued in 1998, for the 95th anniversary of the invention of the product.

7 – A Crayola Colour Census was held in 2000, where Americans could vote on what their favourite colour was.  Blue came in first place in the poll, followed by Cerulean and Purple Heart.  (As for my favourites, I’m torn between Cerulean and Royal Purple).


8 – In October 2003, The Crayola Factory (a museum and visitor center that opened up in Easton, Pennsylvania five years earlier) unveiled the “World’s Largest Crayon”.  The blue crayon, made in celebration of the crayon’s 100th birthday, weighed fifteen hundred pounds and measured fifteen feet in length.  The crayon itself was made using leftover crayon shavings and bits sent in by children all over the United States.

9 – Some of the current Crayola crayons were named by fans of the crayon, in particular with the Metallic FX series.  Some of the colours named by fans include such names as Blast Off Bronze, B’dazzled Blue, Metallic Seaweed, and Illuminating Emerald.

10 – Specialty crayons have been created over the years in stand-alone packages.  They include Silly Scents (scented crayons), Heads and Tails (a crayon with two different coloured ends), Crayola Twistables, True to Life, Color Mix-Up, Pearl Brite, Gem Stones, Silver Swirls, and Changeables (colour-changing crayons).

I think that’s all the information that I have to say about Crayola crayons and other Crayola products.

I have always loved Crayola products.  When I designed those picture books in third grade, I didn’t use anything else but Crayola products.  Crayola markers, Crayola crayons, if the brand name was Crayola, I knew I could count on it to be good.  Even now, if I have to make an art project, I always gravitate towards Crayola art supplies.  While Crayola products remind me of childhood, and a carefree time in which colouring pictures was all that I needed to use them for, I love using them now as an adult.  They’re still high quality, they’re affordable, and they have more colour choices than ever before.

My name is Matthew W. Turcotte, and I am a Crayola kid for life!

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.