I
don't know about most of you out there, but May has always been one
of my favourite months of the year. There's just something about the
month of May that makes me smile.
For
starters, the anniversary date of this blog is in May. I began this
blog on May 24, 2011, and I never expected to still be writing in
this blog nearly two years later. I must say that I'm quite proud of
that achievement myself!
May
also happens to be the month of this blogger's birth as well, and as
I inch ever so closer to the number 32, I'll likely have some
retrospective thoughts to pen inside this blog.
May
also marks the beginning of warmer weather, blooming flowers, and
budding trees. On one hand, it will be fantastic to wear shorts and
polo shirts again after the winter that never seemed to end. But, on
the other hand, with my severe allergy to tree pollen, I will be
popping allergy pills the same way most people would pop candy out of
their Pez dispensers.
But,
hey, you take the good, you take the bad, you take them all, and then
you have...
...oh...sorry.
Really bad retro-80s flashback there.
I
have a feeling that May 2013 will be one of my best months yet. I've
already made a couple of big commitments for my future, I'm doing
some things that I have never done before, and I'm coming up with
ideas to mark the second anniversary of this blog. I haven't come up
with much. Maybe I need your help to mark the two year anniversary
of this blog in a big way. I'll get back to you with that.
For
now, let's talk about today's blog topic...a real spring/summer
activity that I loved to do as a kid, and one that cost only pennies
a use!
(Or,
in 2013 prices, three dollars a bottle.)
Or,
if you really wanted to save money, you could get the same effect by
using a bottle of dish soap mixed with a little bit of water.
Today,
we're going to be talking about bubbles. Miracle Bubbles, as we call
them in Canada. I suppose that they could be known as that in the United States as well, but I'm not one hundred per cent sure, and I don't want to report inaccuracies in this blog.
Seriously,
how many people have had fun blowing bubbles in a field or a park?
There's just something whimsical over seeing bubbles blowing in the
wind, and landing on the grass, taking just a few minutes to pop.
All of a sudden, my childhood memories come flooding back to me!
Truth
be told, Miracle Bubbles were a huge part of my childhood. Every
Easter Sunday, along with my basket of Cadbury Mini Eggs and Reese
Peanut Butter Eggs, I would almost always get a bottle of Miracle
Bubbles to play with...
...outside.
I
was forbidden to blow bubbles inside of the house. Let's just say
that there was one incident in which I was blowing bubbles at the top
of the stairs of my house and was being a little bit careless in the
process. Let's just say that I knocked over the entire bottle of
Miracle Bubbles, and the soapy, slippery solution poured down the
whole staircase, turning our stairs into a bumpy Slip and Slide.
In
other words, I was the only person in my family who could make stairs
more dangerous.
After
that incident, I was always banished to our backyard to blow bubbles.
Not that I minded though. Watching the bubbles blowing around in
the wind was a great sight to behold. I know that this is going to
sound very strange, but I had a rather vivid imagination as a child,
and I would often imagine myself being trapped inside one of those
bubbles. Looking back on it, I think it was a nice memory to
have...just picturing myself flying through the world in my own
personal bubble, seeing things that other people could not, enjoying
the scenery as well as the unpredictability of not knowing where the
bubble would take me next. I guess there's just something sort of
magical about that memory. In many ways, I sort of still have that
dream of flying through the sky in a bubble, forgetting all of my
cares and worries and just letting the bubble take me where it was
meant to.
Okay,
I just went off on a tangent here. But then again, if you've read
this blog before, you probably know that this is a recurring theme.
Now,
I have a question for all of you. How did you blow your bubbles?
The
truth is that there are a bunch of ways in which you could blow
bubbles, and all of them worked in varying degrees.
Obviously
the most common way to blow bubbles is with a plastic wand, similar
to the one seen above. And, wands are probably the most versatile
instrument to use when it comes to the art of blowing the perfect
bubble. You could blow into it slowly or quickly to get varying
sizes of bubbles. Blowing on the wand quickly would cause you to
blow a series of tiny bubbles through the air, and blowing on it
slowly would allow you to blow one gigantic bubble. It could be an
interesting game, to try and blow the largest bubble possible without
it bursting.
But
of course, wands weren't the only thing one could use to blow
bubbles. If you poured enough of the Miracle Bubble solution in a
bowl, or mixed up your own, you could dip a coat hanger inside the
solution and make bubbles that way. I've even seen people making
bubbles with various household objects. Really, any piece of
equipment made of either plastic or metal with at least one hole in
the middle of it would work just fine.
I've
even seen bubble guns being manufactured and sold in stores. I never
owned one, but you could use the gun to blow an endless supply of
bubbles. Come to think of it, bubble guns didn't exist back when I
was a kid, and I am almost sorry that I was born too early to get my
hands on one. I would almost be tempted to buy a bubble gun for
myself...if I didn't mind people giving me peculiar looks at the
checkout counters.
(Ah
well...there's always self-checkouts. Nobody would have to know.)
At
any rate, that's my brief blog entry on Miracle Bubbles. Now, I want
to hear from you.
What
are some of your bubble making memories? I'd love to hear them!
Welcome
to the last day of April 2013, and welcome to the last Tuesday
Timeline of the month!
If
you're living in Canada, and still have not yet filed your tax return
for this month...WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!? It's due today!
But,
if you've already done your taxes and/or are not Canadian, you can
kick off your shoes and sit back with a nice cup of tea, or a glass
of Hawaiian Punch, if you will, and enjoy another look back through
time.
Actually,
I have a confession for all of you. I did have this very topic
planned for the Sunday Jukebox for Sunday, April 28, but when George
Jones passed away recently, I decided to do a spotlight on him
instead. But when I did my research for the original topic, it
happened to be linked to today's date, so I thought...why not use it
for the Tuesday Timeline entry!
I
tell you, life has a funny way of working out, doesn't it?
So,
you're probably figuring out that this week's Tuesday Timeline is
music themed. But that's all that I'm going to say for now. We
still have to get through other happenings that are going on today!
Celebrating
a birthday on the final day of April are Cloris Leachman, Willie
Nelson, Burt Young, Bobby Vee, Leslie Grantham, Perry King, Merrill
Osmond, Jane Campion, Paul Gross, Stephen Harper, Isiah Thomas,
Michael Waltrip, Barrington Levy, Adrian Pasdar, Jeff Timmons, Johnny
Galecki, Kunal Nayyar, and Kirsten Dunst.
And
on the last day of April, here are some of the events that took place
throughout history.
1492
– Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration
1789
– George Washington takes the oath of office in New York City to
become the first elected President of the United States of America
1803
– The United States buys the Louisiana Territory from France for
$15 million, in an event known as “The Louisiana Purchase”
1812
– Louisiana becomes the 18th
state of the United States of America, nine years after the Louisiana
Purchase
1900
– Casey Jones is killed in a train accident in Vaughn, Mississippi
1927
– The first footprints left behind at Grauman's Chinese Theater are
made by Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks
1938
- “Porky's Hare Hunt” debuts in movie theaters, which includes an
early prototype of Bugs Bunny
1945
– Adolf Hitler and his wife commit suicide to avoid capture by the
Red Army
1957
– Elvis Presley records the single, “Jailhouse Rock”
1963
– The Bristol Bus Boycott was held in Bristol, United Kingdom to
protest racial discrimination
1975
– Saigon falls as the Vietnam War comes to an end after nearly two
decades
1983
– The “father of modern Chicago blues”, Muddy Waters, passes
away at the age of 70
1993
– Tennis star Monica Seles is stabbed by an obsessed fan during a
quarterfinal match of the Citizen Cup
2004
– Michael Jackson is arraigned on charges of child molestation,
pleading not guilty to ten counts
So,
what day in history are we going back to this year?
April
30, 1969.
1969
was a rather turbulent year in history. Obviously I wasn't around
then (I was born a dozen years later), but from what I have heard
from people who have lived through that year, it was a year of great
protest. With the Vietnam War in full swing, millions of people all
over the world were bombarded with images of pain and suffering, and
having to say goodbye to loved ones far too soon. Many people
questioned why the United States had gotten involved in fighting in
the Vietnam War, and they demanded that their voices be heard.
Hence
the “Make Love, Not War” movement.
During
1969, there were lots of protests in major cities, speaking out
against the Vietnam War. There were sit-ins, marches, and perhaps
one of the most vibrant, well-publicized events occurred in August of
1969, when the Woodstock music festival was held.
Actually,
come to think of it, music was a huge part of the protest movement
back in 1969. And today's featured song was one of those songs that
did exactly that.
On
April 30, 1969, this song was certified gold, and what made it stand
out was that it was a medley of two songs that could be found in a
musical that was released two years earlier.
Have
you ever heard of a musical known as “Hair”? It debuted in the
fall of 1967, and was a rock musical penned by James Rado and Gerome
Ragni. Gail MacDermot provided the music.
The
story of “Hair” surrounds a young man by the name of Claude and
his hippie friends. Claude has fallen in love with the hippie
philosophy of making love and not war, and all he wants to do is
continue to live his bohemian lifestyle in New York City, while
turning his back on the “squares” who want them to serve in the
military or get jobs to become better people.
And
for Claude, he is found in a rather sticky situation. He has to
choose between resisting the Vietnam War draft, as his hippie friends
have done, or pleasing his parents and conservative America by
donning the soldier duds and going off to war.
I
should note that “Hair” was dripping with controversy, given the
nudity, profanity, and irreverence of the American flag. At the same
time, I have seen the movie adaptation of “Hair”, and found it to
be absolutely fantastic.
Heck,
you know what? Had I lived during the 1960s, I likely would have
become one of those hippies...well, in spirit anyway. I don't think
I would look very good in tie-dyed garments.
Anyway,
the musical “Hair” is the source for the gold selling single,
receiving that certification exactly 44 years ago today.
ARTIST:
The 5th
Dimension
SONG:
Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In
ALBUM:
The Age of Aquarius
DATE
RELEASED: March 8, 1969
PEAK
POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:
#1 for 6 weeks
TRIVIA:
This was the very first medley to top the Billboard charts.
The
song not only did very well on the pop charts, but in other venues as
well. It won two Grammy Awards in 1970 for “Record of the Year”,
and “Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Group”. That's mighty
impressive, given that it was only one of two songs by the group to
peak at the top spot (the other song was “Wedding Bell Blues”,
which was also released in 1969).
The
5th
Dimension was made up of Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo, Billy Davis
Jr., LaMonte McLemore, and Ron Townson, and the lyrics for the song
were – at best description – a little bit whimsical, even trippy.
They were based on the astrological belief that the world would
enter an era known as the “Age of Aquarius”, which would bathe
the world in light, love, and humanity. We'd know when we were in
the “Age of Aquarius” when the planet Jupiter aligns with Mars.
And, it was initially believed that the transition would take place
at the end of the 20th
century or the beginning of the 21st
century.
It
appears as though they were off by a few years, as I remember the
period between 1999 and 2002 being filled with school shootings,
terrorist attacks, and economic turmoil. But, hey, I suppose not all
predictions could be accurate.
(In
case you're wondering, astrologists have pinpointed that this
alignment could happen anytime between 2062 and 2680. So, I'm either
going to be really, really old when we enter the “Age of Aquarius”,
or I'm going to be compost. Either way, I won't be able to truly
appreciate it.)
At
any rate, the song was a huge hit in 1969, and was one of the key
songs that served as the official soundtrack of the anti-war
movement.
Before
I go on with today's blog entry, I wanted to update you all on one of
the recent changes in my life. That change of course, is shifting
from the dairy department to the garden centre area of the store.
As
I type this, it will have been one whole week since I moved over
there, and I think I have a general grasp over what my duties are,
and what is expected of me.
I'm
not going to lie to you. Garden Centre is a lot more physically
demanding than working in the dairy department. Lifting several
pounds of dirt is much harder than stocking a shelf filled with milk.
And, I'll be honest with you. When it comes to throwing a tarp over
all of the hanging flower baskets, herbs and spices, and other plants
that could be killed off on a really cold night, half the battle is
figuring out how to get the tarp unfolded! And, then to cover every
flower in the outside area, it takes about an hour to get everything
finished. It can be a tough job.
And,
you know something? I'm liking it a lot!
Because
with all of the hard work that comes from working in the garden
centre comes a lot of perks and rewards.
Reward
#1: When the weather is really lovely and the sun is shining down,
it's absolutely perfect. And, even if it rains, we get provided
rainwear to protect us from the elements. And, even if it goes up to
ninety degrees outside, we are allowed to drink as much water as we
want. If one is prepared for the weather, the job is great.
Reward
#2: Being able to work alongside such natural beauty. One of the
jobs I did a couple of days ago was hanging the floral baskets and
trying to condense flower racks so that I didn't have many to bring
inside, and I was amazed at how something so small could have such
bright and vivid colours. Even the scents of the flowers were nice
and sweet (and this is coming from someone who has allergies to
pollen). Keep in mind that when I started in the garden centre, I
had absolutely no knowledge of gardening and flowers and trees. I'm
not quite an expert yet. Far from it. But for now, thanks to the
care instructions that come included with most plants, I'm sort of
learning as I go along. I don't know if the right terminology is
“faking it until you make it”, though. More like, taking limited
information and expanding it in your own words.
Yeah,
I like that better.
And,
Reward #3: 99.9% of the customers I have dealt with over the past
week have been in fantastic moods! And, when the people around me
are in a great mood, it inspires me to be in a great mood! You can
usually pick me out in the garden centre as I'm the guy wearing the
black baseball cap, throwing 50 bags of dirt in a pick-up truck with
a smile on my face and a farmer's tan.
Of
course, the sun could be making me delirious. But, in a good way!
But
there are some hazards involving the garden centre area that I must
deal with too. I wouldn't dare risk lifting a six-piece patio set or
a 300 pound barbecue into the back of a truck by myself. I always
have to smear sunscreen on my arms, cheeks, nose, and back of my neck
at least three times a day, because if I don't I'd look like a
broiled lobster in a matter of hours.
And,
then there's the bugs.
I'll
be perfectly frank. I wasn't always a bug lover. In particular with
bugs that bit or stung. Large spiders, wasps, and hornets are not my
friends. I have never liked yellowjackets since I accidentally
stepped on one and it stung me in between the toes. Even praying
mantises and dragonflies can freak me out if I'm not expecting them
to be there.
That
being said, I'm not one who would go around killing these insects
either. After all, they are a huge part of the ecosystem of our
planet. I might not like them very much, but they all have their
place in the world.
Besides,
we don't know exactly what kind of a life bugs have. All we can do
is speculate just exactly what they do in a given day.
(Because
let's face it...a lot of insects usually don't live past 24 hours.)
And,
that's exactly what this blog is all about. We're going to take a
closer look with the magnifying glass and microscope at the Pixar
film, “A Bug's Life”.
One
thing that I will say about this film is that it had a lot of star
power attached to it. Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus,
Brad Garrett, Hayden Panettiere, David Hyde Pierce, Richard Kind,
John Ratzenberger, Bonnie Hunt, Denis Leary, and the late Madeline
Kahn, Phyllis Diller, Jonathan Harris, and Joe Ranft all had
prominent voice roles in the movie, which was released in November
1998 to great reviews and a box office take home total of $363
million.
And,
the film's plot is a rather interesting one because it shows insects
like grasshoppers, ants, ladybugs, and fleas living their lives in
almost the same way that humans would.
The
central protagonist is a little ant by the name of Flik (Foley). He
lives in a colony of ants, but he's not one to follow along with the
crowd. Flik would rather march to the beat of his own drum, taking
solace in his inventions. The colony is run by Princess Atta
(Dreyfus) and her mother, the Queen (Diller), and the other ants in
the colony show a lot of indifference towards Flik because he is so
different.
I
guess one could consider Flik the so-called “uncool” student in
his class of peers. Maybe that's why I can sympathize with him.
In
fact, if you want to take the high school analogy even further, you
could say that the group of grasshoppers that terrorize the ants in
“A Bug's Life” could be compared to that group of juvenile
delinquents your mother warned you to stay away from...the group of
kids who always got what they wanted no matter how much fear and pain
they inflicted onto the general public.
Anyway,
the army of grasshoppers were lead by the evil Hopper (Spacey), and
the ants were forced to provide the grasshoppers with an offering of
food every year. Unfortunately, one of Flik's inventions destroys
the entire food supply for the grasshoppers, which angers Hopper.
Hopper demands that the ants provide double the order to make up for
the food that Flik accidentally ruined. The other ants are
absolutely furious at Flik, and when the grasshoppers give the ants
an extension on their deadline, the other ants convince Flik that if
he really wanted to help, he would go out and assemble an army of
“warrior bugs” to fight off the grasshoppers.
Desperate
to get the approval of the ants, and gullible enough to believe their
lies, Flik sets out to find some allies, while the rest of the ants
scramble to put together the massive order for the grasshoppers.
What
ends up happening is that Flik stumbles upon a group of insect circus
performers, fired by their ringmaster, P.T. Flea (Ratzenberger). The
circus troupe is made up of...
Slim
(Pierce) – a stick insect clown
Heimlich
(Ranft) – a caterpillar clown
Francis
(Leary) – a ladybug clown
Major
Manny (Harris) – a praying mantis magician
Gypsy
(Kahn) – a gypsy moth
Rosie
(Hunt) – a black widow spider
Tuck
and Roll (Mike McShane) – two flea acrobats
Dim
(Garrett) – a rhinoceros beetle
Now,
here's the thing. Both Flik and the circus performers meet each
other in a case of double mistaken identity. The circus performers
believe that Flik is a talent agent who will help them bounce back
from rock bottom...and Flik is mistakenly believing that these bugs
are the warrior bugs that he has been sent to bring back to Ant
Island to fight against Hopper and his goons.
Along
the way, the group saves little Princess Dot (Panettiere) from a bird
attack, and gain entry into the colony as a result of this act of
bravery. In the meantime, Flik comes up with a possible invention
idea to scare Hopper away from the colony once and for all.
But
what happens when the lies are exposed? What happens when the ants
fail to provide the adequate food sources needed to satisfy Hopper
and his goons? And, will Flik ever get the respect he wants from a
colony of ants who have dismissed him as being a screw-up?
Well,
don't look at me! I don't reveal film endings! But I can offer up
some more trivia for you. Have a look.
1
– This film was one of Madeline Khan's last film projects. She was
diagnosed with ovarian cancer the same year that she was recording
her voice for “A Bug's Life” and passed away in December 1999 at
the age of 57.
2
– When Flik takes a trip to “the big city” where he meets up
with the circus troupe, take a look at the names written on the
boxes. Those names are some of the children of the film's writers.
3
– Another interesting point to note about one of the boxes. On the
side of a cookie box, the nutrition fact sign shows that each cookie
contains 92 GRAMS of protein!
4
– Dave Foley may have won the role of Flik...but he actually tried
out for the role of Slim initially.
5
– Ashley Tisdale of “High School Musical” fame tried out for
the role of Dot.
6
– Hayden Panettiere was just eight years old when she won the role
of Dot, and she was already working a second job at the time. She
did double duty between “A Bug's Life” and playing Lizzie
Spaulding on “Guiding Light”.
7
– “A Bug's Life” was unique in that it had five different cover
designs when it was first released on home video in 1999. The five
cover stars were Flik, Heimlich, Francis, Dot, and Hopper.
8
– The film is a retelling of Aesop's fable “The Ant and the
Grasshopper”.
9
– The film was the first wholly digital transfer of a feature film
to a digital playback medium.
10
– A similar named film, “Antz” was released right around this
time, and it caused a bit of a public war of words between Pixar and
Dreamworks as a result, and left behind feelings of hostility between
Steve Jobs and Jeffrey Katzenberg. By the end of it all, although
both films did well at the box office, “A Bug's Life” sold more
tickets than “Antz”.
I
think that I've mentioned this before, but I was never really a big
fan of country music. In fact, I think I am the only one in my
entire family who doesn't go out of their way to listen to it. My
parents always had it turned on in their car radio, and my
grandparents listened to nothing but country music, but I much
preferred rock, pop, and Top 40.
(Well,
Top 40 prior to the 2000s, anyway.)
I
know that back in September 2012, I attempted to do some features on
country music artists. I devoted the whole month of Sunday Jukebox
entries to the sweethearts of country music. If I remember
correctly, I did spotlights on The Dixie Chicks, Dolly Parton,
Martina McBride, Taylor Swift, and Reba McEntire.
Well,
today, I've decided to do my blog entry on someone who many might
consider to have been the grandfather of country music. He was a
real legend in his own right, releasing fourteen number one hits on
the country chart, received several awards, and released a whopping
sixty albums during his near sixty year career.
Sadly,
on April 26, 2013, the country music genre lost its biggest presence,
as George Jones entered into rest at the age of 81.
This
blog entry is going to be a challenge for me to write because
obviously I don't listen to much country music. So, having to write
an entry on someone who was such a huge figure in a genre I rarely
listened to is tough. But, what can I say? I love a challenge, and
it wouldn't be much of a pop culture themed blog if I didn't report
on current events, now would it?
I've
debated on how to present this blog for a day and a half now, and I
think the best way to do this is to give a brief bio, followed by
some notable events that he was involved in. Believe me, there is
definitely no shortage.
George
Glenn Jones was born in Saratoga, Texas on September 12, 1931. He
was one of seven children, born to George Washington Jones and Clara
Patterson Jones. At the age of seven, he heard country music for the
first time and fell in love with it. He received the gift of a
guitar two years later, and began making extra money busking on
street corners with a guitar and a song for anyone who wanted to hear
him.
By
the time he was sixteen, George relocated to Jasper, Texas, where in
addition to singing and playing for a local radio station, he had a
chance encounter with Hank Williams in 1949, where Jones claimed that
Williams had given him some sage advice.
“Stop
singing like Roy Acuff, and start singing as yourself!”
(Well,
all right, perhaps I shouldn't have quoted that as it isn't what
Williams actually told Jones...but I'd hazard a guess that it was
presented in a similar fashion.)
By
19, he had gotten married briefly to a woman named Dorothy Bonvillion
and fathered a child with her before divorcing her before the child's
birth. A year later, he enlisted in the United States Marines during
the early beginnings of the Korean War, having been stationed in
California during his three year stint.
And
in 1954, George Jones began pursuing a career in country music,
having signed a record deal with Starday Records. He released his
first hit in 1954, the very same year he married his second wife,
Shirley Corley. One year later, he enjoyed his very first charting
single on the country music charts with “Why Baby Why”. That
single peaked at #4, but it certainly wasn't the only hit he
had...nor would it be the last we would hear from him.
In
fact, over the course of his 81 years on this planet, there have been
a lot of stories, a lot of rumours, and I have decided to take the
opportunity to clarify some of these stories. If anything, he has
lived a rather interesting life.
In
fact, why don't I do this next part like a true/false quiz? I'll do
a statement, and reveal whether it is true or false. Are you ready?
Here we go!
01
- George Jones was once married to another country music superstar.
ANSWER:
True. Tammy Wynette was Jones' third wife. The couple tied the
knot in 1969, and divorced in 1975. Funnily enough, Wynette released
“Stand By Your Man” in 1968, a year before marrying Jones.
02
– George Jones was married a grand total of three times.
ANSWER:
False. George actually had four wives. The fourth Mrs. George
Jones is Nancy Sepulvado. The couple celebrated their thirtieth
wedding anniversary just one month ago, in March 2013.
03
– George Jones was a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1998.
ANSWER:
False. Although George DID get the honour, it wasn't until a decade
later, in 2008.
04
– One of the last awards that George Jones won was a Lifetime
Achievement Award.
ANSWER:
True. George Jones was honoured with the award at the 2012 Grammy
Awards ceremony, presented to him by his long-time friend Merle
Haggard.
05
– George Jones had at least two nicknames when he was in his prime.
ANSWER:
True. He was affectionately known as “The Possum” due to his
facial features kind of resembling a possum. He was also given the
nickname of “No-Show Jones”, and unfortunately, that nickname was
given to him under less than flattering circumstances. He was dubbed
that following his failure to show up for concert gigs due to being
under the influence of drugs and alcohol. And, this kind of leads to
the next statement...
06
– George Jones was once so determined to get alcohol one day that
he decided to drive to the liquor store on a ride-on lawn mower.
ANSWER:
Believe it or not, this was one hundred per cent true! This would
be around the time that George was married to his second wife. By
that time, his addiction to alcohol had been firmly established, and
his wife hid all the keys to every car to prevent him from driving to
the liquor store. Of course, she neglected to hide the key to the
lawn mower, and a determined George took the lawn mower to the liquor
store EIGHT MILES AWAY!
07
– George Jones was in the middle of his farewell tour when he
passed away.
ANSWER:
Sadly, this was also true. In fact, I do believe that he was
scheduled to perform in Watertown, New York (which isn't too far away
from where I live) later this summer. The tour was announced in the
summer of 2012, and would have lasted until November 2013, in which
Jones would retire to spend time with his family.
But
as we all know, that sadly didn't pan out. On the eighteenth of
April, Jones was hospitalized in Nashville, Tennessee with abnormal
blood pressure and a high fever. Eight days later, he was dead of
acute hypoxia, with the world not realizing that his farewell tour
would be his last ever.
So,
to close this tribute to George Jones off...one of his biggest hits.
This
week's topic is going to be a fun one because the subject is on a
show that I have not seen in years. I just don't really know just
how many of you will know the subject. The show is celebrating its
fiftieth anniversary this year, and I only remember watching it when
I was a very young boy. Back in those days, cartoons would air
almost non-stop on Saturday afternoons, and one particular channel
would mix the newest cartoons with old-school shows our parents grew
up watching.
That
channel was Global. But, then again, I must have told you this
before. Probably ad nauseum. But hey...it was one of my favourite
channels to watch as a kid (and to be fair, I watch it quite a lot as
an adult too).
Anyway,
there was one television cartoon that aired for years and years on
Global in the afternoon block. And, when I was a kid, I mistakenly
believed that it was a brand new show, as it hadn't aired on any
other networks. It wasn't until the title screen came on, and I saw
that there was a date stamped in Roman Numerals on the very bottom.
When I was really small, I couldn't figure out what those letters
meant until I began school. Once I figured out what the Roman
Numeral for MCMLXIII meant, I was stunned to realize that the show
first aired in 1963! Eighteen years before I was born!
It
was a rather interesting show at that, because the show was based
upon a heroic character found in Greek mythology. He was a person
who could pick up a boulder weighing thousands of tons with the
greatest of ease. He could pick up a rock and squeeze it into a fine
powder. He could battle foes with valiance and strength, and always
found a way to come up on top.
There
was just one catch. In order for his powers to work, he had to have
a particular piece of jewelry...one that he was given in the very
first episode of the series, which aired on September 1, 1963.
I
think most of you know where this is going now, so I'll just play the
theme song for this cartoon right now.
INTERESTING
TRIVIA: The iconic theme song
for “The Mighty Hercules” was Johnny Nash, who you might know as
the singer of this classic early 1970s hit single.
“The
Mighty Hercules” was just one of those shows that I was absolutely
glued to back in the day. I honestly don't know what it was about
the show, but I had to watch it. And, the show was unique in that it
didn't screen just one 22-minute episode. Instead it was similar in
format to “The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show”, in which a series of
five-minute episodes were squeezed into a half-hour.
How
the show began was like this. Hercules ends up competing in some
ancient competition involving wrestling and a footrace. He comes up
the victor against his friend, Theseus. For winning the competition,
Zeus (that's the legendary God of lightning and thunder, for those of
you who don't know) grants Hercules anything he wants.
The
possibilities were endless. He could have a castle in the sky above
Mount Olympus, he could have all the riches in the world, he could
have his own personal brothel...
...well,
okay, this was a kids show. Eighty-six the brothel.
Hercules,
though, was not considered to be a selfish man. His request was
quite simple, as far as he was concerned. He wanted to go to Earth
to fight against injustice and evil. There was just one problem. If
he did go down to Earth, he would lose his godly powers and become a
mere mortal.
Which
some people might see as a GOOD thing, but I digress.
Nevertheless,
Zeus does not go back on his word (I imagine if he did, and this were
modern times, Hercules could sue Zeus for breach of contract, in
which Zeus would french fry Hercules' behind in retaliation with a
big bolt of lightning). He crafts a ring that Hercules can use to
keep his powers while on Earth.
Of
course, Hercules has his allies on Earth who fight alongside him, who
fall in love with him, or are just there to provide moral support.
And,
well, I'll be honest with you. While there were some characters who
I enjoyed watching, there were also some characters that annoyed me
greatly.
Let's
start with Helena. She's a beautiful young lady with blonde hair and
a pink toga, who also happens to be the love interest of Hercules.
We also have Timon, a young man from the kingdom of Caledon, as well
as Dodonis, with his crystal rock of seeing, which warn Hercules of
the dangers that he could face in Caledon.
But,
as I said before, there were some characters who just irked me.
Let's start with Tewt, a satyr who happens to lack the vocal ability
needed to communicate with Hercules...so instead of using his voice,
he used his flute. It was a nice gag for a little while, but after
the twelfth episode, I just wanted to grab his flute and stomp on it.
And,
don't even get me started on that annoying centaur known as Newton!
He HAD to be the one to repeat EVERY FREAKING THING HE SAYS TWICE.
Again, the first episode, that was kind of cute. But by episode
three, I wanted Hercules to “accidentally” drop a boulder on top
of him.
DISCLAIMER:
I am definitely not a man who promotes violence, and I would never
suggest that anyone drop a boulder on anyone. But, if you have ever
watched Newton on “The Mighty Hercules”, you would understand why
I find him grating enough to entertain that possibility.
And,
what cartoon wouldn't be complete without the antagonists mixed in
with the protagonists? After all, “The Mighty Hercules” would be
kind of boring if Hercules was always happy.
Anyway,
the main bad guy was a purple cloaked bearded man named Daedelus
(almost all of the names of the characters were taken from actual
figures in Greek mythology), and his main goal in life was to cause
havoc in Caledon by using his evil wizard powers.
Daedelus
didn't just act alone though. Like Hercules had his own allies, so
did Daedelus. One of them was Wilhelmina, a sea witch, who kind of
physically resembled Helena...if Helena were a chain smoker that wore
drab clothing and hadn't washed her hair in about fifteen years.
We
also had Murtis, a man who proved to be quite the formidable opponent
for Hercules, as Murtis would be rendered invincible whenever he wore
the Mask of Vulcan.
(Which
was basically nothing more than a metal bucket with eye holes, but
hey, we're supposed to believe that makes a person invincible. We
were kids, what did we know, right?
Anyway,
I think that what we should do to close this entry off is watch a
couple of episodes of the series, just so I can jog your memory a
bit. Just a couple of notes about the one entitled “Helena's
Birthday”. One, I'm surprised that they had gift boxes and ribbons
back in the days of ancient Greece. And, secondly, if it's Helena's
birthday, why would Newton sing a song about Hercules?
I
think that for today's edition of this blog, I'm going to resurrect a
former theme day that I used a couple of years ago. As much as I
enjoy planning ahead with the blog and trying new things, sometimes
it's good to look back at the past and borrow ideas from it.
What
I have come up with is a spotlight on a show that was not seen at all
in North America, but did insanely well in Australia, New Zealand,
and the United Kingdom.
I
don't know how many of you were following this blog back in the
summer of 2011, but back in those days, Wednesdays were devoted to
something completely different. Most of you following this blog
currently know Wednesdays as the day where I feature books,
magazines, toys, and games.
But
back in 2011, Wednesdays were devoted to looking at pop culture
around the world. I called it “Across the Pond and Beyond”.
And, it was in this space that I featured topics on media from all
over the globe. Past subjects included EastEnders, Coronation
Street, Paddington Bear, Takeshi's Castle, Home and Away, Neighbours,
and many many more.
The
reason why I decided to give up the theme at the beginning of 2012
was simple. I was running out of topics to choose from, and I
decided to put the column on hiatus for the time being. It was a
decision that I briefly regretted because of all the blog topics that
I enjoyed the most, it was the Across the Pond ones. For one, I
loved having the opportunity to share television shows, movies,
musical acts, and other miscellaneous things that not a lot of people
have even heard about, let alone experienced. To be able to share
these gems with a larger audience is fantastic.
And,
secondly, these days I am finding more television shows being made
overseas are a lot better in quality and storytelling than some of
the programs made in my own country or the United States. I'll be
the first one to admit that I actually got hooked on EastEnders when
it began airing on our PBS affiliate, and I was once so addicted to
the show “Home and Away” that I began watching the episodes
online as people posted them from Australia.
And,
in the case of this featured television series, I stumbled upon it
purely by accident while I was doing research for another blog topic.
It happened to be a complete episode of the series, and I sat down
and watched it. To my surprise, I enjoyed it so much that I ended up
watching a whole half a season of it that same day! And, then I
watched the rest of the episodes over a two week period!
And,
this is surprising for me because I normally can't stand hospital
dramas.
I
know that ER aired on television for fifteen years, but I think that
I have only watched maybe an episode and a half of it. I know it was
wildly popular, but there was something about it that made me not
want to watch it. The same deal would likely be said about St.
Elsewhere, Chicago Hope, and Presidio Med.
(That
last one being a brief drama that starred Dana Delany and Blythe
Danner that was cancelled after one year.)
But
this hospital drama was a bit different. It was set in a Sydney,
Australia hospital, and it featured a staff of doctors and nurses
that worked in Ward 17. Now, Ward 17 was a ward that was
affectionately known as the “garbage ward”. In actuality, it was
the ward that was used for the overflow of patients whenever there
wasn't a bed available in the various other wings of the hospital.
This caused the staff of Ward 17 to always have unexpected days and
nights, as none of them knew just what they would be getting
themselves into. The patients could be unpredictable, and even
violent, and yet the staff always treated them with dignity and
respect...well, most of the time.
This
is the television series known as “All Saints”.
“All
Saints” might not have run as long as ER (the show debuted in
February 1998 and ran until October 2009 on Australia's Seven
Network), but during its twelve season run, it was ranked within the
Top 10 most watched programs in Australia. It is Australia's longest
running medical drama series, and third longest running prime time
series overall.
Part
of the reason why “All Saints” performed so well was because of
the talented cast who starred within the show. Despite the huge cast
turnover throughout the years (only one original cast member stayed
on the entire series), the show still had warmth, and very rarely
excluded anyone.
Now,
initially, the program was meant to be a starring vehicle for
Australian actress Georgie Parker (who ironically enough starred in
another Australian medical drama, “A Country Practice” from
1990-1992)...and the character that Georgie played on the television
series is kind of a nice little play on words, given the title of the
show.
“All
Saints” refers to the name of the hospital where the series takes
place. And, the character that Georgie Parker plays, Therese
Sullivan, is the Nursing Unit Manager of Ward 17.
Terri,
though, has another interesting aspect to her personality. When the
series began, she was a nun!
In
fact, a lot of the early episodes of “All Saints” depicted the
struggle that Terri went through trying to balance a career in
medicine with the commitment of sisterhood. As the series
progressed, we began to understand why Terri had joined the convent
in the first place. It wasn't because she felt a need to serve as a
nun out of duty or necessity...it was because she was trying to
forget a relationship that she had with someone a decade earlier that
did not have a happy ending. And, for the first season, everything
was fine...
...until
the door to the past was blown wide open when Dr. Mitch Stevens (Erik
Thomson) waltzed right back into Terri's life to become the
hospital's newest physician. Needless to say, the reunion between
Terri and Mitch was awkward because she was still in love with Mitch.
Terri began to detach herself from the convent, eventually leaving.
And, she did spend a little bit of time dating other people. But,
still...she always wanted to have a life with Mitch, and by the time
she realized this, Mitch had already found love with somebody else,
even fathering a child with the other woman, leaving Terri visibly
devastated.
But
then Mitch's wife began to lose her marbles just a smidgen, and began
to make Terri's life a living misery, and Mitch decided that enough
was enough. He left his wife to be with Terri, and he and Terri were
supposed to spend the rest of their lives together...until Mitch died
of a brain tumour.
Such
is the life of a medical drama...there's always someone who ends up
dying on the show. Just ask Stephanie Markham (Kirrily White), Sean
Everleigh (Chris Vance), and Erica Templeton (Jolene Anderson).
Oh...wait.
You can't. They were all killed off the series. Oh bother.
Of
course, Terri and Mitch weren't the only main characters of “All
Saints”...which is good, considering that both of them were gone by
season eight, and the show ran for twelve years. By the end of the
series, the main characters were...
...Frank
Campion (John Howard), the tough-as-nails head of the emergency
department who makes his patients top priority and pushes his staff
relentlessly to make sure that the patients get the best care
possible.
Dr.
Charlotte Beaumont (Tammy Macintosh), is second in command of the
emergency department, and was introduced into the series in season
five. She has had a rather interesting backstory. In a story that
was similar to Terri's, Charlotte was married to a man named Vincent
(Christopher Gabardi), and left him for another woman! That
relationship had fizzled by the time Charlotte joined “All Saints”,
but interestingly enough, Dr. Vincent Hughes joined the staff of “All
Saints”, and unlike the reunion between Terri and Mitch, theirs was
a little...shall we say...happier.
Charlotte
and Vincent reaffirmed their friendship and stayed close. But
Charlotte's time in “All Saints” was not an easy ride. She had a
one-night-stand with a doctor (who at the time was having a romance
with Terri), got pregnant from it, was run over by a hit-and-run
driver, and lost the baby. And, in the sixth season finale when a
crazed gunman began shooting people in the hospital, Charlotte tried
to calm him down. Below is that confrontation, but I warn you...the
scenes below are not suitable for young children.
And,
that's part of the reason why I think I liked “All Saints” better
than most medical dramas out there. Because the broadcast rules are
slightly more lax in Australia than they are in the United States,
“All Saints” could get away with a lot more stuff than ER ever
could. This meant controversial storylines and more colourful
language. Hell, in one episode, John Howard's character of Frank
Campion dropped the F-bomb in one of his lines!
It
certainly offered up a grittier approach, making the drama very
realistic. The make-up department was especially fantastic on the
series, as all of the injuries that people sustained on the series
looked very much real!
The
show also tackled some rather serious issues over the years. Nelson
Curtis (Paul Tassone) struggled with the demons of alcohol addiction
throughout the whole time he appeared on the series. He relapsed
several times, and after his fiancee was murdered, he left All Saints
fearful over possibly hurting someone else because he couldn't
control himself. A similar story was told with Sterlo McCormack
(Henry Nixon), who became addicted to painkillers and drugs following
being shot in the season six finale.
The
show also tackled the subject of racism when Jessica Singleton
(Natalie Saleeba) was forced to confront her biggest fears after
having to deal with a patient who was a white surpremacist.
Jared
Levine (Ben Tari) began as a nurse with a privileged background, and
was mostly a supporting character. But when he was sexually violated
in an attack, and Charlotte caught him trying to cure a disease he
contracted as a result of the attack, Jared found it difficult to
keep it together. Watch below, keeping in mind that again, this is
not meant for younger viewers.
And,
then there's Von...
Von
Ryan (Judith McGrath) is the only character to last the entire run of
the series, and during the twelve years that she was on the show, her
character was more or less the same. She does not take too kindly to
drama, whining, or laziness, but if you ever needed someone in your
corner, she was definitely the one that you really wanted on your
side.
The
show also tackled the subject of suicide...only in the case of “All
Saints”, the issue was brought up off screen, as one of the members
of the cast took his own life in the summer of 2008.
Actor
Mark Priestley played the role of Dan Goldman, a nurse with a winning
personality who became interested in a career in nursing due to his
attraction to blood and gore. On the show, Dan was destined for a
happy ending as he had gotten married to his on-screen love, Erica
Templeton. The episode aired on August 26, 2008.
One
day later, Mark Priestley was found dead.
On
August 27, 2008, Priestley's body was found on an awning at the
Swissotel in Sydney, Australia. He had checked into the hotel that
day under a different name, and jumped from a window of the hotel
several stories up that afternoon. It was later revealed that
Priestley had been suffering from depression for several years,
having gone for treatment to ease the symptoms prior to his death.
He
died just a few days after he turned 32.
Mark's
character of Dan Goldman continued to air well into November 2008, as
Priestly had taped several episodes of the series before he passed
away. In a rather eerie manner, the final storyline that Dan was
involved in dealt with the tragic murder of his wife, Erica, and
presumably his last scene showed the police giving him the terrible
news.
The
show was retooled three different times during its run. For the
first six and a half years, the show was set at Ward 17, but because
of a slip in the ratings caused by the departure of Thomson's Mitch
Stevens, the show was retooled and the action shifted to the
emergency department. Then at the beginning of the show's twelfth
and final season, the show included the medical response unit in its
storylines.
Here's
the shocking part. “All Saints” benefited from these changes.
Ratings improved on both stints. In fact, “All Saints” was still
getting decent ratings at the time of its cancellation.
Unfortunately, running a show like “All Saints” was a huge cost
to Seven Network, and Seven made the decision to put their backing on
the comedy-drama series “Packed to the Rafters”...ironically
enough starring Erik Thompson!
So,
the final episode of “All Saints” aired on October 27, 2009,
appropriately enough with Von Ryan retiring from her position.
So,
that's my look back on “All Saints”...a show that really should
have aired in North America. Take my word for it, if you can get
past the Australian accents and have a strong stomach for gore and
swear words, you'll love this one!