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Thursday, July 19, 2012

What's My Age Again?


Hello, everyone. This is going to be a confession that is going to be a little bit on the brief side. Mainly because my schedule is sort of jam-packed today, and I won't have a lot of free time today. But if it's any sort of consolation, this confession is one that is one that I've wanted to say for quite some time.



THURSDAY CONFESSION #29: I have always had great difficulty befriending people who are my own age.

Not everyone, mind you. I have a few really close friends who are right around my age, and we all get along wonderfully. But in general, most of my friendships are with people who are at least ten years older than I am.



You know that song by Blink 182 (remember them?) that was all over the radio in early 2000? The one with the title “What's My Age Again?”. I find myself asking that question a lot these days.

Physically, I'm thirty-one years of age. Mentally, I sometimes feel like I am sixty-five. If I'm at an outdoor gathering for families, you'd likely see me maintaining a conversation with people who are at least a decade older than I am. At work, I tend to have firmer friendships with people who are older than I am (though there are some younger co-workers who I get along with as well). In general, I tend to have no trouble with making lasting friendships with people who are older than I am.

But when it comes down to having people my own age, I've always managed to struggle. And, it's not simply because of the fact that I really disliked school when I was a kid because I though many of the kids were mean. I honestly don't know why this is.



I suppose part of it could have been the fact that when I was born, I was really the only child born in my entire family during the early 1980s. My sisters were both at least a decade older than I was, and my cousins were more or less a decade younger than I was. It wasn't exactly the best feeling in the world, knowing that you were essentially the only person that was your age in your whole family. I actually became a little bit jealous of people who had siblings who were closer in age to them, or who ended up having cousins that were in the same class. It didn't matter to me that they ended up fighting a lot when they were together...they always had someone close to them in age, and I didn't.



To complicate things even further, I lived in a neighbourhood that wasn't exactly kid-friendly. Sure, my elementary school was just a couple of blocks away, but I lived on the same street at the city hospital. As a result, a good 95% of the people who lived on my street were over the age of 65. There was nary a child to be found on the street. Again, it made for some rather lonely days as a child.

So, really, when you stop and think about it, I was sort of at a disadvantage. And it became clear to me that the reason why I found it so challenging to befriend people who were my own age was because I simply wasn't exposed to them that much when I was a child. Yes, I did attend school, and yes, I attended a summer camp program in later years...but the rest of the time, I was pretty much left to my own devices.

The strange thing about it was that I had absolutely no problem interacting with people who were older than I was. Whenever my sisters brought friends home, I had no problem talking with them. And whenever I went on an outing, I very rarely hung around the children...I stayed close to the adults. Seeing other kids playing sort of made me a bit nervous upon retrospect because I didn't know how to interact with them at all. On one hand, I was so frustrated because I couldn't figure out how to fit in with them. On the other hand, I knew it was fine, because I knew that I had adults who I could talk to.

Even on my Facebook friends list seems to illustrate the fact that I tend to get along with people who are older than I am. I do have a cross-section of people as far as age goes, and there are some who are close to my current age, but the vast majority are over the age of 35. At first, I thought that it was just a coincidence, but now I'm thinking that there's a reason behind it, just based on what I previously have admitted about myself.

I suppose that I would likely think about this differently if I did have siblings that were close to my age, and if I grew up around kids my own age. But, the truth of the matter is that I really didn't have that opportunity until I went into school. Once I did get into school, I was sort of a loner because I didn't know how to interact with anyone who was not an adult. That's just the way it was.

And, in some aspect, it's just the way it currently is.

And you know something? I'm all right with that.

I am trying to make an effort to get closer to people who are my own age at least, so I guess that's something. But I think I'll always find more in common with people who are older than I am. I've been around them more than I have people my own age, and I feel more comfortable sharing things with them than I do people who are my age or younger.

In fact, I'd probably be more open to the idea of dating someone who was older than I was based on my confession alone. Not that it would actually happen to me, and not that I would actively seek out a woman affectionately known as a “cougar”...just that I would be open to it.

But, as I age, and the people who are older than I am pass away, I may find myself in a completely different frame of mind (and not by choice). But for now, I'll just take the challenges life throws at me, I suppose.

That's all I have for a confession today. It's not very big, and it may not even make any sense to anyone else other than me. But, it's out there now!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Toss Across!


One of the most classic games that one learns how to play is the standard game of Tic-Tac-Toe.

I doubt that I really need to explain how to play this game to all of you here, because I would think that those of you who are at least kindergarten age know how the game is played.  However, since I am looking to post as much information in this blog as I can, I’ll explain the mechanics behind how the game is played.

You have a grid of nine empty squares, such as the one that is displayed below.


In a classic game of Tic-Tac-Toe, you have two players.  One represents the letter X, while the other one represents the O.  The players would decide who among them would begin the game first (in my household, the X’s always went first, but that was just how we ended up playing it), and the ultimate endgame was getting three of your symbols in a row in one of three ways...horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.  Depending on how competitive the other person was, a game of Tic-Tac-Toe could range in competitiveness from “easy peasy” to “are you kidding me?”.  Either way, I think for most of us, Tic-Tac-Toe introduced millions of children to their first game, as well as their first taste of healthy competition.

(Well, unless your opponent tried to drown you in their cereal bowl filled with Corn Flakes and 2% milk because you beat them, that is.)


But here’s the thing about Tic-Tac-Toe.  It’s entertaining for all of two minutes, but after a while, it gets to be stale and boring.  I mean, yes, the game show “Hollywood Squares” made Tic-Tac-Toe fun by having cash prizes, and featuring stars like Paul Lynde, Jim J. Bullock, and Whoopi Goldberg in the center square, but for those of us who weren’t contestants on the show, we were stuck playing the game of Tic-Tac-Toe the old-fashioned (and boring) way. 


At least that was the case until 1969.

1969 was the year that the ordinary game of Tic-Tac-Toe received a three dimensional makeover, courtesy of a little toy company known as Ideal (which unfortunately is now defunct).  Imagine a Tic-Tac-Toe board that is larger than life itself (at least it is to a child anyway).  Sounds impressive right?  Now imagine being armed with a handful of beanbags, tossing it at the gigantic Tic-Tac-Toe board in hopes of flipping over squares from blank spaces to X’s and O’s?  It would certainly make playing the game of Tic-Tac-Toe not only more fun to play, but more strategic as well. 

Well, thanks to the good people of Ideal Toys, and the design team of Hank Kramer, Larry Reiner, and Walter Moe, the game “Toss Across” was born.


And “Toss Across” is the blog topic for today!  But, I think you have already guessed that by now, right?  J

I have such fond, fond memories of “Toss Across”.  The first time I played “Toss Across” was when I was seven.  I don’t know how elementary school classrooms work nowadays, but during the 1988/89 school year, there were a selection of board games, toys, and books readily available for the children to play with.  There was a reason why the toys were there in the first place.  Whenever it rained, the school playground was a rather terrible place to be.  Without any covered playground equipment or any sort of shelter outside, we pretty much had to stay indoors during recess or our lunch hour, especially if there were weather advisories or torrential downpours.  Those toys prevented us from being completely bored out of our minds.

Anyway, our second grade classroom teacher, Miss Johnson, had dozens of games that we could play with.  There was “Battleship”, “Clue”, jigsaw puzzles, and various crayons and colouring books.  But there was one game that was always the most popular. 

That game was “Toss Across”.


For the most part, my classmates and I followed the rules of the game, as well as the rules of the teacher in playing the game (although the only real rule the teacher enforced was the one where we couldn’t throw the beanbags at each other).  The game of “Toss Across” worked exactly the same as Tic-Tac-Toe.  You had to use your beanbags to get either three X’s or three O’s in a row.  The first person to achieve this goal won the game.

However, “Toss Across” had a bit of a twist to it, which made the game much more challenging to win.  Mind you, that challenge depended on how competitive your opponents were.

The squares of “Toss Across” were designed in such a way that they would flip over depending on the angle in which the beanbag was thrown, and where the beanbag landed on the square.  In the earliest versions of the game, each square was labelled with a small X on one side of the square, and a small circle on the other side.  In order to get the square to flip over into an X or an O, you have to aim your beanbag carefully.

Suppose that I am the X player.  If I want the square to flip over into an X, I’d have to hit the small X on the board.  If I succeed, then the square should flip over to show and X.  The opposite, of course, holds true should your beanbag hit the circle instead.  There are six beanbags total in the game, so each person gets three.  When all six beanbags are tossed, players can retrieve them should nobody win the game after six throws.

So “Toss Across” not only helps you tell the difference between X’s and O’s...it also helps you develop your hand-eye co-ordination.  It’s a perfect game for learning.

So, you think that it would be easy to win the game, right?  All I would have to do is make sure that I can hit the small X’s in a straight line, and I could win quickly, right?

Not necessarily.

You see, the game’s rules state that just because the player manages to score an X on the board...it doesn’t mean that it has to STAY that way. 

That’s right!  Your opponent can sabotage your efforts by throwing a beanbag at your X, and removing it from play!  Depending on how hard they throw the beanbag, the square can flip back to neutral, or even to the opposite symbol!


That’s what I mean by competitive.  Your opponent can undo your progress with just a couple of throws!  And that’s the beauty of this game.  The game can get fierce with throws, and have the potential to last a very long time.  I remember getting into a “Toss Across” match with someone that lasted a grand total of sixteen minutes!  It didn’t even matter that recess was only fifteen minutes long and that the teacher threatened to put both our names on the “Broken Rules” list.  We were going to continue playing until somebody won the game.

Unfortunately, the person I was playing against beat me in a move that flipped over two squares simultaneously!  So, not only did I lose, but my name ended up on the “Broken Rules” list anyway!  But what a way to get into trouble!  J

These days, the “Toss Across” game is distributed by Mattel, and the design of the game is a bit different.  But the rules are still exactly the same, and I’m sure that I would still have a ball playing “Toss Across” at the age of 31 as I did back when I was seven.

And who knows?  Now that there’s no threat of getting in trouble, maybe I can have a game last thirty-four minutes! 

Anyone want to play a game with me?

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

July 17, 1955


Today is Tuesday, July 17, 2012. I suppose this means that we're going to take another trip back through time to a significant event in the world of pop culture. Unlike other Tuesday Timeline entries where I had several possibilities to choose from, this day had one event that basically screamed “pick me”!

So, I did.

Of course, no Tuesday Timeline would be complete without taking a look back at the other significant events that also took place on July 17th.

So, on this date in...

180 – Twelve inhabitants of Scillium in North Africa are executed because they were Christians

1203 – The Fourth Crusade captures Constantinople by assault, forcing Byzantine Emperor Alexius III Angelus flees in exile

1717 – Aside from the coolness of the date being written as 7/17/1717, on this date, King George I sails down River Thames with a barge of 50 musicians, where George Friedric Handel's “Water Music” is premiered

1791 – Members of the French National Guard under General Lafayette's command open fire on a group of radical Jacobins at the Champ de Mars in Paris, France, killing as many as 50 people

1794 – The sixteen Carmelite Martyrs of Compeigne are executed ten days prior to the end of the French Revolution's Reign of Terror

1856 – The Great Train Wreck of 1856 kills over 60 people in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania

1867 – The first school of dentistry, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, is opened in the United States

1899 – NEC Corporation is organized at the first Japanese joint venture with foreign capital

1912 – House Party host Art Linkletter is born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada

1917 – King George V issues proclamation stating that the male descendants of the British Royal Family will bear the surname Windsor

1918 – The RMS Carpathia sinks off the coast of Ireland by the German SM U-55, killing five people...the boat was made famous six years earlier after assisting in the Titanic rescue efforts

1932 – Altona Bloody Sunday occurs

1933 – Lithuanian research aircraft Lituanica crashes in Europe after successfully crossing the Atlantic Ocean

1938 – Douglas Corrigan earns the nickname “Wrong Way Corrigan” after taking off from Brooklyn, New York to fly the wrong way to Ireland

1944 – Two ammunition loaded ships crash into each other in the San Francisco Bay outside of Port Chicago, California, killing 320 people

1945 – The three Allied Nations leaders (Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Harry S. Truman) meet to discuss a defeated Germany's future

1959 – Singer Billie Holliday dies in New York City at the age of 44

1976 – East Timor is annexed, and becomes the 27th Indonesian province, while the opening ceremonies of the Montreal Olympic Games are marred by 25 African teams boycotting the New Zealand team

1981 – At the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, 114 are killed and at least 200 injured after a walkway collapses in the hotel's main lobby

1989 – The first flight of the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber

1996 – TWA Flight 800 from New York City to Paris, France explodes shortly after takeoff, killing all 230 people on board

2007 – TAM Airlines Flight 3054 crashes in San Paolo, Brazil, killing 199 people, and making it Brazil's deadliest aviation accident

2009 – The double bombings of the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels in Jakarta kill nine people on the same day that Walter Cronkite passes away at the age of 92

WOW...July 17 was an unusually deadly day in history. Plane crashes, partial building collapses, and train disasters. What an unlucky day. I suppose it's a good thing that I chose a relatively happy event in comparison.

Before we get to that, I want to wish the following people a happy birthday. A happy July 17th birthday to Phyllis Diller, Jimmy Scott, Diahann Carroll, Donald Sutherland, Connie Hawkins, Don Kessinger, Catherine Schell, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Charlie Steiner, P.J. Soles, Lucie Arnaz, David Hasselhoff, Angela Merkel, J. Michael Straczynski, Bryan Trottier, Dawn Upshaw, Regina Belle, John Ventimiglia, Craig Morgan, Beth Littleford, Bitty Schram, Andre Royo, Jason Rullo, Tony Dovolani, Eric Moulds, Luke Bryan, Eric Winter, Marc Savard, Noah “Panda Bear” Lennox, Mike Vogel, Natasha Hamilton (Atomic Kitten), Sarah Jones, and Brooke Kinsella.

So, what year are we visiting this time around?



Why, July 17, 1955, of course. You see, July 17, 1955 saw the dedication of a theme park right in the heart of California...Anaheim to be exact. The park was dedicated at 4:43 in the afternoon of that date by the very man whom the park was named after. And, amusingly enough, that day didn't exactly go as planned. In fact, the dedication ceremony itself was filled with one disaster after another, leaving executives of the park to refer to the event as “Black Sunday”. The day was so filled with disaster that for the first decade that the park was opened, the executives and staff of the park would insist on celebrating the anniversary of the park on July 18 instead! These days, it appears as though the park has accepted its original date of dedication, as every July 17, cast members and employees of the park are required to wear a pin celebrating the park's birthday.

Would you like to read the original speech that was read to the public announcing the opening of the new theme park on July 17, 1955? Here you go!

To all who come to this happy place: Welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and the promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America, with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.
  • Walt Disney, July 17, 1955


That's right. Today's entry is all about the the magical place known as Disneyland, Walt Disney's first theme park, and the only park that Walt Disney directly supervised before his death in 1966. Disneyland of course wouldn't be the only theme park (Walt Disney World opened in Florida in October 1971, and there are now Disney theme parks in Tokyo, Paris, Shanghai, and Hong Kong), but its founding, as well as the mishaps that occurred at the opening are worth mentioning, just to illustrate how far the park has come.



So, what inspired Walt Disney to create Disneyland? Well, it began while he was taking his daughters, Sharon and Diane, to Los Angeles' Griffith Park. He watched them riding the merry-go-round there, and the gears in his brain began to turn. Why couldn't he create a place where both kids and adults could have a lot of fun and share some wonderful memories?

When Disney received quite a few letters in the mail from fans who wanted to visit the studios, Walt Disney didn't think that the studios had the sufficient space needed to accommodate thousands of visitors each week. But he thought about opening up a small park near the studios which could handle the traffic. His first concept of Disneyland started off as a venture that he named “Mickey Mouse Park”. And, initially, his plan only used eight acres of land. But after visiting other theme parks all over the world for inspiration, he quickly discovered that eight acres just wasn't enough.

He hired a consultant, Harrison Price from the Stanford Research Institute to research areas where he could build his park, and based on Price's report, Disney purchased 160 acres filled with orange groves and walnut trees in Anaheim, California. To fund the project, Disney used the power of television, creating a new television show with the name of “Disneyland”. It was broadcast on the struggling ABC network, and in exchange, ABC promised to help finance the building of the new park. By 1952, Disney had a name for his park picked out. It was to originally be called Disneylandia, but two years later, taking the advice of the ABC network, shortened the name to Disneyland. The construction of the park began on July 16, 1954, and reportedly cost $17 million to build.



TRIVIA: At the same time that Disneyland was being built, so was U.S. Route 101 (later renamed Interstate 5). Because of the traffic that everyone expected that the completed Disneyland would bring, the decision was made to add two more lanes to the finished design, and was completed just before the park was set to open.

One year plus a day later, Disneyland was ready to be opened to the public. Although the park and its 20 attractions were scheduled to be opened on Monday, July 18, 1955, Walt Disney had arranged for a press conference to take place at the park itself that Sunday, and only invited guests and the media were allowed on the premises for the “International Press Preview”. There were 28,000 people who attended the event, but the kicker was that only 14,000 were there legitimately, and held real tickets. The rest had purchased counterfeit tickets. So, that was problem number one.

The dedication ceremony was broadcast nationally on ABC live, and it was anchored by Ronald Reagan, Art Linkletter, and Bob Cummings. But the decision to air the dedication event on live television was plagued with its own set of problems. Because of the large crowd that gathered at the park, the cables that were attached to the television cameras were constantly stepped on, and as a result, the cameras kept cutting in and out during the shoot. Reportedly, the cameras also caught one of the hosts, Bob Cummings, kissing one of the dancers outside of Frontierland, which probably wouldn't have been so scandalous had he not been married to his third wife at the time!



Later in the day, Walt Disney began to read the inscription on the plaque dedicating Tomorrowland when out of nowhere, Disney stopped reading after a technician said something to him off camera, which threw him off. It got so confusing that Disney had to start over again. Things didn't improve any when the action shifted from Tomorrowland to Fantasyland, where Linkletter attempted to shift coverage over to Cummings who was on the pirate ship. But when Cummings wasn't ready, he tried to switch back to Linkletter, who had by that point lost his microphone, and Cummings was forced to do a play-by-play as Linkletter searched for the microphone around Mr. Toad's Wild Ride!

If you thought that was bad enough, get a load of some of the other mishaps that happened that day.

  • The traffic was backed up on Harbor Boulevard for hours on the day of the dedication
  • It was originally planned for the planned celebrity guests to arrive on a staggered schedule every two hours, but instead the guests showed up all at once!
  • The temperature on that particular day exceeded 100 F. As if that wasn't bad enough, due to a plumber's strike that was happening at the time, Disney was faced with having working drinking fountains and working bathrooms! What a choice to make!
  • As expected, Disney felt it was better to have working toilets than drinking fountains, so on one of the hottest days of the year, the fountains were dry. As if things couldn't get any worse, the event ended up getting negative reaction from the invited guests...given the fact that Pepsi was one of the park's main sponsors, some believed that the out of order fountains were purposely made that way so that Pepsi could sell more of their product!
  • The newly-poured asphalt wasn't fully hardened at the time of the event...it was reported that the heels of some women's shoes had gotten stuck as they walked through the park!
  • Some of the vendors at the park ran out of food before the end of the day, and a gas leak ended up shutting down three attractions for the rest of the day.
It was an absolute disaster that day. With so many mishaps, it's a wonder that Disneyland even made it to the official grand opening at all! The dedication event received a lot of bad publicity, and it prompted Walt Disney to invite the attendees back to Disneyland for a private “second day” to get the proper Disneyland experience.

Despite the various blunders of the dedication day, the opening of the park to the public the next day seemed to attract a lot of attention. It was reported that people started lining up at two in the morning, and approximately 50,000 people attended Disneyland on its official grand opening.



And over the course of Disneyland's 57-year-history, the park has continued to grow. The park had three major expansions. New Orleans Square was opened up in 1966, Bear Country (now known as Critter Country) opened up in 1972, and in 1993, Mickey's Toon Town was added. And of course, there are notable other features in Disneyland, which include Main Street U.S.A., Space Mountain, and the Walt Disney Enchanted Tiki Room. And Disneyland still attracts an average of sixteen million visitors a year, so clearly it managed to rise above its dismal opening to have a strong finish.

There's a lot more trivia associated with Disneyland as well. Here are just a few of the tidbits that I discovered in my research.



Did you know that Doritos were invented in Disneyland in 1964? At the Case de Fritos stand, they were created as a way to use up discarded tortillas, and were given the name Doritos, which were Spanish for “little golden things”. Two years later, Frito-Lay brought out Doritos nationwide, and they have been popular ever since!



Did you know that Nikita Khrushchev was famously denied entry into Disneyland in 1959 due to Cold War tension? It happens to be true. In the 1960s, the Shah of Iran was invited to Disneyland by Walt Disney himself.

For the park's 50th anniversary in 2005, the eighteen month event known as the “Happiest Homecoming on Earth” commemorated 50 years of Disney theme parks. The park was decorated with 50 golden Mickey ears, and many attractions were restored to their former glory to mark the occasion.

Visitors to the park are referred to as “guests”, while the employees are referred to as “cast members”.

Originally, Disneyland contained a helipad which transported passengers via helicopter from Los Angeles International Airport to the park, but after two fatal accidents in 1968, the service was suspended.

Disneyland spends an average of $41,000 each night the park holds a fireworks display! That's a lot of bang for their buck, wouldn't you say?

In May of 1981, the cost to get into Disneyland for a day was a mere $10.75. In May of 2012, the cost was $87.00!

In all the years of operation, Disneyland has ever only had three unscheduled closures. The first one was in November 1963, when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The second was in January 1994 to inspect the park for damages after the January 17 Northridge quake. The third and final time so far happened on September 11, 2001, following the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington D.C.

Really, I could go on and on with the trivia. I actually encourage all of you to look at some of the facts that are associated with Disneyland, because it is quite neat to read about.

That's our look back on July 17, 1955. And, now I have a question to ask of all of you.



BONUS QUESTION: Have you ever been to Disneyland before (I have NOT, but want to be a guest one day)? And if you have, what are some of your memories of the place? I'm interested in hearing your stories!

Monday, July 16, 2012

Cocktail


By now, unless you have been living on another planet the past few days, you have probably heard the news that Tom Cruise has gotten a divorce.

Again.


Yes, after five years of marriage, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have called it quits.  And, I imagine that when the news broke a few weeks ago, there were quite a few reactions from the general public.  Some were shocked that it happened.  Many others saw it coming a mile away.  And many more shrugged their shoulders and exclaimed “WHO CARES?!?” upon hearing what happened.  I’ll tell you right off the bat that I definitely had one of these three reactions...but I think I’ll keep my opinion to myself.  After all, today’s not Thursday.  J

However, today is Monday, and considering that I have opened up this blog entry with a blurb about Tom Cruise, it’s almost a given that we’re going to look back at one of his films.

Which one are we going to be looking at though?  Any ideas?

Here are a few points to ponder.  Tom Cruise has been somewhat unlucky in love.  His relationships with Katie Holmes, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, and Mimi Rogers all crashed and burned.  In this movie, the character that Tom Cruise portrays also has several relationships, and a lot of them crash and burned as well for a variety of reasons.

And given that it’s the middle of summer, why not feature a movie that gives off a summer like vibe?  After all, a good portion of the movie was set in Jamaica, which has some of the most beautiful beaches on the planet.

Speaking of beaches, here’s another related piece of trivia.  Did you know that during the same year today’s blog topic was released, a certain band had a comeback single on the radio?  Although the band had never stopped releasing albums since they formed in the early 1960s, this song was the band’s first Top 10 hit since 1976’s “Rock and Roll Music”, and the band’s first #1 hit since 1966’s “Good Vibrations”. 



ARTIST:  The Beach Boys
SONG:  Kokomo
ALBUM:  Still Cruisin’
DATE RELEASED:  July 18, 1988
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  #1 for 1 week

Okay, so what do Tom Cruise, a string of failed relationships, Jamaican beaches, and the Beach Boys have in common?


They all appear in the 1988 film “Cocktail”, which is our topic of discussion for today.

The film was directed by Roger Donaldson, produced by Touchstone Pictures, and is loosely based on the novel of the same name written by Heywood Gould, who served a role in the film production as the screenwriter.

This film is one that admittedly has its blessings and its curses.  The film itself boasted a cast filled with big named stars.  In addition to Tom Cruise, the film also starred Elisabeth Shue, Bryan Brown, Gina Gershon, Kelly Lynch, Lisa Banes, and Laurence Luckinbill.  The film also managed to make over $171 million in the box office, and had a very successful soundtrack album, which in addition to the Beach Boys also featured songs by Little Richard, The Georgia Satellites, John Cougar Mellencamp, and Robbie Nevil.

On the flip side, the film was torn apart by critics, and currently holds a 13% approval rating on “Rotten Tomatoes”.  The film also earned Tom Cruise a Razzie nomination for Worst Actor, and Roger Donaldson one for Worst Director.  If you thought that was bad enough, the movie actually ended up “winning” two Razzies under the categories of Worst Screenplay and Worst Picture.  Talk about an “ouch” moment if ever there was one.

But here’s a little bit of a confession for you.  I don’t actually mind this film.  Sure, there’s a lot wrong with the movie, and I admit that the writing could have been a lot better than it was.  But sometimes you need a film to watch that has very little substance, and I suppose “Cocktail” is one of those films.  I think that there was nothing wrong with the cast, and I admit that even the storyline seemed promising...it’s just hard for me to explain why it tanked so badly.  Although I’m certain that many of you reading this will offer your opinions about the film...and of course, I welcome all of your comments.


The film takes a look at the world of bartending and cocktail mixing, as most of the action takes place at various bars and cocktail lounges in both New York City and Jamaica (the two main settings of the film).  Brian Flanagan (Cruise), fresh out of the army, moves to New York in hopes of opening up his own business.  He takes several college classes in order to earn a degree in business, but to pay for his tuition he ends up taking a part-time job as a bartender.  Unfortunately, when Brian first starts his job, he doesn’t exactly have the confidence and flair right off the bat, smashing more bottles of alcohol than serving them to patrons.


Once Brian meets a man named Doug Coughlin (Brown), Brian’s techniques get a little better, and soon he can serve screwdrivers and Long Island Iced Teas with the best of them.  Doug and Brian quickly become very close, and despite Brian’s naivete, Doug wastes no time in offering him the tips and tricks of the trade.  Doug refers to his advice as “Coughlin’s Law”, and some of his pearls of wisdom include such quotes as “Drink or Be Gone!” and “Anything else is always something better!”


Brian is absolutely determined to make a name for himself in any way, and has big dreams for his future.  Doug has his dreams as well.  He intends on opening up a cocktail bar with the name “Cocktails & Dreams”.  He is a bit reluctant to go into a business partnership with Brian though.  Although Doug and Brian make a great team, and mesmerize customers by combining choreography with drink mixing, Doug wasn’t sure he wanted to run a business with the young, inexperienced Brian.

After a few months, Brian and Doug end up landing a coveted bartending job at an exclusive club filled with the wealthiest and most famous people in Manhattan.  One day, Brian ends up attracting the attention of a beautiful brunette named Coral (Gershon), and they end up getting involved in a sexual relationship.  But after Brian and Doug get involved in a friendly competition involving free throws, Doug bets Brian that Coral will dump him by the end of the week.  Brian takes the bet, believing that what he and Coral have together is special, and that nothing will split them up.

Unfortunately, something did split them up.  You see, Doug hated to lose at any cost, and he manipulated the situation to win the bet.  He told Coral a bunch of lies about Brian, and ends up sleeping with Coral.

FAILED RELATIONSHIP TALLY:  1


Brian is filled with anger over Doug’s betrayal, fights with him at work, and breaks off their partnership and friendship.  As for he and Coral, they simply weren’t meant to be, but she does end up giving him some parting advice.  She tells Brian not to give up on his dream and that he should go seek his own fortune.  So Brian decides to leave New York City and Doug Coughlin behind for a new life on the shores of Jamaica.  He quickly takes a bartending job in Jamaica, and ends up meeting a woman named Jordan Mooney (Shue).  Coincidentally, Jordan also happens to be from New York City, where she worked as a waitress, and has dreams of becoming an artist.  Brian and Jordan end up befriending each other, and soon their friendship turns into a passionate love affair complete with skinny dipping and making love next to a bonfire.


And then a familiar face comes back into Brian’s life.

Yes, Doug Coughlin pops up like the proverbial bad penny in Jamaica.  And this time, he has himself a wife, Kerry (Lynch).  And once again, Doug makes Brian another bet.  Doug bets Brian that he couldn’t be the first one to sleep with a woman named Bonnie (Banes), a wealthy, older woman.  Now, you would think that Brian would have learned his lesson the first time around, but the ever charismatic Doug manages to convince Brian to take the bet.  He does, unaware that Jordan happened to come across Brian and Bonnie making out.  Feeling devastated and humiliated, Jordan flies back to New York the following morning.

FAILED RELATIONSHIP TALLY: 2

So, Brian ended up losing another girl all because of Doug’s bets.  And you wonder why I complained about the writing in the film.  At any rate, determined to get his revenge on Doug (because clearly that is more important than losing the love of your life in this movie), he decides to return to New York City arm-in-arm with Bonnie.  Brian has the idea in his mind that if he ends up developing a relationship with Bonnie, he’ll end up being given a great job within her company.  But Brian soon realizes that the plan was a very bad idea.  It all comes to a head when Brian and Bonnie get into an argument at an art showing following a scuffle with the artist at the show.  In a moment of clarity, Brian realizes that he does not want to be with Bonnie, and cuts all ties with her.

FAILED RELATIONSHIP TALLY: 3

Man, this movie is rough on relationships, isn’t it?


So, here’s the dilemma that Brian is faced with once he ditches Bonnie.  He realizes that he wants to be with Jordan, and that he made a terrible mistake in hurting her.  He wants another chance to make things right, so he tracks her down.  Imagine Brian’s surprise when he discovers that she happens to be pregnant with his child!  Of course, Jordan is not about to let Brian back into her life so quickly, and gives him the cold shoulder.  But Brian refuses to take no for an answer.  He follows Jordan to Park Avenue where she is staying in a penthouse owned by her parents.  Of course, Jordan’s father, Richard (Luckinbill) is very unhappy with the situation, and he comes up with a solution.  He’ll give Brian the money to start up his own business, if he stays away from Jordan and her unborn child.  The offer is an agonizing one for Brian, and he is left with a tough choice.  What does he end up deciding?

And what happens when he discovers a secret about Doug that could end up destroying Doug’s marriage forever?  The resolution to this plot twist is quite out of the blue and shocking, given what we know about Doug’s personality, and in the end, it steers Brian into the last twenty minutes of the film, which sees a final resolution in the mess that is Brian and Jordan’s tattered relationship.


Oh, but I’m not telling you how this film ends.  You’ll have to watch it yourself.  Maybe over a nice cocktail?

Sunday, July 15, 2012

That's What Remixing Can Do - The Boy Krazy Story


I'll admit that when it comes to a lot of songs, I tend to like remixed versions slightly better than the original release.

You know what I mean by a remix, don't you? You take a song that was released a number of years ago, and you add things, or change the melody around to make it seemingly sound like a completely different song.

There have been thousands of examples of this in the history of music, and while there are some remixes that can be considered terrible (I'm looking at any of the remixes that have been done on any song by Moby in particular), there are a lot that I find to be fantastic.

The original version of Madonna's “Express Yourself”, which was produced by Stephen Bray was excellent, filled with brass horns, and was a throwback to 1970s soul music. But, I also found Shep Pettibone's remix to be just as unique, and just as powerful as the original. Remember when The Four Seasons scored a hit in 1975 with the song “December 1963 (Oh What A Night)”? The remixed version that was released almost 20 years later managed to stay on the Billboard charts for over a year! To me, there wasn't that much difference between the original version and the remix, but both versions were very good. And Kylie Minogue's 2002 smash “Love At First Sight” was made much more special when Ruff & Jam added their own spice to the song.

For today's Sunday Jukebox, in keeping with the theme of the remixes being better than the original song, we're going to talk about a song that was released twice, in two different formats. The first time around, the song barely made an impression in the charts at all (it peaked at #86 on the UK charts). But two years later, the song was remixed, and it ended up being a Top 20 hit for a group based out of New York City. Mind you, it ended up being their ONLY Top 20 hit, but nevertheless, it was a great feat. It was just another example of how a remix can make a song sound better, and more modern.

The story behind the band that released the song is quite an interesting one too. It stars a five-member girl group which later became a quartet, and their brief rise to stardom before breaking up.



This is the story of the short-lived girl group known as Boy Krazy.

The story begins back in 1991. Hundreds of young women auditioned at a management company in New York City to become one of five members of a brand new all-girl group. In the photograph above, you can see the five original members of the band that called themselves Boy Krazy. From left to right, the members of the band were Josselyne Jones, Kimberly Blake, Renee Veneziale, Johnna Lee Cummings, and Ruth Ann Roberts.

TRIVIA: Before joining Boy Krazy, Ruth Ann Roberts was a former Miss Junior America...and she was the youngest member of the band when it formed...her age at the time? A mere 15 years old. I'll have more trivia about her and the other members of the band a little later in the blog.



The band was signed to Next Plateau Records in New York City, and began recording songs with the successful British producers Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman. Their debut single was this one, released in the summer of 1991, and as some of you may discover upon hearing it, it may sound a bit familiar. Let's just watch the video and you'll get what I mean.




ARTIST: Boy Krazy
SONG: That's What Love Can Do
DATE RELEASED: July 15, 1991
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: N/A

I bet some of you have just listened to this song, and are thinking to yourselves “wait a minute, that's not the version I remember!”. Well, this is true. The song you heard was the original mix of the song, and as I explained earlier, it bombed. The thing is that it wasn't a bad song. If you really listen to the lyrics, it's actually quite catchy. I just think that for this particular song, the background music didn't quite fit the tone of the song. The song is basically about a woman who is breaking up with the man she is dating because he is seeing another woman on the side...and somehow, I don't think those lyrics quite work with backing music that sounds as if it should appear in a Disney princess film.

Nevertheless, Boy Krazy refused to give up, and they were determined to keep pressing on in their dream. But just before the band was to release their second single, “All You Have To Do”, Renee Veneziale announced her departure from the band. The band was now a quartet, and it was yet another blow to the already struggling girl group.

But then, a break happened in the most unusual way.

It was shortly before Christmas 1992, and somehow, “That's What Love Can Do” began to gain popularity in American discotheques and nightclubs. Around the same time, the song was subjected to a remix, and was first heard on KQKS, a radio station based out of Denver, Colorado. One of the staff members somehow got a copy of the song, started playing it, and it immediately took on a new life of its own. Some might even say that the remix saved the song from becoming a forgotten hit. And a month later, when the song's remix was officially released as a single in the United States, nobody knew just how big the song would get.



ARTIST: Boy Krazy
SONG: That's What Love Can Do (House Remix)
ALBUM: Boy Krazy
DATE RELEASED: January 19, 1993
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #18

All right, so #18 isn't exactly the best position to peak at. But, it still ended up being a huge hit during the spring of '93. That's way better than the position that it reached a year and a half earlier, which was...well...uncharted. Surprisingly enough, the remixed version still failed to make an impression in the UK, peaking at #80...but that's still six spots higher than it charted when it was originally released in 1991.

But, that was the Billboard Charts. What if I told you that the song ended up being a #1 hit in Pop airplay on the Radio & Records CHR/Pop Chart? I'd call that an impressive feat.



Sadly, this would end up being Boy Krazy's only song to reach a position so high. The band's third single, “Good Times With Bad Boys” barely cracked the Top 60 in 1993. And later on in the year, the band said goodbye to Johnna Lee Cummings, who performed most of the leading vocals for the songs off of their debut album, including “That's What Love Can Do”.

Now a trio, Josselyne, Kimberly, and Ruth Ann attempted to make a go of it, and attempted to record a follow-up album, but before any tracks could be recorded, the band finally split up in early 1994.

So, whatever happened to each of the members of the band Boy Krazy?

Well, Renee Veneziale, the first member of the band to leave, reportedly joined a few other bands after Boy Krazy before descending into the world of theatre. In addition to acting, she also reportedly works as a yoga teacher.



Ruth Ann Roberts ended up in a rather unusual position in her career. Deciding to go by the name of Rue DeBona professionally, she ended up as the co-host of After Burn, a television program produced by the WWE! She ended up marrying former wrestler and current WWE commentator Josh “Uncle Vernon” Mathews. How's that for a career shift?



Josselyne Jones got married, and has a daughter, and now goes under the name of Josselyne Herman-Saccio. She works as an agent and producer in New York City, and has since started up her own company, Josselyne Herman and Associates.

The story of Johnna Lee Cummings is one filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. After leaving Boy Krazy in 1993, she embarked on a solo career. She signed a record deal with Pete Waterman's company PWL in the mid-1990s, and started going by just Johnna for her professional name. In 1996, Johnna's debut album was released in the UK, “Pride”.



The songs themselves were a blend of techno and dance-pop, which back in 1996 had a following as similar artists such as the Quad City DJ's, La Bouche, and Gina G had hits on the charts. But Johnna struggled to make an impact. In the United States, her music was more or less unheard. In the UK, her music was slightly better received, but her highest charting solo single there only peaked at #43 on the charts there. Sadly, it appears as though Johnna's life, at least back in 2007, had gotten tough, as displayed in this short documentary filmed around that time. I don't know what's happened to Johnna since then, but hopefully she's doing better.

I was unable to find much information on Kimberly Blake...since Boy Krazy broke up, she has virtually disappeared from the public eye and the entertainment industry. If anyone has any information on where Kimberly ended up, do share. I really tried to find something to say about her, but I came up empty.


And that's the story of the band Boy Krazy. Although the band broke up almost 20 years ago, their biggest hit still remains a favourite of many...and to think that a remix helped transform the song into a Top 20 hit. I mean, it had to be a hit if a little known band named “Toutes Les Filles” covered the song back in 1999 (see above).

(Though I prefer the Boy Krazy version better.)

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Yogi Bear


A few days ago, the Tuesday Timeline flashed back to 1989, where we took a look back on the life and times of legendary voice actor, Mel Blanc, who passed away that year.  As it happens, today’s blog entry is loosely tied to that Tuesday Timeline entry. 

Do you remember how I talked about how Mel Blanc was involved in a car accident in 1961 which almost killed him?  He was comatose for an extended period of time and only came out of the coma when a doctor asked “Bugs Bunny” how he was feeling.  Although Mel survived the crash, his road to full recovery was a long one.  At the time, Blanc was voicing the role of Barney Rubble on “The Flintstones”, and in some cases, he actually recorded his lines straight from his hospital bed.

But right around the time the accident occurred, another voice actor took over the role in place of Blanc for a few episodes.


That voice belonged to Charles Dawson “Daws” Butler. 

Now, Daws Butler ended up doing hundreds of voices during his career.  Before his death in 1988, Butler managed to voice several iconic characters.  He was the original voice of cereal mascots Cap’n Crunch and Quisp.  He voiced the character of Scooby-Dum.  He gave Elroy Jetson a voice.  He assumed the role of Aesop’s Son in the popular segments from Rocky & Bullwinkle.  And if you’ve ever seen the show “Quick Draw McGraw”, Daws gave Baba Looey his voice.

However, if I could choose one role that made Daws Butler a real star, it would probably be this classic cartoon.


Well, actually, I suppose I should say a trio of roles, as Daws Butler managed to voice three major characters in this show.  Two of these voices were that of Huckleberry Hound and Snagglepuss.  And, both of these characters had appeared alongside Butler’s most famous voice.

Today, we’re going to visit the fictional world of Jellystone Park, where the famous Yogi Bear resides.


Um...no...that’s Yogi Berra.


Ah, yes.  This is Yogi Bear, smarter than the average bear, and the subject for this blog entry.

Yogi Bear was just one of the many cartoon characters that were created by the team of Joseph Hanna and William Barbera.  And Yogi Bear was designed in such a way that the animation process was made less difficult.  Because Yogi Bear was drawn with a collar, animators could keep Yogi’s body static, only having to animate his head and facial features.  This cut down the amount of frames needed to complete a seven-minute episode by almost 70%!

But there’s a lot more to this bear than just a lime green hat and tie.  Yogi Bear was actually designed after another pop culture icon. 


If you ever wondered why Yogi Bear seemed to sound like Ed Norton from “The Honeymooners”, it was absolutely intentional, as Daws Butler voiced the character as an impersonation of Art Carney, who played Ed Norton.  After all, Yogi Bear was sort of designed the same as Ed Norton.  It did make sense. 

And would you believe that Yogi Bear was originally intended as a SECONDARY character?  It’s true!  Yogi Bear made his first appearance way back in 1958, when he appeared as a character on “The Huckleberry Hound Show”.  A supporting character.

However, while most supporting characters are often pushed to the background for most of the season, only brought out for an occasional line or two, it became clear that the bear with a fondness for pic-a-nic baskets soon overshadowed the very character whose show he appeared on.  Yogi was popular, and the kids loved him.  They loved him so much that just three years later, he was given his own television show.

Debuting in syndication on January 30, 1961, the stories of Yogi Bear were all surprisingly the same plot retold in thirty-three different ways.  Seriously, the show only filmed 33 episodes, and each episode featured Yogi Bear roaming around Jellystone Park, swiping picnic baskets filled with yummy goodies from unsuspecting people.  But, despite the show’s repetitive nature, it had a rather lengthy run on television.  It ran a total of twenty-seven years in syndication, finally ending its run on December 29, 1988...seven months after Daws Butler passed away.


There were others who lived in the park besides Yogi.  Obviously, Yogi had to have some sort of antagonist to stop him in his quest to steal enough picnic baskets to hibernate for a decade and a half.  In this show, it was Ranger Smith (voiced by future Scooby-Doo voice artist Don Messick).  Ranger Smith is constantly annoyed by Yogi’s kleptomania, and he tries everything he can to stop him.  Of course, he would never really admit it, but he does have a bit of a soft spot for the bear.  In fact, one could actually call them “frenemies”.  Certainly when Yogi is causing mischief, Ranger Smith is none too pleased.  But if either one ends up in danger or trouble, the other one will do everything he can to save the other one from harm’s way.


Then there’s Yogi’s best friend, a little bear named Boo-Boo (also voiced by Don Messick).  Now, Boo-Boo seems to play the role of Yogi’s conscience.  He is often the one who tries to talk Yogi out of stealing the baskets and causing grief to Ranger Smith (which in turn forges an unlikely friendship between Boo-Boo and Ranger Smith).  Of course, Yogi never really learned the lesson of “let your conscience be your guide”, and usually ignored the warnings of his friend.  But, you have to give the little guy some credit for trying!


And then there’s Yogi’s girlfriend Cindy Bear, a girl who carries a parasol and speaks with a distinct Southern accent.  She cares for Yogi very much, but like Boo-Boo is also annoyed by Yogi’s tricks and schemes.

That’s about all that I have to say about Yogi Bear the cartoon.  However, there have been several Yogi Bear spinoffs that have stemmed from the original program.  These are;

-      The 1964 feature film “Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear!”, released by Columbia Pictures.

-      The 1972 television special “Yogi’s Ark Lark”.



-      The 1973-1974 series “Yogi’s Gang”.

-      “Yogi’s Space Race” from 1978.

-      The made for television movie “Yogi’s First Christmas”, released in 1980.

-      “Yogi’s Treasure Hunt”, which aired between 1985 and 1988.



-      “Yo, Yogi!”, a juniorization re-telling of the classic cartoon which ran from 1991-1992.

-      A live-action/CGI film “Yogi Bear” starring Dan Aykroyd, Justin Timberlake, Anna Faris, and Tom Cavanagh, released in theatres on December 17, 2010.

With all of these television series and movies, I think it’s a safe bet to say that Yogi Bear will be around for some time.  And although Daws Butler is no longer with us, Yogi has since been voiced by Greg Burson (who died in 2008), and Jeff Bergman in various commercials.

But Daws Butler was the best Yogi...and I’m sure he would be proud to know that his voice still lives on forever.