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Friday, June 21, 2013

The Life and Times of James Gandolfini

Last month in one of my Tuesday Timeline entries, I talked about the series finale of the sitcom “Newhart”, in which many people believe was one of the best show endings of all time. And, it got me thinking about how other series concluded their runs. In most cases, the show endings ranged from satisfactory to brilliant.

On “Full House”, the show ended after Michelle fell off a horse and lost her memory (which granted, wasn't that big as she was like only seven or eight). But don't worry...she got it back. “Roseanne” kind of spoofed the Newhart “it was all a dream” ending by having the entire last season be part of a manuscript that Roseanne was writing as a fictional story. And, the “Dallas” finale ended on a cliffhanger that was not resolved for at least six or seven years after the final episode aired! How ironic that a television series that perfected the cliffhanger would end on the mother of all cliffhangers, huh?



And, I'm also reminded of the series finale of the television show “The Sopranos”.



Anyone who has watched that episode knows that the series finale ended on a peculiar note. It showed Tony Soprano, his wife Carmela, and his son AJ sitting down and sharing a family moment as some man watches them talking. As the man leaves to enter the restroom, the song “Don't Stop Believin'” by Journey begins to play, and Tony's daughter, Meadow Soprano enters the diner. Tony looks up...

...and that's where the show ends. The screen goes dark, there's a ten-second silence with a black screen, and then the closing credits begin to scroll.

The finale was purposely shot so that the audience would be able to come up with their own conclusions about what happened to the Soprano family. Maybe Tony and his family were gunned down. Maybe Tony and his family were blown up. Maybe Meadow was going to stab her father in the back by literally stabbing him in the back. Or, maybe...just maybe, the Sopranos would hold hands and sing Kumbaya to each other while they were sitting in the diner.

(Well, okay, maybe that last idea seemed a little too farfetched.)



The point is that the final episode of “The Sopranos” was one that ended abruptly. Sadly, the star of the show suffered a similar fate on June 19, 2013, as it was on this day that a heart attack would end his life abruptly at the age of 51.

Today, we are paying tribute to the late James Gandolfini, who passed away on Wednesday while vacationing with his family in Italy. He is survived by his second wife, Deborah, his thirteen year old son, Michael, and his eight month old daughter, Liliana.

Gandolfini's death sent shock waves throughout Hollywood as well as the entire world. Stars such as Edie Falco, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, John Travolta, and Brad Pitt all expressed their heartfelt condolences within hours of his passing, and logging onto Facebook yesterday, at least half of my news feed was clogged with articles about his death, as well as tribute pieces.

(The latter was what inspired me to do my blog on the life and times of James Gandolfini.)



Now, James Gandolfini was obviously most well known for his role as Tony Soprano, the New Jersey mob boss who has at least seven deaths linked to him throughout the series, who struggled to maintain his status within the criminal mob while being the devoted husband and father that he wanted to be. No wonder he was seeing a shrink during the whole series!  But he was more than that in his real life.

James Joseph Gandolfini Jr. was born on September 18, 1961 in Westwood, New Jersey to a lunch lady mother and a bricklayer father, both of whom had Italian ancestry in their blood. James' father even served in World War II and earned a Purple Heart for his services in the war. Because of his parents Italian background, as well as their belief in the Roman Catholic faith, James Gandolfini also embraced his Italian heritage, and would visit Italy as often as he could.

It seems almost fitting that Italy would be the place in which he would take his final breath.

After graduating as part of the Class of 1979 from Park Ridge High School (where his classmates awarded him the high school superlative of “Class Flirt”, Gandolfini earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from Rutgers University. His large frame at the time helped him win a job as a bouncer at a campus pub, and worked as a bartender and club manager before pursuing the career that would make him a household name for the better part of a decade.

When Gandolfini was a young man, he befriended a man named Roger Bart (who was most recently in the ABC comedy-drama “Desperate Housewives”), and it was Bart who encouraged Gandolfini to try his hand at acting by enrolling in an acting class. It wasn't too long after that class that Gandolfini would land his very first acting role in the 1987 film “Shock! Shock! Shock!”

(Well, okay, so his role as “Orderly” was not a huge role where he said a whole lot...but like every single professional out there, they all had to start at the bottom and take whatever roles they could get, right?)

Besides, in the case of Gandolfini, his rise to stardom was slow, but very steady. He dabbled a little bit in Broadway when he took on a six-week role in “On The Waterfront” in 1992, and the following year, he landed the role of Virgil in 1993's “True Romance”. Virgil could be best described as a “brutal, woman-beating mob enforcer”, and James claimed that the inspiration behind personifying Virgil was a friend of his who also happened to be a hitman.

(Suddenly, the characterization of Tony Soprano makes a lot more sense now.)



Anyway, James Gandolfini landed several film roles during the 1990s. He starred as Russian mobster disguised as timid insurance salesman Ben Pinkwater in 1994's “Terminal Velocity”, landed a key role in 1995's “Get Shorty”, and in 1996, he once again played a mob enforcer in “The Juror”.

Now, there was a part of me that wondered if Gandolfini ever got frustrated with being typecast, as in almost every single role he took on, he played someone who either lead a mob, or someone who was a huge part of a mob. But, I think that James took it in stride. After all, he wouldn't have accepted the role of Tony Soprano if he had felt this way.

And, besides...it wasn't as though he played a mob boss in every movie he starred in. He played Lt. Bobby Doughtery in 1995's “Crimson Tide”, appeared in the romantic-comedy “Angie” in 1994 (where unfortunately, his character is kicked to the curb by Geena Davis), and in 2001, his comedic role in “The Mexican” earned Gandolfini the L.A. Outfest Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role!



But again, his most associated role was that of Tony Soprano. I'm not sure if Gandolfini knew that “The Sopranos” would do so well when it debuted on HBO on January 10, 1999, but it took off in a huge way, running for eighty-six episodes until the controversial series finale aired on June 10, 2007.

The concept of the show was more or less based on the life of show creator David Chase, and believe it or not, it was originally intended to be made into a feature film. But by the mid-1990s, while “The Sopranos” was still in its planning stages, the decision was made instead to turn it into a television series. And, for Chase, the challenge was to incorporate his own experiences of growing up in an Italian-American family in the heart of New Jersey into a mobster family. For example, his own relationship with his mother was very similar to the one that Tony shared with his mother, Livia (who was played by the late Nancy Marchand). And, the character of Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) was based on the psychiatrist that Chase visited during his youth.



And, I think that part of the reason why “The Sopranos” did so well was because people could actually relate to it in ways that nobody thought possible. Okay, so maybe most of us haven't actually committed any crimes, or have shot a dozen people and secretly buried their bodies where nobody could find them. But, I am sure that most of us have had to deal with having overbearing parents who simply don't know how to let their children go. I'm sure quite a few of us have had to deal with the troubles of teenagers during their rebellious periods. In some cases, people have had affairs behind their spouses backs (just as Tony had done during his marriage to Carmela). And, yes, some people have gone to seek out advice from psychiatrists in order to decide what steps they need to take to move ahead in life.

The end result was a show that became the most financially successful cable television show to air, perhaps of all time. Many people today consider the show to be the best television series ever created. The show has earned a total of twenty-one Emmy Awards (of which Gandolfini won the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series three times in 2000, 2001, and 2003), and several pieces of merchandise were released alongside the DVD collection sets, including books, a video game, and several successful soundtrack albums.

And, in 2013, the Writer's Guild of America declared the show to be one of the best-written television series of all time! What an honour!

Now, truth be told, I didn't really get into The Sopranos until the show's fourth season. And, even then, I was sort of a casual viewer at best. But, you know what, I have to give props to every single cast and crew member who worked on that series, as they made a show that was not only believable, but filled with heart and soul. And, I do believe that as the main character of the series, Gandolfini was literally the glue that held everything together, as his performance was nothing short of near perfection.

And, even after the series wrapped up in 2007, Gandolfini continued to work hard. He served as producer for two documentaries (“Alive Day: Home from Iraq and Wartorn: 1861-2010), and he continued to act in a variety of films such as “The Taking of Pelham 123”, “Where The Wild Things Are”, and “Zero Dark Thirty”. And, his work continued to be highly praised (well, save for the 2004 bomb “Surviving Christmas”) and he continued to be rewarded and honoured for his great work.

And, that was why he and his family were on vacation in Italy in June 2013. He and his family were to do some sightseeing in Rome before heading down to Sicily to receive an award at the Taormina Film Fest on June 22, 2013. Sadly, he would not make it to Sicily, as he died of a massive heart attack the evening of June 19.

May he rest in peace.



James Gandolfini

1961-2013

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Relay for Life 2013 - My Personal Scrapbook

Everybody has probably heard of the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words", right?  Well, in this special edition of the Thursday Diary, I thought that by sharing several pictures coupled with captions explaining the story behind the pictures that you would all get a better idea of what my experiences were like at the 2013 Relay for Life event that was held in my hometown on June 14 and 15.

This Thursday Diary is going to be structured a little bit differently than past ones.  For one, you will not see the classic Comic Sans MS font that you're accustomed to, as I think the regular font that I use will make more of an impact.

Secondly, this post is going to be extremely image heavy, and not so text heavy.  That's because I have a lot that I have to share with all of you, and I don't want to leave out any details.

And, lastly, this may very well be the most colourful entry that you will be exposed to.  That's because I'm trying to make this blog entry read like an actual scrapbook that you can leaf through.  Just imagine me using a 12-pack of Sharpies in different colours when you read each caption underneath the pictures.  Again, I think this is probably the best way that I have to present my experiences with the Relay for Life, so I hope you enjoy it.

NOTE:  This was the entry that I really wanted to write last Saturday, but was way too exhausted to type.  I'm making up for lost time.

So, let's begin with page one of this virtual scrapbook of the 2013 Relay for Life.


All right, so to begin this look back on the Relay for Life 2013 edition, why don't I begin by introducing our team!  These are the twenty people who came out to represent the Walmart Cancer Kickers this year.  From left to right, Top row:  Christina, Albert, Matthew (a.k.a. ME!), Paul, Jay.  Middle row:  Sarah, Lorrie, Roxanne, Marg, Evelyn, Dorothy, Brittani, Phil.  Bottom row:  Roy, Elaine, Linda, Carol, Heather, Theresa, Lloyd.


Here's another photo of us just before the Relay kicked off at 7:00 in the evening on June 14, 2013.  The banner that we were carrying was designed by Janice, who was the manager of the produce department up until a few months ago.  Looks great, doesn't it?  Now, I suppose that you're wondering what the number 75 means.  The answer can be found in the next photo...


This year's theme for the Relay for Life was all about the number seventy-five, as the Canadian Cancer Society celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2013.  Therefore, the various campsites that decorated their spots received bonus points for including the number 75 within our decorations.  We added the 75 into our banner, and our archway, which you can see in full in the next picture.


This is the site that we were given to use for this year's Relay for Life.  It was in a really decent spot this year, though admittedly we were a little bit too far away from the stage.  But that was fine by me, as I don't like music when it's too loud.  We chose blue and yellow as our two predominant colours to match the Relay for Life logo, although we as a team chose to wear lavender coloured T-shirts because the colour lavender is used to represent the fight against all cancers.


Many of the people who decided to enter the Relay for Life did so for a variety of reasons.  Many people who walked in the Relay are people who have either beaten cancer, or who are currently waging war against the disease.  For those people who stared cancer in the face and lived to tell the tale, they were given yellow T-shirts and participated in the Survivor Walk, which was easily the most heartfelt and emotional moment in the whole event.  I even found myself getting a little misty-eyed as the walk progressed, just to see just how young some of these cancer survivors were.  To see them go through something like that certainly puts things into perspective for sure.


The 2013 Relay for Life brought forth a record number of survivors participating in the Survivor Walk...over one hundred people registered!  And, on our own Walmart Cancer Kickers team, we were lucky enough to have four representing our store!  Dorothy, Roy, Elaine, and Evelyn certainly showed their strength and their passion for this event just by making an appearance in the Survivor Walk, and I absolutely salute them.  All four of these people are survivors, and that was why they Relay every year.  But every single person on our team participated for their own various reasons.  Allow me to share with you the reason why I took part.


Above are a pair of luminaries that I purchased at the event in memory of a couple of very special people.  The first luminary bag that you see is in memory of my co-worker Alex, who passed away from cancer on September 19, 2012 at the age of seventy.  He was a man who really helped me come out of my shell, and I will forever be in his debt for helping me look at myself through more adult eyes.  I still miss him every day.  The second bag (which is lit up) is in memory of my grandfather, who died of lung cancer on July 14, 2000 at the age of eighty-four.  Though my grandfather lived to be above average age, his last year of life was filled with so much pain.  It was tough to see him go through that.  My only regret in regards to the luminaries was that I didn't have enough to purchase one for everyone that I lost because of cancer.  I really wanted to buy a luminary for my friend "Pierette" who passed away a year and a half ago, and I really wanted to buy one for Pia, Mary Lou, and "Stew", all former co-workers who lost their fight against cancer over the last five years.  But, believe me, the thoughts of them were never far from my mind as I accumulated more laps around the track.


Speaking of laps, I thought that I would bring up this photo.  Next to my cute looking M&M's wristwatch is a purple ribbon that I purchased for two dollars (with all the money going to fight cancer).  Each time we did a complete circuit around the track, we would grab a bead to string through the ribbon.  Would you like to know how many I ended up with?  The answer a little bit later...


I'm posting this picture of Dorothy and Paul here for a reason.  You see, last year, Paul's wife Penny was a participant in the 2012 Relay for Life Survivor Walk, and Penny was still very weak from cancer treatments, so Dorothy supported her as she made her way the entire distance.  Sadly, Penny lost her battle with cancer just a few months ago, and the loss was very hard for Paul and his son, Jay.  So, Dorothy and the rest of the Cancer Kickers put our heads together and came up with a lovely tribute for Penny...


...a plaque that we presented to both Paul and Jay in honour of Penny.  You could just see the love and joy beaming from both of their faces, and I'm sure that they both made Penny proud.  It was a wonderful moment in honour of a wonderful woman.  I just wish that I could have gotten the opportunity to meet her, because she sounded like a lovely lady.


As the Relay went underway, what I found interesting was just how much effort other teams put in to their camps.  The picture up above is the team known as "Princess Lillian", and theirs was one hundred per cent interactive.  Walkers could play a beanbag toss, or pop a balloon to win a prize.  They even had a raffle going on, where a big prize was handed out at the end of the event!  I have to give them props for creativity!


As day turned into night, and the temperature dipped down into the single digits (Celsius), the Relay for Life planned a lot of events that would guarantee that the majority of people would stay up all night long.  One of the events was a Halloween trick-or-treating lap, in which we would dress up in costume and get candy from other people.  From left, Heather, Roxanne, Linda, Dorothy, Carol, and Marg got into the Halloween spirit four months early!


As well, there was a talent competition in which Relayers could show off their talents to the sleep-deprived crowd!  I really wish I had the video to show you, but I don't know how to post it in this blog...but Roxanne and Albert from our team did a ventriloquist act...complete with a little Gangnam Style thrown in for good measure!


And, here is a shot of me taken during the Relay for Life talent show at approximately two in the morning!  You can tell by the goofy grin on my face and the amount of beads I'm wearing that I was starting to tire out (and possibly that I was on a major sugar high from eating approximately a dozen and a half chocolate chip cookies that my mom baked for our team to snack on during the event).  But, I still managed to last the whole event with a smile on my face!  And, the glowsticks?  Well, let's just say that our trick-or-treaters were kind enough to share their loot with us.  I snatched a couple of Mars bars and a pair of yellow and pink glowsticks to wear around the track all night long!  


So, here we are...it's six in the morning, and this is my necklace.  I ended up getting two more beads added on top of that string after this picture was snapped (the glowstick holding the string together), but if you count each bead, you'll see that there are 32.  Add in the two extra beads, and you have 34 laps around the track!  My goal was to get at least one bead for every year that I have been alive, and I surpassed that goal by two!  Oh, and each lap around the track?  I've been told that the track was one quarter of a mile.  So, 1/4 of a mile times thirty-four laps equals EIGHT AND A HALF MILES!!!  No wonder I developed blisters on my heels!

So, how did we end up faring?


All 40 teams that participated in the Relay for Life did a phenomenal job, and the grand total for all teams that raised money was a staggering $132,205.91!  And, that was the figure at 6:45am on June 15, 2013!  I imagine the total has now climbed even higher in the five days since the Relay for Life!  Congratulations to all teams for supporting the Relay, and a very special thank you to our own Cancer Kickers, who raised well over six thousand dollars alone!  I am so proud of all of us!


All in all, I am really happy that I took part in the 2013 Relay for Life.  Although I was exhausted at the end of the journey, every step that I took that night was well worth it.  I met some fascinating people who I never would have met before, I listened to some live entertainment, I had fun spending time with my Walmart family getting to know them better, and most importantly, I was one of the many people who showed up at the event to send a message.  That with perseverance, attitude, persistence, and strength, that one day, cancer will only be found in the horoscope section.  One day, a cure for cancer will be found.  We just have to continue to hold on to hope.

(Or at least in my case, I can continue to try and get a decent picture of hope.  This effort took me several attempts to snap, and this was the best shot of "HOPE" that I could get.  Kind of symbolic, no?)

And, that is my scrapbook for the Relay for Life 2013.  I hope you all enjoyed it, and I hope that my pictures have told the story in a way that helped you all feel like you were a part of the Relay as well. It really was an event that I was proud to be a part of, and I will most definitely find a way to make it back next year.  Though, I think that I will definitely buy a better pair of walking shoes (ones that don't give me blisters), and I don't think that I will be walking as many laps.  And, I think that next year, I might take part in more of the Relay events.  

And, to conclude...one more video.




Wednesday, June 19, 2013

The Real Housekeepers of Studio City - A Request

One of the things that I wanted to stress in terms of the brand new All-Request Wednesday feature in this blog was the opportunity for people to have their say as to what they wanted to see. After all, this blog would be nowhere if it weren't for all of you reading this day after day. So, the Wednesday blog entries are my way of saying thank you to all of you out there by giving you the opportunity to have your say in what you want to see.

And, one of the things that I will absolutely encourage is promoting other people's projects, events, or special days within this space. After all, I think that promotion is the key to great success (if done correctly, that is).

So, for today's request, I'm going to offer up a little promotion for the person who suggested this idea.

First things first, this idea was suggested to me last Wednesday by Heidi P. of California, and when I heard her suggestion, I was intrigued to not only make it the subject of the day, but to give something that she has worked on some promotion.




So, I'm sure that most of you have heard of the whole franchise of television programs that deal with the “Real Housewives” of whatever county, right? Apparently, there are franchises that are set in Orange County, Atlanta, New York, New Jersey, Beverly Hills, Miami, and Vancouver.

BLOGGER'S NOTE: Okay, there are seriously SEVEN different versions of this show? Seriously? Not even “Law & Order” had that many spinoffs!!!

And, this might shock you (or not), but I have never so much have watched one full episode of any of these seasons. Ever. The idea of watching rich socialites acting like nothing more than trophy wives does not interest me in the slightest. Especially since most of the housewives are only famous because they appear on the program which seemingly promotes bad behaviour, overindulgence, and “First World Problems”.

Okay, okay, I'll admit that there have been a couple of success stories out there. Bethenny Frankel has become a wealthy businesswoman in her own right and is set to officially launch her own talk show in September, while NeNe Leakes has appeared in everything from “The Celebrity Apprentice” to “Glee”. But most of the others are...well...not exactly famous.

And, they sure as heck don't act like most housewives I know. You never see Kim Zolciak trying to do six loads of laundry. You never see Teresa Guidice swapping recipes with Caroline Manzo. And, somehow, I don't think I can picture Lisa Vanderpump sitting on a couch eating chocolates while catching up on episodes of “General Hospital”.

NOTE 1: The above descriptions that I just wrote are admittedly the stereotypical definition of “housewife” that one might have seen in 1970s sitcoms, but even so, I still have my doubts that you'd see the Real Housewives doing any of that stuff.

NOTE 2: Yes, I did have to look up the names of the Real Housewives. To me, they all kind of resemble the same woman anyway.

NOTE 3: I realize that by insulting the Real Housewives franchise, I have lost any right to become a spokesperson for Bravo. Ah, well. C'est la vie.

Of course, looking back at some of the people who have starred in television sitcoms, the so-called housewives didn't exactly do much housework themselves. I don't think I saw Angela Bower from “Who's The Boss” do much dusting. I don't think I remember Jane Jetson doing any dishwashing (well, except for those commercials she did for Electrasol). And, while Carol Brady may have been the world's most perfect mother, I don't even remember her doing much cleaning around the house either.

But then again, why would they? Not when they had people (or robots) doing all the work for them!

And, that's what today's subject is all about.




You see, Heidi and her husband have been working on a musical project entitled “The Real Housekeepers of Studio City”, and the musical recently had its debut performance in Los Angeles on June 9. In fact, you can visit the official website below.


CONFESSION: Okay, I admit. The banner is really cool looking!

Basically, the plot of the musical deals with what happens when a family from a fictionalized version of Studio City creates an ad for view on Craigslist, which attracts the attention of several sitcom maids. It is an original one-act musical, and it has been doing very well, if recent reviews are any indication.

Now, unfortunately, all of these performances are in the Los Angeles area, and Los Angeles is quite a ways away for me to actually check out the show for myself. However, if you are in the Los Angeles area, and you want to check this show out, just click on the link above. Tickets are still available, and the show is running until June 28, so there is still time for you to check it out! And, there are preview videos and pictures available on the website as well.

So, I thought that for this edition of the blog (and to tie it to the musical that Heidi helped bring to the public), I would do a feature on some of the housekeepers that are featured in this particular musical. Now, for time purposes, I'll only feature the ones that have been drawn into the banner, but judging by the description of the show, the musical does a great job representing several different housekeepers of all different backgrounds, genders...and in one case, machine.

So, let's delve into the lives of “The Real Housekeepers of Studio City”, shall we?




ALICE from “The Brady Bunch”.

If “The Brady Bunch” was on “Hollywood Squares”, Alice would always be center square. After all, she was always in the middle of the grid during the show's opening credits. And, I often think that the Brady clan would be absolutely nowhere had Alice not been there.

I literally see Alice as the glue that kept the Brady Bunch together, making her place in the center of the Brady grid even more symbolic.


I mean, think about it for a second. Alice had to prepare meals, clean the house, and look after six children that weren't even hers. And, she was more than just a housekeeper. She was more often than not the closest confidante for everyone in the Brady household, and almost always had just the right words to say in order to cheer people up, or make them feel special.
To me, Carol and Mike Brady were poseurs. Alice was the real star of the Brady house!




EDNA GARRETT from “Diff'rent Strokes”.

Of course, most of you probably know Edna Garrett best for keeping Blair, Jo, Natalie, and Tootie out of trouble in the long-running sitcom, “The Facts of Life”. But it certainly wasn't the first show to feature Edna. After all, Edna was the first of three housekeepers for the Drummond residence, as Edna happily served Philip Drummond, his daughter, Kimberly, and his two adopted sons, Willis and Arnold.

Now, Edna was considered to be fairly eccentric on both shows, but she had such comedic timing that one could overlook all of that. And, one thing that made her stand out was her ability to listen. She gave Arnold, Willis, and Kimberly some great advice over the years...advice that she would later take with her to Eastland.




NELL from “Gimme A Break!”

I recall doing an entire blog entry on this show quite some time ago, but just to briefly summarize what the show was about, Nell moved into the Kaminsky household to help the widowed Charles raise his daughters Katie, Julie, and Samantha after Nell made a promise to Charles' late wife that she would step in and take care of her family. And, Nell was one of the best housekeepers in the whole world. She loved the Kaminsky girls as if they were her own daughters, and when the Chief passed away, she still honoured her commitment to the Kaminsky girls until they were ready to go to college. And, even then, Nell still managed to show just how big her heart was when she agreed to take on a foster child named Joey to look after.

Granted, the addition of Joey Lawrence was solely to keep the show running...but it worked out well.

CONSUELA from “Family Guy”.

There's really not a whole lot to say about Consuela, so maybe this video will give you a bit of an idea as to what she is like.



Granted, I'm not sure if most people would like their housekeeper to steal their entire house, but man, oh, man, is she one tough broad!



ROSIE THE ROBOT from "The Jetsons"

Okay, so Rosie the Robot was considered to be a little old-fashioned for the setting of the Jetsons (but in the 1960s, she was the wave of the future).  Even now in 2013, Rosie the Robot has probably been successfully replaced by the Roomba.

But Rosie had character, heart, and passion.  Three adjectives that you wouldn't even think of using to describe a piece of metal that just happens to clean windows, scrub dishes, and make beds.  And, even though there were sleeker models of robot housekeepers out there, the Jetsons would never part with Rosie.  Rosie was a part of the family, and I don't think anyone in the Jetson household could imagine life without them.



LURCH from "The Addams Family"

Lurch, at first glance, might frighten you.  After all, he is almost seven feet tall and in some adaptations, he has the same skin colour as a zombified Smurf.  And, he's not exactly a master of communication.  His idea of speech involves garbled moans and somewhat broken English.  And, he isn't even really that agile, as his large size has made him quite clumsy.

But here's the thing with Lurch.  You'll never find a more loyal servant.  He is treated with nothing but kindness and respect by the Addams family, and he is very fond of both Wednesday and Pugsley Addams, both of whom he dotes on.  

And, while butlering might not exactly be Lurch's strong suit, he does play a mean harpsichord!

So, those are just a few of the housekeepers you'll meet in "Studio City".  Now I want to turn things over to all of you.

BONUS QUESTION:  Who are some of your favourite television housekeepers?  Berta from "Two and a Half Men"?  Tony from "Who's The Boss"?  Mr. Belvedere from...well..."Mr. Belvedere"?  I'm interested in hearing your thoughts!

And, keep sending me ideas for topics.  We are on Facebook and Google+!

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

June 18, 1977

I'm very happy to welcome all of you to another exciting edition of the Tuesday Timeline. It's June 18 today, and the subject of today's blog will probably read more like a Sunday Jukebox entry. But, I don't think most of you will mind too much.

Truth be told, I was struggling to find a topic to talk about today that I DIDN'T already do!

Anyway, enough babbling on. Here's what happened throughout history on the eighteenth of June.

1429 – French forces lead by Joan of Arc defeat the main English army, which turns the tide of the Hundred Years War

1633 – Charles I is crowned King of Scots at St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh

1767 – Samuel Wallis lands on the shores of Tahiti, making him widely believed to be the first European to visit the island nation

1812 – U.S. Congress declares war on the United Kingdom

1815 – The Battle of Waterloo results in the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte by the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Lebrecht von Blucher forcing him to abdicate the French throne

1858 – Charles Darwin makes the decision to publish his Theory of Evolution

1873 – Susan B. Anthony is fined one hundred dollars for trying to cast a vote in the 1872 Presidential Election

1923 – Checker Taxi puts its first taxi on the streets

1928 – Amelia Earhart becomes the first female passenger to fly in an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean

1965 – The United States uses B-52 bombers to attack National Liberation Front guerrilla fighters in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War

1972 – A plane crashes just two minutes after takeoff from London's Heathrow Airport, killing 118 people

1983 – Astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman to go into outer space

1986 – American writer/journalist Francis Scott Fitzgerald dies in St. Paul, Minnesota at the age of 64

1996 – Theodore Kaczynski is indicted on ten criminal counts after being suspected of being the Unabomber

2000 – Actress Nancy Marchand passes away from cancer at the age of 71

2007 – Nine firefighters are killed in Charleston, South Carolina following the Charleston Sofa Super Store fire

2009 – The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is launched into space by NASA

Now that we have read about what happened throughout history on June 18, let's wish the following famous faces a happy June 18 birthday! Turning another year older are Jerome Karle, Jay Rockefeller, Paul McCartney, Linda Thorson, Carol Kane, Isabella Rossellini, Brian Benben, Andrea Evans, Alison Moyet, Kurt Browning, Robin Christopher, Kerry Butler, Ray LaMontagne, Blake Shelton, Chris Coghlan, Renee Olstead, Willa Holland, and Max Records.

Now comes the time where I will reveal the date that we will be looking back at. And, this time around, we're going back to the 1970s once more.



Today's date is June 18, 1977.

And, this is the song that topped the charts on this particular day in history.



ARTIST: Fleetwood Mac
SONG: Dreams
ALBUM: Rumours
DATE RELEASED: March 24, 1977
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #1 for 1 week

Yes, on June 18, 1977, “Dreams” became the first (and only) chart-topping hit for the band known as “Fleetwood Mac”. And, the song was written and recorded at a time in which the band members were all experiencing hardships of varying degrees.




You all know that at the time that “Rumours” was released, the band “Fleetwood Mac” was made up of five members. There was Lindsey Buckingham (vocals/guitar), Michael “Mick” Fleetwood (drums), Christine McVie (vocals/keyboards), John McVie (bass), and Stephanie “Stevie” Nicks (vocals). The band was founded in 1967, and Fleetwood is the only member of the original line-up (the others were Peter Green, Bob Brunning, and Jeremy Spencer). The husband/wife duo of John and Christine McVie joined not too long after the band was founded, with John joining the group in 1968, and Christine joining two years later. Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks would join the group in 1975, and shortly after their arrival came the release of the band's second eponymous album in 1975. It was the band's tenth album overall, and the first album to have the most successful line-up of Fleetwood, McVie, McVie, Buckingham, and Nicks, and with songs such as “Rhiannon” and “Say You Love Me”. It was a modest effort that certainly helped establish a following in both America and the United Kingdom, as Fleetwood Mac had band members from both countries (the McVie's and Fleetwood were from the UK, while Buckingham and Nicks were American).

But nobody could have possibly predicted the success that the following album would bring to the band.




When “Rumours” was released in February 1977, it instantly propelled the band into superstar status. Several of the album's singles were released, and became instant hits, and to this day, the songs are continuously played on classic rock and retro music stations. The album sold a grand total of over forty-five million copies all over the globe, and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978. The album is easily considered to be Fleetwood Mac's best album, and is frequently listed on lists of the best albums that came out of the 1970s.

And, perhaps the biggest hit to come off of the “Rumours” album was “Dreams”. And, as I alluded to, the song was written at a time in which the band was experiencing some very personal problems.

First things first, the marriage between John and Christine McVie was on the rocks prior to the band recording the album, and the McVie's put the kibosh on their marriage after nearly eight years. The tension between the two former spouses was so great that they didn't even socialize together outside of the recording studio.

The McVie's marriage wasn't the only relationship to go belly-up either right around this time. The on-again, off-again, often tumultuous relationship between lovers Buckingham and Nicks was very much off by the time that “Rumours” was being recorded, and the two were often seen shouting at each other and getting into heated arguments. Though, to their credit, the fighting stopped while they collaborated together as songwriters for the project.

Not even Mick Fleetwood was safe from the emotional trauma of the other band members as he was enduring his own personal struggles himself following the discovery that his wife had had an affair with his best friend right around the time that “Rumours” was being recorded.

So, to say that you could cut the tension with a knife while the band was putting together tracks like “Dreams” in the recording studio was the biggest understatement of the decade. It must have taken every ounce of energy just for the band to remain civil with each other in what was a period of emotional breakdown, anger, and confusion.

And, yet, the band created some of their best music during this time period. Who would have thought it?

Well, on a personal note, I tend to write some of my best stuff when I am going through a period of emotional reflection or anger, so I can definitely relate to the songwriting process the members of Fleetwood Mac experienced during that time. Still, it had to be rough, and in an interview with Blender Magazine, Lindsey Buckingham described the recording process of the album as an exercise in emotional denial, adding that the band was constantly “keeping their personal feelings in one corner of the room while trying to be professional in the other”.

But, again, the band made some sweet music during that time. So, maybe emotional tension actually helped the band become more creative.




Certainly, that was the case when the song “Dreams” was written. The composition was penned by Stevie Nicks, who wrote it in the early months of 1976 in between recording sessions. In between one particular break in which Nicks was not required to be at the main studio, she took a Fender Rhodes piano into a studio that was allegedly the property of Sly (from Sly & The Family Stone), which was decked out in shades of red and black, complete with a black velvet bed. Nicks sat down on the bed, found a drum pattern that was already programmed into her keyboard, switched on a cassette player, and wrote “Dreams” in a time period of just ten minutes.

(I can't even write an entire blog entry in ten minutes!)

Anyway, after Nicks recorded “Dreams”, she played her composition to the rest of the band, and the very next day, they went to work recording the single.

However, not all the band members were on board with the idea of putting the song on the “Rumours” album initially, as Christine McVie had declared the song to be “boring”, as she could only hear three chords being played in Stevie's rough piano version. It took Lindsey Buckingham fashioning three sections out of identical chords to make what were seemingly the same chords sound quite different from each other to change McVie's mind.

And, it was probably a good thing, since the song became the band's only #1 hit on June 18, 1977!

Now, the song itself never really had an official promotional video attached to it. The idea of the music video was still fairly new in 1977, and they didn't really become popular until the founding of MTV in 1981. But the concert video of the band that was supplied as the video worked just as well, and it was because of “Dreams” that Fleetwood Mac were officially declared a contender on the charts.


And, that's what happened on June 18, 1977.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Three Men and a Baby

Just for the heck of it, even though Father's Day was yesterday I thought that I would do one more entry. Today's the Monday Matinee, after all, and I thought that I would choose an entry that was father friendly.

Of course, the plot for this particular film is kind of outlandish and out-there. But, hey, for some reason it worked.

Now, before I go ahead with this week's Monday Matinee, I have something that is on my mind. When I was a kid, I used to listen to the radio all the time. I had a little portable radio on my nightstand in my bedroom, and the dial would always be tuned into PAC-93 on the FM dial. PAC-93 was, at the time, one of Upstate New York's most popular Top 40 stations. They played all the latest hits from the pop charts, a few classics, there was a 1980's program that aired on Saturday nights, and on Sundays, you could listen to Casey Kasem's Top 40 (one of my all-time favourite radio programs). Sadly, the station switched formats years ago, and I haven't listened to it in quite some time. But when I was younger, it was my all-time favourite, as they didn't play as many radio commercials as other radio stations tended to do.

Because, as you all well know, radio station ads can be more annoying than the average ad you might view on television. And most of these radio ads are pretty forgettable.

Well, all except one, that is.

The radio ad that I am going to talk about is one that I can still remember almost 20 years later. I don't really remember who paid for the ad, but it was talking about children and their fathers, and the one part of the ad that I can hear playing through my head is the quote that read “it takes a man to be a dad”.

And, this is a slogan that seemed to ring through loud and clear in today's movie spotlight.

You see, this movie is all about a trio of bachelors who are enjoying living their lives in New York City as the free spirited single men they are. But when a baby girl is quite literally dropped into their laps, will the men know exactly what to do?




Well, that's just the question that Ted Danson, Steve Guttenberg, and Tom Selleck all asked themselves in the wildly successful comedy “Three Men and a Baby”. The movie was the biggest grossing film of 1987, and it won a People's Choice Award the following year for Favourite Comedy Motion Picture. And, believe it or not, a former Trekkie directed this movie! In fact, this was the third directing effort by Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy!




Released on November 25, 1987, “Three Men and a Baby” starred Danson as actor Jack Holden, Guttenberg as cartoonist Michael Kellam, and Selleck as architect Peter Mitchell. And, all three of them were definitely enjoying living their bachelor lifestyle in New York City.

Now, because New York City was a really expensive place to live in back in 1987 (and even MORE expensive than ever to live there now), the three men all shared an apartment to save money whenever possible. And, when Jack was overseas filming a movie, the last thing that Michael and Peter believed that they would see at the door would be a baby girl.

And, yet, that's exactly what happened.

It turns out that Jack has been a very busy boy in between acting gigs. He got involved with one of his co-stars, and a note attached with the baby reveals that the child is Jack's! Needless to say, Michael and Peter are left holding the bag and minding the baby.




Peter and Michael are rather confused as to why they would be stuck watching baby Mary, but then both are reminded of a conversation that they had with Jack prior to his departure to Turkey, about how he had spoken to a director friend, who had arranged through Jack to have a “package” delivered to the loft as part of a favour. The only stipulation was that Jack had to keep the package a “secret”.

So, naturally, despite the fact that Baby Mary arrives at the guys' loft along with a note that was written by her mother Sylvia (Nancy Travis), dumb Peter and dumber Michael come to the “logical” conclusion that baby Mary must be the package. Because sending infants through a courier service is perfectly legal in the United States.

And, yes...that was sarcasm.

In actuality, the “package” that was intended for Jack's director friend (which was the package that Jack had really arranged to have dropped off at the apartment) is intercepted by the landlady. And, that package was filled with bags of heroin. Because sending illegal drugs through a courier service is perfectly legal in the United States.

Ah, sarcasm again. I'm getting good at that!

Of course, Peter and Michael are blissfully unaware of this fact, as they are too busy taking care of Mary. They've been changing her diapers, making sure she is fed, playing games with her. The two men really developed a bond with Mary over time, and eventually, both men seem to have the feeding/bathing/changing schedule down pat.

Now, here's where the fun begins. The two drug dealers who have come to the apartment to collect the heroin that Jack and his director friend arranged to have delivered. And, Peter and Michael, believing that the men are there to collect Mary, stupidly decide to give the baby to the drug dealers.

Okay, okay, so the film makes out that these three men are some of the dumbest people ever born. At least it did well in the box office!

Luckily, Peter finds out that they made a mistake, and attempt to switch the heroin package with baby Mary...but a twist of fate accidentally breaks open the package, and he ends up tricking the drug dealers into giving Mary back to them while getting arrested themselves! And, when Jack comes back and he is informed of what happened while he was filming, Jack is horrified to learn that he has gotten himself tied to a drug selling operation unwillingly...but not shocked to learn that he is the father of Mary. And, Peter and Michael, who had spent several weeks looking after Mary happily turn over their responsibilities to Jack. Luckily, Jack falls in love with Mary at first sight, and he too decides to dote over the child. So, what eventually happens is that Mary ends up gaining three fathers out of the deal...her biological father, and two surrogate fathers.

But after Jack's director friend is seriously injured in a mugging attempt brought upon by the drug dealers who had gotten him into trouble, Jack, Peter, and Michael must find a way to bring down the drug operation while simultaneously taking care of and protecting Mary. Will all of them succeed? And, what happens when Mary's mother makes an appearance with some shocking news? Will the three men be able to cope?

Well, you know that I will not tell you the answer...but you also know that there was a sequel made in 1990 entitled “Three Men and a Little Lady”, so naturally, there must be a happy conclusion. I just won't tell you how they got to that ending.  Let's just say that in the case of this movie, that "it takes a man to be a dad" ad that I talked about earlier in this piece...well...it fits!

But, the movie does feature a very popular urban legend.




Apparently, there's a scene that takes place an hour into the final cut of the film that features Ted Danson and Celeste Holm walking through the loft carrying baby Mary, and in that scene, there is what appears to be a human figure standing in the window. Forty seconds earlier, that image was not present, leading people to believe that the figure was actually a ghost! The story went that the “ghost” of the boy was a nine-year-old boy who died in the home where the film was shot prior to the movie being made, and that the story floating around was that the boy had committed suicide with a shotgun.

Turns out that the actual figure is simply a cardboard cutout of Ted Danson. It's amazing where urban legends are developed, isn't it?
Here's a little bit more trivia.


  • Ted Danson and Nancy Travis would later work together on the CBS sitcom “Becker”.
  • Baby Mary was played by twins Lisa and Michelle Blair.
  • Director Leonard Nimoy was forced to hide the microphones out of sight on the set after the babies playing Mary kept getting distracted by them.
  • The movie is actually a remake of a 1985 French film.
  • Pampers paid a total of $50,000 to the producers of the film, simply because they wanted their products to appear in the film. Sigh...I suppose product placement was around way back in the 1980s.
  • Michael J. Fox and Tony Danza were considered for roles in the movie, but both were too busy filming “Family Ties” and “Who's The Boss?” respectively.