Search This Blog

Monday, July 22, 2013

Shrek 2

When I was a child, I remember reading tons of books. After all, one of my favourite places to go as a little boy was the town library. I was a definite bookworm as a child, and to an extent, I am still a bookworm today.

Some of my favourite stories of all time as a child were classic fairytales. I mean, they were classic stories that have entertained generations of children for years. And, some of the stories were more than just fun to read. They taught us a lot about life and living it.

I mean, from reading fairy tales I learned that we can't catch wayward gingerbread men no matter how fast we run, I learned never to promise anybody my first born child unless I found out their name first, and I learned that if a person's hair was long enough, you could use it as a ladder to climb up the side of a tower.

Granted, the weight of the person climbing the hair would make the person's head hurt like hell, and you may accidentally scalp them. But, that's another story for another day.

The truth of the matter is that over the last ten years, classic fairy tales have become popular again. When I was working in the seasonal department of my workplace, the fastest selling statues were the ones that were based off of classic fairy tales like Cinderella and Snow White & The Seven Dwarves.

Okay, so yes, the statues were of the Disney kind. They still sold. Especially the Grumpy dwarf statues.

Over the last few issues, Archie Comics have done an entire feature on fairy tales. If you pick up any of the recent Betty & Veronica comic books beginning with issue #264, you can see the Archie characters re-enacting classic fairy tales. So far, they have done Rapunzel, Beauty and the Beast, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, with The Little Mermaid and Rumplestiltskin planned for the upcoming issues.

And, in the world of feature films, many classic tales have been made and remade into box office blockbusters. All you need to do is examine the successes of such films as “Snow White and the Huntsman” and “Oz: The Great and Powerful” to see what I mean.

Well, today's feature film is one that was released almost a decade ago (which suddenly makes me feel somewhat on the old side as I remember very well the day I watched it). It was a film that also looked at classic fairy tales...in a rather humourous, sarcastic way. By combining elements of no less than ten different fairy tales with references to modern pop culture, you have almost what you could call a parody of a fairy tale...one that made almost a billion dollars at the box office in 2004 alone!

Which is fantastic...considering that the film happens to be a sequel.

Traditionally speaking, sequels tend to not do very well in comparison to the original. But consider this. When “Shrek” was released on May 18, 2001, the film made just under half a billion dollars.



When “Shrek 2” came out three years later, on May 19, 2004, the film made TWICE the amount. That's fantastic for a sequel.

And since I already did an entry on Shrek last year, I thought that this year, I'd look at “Shrek 2” (which coincidentally happens to be my favourite of the four Shrek films that make up the...what's the term? Quadrogy? Is that even a word?)

You know what, just for the sake of argument, we're just going to call it a quadrogy.

Okay, so as I mentioned before, Shrek 2 was released on May 19, 2004, and returning to the second film are Mike Myers as Shrek, Eddie Murphy as Donkey, and Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona. I could also talk about the fact that Gingy (Conrad Vernon), Big Bad Wolf (Aron Warner), Pinocchio (Cory Cameron), and Magic Mirror (Chris Miller) also return to the Shrek sequel...but they're more secondary characters, so we'll just give them an honourary mention.

There are also some new faces joining the adventure in the 2004 sequel. We have French & Saunders comedienne Jennifer Saunders as the Fairy Godmother, Rupert Everett as Prince Charming (who happens to have a connection to Fairy Godmother, but I don't want to reveal too much), Julie Andrews and John Cleese as Fiona's parents, and Antonio Banderas as this cute little creature.



But don't let those eyes fool you...he's not as timid as you might think. More on that later.



Okay, so we all know what happened at the end of the first Shrek. Shrek and Fiona end up falling in love with each other, Shrek ends up breaking the curse which has plagued Fiona her whole life (which surprisingly transforms Fiona into a female ogre), and Shrek and Fiona become ogre and wife, destined to spend the rest of their lives together in quiet solitude in Shrek's swamp hut.



But when Fiona and Shrek receive an invitation from King Harold and Queen Lillian of Far Far Away to attend a royal ball at their castle in celebration of Fiona's marriage to Shrek, Shrek is determined not to go. After all, Far Far Away is way too posh for him (seriously, the kingdom of Far Far Away kind of looks like what Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills would resemble in the mid-fifteenth century). Still, he agrees to travel to Far Far Away in order to make Fiona happy. Donkey also tags along for the carriage ride.

Needless to say, King Harold and Queen Lillian are quite...shocked at Fiona's appearance, and even more shocked to see who she has married. To Lillian's credit, she is more than willing to give Shrek a chance and treats him with kindness and respect. But Shrek and Harold get into a feud right from the very beginning, ending in a food fight that sends Fiona running to her chamber to get away from the tension.



It is here that Fiona first meets up with the Fairy Godmother, who initially comes across as a kind and gentle soul. She offers Fiona almost everything under the sun...talking furniture, a bichon frise, even a sexy man boy chauffeur named Kyle. But when Fiona rejects all of that, the Fairy Godmother's personality shifts into pure evil.

You see...unbeknownst to Fiona, years ago, Fairy Godmother entered into a sweetheart deal with King Harold. Fairy Godmother granted Harold his happily ever after when he was in his youth...but it certainly wasn't out of the goodness of her heart. She was actually blackmailing poor Harold into doing something for her. He had to make sure that Fiona was rescued by Prince Charming, and that Fiona and Charming would live together in perfect harmony.

Of course, we all know that Shrek foiled those plans in the first movie, and well...needless to say, it wasn't what Fairy Godmother dreamed of for Fiona or Charming.

But why would Fairy Godmother be so concerned about who Charming married? Well, I'm not going to tell you. Don't worry, the secret is revealed early on in the film. I'm just purposely holding details away from you, in case there are a minute few who have not seen the film yet. Nor will I tell you the reason why Fairy Godmother is blackmailing King Harold. But let's just say that finding out the background behind King Harold's “happily ever after” is simple if you know how to spot hidden clues and subtle dialogue peppered throughout the film. It's actually quite clever how they do it.

Anyway, with the threats of Fairy Godmother hanging over his head, King Harold reluctantly hires a hitman to take care of Shrek and Donkey while they accompany him on a hunting trip.



Enter Puss in Boots.

However, for all the bravado this murderous feline has, he certainly doesn't do very well in his job, as it doesn't take much effort for Shrek to overpower him. Puss in Boots later informs Shrek of King Harold's plot and Shrek begins to question whether he is the right person for Fiona to remain married to. It is right around this time that Donkey and Shrek come up with the idea to visit the Fairy Godmother for advice on how he can have his very own “happily ever after”. And despite Donkey's objections, Shrek decides to take Puss in Boots along, with Puss feeling ashamed for what he tried to do.

Of course, once the trio gets to the Fairy Godmother's lair, she cruelly and viciously tells Shrek that ogres don't deserve a “happily ever after” (all to persuade him to stay away from Fiona so that Fiona will eventually choose Charming instead). But when the Fairy Godmother's back is turned, Shrek, Donkey, and Puss in Boots steal something from her that could cause Shrek's dream to come true...or it may turn into Shrek's worst nightmare.

And, that's really all that I want to say about this movie. Again, I never spoil the ending to a film no matter how old the movie is or how successful it was. It's because I want you all to watch the film yourself and make your own judgments.

However, I do have some trivia for all of you.



01 – In the above song sung by Fairy Godmother, Jennifer Saunders went to a vocal coach to prepare her for the solo. I think the end results proved to be quite good, don't you?

02 – In the scenes that take place in Far Far Away, you may notice that a lot of the shops are spoofs of 21st century businesses. These include “Old Knavery”, “Versarchery”, “Farbucks”, and “Baskin Robbinhood”.



03 – In Fiona's childhood room, there's a poster of “Sir Justin” on the ceiling. Unbeknownst to the animators, Cameron Diaz had entered into a relationship with Justin Timberlake right around the time that Shrek 2 was being made, making this joke even more appropriate!

04 – Joan Rivers, Larry King, and Simon Cowell all make cameo appearances in the movie, though you'll have to wait until after the closing credits before you can see Simon.

05 – Puss in Boots was the most difficult character to animate, just based on the amount of work needed to make his fur appear realistic.

06 – Puss in Boots was deliberately designed after Zorro, ironically enough also a character portrayed by Antonio Banderas.

07 – The film's plot was loosely based on the 1967 film “Guess Who's Coming To Dinner”.

08 – The Fairy Godmother was originally planned to appear in the first Shrek movie, but the part was cut out. Therefore, she was made as the main villain of Shrek 2.

09 – There's a scene that takes place near the end of the film which has King Harold clutching a love potion with the number nine written on it in Roman Numerals. Love Potion No. 9...where have I heard that before?



Oh, yeah...

10 – The entrance of Far Far Away was deliberately designed to look like the entrance of the Paramount Studios lot.

11 – One of the original concepts of King Harold was that he would appear in the film completely naked (playing off of the story “The Emperor's New Clothes”). Instead a different fairy tale was used to tell Harold's story.

12 – 300 Hewlett Packard workstations were used in the making of this film.

13 – John Cleese and Julie Andrews recorded their lines together.

14 – Tom Waits and Nick Cave voice the same character in the movie. I won't reveal which one they voice, but they can be found in “The Poison Apple” pub.

15 – While Larry King and Joan Rivers were credited with voices in the American release of the film, in the UK, their voices were dubbed over by British presenters Jonathan Ross and Kate Thornton.

16 – The author of the Shrek book series, William Steig, died during the production of Shrek 2, so the movie is dedicated in his memory.

17 – Jennifer Saunders was forced to record her lines in England, as she was in the middle of filming “Absolutely Fabulous” at the time.



18 – David Bowie was so impressed by Butterfly Boucher's version of “Changes” that she recorded for the film that he provided backing vocals for the track!

19 – There's a clever spoof of the O.J. Simpson arrest in 1994 inserted into the film. You know, the one with the “white bronco”?

20 – The “hairball” scene took three hours to record. Poor Antonio Banderas must have been exhausted!


21 – Queen Lillian can be seen reading a book entitled “Kings are from Mars, Queens are from Venus”. 

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Livin' La Vida Loca

I hope you're ready for some Latin flavour this Sunday, because the Sunday Jukebox is going to have a little bit of sizzle and spice added to it.

Considering that we're in the middle of summer, I think that some of the best music to listen to is music that takes you to a beach party. And, of all the summers that I have lived through, I don't think I remember any year that felt as summery as the year 1999.

Say what you will about late 1990s music. I know some had a real issue with it because it all sounded the same with boy bands, grunge bands, techno bands, and bands that celebrated “girl power”.

Suffice to say, the late 1990s were not exactly a great time for pop music. Far better than the 2010s, but not by much.

Now, 1999 was different. In fact, I think that 1999 was one of the final years that I listened exclusively to Top 40 radio, as there were a lot of great songs that were released that year.

1999 was also the year that I “technically” became a man, as I celebrated birthday number eighteen that year. And, my 18th birthday was just a month before the summer of 1999 kicked off. So, I have a lot of fond memories of that summer.

(Well, aside from the bout of pneumonia that I mysteriously contracted at the beginning of September 1999.)

The truth is that there was a lot of good music coming out during that time. 1999 was the year of the “Latin Explosion” on the pop charts, as several artists with a Latino background were topping the charts. Carlos Santana was still making hit music some thirty years after his very first release, and he had a couple of hits during the year 1999. Jennifer Lopez proved that she was a triple-threat by releasing her debut album “On The 6”, which had several chart-toppers between 1999 and 2000. And, Enrique Iglesias followed in his father's footsteps with the single “Bailamos”.

And then there is today's artist of the day, who some credit to kicking off the summer of Latin sensations. A man who began his career in a boy band, grew up to become a soap opera star, and by the time he was thirty, he had already earned a number of awards, including a Grammy or two.

The name that this artist was given at birth was Enrique Martin Morales. Of course, many of you probably know him best by his stage name.



Today's subject is Puerto Rican born Ricky Martin. And, the song? Well...we're going to get to that in a second. But first, here's a brief biography of the singer.

He was born on Christmas Eve, 1971 in San Juan, Puerto Rico to an accountant and a psychologist. When Ricky was just two years old, his parents divorced, and as a result he ended up having several half-siblings and splitting his childhood between two different addresses.

By age six, he was beginning to find his voice as a singer. He was an alter boy during his early childhood, and was frequently found in his mother's kitchen using a wooden spoon to sing along to REO Speedwagon, Journey and Menudo songs.

Yeah...that last one...we're going to hold on to that one for a little bit.

Now, singing wasn't the only thing that Ricky Martin was skilled in. Because his grandfather was a poet, writing lyrics came naturally to the young boy, and by the time he was ten, he had already begun writing songs in both Spanish and English. It was also right around this time that he began acting in various commercials around the Puerto Rico area.

And, believe it or not, those commercials helped Ricky secure an audition for Menudo!



Now, I don't know how many of you were familiar with Menudo, but the group originated in the late 1970s. And, Menudo wasn't your typical boy band either. Unlike boy bands like the Backstreet Boys and the New Kids on the Block, who kept the same line-up for twenty years and counting, Menudo frequently rotated their members. You see, whenever a member of the band's voice began to change, or if they got too tall, or if they got too old (sixteen or seventeen was generally the cut-off), they were axed from the band and a newer, younger member was brought in.

So, when Ricky Martin joined the band in the summer of 1984 (after being rejected from the band twice before), he was going into the band knowing that his tenure there would not last forever. But that was fine for him. It would be a great opportunity for him to try performing as part of Puerto Rico's biggest boy band, to see if he liked it. And, considering that he appeared in such videos as the one below, I think it's safe to say that he enjoyed it well enough.



But, there were a few hiccups along the way. Beginning with his very first performance as a member of the band, Ricky Martin went outside of the box and did his own thing on stage...which was a big no-no, as the band manager had given him orders to do what the band was doing. He was severely reprimanded for not doing what he was asked, and he was told that if he were to go against the group again, he would be terminated from the band. And, Ricky Martin never disobeyed orders again after that.

Still, although he enjoyed performing with Menudo and received a lot of experience performing in front of crowds, he didn't like the fact that he had to sacrifice so much of his childhood as a result of his commitment to the band. There was actually one point in which he considered leaving the band on his own while the band was on a Brazilian tour, but in the end decided to stick with it, as he feared being sued for breaching his contract, not to mention he didn't want his fans to be disappointed, or face the media scrutiny that would come from such a decision. But it all balanced out with his commitment to global charities such as UNICEF, and it helped the young Ricky Martin realize that he had more to give than just his vocal abilities.

So after Ricky Martin left the band at age seventeen, he returned to Puerto Rico to complete his high school education, and on January 6, 1990, he moved to New York City days after his eighteenth birthday to celebrate the fact that his trust fund was now accessible to him. He remained in New York for a few months and applied to drama school in the city, but decided to make a change in his plans before classes began by moving to Mexico City to perform in a play.

From there, he joined a telenovela for a couple of years, and even inked a recording deal with Sony Discos. Unfortunately, the first album he put out with the label was very controversial, as Ricky Martin failed to read the contract in full. Had he looked over the contract more closely, he would have read the clause that only entitled Martin one penny of royalties for every album sold. Can you say, sucker?

Here's a note for all of you reading this. Before signing a contract...READ IT!



Ricky Martin definitely could. In English and Spanish, no less. Still, despite the fact that he got royally screwed out of royalties, he looked on the bright side. He did have an album of new material out (which would become the Spanish language debut “Ricky Martin” in 1991), and he was beginning to build a fan base as a solo artist. What could be better?



The album proved to be a huge success in Latin America, and it was enough to prompt a second album release, “Me Amares” in 1993. The following year, Martin's agent convinced him to move to Los Angeles, California to increase his star presence in the acting world. He took on a minor role in the short-lived series “Getting By”, and when that was cancelled, he won the role of Miguel Morez on the ABC soap opera “General Hospital”. But he only lasted on the show a few months, as he felt a bit ostracized by the fact that his accent was making people treat him differently. At the same time, he was questioning his sexuality, and came to realize that he was gay. But it would take another fifteen years before he would come out publicly, for fear of backlash from the public. After all, in Ricky's words, he already found it hard enough to be Latino in the world of Hollywood. But to be Latino and gay? That was near impossible.

And, this was only in 1994. I think it's safe to say that the world has changed a lot in nearly twenty years.



Needless to say, after leaving “General Hospital”, Ricky Martin decided to focus solely on his music, and he released three more Spanish language albums, all of which were very successful – in particular 1998's “Vuelve”, which spent twenty-six weeks at the top of the Billboard Top Latin Album charts. He earned his very first Grammy nomination in 1999, and his performance at the 41st annual Grammy Awards television broadcast of “La Copa de la Vida” was so well-received that he earned himself a standing ovation, endearing himself to American artists.

Which was good, considering that in 1999, Ricky Martin was recording material for his first English-language album, which would be released on May 11, 1999. And, not only would the first single from the album be the biggest hit of Ricky Martin's career, but it was the single that kickstarted the Latin music craze of the summer of 1999.



ARTIST: Ricky Martin
SONG: Livin' La Vida Loca
ALBUM: Ricky Martin
DATE RELEASED: March 23, 1999
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #1 for 5 weeks

Would you like to know some interesting trivia about this particular song? Well, how about this?

The song reached #1 in the United States in the spring of 1999, and remained there for five consecutive weeks. But, did you know that the single also peaked at #1 in Canada, Australia, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom?

The song also did very well on the Best of 1999 charts, peaking at #10 overall.

The song is also considered to be the most downloaded single of Ricky Martin's career. Granted, the song was released before iTunes and mp3 players were in vogue, but as of July 2013, the song has been downloaded over half a million times.

The video was nominated for six MTV Video Music Awards in 1999, winning two.

The video won the Ritmo Latino Music Award for Music Video of the Year.

The song was the first American number one single to be recorded in an entirely computerized environment using the Pro Tools software package.

It was a brilliant single to kick off Ricky Martin's career, and over the next couple of years, he would release other hits such as “She's All I Ever Had”, “Shake Your Bon-Bon”, “Nobody Wants To Be Lonely” (a duet with Christina Aguilera), and “She Bangs” (which was famously butchered by American Idol contestant William Hung.


And, perhaps more importantly, Ricky Martin opened up the doors to other Latino artists, and paved the way for an easier way to break into the American market. Shakira, Paulina Rubio, Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias...all were artists where their road to success became a lot less bumpier because Ricky Martin paved the way for them. 

Saturday, July 20, 2013

My Pet Monster

This may sound like a rather odd question to ask, but were you ever afraid of the hypothetical and very imaginary “monster under the bed” or “monster inside the closet”?

It's okay if you were. I'll be the first one to admit that I had a fear of a monster that lived under my own bed.

Granted, it turned out to be nothing more than a T-shirt that I outgrew that was covered in dustbunnies. At least, that's exactly what it looked like during the day.

When the sun set for the day, and the moon lit up the night sky, the dark shadows that covered that dust covered shirt suddenly made it seem a lot more scarier. It wasn't uncommon for me to get creeped out whenever I looked under the bed at night, because it sort of resembled a dead animal...or a monster!

And, believe me...as a young kid, I did almost everything possible to protect myself from the monster that hid under my bed. Whether it meant plugging in a glow-in-the-dark nightlight in the nearest electrical outlet, or having my parents check underneath the bed for a monster check, or even leaving the window open in the middle of January to freeze the monster enough so that they wouldn't even think of bothering me.

As I said, I had the most “elite” monster security system available.

I don't really remember when I “installed” my monster security system. In all likelihood, it was when I was three years old...so this would be going back to the mid-1980s. And, I would say that from the ages of three to six were the years in which I was most afraid of the “monster under the bed”.

But after the age of six, I began to get less afraid of the monster that I believed resided underneath my bed. Instead of being afraid of it, I began to have a change of heart towards my former nemesis. I began to see it as a friend, instead of an enemy. Instead of being afraid of it, I came to the conclusion that the monster underneath my bed was a friend, protecting me against other creepy figures of the night such as the boogeyman, the killer tarantulas, or the evil tooth fairy who steals your teeth instead of leaving you money underneath your pillow.

And yes I had a vivid imagination as a kid, and no I will not apologize for it.

But what caused this sudden about face about an imaginary monster that lived under my bed? What caused me to see this “monster” as a friend instead of a foe?

The answer lies in today's Saturday Smorgasbord entry.

You see, right around the time that I was six years old, a cartoon used to air on television that I absolutely fell in love with. Unfortunately, the cartoon was also short-lived. It lasted for thirteen episodes during the 1987-1988 television season. However, I remember the show airing well into the 1990s and beyond.



The show was actually based on a plush toy that was produced by American Greetings (and no, it wasn't a Care Bear). In 1986, plush toys that were marketed only to boys were quite rare, so American Greetings came up with a fuzzy blue monster with horns, a pointed smile, and a large polka dotted nose. The monster dolls also came with a set of orange handcuffs made out of plastic, which could be locked and unlocked. The cuffs not only fit the monster doll, but it also fit children's wrists as well.

The popularity of the plush doll spawned dozens of merchandising opportunities. Colouring books, puzzles, Little Golden Books, and clothing items featured this fuzzy blue monster, and in 1986, the doll even spawned a live-action television special, which featured a boy named Max transforming into a monster after he bumps into a statue which emits a curse on him. I can only verify that this live-action special exists through my own eyes. I remember watching it once and only once. And it was so long ago that I don't quite remember what it was all about.

But I DO remember the cartoon adaptation. And, that's what we're talking about today.



Do any of you remember “My Pet Monster”? It's okay if you don't. I'll give you the 411 right now. But before I do that, I will give you one piece of trivia. Apparently, this show could be considered a “Six Degrees of Separation” kind of show, because many of the voice actors could be tied to other shows.

Sunny Besen Thrasher and Alyson Court both voiced characters on “The New Archies”.
Alyson Court, Colin Fox, and Tara Strong (then known as Tara Charendoff) would voice characters on “Beetlejuice”. (Amusingly enough, whereas Court and Strong played best friends Jill and Ami on “My Pet Monster”, they would play bitter arch-rivals Lydia Deetz and Clare Brewster on “Beetlejuice”)
And, just about the whole cast would appear on at least one episode of “Care Bears”!

Anyway, back to “My Pet Monster”.



My Pet Monster” debuted on ABC on September 12, 1987. It would later air in Canada on Global Television. The plot of the cartoon was like this. A boy named Max Smith (Sunny Besen Thrasher) brings a monster doll home with him and discovers that once he removes the handcuffs that are attached to him, the doll comes to life, becoming Monster (Jeff McGibbon), a mischief making, garbage eating, lovable ball of fluff who would do almost anything for those he loved best.

Very few people know of the fact that the monster doll is real. Max decides to keep Monster's identity a secret. Later on, Max's sister Jill (Alyson Court), and Max's best friend Chuckie (Stuart Stone) are introduced to Monster (or Monzie as Jill calls him), and they too promise to keep his identity a secret. In most cases, they hide him in plain sight just by snapping the handcuffs back on him. But sometimes they are forced to throw a disguise on Monster when the cuffs are inaccessible for whatever reason.

With good reason too, given that during the course of the thirteen episode series, Monster makes a couple of enemies along the way.



Enemy #1: Mr. Hinkle (Colin Fox), the annoying neighbour next door.

Well, okay, technically Mr. Hinkle doesn't ever meet Monster. Max, Jill, and Chuckie do too good a job hiding him.



Mr. Hinkle's dog, Princess on the other hand? Yeah, she knows of Monster's existence all too well. And, given how Monster loves to scare her at every possible opportunity, it's a wonder that poor little Princess hasn't dropped dead of a stress-related heart attack!

But then again, Princess was always considered to be more of a minor annoyance than foe.



The real enemy that Monster had to deal with was a great big purple and red monster who went by the name of “Beastur” (Dan Hennessey). Now, Beastur was a real nasty piece of work. He lived in the vast dark world of Monsterland (which we actually see in one episode after Max, Chuckie, and Monster enter through the portal after Beastur kidnaps Jill), and Beastur's main goal in the series is to capture Monster and bring him back there. But with Monster adjusting to life on Earth, he is reluctant to leave his new friends behind.

But lest you think that Beastur is a worthy opponent, think again. Beastur doesn't exactly have the largest brain out there, and almost every single one of his schemes goes completely wrong.



And then there's his weakness. Natural sunlight.

You see, one of the reasons why Beastur loves Monsterland so much is because the whole world is one big, dark, scary cave with no light. Whenever Beastur travels to Earth, he always wears gigantic black sunglasses to protect him from the sunlight.

Of course, once Max, Chuckie, and Jill discover this weakness, they waste no time in exposing his Achilles heel, often blinding Beastur back to Monsterland.

But whenever Beastur and Princess aren't in the picture, Monster has lots of fun with his friends. And, sometimes he causes unintentional problems for them both.

For instance, he accidentally ate some cookies that Jill had baked for a charity drive, so he tried to make replacement cookies with Max and Chuckie's help. Unfortunately, Monster's ingredients for the cookies made them explode after consumption, so they had to find a way to stop people from eating them.

Monster also helps Max get some self-confidence after he is humiliated by a snooty boy prior to a surfing contest.

And when Monster goes undercover to examine what life as a middle school student is all about, he ends up running for class president!

So, have I sparked your memory about “My Pet Monster” yet? No? Well, how about clicking HERE? By clicking the link, you can watch a full-length episode of the series that somebody posted on YouTube. You're welcome.


So, you see? You shouldn't be afraid of the “monster under your bed”! He just might be the best friend you have!

Friday, July 19, 2013

Character Spotlight - "Glee"'s Finn Hudson

As I eluded to in yesterday's Thursday Diary, I will be spending today's entry talking about Cory Monteith and his death at the age of 31.



Many people that I have regular contact with have expressed their shock and sadness over Cory's death. I will admit to being shocked myself. Cory Monteith was exactly one year less a week younger than I am. To see me outlive someone who supposedly had everything in life anybody could ever want is a huge shock. And while I lwjhknow that his death could have been prevented and that he shouldn't have indulged in heroin just months after he checked out of rehab, who knows what was going through his mind at the time?

I guess what I am trying to say is that I won't judge him because I don't know the guy personally. I don't know what was going on when he made the decision to do drugs in that Vancouver hotel room which inevitably ended up costing him everything. So, I won't further comment on any other speculations that may arise.

Instead, I'm going to devote this article to the joy that he brought to fans all over the world in the role that made him the most famous. I imagine that a lot of fans of “Glee” are in mourning right now, and some are probably still trying to figure out how to talk to their kids about what happened. And, as of right now, we have absolutely no idea how “Glee” plans on addressing the death of Cory Monteith. Right now, it appears as though the show is planning on killing off the character he played, but this could always change.

For now though, let's take a look at the life and times of the character that Cory played on “Glee”. Finn Hudson.

Now, I'll be the first one to admit. Aside from the odd episode, as well as the humourous parody video that the cast of “Glee” did for Madonna's “Vogue” video, I can't exactly call myself a “gleek”. By all accounts, “Glee” is a very popular show. It helped spawn interest in a high school social club long made fun of by “jocks” and “cheerleaders” through the ages. It grouped together different people from different high school social cliques for one common goal...to win the championships.

Unfortunately, it also showed us that a Slurpee from 7-Eleven could be used as a lethal weapon in the high school class wars.

And, well...it gave us the rivalry between passionate Will Schuester and snarky Sue Sylvester.

Glee” has also made a huge impact on pop culture as well. There was a reality show that premiered on Bravo that had wannabe gleeks competing against each other to land a small role in the series. It has breathed new life to songs that were once considered forgotten. And, Archie Comics had a crossover with “Glee” beginning with Archie #641 earlier this year.

Nobody knew what sort of an impact the show would have when it debuted on FOX on May 19, 2009. But the show has continued to dominate in the ratings and has made household names out of Jane Lynch, Matthew Morrison, Jayma Mays, Lea Michele, Chris Colfer, Chord Overstreet, and Darren Criss.

And, of course, the late Cory Monteith, who played the role of Finn Hudson.

Now, how Cory ended up getting the role was an interesting one because he was one of the few people to have to submit two different audition tapes. The first audition showed Monteith using pencils as drumsticks against a makeshift drum set comprised of old Tupperware containers. The video caught the attention of show creator Ryan Murphy, but he wasn't entirely satisfied because Cory wasn't singing. Given that the show was about a glee club at an American high school, Monteith had to prove that he could walk the walk, talk the talk...or in this case, sing the song.

The song he chose to sing for his second audition video was a classic R.E.O. Speedwagon song, “Can't Fight This Feeling”. That second video was enough to secure Monteith an audition in Los Angeles for the show itself. While his vocal stylings at the time were not as strong as some of the other people at the audition, producers were in awe of Monteith's portrayal of the character that would come to be known as Finn Hudson – a high school jock who appears to be incredibly dumb, but who is actually just naïve and very sweet.

Of course, the casting was considered to be a little bit controversial, as when the pilot of “Glee” finally aired, Monteith had just turned 27...just four years younger than Matthew Morrison who played Will Schuester, director of William McKinley High's “New Directions”. But luckily for many people, Cory had the looks and the personality to play young quite convincingly.

Anyway, when the show first began, Finn Hudson was the star quarterback of the football team, and he is initially one who thinks very low of the “New Directions”. But Finn also had a rather interesting secret.



Ironically enough, Finn was singing the very song that Cory Monteith sang in his audition video.

Anyway, one thing you need to know is that if you're ever singing in a school locker room, the last thing you want is to have Will Schuester present. Otherwise, he will wrangle you into joining the “New Directions” faster than you can blink your eyes. And needless to say that when Finn Hudson joined the glee club, he got a lot of ribbing from his football teammates, especially from his best friend Puck (Mark Sailing). But the longer he stayed in the club...the more he began to like it. Sure, the crowd that made up the “New Directions” were people whom he would not normally associate with, but he grew to like and respect them all...especially Rachel Berry (Lea Michele), the lead female vocalist of the “New Directions”.

Of course, the growing friendship between Finn and Rachel caused Finn's girlfriend Quinn (Dianna Agron) to grow extremely jealous. She became so jealous that she herself joined the glee club in order to spy on both Finn and Rachel. But what Finn didn't know was that Quinn had cheated on him with Puck, and gotten pregnant with Puck's child. Panicked, she told Finn the baby was his (which confused the naïve Finn as he didn't even remember making love to Quinn at all). Eventually, Rachel discovers the truth which leads to fallout between Finn, Quinn, and Puck, and Finn almost quits the glee club as a result of it. Luckily, when Finn discovers that Sue Sylvester has planned to sabotage the glee club's first performance, he comes in at the last moment and saves the performance.

Other season one highlights involve Finn finally entering into a relationship with Rachel, as well as dealing with the fact that his mother has fallen in love with the father of another “New Directions” member, Kurt Hummer (Chris Colfer). And while this ultimately leads to tension between Finn and Kurt (which escalates into Kurt being bullied), by the end of the season, Finn has apologized to Kurt, and their bond begins to grow.

But by the beginning of season two, the love story between Finn and Rachel derailed off the tracks when Rachel discovered that Finn had slept with Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera), and to get revenge, Rachel starts to chase after Puck. This leads to the first break-up between Glee's “supercouple”.



(In real life, Cory Monteith and Lea Michele also shared a romantic relationship, which up to Cory's death was still going on.)

Of course, Finn was involved in a lot of other storylines outside of his relationship with Rachel. He convinced members of the Cheerios to leave the group to join the football players and “New Directions” to perform in a halftime show at a football game, and he briefly reunites with Quinn – with terrible results.

By the end of the second season, Finn decides that he wants to be with Rachel ultimately, and he tells her that he wants her back. But with Rachel set on leaving Ohio forever to study music in New York City, Rachel is torn over what to do. It isn't until the “New Directions” go on stage for Nationals that Finn declares his love for Rachel during a duet that Finn wrote himself.



Although “Pretending” wasn't enough for the team to win Nationals, for Finn and Rachel, it was enough to reaffirm their commitment towards each other.

Throughout the next two seasons, Finn and Rachel's relationship grows, and Finn actually proposes marriage to Rachel. The couple decide to get married after the Regionals competition, but after Quinn gets involved in a car accident, the wedding is postponed indefinitely. The couple decide to get married at graduation instead, but another snag takes place when Finn (who has applied to a New York acting school) discovers his application has been rejected. Rachel, on the other hand, is accepted into her school, and she is willing to put her dream on hold just so she can be with Finn. But Finn (who was one to look out for himself and only himself at the beginning of the series) proved that he had grown up a lot over the last two years, and told Rachel that she should follow her dream, and not wait for him. So, Rachel headed off to New York to become Broadway's newest superstar, while Finn stayed behind and enlisted in the army.

That commitment to the armed forces doesn't last long as Finn is discharged after injuring himself, and he heads off to New York to surprise Rachel. But after a while, Finn discovers that New York is not the place for him, and he heads back to Ohio without informing Rachel, which leads to their second break-up in the series.

But what is interesting about Finn's return to Ohio is that he was almost instantly given a position at William McKinley High...albeit a temporary one. And what is really interesting is that the position ended up being within the same club that Finn himself was a huge part of during his high school years.

You see, Mr. Schuester was going to be out of town for a few weeks, and Finn was brought in to become the interim club director in Will's absence. And, granted, Finn's leadership wasn't exactly well-received at first. But the more comfortable he got, the more respect the glee club members showed him. And, by the end of the fourth season, Finn was contemplating going back to school to become a teacher and his relationship with Rachel was beginning to blossom once more after he saved her from engaging in a relationship with a guy in New York who was nothing but bad news.

So, as of the last season, it appeared as though everything was starting to fall into place for Finn, and that nothing would stop him.

However, the sudden death of Cory Monteith this past Saturday has thrown a little bit of a monkey wrench into the plans for season five.

It seems really unlikely now that Finn will go through to become a teacher. We'll never really know if Finn and Rachel would have found a way to finally be together forever. It's a very sad thing to think about when you consider that “Glee” will likely have no choice but to kill Cory Monteith's character off. And, it really shouldn't have ended this way at all.

Finn went from being a jock who really didn't care about anything other than playing sports, and who had very little regard for most people to being one of the stars of the “New Directions”, forging bonds of friendship with Mr. Schuester and Kurt, and finding the love of his life in Rachel Berry. He went from drifting aimlessly through life to finding a purpose. It seems almost like a cruel joke that his story has to end now.

Just as it seems almost like a cruel joke that Cory Monteith lost his life at a time when things were going so well for him.


To end this blog entry, rather than mourn his passing, and curse the effects of overdosing on drugs...I thought I would end this blog off by remembering him for what he did best.


Thursday, July 18, 2013

Why I Didn't Choose Journalism

This is a blog entry that I consider to be one of my most personal ones, because it addresses a question that many people have asked me. For the longest time, I couldn't really come up with an answer that made a lot of sense. But the more I thought about it, the more I began to realize that I had the answer all along, but couldn't quite figure out how to word it until now. And, I guess in some way, my answer was found after reports of a celebrity death began to surface from the West Coast of Canada.

July 18, 2013

As many people well know, I love to write. I try to do a little bit of writing every day so I can learn a little bit more about myself. After all, the more blogging I do, the more I learn about who I really am. It's been a great method of self-help for me because it's helped me come to terms with the painful memories of my past and it's helped me discover exactly what I need to say in order to replace that negativity with positivity. It hasn't always worked out that way, but in the instances in which it has, I'm a better person for having worked through those demons and slaying them once and for all.

And if I don't feel too dorky, I do a little Final Fantasy style victory fanfare!



Okay, enough of that.

Now, because I'm beginning to feel more comfortable with myself and my own skin, it allows me to be a little bit more open with people. And, this allows me to share more of myself than I ever thought possible...

...well, in the VERBAL sense, that is.

So, I'm going to answer a question that people keep asking me.

You see, at my workplace, a lot of people read this very blog, and they tell me that they are kind of surprised that I haven't pursued a career in the field of journalism. Some have even encouraged me to try and follow that career path because they feel as though I could excel in it.



And you know what? If I put all my cards on the table and really put forth the time and the effort to get that degree, I probably could have gone on to be the next Tom Brokaw, or Dan Rather, or a masculine version of Connie Chung, if you like.

It's not as though I haven't pondered with the idea to become a journalist before. It was the program that I initially wanted to get a post secondary degree in. I even volunteered to write and edit one of the two student-run newspapers on campus. It was something that I really felt passionate about, and although the experience didn't have the happy ending that I had envisioned, it was still a mostly positive experience, and I am glad that I did it.

So, why have I decided to not pursue the career of a journalist?

Well, I'll be honest with you. There are several reasons. And, to begin with reason number one...well, it happens to be linked to a recent event that took place this past Saturday.



Now, I'll be doing a special tribute to the character this man played on the hit television show “Glee” tomorrow, but I wanted to talk a little bit about Cory Monteith. Unless one has been living in a cave in the middle of nowhere, by now everyone has heard that the 31-year-old Canadian actor was found dead in a hotel room on the afternoon of July 13, 2013. The cause of death was a reported lethal combination of alcohol and heroin. It was revealed that Cory Monteith had a history of drug and alcohol abuse. Monteith himself admitted in an interview that he started doing drugs at the age of twelve.

I suppose the worst thing about this whole thing was that Cory Monteith died at a time in which his professional career was really beginning to take off. He was starring in a couple of movies, and “Glee” had been renewed for a fifth season. His relationship with his “Glee” co-star, Lea Michele was beginning to blossom very well, and I think that he was well on his way to having a bright future in the entertainment industry. I think that's why many people were so shocked by the news of his death. Certainly he had drug problems in the past, but it seemed as though he had it all under control. While there was a stint in rehab earlier in 2013, everyone had believed that Cory had finally kicked the habit.

While we may never know how Cory ended up dying of a drug overdose...we do know that it was a very unfortunate end to a promising career.

Of course, Cory Monteith died five days ago, yet hearing all of the media coverage that is still being reported on, you would have thought that it was still a breaking news story. The media coverage has been absolutely relentless. They want to know EVERYTHING from what Cory was doing before his death, to how Lea Michele is coping, to harassing other “Glee” stars as they arrive at airports...and you know what, enough is enough.

Cory Monteith is dead. Leave him be. Leave his family, friends, and fans to grieve his loss in their own way.



That's just one of the many reasons why I opted not to pursue a career in journalism. I understand that it is important to cover a breaking news story, and certainly the sudden death of one of the biggest stars of the television series “Glee” is one of those news stories. At the same time, I believe in letting those closest to him mourn his death in private. I would never climb over bushes to get closer to the hotel room where he died. I would be very uncomfortable getting up close and personal to his co-stars asking him if they were okay, and whether they believed that Cory had relapsed.



Truth be told, I have been a little bit disgusted with paparazzi and overly eager journalists who would do anything to get their story. Even if it means breaking laws and shattering the privacy of actors, actresses, singers, and politicians. True, many of them are in the public spotlight because they want the attention. But I think there are ways to get that attention without being a complete jerk about it. And, I'm sorry to say it but I wouldn't survive in the world of investigative journalism because I tend to get too emotionally involved in stories...which is a bit no-no given that the journalism industry tends to reward monotony and robotic movements – neither being things that I have.

I have to say that I admire those journalists who go out into the world to cover the news. At the same time, I don't see myself going out into the middle of a hurricane to cover the damage it is doing to a community. I would be scared out of my mind. Nor could I cover the aftermath of a brutal storm that has wiped entire villages off the map. I would probably find myself crying alongside those people who have lost everything. And, I would be a nervous wreck if I had to go over to a war-torn country and witness people getting shot in the middle of the streets. I guarantee you that I would be suffering the after-effects of that visual for years afterwards.

I applaud those people who have the courage to face danger in order to bring the truth to viewers...I just know that I couldn't be one of them.

I would also have a really hard time keeping my composure when it came down to interviewing someone who I could not stand. Let's just say that hypothetically speaking, I was a journalist and one of my assignments was to go to a state prison and interview somebody who has admitted to abducting and killing a dozen children. I would find it incredibly hard to keep calm, knowing what this person has done. I would not necessarily be able to hold my tongue while interviewing this person. I would more than likely tell this disgusting piece of filth what I thought of them. And, that would not be very professional from a journalistic perspective.

I honestly don't know how some journalists do it, you know? Interviewing some of the people in the world who have admitted to corruption, greed, violence, theft, and murder. I would have a really hard time even being in the same room as people like that, let alone asking them questions over why they did what they did while keeping my best poker face on. I would find it damn near impossible!

Of course, those reasons are miniscule compared to the real reason why I didn't become a journalist.

If you want to know the real reason...well, it's simple.



When I was growing up, I didn't know it at the time, but I had suffered from social anxiety. In some ways, I still have feelings of social anxiety buried deep within myself. Granted, working a current job in retail has helped me get over the social anxiety on a professional level. But socially? I still struggle.

I mean, occasionally I'll watch an episode of Entertainment Tonight Canada (and yes, Canada does have its own version, and yes, it is far superior than the American version in my own humble opinion), and I see the hosts interviewing celebrities and media figures without any problems whatsoever, and I think to myself...I would love to be able to do that myself but for whatever reason, I find myself being a complete amateur. Some people find it easy to go up to a person and just start talking to them, but I have always struggled to even say the word “hello” to them. Dealing with social anxiety is something that I would not wish on anybody. Social anxiety is one of the worst things to cope with. It certainly is a rather lonely way to live, and I have done everything in me to try and rectify that.

I think social anxiety is something that not a whole lot of people understand. I didn't quite understand it myself. I always saw it as being this freaky disorder that nobody really talked about. It's like that embarrassing uncle who gets drunk every Christmas and you find him passed out with the turkey on top of his head. You acknowledge the fact that he exists, and that his DNA is forever connected with yours, but you don't really want to admit publicly that he is a part of your family out of fear that people will judge you based on his actions, and not yours.

Well, social anxiety for me is like that drunken uncle that nobody talks about. I know that I was afraid to talk about it for the longest time because I thought that it was something to be ashamed of. I was ashamed of the fact that I had symptoms of what is known as social anxiety disorder. Why would I go and blab it out to the world? I was too afraid to approach a stranger on the street!

The thing is...I want people to know about it. I want people to understand the struggles that I endured. I want people to know that while I am getting better at coping and dealing with it, it still remains the little skeleton in my closet. One that I hope I can disassemble and donate to a high school chemistry class before it becomes too late.

If I can find a way to get rid of, or at the very least control my social anxiety...then maybe I can find the courage to try new things.


But not journalism. Maybe a talk show, but not journalism.