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Tuesday, July 09, 2013

July 9, 1955

I am going to kick off this edition of the Tuesday Timeline by wishing my sister a happy 41st birthday today. Granted, I really doubt that she is actually going to see this blog, but I just wanted to get the message out there just in case.

Today is the ninth of July, and I'll admit that I was having a tough time choosing a topic for this week. I had to search through a number of different sources for ideas, and it took me a bit of time to really come up with an appropriate topic.

And, let's just say that for a Tuesday Timeline entry, this topic choice could not be any more perfect.

Of course, we have some business to take care of first before we propel ourselves back through time. So, let's begin with this look back on July 9 with celebrity birthdays.

I want to wish a very happy birthday to the following famous faces; Ed Ames, Brian Dennehy, Richard Roundtree, Dean Koontz, Chris Cooper, John Tesh, Jimmy Smits, Tom Hanks, Marc Almond, Kelly McGillis, Jim Kerr (Simple Minds), Courtney Love, Pamela Segall Adlon, Scott Grimes, Enrique Murciano, Dani Behr, Jack White (The White Stripes), Fred Savage, Ashly DelGrosso, Jacob Hoggard (Hedley), Kiely Williams, and Mitchel Musso.

(Oh, yeah...O.J. Simpson was born on July 9 as well...but I consider him more INFAMOUS than famous.)

And, what was going on in the world throughout the history books on this date? Well, lots of things!

1572 – Nineteen Catholics suffer martyrdom for their beliefs in the Dutch town of Gorkum

1776 – George Washington ordered the Declaration of Independence to be read aloud in New York City for the first time to members of the Continental Army

1793 – The Act Against Slavery is passed in Upper Canada, and slave importation is prohibited in Lower Canada

1810 – Napoleon annexes the Kingdom of Holland as part of the First French Empire

1816 – Argentina declares its independence from Spain

1850 – Millard Fillmore becomes the 13th President of the United States following the death of Zachary Taylor

1863 – The siege of Port Hudson ends during the American Civil War

1877 – The inaugural Wimbledon Championships opens

1918 – The deadliest rail accident in the United States occurs when an inbound local train collides with an outbound express, killing 101 people in Nashville, Tennessee

1922 – Johnny Weissmuller swims the 100 metre freestyle in 58.6 seconds, breaking a world record

1944 – British and Canadian forces capture Caen, France during the Battle of Normandy

1946 – Original lead singer of AC/DC Bon Scott is born in Forfar, Angus, Scotland

1956 – Dick Clark becomes the host of a television program entitled “Bandstand” - which would eventually evolve to become “American Bandstand”

1958 – Lituya Bay is struck by a megatsunami with a wave measuring a height of 524 metres – the largest wave in recorded history

1962 – Andy Warhol's “Campbell's Soup Cans” exhibition opens at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles

1981 – Donkey Kong is released in arcades by Nintendo; marks the very first appearance of the character that would come to be known as Super Mario

1986 – The Parliament of New Zealand passes the Homosexual Law Reform Act legalizing homosexuality in New Zealand

2004 – Actress Isabel Sanford passes away in Los Angeles, California at the age of 86.

Okay, so which year will be be turning back the calendar pages to?



July 9, 1955.

1955 was a year in which a new kind of music was just making its way onto jukeboxes, record players, and radios everywhere.

That music was good, old-fashioned, rock and roll.

And, on July 9, 1955, one of these rock classics hit the #1 spot on the charts...at a time before the Billboard 100 ceased to exist (the Billboard Hot 100 didn't start ranking songs until November 1955).

What was interesting about the song was that the band who made it famous wasn't the band who first recorded the single.

The song history dates all the way back to 1952, when songwriters James E. Myers and Max C. Freedman penned the lyrics (although some music historians claim that Freedman was the sole composer). And, in late 1953, the song was offered to man who had had success earlier in the year with his song “Crazy Man, Crazy”.



The band was “Bill Haley and His Comets”.

The band began performing the song at their live concerts, and were interested in recording the single. But for whatever reason, the record company that the band was signed to refused to give permission. In fact, according to Haley himself, the head of Essex Records (Dave Miller), reportedly tore the sheet music for the single into shreds – on two different occasions!

While this was going on, another group – Sonny Dae & His Knights – recorded the song instead. But while this version was a moderate success, Haley was still determined to record this single himself.

And, in 1954, Bill Haley got his wish.

After cutting ties with Essex Records, Bill Haley and His Comets signed onto the Decca Records label, who had no issue with Haley's band recording the very single that Dave Miller of Essex Records prevented them from recording. But when the band finally got around to recording the single, the band drowned out Haley's vocals, and a second session had to be recorded. But because the band was on a limited time frame (Sammy Davis Jr. was next in line to record material for one of his albums), the second version was more of a minimal arrangement, and the two separate recordings were merged into one single.

A single that appeared in the classic film “Blackboard Jungle”. A single that served at the theme song for the first season of “Happy Days”. A single that spent eight weeks at the top of the charts in the summer of 1955. A single that first hit #1 on July 9, 1955.



ARTIST: Bill Haley and His Comets
SONG: Rock Around the Clock
ALBUM: Rock Around the Clock
DATE RELEASED: May 20, 1954 (re-released in 1955)
PEAK POSITION ON THE CHARTS: #1 for 8 weeks

How timely that the Tuesday Timeline entry for today is “Rock Around the Clock”! And, why wouldn't it be? Although it was not the very first rock and roll record to be released, it certainly set the tone for what music would be like for many, many years. The song is ranked at #158 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”, and the song is also widely considered to be the greatest song of the 1950s.



And, for the record, while the line-up of musicians has been questioned over the years, this was the official list of band members as stated on the official record sheet for the recording session.

BILL HALEY – vocals/rhythm guitar
MARSHALL LYTLE – string bass
JOEY AMBROSE – tenor sax
BILLY WILLIAMSON – steel guitar
JOHNNY GRANDE – piano
BILLY GUSSAK – drums
DANNY CEDRONE – electric guitar

But one thing that you might have noticed was that the song was officially released on May 20, 1954...a full fourteen months before the song became a chart-topper. Why did it take so long?



Well, when the song was first released, it didn't do that great on the charts, and was destined to be another forgotten hit. But then the film appeared on the soundtrack to the classic film “Blackboard Jungle”, which starred Glenn Ford, Anne Francis, Sidney Poitier, and Louis Calhoun. The film was released on March 19, 1955, and the song was featured in the opening credits. Teenagers flocked to the silver screen to watch the film, and as a result, they also purchased the album that the single appeared on, helping the song reach the top of the charts in July 1955.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT: The song hit its peak on the charts in the United Kingdom in January 1955 – a full six months before the song hit #1 in the United States, and a full two months before the release of “Blackboard Jungle”. The song peaked at #17 in January 1955, but was re-released in September of the same year performing much better on the charts, peaking within the Top 5.

The song was a huge hit all over the world, and the success of the single helped Bill Haley and His Comets secure a job performing the song on a couple of films...1956's “Rock Around the Clock”, and 1957's “Don't Rock the Clock”. And, believe it or not, a sequel of sorts to the song was recorded by the same band entitled “Dance Around the Clock” in 1964. Unfortunately, that song didn't do as well as “Rock Around the Clock”, but the fact that the song was so big that it deserved a sequel...that's almost unheard of, even in the year 2013.

In 1974, the song made a return to the pop charts when the single was used in the soundtrack for the 1973 film “American Graffiti”, which starred Ron Howard. And, later on, Ron Howard would star in the American sitcom, “Happy Days”, which also used “Rock Around the Clock” as the show's theme song for the first few episodes.

And, Bill Haley would continue to perform the single well into the late 1970s. Although in his later years, he often performed abbreviated versions of the song, dropping the second verse altogether. The lone exception being a 1979 performance of the song that he performed for Queen Elizabeth II, in which he performed the full version.

It was a sad day in the music industry when Bill Haley died of a brain tumour at the age of 55 on February 9, 1981. And after his passing came a wave of tributes from a special all-star performance on the 30th anniversary special of American Bandstand to a posthumous Grammy Hall of Fame award presented to Bill Haley in 1982. And, thirty-two years after his passing, Bill Haley's legacy continues to live on through the song that made him a star.

The song is estimated to have sold 25 million copies in total, and several artists have covered the song themselves including The Isley Brothers, Mae West, Harry Nilsson, The Sex Pistols, and even Alvin & The Chipmunks and Sharon, Lois & Bram, introducing new generations to a rock and roll classic.


A rock and roll classic that hit the top of the charts on July 9, 1955.

Monday, July 08, 2013

E.T. The Extra Terrestrial

I'm going to begin this blog entry by revealing three things about myself that I don't believe that I have ever revealed before on this blog.

Three little details that I've kept hidden until now.

But don't worry. These secrets are not major bombshells at all. In fact, I think that they're kind of lame myself. Of course, this is merely my opinion.

Okay, so here's secret #1. I have a weakness for anything that has the delectable combination of peanut butter and chocolate.

I mean it too. One of my favourite ice cream flavour is peanut butter chocolate chip. I used to dip pieces of Hershey bars into a jar of peanut butter. And, you don't even want to lock me inside a storeroom filled with Reese's Peanut Butter cups. I am telling you right now, that would NOT be a wise idea.



I even will readily admit to liking those little orange, brown, and yellow candies known as Reese's Pieces. They're kind of like an M&M, only instead of chocolate, they are filled with peanut butter on the inside.

Mind you, in recent years, I have embarked on an affair with Peanut Butter M&M's...but I still find myself seeking out a package of Reese's Pieces every once in a while. You know, for old times sake.

One secret down, two to go. Here's the second one.



I have always admired Drew Barrymore. Yes, she may have had a rather troubled childhood (being dragged to Hollywood parties by your own mother at an age when girls should be playing with dolls was the main cause, which lead to total emancipation from her mother in 1989), but these days, she's cleaned up her act in a huge way. While there were some movies that didn't do so well at the box office, I think that Drew Barrymore has done some fantastic work over the years. Her role in “Ever After” was critically acclaimed, and was highly praised by filmgoers. I liked her character in “Never Been Kissed” because I could totally identify with her character. I saw a little bit of MYSELF in “Josie Grossie”, and only Drew Barrymore could have done the role justice as Josie turned into a beautiful, yet eccentric swan. And, proving that she is a triple threat in the film industry, adding the titles of director and producer onto her resume.

Yes, Drew Barrymore is definitely the perfect example of taking the hardships that she was given, and transforming them into a rich and rewarding career. And, I feel no shame in admitting that I admire her wholeheartedly.

And, finally, secret #3.



I feel kind of deprived that I never owned a “Speak & Spell”.

The toy that was first introduced in 1978 was an educational one, and was just one of three toys in the initial line (the others being Speak & Read and Speak & Math), and almost every kid in my grade one class either owned a Speak & Spell or knew someone who had.

The only one in my class who didn't have one was myself.

It wasn't really because I needed one. My spelling skills in first grade were quite good, and considering that the toy was designed to teach children how to spell words that were commonly misspelled, it was a bit pointless for me to have one. But I didn't care. I really wanted one because I always did love toys in which you had to push a lot of buttons. Why else would I confess that my favourite childhood toy was my older sister's hand-me-down Merlin toy? And, why else did I become such a hard core video game player during my teenage years?

Okay, so those are my three secrets. My addiction to Reese's Pieces, my admiration towards Drew Barrymore, and how deprived I was as a child that I never received a Speak & Spell.

Hmmm...Reese's Pieces, Drew Barrymore, Speak & Spell. Reese's Pieces, Drew Barrymore, Speak & Spell. Where have I seen all three of those mentioned? What movie had all three of these things?

I think that this movie came out around the summer of 1982. I believe that it was a Spielberg production, and that the star of the film was a wrinkled beige creature with a limited English vocabulary who had an obsession with telephones, and could make something as simple as an ordinary bicycle fly through the sky.

It was a movie in which the main character had a craving for Reese's Pieces. It was a movie that starred Drew Barrymore, who was barely seven years old when the film was shot. And the Speak & Spell? It plays a very important part in the film's conclusion.

And, I already see some of you nodding your heads and smiles curling on your faces, as you know exactly what the movie is.

That movie was the biggest summer blockbuster of 1982, and the largest grossing film of all time until 1993, when “Jurassic Park” dethroned it.




Today's blog topic is “E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial”. The film, which was directed by Steven Spielberg and was released on June 11, 1982 starred Henry Thomas as Elliott, Dee Wallace as Elliott's mother, Mary, and Drew Barrymore as Henry's little sister, Gertie.

Other actors to appear in the movie were Peter Coyote, who played a government agent named Keys, and C. Thomas Howell, K.C. Martel, and Sean Frye, who played the three friends of Henry's brother, Michael (Robert MacNaughton).

Oh, and there was also the real star of the picture...the lovable alien with a face that only a mother (and a couple of children) could love. E.T., who was voiced by then 67-year-old Pat Welsh, a woman whose voice was very deep and raspy – a side effect from smoking two packs of cigarettes a day.

And, the inspiration behind the story of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial came from Spielberg's own childhood.

When he was a young boy, Spielberg's parents divorced, and to fill the void of his father leaving, he invented an imaginary alien friend...someone who could be the father who he felt had left, and the brother that he never had. But it wasn't until 1981 that Spielberg decided to bring his childhood creation to life. After telling screenwriter Melissa Mathison about his childhood memory, including a failed attempt at a film project entitled “Night Skies”, she came back to him eight weeks later with the initial draft for what would become the biggest film of 1982. The draft was revised a couple of more times before the final script was given the greenlight.

And, looking back on my experiences with watching the film (I watched it a lot when I was a kid), I can definitely see similarities between the life of Steven Spielberg and the life of Elliott, a 10-year-old boy who is very lonely following the divorce of his parents. He tries to befriend Michael's friends, but they just make fun of him. Add to the fact that Elliott doesn't seem to have a whole lot of close friends at his own school, and you have a child who is desperate for friendship, but is too afraid to show it.

But then Elliott discovers something strange while he is going out on a pizza run. In the family's tool shed, Elliott hears some noises coming from within. At first, the creature is frightened by Elliott, and runs and hides...but when Elliott returns with a handful of Reese's Pieces, the alien decides that Elliott is good people, and moves right into his bedroom!



The following day, Elliott decides to fake an illness to get out of school for the day so he can play with his brand new friend, but he is forced to let Michael and Gertie in on the secret. The three siblings all agree to keep the alien's existence a secret from their mother, and this leads to some rather...interesting disguises.



There's also something very interesting that happens between Elliott and the alien. Because Elliott and the alien develop some sort of psychic connection between them, everything the alien does, Elliott eventually does too. So, when the alien decides that he has a craving for beer, well...



And, this leads to what is considered to be one of the most iconic scenes of the entire movie.



And, when the alien watches an old movie on television in which the two characters kiss on screen, it actually causes Elliott to make a move on a girl that he has secretly had a crush on.

Ultimately, the whole goal of the film is the idea that Elliott, Michael, and Gertie have to find a way to get their new alien friend back home – leading up to the “E.T. Phone Home” scene that you've seen posted up above. And, by using an old “Speak & Spell”, an old umbrella, tinfoil, and a coffee can, Elliott and E.T manage to find a way to create a communication device designed for the purpose of him contacting his home planet so that he can go back home.

But when the United States government catch wind of the alien's discovery, they begin to do their own investigation, putting Elliott's entire family at risk. But no bond is stronger than that between a human boy and his alien friend. And, by the end of this movie, you will be needing some Kleenex to get through it.

(Well...unless you HATED the film, that is.)

Here's some more behind the scenes trivia for you regarding the making of this film.

1 – It was always Steven Spielberg's intention to have a mostly all-child cast.

2 – Henry Thomas auditioned for the role of Elliott dressed up as Indiana Jones!

3 – Robert MacNaughton reportedly went through eight different auditions before he finally got the part of Michael!

4 – Drew Barrymore ended up winning her role after telling Spielberg a story about how she was the leader of a punk band! Her creative imagination (especially for a six-year-old girl) won her the part.

5 – The part of Henry's crush was played by Erika Eleniak, who later went on to star in the television series “Baywatch” from 1989-1992.

6 – The roles of the doctors in the government laboratory scenes in the film were played by actual doctors. Spielberg believed that the dialogue would be more natural coming from people who actually knew what the terms meant and how they were pronounced.

7 – There's a scene in the movie that was left on the cutting room floor in which Harrison Ford makes a cameo. And, you can watch it below!

8 – Believe it or not, the initial choice of candy that Elliott used to lure E.T. out of hiding was supposed to be M&M's, but they refused to let the product appear in the movie. So, Reese's Pieces were selected instead, and the promotion within the film lead to a 65% increase in sales. I suppose M&M's have since learned their lesson, as they became sponsors for Star Wars and Shrek.



9 – The communicator that was used in the film. Would you believe that it actually WORKED? Of course, the device was constructed by Henry Feinberg, who worked in science and technology!

10 – This was the feature film debut for C. Thomas Howell.

11 – The video cassettes were made from green plastic in an effort to prevent piracy. By 1989, the VHS copy had sold fifteen million units.

12 – When the film was re-released in 2002 for the 20th anniversary, you may notice one major difference. The guns that the men were holding in one pivotal scene were digitally replaced with walkie-talkies! Spielberg reportedly spent over $100,000 to alter the scene.

13 – Debra Winger provided E.T.'s temp voice, and she also appears in the Halloween scene, dressed as a monster! (She's the one carrying the dog).

14 – To simulate the noise of E.T. walking, Foley Artist John Roesch used a wet T-shirt that was stuffed with Jell-O!

15 – Michael Jackson once owned one of the E.T. puppets.

16 – Pat Welsh's salary for her role at the voice of E.T. was $380.

17 – E.T.'s plants were made from an interesting ingredient – fully inflated condoms.



18 – The Neil Diamond song “Heartlight” was reportedly inspired by this film.

19 – Corey Feldman was supposed to appear in E.T., but his part was cut when the script was revised. To make it up to him, Spielberg gave Feldman a part in his next project – 1984's “Gremlins”.


20 – The film was shot entirely in chronological order.

Sunday, July 07, 2013

7



Today's blog post is brought to you by the number seven!

No, you haven't stumbled upon an episode of “Sesame Street”, but the theme for today's Sunday Jukebox is all about the number seven. And, it couldn't have come at a better time.

Okay, so let's state the obvious. Today happens to be July 7th...the seventh day of the seventh month. It's just a shame that I couldn't go back in time a few years so that the date could read as 07/07/07. Or, I suppose that I could have waited until 2107 to write this entry, but then I would be 126 years old, and I doubt that I'd even still be alive then.

Or, at the very least, practically none of you reading this will likely be around in 2107.



But, here's another interesting fact regarding the number seven that you probably would not have even realized right off the bat. This post happens to be the 777th blog topic that I have ever done!

Okay, so if you want to get technical, this is actually post #779. But one was a welcome post and the second was a technical difficulties post. Neither one of those count as far as I am concerned. So, just for the sake of argument, this is the 777th topic!

That's a lot of sevens, don't you think?

However, seven is one of those numbers that has proven to be very, very significant. There are many, many people who consider seven to be a very lucky number. I have one friend who lives in the United States who is so in love with the number seven that he has dozens of them posted all over his Facebook profile. And, that's cool! I say if one has a favourite number, one should hold it near and dear to their hearts.

CONFESSION: I have to admit that while I like seven, my own personal lucky number is 18. But, I suppose if you take eight away from one, you get -7...which is still just as good as a 7 in my book!

But, why is seven a luckier number than thirteen, or forty-two, or 7,672,771?

It's really hard to say. I don't think that there's really any definitive answer that can be given. But the number seven makes a lot of appearances in world history, pop culture, and even religious teachings, so maybe the frequent reappearance of the number makes it luckier than others.

I mean, think about it. Many religious people see the number 7 as a “heavenly” or “divine” number? And, why is that? Well, it's because many hold the belief that God created the world in seven days.

Coincidentally, there are seven days in a week. And as Jade will tell you down below, the days of the week are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.



(And, no...Jade is NOT the featured band of the day. Consider this a bonus song.)

Earth happens to be surrounded by seven other planets. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. It once had eight in the solar system, but Pluto decided that it didn't want to be a planet anymore and embarked on a solo career within the universe.



Going back to religious views, the number seven acts as a double-edged sword of sorts, as there happens to be seven deadly sins. If you ever watched the movie “Se7en”, you know that the sins are gluttony, lust, sloth, envy, pride, wrath, and greed.

On a happier note, there are also the “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World”. Of the seven, only one, the Great Pyramid of Giza, remains standing. The other six were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum of Halicarassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

As you've also noticed by now, in a standard rainbow, there are seven visible colours. You have red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

And, in our world, we have seven different continents. Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Antarctica, and Australia.

And, if you've been keeping count at home, I just listed seven reasons why the number seven is so special!



From playing the “Lucky Seven” game on “The Price is Right” with seven dollar bills trying to win a car to spinning a slot machine hoping to win a jackpot of silver dollars by landing all sevens, the number seven is definitely a number that a lot of people hold dear to their hearts.

So, it only makes sense that today's blog topic will be all about the number seven.

Unfortunately, this is where my good luck ends. While I am able to find a clip to today's song, I am unable to embed it into this blog entry. You see, today's featured artist is one that doesn't exactly like to promote his stuff on video sharing sites like YouTube. In fact, he doesn't particularly like it when other people post his songs on YouTube either. Therefore, finding the actual music video of this song was next to impossible.

In fact, it was so tough of a challenge that the video of this singer, (who appropriately enough was born on the seventh of June, 1958) will have to be one that you have to click the link of in order to hear the song in its entirety.

I'll post a picture of the video though to make it appear as though there IS one there...just click below the picture to listen to the song.




(Yes, you're reading that correctly. “7” peaked at #7. How perfect is that? Granted, I'm sure Prince was probably wishing for another #1 hit...however, seven is still pretty good.)

Oh, and if you really want to watch the full music video, I actually found it on – of all places – Perez Hilton's official blog! Just click HERE to watch it.

And, I bet you're also wondering what the heck kind of title “Love Symbol Album” is. Well...it's actually not the real title of the album. Here's the album cover.



Okay, so you know that infamous symbol right? The one that looks like ? It was the symbol that Prince started calling himself shortly after this single was released? The one that got him mocked for pretty much the entire decade known as the 1990s? Well, there's really no way to know what the pronunciation of really is. I know Prince never revealed the real way to say , nor do I remember hearing anything about how to pronounce myself.

Wow...all of a sudden, I feel like typing in every single sentence.


Okay, that's seven of those symbols. I'll quit now.

The single was the third one released from the album, and it was the only one from the...um...symbol album...that reached the Top 10.  



There's really not a whole lot to say about the music video except that I am absolutely impressed by the impressive sword dancing performed by the lady in gold.  As it so happens, the lady doing the dancing is Mayte Garcia, a woman that was romantically linked to Prince for several years.  They married in 1996, but divorced three years later in 1999 (ironically another numeric Prince song title).

And, the single has quite a few more "sevens" linked to it...

The single was released on a 7" single.  The single was released on November 17.  The video was filmed on February 27, 1992.    The song samples the song "Tramp" by Otis Redding and Carla Thomas, which was released in 1967!  And, as mentioned before, it peaked at #7!

And, just to really mess with your minds here...Prince was 34 when this video was released...and 3+4=7!

I tell you...freaky, no?

As for what the song is really all about...well, I think that it's one of those videos and songs in which you can use your own imagination and make your own deductions over what the theme of the song is all about.  Obviously, the song makes reference to the number 7, and the lyrics of the chorus go as such...

All 7 and we'll watch them fall
They stand in the way of love
And we will smoke them all
With an intellect and a savoir-faire
No one in the universe
Will ever compare
I am yours now and you are mine
And together we'll love through
All space and time, so don't worry
One day all 7 will die

But is Prince talking about the Seven Deadly Sins?  The Seven Headed Beast that appears in the Book of Revelations?  Just surviving all seven days of the week so that you can end the whole shebang with the one you love?

Well, I remember seeing this video a long time ago on Pop-Up Video, and in one of the pop-ups, it revealed that the song was about a woman who he loved, but was not able to be with her because she had seven guardians preventing him from getting to her.  In order to free her, he had to slay all seven guardians - one day all seven will die.

Now, I know that Pop-Up Video can be quite goofy and in some cases, tasteless...but in this case, I think that it's the best explanation that I can think of that seems to fit both the song and video.  But really, only Prince knows the truth.  And, I don't think that he's telling...

At any rate, that's all that I really have to say about the number seven, and the song seven.

And since I have some time left...and since I want to continue on with the seven theme...I think I want to post seven Sesame Street clips that feature the number seven.

You can never have enough sevens, right?








Saturday, July 06, 2013

The Highs and Lows of Summer Carnivals

Summer is in full swing here in Canada. And for the most part, I am very excited to see it arrive.

I guess if there was one thing that I dislike about the summer is the humidity that seems to accompany the months of July, August, and half of September. I don't do very well with the hot and steamy temperatures of the summer months. If it weren't for the fact that I am still a little bit self-conscious of my body, I would definitely go outside half-nude just to get relief from the heat. But, as it stands, I do not have the body to even remotely consider that option, so for now, it's staying in air conditioned comfort as much as possible.

But even on the hottest days of the year, there were always ways in which one could cool off. And for this edition of the Saturday Smorgasbord, I'm going to share with you some personal stories about one place where I used to go to cool off and have fun all at the same time.

I know that normally I would be devoting the first Saturday of the month to a toy or a game...and there will be some references to both of these in this blog. But there's a lot more that I want to discuss within this blog entry.



How many of you remember going to a fair or a carnival during your youth? I know I remember going to several as a kid! Back in the days of the 1980s and early 1990s, summer carnivals were all the rage. It seemed as though another carnival would spring up every two weeks or so filled with attractions, rides, games, and concession stands.

And, for me, a summer just wasn't complete if I didn't find a way to go to the fair at least once.

Whether it was visiting Lake Ontario Park in Kingston (which unfortunately ditched their rides), or going to the Shriners Fair here in Brockville, or attending the Spencerville Fair in Spencerville, Ontario, it was something that I always looked forward to as a kid.

Mind you, nowadays, I doubt that I would go to a fair simply because the last time I rode one of those rides, I ended up getting violently ill. I suppose my resistance to motion sickness has not improved with age.

But this blog is all about the childhood memories that I have that were associated with the many carnivals that I attended as a child. And the way that I have this blog set up is similar to a like/dislike list.

While there were many things that I did enjoy about fairs and carnivals, there were also things that I did not particularly care for. After all, not all childhood memories were absolutely perfect.

So, purchase your tickets at the booth, and grab yourself some cotton candy and a churro. It's time to reminisce about the carnival!



LIKE: The sounds and the lights of the carnival

You know how bright and loud the city of Las Vegas, Nevada is with its slot machines ringing, and every building having at least five hundred thousand neon lights flashing outside? Well, I always saw carnivals as a minature version of Fremont Street. Everywhere you turned, there were brightly coloured lights, and people running around all over the place, waiting to get in line for their favourite rides. And, I suppose that like Las Vegas, you are also surrounded by games of chance...only instead of pulling a slot machine for silver dollars, you're spinning a wheel in order to win a water pistol. I'll be talking about this more in detail, but I always found it a fantastic experience to go to a fair...especially as the sun is setting.



DISLIKE: The cost of a roll of tickets

If I could, I would have spent the entire day riding on the various rides in the fair. Unfortunately, riding every single ride in the fair took up a LOT of tickets. A roll of tickets back in my day (and let's for the sake of argument say that you could get 20 tickets in a roll) cost twenty dollars (basically a dollar a ticket). That might not seem like a lot of money now, but back in 1988, it was a fortune. And when you also take into account that the best rides of the carnival would charge as much as FOUR tickets to go on a four-minute ride, the value just simply wasn't there. Lately, I hear that depending on the fair you attend, the cost of a roll of 20 tickets has doubled (or even tripled) in price, but the length of time you ride on the ride remained the same. My parents did make sure that I had enough tickets to go on at least five different rides while we were there, which was fantastic and incredibly generous of them given our limited family income at the time. Still, I just wish that the cost of going to the fair was a little less expensive so that we could have enjoyed ourselves a little bit longer. Sadly I don't see that changing any time soon.



LIKE: The Go-Gator (well, at least until I turned seven, anyway)

When I was old enough to begin going on rides, I remember that the options for me were very, VERY limited. I mean, yes, the merry-go-round is fun for all ages, but it was just there. The Berry-Go-Round bored me to tears. I had a slight fear of heights, so I couldn't take any ride that went up extremely high. And, while I loved going on the inflatable castle because of the bouncy factor, I couldn't really call that a “ride”. Though, given that the attraction was just two tickets a piece, it was certainly affordable.

But then there was the little roller coaster with the alligator head at the front. That roller coaster was something that I absolutely loved riding on. I know that the stereotypical roller coaster goes up several hundred feet, but this roller coaster stayed low to the ground, which given my fear of high places was an added bonus. I would ALWAYS ride up at the front of the coaster because I wanted to have the absolute best view.



DISLIKE: The ferris wheel (at any age)

It should come as no surprise that given my admission to not liking high places that I would place this attraction as one of my least favourite rides of any carnival. In my thirty two years on this planet, I have not gone on a ferris wheel once! I refuse to even sit down in one for two reasons. One, I have the fear of the the seat that I am sitting in coming loose and me plummeting to my death below. And, two, when they stop the Ferris Wheel at periodic intervals to let riders off, I worry that I will be at the very top of the wheel rotation and I will pass out from height-related vertigo. I seriously do not do well with heights, and I can't do the ferris wheel because of it. Nor can I do super high roller coasters, that ride where you sit down in those swings, or that Drop Zone ride that you might find at Canada's Wonderland or MarineLand.

LIKE: The Tilt-A-Whirl and The Scrambler (tie)

I had a really hard time selecting which of these two rides I liked best...so I decided that for this edition, I would choose both. I spent so many tickets on both of these rides growing up.

But it took me a really long time for me to go on them. When I was five, the height restrictions prevented me from boarding them because at that time, I was too short. Then the following year, I had a major growth spurt and quickly became one of the tallest kids in my class and was tall enough for them. Unfortunately, I grew up with one of the most overprotective mothers on the planet, and she absolutely refused to let me go on either ride even though I really, REALLY wanted to. I think I was almost nine years old before I was considered “old enough” to ride. Fortunately, my sisters were far less overprotective of me!



Part of the reason why I loved the “Tilt-A-Whirl” so much was because of its unpredictability. Depending on how many people were in the car, and depending on which way you leaned, you could spin a little bit, or you could spin continuously. And, I'm sure that everyone would agree that the more you spun around, the better the ride was. I loved spinning right round, baby, right round, like a record baby...



Ahem...sorry, where was I?



The Scrambler” was a more linear ride. You went around in a circle with the speed growing faster and faster each rotation. But I didn't care. I loved it. On a very hot day, riding the Scrambler was like instant air conditioning. The breeze blowing against your face was definitely a blessing in disguise in the battle against humidity. But there were three lessons that I learned when riding “The Scrambler”.

  1. Never wear a hat – it WILL blow off.
  2. Wear sunglasses to protect your eyes. You do not want bugs flying in there, especially with the neon lights attracting those suckers in the same way that a flower can attract a bee.
  3. If you're small in stature, NEVER sit on the far left of the seat...you WILL get crushed.


DISLIKE: The Crazy Dance

I so wanted to like this ride, I really did. When I saw this ride featured on “Problem Child 2”, I really wanted to have the chance to ride it (well, without Junior Healy cranking the ride settings to maximum speed, that is). I finally got my chance when the “Crazy Dance” was one of the new rides introduced at the Shriners Fair in 1995 or 1996. I was in my early teens at the time, and I was excited to finally ride on that ride.

Unfortunately, the expectations that I had for the ride were way too high. It wasn't nearly as much fun as I thought it would be. It was kind of boring, actually. I actually kind of wish that there was a Junior around to crank up the speed.



LIKE: Bumper Cars

Come on. Who DOESN'T love the Bumper Cars? I lived for the Bumper Cars! What better way to take out the aggression that you festered inside of you for waiting in line for your favourite rides by taking a padded car and smashing into everyone and everything in your path? I always made sure that I rode in the green or purple bumper cars, as they were my favourite colours. I wish I could find the picture of me driving a bumper car at Lake Ontario Park back in the summer of '96. It was absolutely perfect! But, since I can't, I'll tell you the story of the summer of '76 (of which I was not yet born), and how my dad and eldest sister rode on the Lake Ontario Park bumper cars, and they bumped a woman so hard her wig flew off and got caught on the front of their car. Can you imagine my dad and sister riding around in a bumper car with a hairpiece? Funny stuff. I wish I had been born to see that.



DISLIKE: The Fun House

Most Fun Houses were never that fun. I found them dull, boring, and it was rather embarrassing to try and run through that spinning tube at the end of the house. I kept falling flat on my face. Not fun at all. If the Fun House was like the Fun House in that retro game show “Fun House”, I would have spent the whole day there for sure.



LIKE: Sno-Cones

I didn't eat much fair food. One, it was overpriced, and secondly, it was never really as good as I thought it would be. I mean, there are only so many foods that one can deep fry until all of them begin to taste exactly the same.

The lone exception was the Sno-Cone, a delectable (and affordable) treat that I had to have every time I left the carnival to go home. And, the Sno-Cone almost always had to be cherry flavoured, though I could do grape in a pinch if cherry wasn't available.

Runner-up would be cotton candy, though I didn't like it as much as I did the Sno-Cone.

DISLIKE: The popcorn stand that sold popcorn that was usually incredibly stale and tasteless.

I mean, seriously...I think the popcorn that was discarded on the movie theatre floors had better flavour than fair popcorn – not that I made a habit of eating food off of the floor or anything...just making an analogy using a rather disgusting metaphor.



LIKE: The Fish Pond game

I was not the most skilled child when it came to motor skills...so playing carnival games for the oversized Ninja Turtle or Batman toys was not my strong suit. However, there was one game in which I excelled it. Of course, it WAS the one game in which everyone won a prize, guaranteed.

It was the fish pond (or duck pond). Every time you caught a fish, or selected a rubber duck, you won something. Most of the time, you ended up winning some el cheapo dollar store toy like an oversized comb, an inflatable crayon, or a whistle that only worked half the time. But I didn't care. I was such an easy child to please that I was happy with anything. Now, if the person caught the fish that was red in colour, or selected the duck that had a dot on the bottom of it, then you could win a larger prize. But in all the years that I played the Duck Pond/Fish Pond, that never happened to me. But, I ended up winning something, and that was worth it to me.

Runner-Up: Whack-a-Mole. Sometimes you won a prize, and sometimes you didn't. But whacking plastic moles over the head was always my idea of a good time!



DISLIKE: Any other game at the carnival

I never realized this as a kid, but many of those carnival games are rigged to the point that it is almost impossible to win. But yet, people still shell out tens and twenties in order to win their child an overstuffed toy that they could probably buy at Walmart for eight bucks.

I mean, has anybody EVER won that game where you try to cover up the red circle with five smaller metal discs? I don't know anyone who succeeded in that one. Has anyone ever won the giant prize by playing the game where you try to throw a ring over the one solo yellow bottle in a sea of other bottles? It's darn near impossible to land a ring on ANY of those things.

Even the games that weren't necessarily rigged were games that I didn't like playing. I hate the sound of balloons popping, so any of those “Pop-a-Balloon, Win a Prize” games were out of the question for me.


And, that's my list of likes and dislikes about the fair. What are some of yours?