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Sunday, July 08, 2012

Party In The U.S.A.


Guilty pleasure songs.

Oh, come on. Admit it. We all have them.

In fact, I'll be admitting what one of mine is a little bit later in this blog, and maybe if you see me doing it, you'll work up the courage to post some of yours. At least, that's my intention, anyway.

I guess I should probably define what a “guilty pleasure” song is first. I believe it to be a song that a person absolutely can't get enough of, but can't really admit to liking it in public for fear of taunts and teasing from those closest to you because it's “uncool” to like it. There's lots of examples of this in the world of pop culture. Take a look at the novelty hit “Macarena”, which dominated the top of the charts for a huge chunk of 1996. Many people loved the song (and still do), but many more seem to despise it. Another artist that gets a lot of flak is Justin Bieber. I'll admit that while I don't really care for his music, I do respect him as a person, and I won't readily insult or talk badly about him just because others do. Besides, Justin Bieber has already won the hearts of just about every girl under the age of 14 globally, so clearly he must be doing something right.

I guess the point that I'm trying to make is that there are songs that are released in which people seem to feel that it's more fun to make fun of than actually listen to it while keeping an open mind. And for whatever reason, I don't really agree with that logic. In fact, I bet that I can take every artist that has ever recorded a song within the last 50 years, and find one song that I absolutely love of theirs. When I run off the names Britney Spears, Hilary Duff, Lady Gaga, and yes, even Justin Bieber...I can list off at least one song I like from each of these artists. Those songs, respectively, are “Sometimes”, “Stranger”, “Bad Romance”, and...well...I don't mind “Baby” as much. The last one isn't really a favourite, but I do find it tolerable.

Hey, at least give me credit for trying here.

And, for today's blog topic, I thought that I would post another song that I consider to be a “guilty pleasure” song of mine. One that I admittedly still enjoy three years after it was released.



ARTIST: Miley Cyrus
SONG: Party In The U.S.A.
ALBUM: The Time Of Our Lives
DATE RELEASED: July 29, 2009
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #2



Yes, I know what you're saying. I'm doing a blog topic on Miley Cyrus. Some of you might be staring at me in disbelief and confusion. But, you know, I'm not ashamed to admit it. I love “Party In The U.S.A.” because it's happy, carefree, you can dance to it...it's probably one of the better songs that came out of the decade known as the noughties.



I imagine that most of you who are at least sixteen years of age or younger may remember Miley Cyrus best from the Disney Channel show “Hannah Montana”, which ran from March 2006 until January 2011.

(On a side note, who knew that it ran for five years? I didn't think it was that popular until I read that in 2008, over 200 million people all over the world watched the program.)

Oh, and Miley's father was this guy.



I STILL can't believe that it was a #1 hit on the charts twenty years ago.

Anyways, there's very little to tell about the life history of Miley Cyrus. Her autobiography only spans nineteen and a half years. But she was born on November 23, 1992 with the given name of Destiny Hope Cyrus. The reason behind her original name was because her parents believed that she would accomplish great things with her life.

So, how did the Miley come into play? Well, according to Billy Ray Cyrus, she always used to smile a lot when she was a baby, and he had given her the nickname “Smiley”. At some point, it was shortened to Miley, and the name stuck. A few years later, she would legally change her name to Miley Ray Cyrus, which she did in memory of her grandfather Ronald Ray Cyrus, who passed away in 2006.

Miley got her first taste of show business when she was quite young, making a cameo appearance in the show “Doc”, which starred Billy Ray Cyrus. She's also done a couple of films in addition to her work on “Hannah Montana” (including a Hannah Montana movie), has released several singles that have charted on both the mainstream and country charts (yes, “The Climb” has been played on some country music stations), and her godmother is country singer Dolly Parton!

Mind you, she's been making headlines recently for some not-so-nice publicity shots...but I don't really want to talk about those. My goal for this blog is to make it as positive as it can be. I want people to walk away with warm fuzzies, not anger and bitterness.

Instead, I thought I would choose this particular song, not just because of the fact that it's a guilty pleasure song...but because it also happens to be her most successful song. It managed to reach #2 on the Billboard Charts in late 2009. I'd call that a success.

But did you know that “Party In The U.S.A.” wasn't originally written for Miley?



The song was originally written by British singer Jessie J, who had a hit a few months ago with the song “Domino”. She worked on the song along with collaborators Claude Kelly and Dr. Luke. It was intended to be released on her debut album, but before she made it to the recording studio, she had changed her mind about the song. She opted not to record it because she felt that it wasn't edgy enough for her.

Flash forward a few months later when Miley herself was working on an album with Dr. Luke. The song “Party In The U.S.A.” resurfaced, and was re-written by a writing team. They felt that somehow they could use the song as a method of promotion, as Miley was working on a clothing line with Max Azria at the time. The song was rewritten by Jessie J, Dr. Luke, and Claude Kelly with Miley as the subject, and the lyrics were fine-tuned to tell the story of how Miley and her family relocated from Tennessee to Hollywood, California.

Here's the kicker, though. When the song was completed, Miley Cyrus did like it enough to record it, and add it onto the album “The Time Of Our Lives”, but she didn't exactly fall in love with it right away. Miley believed that the song didn't really reflect the kind of music she liked to perform. Ironically enough, the main complaint that she had with the song was the fact that she had felt that the song wasn't edgy enough for her...the very reason why Jessie J refused to record the song herself! And, on top of all that, the song lyrics make a reference to her listening to a Jay-Z song on the radio. But in 2009, when the song was released, Cyrus admitted that she had never heard a Jay-Z song prior to the song's release.

But somehow, record producers seemed to believe in the song a little bit more than Cyrus. When the album was released, “Party In The U.S.A.” ended up being the lead single of the whole album, something that surprised Cyrus, as she didn't feel that the song was strong enough to become commercially successful. The single was leaked on radio stations the last week of July, 2009, and within two weeks had taken over the country by storm.



The song itself was also performed live for the first time on August 10, 2009. That performance was at the Teen Choice Awards, and was the subject of some mixed reactions. Everyone agreed that the song was quite good, and it had garnered a lot of critical praise. The performance, on the other hand, was more mixed. You see, Miley decided to perform the song wearing a rather revealing outfit, and part of the choreography of the performance involved an ice cream cart and a pole that she shimmied down. Although that portion of the performance lasted less than a minute, it was thirty-nine seconds too long for some. A lot of people launched complaints over the appropriateness of a sixteen year old girl showing children that it was okay to pole dance at an awards show for teenagers. But, at the same time, others remarked that the focus should have been on the fact that Miley won six awards that night, and not for the sexuality exhibited during her performance.

(I'm curious to know...what do you all think? I'll post a link to the performance HERE. Watch it and weigh in. What do you think? Did she go too far?)

At any rate, while there may have been some controversy linked with this song, it still doesn't take away from the fact that by itself, I kind of like it.



And, here's one final footnote to add onto this. Would you believe that the death of Osama bin Laden was a key ingredient in the re-emergence of this song's popularity? When Osama bin Laden's death was announced in America in the late night hours of May 1, 2011, people flocked onto YouTube, and posted all sorts of pro-America and anti-Osama comments underneath Miley's video! It suddenly became an anthem for the day. I must say that while my first reaction to hearing about the death of a known terrorist would not be to watch a Miley Cyrus video, I get the feeling that for some people, it was a source of comfort.

But for me, it's just a great song. One that I make no apologies in liking.

Saturday, July 07, 2012

Liberty's Kids


One of my favourite subjects in school was history class. For whatever reason, the subject of history fascinated me. I loved studying dates, and events, and the significance of events that helped shape the world that we all live in. As someone who enjoys writing, I didn't mind that most of the class assignments involved writing essays and other reports. I did much better with writing those than trying to balance a chemical equation or trying to find out the square root of 10,201.

For the most part, I found learning about history to be a wonderful subject, and I was never bored with it at all. However, I noticed that when I was in high school, the majority of my classmates didn't seem to share that same love of history. And, in a way, I could understand why they felt that way. With the exception of a couple of my teachers, the majority of them weren't exactly the most charismatic of instructors.

I'm sure that they tried their best, but when you're trying to teach history, it's a bit difficult to make the subject interesting. I know that whenever I had to present an oral history report, I had always struggled with trying to make the subject that I was talking about interesting. Of course, a part of that could have been because I hated public speaking in school, and tried my best to avoid it whenever possible.

Looking back through my own childhood, I couldn't even think of any educational programs that aired that really made learning about history fun. It was bizarre, because it seemed as though every other subject had a television show that made education seem exciting. For reading and language, you had “The Electric Company” and “Readalong”. For mathematics, “Square One” successfully blended math with MTV for a fun learning experience. “Bill Nye The Science Guy” and “Beakman's World” took care of science, while we learned all about geography from chasing Carmen Sandiego and her minions all over the world.

History, however, was completely ignored in that for the longest time. Or, if there was a show about history that aired during the 1980s, I must have missed it.

It wasn't until the early 2000s came along that I made an interesting discovery. Back in those days, my niece and three nephews were all in their early childhood, and their main channel of television viewing was PBS. Whenever I had to babysit them, the television was always on PBS for the first couple of hours. And there was one show that really caught my attention, because it really was the only example that I could find where history became entertaining.



The show that I'm referring to was the PBS show “Liberty's Kids”, which aired on most PBS stations from September 2, 2002 until the summer of 2004.



The show was created and developed by Kevin O'Donnell, Robby London, Mike Maliani, and Andy Heyward, and was produced by DiC Entertainment (which has since been absorbed into Cookie Jar TV).



The program centered mostly around American history, but there was a little bit of world history mixed into that as well. And that was the purpose of the show. It was designed for children between the ages of 7-14, and its main goal was to teach children all about how America was created, as well as some of the historical figures that made a difference. Through the eyes of some young people living through the times of the Revolutionary War, as well as their mentor, one Benjamin Franklin (voiced by Walter Cronkite), children were taken back in time to the late 1700s, and found that they were just as captivated by the historical events of the country as they were by the individual tales of each of the main characters.

Now, here's the weird thing about the show. The show itself spanned a number of years (roughly between 1773 and 1789), but none of the children seemed to age at all. Of course, since it is a cartoon, I suppose that is nothing new. After all, Maggie Simpson should be twenty-six years old by now if the Simpsons were allowed to age normally.



There was Sarah Phillips (Reo Jones), a fifteen-year-old girl originally from England. She comes to America in search of her father, who was last heard exploring Ohio. She crosses paths with Benjamin Franklin, and stays with him as a guest. With the news of war breaking out between the American colonists and the British people, Sarah is torn between allegiances. She decides that the best way for her to stay neutral is to write for Franklin's newspaper, to offer a balanced perspective to the press. She's passionate about making sure that everyone has equal rights, and she is not afraid to stand up for anything that she believes in, using the power of words as her voice. Initially, Sarah is portrayed as a British loyalist, which often caused a bit of friction between her and her friend James, but over time, she grows to support the American Revolution.



There was James Hiller (Chris Lundquist). James' story was quite tragic. He was orphaned as a young boy because lightning caused his house to burn down with his family still inside. At 14, he idolizes Benjamin Franklin, mainly because of the fact that he invented the lightning rod, a device that likely saved other people from experiencing the same deadly fate as his parents. James is very much supportive of the American Revolution, but his feelings are quite one-sided, irking Sarah, who would rather take on an impartial and diplomatic stance. He works as an apprentice in Franklin's Print Shop, and he is very street-smart, although his downfall lies in his impulsive nature, and his zealousness.



Then you have Henri Richard Maurice Dutoit LeFevbre (Kathleen Barr)...otherwise known as just Henri. At just eight years old, Henri is the youngest of the three, taken in by Benjamin Franklin after his parents died of the plague while traveling to America from France by ship. Henri is skilled in French, and can read and write it (obviously being from France, this makes perfect sense), but Franklin also encourages Henri to learn English as well, which he does in the series. Henri's youth sometimes acts as a disadvantage, as he lacks the maturity to understand how serious the war is, but his small stature proves useful, as he can crawl into small spaces without getting detected by the enemy. He values his freedom, but deep down inside, all Henri really wants is a home and family to call his own.



Finally, you have Moses (D. Kevin Williams), a boy born in Africa, and made to become a slave in America. His ingenuity allowed him to learn how to read, forge metal, and buy his freedom from his master, which allowed him to break free from the slavery that dominated the American south. He is forced to carry papers with him at all times as a way to tell people that he was freed, and not just a runaway slave, and eventually finds a job working for Benjamin Franklin. His main drive is the fight for freedom, and he hopes to one day help Americans of all colours achieve the goal of being free.

I think the one thing that made the show stand out were all of the celebrity cameos that happened on the program. There were some big named Hollywood stars that signed on to voice one of the key figures in American history. Below is a list of some of these stars, as well as the roles they played.

Liam Neeson – John Paul Jones
Michael York – Admiral Lord Richard Howe
Dustin Hoffman – Benedict Arnold
Annette Bening – Abigail Adams
Maria Shriver – Peggy Shippen
Billy Crystal – John Adams
Michael Douglas – Patrick Henry
Charles Shaughnessy – King George III
Sylvester Stallone – Paul Revere

On a lighter note, can you imagine Rocky Balboa running up those stairs in Philly shouting “The British Are Coming! The British Are Coming!” Brings a smile to my face each time.

But that's what “Liberty's Kids” was all about. It was a program that made learning about American history fun. Every kid loves a great cartoon series, and although only 40 episodes were made in total, each one had its own distinct storyline and historical lesson. I reckon that I would have benefitted from watching “Liberty's Kids” when I took American history in the 12th grade. Watching old episodes of the series, I can see how informative and entertaining it was.

In fact, let's conclude this blog entry by watching an episode right now.


Friday, July 06, 2012

The Andy Griffith Show




The world lost a television legend on July 3, 2012, when we said farewell to Andy Griffith, who died at the age of 86.

I imagine that millions of people all over the world mourned his passing. None more so than the people who lived in the community of Manteo, North Carolina, where Andy Griffith had lived. I remember watching a news report that aired yesterday regarding his passing, and the people spoke so lovingly of him, and held him in such high regard. I was thinking to myself how touching it was, and how beautiful it was. It really demonstrated what an impact he had on the world of entertainment.

And what an impact it was!

I thought that for today's blog entry, I would take the opportunity to do a tribute to Andy Griffith by talking about his life and times, as well as one show that made him (and several others) household names famous.



Andy Griffith was born on June 1, 1926 in the community of Mount Airy, North Carolina (which also happens to be the date of birth of another famous star, Marilyn Monroe). He was born to a family that didn't have a lot of money...in fact, he spent the first few months of his life sleeping inside a dresser drawer, as his family didn't have a crib or a bed for him to sleep in. But Andy made his upbringing work. He ended up spending his early childhood listening to music, as well as hearing his father tell him dozens of old family stories...stories which he later admitted contributed to the development of his sense of humour. And although he initially struggled with finding friendships in school, his jokes and charming wit won his classmates over, and the formerly shy student broke out of his comfort zone once and for all.

In high school, he participated in his high school's drama program, and had Ed Mickey as a mentor. Mickey, who was a Moravian priest, taught Andy how to play the trombone, and how to sing. He ended up being more influential than he realized, as initially Andy had decided to become a Moravian priest himself. Instead, he opted to go into the field of music, graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor of music in 1949. It should also be noted that before he graduated from college, he played roles in several student operettas including “The Mikado” and “The Chimes of Normandy”.

After graduating, Andy ended up working as a music and drama teacher at Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro, North Carolina. In 1953, he took on a job reading and performing monologues on records. One of his most successful projects was one entitled “What It Was, Was Football”, a monologue that was told from the point of view of a rural backwoodsman trying to understand what was happening at a football game. Believe it or not, the monologue was released as a single, and peaked at #9 in 1954! It proved to be the beginning of his recording career. Did you know that between 1953 and 2005, he released twenty albums? And, that's only scratching the surface.

In 1957, Griffith ended up netting his first role in a dramatic film, “A Face In The Crowd”. He played a country boy who thrived on manipulation and greed (characteristics which contrasted from any other role he played). Griffith enjoyed the role, because it allowed him to perform a more complex role, and even believed that the film became more popular as time went on.

The late 1950s was also a monumental period for Griffith as he ended up befriending a man by the name of Don Knotts. The two met while on the set of the 1958 movie “No Time For Sergeants” (which coincidentally was the inspiration behind Gomer Pyle USNC), and immediately hit it off.



Little did Griffith and Knotts know that this film wouldn't be the first time that they would end up working together just a couple of years later. And that this project would end up changing the life of a 6-year-old boy forever.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself here.

The year was 1960. Sheldon Leonard, who was already the successful producer of The Danny Thomas Show, had just commissioned Arthur Stander (who wrote several episodes of The Danny Thomas Show) to create a sitcom venture for Andy Griffith. Griffith had previously expressed some desire to attempt a television role, and after having meetings with Leonard, Griffith filmed an episode of The Danny Thomas Show, which introduced the new character that Andy was to play.

On February 15, 1960, the episode “Danny Meets Andy Griffith” aired for the first time. It was the first introduction of Andy Taylor, the sheriff of Mayberry, North Carolina, and in the episode, Taylor arrests Danny Williams (played by Danny Thomas) for running a stop sign. The episode was also notable for its guest stars in addition to Griffith. Actress Frances Bavier was cast as Henrietta Perkins, a random townsperson, and a little red-haired boy named Ronny Howard (who was just a few weeks shy of his sixth birthday) was cast as Andy's son, Opie Taylor. Remember those names for later.

The episode was a great success in the ratings, and immediately garnered the attention of the show's main sponsor, General Foods. They were the ones who had first access to the spinoff and immediately voiced their committal to sponsoring the new program as well.



That new program would end up becoming “The Andy Griffith Show”.

The show debuted on CBS on October 3, 1960, and was a hit right from the beginning. Ronny Howard made the transition to the program, continuing to play Opie Taylor, as did Frances Bavier. But instead of playing the role of an average Mayberry citizen, a new role was created for her, the role of housekeeper Aunt Bee. As if being the widowed sheriff of Mayberry wasn't stressful enough for Andy Taylor, he also had to deal with bumbling lawbreakers, demanding girlfriends, dense-minded friends, and the klutziness of his faithful deputy, Barney Fife, who was played by Don Knotts, reuniting him with his old friend, Andy.

And since we're talking about the show, here's some more trivia facts about the show.

1 – The show ended up running for eight seasons, concluding its run on April 1, 1968.



2 – Although the show wrapped up in 1968, that didn't mean that we saw the last of Mayberry. Frances Bavier signed on to do the spinoff “Mayberry R.F.D.”, which debuted in September of that year. That spinoff lasted until 1971.

3 – A television reunion movie was filmed and aired in 1986, “Return To Mayberry”. The film reunited most of the original cast, and was the highest rated television movie of 1986.

4 – Originally, Barney Fife was portrayed as Andy's cousin in three of the first six episodes of the series. After that, it was never mentioned again.

5 – The show was filmed at Desilu Studios.

6 – The show's music, “The Fishin' Hole”, was composed by Earle Hagen and Herbert Spencer. The lyrics were written by Everett Sloane, who guest starred in a 1962 episode. The whistling was performed by Hagen.

7 – The series was very successful during its whole run. It was always in the Top 10 of the Neilsen ratings, and when the show signed off for good in 1968, it ranked at number one.

8 – It was apparent that Don Knotts and Frances Bavier were well-respected as actors. Between the two of them, they ended up winning six Emmy Awards.

9 – During the show's entire run, Andy Griffith never won an Emmy Award. Nor did the show itself.



10 – This show ended up being the launchpad for Ronny Howard's career. A few years later, he opted to simply go by Ron Howard, who starred in another successful sitcom, “Happy Days”, and became a successful film director, responsible for directing such films as “Splash”, “Cocoon”, and “Apollo 13”, amongst many others.

11 – Ron Howard is now the only original cast member of the series still living. Bavier passed away in December 1989, Knotts passed away in February 2006, and Griffith passed away three days ago.

12 - Howard McNear, who played Floyd the Barber on the show actually suffered a stroke while filming the series. When it became impossible for McNear to stand, the producers filmed his last few episodes with him sitting down.

13 – McNear eventually left the series because of his ailing health. When he left, Floyd's barber shop became Emmit's Fix-It Shop.

14 – Initially, Griffith and Knotts were committed to a five-year-contract, with both expecting the series to wrap up at the end of the 1964/65 season. When the fifth season ended, Knotts signed a five year deal with Universal Pictures. However, when the show was picked up for the 1965/66 season, Griffith attempted to offer Knotts a contract for another three years. But since Knotts couldn't break the contract, he was forced to leave the show as a regular cast member.

15 – Ever wonder why Andy's hand is bandaged up during the second season? On the show, it was explained that he had injured it apprehending criminals, but in reality, Griffith had broken his hand after punching a wall. Wow, I'd hate to see the wall.

16 – Helen Crump was supposed to be a one-off character, but producers were so impressed by actress Aneta Corsaut that they made her a series regular.

17 – Rockne Tarkington was the only African-American character to have a speaking guest role on the show.

18 – Look closely at the maps that are featured behind Andy's desk. One is simply a map of the state of Nevada flipped upside down.

19 – When Don Knotts left the series, actor Jerry Van Dyke was tapped to replace him. Instead he chose to act in the sitcom “My Mother, The Car”. He later admitted that he made the wrong choice.

20 – Opie Taylor was named after Opie Cates, a 1930s/1940s band leader.

There's a lot more trivia that I can share with all of you about this show, but I'll leave it to all of you to find it for yourselves. But one thing I'll point out about this show is how all of the stars of the program managed to become successful years after the show ended. I already mentioned the success that Ron Howard experienced post-Andy Griffith show, but Don Knotts managed to find success in his later years. He starred in the successful film, “The Incredible Mr. Limpet” the year before he left The Andy Griffith Show, and played the role of Ralph Furley on “Three's Company” from 1979 until the show's end in 1984.

As for Andy Griffith, he ended up having a fantastic and rewarding career years after his time in Mayberry came to an end. He guest starred in dozens of television series, appeared in a few movies, and in 1986, he ended up becoming the star of Matlock, which ran until 1995.

But I think the biggest legacy Andy Griffith left behind for his fans and friends was his determination and work ethic. He worked hard for all of his successes, and more importantly, he enjoyed the climb. I think his rise to success can be an inspiration to all of us, and I truly believe that we could all take a page out of his guide to life, and that we'd all be better people for it.

Rest in peace, Andy. And, know that millions of people loved, and will continue to love you.


Thursday, July 05, 2012

Fond Farewell Of Food Favourites


It’s very hard to say goodbye to a place that holds so many happy memories.  This past weekend, I had to say goodbye to one.


I’ll make a bit of a mini-confession here before I get to the big one.  I am somewhat of a pizza snob.  I’m quite fussy when it comes to finding the perfect pizza.  I’d say that the part of a pizza that I am most fussy about is the pizza sauce.  To me, the pizza sauce can make or break a pizza.  I’ve had pizza where the sauce is runny, or has no flavour.  I’ve had pizza where the sauce is so spicy, I can’t swallow it.  And, I swear, there is one pizza place in my hometown whose pizza sauce literally tastes like the two main ingredients are mucilage and no-name brand ketchup.

And, no, I won’t reveal the name of this pizza place either.  I don’t believe in slander.


About nine years ago, a new pizza place opened up in town.  The name of the place was Milano’s Pizzeria.  It was a pizza place that was conveniently located within walking distance from my apartment building.  Because it was a new place, I was very keen on trying it to see what it was like.  At the time, I was a bit disappointed with the selection of pizza parlours we had in town, and decided to give it a whirl.

It ended up being the best pizza I had ever tasted.  The cheese and toppings were delicious, the crust was the right amount of thickness, and the sauce was my idea of perfection.  From the summer of 2003 on, I had found my main pizza hangout.

Oh, but they just didn’t make pizza.  Their poutines were fantastic (in case you don’t know what a poutine is, it’s a dish made with French fries, gravy, and cheese curd).  They also made delicious onion rings, hamburgers, chicken wings...really, everything on the menu was delicious.  I also got to know the people who ran Milano’s, and they were great people.

However, this past weekend, I received the news that I dreaded.  On June 30, Milano’s was closing up shop for good.  I won’t go into the details over why it happened, but I will say that I respect their decision, and wish them all the best.  But I will say this.  Their last day of business, I made sure to order one final pepperoni pizza, because I wanted to enjoy it one last time.  While it was just as delicious as all the other pizzas that I had eaten there, it was bittersweet because I knew that it would be my last one.

And, it got me thinking about today’s Thursday Confession.

THURSDAY CONFESSION #27:  Milano’s Pizza isn’t the only food item that I have mourned the loss of.


And, that's what this blog entry is about.  The foods from my childhood that no longer exist.  And the foods that I want back in my life.  The most recent one, of course, is Milano's Pizza...but there's other foods that I used to love in my childhood, and I am so upset that they no longer exist, or they are too hard to find.


I'll come up with a list of these foods below.  Who knows?  Maybe some of you will remember them.


Okay, here's the first item.






BONKERS FRUIT CHEWS


I think that a lot of you who are my age or older will likely remember the commercials over the candy itself.  You know, the ones where the lady gets crushed by oversized pieces of fruit, and then for whatever reason laughs about it?  I remember the commercials well, but I also remember the fruit chews.  They came in all sorts of flavours which included grape, orange, watermelon, and even chocolate flavoured.  I don't know what it was about those candies, but I couldn't get enough of them.  And back in 1986, it seemed as though Bonkers dominated every candy counter and supermarket check-out stand in Canada.  I even remember getting Bonkers fruit chews on Halloween when I went trick or treating.  There was just something delicious about the dark, rich center of the chew that made the flavour burst into your mouth.  However, it has been years since I've had Bonkers fruit chews.  I don't even know if they are still being made any more.  If they are, they certainly can't be found in Canada.  I'd love to know.






LEA AND PERRINS BARBECUE SAUCE


This is one that still makes me furious even though this was discontinued in Canada well over fifteen years ago.  I know that many of you associate the Lea and Perrins name with worcestershire sauce, but years ago, they made a barbecue sauce with a lot of bite to it.  The sauce was so delicious, and it went with almost any type of meal.  Steak, chicken, burgers (and yes, I do eat meat)...it made them even tastier.  When the only supermarket that carried it ditched the sauce, I was devastated.  I couldn't stand the other leading brand named barbecue sauces at the time, so I thought that my steaks would remain forever bland.  This story has a semi-happy ending, as I discovered that Bulls-Eye barbecue sauce had a similar taste to Lea and Perrins...but it's not quite the same.






STRIPED CHIPS AHOY


I will make a bit of an announcement before I continue on with this.  Nothing, and I mean, nothing, will top my mother's homemade, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.  Homemade cookies are always the best kind ever.  But as far as store bought cookies go, I do have my favourites of those as well.  I've always liked Oreos, and I don't mind the Pirate cookies (the ones with the peanut butter filling inside of them).  Chips Ahoy are another cookie that I used to eat as a kid, but there were only one kind of them that I liked.  Years ago, they had a "Striped Chips Ahoy" cookie.  It was a standard cookie that had stripes that were made with chocolate drizzle.  I used to eat those cookies all the time as a kid.  Granted, those cookies probably contributed to the weight problem I endured throughout school, but regardless, I loved them.  So, naturally because I loved them, they got rid of them.  Typical.






YOGURT WITH GREEN TEA

Okay.  Let's get it out of the way.  I am not a big fan of green tea.  But, I love most flavours of yogurt.  So, when I embarked on a weight loss journey three years ago, and saw a yogurt made by Danone with green tea extract mixed in, I was skeptical.  But, looking at the nutritional value inside the yogurt, I thought I'd give it a shot.  It ended up being delicious.  It turns out that when you mix fruits such as raspberries and pineapple with green tea, you can't even taste the green tea.  All it tasted like was, well, raspberry or pineapple.  It was a great tool in my quest to get healthier.  It's just a shame that I was apparently the only one who liked it.  The yogurt only lasted a year on the market.

PURPLESAURUS REX KOOL-AID







All right.  I do not drink much Kool-Aid these days.  But when I was a kid, I used to guzzle the stuff down every day.  I enjoyed several flavours of the drink, including cherry, lime, grape, and tropical punch.  But my all-time favourite was a flavour known as Purplesaurus Rex.  It was purple in colour, but the flavour was unique.  It was a mixture of grape and lemonade, and it tasted awesome.  I think I must have drank gallons of the stuff in 1989 alone.  But it didn't last too long on the market, and shortly after Purplesaurus Rex disappeared from the shelves, I stopped drinking Kool-Aid.

Those are just a few of the food items that I mourned the loss of as a child, and that I admittedly still miss.  But I ended up surviving it, and soon found other foods to eat.  I'm sure that I'll survive the closing of Milano's Pizza too...although I'm now struggling with finding a new pizza place to satisfy my pizza snobbishness.  



BONUS QUESTION:  What are some foods of the past that YOU miss?

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Baby, You're A Firework


Hey, everyone! I hope that you're having a fantastic Wednesday today.



Today is July 4th, and for most countries in the world, it's just a typical, average day. However, if you're American, I want to wish every one of you reading this a Happy 4th of July!

I decided to do a special 4th of July entry for the American audience for a couple of reasons. One, did you know that more Americans read this blog more than any other nationality? Considering that I'm Canadian, I consider this to be a great thing!

(For the record, the top 5 are United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and India.)

So, I wanted to offer some gratitude towards the Americans who have supported me in my writing ventures by doing a special blog entry dedicated to you. I've even done this blog in red and blue to make it even more special (I would have added white as well, but it's hard to see on yellow.)

But secondly, I wanted to choose a topic that seemed to fit with the American holiday. After all, when you ask an American what the 4th of July means to them, I imagine that most of them will have the same answer.



Freedom.

So, I thought that I would use this opportunity to help our American readership celebrate America's 236th birthday by choosing a subject that is not only represents the 4th of July, but represents freedom as well.

Confused yet? Don't worry. It'll all become clear soon enough.

In the meantime, I thought that I would post an appropriate song that befits the day. Have a look at this.



ARTIST: Katy Perry
SONG: Firework
ALBUM: Teenage Dream
DATE RELEASED: October 16, 2010
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #1 for 4 weeks

Katy Perry's “Firework” was the third single from her highly successful “Teenage Dream” album. It was also her third of five consecutive #1 hits from the same album. It also happens to be my favourite song of hers that she has ever done. The song itself is catchy, and it's got a great beat.

The video, however, is a masterpiece, and it certainly illustrates the topic that I want to discuss.

Today's blog subject is about the two F's associated with the 4th of July. Fireworks and Freedom.



As most of you know, fireworks are quite symbolic with the 4th of July. They rank right up there with stars, stripes, and barbecued hamburgers. Certainly, fireworks are a huge deal up here in Canada as well, especially on holidays like Canada Day which was just three days ago.

I can remember as a child going to the waterfront every July 1st. At the time, we had a summer festival that always ended with a humongous fireworks display. Watching the bursts of light streaking across the sky in shades of red, blue, white, green, gold, and purple always left me with such a high. Okay, so I had to watch the fireworks displays with my fingers lodged in my ears because the loud pops and bangs were a little too loud, but still, the visual stimulation was fantastic.

I imagine that for Americans today, they get those same feelings as they watch the annual fireworks display light up the sky.



But do you know how fireworks came to be invented? Well, nobody really knows when the first instance of fireworks being used came to be, but it's estimated that the practice of lighting fireworks first began around the 10th century, in the country of China. The Chinese reportedly designed several varieties of fireworks using different effects and colours. During the Song Dynasty, it wasn't uncommon to see the people of China buying fireworks from market vendors, and as early as 1110, large fireworks displays were set off. It would take about another hundred years before the fireworks would be launched into the air (a record dating back to the year 1264 states that a rocket-propelled firework went off near the Emperess Dowager Gong Sheng, which startled her during a feast held in her honour).

By the mid-17th century, Chinese fireworks were gained popularity with the development of “chinoiserie”, and in 1758, Jesuit missionary Pierre Nicolas le Cheron d'Incarville took notice. He was living in Beijing at the time, and he was so impressed by the technology behind Chinese fireworks that he ended up writing a piece on the methods and composition behind making them. He sent it into the Paris Academy of Sciences which revealed and published the account five years later. The writings were translated in 1765, which added fuel to the fire, so to speak. Within a matter of time, fireworks became immensely popular.

So, now you know how fireworks were invented and became popular. But, what does the American Independence Day have to do with them?

Well, apparently some of America's earliest settlers used fireworks and black ash to celebrate important occasions long before the American Revolutionary War. Most of you know that the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, and the first celebration of America's Independence day was held a year later in 1777. Fireworks were a part of that celebration, as well as in 1789, with the inauguration of George Washington.

So, it's easy to see why so many people see fireworks as being a symbol of freedom. After all, they were lit on the very day that the United States of America became an independent nation, free from the rule of other countries. I'm not American, but it's a beautiful feeling...one that I'm sure the residents of my country felt back in 1867.

TRIVIA: Do you want to know the place that reportedly uses the most fireworks? Apparently, it's the Walt Disney Company! Given the elaborate fireworks displays held at Anaheim's Disneyland and Orlando's Walt Disney World, it's easy to see why.

So, that's your history lesson on fireworks for today.

Now, you're probably wondering why I posted the Katy Perry video up above. The reason why I did was because it's the perfect example of illustrating the concept of freedom.

That is, the freedom of being yourself.

The whole concept of the video is coming to terms with who you are, accepting your insecurities, and facing your fears in order to become the person you know you can be. In the course of the video, you see several unfortunate situations. You see two children caught in a domestic dispute between their parents. There's a girl who is battling cancer and has lost all of her hair. You have a teenage boy at a party who seems to be feeling alone. There's a pool party where a girl is encouraging someone else to strip down and jump in, but she's self-conscious about how she looks. And there's a boy who is being cornered by a group of thugs, and things look grim.

But somehow, the people in the video seem to find who they are, and as a result, they let their colours burst in the form of shiny, sparkly fireworks. And, once that happens, things start to get better. The boy finds the courage to tell his fighting parents to knock it off. The girl with cancer finds the strength to face the world. The self-conscious girl dives right into new self-confidence. The teenage boy at the club finds true love. Even the boy in the alleyway manages to escape injury through the power of magic. At the end, there's a huge celebration filled with thousands of newly-inspired teenagers who have now found a sense of inner freedom by breaking free of the negativity and self-consciousness that they carried with them for so long.

In that sense, the video does a great job linking big, bold, and bright fireworks in the sky to finding the freedom within yourself to be the person that you want to be. Just as fireworks are linked to being a symbol to a country's independence, I think that fireworks can also be linked to a feeling of personal independence as well, at least, that's the image that the Katy Perry video presents.

When you stop and think of it in both of those senses, fireworks really do represent the value of freedom. Not just in the United States, but for all countries. Whether it's the freedom of being an independent nation, or freedom from negative stereotypes holding you down...I think that freedom should be celebrated, don't you?

I think that's why I enjoy fireworks displays, even if the noise bugs me. They illustrate something so beautiful and pure, and something that lies dormant inside of us, just waiting to come out.



Happy Independence Day, America.

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

July 3, 1971


It's our first Tuesday Timeline entry for the month of July, and this month is going to be featuring FIVE trips back through time. It's not as rare as you may believe, though. Both the months of January and May 2012 have had five Tuesdays before this month. But, I think it's a bit of a cool thing to have five Tuesday Timelines in a month. Besides, statistically, Tuesdays are the days that I have the most page views, so I find it a plus to have as many Tuesdays as possible in a month.

Alas, I am rambling.

It is July 3rd today. It's two days after Canada's birthday, and one day before the American Independence Day, and as it turns out, there have been a lot of events that have happened throughout history on this date. Let's have a look at some of these events.

1608 – Quebec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain

1754 – George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French forces

1767 – The oldest Norwegian newspaper, “Adresseavisen” is founded

1819 – America's first savings bank, The Bank of Savings, opens in New York City

1844 – The last of the Great Auks is killed

1848 – Slaves are freed in the Danish West Indies (now called the U.S. Virgin Islands) by Peter von Scholten

1863 – The final day of the Battle of Gettysburg culminates with Pickett's Charge

1884 – Dow Jones publishes first stock average

1886 – Karl Benz unveils prototype for Benz Patent Motorwagen, the first purpose-built automobile

1890 – Idaho is declared the 43rd U.S. State

1938 – Franklin D. Roosevelt lights eternal flame at the Eternal Light Peace Memorial at Gettysburg Battlefield

1952 – Constitution of Puerto Rico approved by U.S. Congress

1969 – Soviet N-1 Rocket completely obliterates its own launchpad in what was called the worst explosion in the history of rocketry

1979 – Jimmy Carter signs first directive for secret aid to opponents of pro-Soviet regime in Kabul, Afghanistan

1988 – U.S. Navy warship USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air Flight 655 over Persian Gulf, 290 people are killed

1994 – 46 people are killed in separate car crashes in Texas, which prompts the Texas Department of Public Safety to declare July 3, 1994 as the deadliest day in Texas traffic history

Those are just some of the events that have occurred on July 3. Now let's take a look at some of the celebrities who are having a birthday today. Celebrating July 3 birthdays are Gloria Allred, Kurtwood Smith, Michael Cole, Johnny Lee, Dave Barry, Betty Buckley, Jan Smithers, Montel Williams, Aaron Tippin, Stephen Pearcy (Ratt), Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode), Tom Cruise, Hunter Tylo, Thomas Gibson, Yeardley Smith, Connie Nielsen, Kevin Hearn (Barenaked Ladies), Audra McDonald, Shawnee Smith, Julian Assange, Patrick Wilson, Emma Cunniffe, Andrea Barber, Shane Lynch (Boyzone), Olivia Munn, Justin Torkildsen, and Corey Sevier.

That's quite a huge list, wouldn't you say?

For today's look back through time, I thought we'd take the time to look back on a life that was cut tragically short. And for me, this was a tough task, because as it happens, a lot of famous people died on July 3.

There was former Rolling Stone, Brian Jones, who died July 3, 1969...but I already did an entry on him. I have also done an entry on author Mordecai Richler, who died on July 3, 2001. We also lost soap star Benjamin Hendrickson in 2006, Gilligan's Island star Jim Bakkus in 1989, and even Roy Rogers' horse, Trigger, passed away on this date in 1965.



Today we're going back to a date in which another famous person died. July 3, 1971.



July 3, 1971 was the date that The Doors frontman, Jim Morrison, passed away at the age of 27. And, we'll be talking about that a little bit later in this blog entry.

It really seems hard to picture this now, but if Jim Morrison had lived, he would be 68 years old today. Does that not seem a bit wild to picture? I often wonder what kind of career he would have experienced had he lived? Would he still be relevant in 2012? Would he have disappeared and had a comeback tour? Would The Doors even still be together? All these questions will sadly never get answered.

Jim Morrison was born on December 8, 1943 in the community of Melbourne, Florida. His father was Real Admiral George Stephen Morrison, and his mother was Clara Morrison. When Morrison was just four years old, he allegedly witnessed a deadly car accident which involved an entire family of Native Americans. The incident reportedly left such an impression on Morrison's life that he would eventually use the imagery associated with the accident in some of his future projects. Of course, his family always denied that the incident happened the way that Morrison described, though they did state that they did pass by a car accident and that Jim was visibly upset by it.

As a result of his father serving in the U.S. Navy, Morrison's childhood was filled with a lot of relocating and moving. While he was moving around from school to school, Morrison developed a keen interest in poetry and philosophers. His main focus of study was that of Friedrich Nietzsche, Plutarch, Arthur Rimbaud, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Charles Baudelaire Moliere, and Franz Kafka, amongst others.

He ended up graduating from George Washington High School in 1961, and four years later, he earned a degree through UCLA's film school within the Theater Arts Department of the College of Fine Arts. He opted to skip the graduation ceremony, choosing to have his diploma mailed to him. He then ended up making a few short films both during and after his time in UCLA.

All of this was fine and good, however, It wasn't until the summer of 1965 that Jim Morrison's calling would come.



At the time, Morrison was happily living the bohemian lifestyle in Venice Beach. He spent many days and nights on the rooftop of his friend's apartment building, writing poems that would eventually become song lyrics. According to his friend, Dennis Jakobs (who owned the building that Jim was living on top of), he was surviving on a diet of canned beans and LSD (the breakfast of champions). Around this time, Jim Morrison had recruited UCLA student Ray Manzarek to join a project that he was working on...a band that he had wanted to call “The Doors”.



The story behind the creation of “The Doors” is one that many call legendary. Manzarek was lying on Venice Beach one day when he came across Jim Morrison. After they got to talking, and Morrison showed Manzarek some of the poems he wrote, Manzarek was immediately impressed, stating that his poems were perfect “rock group” material. That's how the friendship and partnership between Morrison and Manzarek began. Throw in guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore, and you ended up with “The Doors”.

TRIVIA: Would you like to know how the band came up with the band name? It came from the title of a book written by Aldous Huxley (who also wrote the novel “Brave New World”). The book that inspired the band name was “The Doors Of Perception”. The title itself was a reference to the unlocking of doors of perception through psychadelic drug use.

It took a while before people began to take notice of the band, though. In June 1966, “The Doors” were the opening act at the Whisky a Go Go at the last week that Van Morrison and his band, “Them” were playing. That performance would end up shaping Jim's own performance style. He was in awe of Van's stagecraft, his reckless persona, his improvisation of poetry...heck, they almost had similar names to each other. It was almost kismet. On the final night, both bands performed together on the song “Gloria”.

In the beginning of 1967, The Doors signed a recording contract with Elektra Records, and just a few months later, the band released their debut single:



ARTIST: The Doors
SONG: Light My Fire
ALBUM: The Doors
DATE RELEASED: April 24, 1967
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #1 for 3 weeks

And, boy, do I have some trivia about this song. Did you know that when the song was recorded, it clocked in at well over seven minutes in length? But because the single had garnered such a positive response, and fans demanded to hear it on the radio, a radio edit was made without the lengthy instrumental break in the middle of the song.

The success of the song caused the band to appear on several television shows. Their television appearance on “American Bandstand” went off without incident. But when the band appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show...well, let's just say that it was a bit controversial.

When Ed Sullivan invited the band to appear as guests, the agreement was that the band would perform two songs. “People Are Strange”, and “Light My Fire”. However, Sullivan's censors had decided that the original lyrics needed to be changed. Though the song did not contain any obscene language, it did contain alleged references to drug use...particularly with the lyric “Girl, we couldn't get much higher”. The censors wished for the band to sing the line “Girl, we couldn't get much better”. Morrison assured everyone that they would follow the rules, and sing the changed lyric.



That promise lasted a grand total of about six minutes, for when the band appeared on camera to sing, Morrison inserted the original lyric. Needless to say, Sullivan and his staff were not impressed. Morrison was later asked why he made the decision to renege on his promise to the show's staff, and he simply stated that he had forgotten about the change of lyrics once the band approached the stage. Sullivan was reportedly so angry over what had happened that he refused to shake Morrison's hand, nor did he shake the hands of the other band members. Shortly after that, a show producer told the band that they were now banned from the show, and they would never do the show again, to which a defiant Morrison exclaimed that they had already done the show.

Whatever the case, it didn't seem like the gaffe on the Ed Sullivan Show really made a dent in the career of The Doors. Their next few single releases also did well on the charts, and by the time their second album, “Strange Days” was released in September 1967, The Doors had become one of the most recognized and beloved psychadelic rock bands in America. The band would eventually release two more albums in 1968 and 1969.

But as the band's popularity zoomed, Jim Morrison's personal life seemed to spiral out of control. Jim Morrison had always been a heavy drinker and was into the drug scene, but by 1968, his actions caused negative effects within the band. He would often show up for live performances and concert gigs too drunk to even sing coherently. In some cases, he would even show up late, prompting the band to fill the time with instrumentals, or having Manzarek take on lead vocals until Morrison finally showed.



Morrison's physical appearance also changed. Whereas before he was svelte and often performed wearing leather pants, he had gained some weight, grew a beard, and started dressing more in a low-key manner.

On March 1, 1969, Morrison attempted to spark a riot at at concert in Miami, Florida. He ended up failing at his attempt, but was arrested anyway three days later following the infamous “indecent exposure” incident. Of course, drummer John Densmore insisted that Jim Morrison never exposed himself on stage, and that it was a hoax. But, since Jim isn't here to own up to it or deny it, it's hard to say.

It was also reported that although Jim Morrison was in a committed relationship with a woman named Pamela Courson (who encouraged Morrison to continue writing his poetry), he reportedly had flings with several groupies, and was the subject of at least twenty different paternity claims, a claim that Alice Cooper dismissed, stating that he was incredibly devoted to Pam, and that he avoided sexual encounters with other women while he was on the road. Still, their relationship was widely tumultuous, with reports of screaming matches and periodic separation periods.

In March 1971, just months after The Doors released what would end up being their fifth and final album, Jim and Pam relocated to Paris, France. While he was there, he dropped some of the weight he gained, and shaved off his beard. He even jumped into an impromptu studio recording with a couple of American street musicians (although Manzarek referred to the session as nothing more than “drunken gibberish”.

Sadly, this would end up being the last recording that Morrison would ever do. On July 3, 1971, the body of Jim Morrison was found inside a bathtub by Pam. There was no autopsy performed, as the medical examiner deduced that there was no sign of foul play (which under French law was perfectly acceptable). However, due to the lack of an autopsy, the real cause of Morrison's death remains unknown.

Jim Morrison was just 27 years old. And it is here that I bring up the reason why I brought this fact up at the beginning of this entry in addition to right here, right now.



Have you ever heard of something known as the “27 Club”? It's a term that has been used in the music world quite frequently. It's the theory that when a popular musician tragically dies, it will most likely happen sometime immediately following their 27th birthday.

Jim Morrison is just one of these musicians who died at the age of 27...but he certainly wasn't the first, and he definitely wasn't the last. Ironically enough, one of these people who happened to gain admittance into the club was Janis Joplin, who was rumoured to have had an alcohol-fueled affair with Morrison. She passed away in 1970, aged 27. Also dying in 1970 at age 27 was Jimi Hendrix. Brian Jones, of the Rolling Stones, was also 27 when he died, exactly two years before Morrison's death.

More recent examples of the 27 Club inductees include Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain, who committed suicide in April 1994, and Amy Winehouse, who died of a drug overdose in July 2011 at age 27. Tragically, Pamela Courson would end up dying of a drug overdose a few years after Jim's death...at age 27.

Is this something that young musicians should fear, or is it just a mere coincidence? I'll let you be the judge here, but I tend to believe the latter. While the idea of so many musicians dying at the same age is alarming, it doesn't mean that all musicians will die at that age. Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson both outlived their 27th birthdays, after all.



At any rate, although it has been 41 years since Jim Morrison's death, his legacy continues on. His gravesite in the Parisian Pere Lachaise Cemetery is one of Paris' most visited attractions, and many musicians have covered and sang his classic songs. There was even a biopic film that was released on March 1, 1991 that featured Val Kilmer in the role. I know I have only scratched the surface of Jim Morrison's larger than life presence in this blog entry, but I recommend watching this film to get more information. I liked it, anyway.

So, that's our look back on July 3, 1971. Did it light your fire?