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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

April 16, 1971


Before I kick off another Tuesday Timeline, I need to say something.

By now, I'm sure that all of you have heard about the senseless tragedy that took place yesterday afternoon in Boston, Massachusetts at the 2013 Boston Marathon. At least two people were killed and hundreds more injured when a series of bombs were detonated near the finish line at the Boston Marathon. The actions that took place yesterday are barbaric and inexcusable, and I will never understand why someone would commit such a violent act at what is supposed to be a peaceful and joyous event.

I just wanted to take this time to offer my prayers to those who were in the Boston area the afternoon of April 15, 2013, and to those who either lost a loved one, or knew someone who was seriously wounded in the attacks, my deepest sympathies and condolences to all of you. I know it's of little comfort, but I just wanted to offer my public support to everyone affected by this tragedy.

And, now...on with the Tuesday Timeline for April 16.

We'll begin with those celebrities who are unwrapping birthday presents today. A very happy birthday to Pope Benedict XVI, Peter Mark Richman, Bobby Vinton, Ann Romney, Billy West, Peter Garrett (Midnight Oil), Ellen Barkin, Scott McKinsey, Jimmy Osmond, Jon Cryer, Martin Lawrence, Max Beesley, Peter Billingsley, Akon, Nick Pickard, Lukas Haas, Natalie Blair, and Claire Foy.

And, here are some of the happenings that have taken place throughout history on April 16...

73 A.D. - The Great Jewish Revolt comes to an end with the fall of Masada, a Jewish fortress

1799 – Napoleon Bonaparte drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan

1818 – The U.S. Senate ratifies the Rush-Bagot Treaty, which eventually establishes the border dividing the United States and what would become the nation of Canada

1881 – Bat Masterson fights his final gun battle in Dodge City, Kansas

1889 – Silent film star Charlie Chaplin is born in London

1912 – Harriet Quimby becomes the first female pilot to fly an airplane across the English Channel

1924 – Composer Henry Mancini is born in Cleveland, Ohio

1939 - Singer Dusty Springfield is born

1941 – Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller throws the only Opening Day no-hitter in the history of Major League Baseball

1945 – Nearly one million troops fight in the Battle of the Seelow Heights

1947 – Texas City, Texas catches on fire following an explosion on board a freighter docked at port, killing 600 people

1962 – Walter Kronkite assumes the lead anchor position for the CBS Evening News

1963 – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. writes his Letter from Birmingham Jail

1990 – Dr. Jack Kevorkian participates in his first assisted suicide

2007 – 32 people are killed, and another 23 people are injured in the Virginia Tech shootings

For today's blog entry, we're going to take a look back on a singer who could have had it all. She was already an established starlet in the Tejano music market, and was looking at expanding her fanbase to the English speaking world. Tragically, her life was cut short in a senseless act of violence, and nearly twenty years later, people still wonder if she could have had as lengthy and successful career as other musical artists such as Gloria Estefan and Jennifer Lopez have had.



She was born on April 16, 1971. Had she lived, she would be turning 42 years old today. Unfortunately, she died less than three weeks before her twenty-fourth birthday.



This is the story of a young woman named Selena. All she wanted was to sing and to make people happy. And, I think that's why so many people were saddened and angry when in 1995, Selena was taken from the world in such a senseless and violent manner.

Born in Lake Jackson, Texas on April 16, 1971, Selena Quintanilla was the youngest of three children born to Marcella and Abraham Quintanilla Jr. She began singing at the age of three, and when the family relocated to Corpus Christi, Texas, Selena and her siblings performed at every public event they could book – from weddings, to quinceaneras (kind of similar to a Sweet 16 party except that in the Latino world, the fifteenth birthday is the most important teenage birthday for girls). Selena's popularity continued to rise to the point where she was constantly performing and touring, and when she was fourteen, her father pulled her out of school so she could perform and record music full-time.

Fear not though. Selena did earn her high school diploma by correspondence in 1988, when she was seventeen.

As luck would have it, the very year that Selena left school was the same year that Selena got her first break. In 1985, she recorded what would become her first album. Funny thing about it was that it took nearly a decade before the public would get a chance to listen to it. Her father was so proud of Selena's accomplishment that he bought every copy of the original album that was released at the time! It was later re-released in 1995 under the title Mis Primeras Grabaciones (My First Recordings). Shortly after that, Selena began releasing other albums – six in total – without having an official recording contract from a major record label!

Even more impressive was that she won the Best Female Vocalist Award at the 1987 Tejano Music Awards when she was just sixteen years of age! She would later win the same award for a consecutive NINE YEARS, three of which were awarded posthumously.

Is it any wonder that by the time the 1980s ended, Capitol/EMI became interested in signing Selena to a recording deal? Jose Behar signed her onto his label because he believed that she was going to be a huge star. He felt as though she could be the next Gloria Estefan.



Teaming up with her brother (Abraham Quintanilla III), Selena released the album Ven Conmigo (Come With Me) in 1990, which became the first album by a Tejano artist to reach Gold status.

INTERESTING FACT: Initially, the album cover was to be shot in colour, but Selena had dyed her hair black the night before, and some of the dye actually got on her face. The album cover became black and white to camouflage the mistake. Interesting what you can find out, huh?




1990 was also a rather interesting year for Selena, as two people would cross paths with her and change her life forever. One was Chris Perez, a man who she had met two years prior. When Selena's family hired him to play in her band, a spark flew between the two, and they immediately began dating. Unfortunately, Selena's father was completely against the pairing, and he even fired Chris from the band to keep him away from Selena! In time, Chris became accepted by the entire Quintanilla family, and the two married in April 1992.



Also in 1990, a woman by the name of Yolanda Saldivar approached Selena's father with the idea to start up an official fan club for Selena's fans. After hearing Yolanda's idea, Selena's father gave her the okay, and within the year, Yolanda became the president of Selena's official fan club, no questions asked.

It would only be five years later that Selena's father would come to realize that he was too hard on one person and tragically too lenient on the other.



Over the next four years, Selena's star continued to rise within the Latin American community. In 1992, Selena released the song, “Como La Flor”, which became a #1 hit on the Latin American charts, and in 1994, Selena's album Amor Prohibido (Forbidden Love) had sold 400,000 copies in the United States, was nominated for a Grammy Award, and had four #1 hits on the Latin American charts, including the one featured below.



ARTIST: Selena
SONG: Bidi Bidi Bom Bom
ALBUM: Amor Prohibido
DATE RELEASED: August 13, 1994
PEAK POSITION ON THE HOT LATIN TRACKS CHART: #1

At the end of 1994, Selena was well on her way to becoming a talented, successful, wealthy young woman. In addition to her music, she had also opened up two boutiques under the name “Selena Inc.” (which Yolanda Saldivar managed), founded a successful clothing line, and began acting in telenovelas. She even had a bit part in the 1995 feature film, “Don Juan DeMarco”, where she played the role of a ranchera singer. She also began speaking at local schools and became involved with the D.A.R.E. Program, which increased her fan base. By the time 1995 rolled around, Selena was considering breaking into the mainstream pop music market with an English-language album, to see if she could have just as much success as she did in the Tejano music scene.

Unfortunately, Selena would not get a chance to live out her dream.

In the first three months of 1995, Selena began to grow suspicious of Yolanda Saldivar and her true intentions. On the surface, Yolanda appeared to be Selena's biggest fan and closest confidant. However, Yolanda was also stealing from the very person she adored the most. She was caught embezzling money from Selena's own fan club, and a hurt and betrayed Selena fired Saldivar from her job at the boutique, as well as from her role as president of her fan club. Just three weeks after she was fired, on March 31, 1995, Selena agreed to meet Saldivar in a Corpus Christi hotel room to retrieve financial records related to the time period in which Saldivar was alleged to have stolen the money. Saldivar had been refusing to hand Selena the documents and Selena was getting impatient. Saldivar was getting more and more desperate the more Selena asked, even going so far as to tell Selena that she had gotten raped in Mexico to hold off the handover! When that tactic failed, Selena once more asked Saldivar to hand over the financial papers.

And Saldivar responded by pulling out a gun and shooting Selena in her right shoulder. Wounded, Selina managed to run to the hotel lobby to try and get some help, but it was too late.

On March 31, 1995 at 1:05pm, Selena Quintanilla-Perez was dead at the age of 23. The cause of death was loss of blood due to the severing of a major artery caused by the bullet wound. Yolanda Saldivar was arrested for the murder of Selena Quintanilla, and was sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after serving thirty years (or until the year 2025).

As for the aftermath of Selena's death, millions of people mourned her death all over the United States and Mexico, and some 60,000 people came out to pay their last respects to Selena. Several celebrities called the Quintanilla family to pay their respects, including Gloria Estefan, Julio Iglesias, Celia Cruz, and Madonna, just to name a few.



At the time of her death, the English language album had only been half completed, but in the summer of 1995, the English tracks that had been recorded were released along with the Spanish language songs that helped make Selena a star on the Latin Charts. The album was titled, “Dreaming of You”, and when it was released on July 18, 1995, it sold two million copies in one year! I imagine that many people who bought the album did so to honour their favourite singer, but I'll be the first to admit that I thought her songs were fantastic, and had a lot of heart and soul. We can only speculate what the full album would have sounded like, but I think that had Selena lived, she would have still had the same amount of success. It's just a shame that her life was cut too short.

In 1997, a feature film was made on Selena's life, with Jennifer Lopez taking on the role of Selena (I recommend this film as well, and Lopez does do a very convincing job). And in 2006, a life-size bronze statue of Selena was erected in Corpus Christi, along with a Selena museum.

But ultimately, the legend that Selena will be remembered most for is her music. And, as we close the book on April 16, 1971, let's close off this piece with one of my favourite Selena songs.




Monday, April 15, 2013

Wall Street


Hello, everyone out there in Internet land, and if you happen to be living in the United States, I want to wish all of you a Happy Tax Day!



(Well, okay, if you have been audited, it's not exactly going to be a “happy” one. And, even if you did get a huge refund, the steps that you took to get that refund probably isn't considered to be a happy experience either.)

Okay, how about this. HAPPY “YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT TAXES FOR ANOTHER YEAR” DAY!!!

Yes, in the United States, April 15 is the absolute deadline for filing your income tax papers for the year (Fear not, Canadians, you still have two more weeks to go, as tax day for us isn't until April 30). And, let's face it. Nobody really likes doing taxes. I bet even the accountants at H&R Block and other businesses dedicated to filing people's taxes despise doing them. But, alas, taxes is one of the things in this world that one simply cannot avoid. The other thing being death.

Wow...that sounds bleak and depressing, doesn't it?

At any rate, since today is tax day, I thought that for the subject of today's blog entry, I would try to talk about a topic that is also linked to money, finances, and the lengths that some people go to in order to be filthy rich.

And, I can only think of one movie right off the bat that does exactly that.



First, a question for you. How many of you have owned (or currently own) stocks in the stock market? Come on, don't be shy! I actually own some stock in the company that I work for. It isn't much, mind you. Since I entered the company's stock program a year and a half ago, I've only managed to accumulate seven shares. It's pocket change compared to most people, but I'm okay with that. The fact that I have a smidgen of shares in what can be an unstable venture is fine with me...

...well, at least until the stock prices go crashing down, that is.

The truth is that the stock market can be a really fickle place, and it involves just as much gambling as a night out at a casino, or buying hundreds of those Powerball lottery tickets. And, to be completely honest, as much as the gamble can potentially pay off, I'm not that much of a risk taker to put all of my savings into the stock market.

Mind you, the savviest of stockbrokers have done their research and come into the New York Stock Exchange well prepared and researched into what companies are doing hot, and what companies are...well, not.



But even the most intelligent brokers can't rely on the Wall Street Journal alone to make huge decisions in the stock exchange. A little bit of luck is involved as well. Sometimes luck can make the difference between making a small fortune, or losing a big one.

And, sometimes events happen that can cause huge hardships, no matter how great your stock portfolio is. Just take a look back at the October 1929 crash which sent the world into a Great Depression for the better part of a decade. See also the crashes of 1987, 2001, and 2008 as well – the latter one being one that we're still feeling the effects of five years later. And the 2001 collapse of Enron also destroyed the lives of many people due to the accounting scandal that saw the price of the stock drop from $90 a share to below 90 cents a share by the beginning of 2002.



And, that's where the risks come into play. It's easy enough to decide to purchase shares in the stock market. As long as people remember the rule to buy low and sell high, that should ideally be a feasible guideline to go by. But, that doesn't take into account the possible insider trading, sweetheart deals, and other corrupt behaviour that can take place on and off the trading floor. I would like to think that most stockbrokers know how the game is played and try to win the game as fairly as possible, but there are always going to be people who want to win at all costs no matter how many lies they tell or how many people they throw under the bus.



That scenario seems to be the main theme in Oliver Stone's “Wall Street”, which was released in theatres on December 11, 1987. The film was a box office smash, making $44 million on a budget of $15 million. The film had some real star power as well, with already established actors Michael Douglas and Daryl Hannah being cast in the film, as well as then rising star Charlie Sheen.

The film was critically acclaimed by many well-known critics including Jay Scott, Richard Corliss, and Roger Ebert, and nearly a quarter of a century later, the film spawned a sequel, with Douglas and Sheen (in a cameo) reprising their roles and Shia LeBeouf and Carey Mulligan as the new faces on the street.

The film also exhibited the general mantra of the 1980s in general. Greed is Good. Say it with me, people.



Thank you, Mr. Douglas!

The film begins in the year 1985. Bud Fox (Sheen) is an up-and-coming stockbroker who works for Jackson Steinem & Co, who wants nothing more than to become a real player on Wall Street. Despite his blue-collar upbringing by his father (played by Sheen's real-life father, Martin Sheen), who serves as president of the machinist's union at Bluestar Airlines, Bud has decided to idolize a man who could not be more unlike his old man. Gordon Gekko (Douglas) is a ruthless Wall Street trader who would not stop at anything to nail down a huge money making deal, even if he resorts to illegal measures to do it.



The partnership between Bud and Gekko begins as Bud pays him a visit and is given an interview. However, Gekko remains stoic and unimpressed by Bud's pitch...until Bud hands Gekko some insider information on Bluestar Airlines (that was casually mentioned in a conversation between Bud and his father. Gekko immediately starts purchasing Bluestar stock and becomes a client of Bud. Soon after, Bud is given an assignment by Gekko to spy on a British corporate raider and predict his next move so that Gekko can get dibs first. The tactic works, and Bud and Gekko quickly form a partnership and allegiance.

At first, things couldn't be going better for Bud. Thanks to the perks that Gekko promised him for doing his dirty work, Bud finds himself with a corner office, a Manhattan penthouse, and a beautiful blonde girlfriend named Darien (Hannah). But Bud's tactics – which include using friends as straw buyers and trading insider information illegally – attract the attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which immediately puts Bud on their watch list.

Still, Bud feels no guilt over anything he has done, content to living the high life as one of New York's most successful brokers, albeit attached to Gekko the same way that a marionette would be attached to its strings.

Things begin to unravel in the Bud/Gekko partnership following an idea that Bud had to purchase and expand Bluestar Airlines with Bud as president. Bud even persuades his father to get the union on his side. But Gekko pulls the wool over everyone's eyes when he reveals his plan to dissolve the company and sell off its assets to access cash from the company's pension plan, which would leave the entire staff of Bluestar unemployed and penniless...including Bud's own father. Bud quickly switches allegiances and tries his best to save his father's company...but when you have Gordon Gekko as an enemy, it won't be easy.

And, that's where I'm going to end this piece off. The ending is satisfying though, I promise you that.

Since I still have some space left, why not end this look back on Wall Street with this set of behind the scenes trivia.

01 – This was the very first feature film to feature the cell phone! Well, a cell phone that was big, bulky, and weighed three pounds!!!

02 – Before Michael Douglas won the role of Gordon Gekko, Oliver Stone really wanted either Warren Beatty or Richard Gere for the part.

03 – Tom Cruise really wanted the role of Bud in “Wall Street”, but Stone had already promised the role to Sheen. Stone and Cruise would later work together three years later when the movie “Born On The Fourth Of July” was released.

04 – The film's original title was going to be “Greed”.

05 – Michael Douglas won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film.



06 – On the flipside, Daryl Hannah won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress. Ouch.

07 – Oliver Stone's son, Sean, plays the role of Rudy Gekko.

08 – Oliver Stone had two actors in line to play the role of Bud's father. One was Martin Sheen, and the other was Jack Lemmon. Stone gave Charlie Sheen the choice as to which actor he wanted. Gee...can't imagine what went into his decision...

09 – Many people apparently came up to Stone to tell him that they felt Daryl Hannah was miscast as Darien, but Stone stood by his decision.

10 – Heck, not even Daryl Hannah was happy being cast in the role, as she felt that she was nothing like the character she was playing. Hmmm...maybe that's why she ended up with the Razzie.



11 – Sean Young was cast as Gordon Gekko's wife...but she really wanted the part that Daryl Hannah was cast in, and she made it very clear at every opportunity. Geez, what is it with Sean Young causing havoc on every movie set she was a part of? In every single Monday Matinee that I've done featuring Young as one of the actresses, she's always had something scandalous written about her!

12 – The film was finished five days ahead of schedule, as Stone had increased the hours of filming in the movie's last few weeks of shooting, partly due to a looming Director's Guild strike on the horizon.

13 – Charlie Sheen's character was originally named Joe Fox. It had to be changed after a real-life trader with the same name refused to let the film use his name.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Promises, Promises


This is the Sunday Jukebox entry for this week, and as always, I will be featuring a song in which we're going to have a discussion. However, this Sunday Jukebox is going to be a little bit different, because at first glance, it may seem more like a Thursday Diary entry.

I'll still be talking about the band that made the song, as well as some information on the song itself, but I'm also going to be adding a personal confession that is linked to this song. I'll give you a hint...it has to do with the song title.



So, let's not wait any longer. Here's the song of the day, courtesy of the British New Wave group, Naked Eyes.



ARTIST: Naked Eyes
SONG: Promises, Promises
ALBUM: Burning Bridges
DATE RELEASED: July 16, 1983
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #11



NOTE: In the United States and Canada, the album title was simply “Naked Eyes”.



Now, you might be wondering why I have chosen this song. It certainly isn't one of the band's most well known songs. Certainly their 1982 smash “Always Something There To Remind Me” is much better known to the general public. Of course, in North America, this doesn't mean much since Naked Eyes were one of those two-hit wonder bands that seemingly disappeared as quickly as they arrived.



But, I digress.

The reason why I chose to do a spotlight on this song in particular is twofold. Firstly, I actually like this song better than “Always Something There To Remind Me”. I always got distracted by the latter song's intro, which should have belonged to a wedding march, or a Christmas carol. That plus the fact that almost all of the 1980s compilations I ever owned had “Always Something There To Remind Me” included on it. I grew to loathe that song something fierce. It didn't matter that the legendary Burt Bacharach sang it first...by the five hundredth time I heard that song, I never wanted to hear it again!



But, “Promises, Promises”? Now, that is a great song (and one that was penned by Naked Eyes themselves!). If you're lucky enough to get the 12” version of the single, you can hear pop siren Madonna adding vocals to the mix.

It's also a very appropriate song given what I have to say about promises. But, I'll get to that a little bit later.

For now, why don't we talk a little bit about “Naked Eyes”, shall we?



The group was formed in Bath, England in late 1981/early 1982 by two childhood friends – Pete Byrne (vocals) and Rob Fisher (keyboards). Prior to forming Naked Eyes, they played in a band called Neon, which also featured Curt Smith and Roland Orzebal (who would later go on to form the successful UK based band “Tears for Fears”).

The band released their debut album in 1983, which peaked within the Top 40 on the Billboard 200 Charts, and their follow-up album, “Fuel for the Fire” also had minor success as well. Though it only managed to peak within the eighties on the Billboard 200, it did give the band one final Top 40 hit with “(What) In The Name Of Love”, peaking at #39 in 1984.

Shortly after the band's second album was released, both Byrne and Fisher went their separate ways, with Byrne relocating to the United States and Fisher remaining in the UK. Although the duo had limited success together as Naked Eyes, they racked up a series of solo projects which brought them much fame.



Let's take a look at Pete Byrne for example. He worked alongside Stevie Wonder on his 1985 single “Part-Time Lover”, sang background vocals for Rita Coolidge and Princess Stephanie of Monaco (Stephanie was quite the pop star in the mid-1980s), and even wrote a song for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen! He's currently touring using the “Naked Eyes” name, and as recently as 2008, he reunited with other 1980s artists ABC, Belinda Carlisle, and The Human League for an American tour.



Rob Fisher also had some solo success. In 1987, Fisher teamed up with Simon Climie to form the UK based band Climie Fisher. The band had several hits before breaking up in 1990. In 1991, he helped co-write Rick Astley's hit single “Cry For Help”, and as the 1990s drew to a close, he was talking about reuniting with Byrne to release a brand new Naked Eyes album. Unfortunately, in 1999, Fisher was diagnosed with bowel cancer, and after undergoing a surgical procedure in an attempt to slow down the progression of the cancer, Fisher passed away on August 25, 1999 at the age of 42.

And, that's the story of Naked Eyes and their short-lived career.

So, how does “Promises, Promises” tie in to a personal confession that I will be sharing in this blog entry? Well, it has to do with the title.



This is an opinion piece about people who make promises...and why I have a hard time dealing with people who always break promises in a malicious manner.

Notice how I said malicious. Sometimes circumstances happen in which promises have to be broken to prevent something bad from happening to somebody else, and sometimes promises break all on their own to the fault of neither party. But for people who break promises faster than this dog busts balloons?



Well, I'll be blunt. I'm not very keen on people like that, and have made it a mission to cut them out of my life for good.

I'm going to be completely honest with all of you when I say this. I've always had a bit of difficulty putting my complete and total trust in people. It probably could explain why I haven't been in a serious relationship with anybody, or even why I have only a few strong friendships and connections with people. I guess in some ways, while I've made peace with things that have happened to me, I'm still a little guarded when it comes to what I reveal to people.

I know it seems like a shock, given how open and honest I am within this blog. But, typing it out and writing it down somehow seems better than trying to talk it out in person with someone. When you speak to people, sometimes the words don't come out the way you want them, or they're twisted around in such a way that they lose their meaning, or you completely forget that you even said them in the first place. But typing it out where the words are clearly visible means no backtracking on something that you claim you didn't say. It's out there, clear as day, staring at you like a white elephant in the room.

So, I'll be the first one to say that in the past, I've picked my friends very poorly. In elementary school in particular, I tried to be everyone's friend, and I would do almost anything to get that friendship. If it meant sharing my cookies at recess (in which by 'sharing', I mean, I gave them the entire hoard of cookies while I eat the chocolate chip that remained). It it meant giving them the answers to tests or how to spell words correctly, that's what I did. Unfortunately, things quickly turned pear-shaped, and when I needed something from them, they turned their backs on me and walked away. Nice, huh?

I also seem to recall several instances in which I was paired up with people in school projects, and we had to work together to make sure that the project was done well. Too often I was stuck in a group that had people who promised to do their part in the project. All they had to do was research the topic, or provide the visual aids, or put together the project, and time and time again, they would shirk the responsibility on someone else just so they didn't have to do the work. So, ultimately what happened was that I got stuck doing all of the work on the project. The good news was that the work that I did on the project ended up getting good marks. The bad news is that the people who did nothing to contribute to the project also got those same marks.

On one hand, that infuriated me...but looking back on it, I did have it coming for not standing up for myself or alerting a teacher about what was going on. But that was how I was misled into believing that was how I kept friends. You did everything they asked, and they would like you.

As we all know, that's not the truth. And, deep down inside, I think I knew it, but I was too gullible to realize it. Back when I was a kid, I bought into the promise of friendship like a fish would to a nice tasty worm hanging from a hook. And, I bought it hook, line, and sinker. The so-called friends that I was trying to impress weren't really my friends. They told me that if I helped them with their homework (which meant me doing the work and them getting the credit), and if I gave them things, then they would be my friend, and sit at my table, and hang out with me after school.

They made me promises, promises. Knowing I'd believe. Promises, promises, they knew they'd never keep.

Now, some of you might be looking at this moment as though I'm taking what a bunch of bratty kids did a little too seriously, and by all means, you do reserve the right to have that opinion. I won't fault you for it. But, all I'm saying is that my distrust and dislike for people who constantly break promises was infused in me at an early age. I've gotten a little soft as I grow older in that I am a little more open to trusting people again, but I don't take promises at face value anymore.

And, this isn't just limited to grade school either. At work, I expect people to keep their promises as well. I want them to treat me with respect the same way that I treat them. If I agree to switch shifts with someone, I would hope that both parties will live up to their agreements. And, if one party fails to live up to that agreement, then I doubt that there will be any shift trading in this or any lifetime.

Truth is, I've had a few co-workers burn me rather badly with promises that they had absolutely no intention of keeping, and as a result, I choose not to associate with them at all because I know they don't have my best interests at heart. If anything though, it's a win-win situation for me. I don't reveal anything to them that I don't want known, and they're left trying to bum a ride from someone else because they've burned their bridges.

I guess the moral of this tale is that if you make a promise to someone, you'd better have a really good reason for not keeping your word. If this were the game of Survivor, one might accept the fact that it is a game, and that breaking your word is essential for moving ahead in the game.

But life ain't no reality show. In the real world, there are consequences to poor actions and broken promises. I think some people need to realize that.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

The Jetsons


I'm going to be absolutely up front here. This blog entry is going to seem somewhat rushed compared to some of my other works. Part of the reason behind this is due to technical problems. My laptop (which I was using to type my blog entries as of late) has decided to pitch a hissy fit, and now it will not even turn on properly. So, I'm using my six-year-old desktop computer that is kind of on its last life to bring this entry to you. Here's hoping that I can find a way to get my laptop working once more, as it is a pain to type this on an old computer, and I really don't want to shell out the hundreds of dollars to replace it.

Sigh...here I was thinking that as we evolved in the world, things would become easier to use, and life would end up being more convenient. Instead, it appears as though things get more and more complicated as time goes by.

In many ways, the future can be quite a scary place because of its uncertainty. We don't exactly know what the future will hold for us an hour from now, a week from now, a year from now, or even a century from now.

(Though admittedly for most of us, we won't live long enough to see a century of life.)

There have been dozens of examples of what people have predicted the future to be like, and I'll admit that some of the ideas that people have come up with have been quite creative. Would you believe that some people believed that as we approached the twenty-first century, that we would all be driving flying cars? It's true that aviation has had its innovations over the decades, but alas, no flying cars yet.

We were also lead to believe that we would never have to walk anywhere in the world again because all of the sidewalks would move by themselves. This also has not happened yet...unless you count the fact that “moving sidewalks” are part of the lyrics in Dan Hartman's “I Can Dream About You”.

Oh, and we were also supposed to have our very own robotic servants that would help us make like a little easier. This too has not quite happened yet, although the invention of the Roomba is probably the first step.

It's actually quite funny reading what some of the predictions were going to be for the future. Even Archie Comics got into the act during the 1960s when they published a series of comics that were set in the year 2001...and let's put it this way. I lived through 2001, and I don't recall the world being nearly as technologically advanced as Archie Comics claimed it would be. Why, in 2001, the only blackberry we knew was found in supermarkets displayed in the produce section! I know! How did we ever survive?

(And, yes, that is sarcasm at its finest.)

Of course, there are some questions about the future that remain unanswered, and in the case of today's blog entry, the show is set in the year 2062...which is 49 years away. And, just listen to some of the things that according to this program we can expect to see.

  • Houses and businesses built on gigantic columns high above the Earth's surface which you can adjust to whatever height you wish.
  • Having your home being completely controlled by the push of just a few buttons.
  • Having a work week of just two out of seven days.
  • Only being allowed to work one hour every shift.
  • Driving an aerocar from place to place.
  • Having a digital diary to record your private thoughts.

Well, okay, some of these have come true. I know that in regards to the digital diary...well, let's face it. You're currently reading one right now! And, push-button technology has been a part of our lives for several years now from the keypad of a telephone, to the buttons on microwaves and remote controls. Some people can even adjust the temperatures of their homes and businesses with the push of a button.

We still have a way to go before we are able to put our own homes sky high though. And labour laws in this province at least require most employees to work a minimum of TWELVE hours, so no one hour work day for you yet!

(Seriously, to only work one hour a day and two days a week? You'd have to be making $35,000 an hour to achieve middle class status!)



But that was life in the world of The Jetsons!



The Jetsons was just one of the many creations fronted by the team of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. And, the Jetsons was an interesting show as far as scheduling goes because it aired in two separate decades, and both times it aired, it was extremely popular.



The original series (contrary to what some might believe) only lasted for a twenty-four episode run, from September 23, 1962 until March 17, 1963. It aired in primetime for the run, then switched over to Saturday mornings on ABC affiliates beginning with the 1963/1964 season. It would air on and off on Saturday mornings on all three major networks before airing in syndication sometime during the mid-1980s. Interestingly enough, brand new episodes of The Jetsons were produced between 1985 and 1987...almost twenty-five years after the original series was shown. Thanks to the new episodes that were produced, the show extended to seventy-five episodes in total, plus a feature film that was released the summer of 1990.

Now, I imagine that a few of you have seen many of the episodes of The Jetsons, and I would hazard a fairly good guess that the vast majority of you have watched at least one episode for sure. So, I won't go into detail over the main characters of the program. You already know George Jetson, who loves his family, but ends up causing great frustration to himself and his loved ones due to his impulsive, not well thought-out decisions. You know his wife Jane, who takes care of the family household while having an eye for fashion and gadgetry.



In short, Jane Jetson is a Real Housewife of the 21st century.

There's George and Jane's two children, teenage Judy Jetson and six and a half year old, Elroy Jetson. Judy is a typical teen girl who loves hanging out at the mall with her friends, and shopping, while Elroy could be considered a bit of a child prodigy when it comes to the maths and sciences.

Oh yeah...there's also the beloved family pet, Astro, and the beloved family maid, Rosie the Robot, to round out the cast.



And, of course, every great show has to have some antagonist...in the case of the Jetson family, that comes in the form of Cosmo G. Spacely, whose ideas often backfire just like George's. I would reckon that George has been fired by Spacely...well...seventy-five times! But, he always manages to get his job back by the end of each show.

So, would you like to know some interesting trivia about “The Jetsons”? I happened to find out quite a bit!

01 – The Jetsons made history on ABC by being the network's first show to be broadcast entirely in colour from the very beginning. Compare that to “The Flintstones”, which only saw colour episodes airing after the first two seasons had already aired in black and white.

02 – A large number of voice actors on The Jetsons also provided the voices for characters on other Hanna-Barbera cartoons. Here's a list.

Daws Butler (Elroy Jetson) also voiced Yogi Bear.
Jean Vander Pyl (Rosie the Maid) also voiced Wilma Flintstone.
Janet Waldo (Judy Jetson) also voiced Josie of Josie and the Pussycats.
Don Messick (Astro) also voiced Scooby-Doo.
Frank Welker (Orbitty) also voiced Freddy from Scooby-Doo.
Mel Blanc (Spacely) also voiced Barney Rubble.



03 – The role of George Jetson was portrayed by George O'Hanlon from the beginning of the series until the 1990 film “The Jetsons” was released. O'Hanlon passed away from a stroke on February 11, 1989...just a few moments after he finished recording his final line for the movie. The film was dedicated in both O'Hanlon and Mel Blanc's memory (Blanc himself passing away in July 1989).

04 – The voice of Judy Jetson in the 1990 film was provided by “I Think We're Alone” and “Could've Been” singer Tiffany.



05 – Unfortunately, Tiffany's contribution to the movie was considered controversial...reportedly Janet Waldo had recorded all of Judy's dialogue prior to Tiffany being brought in!!!

06 – Hoyt Curtin composed the theme song for The Jetsons, which actually became a minor pop hit during the mid-1980s!

07 – According to many sources, there's a live-action film based on The Jetsons on the horizon in the near future. Sources state that the film has a tentative Summer 2014 release date, but we're to stay tuned. I don't know...I did like The Flintstones live-action movie, but The Jetsons? I'm a bit skeptical.

08 – At some point, several comic book publishers released Jetsons comic books. These publishers include Gold Key, Harvey, and Archie Comics.

09 – Penny Singleton voiced the character of Jane Jetson. She passed away in 2003 at the age of 95.



10 – Janet Waldo is the only surviving member of the original Jetsons cast.

11 – Ever wanted to call the Jetsons? Just dial VENUS-1234. Weirdly enough, ten digit phone numbers became necessary in the early 2000s in quite a few places, including Canada.

12 – The family was seen selling Electrasol Dish Washer Tabs in print ads circa 2004/2005.

And, that's our look back...

...no wait...look AHEAD at The Jetsons. Actually, what's really freaky is that as of 2013, George Jetson still hasn't been born yet (he was 40 when the series began, putting his date of birth at 2022).

At any rate, we still have 49 years to see if the future really does go the way of the Jetsons. I'll be eighty-one years old then. If I'm still alive then, I'll let you know how the future is.

Well, provided you lived long enough to see in the 2060s, anyway.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Miami Vice


Well, here we are at the cusp of another weekend, which means that it is time to talk television.

And, in order to set the stage for today's show discussion, I'll be sharing a story from my early childhood...and I'll warn you ahead of time, it is a rather embarrassing tale...which likely means that you will all find it absolutely hilarious!

I'm not exactly sure how old I was when I had this memory...I want to say that I was four or five. It was just before I started school anyway as I skipped preschool (and junior kindergarten for that matter).

I'll tell you though...having a childhood that spanned almost the entire decade of the 1980s was an interesting experience to say the least. Back then, the cartoons were fantastic, the music was awesome, and the fashions were...well, awful, to put it frankly. Whenever my mom and I would walk downtown, the entire population seemed to be decked out in their Sunday best...which at the time included gigantic bangles on arms, earrings as big as donuts, and hair that was so teased and permed that it looked like everyone in town decided to stick kitchen utensils into their toasters at exactly the same time.

(In some cases, people still dress like this even in 2013, but we won't go there today.)

Anyway, for some unknown reason, my older sister and her friend decided that I needed a makeover for whatever reason. Keep in mind that I was four or five at the time, and my style was limited to striped sweaters and overalls. But apparently both of them were inspired after watching an episode of the show that we'll be discussing today.

They grabbed all of the hair spray, hair gel, and other hair care supplies that were stashed around the house, called me upstairs to the bathroom, and slathered the goop all over my head. Needless to say the whole experience was somewhat traumatizing for me, I ended up crying when I saw how bad I looked, and the horrible experience left me avoiding all hair products for at least ten years. It was not a pleasant experience at all. Thank goodness my family's camera was out of film at the time, because if they had snapped a picture, I would have not been very happy at all.



Of course, my sister and her friend were laughing up a storm over the whole thing, and they seemed very upset when my parents grabbed a bunch of towels to wipe all of the product out of my hair. All they wanted to do was style my hair in a way that it looked like Don Johnson's.

(Keep in mind that at the time, I didn't know who this Don Johnson was.)

Turns out that he was one of the stars of a show that used to air on NBC back in the 1980s. Because of the fact that the show contained violence, crime, and other adult themes, I was forbidden to watch it. In all honesty, I was likely in bed by then anyway. But, Don Johnson certainly had a unique style back in the day, and it was so influential that by the end of the 1980s, almost every man emulated his style in some fashion.

(Well, except my father, who has been rocking the “Urban Cowboy” look prior to “Urban Cowboy” coming out in the movie theatres.)

And, here are the opening credits of the show.



Yes, we're going to be talking about the show that inspired my “break-over”. “Miami Vice” was a show that aired on NBC from September 28, 1984 until May 21, 1989. Created by Anthony Yerkovich, the show focused on criminal activity in Miami, Florida, and the two pastel-coloured detectives who worked together to keep crime off of the city streets.



Don Johnson assumed the role of Detective James Crockett (better known as “Sonny”), a former football player and Vietnam War veteran who joined the Metro-Dade police force and at the time of the series worked as an undercover detective of the vice unit. He would also respond to the name of his undercover alias, Sonny Burnett, who would infiltrate gang activity by posing as a drug runner.



His partner was Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas), a New York transplant who relocated to Miami to get revenge on his brother's killer. His alter ego name is “Rico Cooper”, who often poses as a wealthy buyer from out of town in order to catch the bad guys.



Initially, the vice squad was headed by Lieutenant Lou Rodriguez (Gregory Sierra) for the first few episodes of the first season...but unfortunately his tenure didn't last as he was killed off in episode four. He was replaced by Lieutenant Martin Castillo (Edward James Olmos), whose personality often clashed with the free and easy philosophy that Crockett and Tubbs lived by. He stayed on the series for the remainder of the show's run.



The rest of the cast was rounded out by Saundra Santiago (Gina Navarro Calabrese), Olivia Brown (Trudy Joplin), John Diehl (Larry Zito), and Michael Talbott (Stan Switek).

All of the cast members stayed on the show the entire run with the exception of Diehl, who departed the series in 1987 to pursue other opportunities. His character was subsequently killed off.

Initially when the show was being created, the show was originally to be called “Gold Coast”, but was originally changed to “Miami Vice”. And, the show was rather revolutionary in many ways.

It was one of the first shows to broadcast in stereophonic sound, which was considered a good thing given how the show relied on musical cues and songs to progress the story along. The instrumental music that played between scenes in each episode was composed by Czech Republic native Jan Hammer for the first four seasons of the show's five year run. He even composed the theme song for the show, which you can hear in its entirety below.



ARTIST: Jan Hammer
SONG: Miami Vice Theme
ALBUM: Miami Vice Soundtrack
DATE RELEASED: October 11, 1985
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #1 for 1 week

Not only was the track a number one hit (and the last instrumental to top the Billboard charts as of April 2013), but it earned Hammer two Grammy Awards. The song also helped the Miami Vice soundtrack to become the most-successful television soundtrack for a twenty-one year run, bested by the soundtrack for “High School Musical” in 2006.

Of course, Hammer's song wasn't the only one featured in the show and the soundtrack. Glenn Frey contributed two songs to the soundtrack, and he even guest starred in an episode of Miami Vice at the same time. But, it wasn't unusual for musical artists to be lured to Miami Vice. Miami Vice would often pay as much as $10,000 per episode to buy the rights to the songs that they wished to play. The gimmick not only helped increase ratings for the show, but it also provided the artists with some ingenious publicity for their record sales. Is it any wonder that Little Richard, The Power Station, Phil Collins, Willie Nelson, Ted Nugent, James Brown, and Gene Simmons would make cameos in the show?




Another famous singer to have a recurring role in the fourth season was 1980s pop starlet, Sheena Easton, who portayed pop singer Caitlin Davies. Crockett was assigned as her own personal bodyguard, and they ended up falling in love and getting married. Tragically, Caitlin was killed off following a performance of “Follow Your Rainbow” by one of Crockett's foes, and to add to Crockett's pain, Caitlin was pregnant when she was murdered. And, this senseless death lead to one of the most talked about moments of the series. Watch the scene closely, as you'll see what I mean by how music enhanced the show.



Okay, so forget the fact that the guy's hand appeared to be moving after Sonny shot him. The song playing in the background is the one that Caitlin was singing before she died. Talk about irony!



The music wasn't the only thing that Miami Vice was famous for. The fashion that Crockett and Tubbs wore in each episode became the go-to look for many men who lived through the 1980s. Suddenly, they were buying Italian sportsjackets in banana yellow, bubblegum pink, turquoise blue, and lavender, wearing slacks that were whiter than the average person's teeth, Ray-Ban sunglasses, and shoes without socks. The look became so popular that department store chain Macy's devoted an entire section of their store to Miami Vice inspired fashions! I would imagine that had Miami Vice continued into the 1990s, we'd have seen Crockett and Tubbs in fluorescent colours!

And, of course no episode of Miami Vice would be complete without Crockett's vehicle of choice, which was a 1972 Ferrari Daytona Spider 365 GTS/4. But, here's a bit of a shocker. The car used in the show was a fake! The car was actually a 1980 Chevrolet Corvette C3 chassis that was fitted with Ferrari-shaped body panels! The car lasted until season three, due to Enzo Ferrari launching a lawsuit telling the manufacturers of the fake Ferraris to cease production. So, at the beginning of the 1986/87 season, the producers got rid of Crockett's Ferrari the best way that they knew how.



Crockett's new car? A white 1986 Ferrari Testarossa! The pair of cars were donated by Ferrari following the destruction of the other car!

NOTE: I don't recommend you blowing up your cars in order to get a car company to replace it with a newer model!

To close this article off on Miami Vice, I thought I'd give you some additional trivia facts about what the actors of Miami Vice are up to now, as well as generic trivia about the show itself.

01 – One of the most loved episodes of the series was the season two episode “Out Where The Buses Don't Run”. It was ranked at #90 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time.

02 – The show ranked near the top of the ratings when it originally aired Friday nights at 10:00pm. But when a time slot change caused the show to go head-to-head against “Dallas”, ratings fell...which is astonishing when you consider that this was the season that followed the infamous “it was all a dream season” on Dallas.

03 – Edward James Olmos actually has an asteroid named after him...Asteroid 5608 Olmos.

04 – Olivia Jones' brother was once a hockey player who played for the Edmonton Oilers.



05 – Saundra Santiago may have fought for good on “Miami Vice”, but a decade after the show wrapped, she took on the role of Carmen Santos on the soap opera “Guiding Light”. Santos was the matriarch of a powerful crime family!

06 – John Diehl portrayed G. Gordon Liddy in the 1995 film, “Nixon”. In a strange twist, Liddy actually appeared on “Miami Vice” in a recurring role!

07 – Some famous faces got their first taste of acting on “Miami Vice”. These faces included Laurence Fishburne, Viggo Mortensen, Jimmy Smits, Bill Paxton, and Don Johnson's own two-time love interest Melanie Griffith!

08 – Philip Michael Thomas has moved onto a career in voicing video game characters, and you can hear his voice in the Grand Theft Auto series.

09 – Don Johnson had a one-hit-wonder during the filming of “Miami Vice”. Can you believe that it actually hit the Top 5? To end this blog off, I'll play the song in its entirety. You're welcome.