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Thursday, June 27, 2013

Let's Do The Job Change Again!!!

I'm opening up my diary to all of you today to let you all know of a brand new opportunity that is coming my way. A few of you already know what that is, but for those of you who are not aware, this entry should explain a few things, as well as what I think my strengths and weaknesses will be when it comes to that change.

June 27, 2013

I think that every single one of us has had years in which our heads have completely spun around trying to keep track of all of the changes that have presented themselves to us. Some of our most memorable years in our lives have been years in which we've experienced great change.

I may be a bit premature in making this declaration, but it's looking as if 2013 is going to be one of those memorable years, because once again, I'm going to be experiencing some great changes in my professional life.

As all of you who are regular readers of this blog probably know by now, I work retail. Do I see myself doing retail forever? No, I don't. Ultimately, I would love to make my love of writing into a full-time career, but this has not happened as of yet, so working retail is fine for now.

But this year has been one in which I've gone through quite a lot of shake-ups.



I started off the year in the dairy/frozen department – the same department where I spent the better part of several years. And, I'm sure that most of you have probably heard of some of the tales that I have told over the last few months about working in the dairy section. Tales of dodging produce, stocking egg nog, and kindly informing customers “please don't sit on our butter.”

It even inspired a parody of Barry Manilow's “Copacabana” entitled “No Tropicana”.

(I still have to figure out a way to bring my parody to YouTube without subjecting anyone to the horrors of my singing voice, as well as avoiding a lawsuit from Barry Manilow over bastardizing his song.)

But, right around April of this year, I learned that I was going to be transferred to a different department for the summer. And, since April 22, 2013 (appropriately enough, “Earth Day”), I have been in the seasonal department.



Yes, instead of selling people cartons of milk, I now sell them cans of insect spray. Instead of scrubbing the floors of the walk-in cooler, I now take a hose and water the various flowers, shrubs, and trees. And, instead of picking up fifty pound cases of butter, I am now loading upwards of fifty bags of twenty-two litre bags of topsoil into people's cars.

And, you know what? I'm okay with that.

I'll be completely honest. Would going over to the garden centre area have been my first choice? Absolutely not. I was going into the garden centre area not knowing a bloody thing about gardening at all. I couldn't tell you what a perennial flower was. I couldn't tell you which plants required part-sun, and which plants required full sun. And, as far as telling you which cords go with which weed-eater? You may as well have asked me the question in Japanese, as I would not have been able to tell you the right answer.

But now? What a difference three months makes!

Certainly, I wouldn't have chosen garden centre willingly. But ultimately, it was a learning experience. That's the way I see every opportunity that comes across my way. I see everything as a learning experience in hopes that everything that happens to me happened for a reason.

And, let me tell you, the first few weeks in the Garden Centre were a total shock to the system, let me tell you.



I mean, granted...the lifting of bags of soil, cedar mulch, stones, sand, salt for water purification, and the excrement of sheep, cows, and shrimp was not difficult for me. Anyone who was capable of lifting heavy items could do it. Same deal with loading up lawnmowers, barbecues, gazebos, and patio sets. As long as the customers had a vehicle in which we could easily slide the boxes in, everything was easy-peasy. And, even if they didn't, taking them out of the box was always an option (even though on a personal level, I would prefer not having to do that).

But again, there were some new aspects to the job that I had to learn that I was incredibly apprehensive about. For one, I had to develop a little bit of knowledge about the products that I was selling. I didn't always have the right answers to give to customers, and in my first couple of days, I had absolutely no idea where anything was or what the products actually did.

(Here's a tip for anyone entering a brand new job. Never assume you know everything about anything. Instead, ask for help.)

Truth be told, a lot of the things that I learned in the garden centre, I learned from standing out in the soil compound. When I wasn't loading gardening supplies into people's vehicles or working on my tan (speaking of which, my skin has never been this bronze...ever), I was spending the first couple of weeks of my seasonal stint reading the back of all the soil packages. I wanted to do this so that I had a better idea of what to tell customers who were just as clueless about gardening as I was, and the last thing that I wanted to do was mislead someone into buying a product that they didn't need. I learned all about what Moisture Control soil did. I could tell the difference between soil for hanging baskets and soil for lawn care (prior to going to seasonal, I didn't think there WAS a difference). And, I learned just what compost and manure worked best from customer input.



(Case in point. Sheep manure outsold cow manure by a 2:1 margin at my store, and red cedar mulch is clearly the most popular colour sold.)

And, perhaps the most interesting thing for me to overcome was my apprehension towards running a register. I'm not going to lie to you. My first week and a half on cash, I made a LOT of mistakes. But, you know what, I think almost all of us have done the same. We've all accidentally given customers back the wrong change, and I'm sure that anyone who has worked cash might make the register crash every now and then. But, that's all part and parcel of learning a new skill. And, considering that I only learned how to work a register a month ago, I'd say that I've gotten it down pat. Is there still more that I have to learn? You bet there is. But am I afraid of the register? Not at all.

Which is good, considering that when I wrap up my gig in the seasonal department next week, I'll be heading off to a location that does not involve cheese, butter, ice cream, and milk.

Effective July 6, I will be moving to my third department in less than a year! But, don't worry. I'm incredibly optimistic about this new area of the store.

I have a really ironic story to tell you first before I reveal where I am going to spend the next little bit of my career. When I was first hired at my current workplace, there was a section of my job interview that was asked to every new applicant at the time. I still remember that question clear as a bell, even though it's been a while since I was a brand new employee there.

The question was...”if you could pick three areas of the store that you would love to work in, which three areas would you choose?”



Amusingly, one of the choices I picked was the candy department. I mean, I have an insatiable craving for sweets at any given time of the day, and I probably know every candy creation ever created. The only thing that would have been bad was that I would have gotten hungry stocking the displays of Mars Bars, Butterfingers, and Skittles.



Another department that I said that I wanted to work in was the craft department, just because I was (and still am) an artsy kind of guy. Art class was one of my favourite classes in school, and when I was a kid, my toys in the toy box gathered dust while I played with sheets of construction paper, a bottle of Elmer's glue, and Laurentian brand pencil crayons. If anyone needed any assistance with finding the perfect pen, wanting to know which brand of construction paper was the most durable, and which markers last the longest (I recommend the Mr. Sketch brand ones myself), I was definitely your expert.

And, the third choice ironically enough happens to be where my new work home is going to be!



When I was applying for a job at my workplace, there was a part of me that was hoping that I would end up in electronics. It was a department that I certainly knew a lot about. I mean, let's face it. I run a blog on pop culture, and electronics is literally the pop culture capital of the entire department store. When it comes down to helping someone find a particular CD of an artist, or recommending a particular video game to someone, or being able to find a movie just based on the plot description, that sort of stuff comes naturally to me. And, besides, electronics is a department in which you are always constantly doing something constructive. I would hate to be in an area where I am sitting around twiddling my thumbs.

So, to be told that I am going to be transferred to a department that I actually wanted to be in eight and a half years ago is a fantastic opportunity for me, and I am fully embracing it with arms wide open. The staff in the department seems like an incredibly hard-working bunch, I have product knowledge on most things in there (well, maybe not so much the knowledge of how to set up a new television or computer, but I'll learn), and I'm really looking forward to the next chapter in my life.

And, then I think to myself...had it not been for my experience in seasonal, I probably would not have been placed in that department at all. I mean, for electronics, you most certainly have got to be cash trained. And, I am now!

But more importantly, I probably wouldn't be so gung-ho about moving to a new department had I not had the opportunity to move before this happened. I spent seven years on the food side, and I'll be honest with all of you...while I had a blast over there and met some very interesting people...I've come to the conclusion that seven years was long enough. I needed this opportunity to come around so that I could feel refreshed again, and so I could look forward to even more opportunities. I guess I was getting stuck in a rut for a while, and I needed to have this happen in order for me to start feeling good about myself again.

Not that I didn't beforehand...I did.



But, I gotta tell you...this opportunity to work in a department that I secretly wanted to be a part of...I'd be lying if I told you that I wasn't a tad bit excited about it. I've been reassured by people that they think that I will be a good fit for the area, and I'm really looking forward to hanging around my peeps Mario, Link, Donkey Kong, and Sonic.

Right now, the only thing that I'm fearing is the Black Friday sales and the Boxing Day bonanza...but hey, the way I see it, if I can get through those two days, the rest will be a cinch, right?


Just gotta stay positive. Good things will happen to those who wait. And, soon enough, they'll be calling my number and I'll be next in line for a great future.

Well, one can hope, anyway.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

A Request That Comes in the Form of a Question

This week's special request comes from a regular reader who actually threw out four different suggestions to me last week when I was asking for suggestions on the official Facebook page. For today's blog entry, I've chosen one of these suggestions, but I may keep her ideas handy in case I get a week in which I don't have any requests for the week, because all of them are interesting and creative.

So, first things first, I'm going to offer a huge thank you to Katherine R. from Florida for the wonderful ideas.

And, secondly, I'm going to tell you that this entry might seem like more of a Thursday Diary type entry. But, that's fine with me, because Katherine sent along a message with her ideas, suggesting that she would like me to do more entries where I talk about hopes and dreams, and more personal stories. So, all of her suggestions to me were all topics that allow me to talk more about my own personal goals, dreams, and ambitions.

So, consider this the week where we have two diary entries. Hope you all don't mind this, but hey...when I give the power to the people for one day, you have to do what they say, right?

So, I suppose that you're wondering what today's topic is.

Well, as it so happens, I'm going to quote the very message that Katherine sent me a few days ago, and answer the question from there.

What would you do with an infinite amount of money - and what restrictions would you place on yourself so that it wouldn't be the 'usual' promises? Meaning, what frivolous, extravagant things might you do for yourself if you were unable (for whatever reason) to share the funds with others.

Quite the heavy topic, eh?



So, if I am understanding this question right, the scenario is like this. Suppose that the Powerball lottery (the American lottery that is known for giving out obscene amounts of money in one go) came to Ontario, Canada, and I ended up buying a ticket, only to match every single number on said lottery ticket. And, suppose that the Powerball jackpot was at the highest amount ever...say, maybe...one billion dollars. What would I do with the money?

And, to make the decisions even harder, the restriction that I have is that I cannot share the money with anyone else. The money must be spent entirely on myself.

What would I do?

To be honest with you, the reason why I chose this suggestion out of the three or four ideas that she sent to me was because I knew that it would be the most challenging one. And, anyone who knows me well knows that I never back down from a challenge.

(Well, unless the challenge involves building a gazebo by myself. Then maybe I may wave the white flag of surrender.)

But it's an interesting question for me to answer because I've never really saw myself as someone who really wanted or needed a whole lot of money. So, therefore, it's very difficult for me to think of what I would even do with an infinite amount of money like that.

You have to understand a little about my own personal background before I continue with this blog entry. I grew up in a family in which disposable income was more than a luxury. It was an impossibility.

My parents both worked incredibly hard to support myself and my two sisters, and quite often, they went without so that we children could have things. My parents never ever owned their own home...they always rented. And, because the family income was very limited, the only places that they could afford were ones that had cracks in the wall, paint jobs and wallpaper left over from the 1950s, and ceilings that would become saturated with water whenever we had a heavy rainfall. It was a tough way to grow up, and I'll be quite blunt...that way of living was a really challenging thing to go through.

But my family survived it.

I guess when it comes down to it, we were all a lot stronger than we sometimes gave ourselves credit for. Mind you, during my troubled teenage years I wasn't exactly the kid that showed the most gratitude towards my parents, as trying to survive high school was more or less a full time job already. However, looking back on it now, I credit them for giving me the values and morals that my sisters and I were raised with. We are all people who know the value of hard work (even though there were and are times in which we may feel that it goes unnoticed), and we are all people who understand the value of a dollar moreso than the average person out there in this world.

In my family, money was always stretched so much to the limit that you'd swear that at our household, the standard form of currently was that salt water taffy that you'd stretch and pull into smaller pieces. So whenever we did get a little extra income, I was always one who was very, very hesitant to let it go. What if I would never hold that much money in my hands ever again?



In fact, I think that at one time, I had at least three piggy banks on the go filling it up with my loose pennies, nickles, dimes, and if I was lucky, the occasional quarter, just to save money.

(It was how I bought my own Nintendo when I was nine years old, after all.)

And, when it came down to spending my hard-earned money, I never used it to buy really extravagant things. When it came to myself, I was always the type of person who sought out bargains. You all know that I am a comic book addict of sorts, and yes, a lot of my comics were bought with allowance money, tooth fairy money, and money that I received as birthday gifts (of which I would take the change left over and stuff it in my piggy banks), but the vast majority of my collection has come from a used book store downtown that sells classic Archie, Jughead, and Betty & Veronica digests...books that were priced as low as sixty-five cents! What a bargain! I think that I even found Betty & Veronica Digest #1 there for something like a dollar when sites like eBay were charging as much as twenty dollars for one book! How can you not beat that value?

Even as an adult, I am the kind of person who always looks for bargains. I cannot justify spending eighty bucks on one pair of jeans when you can buy three pairs for the same amount of money and still have enough left over to buy a three-pack of socks! As far as brand names go, I say give me Wrangler and Hanes over Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein any day of the week.

(Although if I did see Ralph Lauren clothing at an outlet store or a clearance warehouse, then I would buy his stuff. Nobody has to know that I only spent ten dollars on one of his polo shirts.)

Now, before you go thinking that I have the “cheapskate” gene firmly embedded within my DNA, I just want to make this statement. I am very generous when it comes to giving towards other people. When it comes to Christmas, for example, I definitely don't spend a lot on really expensive presents...but with my budget, I do a lot of careful planning, and managed to pick up four or five gifts for the same price as one. And, I'm also very conscious of charity drives, and if anyone asks me if I will donate to their cause, I'll do what I can.

(And, I've been told that I am a rather generous tipper when I go out to eat. But surprisingly enough, I don't think I tip any more than the average person. If anything, the reason I may tip so much is because I am really bad at figuring out percentages and anything to do with math, so I overtip to make up for that lack of ability.)

So, when it comes to spending money, I'll happily use it (on a budget) to pick out perfect presents for my loved ones, and using it to help make someone else's life a little bit better.

When it comes to spending extravagantly on myself...I don't really know how to do that.

I suppose my background has a lot to do with it. Having grown up the way I have, I am very reluctant to spend any money on myself, because there's no guarantee that I would ever have my hands on it again. As well, I never really had the self-esteem growing up to justify doing anything nice for myself. I suppose when you combine those factors, my spendthrift habits make a lot of sense.

So, getting back to the question that Katherine asked me...if I had an unlimited supply of cash, and the only person that I could spend it on was myself...what would I do with it?

So, I thought about the things that I have always wanted to do, but always lacked the cash to do...and more importantly, I thought about the various things that I would do FOR MYSELF. And, coming up with a list was harder than I thought.

But I came up with a list of a half-dozen things that I would do for myself, and only myself. Things that I have always wanted to do, but couldn't. Things that would ultimately give me an easier, happier life.

So, this is what I would do with an infinite supply of funds.



1 – BUILD AND DESIGN MY OWN WRITING STUDIO

You know, the more I think about it, the more I realize that I don't want to live in a huge mansion like Richie Rich lives in. That would be way too much space for me. And, let's face it, nobody ever wants to get lost in their very own home.

No, I'd want something that is spacious, but cozy. The more I think of it, the more I think that I would enjoy a New York SoHo style art studio set up. It could either be in the form of an already built loft, or designed like a modest looking modern-artsy bungalow. It would be designed with soundproof walls so the outside noise wouldn't bother me, and have a sun-deck built somewhere outside so that I could connect with nature while I write, if I so choose to have that option. And, the entire place would be decked out in various shades of blue, purple, and green, as I have always preferred the cool colours located at the bottom of every rainbow. They're nice, calm, peaceful colours that always put me in the right mood to write.

Yeah...that's my idea of heavenly living right there without having to actually die and well...go to heaven.



2 – PLAN AN EXTRAVAGANT LUXURY VACATION

Would you like to know exactly where in the world I've gone in my thirty-two years of my life? Well, I've gone to Ottawa, Ontario several times (and if I could afford it, I wouldn't mind living there full time). I visited Montreal, Quebec once. And, I've lost count of how many times I have visited Upstate New York.

And, that's pretty much it.

As a result of my upbringing, the closest that my family ever got to planning a real vacation was spending a day trip at Kingston's Lake Ontario Park (which was fine for me, as back in those days, they still had carnival rides). I have never really been on what many people would consider a real vacation out of the country.

And, that's something that I would change if I were given an infinite amount of money.

It wouldn't even really matter what I did on that vacation. If I wanted to run along the shores of Australia's Bondi and Manly beaches, I would make it happen. If I wanted to go on a luxury cruise in Europe for an entire month, I would make it happen (though, I doubt that I would be booking Carnival Cruises on that excursion given all the recent negative publicity surrounding the cruise line).

The truth is that there are so many places in the world that I would want to visit. London, England is one. Sydney, Australia, yes! Tokyo, Japan would be fantastic to see just once in my life. And, of course, I'm not ruling out American and Canadian cities either. New York City, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Orlando, Calgary, and Edmonton are definitely on my must-see list. And, if I had all that money, I would see it all...while sitting in first class, that is!




3 – HIRE A PERSONAL CHAUFFEUR

You know...just in case I NEVER get my full driver's license (which I am absolutely afraid of getting). A guy's gotta get around somehow, right?



4 – GO BACK TO SCHOOL FULL-TIME

Actually, of all the things that I am listing on this particular list, this might be the most doable, as I am no longer chained to student loan payments. I've been saving money for the better part of two years in order to make that happen. I always had the regret of leaving post-secondary education before I received a degree (even though the reason that I left was valid), and if I had unlimited funds, I would be able to eliminate that regret and work towards something that I DID want to do. And, no honourary degree would cut it either. I would want to do the same amount of hard work that most everyone else did.



5 – BUY A PAIR OF SHOES THAT WOULD MAKE ME FEEL LIKE I WAS WALKING ON A CLOUD

The most bizarre thing on my list for sure...but also the most practical. As you may well know, my feet have been the bane of my existence. I was a toe-walker for many years (which I have talked about before here), and I absolutely despise shopping for shoes, as I have one foot that is a full half size larger than the other one. Therefore, 90% of the time, I end up with a pair of shoes that are a perfect fit on one foot, and too tight/loose on the other. If I had unlimited funds, I would find the best footwear designer and have them hook me up with some custom made shoes that would finally fit each contour of my foot so that I would never feel any discomfort ever again. To me, having perfect shoes would be worth more than all the money in the world as far as I am concerned.

And, the last thing...



6 – TAKE COOKING LESSONS FROM A MASTER CHEF

I'm hopeless in the kitchen. I reckon that I could blow up a microwave oven. So, I would want to feasibly learn how to cook at some point in my life, because let's face it...Subway can get monotonous and boring if I ate it every day. But I wouldn't just take lessons at a community college. I'd hire Gordon Ramsey, Rachael Ray, or Wolfgang Puck to teach me a thing or two. I think it would be fantastic to learn tricks from the masters of the culinary industry. And, hey, I think it might almost be cool to have Chef Ramsay call me a donkey whenever I make a screw up!


So, yes...I think that will make up my list of things that I want to do if I had unlimited funds. But, the one thing that I want to stress is that money does not equate happiness. Sure, if I had all of these things happen to me, it would be a wonderful thing...but material things shouldn't be the main source of happiness. It's learning by doing that will make all of us better people.

Because as you have noticed...with the exception of number three, perhaps, all of these things will allow me to learn something and help me grow even further.

(Well, unless I change #3 to learn how to drive!)

Thanks again to Katherine for the suggestion! Please keep sending in your requests, guys and gals! I love hearing from you!

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

June 25, 1963

I can't believe that this is the last Tuesday Timeline entry that I'm going to be doing for the month of June. When you look at it like that, it seems almost sad.

You know what, screw sadness. I'm all about happy, happy, happy. So instead of looking at it as the last Tuesday Timeline for the month of June 2013, let's view it as the first Tuesday Timeline of the summer! Because almost everyone I know loves the season of summer.

I myself consider myself a fan of summer. Well, okay, maybe I could do without the shirt-soaking humidity...but everything else about the summer I'll happily take.

So, today's date is June 25, and like all Tuesday Timelines of the past, we'll start things off by talking about some major events that took place on this date throughout history.

So, sharpen your pencils and take accurate notes, because this is the history lesson of the day.

253 – Pope Cornelius is beheaded at Centumcellae

1741 – Maria Theresa of Austria is crowned Queen of Hungary

1788 – Virginia becomes the tenth state to ratify the United States Constitution

1876 – Battle of the Little Bighorn; George Armstrong Custer dies

1910 – Igor Stravinsky's ballet “The Firebird” premieres in Paris, France

1928 – Peyo, creator of The Smurfs, is born in Brussels, Belgium

1940 – During World War II, France officially surrenders to Germany

1947 – The Diary of a Young Girl (better known under the title of The Diary of Anne Frank) is first published

1949 – The cartoon short “Long-Haired Hare”, starring Bugs Bunny, is released in theatres

1950 – The Korean War begins with the invasion of South Korea by North Korean troops

1967 – The first live global satellite television program, “Our World”, is first broadcast

1978 – The rainbow flag is first flown as a symbol of gay pride at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade

1981 – Microsoft is restructured to become an incorporated business in its home state of Washington

1991 – Slovenia and Croatia declares its independence from Yugoslavia

1993 – Kim Campbell is chosen as leader of the Progressive Conservative party of Canada, and becomes the first female Prime Minister of Canada

1997 – An unmanned Progress spacecraft collides with Russian space station Mir

2009 – The entertainment world lost a couple of legends as actress Farrah Fawcett passed away at the age of 62 and “King of Pop” Michael Jackson died at the age of 50

2012 – The final steel beam of 4 World Trade Center is lifted into place in a ceremony

So, that's what happened on June 25 as far as events go. Now, let's take a look at who happens to celebrate a birthday on June 25.

A very happy birthday to June Lockhart, Eric Carle, George Murdock, Carly Simon, Jimmie Walker, Tim Finn (Split Enz), Mario Lessard, Anthony Bourdain, Paris Themmen, Ricky Gervais, Doug Gilmour, John Benjamin Hickey, Jackie Swanson, Lucy Benjamin, Angela Kinsey, Scott Maslen, Carlos Delgado, Linda Cardellini, La La Vasquez, Busy Phillips, and Lauren Bush.

Oh, and there's one more person who is celebrating a birthday today...and as it so happens, it's a milestone one!



This person was born fifty years ago today on June 25, 1963.

And, in his five decades of living, he has been through it all. He's had several chart-topping singles, both as a part of a pop duo, and as a solo artist. His music videos were almost the equivalent of watching an episode of “America's Next Top Model”. And, let's just say that the way that he came out of the closet was something out of a TMZ expose...before TMZ was even created.

Despite it all, and despite some recent health scares, this man has persevered, and has cemented his place in pop music history in both North America and his native UK.

Now, his birth name was such that you'd need a translator to pronounce it. And, I'm afraid that I can't even type the full name out without butchering it, so I am having to look up the name on Wikipedia, of all places.

According to this man's birth certificate, he was born Georgios Kyriacos Panagiotou. And, that's quite a mouthful to stamp on the face of a compact disc or even pronounce.



It is any wonder he decided to change his name to “George Michael”?

That's right. Today is the day that George Michael turns the big FIVE-OH! So, why not devote this Tuesday Timeline entry to the singer who achieved fame as a solo artist, and who had success as one half of the duo that he formed with childhood friend Andrew Ridgeley.

George Michael...this is his life!

So, George was born on June 25, 1963 in East Finchley, North London, and grew up in Kingsbury, North West London. When he was in his early teens, his family relocated to Radlett, Hertfordshire, and George was enrolled as a student at Bushey Meads School in London, where he would first meet a boy by the name of Andrew Ridgeley. The two became instant friends, both bonding over their shared dream of making it big in the music industry. In fact, George Michael would often perform cover versions of Queen songs on the London Underground to make a little extra money on the side while he was in school.

When both Ridgeley and Michael turned eighteen in 1981, the duo decided to form a musical partnership together, and they came up with the name “Wham!”. Their first release in June 1982 was a single entitled “Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)”, and the single was actually one of the first British singles to utilize the fairly new technique known as “rapping”. Two mixes were used for the single...a clean “Social” mix, and an “Anti-Social” mix, which had some dirty lyrics. Unfortunately, the duo's single didn't really make much of an impact on either the UK or US charts. But, as time passed, “Wham!” made their way to the top of the charts.

Their debut album, “Fantastic” was an instant success in the United Kingdom, as the album spawned three Top 10 US hits. And, their success in the United Kingdom was enough for both Michael and Ridgeley to be included on the 1984 Band-Aid relief single, “Do They Know It's Christmas”.

UNRELATED TRIVIA FACT: “Wham!” wasn't the only group to sing on the Christmas record. Bananarama was also present at the recording. Who would have thought that nearly thirty years later, Andrew Ridgeley would be in a romantic relationship with Bananarama member Keren Woodward? This has nothing to do with George Michael, mind you, but it's an interesting fact, nonetheless.



But 1984 was a very big year for George Michael, and for “Wham!” for that matter. That was the year that the band released their second album, “Make it Big”. And, make it big, they did. Would you believe that from the release of the album's first single, “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” that the boys of “Wham!” began to develop a North American following? The song topped the charts in both the United Kingdom and the United States, and it prompted everyone to go out to boutiques all over the world, searching for the perfect “CHOOSE LIFE” T-shirt. Even my then twelve-year-old sister was very much into “Wham!” as I frequently heard that song, “Careless Whisper” and the song below blasting from her record player.



ARTIST: Wham!
SONG: Everything She Wants
ALBUM: Make it Big
DATE RELEASED: December 27, 1984
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #1 for 1 week

PERSONAL NOTE: The reason I chose to use “Everything She Wants” for this entry is because it's really the only song by “Wham!” that I absolutely love.

Of the four singles that were released stateside from “Make it Big”, three reached #1 status, and one peaked within the Top 3. I'd say that's a smashing success, wouldn't you? It certainly put “Wham!” on the same level as “Duran Duran” and “Tears for Fears”.

However, as time passed, it became very much apparent that Andrew Ridgeley's presence in “Wham!” was fading, as the media turned most of their attention towards George Michael instead. Back in 1985, he was considered to be one of the biggest sex symbols of the whole world. Personally, I always thought his hair resembled a gigantic Frosted Flake, but that was just my opinion. Regardless, women all over the world swooned over him (well, minus my sister, who actually preferred Andrew Ridgeley). And, George Michael was beginning to release solo singles while still involved with “Wham!”. Although “Careless Whisper” appeared on the “Make it Big” album, only George Michael sang the lyrics on the record, officially making it his first solo single. He released another single in 1986, “A Different Corner”, which also did quite well on the charts.

By 1986, the writing was on the wall, and late that year, Ridgeley and Michael parted ways, as “Wham!” went Ker-Blam. However, the band still managed to release one parting single, 1986's “The Edge of Heaven”.



By 1987, George Michael's solo career was well on its way, though nobody really predicted just how huge it would become. His first solo project after “Wham!” ended was a duet that he did with legendary soul singer Aretha Franklin (I Knew You Were Waiting For Me). And, throughout the spring and summer of 1987, George Michael cut his hair, grew a beard, adopted a new wardrobe of jeans, sunglasses, and a leather jacket, and began recording new material for his first solo album, “Faith”.

And, right off the bat, the new album sparked controversy even before it hit store shelves on October 30, 1987. A few months prior to the album's release, the first single was issued as part of the soundtrack for “Beverly Hills Cop II”. The single was “I Want Your Sex”, which could best be described as a song about passion, love, and perhaps the biggest subject of all, monogamy.

Nothing wrong with that, right?

Well, except for the fact that Casey Kasem refused to read out the single's full title whenever it was played on his countdown show.

And, except for the fact that MTV had to play the sexually suggestive video after hours.

And, except for the fact that radio stations refused to play the single at all.

Okay, so maybe the single wasn't exactly the smartest choice to issue as the album's first. But despite all that drama, it still managed to peak at #2. Go figure.

Still, I think that had George Michael issued THIS single as the album's first release, it would have made all the difference.



ARTIST: George Michael
SONG: Faith
ALBUM: Faith
DATE RELEASED: October 12, 1987
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #1 for 4 weeks

It didn't take long for “Faith” to make it to the top of the charts. In fact, the follow-up singles (“Father Figure”, “One More Try”, and “Monkey”) also reached #1, making “Faith” one of the biggest selling albums for not only 1987, but 1988 as well. I even think that “Faith” was still a top ranking album throughout 1989 as well, but I can't be certain. As of 2013, “Faith” has reportedly sold over twenty five million copies worldwide, and is frequently appearing on critic's list as being one of the best albums of the 1980s.



But even though George Michael ended up having a wildly successful run of hit singles, and a financially successful world tour in 1988, the idea of being a sex symbol and an idol for millions of teenage girls bothered him, and when he released his next project, “Listen Without Prejudice: Vol. 1” in 1990, he had decided that he would not release any music videos for the new album. He eventually did agree to release a promotional clip for “Freedom '90”, but refused to appear in the video, leaving supermodels Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, and Cindy Crawford to lip-synch the lyrics instead. He would later use many of the same models for his 1992 single “Too Funky”.

It wasn't until the late 1990s that we would understand why George Michael felt uncomfortable being regarded as a heartthrob for millions of women.



I think the signs started becoming clear roughly around 1994, when George Michael performed the song “Jesus to a Child” at the MTV Europe Music Awards, which instantly became a number one hit in the United Kingdom. The song itself would not be released as a single until the fall of 1995. Now, back then, the song was shrouded in mystery, as the only thing that the general public knew was that the song was dedicated to a man named Anselmo Feleppa, who had died a year prior to George Michael writing the song. Anselmo Feleppa's cause of death was complications from AIDS, and George Michael was reportedly very worried.

As he should have been...considering that Feleppa and Michael were lovers at one time.

Of course, the public learned the truth one day in April 1998 when George Michael was arrested after soliciting a male undercover cop in a men's public washroom in a Beverly Hills park. Shortly after that, Michael announced that he was, in fact, gay. He even recorded a single entitled “Outside” shortly after that incident, poking fun at the arrest.



Truth be told, I think that while the arrest may have been the most humiliating experience of George Michael's life, it may have also been the one thing that he needed to have happen the most. George had always suspected that he was gay since he was young, and initially, he only told a few close friends (including Andrew Ridgeley and one of his sisters) that he was bisexual. But the older he grew, the more he realized that he was gay, and by 1998, I think that he may have sort of wanted to get caught, because once the secret that he had kept for years was out in the open, he began to breathe a little easier. He could finally be true to himself for the first time ever, and I can only speculate that the arrest was simultaneously the worst thing and the best thing to ever happen to him.

These days, George Michael is still recording music and performing concerts. Although he's had some health scares in recent years (in 2011, he was hospitalized with severe pneumonia, effectively canceling his tour dates until early 2012, and in 2013, he was involved in a car accident in which he sustained a head injury), George Michael has proven to the world that he is still a star in the music industry. And, for the first time in his fifty years, I think he is absolutely one hundred per cent comfortable with who he is, and I think that's to be celebrated.




Happy 50th, George Michael!

Monday, June 24, 2013

The Brave Little Toaster

This Monday Matinee is all about the subject of bravery. And, appropriately, I am typing this blog entry out as I just finished watching Nik Wallenda SUCCESSFULLY cross the Grand Canyon on a tightrope without any safety cables to hold him up! I tell you, that was probably the most nerve-wracking piece of television that I can recall seeing in my life!

I gotta tell you, the whole time, I was shaking like a leaf. I was actually debating on whether Nik Wallenda was incredibly foolish for even attempting such a feat knowing that he could lose his life right then and there with one misstep, or whether he was incredibly brave for doing such an incredible thing that kept tongues wagging.

Keep in mind that this is the same Nik Wallenda who made headlines a little over a year ago for walking across Niagara Falls on a wire from the American side to the Canadian side...only that time he did have a proper safety harness to keep him from plummeting to his death. The fact that he attempted this walk across the Grand Canyon without one made me incredibly nervous for him. But, throughout it all, he kept his cool, and he kept a good rhythm as he marched on that rope. His ambition was to be the very first person to cross the Grand Canyon on a wire, and that goal certainly paid off.

I would imagine that as I am typing this right now, the Wallenda family is off celebrating Nik's greatest achievement to date, and I would imagine that Nik himself is absolutely thrilled of the successful walk. I know millions of people who watched it live on television feel the same way.

So, now that I've talked about the feelings of bravery that Nik Wallenda demonstrated up on that tightrope (because let's face it, you have to have some cojones to walk above a gigantic chasm in the middle of the planet's surface), it's time to talk about today's feature presentation. And, it happens to be an animated feature where the main character also happens to be someone who is very brave.

Or, maybe I should say...someTHING.

Yes, the hero of the story is a household appliance that many people wouldn't even consider to be much of a hero in the first place. I mean, yes, in an everyday situation, you could use this appliance to heat up frozen waffles, toast bagels and slices of bread to a golden brown, and make Pop Tarts even more delicious. But, really, aside from Pillsbury naming a strudel after this device, there's really nothing else that makes this appliance synonymous with strength and heroism. I mean, even though it may seem like the most popular gift to bestow upon a newlywed couple, I reckon that it's also the appliance that makes the most appearances at garage sales and flea markets all over Canada and the United States.



Of course, I'm talking about the toaster.

But while most toasters are doomed to making Eggos and bagels piping hot, the toaster in this movie does so much more than that.

Hence the reason why this toaster has a movie named after him.



Today's blog entry will be looking at the 1987 film “The Brave Little Toaster”.

Released on July 10, 1987 and directed by Jerry Rees, “The Brave Little Toaster” was one of those films that I felt was very underrated when it first came out. Did you know that the film was based on a best-selling book of the same name, written by the late Thomas Disch in 1980? It's true! But, it took a few years before the film was actually made, with Hyperion Pictures backing the production in 1986.

And, did you know that the film's premiere was actually at a film festival?

The Brave Little Toaster” was shown at the 1987 Los Angeles International Animation Celebration, and then just one year later was featured as one of the films at the coveted Sundance Film Festival.

INTERESTING TRIVIA: According to Jerry Rees, the Sundance judging committee was considering honouring “The Brave Little Toaster” with the prestigious honour of Best Film, but he was told that had they given the honour to a cartoon film, they felt as though some would not take the festival seriously, and so the honour instead was given to “Heat and Sunlight”.

(I have never even heard of “Heat and Sunlight”...have you?)

Whatever the case, “The Brave Little Toaster” was very well received by film critics, and currently holds a 75% approval rating on the Rotten Tomatoes website. It was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1988. And, when the film was released on home video in the summer of 1991, it instantly became a best-selling home video throughout much of the 1990s.

And, why wouldn't it be? It was a film that had a lot of heart and soul...things that you wouldn't expect to see in a film about household appliances.

And, if you listen very closely to some of the voice actors who appeared in the film, you might realize that the film was the starting point for a lot of great careers. The late Phil Hartman voiced a couple of characters in the movie. So did Jon Lovitz. Mindy Sterling (who you might know best as Frau from the Austin Powers trilogy) also voices a character. And, you may even hear Thurl Ravenscroft's baritone vocals throughout the film as well (Ravenscroft being most well known for voicing Tony the Tiger for several decades in a myriad of “Frosted Flakes” advertisements).



How grrrrrrrrreat!

So, here's how the story goes...and I suppose the best way to describe the plot of “The Brave Little Toaster” is that it has a lot of similarities with the 1995 Pixar film “Toy Story”...only instead of the main characters being toys, the stars of the film are a toaster, a vaccum cleaner, a desk lamp, an electric blanket, and a radio.



Toaster (Deanna Oliver), is the leader of the group, a two-slice toaster who has a lot of leadership qualities, and has a warm interior that contrasts with the hard, cold exterior.

(What do you expect from something that makes toast for a living?)

The five appliances “live” at a log cabin, which is owned by its owner, Rob (Wayne Kaatz), and they are more than happy to serve their master whenever he needs them. If he needed to read in the dark, Lampy (Timothy Stack) was there to throw a little light on the subject. If he was cold, Blanky (Timothy E. Day) could keep Rob warm. If Rob wanted to listen to some rock music or find out the weather, he could turn on his classic radio (Lovitz). And, if he wanted to control the dust levels inside his cabin, he just plugged in Kirby (Ravenscroft) to suck up all the pesky dustbunnies.

TRIVIA: Although Radio frequently burst into song during the film, the singing voice was actually provided by Jerry Rees. Lovitz wanted to do the singing voice, but his commitment to “Saturday Night Live” prevented him from doing both.



For a while, things went very smoothly. The appliances loved serving Rob, and Rob's life was certainly more convenient with Toaster and the gang around. But when Rob hasn't come back to the cabin for several months, the rest of the appliances become a little worried that maybe he has abandoned them.

So when they discover that Rob has sold the cabin, the appliances are worried that Rob has completely forgotten them, and has cast them aside...

...and that just doesn't sit well with Toaster, who refuses to get “burned”.

(I know, I'll ease off on the toaster puns.)

So, Toaster decides that if Rob won't come back to the cabin, they'll just have to come to him instead. And, what follows is an elaborate plan to get to Rob's new apartment in the city.

Somehow, they manage to attach a car battery to an office chair, which the appliances use as a sort of vehicle, and they set out towards the city, using Radio's signals as a sort of compass to steer them in the right direction.



But, don't let the happy video up above fool you into thinking that the journey was smooth and easy. No, these five little appliances run into all sorts of bad luck along the way.

  • They survive a really terrible thunderstorm which nearly blows Blanky up into the heavens.
  • They try to cross a waterfall (ironically enough the same way that Nik Wallenda did last year), only to plummet to the bottom of the river. They survive, but they lose their wheels.
  • They get trapped in quicksand.
  • They are rescued by an appliance store owner, where they are almost completely disassembled
  • They are mislead by the modern appliances in Rob's new apartment that they are old and worthless, and are thrown into the garbage!
  • And, they find themselves trapped in a junkyard, where they face their biggest enemy to date...a metal crusher who lives solely to feast on the half-dead shells of once useful cars.


You know, come to think of it, re-watching that “Worthless” song clip, it kind of makes me very sad.

But, the ending of this film is quite good. And, while I won't spoil it for you all at home in case you haven't seen the movie yourself, I will say that there's a reason why the movie is called “The Brave Little Toaster”.

Some more interesting facts about the movie...

  • The majority of the cast all got their start in the California based sketch comedy group, “The Groundlings”.
  • Phil Hartman voiced the hanging lamp after legendary actor Peter Lorre.
  • Jon Lovitz recorded all of his lines in just one session!
  • The last line in the movie was spoken by Timothy Stack...who ad-libbed it!
  • Deanna Oliver's son was deployed to Afghanistan, and at the ceremony, some of the soldiers had actually brought toasters for her to sign!
  • The film was supposed to run 20 minutes longer than what was eventually shown.

And, finally, to conclude this entry off, I want to talk about bravery.

I think that everyone has a little bit of bravery inside of themselves. They just might not know it until it happens. We are all capable of doing extraordinary things. I mean, look at Nik Wallenda. You have to have a lot of bravery to attempt to walk across the Grand Canyon on a wire. Granted, he did train for years leading up to this moment, but at the end of the day, he did it.

And, even going above all that, do you know just how many policemen, firefighters, and military servicemen there are risking their lives every day to save the lives of others, keep crime off of the city streets, and protecting the freedom and rights of countries all over the world? To me, that shows incredible bravery too.

I believe that bravery of all kinds should be rewarded. And, that's why I have a bonus treat for you.


If you click HERE, you can watch the entire movie of “The Brave Little Toaster”. You're welcome.