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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

The Legend Of The Paper Crane


My relationship with arts and crafts in school tended to depend on how creative and experimental our instructors were.

Most of the time, I absolutely loved art class.  Being one who preferred to play with Crayola crayons over the hottest toys of the 1980s, I used to enjoy art period.  And depending on who the teacher was, we sometimes did fantastic art projects.

One year, we ended up making a replica of a stained glass window using black construction paper and various squares of tissue paper.  It was an ingenious craft, and while I don’t like to boast, mine was quite spectacular looking.  Another year, I attended a paper making workshop during my spring break, and I ended up making a sheet of recycled paper using compost!

(You stare at me as if I don’t know what I am talking about, but I still remember how to do it nineteen years later.  All you need is a banana peel, some newspaper pulp, some water, and a really good blender to mix the concoction together.  You sift out the water, and leave the pulp mixture to dry, and then grab a clothes iron to flatten it out.  It’s really easy to do.  Just make sure that if you do attempt to make some banana paper, you don’t make a mess in the process.  Making recycled paper can be a messy activity.)

And, I have just gone off on a really bizarre tangent, haven’t I?

The point is that I’ve been lucky enough to have the experience of doing some rather elaborate arts and crafts.  Sure, there are some instances in which I have had a few teachers where their idea of creativity is to grab a colouring book and telling us to colour a pre-drawn picture.  But even then, I would think outside the box.  While everyone else turned in pictures of grey or brown elephants, I was the only one to have one that was blue and pink striped with giant yellow ears. 

(Would you believe that my art teacher at that time tried to give me a low mark for not even attempting realism in that picture?  Please.  Art is supposed to be all about creativity and imagination, both of which I exhibited in my pink and blue elephant.)

And again, another tangent.  I’ll stop it now.

There were some art projects that for whatever reason, I didn’t understand, or couldn’t do.  I’m sure everyone has tried to build a house out of popsicle sticks at some point during their youth, right?  I couldn’t even build a fence.  Although, I must admit that the frustration over not being able to build a structure out of wooden sticks was somewhat counterbalanced by the idea of me having to eat about 250 ice cream bars to get the necessary materials to attempt that craft.

Then there was the time that my second grade teacher believed that it would be a good idea to learn geometric shapes by having up attempt to build our own three-dimensional shapes out of paper and that useless mucilage glue in the plastic bottles.  Needless to say, that glue ended up being my undoing.  My pyramid looked more like a cone, my cone looked like a cylinder, and I never did figure out how to build a cube, as the sides kept getting bent and torn.  By the end of that frustrating exercise, I ended up with half a triangle.  It’s a good thing that I knew my times tables, or else that geometric craft nightmare would have caused me to stay after school and clean the blackboard, or some other punishment.

(Just kidding, my second grade teacher was the best!)


And regarding paper folding...hah...I completely sucked at anything that had to do with folding paper.  Would you believe that I am thirty-one years old, and I still have no idea how to make a paper airplane?  I have tried to make one for years, but every single time I have tried, it either crashes to the ground in one second flat, or it falls apart before I get a chance to toss it.  Paper folding is not my forte.

And, if I can’t master the art of making a paper airplane, then today’s blog topic is one that I would likely fail at as well.

To transition into this blog entry, I’m about to show all of you a little bit of insight into my personal life that I have not shared before.


This picture above is a part of my living space about a year ago.  And, as you can see, I have quite a lot of knick-knacks on my dresser.  I’m not a hoarder, I swear it.

However, you will see some Nintendo DS games, a video game console (yes, I still have a PlayStation 2), a television, a lamp, various M&M’s memorabilia (the green M&M was a GIFT, I swear it), and two curious glass jars with what appears to be coloured bits of paper inside of them.

Those jars are actually Minute Maid and Fruitopia glass bottles (yes, there was a time in which our fruit juices came in glass bottles instead of the standard plastic), and inside them are about a hundred of these little guys.


Paper cranes of various colours and sizes live inside these jars.  They were given to me by a dear friend of mine named Kitty who I met during my first attempt at a college education.  We grew really close, and I hated having to say goodbye to her, but she decided to give me something to remember her by, which were the two bottles of cranes.  You see, my friend was originally born in Hong Kong, and she immigrated to Canada when she was a young girl.  And while Hong Kong is a part of China, my friend studied the ancient Japanese art of origami while she was a young girl.  The collection of paper cranes that I now have in my possession are years of labour from her.  It really means a lot to me that she would give me something that had so much meaning for her, and since she gave them to me, I have treasured them forever.

Unfortunately, Kitty and I sort of lost touch with each other (she moved around quite frequently and I have been unable to track her down on Facebook, as apparently there are a gazillion people out there with her first and last name.  Who knew, right?  Although maybe she’ll find this blog one day and respond to it, and we can have a bit of a reunion of sorts.

At any rate, I’d like to dedicate this blog entry to my friend Kitty (wherever she may be), and I’d also like to talk some more about origami.  After all, it is a craft, and it happens to be the topic I have picked for today.

As I mentioned before, origami is most common in Japan.  If you translated the name “origami” from Japanese to English, it would mean “paper folding”.


And that’s really what origami is...folding pieces of paper in such a way that it makes something beautiful, such as paper cranes, for instance.  In fact, the paper crane is probably the most common of all the origami creations.  But, do you know why this was the case?

As it turns out, there is a Japanese legend that states that a person that folds one thousand paper cranes will have their biggest desires come true.


Another legend involving the paper crane involves a young Japanese girl named Sadako Sasaki.  Sadako was a victim of the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima at the tail end of World War II.  At that time, she was merely an infant.  By the time she had reached her twelfth birthday, the radiation from the dropping of the atomic bomb had weakened her severely, having been diagnosed with leukemia.  After hearing the legend of the paper crane, she made it a mission to try and fold one thousand paper cranes, hoping that her greatest desire (to get better) would be achieved.   But when the young girl realized that there was no way that would happen, she decided to change her wish after seeing so many other sick children in the ward of the hospital that she was in.  Instead, she wished for world peace, so that nobody else would have to suffer due to war and conflict.

According to how the story went, Sadako tried her best to achieve the goal of making one thousand cranes to ensure that her wish came true, but ended up passing away from leukemia after only having made 644.  But after Sadako passed away, her classmates ended up making paper cranes as a tribute to their friend.  At Sadako’s funeral services, she was buried with a wreath of one thousand cranes, to symbolize her dream, hoping that it would come true.


Today, a large granite statue stands in Hiroshima, in tribute to Sadako Sasuki.  The statue features a young girl with her arms outstretched, with a paper crane flying from her fingertips.  Since the statue was dedicated, it attracts thousands of visitors each year who place wreaths made from a thousand paper cranes at the base of the statue.

I would call that a wonderful way to remember somebody’s life.  Who knew that the paper crane would end up being so symbolic?

Of course, there are other things that can be made by using the art of origami.  You could make roses, flowers, geometric shapes, and so much more.  I imagine that you could pick up a book all about origami at the local library if you really wanted to learn how to make these beautiful and intricate creations.  But I wanted to focus specifically on the paper cranes because to me, they will always represent a very valuable quality.

Friendship.


Now, as for how many cranes I have...I know that I don’t have one thousand.  At most, I probably only have 275, 300 tops.  So, at some point, I’d like to learn how to make my own paper cranes so I can make seven hundred more so that I can make my dreams come true.

Of course, I suppose I would have to learn how to make a paper airplane first...

That's all I have to say about paper cranes and origami...but remember how I said that paper cranes represented friendship?  Well, tomorrow's entry is also about friendship...only in this case, it will be a bittersweet tale.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

September 25, 1952


One thing that I was noticing about September 25 is that it seems to be a day in which quite a lot happened.

It's a good thing that this year, September 25 happens to fall on a Tuesday then, because I am not without a shortage of possible topics that I could write about. The one topic that I did choose is a tale that has a plethora of emotions. It's a tale of fame, tragedy, triumph, and perseverence, and I hope that it's an inspirational one for you.

But before we get into that, we should talk about the significance of September 25 throughout history.

303 – Saint Fermin of Pamploma is beheaded in France while on a voyage preaching the gospel

1066 – The Viking invasions of England come to an end with the Battle of Stamford Bridge

1775 – During the American Revolutionary War, Ethan Allen surrenders to British forces in an attempt to capture Montreal during the Battle of Longue-Pointe

1789 – The Bill of Rights, the Congressional Compensation Agreement, and the Congressional Apportionment Amendment are passed by U.S. Congressional

1846 – The Mexican city of Monterrey is captured by U.S. Forces lead by Zachary Taylor

1890 – U.S. Congress establishes Sequoia National Park

1906 – Leonardo Torres Quevedo successfully demonstrates his invention known as the Telekino, which helped guide a boat to the shore. It is widely believed that this invention was the precursor of the modern day remote control

1911 – The ground is broken for the contruction of Boston's “Fenway Park”

1912 – In New York City, a new school is founded, the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

1915 – The Second Battle of Champagne occurs

1929 – Jimmy Doolittle performs the first blind flight from Mitchel Field, proving that full instrument flying from takeoff to landing is possible

1955 – The Royal Jordanian Air Force is founded

1957 – Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas is one of the first schools to be racially integrated, with assistance from American troops

1977 – The first annual Chicago Marathon is held, with over four thousand people participating

1978 – Two planes collide in the air above San Diego, California, killing 144 people

1981 – On the same day that Belize enters into the United Nations, Sandra Day O'Connor becomes the first female to be sworn into the United States Supreme Court

1983 – Thirty-eight prisoners escape from Maze Prison in the United Kingdom, the largest prison escape in British history

1992 – NASA launches a $511 million probe into space to Mars in the first U.S. Mission in seventeen years. Unfortunately, the project is a failure

2009 – Barack Obama, Gordon Brown, and Nicolas Sarkozy (the leaders of the United States, Great Britain, and France) appear on television for the G-20 summit, accusing Iran of building a secret nuclear enrichment facility.

Another thing that I couldn't help but notice was the sheer volume of famous people who are celebrating a birthday today! These celebrities include Barbara Walters, Brian Murphy, Ian Tyson, Robert Miano, Robert Walden, Josh Taylor, Michael Douglas, Cheryl Tiegs, Cecil Womack, Mimi Kennedy, Mark Hamill, Anson Williams, Luanne Rice, Zucchero, Michael Madsen, Heather Locklear, Beth Toussaint, Keely Shaye Smith, Tate Donovan, Anita Barone, Scottie Pippen, Matt Battaglia, Gordon Currie, Melissa De Souza, Will Smith, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Hal Sparks, Dean Ween (Ween), Brian Dunkleman, Jessie Wallace, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras, Eric Moss, Matt Hasselbeck, Robbie Jones, T.I., Chris Owens, Van Hansis, Nicole Fugere, and Jansen Panettiere.

Wow...I am exhausted just typing out all that. So many celebrity birthdays today.

In fact, today's blog subject was also born on September 25.



September 25, 1952, that is.

Unfortunately, the subject of this particular blog is no longer with us, but he was born on this date sixty years ago...and his story started off like that of any young actor entering show business.  He paid his dues in various acting jobs before landing the one role that made him famous, and throughout the years made a living for himself as a well-respected actor.  In one split second, something happened that changed his life forever.  But did he ever give up?  Well, you be the judge of that.



If he had lived, Christopher Reeve would be turning sixty years old.  And today, this blog will be doing a feature on him as a tribute to all the achievements that he was a part of both before and after that fateful May day in 1995.

First, the basics.  Christopher D'Olier Reeve was born on September 25, 1952 in New York City.  He was the son of journalist Barbara Pitney and teacher/novelist Franklin D'Olier Reeve.

Christopher Reeve was bitten by the acting bug at the age of nine.  That was when he was given a part in an amateur performance of "The Yeoman of the Guard".  Six years later, when Reeve was fifteen years old, he was accepted into an apprenticeship at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, Massachusetts.  Although most of the apprentices at the time were college students between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two, Christopher Reeve looked older than his fifteen years (and behaved in a similar fashion, as he had wanted to impress his father by acting older in age than he really was).  As a result, he had no trouble fitting in with his peers.

During his time with the festival, Reeve was involved in several theatrical productions, and many people raved about his acting abilities.  He even managed to score a compliment from veteran actress Olympia Dukakis, who once told him "I'm surprised.  You've got a lot of talent.  Don't mess it up."



After his 1970 graduation from Princeton Day School, Christopher acted in various plays in Maine during that summer.  His intention was to become an actor straight out of high school, but his mother absolutely insisted that he go to college first.  Christopher applied to several schools (and had gotten accepted into quite a few), but in the end, settled on Cornell University.  He liked the school's close proximity to New York City, which was where he was convinced he could get his acting career started.

Once arriving in Cornell, he immediately joined the theater department, scoring such roles as Pozzo in "Waiting for Godot", and Polixenes in "A Winter's Tale".  During his first year at Cornell, Christopher ended up getting a letter from a man named Stark Hesserline.  He was a high-powered agent who had discovered Robert Redford, and represented Susan Sarandon, Michael Douglas, and Richard Chamberlain.  After seeing Reeve perform, he was impressed by the young actor, and expressed interest in wanting to represent him.  Although Reeve was excited by the offer, it was decided that he would remain in college while meeting with casting agents in New York on weekends.

In the summer between his second and third year of study at Cornell, Christopher took a three-month absence from school where he traveled to Europe to immerse himself in the culture and to help actors based in England and Scotland how to mimic an American accent by reading the newspaper aloud to them.  When he returned, he decided to switch colleges, going from Cornell to Julliard for his senior year.

While at Julliard, he was only one of a few students who was accepted into the school's Advanced Program.  Another student who was also accepted was Robin Williams.  Both Reeve and Williams ended up becoming very close friends as a result of being classmates in the same program.  At some point during his time at Julliard, he was offered the chance to leave the school to join the Acting Company, but Reeve turned the offer down, as he was very close to finishing his program.  And in 1974, he graduated from college.



Shortly after graduation, Reeve ended up landing a role in the television soap opera "Love of Life", and just a few months later auditioned for a play entitled "A Matter of Gravity" in Broadway.  One of the play's stars, the late Katharine Hepburn, watched Reeve's audition and immediately gave him a part.  Hepburn also managed to arrange Reeve's schedule so that he could work on the play and "Love of Life" at the same time.  It would have been great, had Reeve taken care of himself.  Due to a very poor diet (substituting chocolate bars and coffee for actual meals), the poor guy ended up passing out cold after saying just one line, leading to his understudy having to take over.  It was an embarrassing moment for Reeve, but he ended up staying with the play for a few months, developing a very strong friendship with Katharine Hepburn in the process.

Of course, it would only be three years after that play that he would end up getting the role that ended up making him a star.

The year was 1977, and Reeve's agent had told him that he should audition for the lead role in the new film adaptation for the comic book superhero "Superman".  Reeve was intrigued by the role, but he doubted that he would end up getting the part.  Although he stood at 6'4" and was considered to have the same features that many leading men in Holywood had, by Reeve's own admission, he was a "skinny WASP". 



But to Reeve's surprise, he ended up getting the part anyway.  To train for the role, he ended up undergoing an intense training session lasting two months, changing his food intake and exercise routines in order to bulk up for the part.

TRIVIA:  His training sessions were supervised by British weighlifting champion David Prowse who had just finished filming another high-profile film, Star Wars...as the man who wore the Darth Vader costume!



Long story short, "Superman:  The Movie" was released in December 1978, and was a huge box-office smash, making over $300 million in profits.  The role cemented Reeve's status as a leading man in the genre of action film, and he was involved in three more Superman sequels between 1980 and 1987 (though to be completely honest, the last two films weren't that memorable).

It's important to know that Reeve had other film roles besides the "Superman" series.  Some were critically acclaimed (such as his role in the 1992 film "The Remains of the Day"), and some were critically panned (such as his role in 1995's "Village of the Damned").  But Reeve also chose his roles very carefully, and surprisingly enough, he ended up turning down a lot of roles in some high-profile films.  He turned down starring roles in "Lethal Weapon", "Pretty Woman", "Romancing the Stone", "Fatal Attraction", "American Gigolo", "Splash", and "Body Heat"!

Interestingly enough, Christopher Reeve took on the role of a paralyzed police officer in an HBO film, and he had done extensive research at a rehabilitaton center in California to prepare for the role.  Little did he know that just months later, his role would become all too real.



On May 27, 1995, Christopher Reeve fell off of his horse during an equestrian competition (Reeve had been riding horses since having to learn how to ride one while filming 1985's "Anna Karenina"), and suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the neck down.  He was placed into intensive care immediately, and was closely monitored by doctors there.  At first, Reeve was completely devastated by the accident, and the thought of him never being able to walk or move again was initially too much to bear.  He even contemplated suicide after the accident occured.  Luckily, with the support of his second wife, Dana, Reeve decided that the best thing to do was fight.

Christopher Reeve underwent a surgery to reattach his skull to his spine, which was highly dangerous.  The odds of surviving were fifty-fifty, and Reeve was scared.  But when he received a visit from his old friend, Robin Williams (who was masquerading as a doctor pretending to be a proctologist threatening to give Reeve a rectal exam), Reeve believed that for the first time since the accident, he would be okay.

For eight months, Reeve struggled with being in intensive care.  Because the accident was such that it caused severe damage, Reeve was unable to breathe without the use of a breathing tube, or an artifical respirator.  But by December 1995, he was able to breathe on his own for half an hour at a time without assistance from either.  Doctors considered this to be incredibly remarkable progress given the extent of his injuries.



But then again, Christopher Reeve was a fighter from the very beginning.

Throughout 1996, Reeve began making many public appearances.  He ended up getting a standing ovation at the 1996 Academy Awards ceremony, hosted the Paralympics in Atlanta, Georgia, and attended the 1996 Democratic National Convention.  He made the cover of TIME Magazine in August 1996, and he even took on a narration job for an HBO film "Without Pity: A Film About Abilities" which won an Emmy Award.  By 1997, he took a turn behind the camera, directing the film "In The Gloaming" for HBO, which earned several award nominations, and in 1998, he appeared in the lead role for the remake of the classic Alfred Hitchcock film, "Rear Window".



But his real work after the accident came in the form of activism for spinal cord research.  He founded the "Christopher Reeve Foundation" (now known as the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation), which has raised over $65 million for spinal cord research since its inception.  He also co-founded the Reeve-Irvine Research Center, which has since become one of the leading spinal cord research facilities in the world.  And, in 2002, the "Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center" was opened in New Jersey with the purpose of helping people with spinal cord injuries live more independently.

Christopher Reeve was determined to devote as much research towards this cause for a multitude of reasons.  He wanted to help other paralyzed people realize that they could have a better quality of life, but he also wanted to be able to get the chance to find a way to recover from his injuries, especially after he began to regain some motor control in the year 2000.



Sadly, Christopher Reeve never did see his goal come true.  On October 10, 2004, he passed away at the age of 52 due to complications from sepsis.  In another tragic note, Reeve's widow, Dana, died just two years later from cancer.  He left behind three children, Matthew and Alexandra (from Reeve's relationship with Gae Exton), and Will (his only child with Dana Reeve).  Matthew and Alexandra have since joined the board of directors of the "Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation", ensuring that their father's legacy continues.

Christopher Reeve was a hero to many people.  Many people looked up to him while he was under the guise of Superman, and millions saw him as a strong person who wasn't afraid of anything.  Even after his devastating accident, many people still saw him as an inspiration, and a strong role model. 

Christopher Reeve was a true inspiration and a hero.  And even though he's been gone eight years, his legacy will never die.

And, that's what happened on September 25, 1952.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Crocodile Dundee




How many of you remember the time during the 1980s where it seemed that everything from Australia was hot?

During the 1960s, we had the “British Invasion” with The Beatles, The Who, and The Rolling Stones. In the 1970s, I suppose that there was a bit of a European Invasion of sorts, as acts such as ABBA and Boney M were climbing the charts during that time.

And, in the 1980s, we had a lot of Australian based bands and artists peppering the charts between 1980 and 1989.

At some point during the 1980s, the following bands had at least one song to hit the Billboard Top 100. AC/DC, INXS, Men At Work, Midnight Oil, Air Supply, John Farnham, Olivia Newton-John (though to be fair, she was actually born in Britain), Kylie Minogue, Icehouse, and Split Enz and Crowded House (which were more or less the same band, since it had two of the same people in both).

But the Australian invasion didn't just stop at music. It bled over into other forms of media. For a brief period in the late 1980s, it seemed as though every sitcom or drama had to have at least one Australian in it. General Hospital had Robert Scorpio (played by Australian Tristan Rogers) throughout the 1980s. Even the television sitcom, “The Facts of Life” embraced Australian culture. Not only did the show film a television movie in Australia in 1987, but in the show's final season, an Australian exchange student named Pippa joined the cast of the long running sitcom, played by Sherrie Krenn (now Sherrie Austin).

Granted, the show went off the air the same season she joined...but still, it jumped on the “everything Australian is good” bandwagon.



To be honest with you though, I loved that. I've always found Australia to be a place that I would love to visit. Granted, it does have some rather nasty sea creatures and spiders that are the size of a saucer...but once you can overlook that fact, it really is a beautiful country filled with wonderful beaches and a lively metropolitan atmosphere. I've wanted to go to Australia since I was seven years old, and I hope that one day, I find a way to make it down there so I can say that I visited it at least once.

And would you like to know what kick started my “crush” on Australia? Well, it happened to begin after I watched a particular movie. This movie is of course the subject of today's blog, seeing as how it is the Monday Matinee. I remember that this was a movie that I had watched shortly after my parents received their first VCR as a wedding anniversary gift. They rented a movie that both had wanted to see, and they felt that I was old enough to watch it with them. The movie had been out for a couple of years, so it wasn't exactly a recent film...but I didn't care. It was a lot of fun, and I remember trying to mimic the funny accent that the main character of the film had.

And, of course, with moments in the film like the one below, it's no wonder the film ended up one of the symbols of the Australian invasion of the 1980s.



Today we're taking a look at the classic film, “Crocodile Dundee”, which starred Paul Hogan as the title character.



The movie was released in 1986, but depending on what country you were from, some of you likely saw the film before others did. In Australia (where half of the movie was filmed), the movie was released on April 30. Five months later, on September 26, 1986, Americans ended up getting their first view of “Crocodile Dundee”.

And this blog entry is such that I will be talking about some of the behind the scenes moments and trivia facts that you may not know about how “Crocodile Dundee” came to be made. By checking various sources such as The Internet Movie Database and Wikipedia (although with the last one, I had to do some fact checking, as Wikipedia isn't all that reliable sometimes), I have compiled a list of facts about this movie.



As a result, I'll be touching upon the plot of the movie very lightly. It doesn't really matter all that much anyway. The whole plot is basically an exercise in trying to fit into other cultures...first with the character of Sue (Linda Kozlowski) trying to survive life in the Australian Outback, and then with Michael J. “Crocodile” Dundee (Hogan) trying to adjust to New York City after Sue invites him to visit. Oh, and there's some love story intertwined in there too...I admit that I was too busy watching the action scenes to really get invested in that storyline.

But, hey...at least I haven't spoiled any of the plot of the movie, so you're free to watch the film without having any spoilers. But then again, the movie is 26 years old, so in all likelihood, you have already seen it.

Okay, so let's talk trivia.

1 – There is a main difference between the Australian version of the film from the version that made it to America. The Australian version ended up using a lot more Australian slang, which would have made some of the dialogue impossible to understand for those who weren't familiar with Aussie lingo. As a result, a lot of the scenes were re-edited with more familiar language.

2 – As a result of the re-editing, the American version of the film ended up being almost ten minutes shorter than the Australian version.



3 – The movie was such a success that a couple of sequels were made...1988's “Crocodile Dundee II”, and 2001's “Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles”.

4 – The film ended up making over $328 million at the box office. It was the second-highest grossing film of 1986, following “Top Gun”.



5 – Before he ended up taking the role of Carl Winslow on “Family Matters”, Reginald VelJohnson had a role in the film, playing Gus.



6 – Paul Hogan ended up winning a Golden Globe in 1986 for his role in “Crocodile Dundee”.

7 – An interesting piece of trivia is related to a scene that features Sue on the phone standing in front of the window of her hotel room. If you look at that scene, you can get a clear view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. When Paul Hogan was in his youth, he worked on the crew that painted the bridge!

8 – Contrary to what a few people believed, there was no Crocodile Dundee in real life, although the character of Crocodile Dundee was based off of the characteristics of Rodney Ansell, a man who made headlines for being stranded in the Australian Outback, surviving the harsh conditions with limited supplies for eight weeks.



9 – In the scene in which Crocodile Dundee ends up subduing a wild buffalo, the buffalo was already drugged.



10 – Apparently the love connection between Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski wasn't just limited to the film sets. The couple tied the knot on May 5, 1990, and have been married ever since. At the time of filming, Paul had just begun divorce proceedings with his first wife, Noelene, which according to many media sources was one of the ugliest celebrity divorces in Australia.

So, that's just a sampling of some of the behind the scenes trivia behind “Crocodile Dundee”.



Coming up next week, we kick off the month of October by looking at a film that was made a long time ago...in a galaxy far away. A film that took me twenty years to actually watch for the first time.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Dolly Parton: The Queen Of Country Music


We’re about ready to launch into yet another edition of the special month that I like to call “Sweethearts of Country Music” month.  And, today’s musical spotlight is going to fall on a woman who many have bestowed the title of the “Queen of Country Music”.

Now, you would think that for someone to be able to hold that title, they would have to have some major clout in order to legitimately claim that honour.  Believe me, she has all that and more.

She’s written well over three thousand song compositions throughout her lifetime.  Quite a few of them were for her own albums (of which she has released a whopping forty-one studio albums since 1967), but several were for other artists as well.  She has sold over 100 million copies of each of these albums, and has released over one hundred singles in country radio.  Of these singles, she has had over twenty #1 singles on the country music charts. 

And don’t you think for a moment that music is the only thing that she has excelled at.  She has also proven herself to be skilled in acting, appearing in at least a dozen films.  These films include “9 to 5”, “Steel Magnolias”, “Straight Talk”, and “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”.

(Wow...did I really just type in the word “whorehouse” in a blog post?  Cool.  J )

She’s also made appearances on various television sitcoms.  Some of these appearances include “The Simpsons”, “Designing Women”, and “Hannah Montana”.

(Of course, that last one is sort of expected, given that she happens to be the godmother of Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus.)

So, who are we focusing on today?


Why, it’s Sevierville, Tennessee native Dolly Rebecca Parton, of course.  This blog is all about the lady who has truly worn a “coat of many colours” throughout her 45-year-long career.

But which song will I be focusing on?  We’ll get to that a bit later.  For now, I imagine that you all would like a small history lesson on the self-dubbed “Backwoods Barbie”, so let’s get right to it.

Born on January 19, 1946, Dolly Parton was the fourth of twelve (yes, twelve) children born to Avie Lee and Robert Lee Parton.  Her siblings were all born between 1940 and 1959.  And to say that the family struggled in the early years was a bit of an understatement.  Could you imagine living in a one room cabin in the middle of nowhere during your childhood?  Dolly could.  She LIVED that lifestyle. 

To Dolly’s credit though, she didn’t let the fact that her family was dirt poor stop her from wanting to achieve her dreams.  When it came to music, she was introduced to it at an early age.  When she was a young girl, she started performing for the first time, most notably on radio and television programs in the eastern part of Tennessee.  By nine, she was appearing on the Cas Walker Show on a semi-regular basis, and had appeared at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee shortly after turning thirteen years old. 

While she was at the Grand Ole Opry, she happened to have an encounter with another rising country music star, Johnny Cash.  And Johnny Cash ended up giving the young Dolly some rather sage advice.  That advice was for her to follow her heart and not to care what others thought about it.  And shortly after graduating from high school, Dolly relocated to Nashville in 1964 to seek out her fame and fortune.


Now, what was interesting is that when Dolly first arrived in Nashville, she was one of the few who found almost instantaneous success...but not as a singer initially.  As it turned out, she ended up becoming a successful songwriter, writing hits for Skeeter Davis and Bill Phillips.  Just one year after arriving in Nashville, Dolly ended up signing her own recording contract with Monument Records...as a bubblegum pop singer!  Needless to say, the bubblegum pop grew stale after just a few chews, and despite the fact that she did have one single bubble up, the whole idea of Dolly going into the pop music scene at that time sort of blew up in her face.

(Yeah, yeah, I know...I’ll lay off the gum puns.)


So, she decided to try her hand at country music.  Her record label agreed to give her a chance at recording a country music album after one of her compositions for Bill Phillips ended up peaking at #6 on the charts.  Her first single was ironically enough one that Dolly herself did not write...a single entitled “Dumb Blonde”.  It did somewhat okay on the charts, peaking within the Top 30.  Not exactly a breakout smash, but it was the first of many singles that would help make her a country music legend.  The follow-up single, “Something Fishy”, ended up doing slightly better on the charts, reaching a peak position of #17.  These two songs ended up being included as singles on Dolly’s first album, appropriately titled “Hello, I’m Dolly”, released in 1967.


Also in 1967, Dolly Parton ended up getting a gig through Porter Wagoner.  She joined his organization and started performing on a weekly basis with Wagoner on his weekly show.  Dolly’s early appearances on the show were not warmly received by the audience at first.  The audience were so used to Norma Jean (who sang on the show with Wagoner and who departed the program just before Dolly began appearing) that they had mixed feelings about Dolly coming in to take over.  Fortunately, thanks to Porter Wagoner’s insistence that Dolly was good people, the fans of the show soon began to accept the young singer.

Porter Wagoner was also a key influence in Dolly’s decision to switch record labels early in her career.  She signed onto RCA Victor and her first single with the new label was a duet that featured her and Wagoner.  The song, “The Last Thing On My Mind” ended up making the Top 10 in early 1968.  Believe it or not, that song would be the first of a six-year-long string of consecutive Top 10 hits that featured both Parton and Wagoner as the vocalists!


TRIVIA:  Dolly and Porter worked together exclusively while Dolly also recorded solo records of her own.  The professional relationship between the two lasted until 1974 when Dolly and Porter sang their last duet (although they still remained close).  Dolly ended up writing a song that would end up topping the country charts about the split.  That song was “I Will Always Love You”.  It also became a huge smash for the late singer Whitney Houston in 1992 when she re-recorded it for “The Bodyguard”.

Now, I mentioned that when Dolly was working with Porter Wagoner, she had several solo singles charting on country radio.  And perhaps one of the most famous of these songs is the song that I want to feature in this blog.


ARTIST:  Dolly Parton
SONG:  Jolene
ALBUM:  Jolene
DATE RELEASED:  October 1973
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  #60
PEAK POSITION ON THE COUNTRY CHARTS:  #1 for 1 week

“Jolene” was a #1 hit for Dolly Parton.  It topped the country charts the week of February 2, 1974, and even charted on the Billboard 100.


And there are a couple of influences behind the song.

The first involves the song title.  The story goes that one time, when Dolly was performing a concert, she met a little girl after the show wrapped up who wanted an autograph.  According to Dolly, the little girl had red hair and green eyes, and her personality charmed Dolly enough to ask the girl what her name was.  She said that her name was Hortense, Gertrude, Madonna, Jolene.  Dolly loved the name, and made the promise to the little girl that she would write a song using the name “Jolene”.

That said, I often wonder how “Jolene” would feel knowing that her name was used as the name of a homewrecking wench?

That’s right.  Jolene is about a woman who ends up being the “other woman” who comes in between a married couple. 

The song is told through the point of view of the wife who ends up confronting Jolene, telling her basically to “stay the hell away from her man”.  And the story that inspired the body of the song “Jolene” was based on a real-life incident.


There was a particular bank teller (a female bank teller) who kept a wandering eye on her husband whenever he stopped into the bank to make deposits and withdrawals.  And, Dolly also believed that her husband was unable to resist the charms of said bank teller, as she noticed that he made more of an effort to go to that bank than he had before the teller started working there.  It’s unclear as to how far the confrontation went, but it is widely reported that Dolly often performs the song live and before she does, she tells the concert audience that “she fought ‘Jolene’ tooth and nail for her husband”. 

So, note to all women out there.  If you hit on Dolly Parton’s man, be prepared to get your eyes scratched out.


Fear not though...”Jolene” hardly made a dent in the rock solid marriage between Dolly and Carl, who ended up celebrating their 46th wedding anniversary on May 30, 2012.

You see?  Celebrity marriages DO last.

And, that’s our look back at Dolly Parton.  Well, at least the early years, anyway.  I may do another entry on her in regards to her later works.  I’ll admit it.  I love Dolly.  J


Next week, the “Sweethearts of Country Music” month wraps up with another living legend who in addition to singing also did some acting on the side.  But when her whole world came crashing down following a tragedy 21 years ago, she found the strength to not only go on...but record an album about it.  We’ll take a look at that tragedy, as well as a song about how one country singer found life out there after tragedy.

That’s coming up on September 30.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Dungeons & Dragons


This past month has been a rather rough one for me, and I think that it has been somewhat reflected in the tone of my blog. September 2012 has not exactly been a month that I really want to relive any time soon.

However, a new week is approaching, and with that, a brand new beginning. If there are any lessons that I have learned over the last few days, it's that sometimes things happen that you simply can't control. Sometimes you may have to walk away from something or someone in order to get peace of mind. And sometimes you end up having to say goodbye to someone a lot sooner than you expected.

And sometimes, you just have to take a deep breath, collect your wits, and do your best to get on with your life, no matter how badly one is feeling at the time.

In the spirit of moving on with life, I look ahead by focusing on a brand new week of blog topics, starting with the Saturday Morning feature.

And it happens to be a cartoon that is based on a popular role playing game.



I don't know how many of you played the game Dungeons & Dragons in your youth, but I know that thousands of people have played the game since its early beginnings in the year 1974. Before people began playing role playing video games such as “Final Fantasy”, “The Legend Of Zelda”, “Phantasy Star”, and “Chrono Trigger”, they gathered around a kitchen table and played a game of Dungeons & Dragons. Depending on the number of players who are playing, the characters that are used, and the various rules within the game, players could visit a mythical world filled with magic, fighting, and quests to solve.

Consider it a board game version of “World of Warcraft”, if you will.

Over the last few years, Dungeons & Dragons has evolved into several different formats. At least four different editions and ten separate revisions have been made since the game was originally released thirty-eight years ago, ensuring that several generations of RPG freaks could enjoy this game.

And, when I refer to people as RPG freaks, I mean that as a term of endearment. I am, after all, and RPG freak myself.

But did you know that a cartoon series was based off of this popular RPG? It's true. Just take a look at the intro which I have posted down below!



Yes, we're going to take a look at the television cartoon “Dungeons & Dragons”. The show aired as a part of CBS' Saturday Morning line-up between September 1983 and December 1985. Although only twenty-seven episodes of the series were made, they were split up into three seasons. The first season contained thirteen episodes, the second contained eight, and the final season contained six.



The television series followed the trials and tribulations of six youths between the ages of eight and fifteen. All six of them are at an amusement park, riding all the rides, playing all the games, and stuffing their faces with churros and cotton candy. At some point, all six of them meet up in front of a giant roller coaster type ride known as the “Realm of Dungeons & Dragons”. All six are excited to ride the coaster and don't hesitate to board the ride.

It turns out to be a ride that they will never forget.

You know how most roller coasters are designed in such a way that you make twists, turns, and loops? At first it started that way. But then things became weird. The track began to disappear, the roller coaster cabs were sucked into a giant vortex, and magically the children and their 1980s haute couture were trapped in a magical world filled with dragons, knights, and fashions that were worse than leg warmers and acid wash jeans!

The six youths are incredibly frightened, and all they really want to do is go back home. I can't say that I blamed them. I remember very vaguely watching this show when I was four years old, and I recall telling my parents that I would never go on a roller coaster again if it meant that I would end up in a strange world with no way out! Though, during the 27 episodes that were filmed and aired, I really don't remember if they ever found a way out. I'm guessing that they didn't, as I read somewhere that producers briefly considered keeping the program on the air for the 1986/87 season.

However, the six youths did end up having an ally in the form of the Dungeon Master, a wise old man who helps equip each of the kids with weapons that they are to use to defend themselves with.

And just what exactly are the kids defending themselves against?



Well, the forces of evil of course. It was bad enough that there was a frightening five-headed dragon named Tiamat which was big and scary enough that it was a suicide mission to go against it alone. But there was also an evil wizard who went by the name of Venger, and Venger had the belief that he could rule the entire realm if he could get his hands on the very weapons that the Dungeon Master bestowed upon them. Once he had the weapons, he could extract their power to rule the whole world.

Of course, Venger had to deal with the fact that the six youths were a lot tougher and smarter than he thought.

So, who are the six kids who were brought to this magical land to save it from Venger and Tiamat?



Well, from left to right are Hank, Eric, Diana, Presto, Sheila, and Bobby.



Hank, the Ranger is the eldest of the group at fifteen years of age. His best qualities are bravery and the ability to think quickly without losing his cool. A skilled archer, his weapon is the magical bow, which has the power to shoot arrows laced with glowing energy. Certainly the arrows could be used to pierce people, but more often than not, he uses the bow and arrows as a way to make a ladder, or blinding his enemies temporarily with the light given off by the arrows.



Eric, the Cavalier is one of those spoiled rich kids who came from money. In the other world where he becomes trapped, he's your typical comic relief character. Sure, he's snobby, selfish, and sarcastic (basically Reggie Mantle in a knight costume), but he also has heroic qualities that help save the day. His weapon is a magical shield which he uses to produce a force field that protects the others.



We also have Diana, the Acrobat. In the real world, Diana was in training to become the next Olympic champion in gymnastics, but in the other world, she is a natural leader, and is very skilled with her magic weapon...a magical staff that can change size and can be used as a weapon or a prop with her gymnastics moves.



Albert is the next person to be introduced, although he would rather be known as Presto, the Magician. He may be well-meaning and have a diligent disposition, but as a magician, he's more like the Amazing Mumford than Harry Houdini. His low self-confidence proves to be more detrimental than helpful, but whenever he has his magical hat around, he is able to usually pull the right item out of it that is needed to save his friends.

Finally, we have the brother and sister team of Sheila, the Thief and Bobby, the Barbarian.



First, we'll take a look at Sheila. Her weapon comes in the form of a magical cloak, which she could use to make herself invisible. And being invisible definitely was an asset when it came to escaping danger. Sheila's personality is such that she can come across as apprehensive and shy...but the minute her friends end up in danger, she comes out of her shell and displays a lot of bravery. She's also usually the one who deduces whether a plan will work out or not.



Contrast that to Bobby, who at age eight is the youngest member of the group. His weapon is that of a club which he used to cause earthquakes. He is also more impulsive than his sister, wasting no time in charging towards enemies, no matter how strong they are. He also has a pet unicorn named Uni, who is also a key figure in the series.

TRIVIA: When you watched episodes of the series, did you notice that a lot of the voices sounded quite familiar? If so, it's because several of the voice actors were sitcom stars. These included Willie Aames (Eight Is Enough, Charles In Charge), Adam Rich (Eight Is Enough), and Don Most (Happy Days).

Now, the show itself was well loved by the target audience, but not so much by parents groups, which were highly critical of the amount of violence that was being shown in the cartoon during the Saturday Morning time slot. In 1985, the National Coalition on Television Violence demanded that the FTC run a warning at the beginning of each episode that stated that the show had been linked to several, real life, violent deaths.

In fact, one script for a particular episode of “Dungeons & Dragons” was almost shelved after it revealed that the kids considered killing Venger.

I personally think that it was a complete overreaction, to be honest. You certainly don't see kids throwing anvils at each other just because they saw Bugs Bunny do it to Yosemite Sam. I know I certainly didn't try to attack my classmates with a katana blade just because I saw Leonardo kill off a few Foot Soldiers with it on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Besides, if a parent is REALLY concerned about the level of violence, maybe watch the program WITH your child and judge for yourself.

Parental supervision, people. It's common sense.