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Sunday, December 02, 2012

Merry Xmas Everybody


Just in case you missed yesterday's blog entry, this is the beginning of an event that I like to call “The Pop Culture Addict's Advent Calendar”. From now until December 25, all the entries in the blog will have some sort of holiday reference.

Yesterday, we took a look at the holiday special “Olive, the Other Reindeer”, as part of the Saturday Holiday Special day...and today we're going to be featuring a Christmas themed song as part of the Sunday Jukebox.

This year, our Sunday Jukebox spotlights will have two twists to them. The first twist is that all of the songs featured during “The Pop Culture Addict's Advent Calendar” will be seasonal favourites. And the second twist is that all of the featured songs were recorded by artists from the United Kingdom. Believe me, I had no shortage of subjects for the Sunday Jukebox this year, as so many great artists from the United Kingdom released some holiday favourites that people have listened to while wrapping gifts and sipping on hot apple cider.

All right. Enough babbling from me. Let's just get right into the selected song for today. And today's song is such that depending on which country you live in, the song is either wildly popular, or virtually unheard of.

Take people in the United States and Canada, for example. This particular song is quite rare in both of those countries. The song failed to make an impression on the charts in either country, and I'll readily admit that the first time I ever heard the song was on an episode of the BBC dramatic series EastEnders years ago. So, for those of you who are reading this blog in the United States or Canada (and there's a lot of you out there, as those two countries are the ones who read this blog the most), consider this an introduction to a brand new Christmas tune.

Now, for those of you who are living in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, you'll likely recognize this song right away. First things first, the song was a number one hit for the band who performed it. Secondly, the song managed to sell half a million copies during its first week of release! The single was certified UK Platinum in December 1980 (seven years after it was first released), and as of November 2012, it is estimated that the single has sold almost 1,200,000 copies in the United Kingdom alone!

The song was so successful in the United Kingdom that it ended up charting for years after its 1973 release. The song has made the top 100 list from 1980-1986, again in 1989 and 1990, 1998, and from 2006-2011!

So what song could have such staying power, and be beloved by so many in the United Kingdom?



Have you ever heard of the band known as Slade? The band formed in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, United Kingdom, and its original members were Noddy Holder, Jim Lea, Don Powell, and Dave Hill. The group began releasing albums and singles in 1969, and were a huge force to be reckoned with during the glam rock movement of the late 1960s/early 1970s.

Their career in their native country was phenomenal. During their time together, Slade released thirty albums, and it is estimated that the band spend a total of 531 weeks on the UK charts!

(That's a little over TEN YEARS on the charts, people!)

And let's talk about Slade's success on those very charts in great detail, shall we? Aside from beating out other established artists on the charts including Suzi Quatro, Wizzard, T. Rex, Gary Glitter, Roxy Music, and David Bowie, here are some more stats about Slade's hit singles.

  • Twenty-three Top 30 UK hits between 1969 and 2012.
  • Seventeen consecutive Top 20 hits between 1971 and 1976.
  • Six #1 singles.
  • Came very close to surpassing The Beatles record of most Top 10 records in a single decade during the 1970s.

Now, I suppose that some of you might be wondering why Slade never really seemed to catch on here in North America when they did so extremely well in the United Kingdom. I'm not entirely sure why this was the case. Listening to old Slade songs in preparation for this particular entry, I have to admit that they were a fantastic band, and had I grown up during the 1970s, I would have had them blaring from my record player all hours of the night! But, it wasn't as though Slade didn't try to make it big in the United States. In 1975, at the height of their popularity, the band tried to do some tours down there, and attempted to get noticed down there, but they found that success wasn't as easy to achieve in North America as it was in Europe.

The band did have a couple of singles charting in the United States during the 1980s with “Run Runaway” and “My Oh My”, though. And they did perform at the Reading Rock Festival after Ozzy Osbourne pulled out at the last minute in the early 1980s, which saw the band enjoy revived popularity. And even though the band officially split up in 1992, Powell and Hill have managed to reform the band with different members, and still perform together as of 2012.

Slade has also been a major influence on many bands which formed after Slade made it big. Some of these bands include Oasis, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, The Clash, Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, Def Leppard, Cheap Trick, Sex Pistols, and The Ramones.

That's quite a roster of bands, isn't it? I guess it just goes to show just how well loved they were by the public.

And I can't think of a better song to spotlight than this one.



ARTIST: Slade
SONG: Merry Xmas Everybody
ALBUM: N/A (strictly a single release)
DATE RELEASED: December 7, 1973
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: N/A
PEAK POSITION ON THE UK CHARTS: #1

Now you know where the Christmas connection comes into play here.



This was the band's sixth and final #1 single in the UK, and many people would consider this seasonal favourite the band's signature hit.

The year that this song was released was the same year that Slade was at a career high. Their previous two singles that were released in 1973 (“Skweeze Me Pleeze Me” and “Cum On Feel The Noize” - the latter also being a hit for Quiet Riot) both debuted on the UK charts at number one, a very rare feat.

It was a mutual decision between Slade and their record company, Polydor Records, to come up with a Christmas release to end off the year 1973. To prepare for the song, Noddy Holder and Jim Lea did a lot of planning, even going through some of the old material that they had written as a band.

The melody for “Merry Xmas Everybody” was created by Lea in, of all places, his bathroom shower! As for Holder's contribution, it stemmed from a 1967 composition that he had put in the reject pile while the band worked under its previous name of the “N'Betweeners”. The song's title was originally “Buy Me A Rocking Chair”. By combining the melody of Holder's song with the melody that Jim Lea had come up with while showering, it formed the basis of the song's instrumental section. Lea's melody became the verse, while Holder's melody formed the chorus.

Of course, a great Christmas song couldn't work without lyrics, and Holder was the main man responsible for composing the verses for the song, which he did in one draft after a night of drinking.



In a 2007 interview with The Daily Mail, Holder went into further detail about how “Merry Xmas Everybody” was created.

We'd decided to write a Christmas song and I wanted to make it reflect a British family Christmas. Economically, the country was up the creek. The miners had been on strike, along with the grave-diggers, the bakers and almost everybody else. I think people wanted something to cheer them up – and so did I. That's why I came up with the line 'Look to the future now, it's only just begun'. Once I got the line, 'Does your Granny always tell you that the old ones are the best', I knew I'd got a right cracker on my hands.”

NOTE: I'm not very fluent in British slang, but from what I gather, “up the creek” is a phrase describing hardships, and “right cracker” I believe is slang for “a hit”. Maybe some of my British friends can help a confused Canadian here.

But you know something? Given the description that Noddy Holder gave in that interview, I think he succeeded in what he wanted the song to be all about. Why else did the song become a huge hit just one week after its release in December 1973? Why else has the song charted as recently as 2011? Why else do so many people from the United Kingdom reflect so fondly over this song?

It's because it mixed the flashy glam rock of the 1970s with traditional values of Christmases gone by. In short, the song really did have something for everybody.



TRIVIA: The song may very well have been a song filled with warmth and Christmas tradition, but the band suffered a setback about ten weeks before the song was recorded. Around that time, Don Powell and his girlfriend, Angela Morris, were involved in a serious car accident. Tragically, Angela was killed in the crash, and Powell was left in a coma for almost a whole week. The band had to wait until Powell recovered from his injuries to record the song.

So, what kind of legacy has “Merry Xmas Everybody” left on the world? Well, lots.

I already explained about the sales of the single, as well as the fact that it repeatedly appears on UK music charts around the holiday season, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. The song is still continually played at nightclubs and pubs all across the United Kingdom around the holiday season, and the song was listed at #2 for the Best UK Single of the 1970s.

Peter Buckley described the song as “arguably the best Christmas single ever” in The Rough Guide To Rock, and the song has appeared in many Christmas soundtracks and compilations throughout the years. The song has also spawned many cover versions by other UK acts including 4 Skins, The Mission, Westlife, and even the Spice Girls, believe it or not!

As for my take on the song, I actually wish it had been released here in North America. Yeah, sure, the lyrics tend to reflect a British Christmas season, but I think that the lyrics could apply to a modern-day 2012 North American Christmas as well. I think that many of us get so caught up in the materialism and commercialism that Christmas seems to be known for nowadays that we sometimes take our traditions and put them on the backburner. For me, Christmas would NOT be Christmas without the family traditions that we all take part in...traditions that Slade successfully sang about thirty-nine Christmases ago.

So here it is, merry Christmas
Everybody's having fun.
Look to the future now,
It's only just begun...

So, that wraps up Day #2 on the Pop Culture Addict's Advent Calendar. But like Slade says in the song, it's only just begun.




Day #3 will feature the first of the holiday Monday Matinees. And the only clue you get for tomorrow is that I looked at the original movie last year around this time. This year, we're examining the sequel. So, grab yourself a cheese pizza and sit down to watch “Angels With Filthier Souls”...the Monday Matinee Christmas edition starts tomorrow.

Saturday, December 01, 2012

Olive, the Other Reindeer


Hello, everybody! And welcome to December!

And since it's December, I thought that I would take this month and make it really fun this year by having every day leading up to the twenty-fifth of December a holiday themed entry.

Now, I know most of you out there have heard the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, right? The song where a person gives his one true love five golden rings, a bunch of drummers, at least nine dancing ladies, eight maids-a-milking, and a whole bunch of fine feathered friends.

(Come to think of it, I wonder how much money it would set you back if you tried to buy every item on the 12 Days of Christmas song. I know someone figured it out a few years ago, but I can't remember what the figure is. I imagine that the five gold rings alone would set you back at least four thousand dollars given the price of gold these days.)

Besides, I always like to make every special event HUGE for the holiday season. After all, you know what they say...go big or go home, right? And, I don't think I'm ready to take my typing fingers away from the keyboard any time soon.

So, why would I stop at only TWELVE days of holiday celebrations, when I can do it until Christmas?

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...prepare yourselves for the special event this month known as...

THE POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR!!!

I'm sure that most of you out there know what an advent calendar is, right? Well, if you don't know, I'll explain it. You might have seen in stores those little cardboard boxes with little slots cut into them? In most cases, the doors are numbered 1-24, but some of the more modern ones have thirty-two slots, to last well into the new year. What one does is they purchase an advent calendar right around the end of November leading into December. When December 1st rolls around, a person is supposed to open up the door that has the number “1” marked on the outside, and when they do that, they get to eat the yummy piece of chocolate or candy within. You did this every day of December until Christmas Eve, when you opened up the “24” door, which always had the largest piece of chocolate behind it. It was a brilliant (and delicious) way to count down to the big day, and I think I had an advent calendar well into my teenage years (I think I gave them up when I was seventeen to be completely honest with you...what can I say, I loved chocolate shaped like bells and wreaths).

I suppose that you're probably wondering how I'm going to pull off an advent calendar on this blog. It's not as if I could make you open up a door and I will be able to send you chocolate through the Internet. I really wish we had the technology to be able to do that, but until that is possible, you'll just have to pretend. But what I can do is make every blog entry from today until Christmas Day holiday themed for your viewing pleasure. I will warn you ahead of time that I'm one of those people who does celebrate Christmas, but I will try to work in some mention of Hanukkah and Kwanzaa within this blog for those of you who do celebrate those holidays. After all, I believe that every celebration in December is important.

The theme days will remain the same, but here's what you can expect to see over the next 25 days.

MONDAY MATINEES will feature movies that have to do with Christmas and holiday themes.

The TUESDAY TIMELINE will feature a subject that has at least some reference to the holiday...even if it is minute. We've also designed a new colour scheme for the logo, which I previewed last Tuesday.

On the WEDNESDAY GIFT SHOP entries, we're going to take a look at toys (it is the season, after all), and these entries are toys that I know a little about, as all the featured toys were ones that I ended up getting as Christmas presents in my youth.

The THURSDAY DIARIES will feature some personal holiday stories, as well as my hopes and dreams for this and any future Christmases.

The day known as TGIF is going to look at some holiday themed television specials that you may have watched in your youth. Some you may remember, and some you may not, but I hope you'll have a good time reminiscing about them.

SATURDAY MORNINGS will be temporarily changing to SATURDAY HOLIDAY SPECIALS, and I hope that I will be featuring television specials that you love and remember.  The difference between this day and Friday is that the Saturday specials are going to be animated.

And the SUNDAY JUKEBOX this month will not only feature contemporary Christmas songs that hit the pop charts...but this year, all the songs will be performed by artists from the United Kingdom! It's a very British Christmas, guv'nor!



Okay, so let's start this advent calendar off in style. As I look at my calendar, it happens to be Saturday, which means that we're featuring a holiday special today. And the holiday special that I have chosen to spotlight this week is one that features a little dog with a lot of heart, determination, and desire to save Christmas...despite the efforts of a cold-hearted postal worker who has a grudge to settle.

And to my surprise, this television special was inspired by a book written by Vivian Walsh and illustrated by J. Otto Seibold, and in 1999, Simpsons creator Matt Groening, along with help from writer Steve Young and director Oscar Moore, brought the characters in the book to life.



And the end result became the television special “Olive, the Other Reindeer”.

Guess what! I've even included a link to the full length television special, which first aired on December 17, 1999. You can watch it HERE.



TRIVIA: Olive, the Other Reindeer premiered exactly ten years after another Christmas special that Matt Groening had a hand in creating...the very first episode of the Simpsons debut season (“Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” originally aired December 17, 1989).



Olive, the Other Reindeer was one of two non-Simpsons projects that Matt Groening debuted in 1999 (the other one being the television series “Futurama” which has aired on and off since 1999), and it was quite unlike any Christmas special that had aired before it. The animation style was done by using paperlike character art in three-dimensional backgrounds, giving it the appearance of a Christmas card...or an episode of South Park. Whichever you prefer, I suppose.

And talk about an all-star voice cast! The star of the show was Drew Barrymore, who voiced the title character of Olive, but the rest of the cast was rounded out by Dan Castellaneta, Billy West (both of whom had roles in The Simpsons and Futurama respectively), Jay Mohr, Peter MacNicol, Joe Pantoliano, Ed Asner, Tress MacNeille, Tim Meadows, and R.E.M lead singer Michael Stipe!



Yes...THAT Michael Stipe.

The end result though was a cartoon special that was filled with a lot of heart and soul. Of course, like any other creation by Matt Groening, there are also a lot of sight gags and plays on words. (There is a character named Round John Virgin, for example.)



Now, because I've posted a link to the Christmas special within this blog, I don't think that I want to spoil the ending of the show, as I really want you all to watch it yourselves. But here's the gist of the show. Olive (Barrymore) is actually not a reindeer, but a dog. And Christmas happens to be her all-time favourite holiday (although in song, she also loves Valentine's Day, the 4th of July, Halloween, and Thanksgiving). She loves getting in the Christmas spirit, and she displays that spirit all year long. But there's trouble afoot when she returns home to her master, Tim (Mohr). She is shocked to see Tim putting away the decorations ahead of schedule, sadly telling Olive that there won't be a Christmas this year. At first, Olive doesn't know what Tim is talking about, but soon after, she hears a radio bulletin which confirms her worst fears. Apparently, Blitzen injured himself and is unable to take part in taking Santa Claus around the world to deliver presents to all of the good boys and girls. The radio broadcast stated that Santa hoped to be able to continue the journey with “all of the other reindeer”, which Olive seems to misunderstand as Santa needing her help.

Get it? All of the other reindeer = Olive, the Other Reindeer. Cute, huh?



Anyway, with Olive determined to help Santa save Christmas by becoming a reindeer (even though she happens to be a dog that can't fly), she makes getting to the North Pole a top priority. With assistance from a con-artist penguin named Martini (Pantoliano), whom Olive helped save from getting arrested when he was selling counterfeit watches, Olive ends up on a bus to the North Pole.



But there's one person who doesn't want to see her succeed...the evil, duplicitous mailman (Castellaneta), who has a score to settle with Santa ever since he was placed on his permanent “Naughty” list. His main goal is to try and get Christmas canceled for good at all costs...and the minute he hears Olive talking about her plan to become Santa's reindeer, he follows along and tries to stop her every step of the way.



But it isn't like Olive doesn't have allies along the way. In addition to Martini, she ends up getting support from a bus driver named Richard Stans (Meadows), a pair of Eskimo travelers, Round John Virgin and Blitzen's flightless cousin, Schnitzel (Stipe). At some point, all of these people end up helping Olive get to the North Pole to achieve her goal of saving Christmas, and getting an audience with Santa Claus (Asner) himself.

So, does Olive, the Other Reindeer save Christmas? Does Martini find a way to move past his con artist ways? Does the postman end up getting signed, sealed, and delivered far away from Olive? Does Santa manage to make his journey? Does Round John Virgin get the cordless drill that he wanted for Christmas?

I know, that last one sounds kind of random, but if you watch the show, it makes a lot of sense.



All in all, I highly recommend Olive, the Other Reindeer as part of your holiday viewing this Christmas, and I think it's a great way to kick off the Pop Culture Addict's Advent Calendar.



Coming up on DAY #2: A Christmas song by a British rock band that never caught on here in North America, but topped the charts on several different occasions in the U.K. Here's a clue.

So here it is, merry Christmas, everybody's having fun,
Look to the future now, it's only just begun...”

Friday, November 30, 2012

I Dream of Jeannie


Before I get started with today's edition of the blog, I just wanted to take this opportunity to pay tribute to a fantastic actor who passed away recently.



Last Friday, Larry Hagman passed away at the age of 81 in Dallas, Texas. The cause of death being complications from throat cancer. He leaves behind his wife of 58 years, Maj Axelsson, and his two children, Heidi Kristina and Preston, as well as countless friends and co-workers who were lucky enough to have worked with him.

It almost seems hard to believe that Larry Hagman is gone. After all, he did survive a life-saving surgery in the summer of 1995 after being diagnosed with liver cancer and requiring a transplant. And whenever I saw him doing publicity for his work in television, or doing talk-show interviews, he always had something about him that made him seem invincible. The confidence that he displayed throughout the years was nothing short of inspiring, as far as I'm concerned.



At the time of his death, he was working on the rebooted version of the show that helped cement his status as an actor, “Dallas”. His portrayal of the cunning, duplicitous, money-hungry J.R. Ewing helped make the original run of the series a huge success. After all, J.R. Ewing was the key player in one of Dallas' biggest storylines, “Who Shot J.R.?”. What was interesting about his time on “Dallas” was that he played a character that was universally hated by the other characters on the show, but off-screen, he shared an extremely close relationship with them.



When Hagman died last Friday, Linda Gray (who played J.R.'s long-suffering wife, Sue Ellen) called Hagman her best friend of 35 years and referred to him as “The Pied Piper of life” who “brought joy to everyone he knew.” And Patrick Duffy, who played J.R.'s brother Bobby, issued a statement of his own, saying that “he was a fighter in the gentlest way, against his obstacles and for his friends”. Both Duffy and Gray were both at Hagman's bedside when he passed away.

But while “Dallas” was probably one of the biggest career opportunities that Larry Hagman ever had, it was far from being his only successful project. A lot of people may not know this, but he entertained U.S. Troops at Air Force bases in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe during the Korean War, appeared on the television soap opera “The Edge of Night”, and performed in several Broadway plays.

And of course, everyone who grew up during the 1960s probably remembers him best for his role in this particular sitcom, the one that we'll be talking about in this special edition of the blog.



Yes, we're breaking free from the “canceled before their time” CBS dramatic series for this week to talk about the classic NBC sitcom, “I Dream of Jeannie”, which along with Hagman starred Barbara Eden as Jeannie, a 2,000 year old genie who is more than happy to grant the wishes of whoever becomes her master.



Created by Sidney Sheldon as a way to compete against the wildly popular television series “Bewitched”, the television series was inspired by a feature film, “The Brass Bottle”, which ironically enough also starred Barbara Eden, Tony Randall, and Burl Ives. Sheldon came up with the idea of making the main character a beautiful female genie in order to compete with Elizabeth Montgomery's Samantha.

Of course, finding the perfect Jeannie was a tough task for Sidney Sheldon. He was very picky about finding the right actress to fill the part the way that he had written it. In particular, he didn't want a genie that was blonde because of the fact that the main character of Bewitched was also blonde...but after many unsuccessful auditions, Sheldon called the agent of Barbara Eden, and the rest is history.



The show debuted on NBC on September 18, 1965. The show centered around astronaut Captain Anthony “Tony” Nelson (Hagman), who ends up landing on a deserted South Pacific island after a space flight. He ends up finding a bottle that has washed up on a beach, and rubs it, which causes Jeannie to appear to him. And it appears as though Jeannie hasn't seen a man for hundreds of years, as the first thing she does is plant a kiss so deep on Tony's lips that he is left completely gobsmacked.

There's also another problem with Tony releasing Jeannie out into the world. She can't speak English, which frustrates Tony as he can't understand her. But then Tony puts his brain cells together and realizes that he could make a wish to understand her better. And once he makes that wish, Jeannie can speak English for the rest of the series. Once that happens, Tony makes another wish, and ends up getting rescued from the island. Tony wishes to express his gratitude to Jeannie, so he tells her that she's free. But Jeannie's already fallen head over heels in love with Tony, and makes the decision to accompany him back to his home by hitching a ride in her bottle and sneaking aboard his duffle bag.



Once Tony returns home, the series depicts what life is like living with a 2,000 year old genie. Tony initially keeps Jeannie in her bottle for the majority of the show's first couple of seasons, but midway through the series, Tony realizes that he isn't doing Jeannie any favours by keeping her imprisoned in the bottle, so he makes the decision to let her out and enjoy her own life.

There's just one problem. Because Jeannie is a genie, her existence is very much linked to her master, and as a result, everything she does, she does out of her love for Tony. And this initially causes problems for Tony, who fears that he will lose his job if any of his superiors discovered Jeannie's identity. Jeannie successfully plays a key part in ending Tony's engagement to Melissa Stone, she almost becomes the master of Tony's friend Roger Healey after he steals Jeannie's bottle for his own selfish desires, and on top of all that, she has an evil twin (Eden in a dual role) that threatens to destroy the relationship that Tony has with Jeannie.

Of course, all that scheming was in vain. Tony ends up getting promoted to the rank of Major, and by the end of the series in May 1970, Jeannie and Tony got married to each other.

There were a couple of running gags that were present throughout the series run. One gag was that Jeannie's powers would be nullified if Jeannie found herself trapped in an enclosed space. In fact, one multi-arc episode featured Jeannie being trapped in a safe that was rigged to explode if the wrong combination was entered. It actually became an at-home contest, with viewers at home trying to come up with the right 3-digit number.

(In case you were wondering, the combo of the safe was revealed to be 497.)

And the other running gag involved Tony trying his best to keep Jeannie a secret, which often involved him acting erratically. This often got him some unwanted attention from NASA's resident psychiatrist, U.S. Air Force Colonel Dr. Alfred Bellows, and Bellows' unsuccessful attempts to discredit Tony.

And, here's some other interesting facts about the show itself.



Jeannie's genie bottle was not specifically created for the show. It was actually a Christmas 1964 Jim Beam liquor decanter!

The original bottle was supposed to be smoke green with gold embellishments, but due to the fact that the first few episodes were shot entirely in black and white, the colours obviously didn't show up. When the show began filming in colour about thirty episodes in, the colour of the bottle changed to purple.

It was estimated that a total of 12 bottles were used during the entire series. Barbara Eden, Larry Hagman, and Bill Daily each kept one of the bottles that were used in the taping of the shows after the series wrapped up.

The reason why season one was filmed in black and white was due to NBC's refusal to pay the extra money to have the show broadcast in colour.

Jeannie's birthdate was reported to be April 1, 64 B.C.

Barbara Eden's real-life husband, Michael Ansara, appeared in three episodes of the series.

Barbara Eden was actually pregnant during the first season of the series, so she was shot in close-up, or had a veil covering her stomach area. And on that note...



Barbara Eden was forced to cover up her navel as – believe it or not – an exposed navel was quite scandalous for the mid-1960s. Weirdly enough, the exposed navel didn't become a problem until the third season, when a person casually observed that it was visible when the waistband of her costume shifted. Oh, how times have changed.

Jeannie's costume is now on display at the Smithsonian. Her shoes were supplied by Neiman Marcus.

Apparently, Pontiac must have been a sponsor of the show, as all the characters drove cars made by Pontiac in the show.

Apparently, Larry Hagman was almost replaced by Darren McGavin, as some people reported that he was incredibly difficult to work with. The only reason Hagman stayed on was because the NBC executives loved him.

At one point, writer James S. Henerson wrote for both “I Dream of Jeannie” and “Bewitched”. Talk about conflict of interest! He was eventually fired from “Bewitched”.

An animated series was filmed by Hanna-Barbera based on the series called “Jeannie” which aired during the 1970s.

And, that's about all that I have to say about “I Dream of Jeannie”. It was a classic show that brought joy to a lot of people...and it was the show that helped kickstart the career of Larry Hagman...even if his behind the scenes storyline wasn't quite as idyllic as the life his character enjoyed on the show.

Rest in peace, Larry...you may have made a name for yourself by getting shot on a long-running drama, but you also proved that you could be a nice guy on screen as well.



Larry Hagman
1931-2012

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Party of One


The holiday season is a time of year in which people get together for all sorts of parties and celebrations. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or any other holiday, I'm certain that most of you will spend them with family, friends, or other people who mean a lot to you at various gatherings and parties.

This week's edition of the Thursday Diaries talks about a holiday party that was recently held...and why I ended up flaking out of it.

November 29, 2012

Okay, diary...I know it seems a bit weird that I keep referring to these series of blog entries as the Thursday Diaries. After all, there are no books involved...no pens, no pieces of paper...not even a key that unlocks it. But, I was told by quite a few people in my life that I should try to bring a little bit more of myself in these entries, so I decided to take their advice. I think in some ways, it's working out better because I get to share more of myself with all of you out there....but also, I get to talk about topics that I likely wouldn't be able to talk about in a standard entry on pop culture.

Most recently, I was faced with another situation in which I was given advice in regards to something else. Advice that upon retrospect I probably should have taken.



I guess I should explain. Last week was my workplace's Christmas party. It was held at a banquet hall in town, and everybody who worked at the store was invited. All you had to do was sign up before a specific date so that the store's social committee could figure out how much food to order.

There were several people who signed up for it. I think that I lost count after 100 people. And for what it was worth, I will say that our store's social committee worked overtime in order to make the party a success. They booked the venue, they bought the door prizes, and they advertised the party in such a way that the whole store knew about it within a matter of days.

And yet, I chose not to attend. Instead, I went home and spent the evening working on writing projects. And at first, I was comfortable with my decision. I believed that I had made the right choice at the time for a multitude of reasons.

But then I went into work the very next day and heard people who had gone to the party talking about how great a time they had, and I saw pictures of the event that people had taken, and I was beginning to change my stance, and felt like I had missed out on a good time.

Funny how that works, huh?



So I suppose that you're wondering why I decided not to go to the party. It's a bit of a complicated explanation, and I fear that I may contradict myself when it comes to trying to talk it out...but it's a risk I'm willing to take.

I should state this from the very beginning. For most of my life, I have had a really terrible experience with parties. When I was a kid, I was lucky if I was invited to one or two birthday parties a year, while all my other classmates went to at least half a dozen. As far as people throwing me parties, that track record was even more dismal. If I can remember correctly, I think I've only had two surprise parties in thirty-one years of living. And that admission is not one that is meant to induce sympathy or pity either...just telling it like it is.



I actually think that those experiences of going to parties as a child (or lack thereof in my situation) sort of hindered my outlook on them when I grew older. By the time I was old enough to pick and choose what parties and social events I went to, I simply picked and chose to not go. And in situations where I was forced to go to a social event such as a wedding or a graduation party, I chose to keep to myself in an isolated corner.

You see, by that time of my life, I was completely over weddings, parties, anything really. I felt incredibly uncomfortable being at them in general...so uncomfortable that I ended up making excuses as to why I would choose not to go. The venues were too crowded, the music was too loud, I didn't want to go to a party without a date...in my head they sounded logical, and I never really thought much about it.

And just as I had for every party that I flaked out on in the past, I made excuses over why I didn't go to the Christmas party last week. I didn't have a date, so I would have sat by myself. Many of the people who signed up to attend the party were people who never really bothered with me much in the first place, so why would the Christmas party be any different? You know, foolish excuses like that.

Now I feel as though I potentially missed out on what could have been a great time.

I mean, yeah, it's entirely possible that the excuses that I kept making for myself could have happened. Yet, it's also entirely possible that these excuses were all in my head and that I was purposely trying to get out of spending time in social gatherings.

The only question that I keep asking myself is...why do I do this?

Well, I think it boils down to this. And bear with me here, it's hard to explain.



I was thinking that because I had a few bad experiences with parties in my youth, that no party was worth going through that again. So, I ended up rejecting any invitation to parties that contained more than three people (which I'm not really sure if a party of four counts as a party) because I couldn't face the prospect of going there just to be ignored or have a bad time.

And what ultimately happened was that I had a bad time at home feeling sorry for myself.

You see, what I didn't realize was that by rejecting party invitations, I was basically closing the doors to future events. I mean, think about it for a second. If you heard that a person rejected six different party invitations, would you even make the effort to invite them to your party?

So, eventually the party invitations just stopped coming...and it was of my own doing...though my mindset at the time was all about blaming others for being snobbish and stuck-up as to not including me in their celebrations. So, yes, I'll own that. A lot of my bad party experiences were of my own doing.

I'm not sure why I spent so much time trying to avoid parties...I can only made educated guesses. I refused to go to the after-party for my high school graduation because, well, let's face it...would you want to hobknob with the very people who spent four to five years bullying you? I don't think so. At the same time, there were some people at my school that I did like, and who did attend the same party that I could have hung around with instead. A missed opportunity, I guess.

And looking back on it, I suppose that my decision to skip the Christmas party at work was based on a lot of those insecurities that I had growing up...insecurities that admittedly still bother me as an adult. Insecurities that I want to obliterate from my personality once and for all.  I mean, many of the people at that party were co-workers of mine...some I've known for eight years.  Why would I be afraid to be myself in front of them at a Christmas party when I am known for making a fool out of myself at work all the time?  It makes no sense...and yet, here we are.

I think that the only way that I'll be able to conquer my insecurities and anxieties regarding social gatherings is by going to more of them, and getting better acquainted with how they run.  And I suppose if it means grinning and bearing it at social events in the future, it might be worth it, if it means that I become more socially approachable in the process.

I guess it's something to think about.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Good Luck Trolls


As we approach the Christmas season, this is the time of year in which most toy companies end up making a bulk of their profits. It certainly makes sense. After all, what do most kids between the ages of three and thirteen ask for on their Christmas lists? Toys, of course.



So, for the next few weeks, I thought that I would do spotlights on some popular toys that were huge when I was a kid...and these are toys that I have actually received as Christmas presents back in the day myself. So in addition to learning more about these toys, you'll also be entertained by some personal stories in relation to my experiences with these toys. I hope you enjoy it.

Okay, so because I'm trying to make this blog a little more personal, I should share with you a little bit of a story in regards to my Christmas experiences...as well as my family.

It's no secret when I admit that my family didn't have a whole lot of money available for holidays. When you come from a one-parent family income, which barely covered the essentials needed for survival, there wasn't a whole lot of extra money available. And yet, I can always remember having great Christmases. My parents really worked hard to make sure that my siblings and I partook in the joy that Christmas had to offer, and it wasn't just about the gifts either. It was about spending time together, and enjoying the traditions that came with the holiday season.

One of these traditions for the holiday that I can always remember occurred on Christmas Eve. When my siblings and I were children, we were allowed to open one present on Christmas Eve night...the only catch was that it was the same thing every year. We weren't even allowed to choose which gift we could unwrap...we had to open a gift that our parents chose for us.



Those gifts ended up always being some form of sleepwear. Pajamas, slippers, baby doll nightgowns (well, okay, I personally did NOT get that last option). When I was a kid, I admittedly found it to be a drag getting pajamas every single year. I almost would have welcomed opening up socks and underwear instead...at least it would have been a change! It wasn't until I got older than I really began to appreciate the tradition for what it was. And if I'm ever lucky enough to have a son or a daughter of my own one day, I plan to share that tradition with them.

So, what does a story about getting pajamas as a present have to do with today's toy spotlight? After all, pajamas are not toys. I'm getting to that.

You see, one of the key elements in trying to figure out which gift underneath the tree was the one we were to open on Christmas Eve was how it was labeled. On our Christmas Eve gifts, the gift tag attached to the present was always from “Dad”. This always meant that every present that had the “Dad” gift tag contained pajamas.

Now when I was twelve years old, I knew the drill. On December 24, I would search under the tree, looking for a gift that was from “Dad”, and opened it up expecting to see some form of pajamas. To my surprise though, when I ripped off the red and green wrapping paper, and opened up the box, I found this instead.



Now clearly I couldn't wear this to bed. But I couldn't figure out how I ended up with a Troll Doll for a Christmas Eve present instead of a pair of pajamas. And neither could my parents, who were just as shocked as I was!

That is until my parents looked over the shredded wrapping paper all over the floor and saw where the mix-up took place. Do you know those ribbons and bows that have the peel and stick backings on them? Like these ones below?



Apparently when my parents were wrapping presents in preparation for Christmas, they accidentally put a big bow so close to the gift tag that it obscured the word “Mom” in the “From Mom and Dad” written on it. And soon after, we found the right Christmas Eve gift, I got my Christmas Eve pajamas, and all was right in the world...well, aside from the fact that I ended up with two Christmas Eve gifts.

Not that I complained too much, of course.

In fact, I'll level with you. The Troll Doll that I accidentally unwrapped that Christmas Eve was a gift that I had never gotten before. It was a toy that looked so ugly, but yet it was kind of cool at the same time. And hey, the troll's hair was my favourite colour (purple), so it had that going for it as well. I think I ended up getting about a half a dozen when I was a kid, just because I thought they were interesting.

In fact, I've decided to use this blog to talk about Troll Dolls, as well as the origin behind them and how they initially became popular during the 1960s, and enjoyed a brief comeback in the 1990s.



The history of the Troll Doll begins a little over five decades ago in the country of Denmark. The year was 1959, and Danish fisherman Thomas Dam was having difficulty coming up with the right Christmas present to give to his daughter, Lila. So, he decided to do what a lot of other people have done...make something. In addition to being a fisherman, he was an experienced woodcarver, and he decided to carve something special for Lila. Christmas came, Lila ended up getting her special present, and she loved it very much.

And apparently, so did all the other kids in the Danish village where Thomas and Lila lived.



This is one of the original designs of what would come to be known as the Troll Doll as it appeared back in 1959. Adorable little creature, isn't he?

So, Thomas Dam decided to mass produce the Troll Dolls so that every kid in the village would have one, substituting plastic for the original wooden one that he had made Lila. The dolls were produced by his company known as Dam Things (a rather unfortunate name for a company when you stop and think about it), and were sold under the name of “Good Luck Trolls”.

The dolls became instant sensations in several European nations, but it wouldn't be until 1963 until they began to make an impact on North America. From 1963 until 1965, “Good Luck Trolls” became a huge fad in the United States.



Of course, with the success of the Troll Doll came the knockoffs and sub-standard versions. The original Troll dolls created by Thomas Dam were known as Dam Dolls (again, a rather unfortunate name), and were made of quality materials including glass eyes and hair made from sheep wool. But due to the sudden popularity of the troll dolls, coupled with a copyright notice error of Dam's original product, cheaper versions were made that flooded North American shelves.

By 1966, Troll dolls were fading in popularity in North America, but the company remained open to produce them for the European market, in which they were still widely popular well into the 1970s. But around 1988, Troll Dolls began to make a reappearance on store shelves all across Canada and the United States. The E.F.S. Marketing Associates Inc. were one of the very few corporations that the Dam family (you can tell I'm having a lot of fun with the play on words here, can you) allowed to market the dolls.



The dolls were sold in the United States under the name of “Norfin Trolls”, and several versions of the Troll dolls were mass produced including the classic Troll...



...Trolls with lucky gem stones...



...Trolls with clothes...



...believe it or not, there was even a two-headed Troll doll! As if they weren't ugly enough already!

In 2003, a Congressional law allowed the Dam family to restore their original copyright and become the sole manufacturer of the dolls...forty years after the misprint in the original copyright statement was made. Despite an American company's decision to challenge the restoration of the copyright in court, the court ruled in favour of the Dam family, and the copyright has been in their possession ever since.

As of 2012, Troll dolls are still being manufactured, though their popularity has waned in recent years. It certainly didn't help that DiC Entertainment tried to capitalize on the popularity of Troll dolls by creating its own animated series known as Trollz – an attempt that failed miserably in the United States, and prompted the company that held the rights to the dolls to file a lawsuit against DiC in 2007. But I'd reckon that Troll dolls might find their way back into toy stores all over the world once again. Believe it or not, there are plans to release a Troll doll movie!

The plans were announced by DreamWorks Animation in the summer of 2010, and as of right now, Chloe Grace Moretz has been cast as the female lead of the film. It even has a tentative release date of June 2015!

So, okay, we have to wait three years before we see any motion pictures featuring the spiky-haired trolls of yore...but would you care to take a wager that if and when the movie comes out, you'll see the fad make a comeback?

Remind me to revisit this topic in the summer of 2015, to see if I'm right!