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Thursday, September 05, 2013

Lessons Learned - and Lessons I'd Like To Forget

I don't know what it is about September now that I am an adult, but there's a part of me that kind of feels strange not getting ready to head off to school. I know it's been several years since I've set foot inside of an educational institution, but there's a part of me that misses it.

Well...the learning aspect of it, that is. Not the social aspect. That part I could do without.

And, well...since I'm talking about learning, I thought that I would use this Thursday Diary to talk about learning. Talking about the lessons that I wished that schools taught us, as well as lessons that upon retrospect were absolutely useless to me.

And, well...for today's entry, I'll be using multiple font colours. Just think of me using one of those four-colour pens that you frequently see. You know, the ones with red, blue, green, and black ink? You'll see what I mean as you read on.

September 5, 2013

This is the very first diary entry that I am doing for the month of September, and I am very pleased with the subject that I am writing about.

I'm still trying to decide on what the future of this blog is going to be over the next few months. I'm still wondering if I should keep the pop culture element in place permanently or whether I'm going to switch it up and make this blog a more personal project. But I'm sure that one day, I'll have my answer and that I will make the transition seamlessly.

Anyway, since we're in the month of September, I wanted to do a blog entry on my learning experiences with school and school work. Specifically on the lessons that I learned that ended up being meaningless in my own life, as well as the lessons that I do wish that they taught in school.

Don't get me wrong. For the most part when it came to school work, I absolutely enjoyed most aspects of it all. I was always someone who loved learning (hence the reason why I spend so much time doing research on this blog). For the most part, my teachers did a great job educating us on the basics from reading, writing, and arithmetic to the more expert lessons, which included history, the arts, and sciences.

Well, okay...I'm embellishing my learning capabilities in science class. I would imagine that the only way I was ever going to learn anything in science class was if Bill Nye was my teacher. And, unfortunately for me, he's signed up to be on “Dancing With The Stars” this upcoming season for me to get private tutoring from him.

Opportunity missed, I suppose.

Ah well. The truth is that I'll never become an emergency room doctor, find a cure for a potentially fatal disease or discover a brand new chemical alloy which will make home building projects more affordable. For someone like me, all of those science lessons I sat through weren't very helpful. Not that I am badmouthing science by any means. I'm actually jealous of people who understand science because there's a part of me that wishes I could.

At the same time though, that learning experience helped me realize that I make a much better writer anyway. I'm still trying to find out a way that I can profit from this craft, but I'm still on the optimistic side that it will eventually happen for me.

But you know something? Sometimes we're taught things in school that for whatever reason are absolutely useless. And, sometimes there are things that we are never taught in school that I wish we were.

So, I'm going to highlight lessons that I was taught but never use in red lettering, while the green lettering will be assigned to lessons that I never learned in high school, but wish they taught us.

Ready? Okay. Class in session.



LESSON FAIL: The Pythagorean Theorem

Okay, so the only jobs that I can see this theory on triangles being even remotely useful is either A) jobs in construction which require building a lot of triangles, or B) a deli counter where you're slicing egg salad sandwiches into perfect triangles. And I'll be really honest with you, even “B” seems a little ridiculous at that. To be perfectly honest, I've been out of high school for thirteen years, and I've completely forgotten how to even explain the Pythagorean Theorem. I guess it just goes to show you just exactly how much I use it in every day life, doesn't it? But I'm sure I'm not alone. Let's take a look at a mathematics lesson that I actually could have used a lesson in.



LESSON PLAN: How to understand basic banking

And, by basic banking, I'm not talking about those worksheets you used to do in second grade math class where you had to figure out how many pennies you needed to buy a popsicle from the ice cream man. For starters, those worksheets were printed off from a textbook written in 1969 and I'm pretty sure that popsicles no longer cost twenty-seven cents.

No, I mean lessons on which savings plans to invest your money in. How to decipher interest rates. How to find the best mortgage on a home. How long it will take to pay back a student loan depending on the amount of interest that is tacked on. I know that life would have been made so much easier had we been taught these things in high school. I mean, it was fairly sad that I was in the supposed advanced class in high school for mathematics for my first two years of school, and yet we learned none of those things. Yet, we had the Pythagorean Theorem shoved down our throats. Go figure.



LESSON FAIL: Any gym class I ever took

You know what? I earned every single C-minus grade in gym class. I know it sounds like a really bizarre thing to admit to, but I was always the kid who always put out the most effort in gym class, but was never rewarded for it. It didn't matter that I worked out so hard in every gym class to the point where the shirt I was wearing actually changed colour because of the fact that I was sweating so much. The majority of my gym class teachers only chose to mark us on how well we could throw a ball, or how athletic we were. I'll be the first one to admit that I am not athletically gifted, but I would have appreciated the fact that they at least noticed how hard I was trying to hone my athleticism – or lack thereof. If anything, those gym classes made me hate physical activity even more because it seemed as though unless you had the skills to become the next Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson, or Wayne Gretzky, you were not worth their time.



LESSON PLAN: Incorporating health lessons into gym class plans

Would you like to know the one year in which I did NOT get a C-minus in gym class? Well, it happened to be in grade nine, where we took classes in health related topics for three periods in three week blocks. We learned all about nutrition, we learned about the circulatory system...and if memory serves me, we also did sex education (something that the schools started teaching in the fourth grade). And, you know what? I took those lessons seriously...a lot more seriously than my classmates. And it was because of that, I ended up getting a grade that was higher than some of the super-jocks who bragged about their athletic contributions in high school. That was very cool. Mind you, it was the ONLY time I scored a B+ in gym class, as the following year I had a teacher who only graded on athletic ability, which lead to me giving up gym class altogether.

But you know something? I think I got more out of the health lessons than I did from actually playing sports. I just wish that back when I was in school, they cared more about that stuff than trying to find the star player of the basketball team so that they could finally defeat the championship team after a seven-year-drought.



LESSON FAIL: Sitting in class while the teacher read us a book

I mean, don't get me wrong. In elementary school, whenever we had spare time before we would leave to go to the French classroom, or to the music room, I really loved story time. Sitting on the carpeted area of the classroom listening to the teacher read us the latest Robert Munsch story was a real bonding experience. Although it only lasted a few minutes, at that point in time, we all got along.

That all changed when we were in the upper grades. You see, right around this time, we all had ample time to be able to pick up a novel and read them ourselves. Some kids struggled, while others excelled. But one thing that I didn't really agree with was the fact that the teachers would often assign us a book to study (be it Winnie-The-Pooh, or Superfudge), and then proceed to read us the book instead of letting us read it ourselves. I mean, granted, I realize that budget cuts made it impossible for every child to have a book, but I always felt it was a missed opportunity for us to improve our reading skills. If you've ever questioned why standardized literacy tests are on the lower end, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason why.

Though, one thing I will say about my elementary school was the fact that we had a program called “Reading Buddies”, in which older kids would go downstairs to the primary school classes and read them stories. It worked out really well. I read them a story of my choosing, and then they would read me a book of their choice. It was an ingenious way for us older kids to give back to the school by helping the younger kids improve their reading skills. I often wonder if the program still exists. I hope it does. Otherwise, it may just as well be added to the list of missed opportunities.



LESSON PLAN: Grammar

Okay, so everyone has endured a spelling test before. I know I went through several myself. Not to brag, but when I was in the sixth grade, I received a perfect score on nearly every single test. In fact, I actually challenged the teacher once in sixth grade for giving me a score of 99/100 because while she claimed I spelled a word wrong, I really didn't. I just chose the wrong homonym, and wrote something like further instead of farther. I argued that I still spelled it correctly, but she wasn't budging.

Whatever. I still had 99%.

Now, here's the million dollar question. How many of you ever had a “grammar dictation”. Not many of you, I bet. I'm the kind of guy who believes that the ability to read and write is so important and I am definitely an advocate in making sure that everybody has the ability to read and write. And, as far as I am concerned that includes grammar.

I get that spelling is important (unless you have the distinction of being born in the Twitter generation where brevity is the soul of meaningful conversation – apparently). But grammar is just as important as far as I am concerned. I actually have to admit that I chuckle at those people who post those your/you're posts.  Not that I'm a Grammar Nazi or anything like that.

What isn't a laughing matter is the fact that schools simply never taught the importance of grammar. I know this because my school didn't begin teaching us grammar until...get this...EIGHTH GRADE. All the kids in my class thought it was the most boring subject to learn about. I, on the other hand, was grateful for the experience. Mind you, a lot of the concepts of grammar I learned on my own, but there were some instances in which I would often find myself questioning whether or not what I wanted to say was written correctly. Those lessons on grammar were absolutely beneficial to me. I feel that they helped me become a better writer and a better communicator. It saddens me that so little emphasis is spent on teaching grammar.

As for punctuation...well, I won't boast. Punctuation still trips me up.


So, that's just a partial list. What are some lessons that you wish you were taught in school? And which lessons would you like to forget?

Wednesday, September 04, 2013

My Question To All Of You

This has been a really wacky week. In one week alone, I have had trust issues, questioned everything that I ever really believed in, and nearly got run over by a gigantic truck crossing the street.

Believe me, that last part is true. I'm still kind of shaken up over coming this close to getting run over. Give how everybody in town has been shocked at the number of fatalities that we have had this week on the road, I think my feelings are totally understandable.

Anyway, we're not here to talk about near death experiences (at least not this time around). We're here to talk about requests.

And, well...for this week, I'm changing it up.

Normally on Wednesdays, I turn over control to all of you and I let you tell me what you want to see featured on this blog. For the last few months, it has kind of been a bit of a gift from me to you. And, don't get me wrong, I have been extremely appreciative of every single request that I have gotten. Seriously, some of my better blog entries have come about because of suggestions that I have gotten from each and every one of you, and I cannot show my gratitude enough.

But you know...there's been something on my mind lately, and I've been very afraid to state what that is because I know that by confessing this, I may have to rethink how I present this blog from this point on. At the same time, I've come to the conclusion that a lot of the reason why I am the way I am is because I fear making positive changes for myself because I worry that it will eventually be taken away.

(I know...irrational fears are the worst. I need to work on eliminating them from my diet.)

I guess what I'm trying to say is that in this blog entry, I'm the one who will be making the request. And, my request will come in the form of a question.

I suppose that you could consider this the “Jeopardy” Daily Double blog.

You know, over the last couple of years, I've been keeping this blog mostly pop culture themed. And there is a reason why I have done exactly this.

It's because a lot of my life has been surrounded by pop culture, not necessarily as a choice, but as a bit of a survival mechanism of sorts. My home life was all right, but there were some moments that could be considered tumultuous. My ability to deal with kids my age was hindered by the fact that I didn't grow up around people my own age. And by the time I was surrounded by people my own age (a.k.a. School), I didn't know how to approach them or be friends with them. I guess in a lot of cases, I was spoiled as a child in that some of my best friends when I was three were all adults over the age of twenty-five. Every single one of those people always treated me with respect so I didn't really have to worry about them hurting my feelings.

Let's just say that a kindergarten classroom filled with five and six year old children who lack the maturity to play nice all the time was a real eye-opener.

In spite of all this however, there was always one constant in my life. One constant that helped me get through the pain that I was feeling at that time.

Pop culture.

When I was a kid I was always glued to the television, or I was playing make believe games with the toys that I played with as a kid, or I would grab a stack of paper and a handful of crayons and draw my own comic books, or I would always walk down to the convenience store around the corner to rent a video game for the evening and take out my frustrations on Goombas and Koopa Troopas in Super Mario Brothers 3.

And, I think it's safe to say that my obsession with pop culture has followed me well into adulthood. I have so many books and reference materials on pop culture. The Internet Movie Database is one of my favourite websites to visit at any given time. And given that I work in an electronics department, I'm almost always able to find a video game, compact disc, or DVD for a person (or at the very least, I have heard of the movie title or music artist to help steer the customer on the right track as to where they CAN find the items).

On the flipside, I do run into the odd person who seems to be taken aback by the fact that I do immerse myself so much into the world of pop culture. In fact, I have actually had some people jokingly make comments about needing to get out more, or that I need to get a better hobby, or that I watch too much television. Well, you know what? Maybe I do. What business is it of theirs whether I do or whether I don't?

In fact, I feel like doing a little bit of a mission statement here to those who have the audacity to make such claims.

In your opinion, I watch too much television. But did it ever occur to you that the television (as well as the video games I played, the books I read, and the toys I played with) kept me from losing my mind completely when it came to the stuff that I had to go through – stuff that I wouldn't wish on anybody else. So, don't criticize the fact that I have an addiction to pop culture by making jokes at my expense. It is insulting, and the next time I hear a comment about that in a negative sense, I will be letting you know.

Sigh. What was I talking about again? Oh yeah. My request.

Over the last two years, I've written over eight hundred blog posts. And, of those eight hundred blog posts, about seven hundred and ninety-nine of them have been pop culture related.

When I was first doing this blog, I was having a lot of fun choosing topics. I had a lot of creativity and I was coming up with topics that were diverse, yet easy to talk about. Some of them were received very well, while others were ignored. But you know, that's just a part of life. Some generations might prefer “The Brady Bunch” over “The Simpsons”, clearly because of the generation gap between those two shows. And, that's cool. I try to make this blog appealing to all ages.

(Which is why I rarely ever swear in this blog, or give a disclaimer whenever I do have a video clip that contains swearing.)

But lately, I've been finding that writing pop culture themed blogs have been incredibly hard work. Mind you, I've been doing this blog for two years straight, so maybe a part of that comes from the fact that I have been doing the same kind of blog post day after day. But this last month or so, I've been taking a long time to even get one blog post done, whereas beforehand it would only take me a couple of hours.

At first I was thinking that it had to do with the fact that this past summer has not gone exactly how I thought it would, and that I have had some personal issues to deal with. But now that all of those things have been resolved, I'm still feeling the same way.

Lately, I find that it's much easier to write about my thoughts and feelings about certain things, rather than have a spotlight on a toy, or a feature on a television show. As much as it might make me sound as if I am searching for some form of self-gratification, or tooting my own horn, so to speak, I find that by talking about things that are bothering me, and talking about things that are on my mind at any given time, it makes me feel better. It gives me clarity. It makes me realize that I can still hold onto the possibility of great things eventually happening for me.

And, that's why...that's why I'm considering making a huge change to the blog.

I'm considering cutting down on the pop culture aspect of this blog and bringing more of myself into it, no matter how manic or how poorly, or how confused I am feeling at any given day.

It's not as though I will be able to completely change the focus of this blog completely. I could never truly sever my ties to pop culture, and I will tell you that I'll still be featuring a Tuesday Timeline, and that this blog will still have lots of music videos scattered through it.

But I think it's about time that I make this blogging project more of a discovery of self, rather than just an information dump on pop culture.

And the possibility of that scares me.

I was reluctant to talk about myself when I first began this project. Seriously, have a look at some of the entries I wrote back in 2011. They're kind of cold, sterile, and lack focus. Of course, we all tend to be our own worst critics, and look back on some of our older works and criticize them because we've honed and developed our craft since then. But for me it wasn't so much of a style thing as much of a personal thing.

Truth is, I didn't think my life was interesting enough to talk about every day. I've never been outside of North America. I've never gone bungee jumping. I've never gone scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef. I've never been married, never had children, never taken a real vacation. All I ever really have had in my life when I started this blog was home and work – and let's be honest. Neither environment has provided me with much satisfaction.

But I'm simultaneously thinking that if I do reveal more of myself on this blog, it might make things much clearer. I could have one of those a-ha moments right here on this blog that might motivate me to make more positive changes for myself...or at the very least, help me come to the understanding that I owe it to myself to make these changes for my own self-preservation.

But you know. This is just what I'm thinking. In order for me to make a decision, I need your input.

Should I cut back on the pop culture content? Give it up entirely? Or are you happy with the way things are?


I'm serious. I need to know what you want to see. It will weigh heavily on the future of this blog.

Tuesday, September 03, 2013

September 3, 1970

There's not much to say today. It's Tuesday, September 3, and that means another Tuesday Timeline. So let's just get on with it.

Here are some of the events that have taken place on this date in history, beginning with...

1666 – The Royal Exchange is burned to the ground during the Great London Fire

1777 – The United States flag is flown for the first time in battle during the American Revolutionary War at the Battle of Cooch's Bridge

1783 – The American Revolutionary War ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris by the United States and Great Britain

1802 – William Wordsworth composes the sonnet “Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802”

1838 – Future abolitionist Fredrick Douglass escapes slavery

1875 – Introduced by British ranchers, the first game of polo is played in the country of Argentina

1914 – William, Prince of Albania leaves the country after just half a year after his rule is met with much opposition

1925 – USS Shenandoah is destroyed in a squall line over Noble County, Ohio, killing fourteen of the forty-two crew members on board

1935 – Sir Malcolm Campbell becomes the first person to drive a car at a speed of over three hundred miles per hour

1939 – The United Kingdom, France, Australia, and New Zealand declare war on Germany, which intensifies World War II

1944 – Anne Frank and her family are placed on the last transport train from the Westerbork transit camp to Auschwitz concentration camp

1951 – The daytime drama “Search for Tomorrow” debuts on CBS, and runs for thirty-five years

1971 – Qatar becomes an independent state

1985 – Songwriter Johnny Marks – known for composing some Christmas classics – dies at the age of 75

1987 – Burundi President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza is deposed by Major Pierre Buyoya in a coup d'etat

1991 – Director Frank Capra passes away in La Quinta, California, at the age of 94

2001 – Actress Thuy Trang – best known as the original Yellow Power Ranger – is killed in a motor vehicle accident at the age of 27

2004 – The Beslan school hostage crisis ends – 300 are killed, with more than half the victims children

2012 – Actor Michael Clarke Duncan dies of a heart attack at the age of 54

September 3 is also known for its bevy of celebrity birthdays. Celebrating a birthday today are Al Jardine, Valerie Perrine, George Biondo (Steppenwolf), Steve Schirripa, Costas Mandylor, Spike Feresten, Thomas Mikal Ford, Holt McCallany, Nigel Rhodes, Charlie Sheen, Noah Baumbach, John Fugelsang, Trevor St. John, Christine Boudrias, Jennifer Paige, Damon Stoudamire, Redfoo, Ashley Jones, Tiffany Chapman, B.G., Jennie Finch, Fearne Cotton, and Chris Fountain.

So, what date in history will we be visiting today?



How does September 3, 1970 sound? Good?

Okay, so what happened on this date forty-three years ago? Well, I imagine that all three of the big networks were putting the finishing touches on their 1970/1971 television schedules, and that the World Series was in full swing, and school was back in session.

However, for one musical group, September 3, 1970 was the beginning of the end.

The band certainly had a good run on the charts. For twelve years, the band dominated the charts in both their native UK and across the pond in the United States. They became known as one of the bands that were a part of the 1960s “British Invasion”, joining the ranks of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Herman's Hermits, and The Who, and during their tenure together released fifteen albums, and seventy-five singles.

Of those seventy-five singles, thirty-six were released in the United States, and of those thirty-six, seventeen peaked within the Top 40. One single even reached #1 on the Billboard charts.

But as it so happens, the reason why the band called it quits in the early 1970s was because it seemed as though the band's well of creativity dried up. The band stopped having substantial hits after the late 1960s, and while other bands adapted their music to join the psychadelic movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, this band stuck to their guns, and were kind of ignored in the music scene as a result of it.

This eventually lead to the band's announcement that they were breaking up on September 3, 1970. Mind you, some of the members tried to form a brand new band with a combination of old and new members, but this line-up only lasted until 1973.

The funny thing is that both of these bands were named after the same person. The 1970 project that emerged after the dissolution of the original band was named “Dave Clark & Friends”.



Of course, most of you probably remember the band's original name...The Dave Clark Five. And, that's who we're going to be focusing our Tuesday Timeline on today.

You know, in the world of pop music – specifically British pop music – there has never been a shortage of similar groups competing against each other in the quest to be the #1 band on the top of the charts. In the 1980s, you had Duran Duran taking on Wham! In the 1990s, you had Take That, 5ive, and Boyzone duking it out on the UK Charts. And currently there seems to be a battle royale between One Direction and The Wanted over how many lockers of teenage girls their posters will appear in.

Well, in the 1960s, The Dave Clark Five were kind of an upset in the British music scene. Prior to their arrival, The Beatles had dominated the pop music scene for two whole years, having a lot of hit singles between 1962 and 1964. But when The Dave Clark Five arrived on the scene with the song below, they actually kicked The Beatles off the top of the UK Charts!



ARTIST: The Dave Clark Five
SONG: Glad All Over
ALBUM: N/A (was a single release)
DATE RELEASED: November 1963
PEAK POSITION ON THE UK CHARTS: #1

TRIVIA: In the United States, the single peaked at #6.

And to think that the band actually started off as a quartet!



Now, I'm sure that most of you know the classic line-up of The Dave Clark Five. But, for those of you who don't, here it is.

Dave Clark – drums
Mike Smith – lead vocals, keyboards
Lenny Davidson – lead guitar
Rick Huxley – bass guitar
Denis Payton – saxophones, harmonica, guitar

Yes, you are reading this correctly. The band was in fact named after the drummer. But I suppose there was one good reason behind it. Dave Clark was the founding and original member of the band. The other four members didn't join the band until after the other members left while the band was still under the more demure name of “The Dave Clark Quintet”!

The band was founded in 1957, and by 1962, the band's most well-known line-up was in place.

Originating from North London, the band quickly became one of the top bands in the UK during the 1960s, and they actually surpassed their closest rivals, The Beatles, in a couple of aspects.

Firstly, the band was the first out of all of the bands of The British Invasion to tour the United States. And the reception that the band received in the United States was incredible. Every single one of their shows played to sell-out crowds!

And, back in the 1960s, the place to go to promote your music was The Ed Sullivan Show. And certainly all of the bands of the British Invasion got the chance to play their music on the show at least once.

Well, let's just say that the relationship between Ed Sullivan and The Dave Clark Five must have been very special. The Dave Clark Five appeared on the show a grand total of eighteen times – more than any other band that was a part of the British Invasion!

And, as mentioned before, the band scored seventeen Top 40 hits in the United States. And the song below reached #1 in 1965!



(Wow...I completely forgot how much I actually enjoy The Dave Clark Five!)

Oh, yeah...like most bands of the British Invasion, their career wouldn't be complete without releasing a motion picture of some sort. In which case, the movie for The Dave Clark Five was “Catch Us If You Can”.



(Or, in the United States, it was entitled “Having a Wild Weekend”.)

But, all good things do come to an end, and the band announced their split on September 3, 1970. However, for Dave Clark, he managed to turn an ending into a new beginning.

Granted, his second attempt at a band didn't do as well as the first. But Clark successfully set up his own media company, as well as buying the rights to the 1960s pop series “Ready Steady Go!”, as well as being credited with being a co-writer of “TIME – The Musical”.

On the flipside, Dave Clark held all the rights to the band's music, which was a point of contention for Dave Clark Five fans, as Dave Clark practically banned the music from being purchased in any commercial format for close to two decades. The ban was finally lifted in 1993, and you can now purchase most of their songs on iTunes.

Sadly, of the five members of The Dave Clark Five, only two survive – Clark and Lenny Davidson. Denis Payton succumbed to cancer in December 2006, Mike Smith died in February 2008 following a spinal cord injury, and after a battle with emphysema, Rick Huxley died in February 2013.




But the memories of the music they shared will always remain, forty-three years after their break-up. Their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2008 is proof of that.

Monday, September 02, 2013

School of Rock

First things first, I want to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very happy Labour Day. Whether you're spending the day actually doing labour or just relaxing by the pool on what marks the unofficial end of summer, I hope you spend at least part of the day enjoying yourself and doing what you want to do.

Because, let's face it. For some of us, school begins tomorrow. And that can be a point of crisis for some of you reading this.

I know that as far as I was concerned, I dreaded the very first day of school. I don't really need to go into too much detail as to why, but I will say this. The factor behind whether or not a school year would be good or a disaster depended squarely on the teacher who we had that year.

And believe me, I've had some teachers that have been real “winners”, so to speak.

When it comes to what I consider a great teacher, I think back on the great teachers that I have had over the years. A good teacher finds a way to make learning fun. A good teacher finds a way to teach his or her students both inside and outside of the classroom. As far as I am concerned, a good teacher is someone who helps a child develop their strengths and to help them understand and improve their weaknesses so that they can gain more self-confidence about themselves and become well-rounded adults.

On the flipside, a teacher should NOT belittle a student, embarrass a student, isolate a student for something they can't change, or treat a student as if they are their own personal pet project, pledging to change everything about them when nothing is wrong with them.

I've had exactly three teachers in my lifetime who have done all of those things, and they certainly tried to break me. Guess what. You didn't.

You know, I'm almost kind of relieved that I am no longer a student in high school. Being in high school in the year 2013 must be a very different experience than being a high school student in 1998. Back when I was in high school, one in about one hundred students owned a cell phone. This day and age, it seems like nine out of every ten students are glued to their Blackberry devices or iPhones. I honestly don't know if I would survive being in high school in the current time period. I had a hard enough time surviving high school when I was actually a high school student, and I graduated thirteen years ago!

And, you know...judging by some of the videos that people have posted on YouTube and other social media sites, it's hard not to develop a negative attitude about high school if all you're seeing are videos of students getting into fist fights in school hallways, teachers engaging in inappropriate behaviour with students behind closed doors, and students and teachers simply not caring or having the desire to learn anything. In my experience, I have seen some of my classmates coasting through school by copying off other people's homework, and doing as little work as possible, and still get passed through to the next grade because the teacher didn't want to put forth the effort to teach them.

To me, that's ridiculous. Of course, on the flipside, I also find it equally wrong to hold back a person because of personal issues that had nothing to do with their schoolwork. I knew a couple of people who were forced to repeat a grade when in all honesty, I didn't feel that they needed to.

In fact, I have a confession for you. I've talked about my evil first grade teacher on this site before, but did you know that if she had her way, I would have repeated the first grade? She insisted that I wasn't grasping basic first grade concepts even though I could read and write at a higher grade level than first grade. She was just going to do that because I wasn't exactly a child who always sat still and obeyed the teacher (which to be fair, almost everyone in my class was guilty of it – I was just the only one who got caught). Her crusade to hold me back in the first grade was strictly personal. Of course, the school did not side with her and ordered her to pass me into the second grade. But still, knowing that she tried to do that...is it any wonder why I have very little respect for her?

Now, you compare that with my sixth grade teacher who was warm, compassionate, kind, and who really made learning a lot of fun. Mind you, it wasn't entirely perfect. I did get into trouble in that class on more than one occasion. But rather than chastise me openly in front of the class, or threaten to keep me from entering the seventh grade, she worked with me, and actually helped me find a better way to control my feelings and come to terms with trying to overcome the bad things and focus on the good. It didn't necessarily always work out that way, but at the same time, I appreciate the fact that she did reach out to me and tried to help me deal with conflict resolution in a positive manner.

So for me, Grade 6 teacher = good. Grade 1 teacher = Satan. That's not too harsh, is it?

This week's Monday Matinee deals with a man who becomes the most unlikely educator in the entire world. When he is first hired to teach at a school, he's lazy, unmotivated, and completely out of his depth when it comes to educating his students. But as time passes, he begins to mature a little bit, and he starts to use the lessons that he learns from his students and applies them to his own messed-up life. By the end of it all, he will have learned so much about himself that he will have the tools necessary to make the positive changes in his own life, while teaching his students some lessons that he never believed he could before.


I have a hard time believing that this film is ten years old, but believe it or not, “School of Rock” was released on October 3, 2003. The screenplay was written by Mike White, the star of the movie was Jack Black, and the director was Richard Linklater (though it would have been cool if his last name was 'Brown' to keep the colour theme going).

The film also marks one of the first appearances on screen for actress Miranda Cosgrove, who would later go on to star in the series iCarly, and the Despicable Me movie series.

This film certainly did very well at the box office. It made over one hundred and thirty million dollars worldwide, it scored Jack Black a Golden Globe nomination in 2004, and on the film review website Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 92% Fresh rating (which is extremely good). And, I will also state that this movie probably has one of the best motion picture soundtracks of any film released since 2000. With songs from The Clash, The Doors, The Who, AC/DC, Stevie Nicks, The Velvet Underground, T. Rex, David Bowie, and Led Zeppelin having their music featured in the film, it was definitely a soundtrack that appealed to all ages.

Oh yeah. Jack Black also quotes Whitney Houston's “Greatest Love of All” in the film as well. Not exactly what I would call a rock song, but it's a nice touch.

Okay, so I suppose that you want to know a little bit about the plot of the film. I will reveal a little bit of it to you, but since I never reveal endings to films featured in this space, I can't go into too much detail. But here's what I can tell you.




When we first meet the character of Dewey Finn (Black), he is the guitarist/singer of the rock band “No Vacancy”. It is a job that Dewey absolutely loves to do, and he thinks that there is nothing else in the world that he can do.

Unfortnately, Dewey's skills as a guitarist are marred by the fact that he's a bit of a show-off on stage. His arrogance, over-confidence, and desire to be the star has really turned off the other members of “No Vacancy”, and after a disaster-filled performance at a nightclub, the majority of the members of “No Vacancy” vote to kick Dewey out of the band, replacing him with a new member, Spider (Lucas Babin). Dejected, Dewey is forced to consider other options, even though the last thing he wants to do is walk away from music. To compound the problem, Dewey is sharing an apartment with his submissive pal Ned Schneebly (Mike White), and his overbearing, obnoxious girlfriend Patty (Sarah Silverman), who gives Dewey an ultimatum. Get a real job or get out of the apartment.

So Dewey has lost his job in the band, and could possibly lose his home too. Things were getting desperate, and Dewey needed a miracle.

So when Dewey takes a phone call intended for Ned in which the principal of an prepatory elementary school (Joan Cusack) is desperate for Ned to fill in for a fifth grade class as a substitute teacher, Dewey decides to impersonate Ned and take on the job as a way to save himself from getting evicted from the Big Brother House apartment.



So, Dewey arrives at Horace Green Prep, taking on the role of Ned Schneebly, in an effort to teach a fifth grade class. Only he has no experience with teaching, which certainly is made woefully apparent when he can't even remember how to spell his own friend's last name. So, to the students he is teaching, he is simply known as Mr. S.

And what lessons does Mr. S. teach the students at first? Well, nothing, really. He lets the class have recess whenever they want, he teaches the class lectures which are boring and de-motivational, and basically lets them do whatever they want. Clearly, Dewey is in way over his head.

Or, is he?

As it so happens, there is one thing that the class that he is teaching has in common with him. They both appreciate a good jam session.

Turns out that the class is completely made up of musical prodigies and geniuses, and Dewey plans on using this to his advantage. He tells the class that he has a special assignment for them to complete during his tenure as their teacher. He plans on teaching them all about the joys of music by having them play a variety of classic rock songs, and his hope is that he can make the children develop their own talents and become better students. In secret though, Dewey plans on using the students to enter a “Battle of the Bands” contest. His former band is competing in the contest, and he is determined to best them at the contest to not only win the twenty thousand dollar prize, but to rub his victory in their faces, showing them that they made a mistake in cutting him loose.

Yeah...doesn't exactly sound like the best role model for a teacher, does it?

But here's the thing. As Dewey's little white lie grows into a gigantic whopper (and by whopper, I don't mean the burger where if you hold the pickles and the lettuce, that special order won't upset them), Dewey begins to have a change of heart over how he feels about the students. Okay, so his original intentions weren't the best...but as he immerses himself into his job, he finds himself caring for each and every student in his class, and somehow, winning the money becomes not as important as helping his students appreciate a love for music. Even the school principal seems impressed by Dewey's teaching and forms a bit of a friendship with him. And all the kids start respecting Dewey as well, with each one becoming engaged by his lessons, his stories, and his unique approach to education. The truth is that Dewey has found that he enjoys teaching the kids, and he is beginning to see that maybe there could be a potential career option for him after all.

But like every single lie that is told, they can blow up in a person's face like a big giant balloon that is punctured with a thumbtack. And when the thumbtack came in the form of Dewey's nemesis, Patty and the whole charade is unraveled right in front of Dewey's eyes, Dewey is left feeling ashamed and incredibly destroyed.

But let's just say that when it comes to the impact that Dewey has had on the students of the school that he taught at for several weeks...well, fate has a funny way of working out. And Dewey learns that sometimes the students can be the teachers, and that he will learn the value of the golden rule.

And, I think this is the time of the blog entry where we talk about some behind the scenes trivia.



01 – Fans of “The Amazing Race” may recognize Mike White. He and his father competed on a couple of seasons of the show!

02 – In the scene where Jack Black was to dive off the stage to be caught by the crowd, stuntmen were on standby to assist – just in case he needed it.

03 – Jack Black was a huge fan of classic rock. Mike White couldn't stand it.

04 – If you look closely at all of the cars that the parents of the children drive, you may notice that they are all Volvos!

05 – The film's plot was inspired by Mike White having Jack Black as a neighbour in the same apartment building. According to White, he often saw Black running through the halls naked, and heard loud music blasting from his apartment. How Jack and Mike became friends seems to be a mystery, doesn't it?

06 – Led Zeppelin was notorious for refusing to let movie makers use their music for their soundtracks...but when the producers sent them a creative video asking for their permission, they relented.

07 – Jack Black plays a Gibson SG Standard Guitar in the movie.

08 – Although the kids in the class were all supposed to be the same age, there was a five year gap between Kevin Alexander Clark (b. 1988) and Miranda Cosgrove (b. 1993).

09 – Miranda Cosgrove actually has a decent singing voice (she released an album in 2011). But would you believe that she actually took a class to learn how to sing BADLY for the film? It's all true!

10 – This film was originally slated to be a musical.

11 – The nicknames that Dewey calls his students were created by Jack Black himself.

12 – The movie poster for the film is deliberately styled in the same format as the cover of a standard “Rolling Stone” magazine.

And, that's our feature on “School of Rock”. But before I end this blog off, I want to say one final thing.

I cannot play a musical instrument to save my life, and it's something that I kind of regret not pursuing. I have absolute mad respect for people who can play music. When I was doing some fundrasing for the Relay for Life, I had the pleasure of listening to some live music from a band who was asked to perform at the yard sale we had at our store to raise money for the cause. The band was made up of teenagers who were playing at our yard sale for free in exchange for volunteer hours. They were very talented, and I was happy to see them doing something they loved to do. The joy on their faces was priceless, and I'll always remember them.

Tragically, one of the members of that very band was killed yesterday by a drunk driver. And even though I didn't really get the opportunity to talk with him the day that he performed, I knew that he was giving people a real gift. And anyone who was at that yard sale that day could consider themselves lucky that they had the opportunity to experience that gift.

So, I want to dedicate this blog entry in this boy's honour.


Rest in peace, Aaron.  

Sunday, September 01, 2013

September

Hello, everybody, and welcome to the first day of September!



And you know something? I'm very optimistic about this month. The August of hell is finally over!

I'll tell you something. Maybe it's the fact that the humidity of August is getting to me, or maybe it's because the kids out of school were making me spend half my salary on extra strength Advil all summer long, or maybe it's because I've had a rough month. Whatever the reason, I'm welcoming the month of September in with open arms.

September is the time of year in which schools let back in, when temperatures cool down, when leaves start changing colour, and when you can finally start putting on layers instead of having to take stuff off. And, since we're kicking off the ninth month of the year, I thought that I would make the Sunday Jukebox entry September themed.

Today's song is all about the month of September, and you know something? I'm just going to go ahead with it and post the video.



ARTIST: Earth, Wind & Fire
SONG: September
ALBUM: The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1
DATE RELEASED: November 18, 1978
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #8

Doesn't that song just make you want to strap on your roller skates and go zooming around the roller disco, bathing you in simulated laser beams, mirror balls, and ever-changing coloured beams of magenta, cyan, and yellow strobe lights?

Well, okay, I missed out on the roller-disco era of the late 1970s. Whatever the case, it's a September song for all of you, courtesy of the band Earth, Wind & Fire.

I'll be the first one to admit that I've never really been a big fan of disco music. I mean, sure, I have the odd single by the Bee Gees and ABBA (yes, ABBA) programmed into my iPod, but I would hardly consider myself to be the kind of guy who would suit up in a pristine white leisure suit staying alive on a multi-coloured dance floor.

But you know, there was something special about Earth, Wind & Fire. There was just something about them that made your feet tap, and your body move to the music as you ventured towards a “Boogie Wonderland” to become the ultimate “Shining Star”, long “After The Love Has Gone”.

Ahem...sorry. I got a little bit carried away there.



Anyway, would you like to learn more about the band before we talk about the song that happens to be a celebration of September?

Okay, so it's fairly impossible to name off every single member that has been a part of the band Earth, Wind & Fire over the past forty-four years. Since the band was founded in Chicago in 1969 by Maurice White, there have been a total of FIFTY-FIVE band members that have come and gone. As of 2013, there are currently fourteen people affiliated with the band. They are...

Maurice White
Verdine White
Philip Bailey
Ralph Johnson
Reggie Young
Gary Bias
B. David Whitworth
Myron McKinley
John Paris
Bobby Burns Jr.
Greg “G-Mo” Moore
Kim Johnson
Morris O'Connor
Philip Bailey Jr.

Now, the accomplishments and accolades that Earth, Wind & Fire have accumulated over the years has been nothing short of astonishing.

(Alliteration. Gotta love it.)

Just have a listen to some of the statistics related to the band.

Would you believe that the band has been nominated for a total of twenty Grammy Awards? It's true. As a band, Earth, Wind & Fire won six Grammy Awards, while Philip Bailey and Maurice White each have won one award as solo artists.

The band also collected four American Music Awards out of a dozen nominations. They received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the early 1990s. And when they received an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the year 2000, they were greeted with a standing ovation. At the 2000 ceremony, original Earth, Wind & Fire members Maurice White, Philip Bailey, Verdine White, Ralph Johnson, Al McKay, Larry Dunn, Andrew Woofolk, Fred White, and Johnny Graham attended the gala, and they wowed the crowd with a rousing performance – the first time that the original line-up of the band had played together since 1980. Now, there were talks after the ceremony of the entire band reuniting to tour and possibly release new material, but for whatever reason, the 2000 Hall of Fame performance would be the last time they would play together. Of course, Earth, Wind & Fire continued touring with a mix of old and new members (including Philip Bailey's own son), and although their last Top 10 hit single was 1981's “Let's Groove Tonight”, the band is still touring and releasing music (their latest single being 2013's “My Promise”, which was a Top 30 Adult Contemporary hit).



But we're not going to talk about the present. Let's talk about the past. Like, the twenty-first night of September that the band kept singing about despite the fact that the single was actually released in mid-November.

This single peaked at #8 on the Billboard Charts. However, the single also hit the top of the R&B charts. And, in the United Kingdom, it peaked at #3. “September” was certified a gold single, not once, but twice! Not only was it certified gold in record sales, but in digital downloads as well.

(And, just for the record, I am one of the millions who has downloaded “September” onto their iPod.)

I mean, just listen to the lyrics. They're lyrics that are filled with happiness, joy, love, and soul. And, admittedly a lot of ba dudu, ba dudu's, but those words aren't important.

Now, the song itself is a love song of epic proportions, filled with lots of images of stars shining in the sky, and how the clouds stayed away to let the sunshine in when the daylight poked through, and how you danced the day and night away with the person you love the most? It's a rich tapestry of retrospect and passion all blended into a cornucopia of beauty and light.

(And, that sounded a little bit too New Agey for me. I apologize...but not too much because I kind of like how that description flowed.)

The point is that the song is filled with lots of positive imagery, and at the risk of sounding like one of those teeny-boppers on the set of “American Bandstand”, I'll say that the record has a nice beat and you can dance to it. It was one of the most memorable songs of the 1970s and I think the song itself takes people back to a simpler time. It takes us back to the days before mobile phones turned people into walking zombies and before seven-year-old boys started playing “Call of Duty” to a simpler time when love was all we really had to go on, and when the world was generally a happier place.

I kind of think that I was born in the wrong decade at times. Oh, to be a thirty-something thirty years ago. That would have been so much fun.

So, anyway...that's our brief look back on “September”. And, did you know that “September” is featured in a number of pop culture references?

Al Gore used the song in his 2000 US Presidential campaign.
A Japanese dramatic series which aired in 2002 actually used this song as part of its opening credits!
Crystal Waters sampled this song in her 1997 single “Say...If It Feels Alright”.
The song can be heard on the video games Dance Dance Revolution Universe and Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore.

And that's not counting the cover versions of the song performed by Kirk Franklin, Australian group Past to Present, Sisqo and Vitamin C, and Asako Toki.

How's that for a September song?


Happy September, everyone! I'm hoping that it's good to me. Not like that awful, awful August. 

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Finders Keepers

Okay, so I have a confession to make before we go ahead with this week's edition of the Saturday Smorgasbord, as well as the final day of August 2013. My god, it's been a long month. Thank goodness it is finally over.

Okay, here's my confession. I am a slob.

Don't misunderstand me though. I am not what I would consider to be one of those people you might see featured on an episode of “Hoarders”. I do not have piles of decomposing produce or jugs of bodily fluids covering my floor, nor do I have so much stuff in my place that it is considered to be a safety hazard. But I will say that as far back as I can remember, I've always been kind of a messy person. Even as I look around at my desk, it's absolutely covered with random things. I have documents that I just printed off from my computer, I have several books spread out. I think somewhere underneath all of the clutter, I have my iPod charging and adding the songs that I just purchased onto it. And, as far as writing implements go, I never need worry about finding one because I have literally sixty different coloured gel pens scattered all over my desk.

Now, some people might read that very description and cringe in terror over it. How in the world could I ever be able to work under conditions like that? How could I even find anything at my desk, let alone in my entire living space?

Well, I guess it's because it's what I have grown up with and am absolutely used to. And I think a part of it comes from the fact that I have never been a homeowner, and thus have never had a place that I can truly call my own. I mean, granted, I wasn't the person who purposely smashed holes in the walls, or painted my room some obscene colour like chartreuse, burnt orange, or blood red. But I guess I had the attitude that because it wasn't really our place, I could be as messy as I wanted.

(Keeping in mind that this is coming from the mindset of someone who was seven years old and whose idols included four gigantic turtles who scarfed down pizza and fought battles against a warthog, a rhinoceros, and a talking brain.)

Of course, my mind has matured over those years, and I no longer have that opinion. Yet, somehow the messy gremlins that I blamed for making my room untidy have followed me into adulthood. I guess it's just one of those hard habits to break. Maybe one day when I actually have a place that is truly mine and can do with whatever I wish with, I'll find it within myself to implant the Danny Tanner cleaning gene inside of me and keep my home so immaculate you could find photos of it within a home decorating magazine.

Or, at the very least, I'd be happy if I could take pictures of it and post them on Facebook.

But you know something? I always seem to find myself feeling more comfortable when things are somewhat in disarray. I am certainly not one of those people who have to have everything in its own place, and who flips out if even the slightest thing gets moved (though if you are, that's perfectly okay too). I actually feel really uncomfortable if I am in someone's house and it looks like a furniture showroom at The Brick. I would be the one to purposely take a cup of coffee and spill it over the couch cushions so that it would look more lived in!

I know. It sounds strange, right? But when you consider that this is the way that I grew up...getting used to rooms with a little bit of clutter here and there, it may make my argument much clearer.

And, I'll admit that in a lot of cases, the clutter doesn't prevent me from finding things. Even though my teenage bedroom often looked as if a bomb went off inside of it, I knew where everything was, and how I could find it. Everyone else who dared venture inside of it were lucky if they could even find the closet door.

In fact, I bet that if I had given everyone a list of...oh, say...eight objects in my bedroom, and gave them a time limit to search through every nook and cranny and under every single pile of debris in the area, I wouldn't be too shocked to see only half of the items found...if that.

Well, that happens to be the premise behind today's topic. We're going to be looking at a children's television game show that aired during the late 1980s that had that very situation. You had two teams of children racing through a life-size version of a house, and the object was to go through each room to find objects by deciphering clues detailing where their whereabouts were. Those who succeeded would win a bounty of prizes that could make any child's room a fun zone.



Have you ever heard of the television show “Finders Keepers”? That was the name of the game show that we will be looking at today. And it's actually a show that I only ended up hearing of long after it aired on television. The show ran for two seasons, between November 2, 1987 and March 10, 1989. The first season was broadcast on Nickelodeon and was hosted by “Land of the Lost” star Wesley Eure, and the second season was hosted by Larry Toeffler in syndication.

I suppose that the best way that I could use to describe the type of show that “Finders Keepers” was could be like if you took the game show “Fun House” and blended it with “Where's Waldo”. If you're a fan of those hidden object games, then “Finders Keepers” is the game for you.

The game started the same each time. We met the two teams, made up of contestants that were between the ages of eight and fourteen, and the host explained the rules of the game before they proceeded to round one.

Okay, so the first round (and second round) began like this. The teams would be shown a mural or a picture that may look something similar to this one below.



Now at first, it might seem like a normal drawing. But look closer. There are some hidden images within the main picture.

The host would read out the description of a hidden object within the picture, and it was the team's job to point out where the item was hidden. If they found the correct image, they would win twenty-five dollars for their team. Come on, let's play a round right here.

QUESTION #1: They can be found in schools and in the seafood section.

Can you find the item?



Yes, that's correct. The answer is a fish, and you can see it circled inside this picture.

Or, how about another one?

QUESTION #2: _______________ Dundee.

Can you find the item?



Yes, if you look at the bottom of the picture, you can see an upside-down crocodile hanging out near the ground.

(Or is it an alligator? You know what, I'll let you decide.)

At any rate, each picture usually had six hidden objects within them, so if a team had a clean sweep, they could win a total of one hundred and fifty dollars each round (which back in the late 1980s could buy an average of a hundred and ten comic books).

But that was just part one of each round. What about part two?

Well, this is where the “Fun House” reference comes into play. You see, the set of “Finders Keepers” was built in such a way that it looked like a gigantic play house (I'll be the first to admit that had I watched this show when it originally aired, I would have loved to go on it because I was a sucker for tree houses and play houses back in those days). Depending on the season you watched, the rooms of the house could be giant-sized versions of every day rooms (dens, bedrooms, kitchens, etc), or they could be theme rooms (a pastry shop, a laboratory, a school locker room, etc). Whatever the case, the host would read a clue that described an object in that room. Like, for instance...

Q: I have all the numbers from one to twenty stamped on my face, but its the direct center of me that you have to hit in order to score the highest.

Of course, you all might have guessed that the clue describes a dartboard. The trick is that the contestant has to dig through the room, locate a dartboard within the clutter, and bring it back to the host before the thirty second time limit expired. If the contestant found the item, they won fifty dollars for their team. But if time ran out, the opposing team would get the money instead.

And, don't think that the search for objects was going to be a cakewalk. Sometimes bookshelves came apart. Sometimes light fixtures would short out. Sometimes ceiling tiles would come loose and rain debris over the contestant's head. You had to be quick AND dodge flying objects. It could be quite challenging.

Don't believe me? Let's watch an episode below!



You get what I'm saying? It's fun, but intense!

In the second round, the prize amounts were almost doubled. Teams could earn $75 for the picture finding game, and $100 for the room search game. At the end of two rounds, the team with the highest score would earn the opportunity to go through the “Finders Keepers” house for the chance to play the “Room-to-Room Romp”.

And, what was the “Room-to-Room Romp”?

Well, the winning team would have to go through all six rooms in the house. They had to go through each room in the order that was given to them by the host. The order was non-negotiable, and the contestants only had 90 seconds to find all six items. The good news was that even if the teams didn't find all of the items, they could still win prizes. Even if they found one item, they would still be rewarded with a small prize. The only thing is that the more items you found, the better the prizes would be. Finding one item might net you a Nerf gun. Finding four might get you a Nintendo Entertainment System. Finding all six would win you a ten-speed mountain bike.

Oh yeah...if you found four items, you'd keep the four prizes you won.

Hmmm...I wonder if I could have been made to clean my bedroom more often if I was given the option of winning prizes every time I found someone else's item hidden away in my cluttered room?


(Only kidding. Somewhat.)