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Tuesday, April 03, 2012

April 3, ????

“Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This Week” continues on with the Tuesday Timeline, and as you’ve probably guessed, today’s timeline will be focusing on an event that happens on April 3.




One thing that is a little different is the lack of a year.  Unlike most other Tuesday Timeline entries where we go back in time to a specific year, we are instead going to focus on the date itself.  Believe it or not, April 3 is a significant day in the world of desserts, and has been celebrated for quite a few years.  I wish I could have found more information as to when the tradition began, but I was unable to do so.  Hence the reason why the year has been replaced by four question marks.

That will be the only change to this week’s Tuesday Timeline entry though.  The rest of it remains exactly the same.

So, why don’t we see what else happened on April 3rd, shall we?  We’ll start with celebrity birthdays.  Famous people blowing out the candles on their birthday cakes today include Doris Day, Jane Goodall, Eric Braeden (that’s Victor Newman for you soap fans out there), Wayne Newton, Tony Orlando, Alec Baldwin, David Hyde Pierce, Eddie Murphy, Sebastian Bach, Picabo Street, Jennie Garth, Aries Spears, Cobie Smulders, Leona Lewis, and Amanda Bynes.

As well, we’ll take a look at some historical happenings for April the third.

33 A.D. – While not confirmed, it is widely believed that the historical crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth occurred on April 3

1860 – The first successful Pony Express run took place between Missouri and California

1865 – Richmond, Virginia is captured by Union during American Civil War

1882 – Jesse James is killed by Robert Ford

1885 – Gottlieb Daimler is granted German patent for his engine design

1895 – Trial begins in libel case instigated by Oscar Wilde, results in his imprisonment on charges of homosexuality

1936 – Bruno Richard Hauptmann is executed for kidnapping and killing the Lindbergh baby

1948 – Harry S. Truman signs Marshall Plan; on the same day, Jeju massacre occurs in South Korea

1968 – Martin Luther King Jr. Delivers his “I’ve Been To The Mountaintop” speech

1973 – The first handheld mobile phone call is made by Martin Cooper, of Motorola

1975 – Bobby Fischer refuses to play in a chess match against Anatoly Karpov, giving Karpov the title of World Champion by default

1981 – The first portable computer, the Osbourne I, is unveiled at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco, California

1996 – Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski is arrested in Montana

2000 – Microsoft is ruled to have been in violation of antitrust laws by keeping an “oppressive thumb” on its competitors

So, as you can see, just based on the facts and trivia that I have gathered up, it’s some very interesting information, but none of it really works with the theme for the week.

And since I already had plans to make this week a theme week, I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to find an appropriate topic for today.  It really wasn’t until I did a little bit of work on Google that I discovered something very interesting about April 3.  It happens to be associated with one of my favourite sweet treats, and once I found that out, the rest fell nicely into place.




Today is April 3.  National Chocolate Mousse Day!

Believe it!  April 3 is the day where we celebrate the delicacy that is chocolate mousse!




Um...no, not chocolate MOOSE...I mean this stuff.




Doesn’t that just look delicious and appetizing?  Rich, smooth, cool...definitely one of the finest dessert treats one can have.  I believe that the first time I ever had it was when my sister got married in the late 1980s.  One of the desserts offered at the reception was a little dish of chocolate mousse topped with whipped cream.  Being eight years old at the time, I was in love with anything that even so much as resembled chocolate, so I decided to try some, and it was love at first bite.

However, one thing that I learned a bit too late about chocolate mousse was that you had to be careful when eating it.  Otherwise, you may end up dripping some all over the rented tuxedo that you were forced to wear during the wedding.  Oh, yes, that was an interesting story to tell the rental place for sure.

So, what exactly is chocolate mousse anyway? 

According to Wikipedia, chocolate mousse originated from France.  Mousse itself is the French word for foam, which mousse greatly resembles.  Mousse is a prepared food that incorporates air bubbles in order to give it a light and airy texture.  Depending on the recipe that is used, the mousse can appear light and fluffy, or creamy and thick.

Mousses can be made in any flavour.  I’ve seen vanilla, strawberry, raspberry, and even orange flavoured mousse.  However, I find that chocolate mousse is probably the flavour that is considered to be the most popular.  After all, it does have a day named after it.

I thought that in celebration of the chocolate mousse, I’d post a recipe for chocolate mousse, so that you can celebrate “National Chocolate Mousse Day” today as well.  Doesn’t that sound like fun?




Okay, so this recipe comes to us courtesy of late chef, Julia Child.

JULIA CHILD’S CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

INGREDIENTS:

-      1 cup semisweet baking chocolate

-      4 tablespoons strong coffee

-      6 ounces unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks)

-      4 egg yolks

-      ¼ cup rum or ¼ cup strong coffee

-      4 egg whites

-      ¾ cup instant superfine sugar

-      2 tablespoons instant superfine sugar

-      Whipped cream (optional)            

PROCEDURE:

-      Place the chocolate and 4 tbsp strong coffee in a sauce pan and place in a pan of hot water.  Stir for a minute or so, until melting begins

-      Place egg yolks in a bowl and beat, adding the sugar in a thin stream.  Continue beating until mixture is thick, pale, and forms a ribbon.  Beat in the rum.  Set over a pan of almost simmering water and beat for an additional 5 minutes.  Test with your finger to make sure the mixture is warmed through.

-      Allow to cool.  It should again form a ribbon and have the consistency of thick, creamy mayonnaise

-      Stir the chocolate until smooth, and gradually add the softened butter.  When totally in corporate stir the mixture into the yolks and sugar

-      In a clean bowl, beat the room temperature egg whites.  Begin slowly and increase the speed until soft peaks are formed.  Sprinkle with 2 tbsp of sugar and a pinch of salt.  Continue beating until stiff peaks are formed.

-      Fold ¼ of the stiff egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it.  Scoop the remaining egg whites on top and delicately fold them inches.

-      Place into a mold or serving dishes and chill for several hours or overnight

-      Serve with whipped cream if desired.

And there you have it.  You now have your own recipe for chocolate mousse, courtesy of the French chef.  I must warn you, like most delicious desserts, the chocolate mousse isn’t exactly the healthiest food choice.  Although a standard serving is only 287 calories, most of those come from saturated fat.  
So, enjoy in moderation!




If this recipe doesn’t tickle your fancy, fear not.  If you Google chocolate mousse recipes, you’ll find hundreds out there for you to make.  Or, if you’re a klutz in the kitchen, might I recommend Jell-O mousse pudding cups?  They come in several flavours, and are only sixty calories a piece.  I’ve had them before, and I have to say, for a Jell-O product, they aren’t bad.

I hope each and every one of you have a happy National Chocolate Mousse Day today, and remember, snack responsibly!

Monday, April 02, 2012

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Welcome to the first day of the special theme week known as “Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This Week”.


Who am I to disagree?


From April 2 until April 8, all the topics will have something to do with chocolate, candy, and products that are associated with confectionary delights.  The theme days will stay the same, but the content will be ever so sweet.  And, hey, since Easter’s around the corner, there might just be a couple of Easter-themed entries along the way.


For today, we are going to kick off the week with a Monday Matinee feature that was originally a book, and was adapted into film twice.  And, in case you’re wondering why I have turned this entry brown for the day, it’s because the setting of this movie happens to take place at a chocolate factory.


I see some of you in the audience nodding your head in anticipation, as if you already know what the subject of today’s blog is, so I won’t waste any time.




Have you seen this person before?  It happens to be a photo of Gene Wilder, circa 1971.  Some of you who may have Facebook or Twitter accounts may have come across it before, as it is a popular avatar being used for memes such as the one below.



However, I reckon that many of you youngsters out there probably have no idea where this image came from.  Well, it happens to be from the 1971 classic film, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”, a musical adaptation of the 1964 novel “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, written by author Roald Dahl.




But, wait, I hear some of you saying.  Wasn’t the movie called “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”?  Wasn’t it released more recently than 1971?  Didn’t Johnny Depp play Willy Wonka?  Well, if we were discussing the 2005 remake of the movie, than yes, those facts would be true. 


But I wanted to talk about the original 1971 movie for a couple of reasons.  It not only happens to be the version that I grew up with watching, but it is the version that I enjoy the most.




By all accounts, despite the fact that the movie is widely considered to be a cult hit, it bombed at the box office when it was released in June 1971.  I actually found that surprising, given how so many of my friends have fond memories of this movie.  Another fact that I found interesting was the fact that Roald Dahl hated the final product of the film.  He disliked it so much that it took two decades before he allowed Hollywood to turn another one of his books into a movie!  I suppose I can understand his feelings.  If I had a book that I was proud of, I’d ideally want it to be as close to my original vision as possible.


However, Dahl’s opinions aside, I thought the movie brought a lot with it.  It had chocolate and candy, which almost every child loves, as well as a fantastic and believable child cast.  And, it also had a very important life lesson hidden beneath the nougat, sprinkles, and sugary drizzle...but we’ll get to that a little bit later.




I’m assuming that most of you know what the movie is about, so I won’t bore you with a detailed summary of the plot.  Basically, Willy Wonka has a contest going on where he has hidden five golden tickets in various Wonka chocolate bars all over the world.  The lucky children to find the golden tickets were invited on a grand tour of the magnificent and mysterious chocolate factory where Wonka candies and chocolates are made.  The five children who find the tickets are...




-      Augustus Gloop (Michael Bollner), a chunky German boy who overindulges on anything resembling food.


-      Veruca Salt (Julie Dawn Cole), an English girl who is so spoiled, three month old milk appears fresh in comparison.


-      Violet Beauregard (Denise Nickerson), an American girl who chews gum all day and all of the night.


-      Mike Teevee (Paris Themmen), a boy who spends more time watching baseball on TV rather than playing baseball outside.


-      Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum), a young boy poor in money, but rich in kindness who lives with his parents, and his four grandparents.


The five children soon arrive at Willy Wonka’s factory with their mother or father (or in Charlie’s case, a grandfather), and Willy Wonka happily greets them at the door.  As they enter the factory, all five children are absolutely blown away by the magic within its walls.  It’s truly a vision of pure imagination.




At first, the tour goes according to plan, and everyone is happy.  But, then poor Augustus Gloop is drawn to the river of chocolate that flows through the factory, and he decides to drink as much of the sweet, liquid chocolate as he can.  This proves costly for Augustus, as he falls directly into the river.  It’s bad enough that Augustus is unable to swim to safety, but then he gets sucked up into a giant tube, leaving the rest of the tour group in shock.


Don’t count on the little orange men known as the Oompa-Loompas to be of any help.  All they seem to do is poke fun at the situation by singing a song about the missing Gloop boy.




Those silly Oompa-Loompas.  They may appear to be simple sugar lackeys on the surface, but their wisdom should be heeded.


I imagine that it must not have been a great feeling for Mrs. Gloop to see her son almost drown in a river of chocolate and get sucked up to parts unknown.  However, Augustus wasn’t the only child to take an unexpected detour on the tour.  Violet Beauregard’s gum addiction lead to her undoing after she chewed a piece that turned her into a gigantic blueberry.  Mike Teevee ended up shrinking to the size of a pixel after a freak accident involving one of Willy Wonka’s inventions.  And, Veruca Salt...well, see for yourself.




It couldn’t have happened to a nicer gal.


By the tour’s conclusion, Charlie Bucket is the only one left, and Willy Wonka was disappointed, as well as a little angry.  Despite the fact that all Charlie really did that could be considered mischievous was sample some of Willy Wonka’s Fizzy Lifting Drinks, Willy Wonka comes to the conclusion that because the other four children were bad, Charlie must be too. 


Mind you, I won’t spoil the ending of this movie (most of you probably know how it ends anyway), but to give you a hint, it involves these.




That’s your clue to how the whole story wraps up.


So, what life lessons can we take from “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”?  I can come up with a couple right off the bat.  For one, I have no choice but to be a little vague, because if I come right out and say it, I’ll spoil the ending of the movie.  So, I’ll just come out and say it.  Don’t judge people based on the actions of other people.  It was a lesson that Willy Wonka himself needed to learn.  One that a certain young man named Bucket could teach him.


The second, and perhaps most important lesson, that we can learn is that too much of anything is never a good thing.


Let’s face it.  The four children who ended up getting into the most trouble were also the most greedy and self-absorbed.  Augustus Gloop was the poster child for the sin of gluttony, and he ended up in a tight situation because of it.  Violet’s gum-chewing wasn’t really that much of a problem, but her headstrong attitude could be suffocating at times, and her personality lead to her ego (as well as the rest of her body) inflating at an enormous rate.  Veruca Salt wanted it all, but didn’t want to do the work to earn it, which cheapened her personality much like the defective items that were sent down the garbage chute.  As for poor Mike Teevee, his screen time took over his life so much that it seemed fitting that his ultimate fate would involve a television screen.


In the case of Augustus, Mike, Veruca, and Violet, their greedy behaviour got them in a world of trouble.  The parents of the four wasted no time in blaming Willy Wonka for what happened to their children, but the truth is that they did it to themselves with their greedy behaviour.


The lesson is simple.  Don’t be greedy!  Be more like Charlie Bucket!  After all, he was the only one to get the full tour for a reason.  And in a world where we seemingly are under the impression that greed is good, I think that we need more Charlie Buckets in this world to show us that life can be just as sweet on the other side.

Sunday, April 01, 2012

You're My Wonderwall

I have always said that high school was a tough go for me, but weirdly enough, some of my favourite music has come out of that time period.

The early years of high school, that is.

I began high school in September 1995, which I felt was a great time for music.  It was just before the Spice Girls and the Backstreet Boys had made it big, and it was just after the grunge movement.  It was a great time to be a fourteen year old boy.

I still remember the plethora of artists who had songs charting at the time both on radio, as well as MuchMusic.  Blur, Pulp, Garbage, Luscious Jackson, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, R.E.M., Gin Blossoms, Bush, and No Doubt were a huge part of my grade nine soundtrack, and I still listen to these artists today in 2012.


And then there’s today’s Sunday Jukebox spotlight by a British act, which ended up becoming one of the biggest selling singles by the band, and was one of the most requested songs of late 1995.

I’ll just get into a bit about how much the song meant to me.  To me, it was a song that really helped me cope with the hardships that I went through my freshman year.  It’s no secret that for a lot of us, the ninth grade is a very stressful year.  Most of us are in a brand new school with brand new teachers and brand new classmates.  It can be a difficult situation for anybody to be faced with.  I know it was for me.  This song is probably the best example that I can think of to describe that time.  And, what made it even more poignant was the intended meaning behind the song (which was different from what a lot of other people had initially thought).

So, would you like to listen to this song that inspired me?  Here it is below.























APRIL FOOLS!!!!!

You know I had to sneak ONE April Fools Day joke in here somewhere, didn’t you?

Okay, okay.  Here’s the REAL version.



ARTIST:  Oasis
SONG:  Wonderwall
ALBUM:  (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?
DATE RELEASED:  October 30, 1995
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  #8



“Wonderwall” was a song that proved to be very successful for the rock band, Oasis.  Recorded in May 1995, the song hit number one in thirteen countries, and remained a hit well into the first half of 1996.  It won the Brit Award for Best Music Video in 1996, and was nominated for two Grammy Awards the following year.  A poll hosted by Virgin Radio in 2005 listed “Wonderwall” as the best British song of all time, and a few people (including Blur’s Alex James and U2’s ‘The Edge’) have gone on record as saying that they had wished they had written the song themselves.

Certainly, “Wonderwall” was a powerful and moving song.  It’s perhaps one of the band’s best songs, in my opinion.  And the song itself was melodic, light, and serene, if not haunting, which is ironic when you consider the fact that Oasis was known for being one of the most dysfunctional bands in the public eye.


Forming in 1991, the band was composed of brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, Paul “Guigsy” McGuigan, and Tony McCarroll.

TRIVIA:  The band originally went by the name of “The Rain”.  The name was changed after a suggestion by Liam Gallagher, who was inspired by a concert venue listed on a poster advertising the band “Inspiral Carpets”.

During the band’s early years, they struggled to find an audience, but upon the release of their debut album, “Definitely Maybe”, the band’s popularity soon exploded in the United Kingdom.

However, as the band’s popularity continued to rise, so did the tension between the bandmates.  The Gallagher brothers were more often than not the cause of most of the tension.  Most of the band’s negative publicity surrounded Liam and/or Noel, and some examples of this include the following.

-      Liam getting high before a September 1994 concert in San Francisco which lead to him insulting the American audience and attacking Noel with a tambourine

-      Unceremoniously firing Tony McCarroll after a personality conflict in early 1995



-      Getting involved in a rivalry with Blur, which lead to Noel angrily blurting out in an interview that he hoped that members of  Blur would get AIDS



-      Liam spewing beer on stage and making naughty gestures at Noel during their performance at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards

-      Liam and Noel fighting during the recording of 1997’s “Be Here Now”

-      Noel getting attacked by an audience member at 2008’s Virgin Festival in Toronto, leaving him with busted ribs

And, perhaps the most defining moment?  August 28, 2009.  Another fight had broken out between Liam and Noel, but this time, it got extremely personal.  Liam reportedly smashed Noel’s guitar backstage, which lead to their cancelling their appearance at a Parisian rock festival, and ultimately the end of their European tour.  Just two hours later, Noel resigned from the band.

Therefore, I guess it can be safe to say that Oasis was probably a band that had a lot of problems. 

Despite all of their bad judgments, violent tendencies, and tasteless comments, I still have to admit that “Wonderwall” remains one of my favourite songs of the 1990s, if not all time.

The song was written by Noel Gallagher.  Initially, Gallagher had said that the subject of the song was about his girlfriend at the time, Meg Matthews.  But after they had been married and divorced, Gallgher changed his tune, instead stating that the song was “about an imaginary friend who’s gonna come and save you from yourself.”

At this point, I’m not sure which explanation I can believe, but for the sake of argument, let’s apply theory number two to my situation.

I always felt going through school that the temptation to make terrible choices was always out there.  Experimentation with drugs.  Binge drinking.  Underage sex. 

And yet, I never did any of those things.  It’s hard to explain it, but I think that my conscience was working overtime during high school.  Whenever I was tempted to try drugs or alcohol in high school, there was this persistent voice in my ear telling me “Don’t do that!”

It was almost as if it were some imaginary friend trying to let me know that if I went down the path, it would cause me more harm than good. 

So, I listened, and I’m still living the sober life (aside from a couple of beers every now and again, but I am well aware of my limitations).

I often wonder if maybe Oasis wouldn’t have had such a hard go of it if they had imaginary friends of their own hovering over them.  If they had them, perhaps Liam wouldn’t have smashed Noel’s guitar, leading to Noel departing Oasis.  Maybe if the Gallagher brothers had an imaginary friend who tried to save Noel from himself, he wouldn’t have made those disgusting comments about the members of Blur.  Or maybe Liam wouldn’t have made a public spectacle of himself during various award shows.


There’s a saying that exists.  Let your conscience be your guide.  I think that phrase could be the meaning behind Oasis’ popular single “Wonderwall”.  It’s a phrase that I take great influence from.  It’s also a phrase that perhaps the Gallagher brothers from Oasis should have had tattooed to them somewhere.

A little food for thought this first day of April.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Educational Canadian Kids Shows...From Good to Creepy

Over my near thirty-one years on this planet, I have seen a lot of weird television in my day, but nothing tops the weird scale quite like Canadian television for children.

And, that's what this blog topic is about. Picking out the good, the bad, and the ugly in selected Canadian programs that some of you may have never seen, or have forgotten about.

But I remember. Some I really wish I COULD forget.

I have talked about a few Canadian programs on this blog (The Polka Dot Door and Today's Special), but both of those shows are well-loved by kids all over the world. This entry will talk about some of the forgotten programs. Shows that haven't aired in well over twenty years or more.

So, let's get right to it.



READALONG (1975-1976)

First things first...the show is thirty-seven years old. I remember watching it when I was four. I feel incredibly old now. If you like, you can click HERE to watch a full episode of it.

And, secondly, what an interesting concept. It's basically a show that teaches young children how to read. I guess in some ways, it was sort of a Canadian version of “The Electric Company”. The strange part? We were taught how to read by a work boot (Boot) and a pink shoe (Pretty). There was also a grandmother puppet (Granny), and several appearances by small children (who are probably in their early 40's now). I liked the show as a young boy. I admit that watching the show today still gives me a chuckle. But, I think it's still relevant today. Sure, the 1970s music and fashions are long gone, but it still is capable of teaching children how to read. Now, if they could only get rid of that scary logo at the beginning...



BLUE RAINBOW (1984-2000)

The thing that surprises me the most about this program was the fact that it ran for more than fifteen years. It was probably one of the weirdest shows that I have ever seen. It originally ran on CBC before Global bought the program. I just don't know how to best describe it, so I'll post a short clip of it below.

Okay, bottom line is you have the woman in a pink dress who tells stories and plays a harp. There's also two bald guys who don't speak English. I'm pretty sure that if one drank enough alcohol, you might be able to understand them, but I wouldn't recommend it. You'd likely die of alcohol poisoning before that happened. It was that bizarre...



TELEFRANCAIS (1984-1986)

...though not nearly as bizarre as two kids talking to a pineapple in the middle of a garbage dump!

Let's get the obvious out of the way first. None of the characters speak English. That's because in Canada, there are two official languages. English and French. So, it wasn't uncommon to see some French language programming on TVOntario, where this show originally aired. The show was an introductory program for young children to learn basic French vocabulary. The two kids, Jacques and Sophie, meet the talking pineapple (appropriately named Ananas), and adventures soon follow.



Oh, and the musical entertainment involved a group of singing French skeletons (known as Les Squelettes). Enough said.



There was another popular French language show called PASSE-PARTOUT which ran from 1977-1987, but all I remember about that show is the opening. You can watch it above.



CAMP CARIBOO (1986-1989)

The one thing that I probably remember the most about this program is the theme song. It was catchy. And, I admit that the show's concept itself wasn't overly bad. It took place at a summer camp, and it showcased a lot of activities that people would do at a summer camp. They told stories, they sang songs, they did crafts. I liked it. Tom Knowlton and Mark Baldwin were the counselors of Camp Cariboo, and they were the driving force behind the show. They also played the role of the “Keeners”, two guys who wanted to stay at the camp, even though they were much too old.



BALLOONER LANDING (1988-1992)

There's a lot of people who probably don't remember this show, so I hope that the opening that I found refreshes your memory. But, if it doesn't, the show was hosted by Lee and Sandy Paley. They started each show by flying down towards their home in a giant hot-air balloon, greeting their dog “Do Good”, interacting with Prudence the Parrot, and lots of singing. I admit that it's been years since I have seen the show, but I always liked it. Lee and Sandy were great entertainers, and as of 2012, they're still performing. That's always great to see.



HAPPY CASTLE (1988-1989)

Have you ever watched a program that is so bad that you want to change the channel, but are so mesmerized by it that you can't look away? Happy Castle was that show for me.

I mean, look at the opening. I am sure that back in 1988, the opening was at its peak of creativity...but now it just looks cheap. And, the show itself was like one gigantic acid trip. A Cinar production, the show depicts a young girl (who is really probably twenty-two) who somehow gets stuck in the kingdom of Betwixt. She meets a whole bunch of animals who vow to protect her, but she also has to deal with the fact that a wicked queen is out to capture her. It's like they took Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Alice in Wonderland, and blended them together into Happy Castle. I imagine that when it first came on the air, I might have liked it, but unfortunately it really has not aged well. At all.



KIDSTREET (1988-1992)

Have you ever seen the television game show “Classic Concentration”? The one where contestants have to solve a rebus in order to win the chance for a car? Well, this children's game show hosted by Kevin Frank was like that. The final round of the game was a rebus round, where the kids would try to have to guess what the puzzle was. If successful, they could win an entire wall filled with toys and games. But, before they could do that, they had to sit in a giant car and answer questions about their teammates (which could be a sibling or a cousin). I remember watching this show loyally, and I remember wanting to be a contestant on it so bad. But, being the kid who never had siblings or cousins close to his age, that was a fleeting dream. I enjoyed watching it though.



EUREKA! (1980-1981)

So, this program was geared towards the junior high or high school set, but that's okay.  The show's original run only lasted less than a year, but the reruns reportedly aired on TVOntario for a little over twenty-five years. As a kid, I remember watching it and not understanding what the heck the program was even about. I almost wish that I had paid attention because it would have definitely helped me get better grades in science class. But, it was a neat series because it taught a lot of concepts in physics by using animation. And, for a few years, it was really the only fun science program Canadians had to watch...that is until Dr. Fad and Bill Nye the Science Guy came along.



SIZE SMALL AND SIZE SMALL ISLAND (1982-1987)

I honestly don't know why I loved this show so much as a child. I couldn't get enough of it, and I had to watch it every day or else I would be in a very bad mood the rest of the day. Looking at the show now, it's really kind of cheesy. I mean, Miss Helen was always nice and lovely, and I suppose the triplet puppets were cute in a creepy kind of way. But, I'll admit that Grandma Gussie used to aggravate me to no end every time she spoke. Because she used to whistle every time she said any word containing the letter “S”, I always felt as if someone forgot to take off the pot of tea from the burner in the background.



We won't even discuss the record that dances and bangs spoons together.

And, finally...saving the creepiest for last.

CIRCLE SQUARE (1974-1986)

Believe it or not, Canada is known for producing a lot of television shows that deal with Christianity and the church. And, that's fine. But this show was just...creepy.



For one, the opening shows all the kids deliriously happy. So happy that we can see the gleam of their teeth behind the braces that some of them wore. No child is EVER that happy in real life. Though that girl who winks to the camera in almost a suggestive manner is strangely ironic, don't you think?

Even when they talk to the camera, those smiles never go away. It's just...creepy.

And, apparently, there was a Circle Square songbook. Who knew? I remember watching a couple of episodes of the show just out of boredom and curiosity, and feeling very left out that you needed a songbook to be able to fully appreciate the show. They didn't even provide subtitles for the songs being sung. Yeah, great message. We'll entertain you for free, but if you don't buy a songbook, you're left out, and can't measure up to the perfection of the Circle Square kids.


(Well, provided the books were actually sold.  They might have sent them for free...I don't know.)

All the songs of course were hymns written for kids about how God is awesome, and other Christian themes. Which is perfectly fine on the surface. I've no issue with that. It's just the way the kids were so monotonous and smiling and had the same blank expression on their faces...it was like I was watching a musical about the Children of the Corn.  With the exception of the girl by the window who is in a "dark place", these children seem to have smiles that seem forced.

By that description, I have no problem listing Circle Square as one of the creepiest shows I've ever watched.  Ever.  Even creepier than Happy Castle.

So, that's a look back at some of the forgotten shows that we kids in Canada would watch during the 1970s and 1980s. Can you add any more to the list?