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Sunday, September 15, 2013

When One-Hit-Wonders Collide

This is a continuation of “one-hit-wonder” month in the Sunday Jukebox section for the month of September. And, in this case, I thought I would do something quite unique.

What if I decided to do a special feature on not one, but two songs that could easily be considered “one-hit-wonders”? It'd be a little bit of a special feature presentation that I like to call “When One-Hit-Wonders Collide”!

Confused yet? Don't be. I'm simply going to do a little bit of a “Six Degrees of Separation” thing in that I'll present two songs, and at the end, we'll explain how they are linked together! I think it could be a fun look back at some one-hit-wonders of the past (and it will make up for the fact that my September 1 entry was NOT a one-hit-wonder at all).

So, on with the double shot of one-hit-wonders.

And to begin with this entry, I want to ask you a question. Can you name every single member of a famous family? And when I say famous family, I mean a family in which almost every single member is in the world of show business.

Can you name every single sibling (including the non-famous ones) within a Hollywood family if I gave you a last name? It's not as easy as you might think it is.

For instance, when I say the name Baldwin, instantly you think of Alec Baldwin – best known for his work in Knots Landing, Beetlejuice, Married To The Mob, and most recently 30 Rock. But Alec's three brothers, Daniel, William, and Stephen Baldwin have also had jobs in the acting community as well. Maybe they aren't as well known as Alec is, but still...there's acting blood in every Baldwin brother.

(Even if one of them is now making the reality television circuit.)

Or, let's see here. I realize the definition of fame is kind of lopsided when it comes to anybody with the last name Kardashian, but let's run with it here. You have Kim, Kourtney, and Khloe (have I forgotten any other K names here). All three are most famous for...well...nothing exactly. But all three have taken their nothingness and turned it into gold and silver due to the conglomerate they have built up which includes reality television shows, cosmetics deals, and other various business ventures.

But how many of you know that the Kardashian sisters have a brother named Robert? Nobody else knew either until he appeared as a contestant on Dancing With The Stars. But, for the most part, he remains the silent partner in the Kardashian empire. I mean, his first name doesn't even have a K within it! That's strike one right there!



Or, how about the Penn family?

Let's see...well, right off the bat, I'm sure that most of you can name one or two of the three brothers in the Penn family.

Well, there's Sean Penn. A brilliant actor and director best known for his work in Carlito's Way, Dead Man Walking, I Am Sam, Mystic River, 21 Grams, and Milk. In the tabloids, he was known as being Madonna's volatile ex-husband. But most importantly of all, he has also been instrumental in founding a charity that would help the citizens of Haiti rebuild after the devastating 2010 earthquake.

I've also heard of Sean's younger brother, Christopher Penn. One of the first things that I remember seeing Christopher appearing in was the 1984 film “Footloose”. But some of his other projects included films such as Reservoir Dogs, At Close Range, Beethoven's 2nd, and Short Cuts, as well as some television appearances as well. Sadly, Christopher's life was cut too short when he died of a heart attack in January 2006 at just forty years old.

So, we've heard of Sean Penn. And, we've talked about the late Christopher Penn. That's it, right?

Wrong.

Turns out that Sean and Christopher have an older brother. And the first-born son of Leo Penn and Eileen Ryan decided to take a different career path other than acting.

He opted to become a musician instead.



And the song below was musician Michael Penn's biggest success.



ARTIST: Michael Penn
SONG: No Myth
ALBUM: March
DATE RELEASED: September 1, 1989
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #13



Yes, Michael Penn, born the first of August in the year 1958, released this toe-tapping rock hit in the last half of 1989, and by the beginning of 1990 had hit its peak position of #13 on the Billboard Charts. And it was a really awesome song too. I remember being in the third grade and hearing that song playing a lot on the radio. In fact, I remember many people at the time trying to request the song under the wrong title. Apparently some people believed that the song was actually called “Romeo in Black Jeans”.

Unfortunately for Michael Penn, “No Myth” ended up being a one-hit-wonder. Despite the fact that his songwriting skills were critically acclaimed and that he has released eight albums, his success on the charts was limited to just one hit.

And it's kind of a shame, given that he really did have the talent. I mean, at the peak of his popularity, he was actually competing against his former sister-in-law on the charts! When he released “No Myth”, it was rewarded with an MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in 1990! Everything was well positioned for Michael Penn to become a huge star in the music industry.

So, what happened?



Well, it all began with Penn's 1992 follow-up to March, “Free-For-All”. Although Rolling Stone Magazine gave the album a glowing review, and critics everywhere praised every single song on the album...I feel as though there wasn't a whole lot of promotion involved with selling the record. I know that I didn't even know that Michael Penn had even released a second album, let alone a seventh or eighth because aside from “No Myth”, Penn's work was virtually ignored by MTV and radio stations. It didn't matter whether the songs were absolute creative masterpieces. If you don't have the promotion to get your album out there, the album won't sell.

I'm certainly not accusing Michael Penn of not doing more to promote his music. If anything, I think he did the best he could. But just based on what I saw, I think that more promotion could have helped his cause and his music career.

But you know, even though Michael's success on the charts didn't amount to anything beyond a one-hit-wonder, it's not to say that he didn't quit music. He just decided to focus more of his attentions on composing film scores and producing albums for other artists.

Seriously, you may have been hearing his compositions and not have known it. If you've ever seen the movies Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, The Last Kiss, and Solitary Man, you'll hear his scores playing throughout the film!

And as I mentioned before, he's also used his skills to produce records for other artists, including Liz Phair, The Wallflowers...and a certain frontwoman for a band that many people also consider a one-hit-wonder.



ARTIST: 'Til Tuesday
SONG: Voices Carry
ALBUM: Voices Carry
DATE RELEASED: March 30, 1985
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #8



I gotta tell you, I still get chills at the end of that video when Aimee Mann stands up in that crowded theatre and sings to her heart's content, embarrassing her stuffy, stuck-up, potential abuser of a boyfriend who I feel she should have left eons ago. I mean that too. Her look was unconventional, but Aimee Mann was definitely one of the most attractive women of the 1980s (and at the age of 52, she still looks absolutely gorgeous today).

TRIVIA: Initially, the song was always supposed to be sung by Aimee Mann, but the difference was that the song was intended to be sung to a woman by a woman. Unfortunately, 1985 was a different time, and homosexuality was still very much taboo in the mid-1980s, so the perspective of the song had to be changed with a little tweaking.

Now, I should state that “Voices Carry” is technically not recognized as a one-hit-wonder if you're looking at the Billboard Charts. The band did have another lesser-known hit in 1986. But, given that “Voices Carry” is really the only song by 'Til Tuesday still played on radio stations, I suppose the definition fits.

Truth be told, after 'Til Tuesday broke up in 1988, Aimee Mann decided to embark on a solo career herself. And certainly some of her compositions have appeared in a lot of places. She had a song appearing on the soundtrack of “Melrose Place” (That's Just What You Are”), and she been in movies like “The Big Lebowski” and television shows like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”.



And in 1994 when she was working on the album “I'm With Stupid”, she first crossed paths with Michael Penn, who contributed musically to the album. The two developed a really close friendship, which soon blossomed into romance. The couple tied the knot in 1997, and sixteen years later they are still happily married.

Talk about making beautiful music together!


And, that's the story of how two one-hit-wonders collided. I hope you enjoyed it!

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Video Game Ramblings

I will readily admit that when it comes to video gaming, my gaming knowledge is very much skewered.



I'll admit that during my entire history of playing video games (and by video games, I don't mean the arcade and pinball machines that could be found in coin arcades, shopping malls, and 7-Elevens all over the country), I've been mostly loyal to one video game company, although I have dabbled in other systems over the years. In case any of you are interested in any way, here is a history of my video gaming life beginning with my very first gaming console in 1989.

1989-1990: Intellivision (yes, Intellivision. You can read the whole story of how I got my Intellivision console HERE ten years after it was at its peak in popularity.)

1990-1992: Nintendo Entertainment System. It got fried in a lightning storm during the summer of '92.

1992-2003: Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Believe it or not, it still works in 2013, but I need new controllers.

2003-2006: Sony PlayStation. Was actually a hand-me-down from a relative, but it got me hooked on games like Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, and the Sony exclusive Final Fantasy games.

2006-2011: Sony PlayStation 2. The most recent console I own. In all honesty, I haven't played it in two years due to lack of new games because of the PS3 coming out and my having absolutely zero interest in the PS3 games out on the market.

2008-2011: Nintendo DS. Prior to 2008, I never owned a handheld game console. But the Nintendo DS was my re-introduction to Nintendo after a five year absence, and I never really looked back. I would love to get a Nintendo Wii one day...well...when I have enough space, that is.

2011-present: Nintendo 3DS. The current gaming system I play.

So, yes. You can see that Nintendo is more or less my video game company of choice. I dabbled in Sony consoles though (and by extension, Sega, as I owned the Sega Genesis Collection for the PlayStation 2 console). Surprisingly enough, I never did get into the XBOX or XBOX 360 at all. Maybe it was because I found the games to be somewhat on the dull side, or maybe it was because I couldn't justify paying such a huge price for a gaming console...or maybe I had heard too many horror stories about the red ring of death which signifies that your console has gone to video game heaven.

(My SNES has lasted me 21 years and counting. Just saying.)

Now, why am I telling you this? Well, it might explain why any video game feature that I blog about here will more than likely cover a Nintendo game. And, it might explain why you will never really see an entry on any video game that has the words “Grand Theft Auto”, “Resident Evil” or “Call of Duty” within their titles. I've never played any of these games, and really don't have much desire to either.

But, you know what? I feel as though in order to expand my knowledge on video games (and given that I sell an average of seven video games per shift at work, I should really know everything there is to know about video games), I should do my blog entry on a video game series that is A) not Nintendo, and B) not rated E for Everyone.

I've already pointed out that for the most part, M rated video games bore me to tears because they seem to be the same game over and over. I mean, granted, some use the same argument for why they don't like games starring Super Mario or Sonic the Hedgehog, but the thing about those games is that they are always constantly changing. Ever since Mario's introduction in the 1981 video game Donkey Kong, he's evolved from barrel thrower to three-dimensional superstar! But for some reason, all of the Call of Duty games that I have seen my nephews playing look EXACTLY THE SAME to me.

(My apologies to all of those die-hard Call of Duty fans that I have offended with that previous statement. Those games just aren't my cup of tea.)

It's not to say that I am completely against first person shooters at all. I think that I would enjoy playing one if it put less emphasis on gore and more emphasis on plot. I also think that when it comes to first person shoot-em-up games, I would enjoy a game that is somewhat on the linear side. Not that I'm against open ended games, but one of the main reasons why I refuse to play the newest Final Fantasy games is because the story suffered at the hands of open-ended game play.

As a result, Final Fantasy XII remains my biggest disappointment in all the years I have played video games.



So, given my little monologue up above, what game could I possibly want to discuss? A game that is non-Nintendo, non E-rated, and has a rather decent plot to accompany a first-person shooting mechanic?

Well, it happens to be a game that I inherited along with the second-hand PlayStation system ten years ago. Mind you, the games that I mostly played were Spyro the Dragon and some car driving game. But there was another game that I ended up getting so addicted to. A game that I never believed I would have any interest in whatsoever, but was completely hooked on due to the elaborate plot, the challenging aspects of making it through an area alive, and the puzzle solving aspects throughout the whole game.

Have any of you heard of the “Medal of Honor” series of games? They are a series of games that are sort of similar to the more recent Call of Duty games, only the vast majority of them are set during World War II. From what I am hearing, there are thirteen games in the Medal of Honor series, and some of the more recent versions of the game are almost exactly like carbon copies of Call of Duty.

But the earliest games of the series? Now those were genius.



You see, the game that I was addicted to playing was the original Medal of Honor, which was released on Halloween 1999. In that game, espionage and secrecy is the main plot component. You're a member of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), and your missions – should you choose to accept them – is to infiltrate enemy fortresses, dispatch anyone who might get in your way, and sabotage any plans that they might have to destroy entire communities.

There are a total of seven missions throughout the whole game. They are...

  1. RESCUE THE G3 OFFICER
  2. DESTROY THE MIGHTY RAIL-GUN GRETA
  3. SCUTTLE DAS BOOT U-4901
  4. ATTACK IMPENETRABLE FORT SCHMERZEN
  5. SABOTAGE THE RJUKAN HYDRO PLANT
  6. CAPTURE THE SECRET GERMAN TREASURE
  7. ESCAPE THE V2 ROCKET PLANT

And, I will state that these missions are not easy. Oh, sure, you might be able to get through the first two or three without getting shot at too much. But anyone who has ever played mission number seven knows just how insanely difficult it can be.

In fact, here's a true confession for you. I've only ever beaten Medal of Honor once. That's how hard it is.



You play as the fictional Lieutenant Jimmy Patterson, a former C-47 Skytrain pilot in the Air Transport Command who was later recruited to the OSS. As Patterson, you have to make your way through these seven different mission to prevent the German forces and their allies from causing all sorts of nastiness in the world.

What makes the missions even more challenging is the fact that each mission is split up into several different levels. And, in each level, you have to meet an objective or criteria in order to proceed any further in the mission. You'll have to sneak into forbidden areas. You'll have to locate secret parcels and deliver them to the right people. You'll have to obtain keys to unlock doors, and secret passwords in order to move further in the game. Sometimes you'll have to disarm people, or sabotage equipment in order to get through the level.

And needless to say, the swarms of enemy soldiers willing to shoot first, ask questions later are endless. You really have to use your environment and keep a quick wit in order to make it through the game alive.

But don't worry. You have an entire arsenal of weapons at your disposal, just itching to be used against the enemy.

(And, one of the main reasons why I loved the original Medal of Honor is because in the earliest games, the game didn't actually show blood and gore. Sure, you still knew that they were dead because their bodies would fade away eventually...but as one who can't even stand the sight of his own blood in real life, this was definitely an added plus.  It also explains why the original Medal of Honor was given a rating of T instead of M.)

Seriously, you could use grenades, rifles, shotguns, and even a bazooka or two to make your way through enemy terrain and fight the good fight.

All in all, it's a great game series to play if you want a game that has a great storyline, but you're turned off by blood and unnecessary gore. And if I'm recommending a video game that has all that when I normally don't play them, it's gotta be worth a shot, right?


And, one final note...the game's story was inspired by filmmaker Steven Spielberg!

Friday, September 13, 2013

MasterChef America

I was having a bit of a hard time coming up with a topic for today's blog. Today's Friday, and I really wanted to do a topic that featured some aspect of teaching. As we're in the month of September and schools are now back in session, I struggled to come up with a suitable topic.

That, plus the fact that I'm on a bit of a time crunch today and only have a total of three and a half hours to type out this entire entry. So, I suppose in a way, I'm challenging myself and teaching myself to become a better writer by working under pressure.

Hmmm...working under pressure. That sounds like an interesting idea to go on.

But which show features everyday, ordinary people working under pressure to create extraordinary things?

Oh, wait. I know of just a show. In fact, the season finale of the fourth season of this program aired just a couple of days ago on September 11, 2013.



Come to think of it, this past season of MasterChef was quite entertaining to watch, and very unpredictable. Well, at least it was to me anyway. You know how some people believe that reality television is scripted.

But for some reason, I've always loved watching MasterChef. The concept of the show is absolute genius. The end goal of each season of the series is the same. You have hundreds of amateur chefs coming on the show to compete for a spot on the show by cooking a signature dish for three judges in the food industry in hopes of impressing them.

You wouldn't think that a cooking competition would get people watching, but from the very first season of the American series (the show originated in the United Kingdom as far back as 1990), I was hooked. As someone who appreciates good food (but admittedly have zero skills in the kitchen), I have to say that anybody who even makes it onto the show at all has my absolute respect.



The three judges who taste every single dish are also highly respected people in the culinary world. I would say that Gordon Ramsay, Graham Elliot, and Joe Bastianich have decades of experience between the three of them. Heck, Joe Bastianich is the son of Lidia Bastianich, a real master chef herself! If anyone knows good food, it's the BRE-Team (Bastianich/Ramsay/Elliot).

So, anyway, the finale of the show pitted Natasha Crnjac against Luca Manfe in an epic battle to see who would become the true MasterChef. The competition was fierce with Luca and Natasha having to battle against seventeen other people for the title. They cooked a variety of dishes using langoustine, king crab, pork, turkey, beef, pigeon (yes, pigeon), and a plethora of vegetarian dishes and desserts in hopes of impressing the judges. They made some mistakes along the way, and at some point in the competition, both faced the chopping block at least twice.

But in the end, the victor reigned supreme.



Congratulations, Luca! A well earned victory indeed.



So, to celebrate Luca's win, I thought that I would do a feature on MasterChef. (Well, the American version at least. I have heard from many fans of the show that the British version is much better than the American one, but I've never seen the British version.)

Now, as mentioned before, MasterChef originated in the United Kingdom in 1990, but over the last twenty-three years, it has exploded in popularity and is now broadcast in several different countries including Australia, China, Croatia, Greece, India, Italy, Spain, and Vietnam. And beginning in 2014, Canada will join the list of countries that will have their very own MasterChef competition. Very excited to hear of that news!

Now, most people know of the version of the show that has aired on FOX since July 2010. Many don't realize that MasterChef first aired in the United States on PBS between 2000 and 2001! I know I certainly didn't!

Anyway, with the FOX version of the show, we have now had four people that have been granted the title of MasterChef. They are...

2010 – Whitney Miller
2011 – Jennifer Behm
2012 – Christine Ha
2013 – Luka Manfe

And what do the winners of the competition win? Plenty. They win the title of MasterChef for the year, which comes with a beautiful trophy. They get the opportunity to publish their own cookbook, which for most amateur chefs is a dream come true! Just have a look at last year's winner's book below.



Nice, huh?

Oh, yeah. There's also a quarter of a million dollar cash prize at the end of the journey. Why, that's enough to keep your pantry, fridge and freezers stocked up for several years!

Now, one thing that I find interesting about MasterChef is that the show really puts contestants through every possible challenge in order for the judges to determine who has what it takes to become the next MasterChef. And the way they do this is through team challenges, mystery box challenges, and pressure tests.



Team challenges are always fun to watch. They take the contestants and divide them up into teams where they will be put into some rather unusual situations. Sometimes they will have to be placed in a kitchen of a high-end restaurant in an exercise in quality control. Sometimes they'll have to plan a lunch menu for junior high school students. Sometimes, they'll even have to open up a food truck in the middle of the beach and cook fish tacos and hamburgers for a large group of people. The teams that end up doing the best will win and be safe for the pressure test.



Similarly, the show features mystery box challenges, in which contestants won't know what ingredients they have to work with until they remove the lid of the box. Usually, each of the boxes will have some sort of theme to it. Some boxes will have ingredients that seemingly don't blend well together but they will have to find a way to make it work. Some mystery box challenges will have ingredients that are a delicacy in foreign countries, but are virtually unheard of in America. And, in one memorable mystery box challenge, the children of the judges actually chose the mystery box ingredients! And to add to the pressure, the chefs would only have between 45 and 90 minutes to make their dish stand out. On mystery box challenges, the judges will choose their favourite three dishes, and the winner of the challenge will have a hand in planning the pressure test, which if the player is smart will use the opportunity to take out their biggest competition.

Now, what is this pressure test that I keep talking about?



Well, the pressure test really puts contestants under pressure. If they fail the test, they get eliminated from the competition! And believe me when I say that the pressure tests are nowhere near easy. It's bad enough that the chefs have to prepare such complicated dishes such as souffle, meringue pie, and lobster bisque, but to do it in what seems like an impossible time limit on top of that? No wonder they call it a pressure test!

Some handle the pressure really well. Others buckle under pressure. But the pressure tests definitely do what they were meant to do. They weed out the competition and they leave the strongest chefs standing.

So, now that you know how the game is played, let's take a look at some of the more memorable moments of the whole series, shall we?

On Season 2, there were lots of people on the show who shall we say...had some rather boastful attitudes. Suzy and Max in particular knew that both of them were the best in the competition and they were not afraid to let anyone know it either.

(Too bad neither one won the competition to back up their claims.)

But then there was Christian, a stay-at-home dad. And his ego was something special. So special that he didn't hesitate to go head to head with the very judges who had the power to keep him in the competition! Not the smartest move. Have a look at some of Christian's “greatest hits”.



For what it's worth, I thought that Christian was going to go far in the competition, and for what it's worth, I initially went into MasterChef season two rooting for Christian to win. Unfortunately, his attitude kind of turned me off to him, and when he was eliminated, I was kind of relieved. That said, I do hope Christian is doing well.

If anything, after seeing the way that Krissi acted on the last season of MasterChef with her bullying tactics and immaturity, next to her Christian was quite tame!

On the flipside, on the same season Christian was on, you had Ben Starr, who didn't quite make it to the finals, but who had the depth, the passion, and most of all the humility to become a true MasterChef. Just have a look at the pumpkin carrot cake he prepared for a pressure test challenge.


Okay, I don't even like pumpkin and I want to try that cake! It just looked phenomenal!

Another success story is that of Season 3 winner Christine Ha. She dominated the competition throughout her whole season, very rarely making it in the bottom two. She lead her team to victory on a couple of occasions, and she prepared some of the most brilliant dishes in the history of the competition.

And she did it all with very little sight.

Yes, Christine is legally blind, which at the beginning of the competition had her other competitors believing that because of this she was not a major threat. But boy did Christine prove them wrong. But one of the most beautiful things about Christine's story was the self-growth she did herself. She entered the competition doubting her abilities and thinking that she couldn't compete with the others.

That is, until she made the apple pie that changed her entire outlook. Have a look.



I STILL get goosebumps watching that moment. In that moment, I believe that a true MasterChef was born, and it was in the moment that Christine really began to show everyone that she did have what it took to become a MasterChef. Good show, Christine!

One of my favourite parts of the show is the audition process. The auditions are some of the most entertaining parts of the whole show. Just have a look at this montage of contestants who didn't quite make it onto the show.




But just because a person doesn't make it onto the show the first time around, it doesn't mean that they are out of the running down the road. After all, Luca was turned down for season three, and he won season four!  And, to conclude this entry off, let's watch some of the more successful auditions!


Thursday, September 12, 2013

Twenty-Five Secrets

I have to admit that of all things, a tabloid magazine inspired this Thursday Diary entry...but not in the way that you all might think. Confused? Read on.

September 12, 2013

Did you know that while I don't consider myself to be one of those “hoarders” that you see on television, I do consider myself to be somewhat of a pack rat?

It's absolutely true.

As of right now, my living space is such that it looks presentable, but it also looks lived in. And, I'm okay with that. I always felt really uncomfortable in places that were obscenely clean. You know what I mean, right? The ones where the floor is so shiny you could eat off of it, and the ones where you didn't dare eat on the furniture because you would get scolded for even leaving behind one crumb.

At my place, if you want to eat on my sofa, you go right ahead. If you want to read a magazine on my floor, I have no problem with that. And if you want to smear spaghetti sauce all over my walls and floors, you're more than welcome to.

Just remember. YOU'RE cleaning the sauce up. Not me.

I guess the point that I'm making is that I don't mind if people wear their shoes inside my living space because I'm far from being a perfect housekeeper. To prove it, I was just going through my closet the other day and I came across a pile of things from my hospital stay in February 2011 still locked away inside!

(For those of you who weren't aware, or for those of you who have just discovered this blog, I had to have emergency surgery two and a half years ago to remove a seriously infected gall bladder.)

But seriously, I found a lot of things in my closet that kept me entertained while I was recovering from surgery. There were a few books that people brought me to read. I have a half-completed word search and puzzle book that I worked on while I was healing from my surgery. And, for some unknown reason, I still have the hospital bracelet that I wore during my entire stay there.

As I said before, I am considered to be a slight pack rat.



One other thing that I found mixed in with the goodies that entertained me during my recovery was a whole bundle of magazines. And when I say magazines, I mean those really trashy ones like the National Enquirer, Star, and The Examiner which feature celebrities that seemingly cause one scandal after another. I'm not one to normally go out and buy these kinds of magazines, but since I had family members and friends who wanted my stay to be as comfortable as possible, I read them...and re-read them...and re-read them some more.

Yeah...if you spend sixteen days in a hospital, you really do get that bored.

But you know what? Whether the stories in those tabloids are absolutely true or completely false...that's not for me to say. But I have to admit that reading the various articles in these magazines sometimes make me feel much better about my own life!

And besides, it's not as though celebrity gossip is the only thing of interest inside these magazines. They also have puzzles, horoscopes, and other fun puzzles and games mixed in amongst the gossip, the scandals, and the advertisements for Hydroxycut.

One of my favourite features in these types of magazines is when celebrities get interviewed by a representative of the magazine and they reveal all kinds of personal info and secrets. I think most of them come in a list of twenty-five mini-confessions and admissions. I have to admit, the pop culture addict in me loves reading all about the secrets and little known facts about celebrities. Some facts didn't seem surprising at all, but others were kind of an eye-opener.

So you know what I thought I would do? If celebrities can be interviewed and asked about the twenty-five things that nobody else knows, why can't I do the same?

So, in this Thursday Diary entry...whether you want to know them or not...I thought that I would reveal twenty-five things about myself that you may or may not know about me. I think it would be a cool way for all of you reading this to get to know me a bit better. And if some of you are brave enough, I thought that maybe some of you could do the same.

(Only I think that 25 facts would be too much. I'll happily accept only one or two!)

Okay, so on with the list.



01 – I have a slight allergy to strawberries. I can handle artificially flavoured strawberry things (which are disgusting, by the way), but real strawberries cause me to break out in hives. It isn't a fatal allergy by any means, but it's uncomfortable enough for me not to ever want to eat a strawberry.

02 – I use a different coloured pen at work each and every day. If one were to look through the safety sweep log books any given time that I am on duty, you would see a rainbow of colours. The reason why I do this is to stand out and be different. And besides...black ink is so...monotonous.

03 – I played the baritone for my school band between sixth and ninth grades. But admittedly I was forced to give it up because my class schedule in tenth grade prevented me from sticking with it. Looking back on it, I wish I had stuck with it just a little bit longer.



04 – I once spent an entire day off watching old reruns of “Three's Company” on YouTube. Not exactly the most efficient way to spend a day off, but it was entertaining. Besides, it rained all day that day. What else was there to do?

05 – My first date was in the eighth grade. I took a girl to the eighth grade graduation dance. Never saw her again after that.

06 – Hmmm...maybe number five explains the absolute hate I have for Valentine's Day. Though the fact that I had my gall bladder removed two days before that day could account for it (though in defense, I did get a blood transfusion that Valentine's Day, so at least I got something red!)



07 – I have a comic book collection that totals well over 3,000 books.



08 – The most embarrassing song I have downloaded on my iPod is the song “Under the Sea” from “The Little Mermaid”. The reason I have it downloaded is because it takes me back to the time in which some friends and I were driving down Bank Street in Ottawa with this song blasting from the car radio! Sigh...you had to be there.



09 – My very first celebrity crush was on Alyssa Milano. And to be honest with you, I still find her unbelievably attractive.



10 – The first time I ever used a computer, I was four years old. I seem to recall going to some sort of computer camp where I designed my own banner. They even took my picture which appeared in the newspaper...but my grandmother was the only one who had a copy, and since she died twenty-two years ago, I have no idea where she would have kept it.

11 – I still save all of the Christmas cards I have ever received (pack-rat, I know).



12 – My dream vacation is to go to Australia. I hope that one day I will be able to make it happen.

13 – I learned how to read before I learned how to talk. I didn't learn how to talk until just before my third birthday. My parents were concerned that I was hard of hearing, or that I had some sort of developmental disorder, but in reality, I was just stubborn. On that note...

14 – My horoscope sign is Taurus. But had I been born three days later, I would have become a Gemini.



15 – I was born on the one year anniversary of the day that Mount St. Helen's blew its top.



16 – My current drink obsession is surprisingly non-alcoholic. I'm really into water that is flavoured with “Dasani Drops”. I personally recommend the Cherry-Pomegranate and Pink Lemonade flavours.

17 – I was once hypnotized on stage and it was broadcast in a television special that aired later the same year.



18 – My current guilty pleasure artist? Admittedly, it's Selena Gomez. At least I didn't say Justin Bieber!



19 – I play in the Survivor pool at work regularly. Out of five attempts, I've only won once. Still, that is a 20% rating.



20 – My all-time favourite candy in the world are M&M's. Plain or peanut butter will do. I also have a small collection of M&M's memorabilia including a beach towel, a T-shirt, a wristwatch, a candy bowl, and a candy dispenser.

21 – Least favourite candy? Almond Joy, Mounds, Bounty, or any other candy with coconut inside of it. Blecch.

22 – I nearly failed grade eleven mathematics. Had it not been for a freak ice storm which grinded everything to a halt, I most definitely would have flunked.

23 – I hold the distinct achievement of actually setting a container of Jiffy Pop popcorn on fire!

24 – I did not learn how to swim until I was twenty-one due to a fear of drowning brought upon by nearly drowning in a swimming pool when I was a youngster. And even then, I am not comfortable in really deep water.



25 – I've never been on an airplane in my life. However, I've rode on more trains than I could count, in part because of the fact that when my dad worked for a railway, our family always got free train tickets. It was one of the perks of my father's job!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Whatever Wednesday - The Rise and Fall of Badfinger

First things first, I wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on the events of September 11, 2001. If you are interested, I wrote a blog entry about that day on the tenth anniversary of the attacks, which you can read about by CLICKING HERE. I can't believe that it has been twelve years since that devastating day. So many people lost their lives, and thousands of families were never the same. But as the Freedom Tower at the new World Trade Center nears completion, it is a symbol that life does go on, and I think those who lived through that day are more stronger and resilient than ever before. We'll never be able to forget what happened, but we can become stronger people as a result of it.

And now, on with today's entry.

Wednesdays have always been a bane in the existence of this blog. I've changed the theme day for Wednesday a total of...oh...four times over the last two years. I don't know what it is about Wednesdays, but I can never keep the same topic up and running for long.

The most recent attempt at the Wednesday topic was All-Request Wednesdays, where I would ask you all to submit requests on topics that you would like to see. And for a few months, it went over very well. But as the request well dried up in recent weeks, I came to the conclusion that the feature was inevitably going to be short-lived.

So, I thought that I would use this space and leave it up to fate instead. Though, that's not to say that I won't accept any more requests. I will. I'll just incorporate it into one of the other theme days, is all.

What do I mean when I say that I'll leave it to fate? Well, I'm going to let the cards fall and decide what topic I choose.

It's a little something I like to call “Whatever Wednesday”. I've even designed a special logo for the event!



Colourful, no?

Okay, so what I'm going to do is simple. I'm going to grab six different coloured cards, and assign each one a different theme day. Every Tuesday night, I will select a coloured card from a bag, and whatever colour card I choose will represent the theme of the Whatever Wednesday entry that I work on this week.

Now, here's the kicker. Where am I going to find six different coloured cards on such short notice?



Oh, look...I happen to have a copy of the board game Clue by my side with six different coloured character cards! How's that for lucky?

Okay. Now that we have our six cards, let's assign a theme day to each of the characters.

MISS SCARLET – Sunday Jukebox
COLONEL MUSTARD – Monday Matinee
MRS. WHITE – Saturday Smorgasbord Wks. 3-5 (Cartoons, Comics, Books)
MR. GREEN – Saturday Smorgasbord Wks. 1-2 (Toys, Games, Video Games)
MRS. PEACOCK – Friday Night On Television
PROFESSOR PLUM – Thursday Diary

So, for instance, if I selected Professor Plum from the bag, I'd be doing a diary entry. If I choose Mr. Green, I would do a blog on cartoons or comic books, etc, etc.

Makes sense?

Okay, so let's kick off the inaugural edition of Whatever Wednesday by drawing a card at random out of the bag.



And, we have Miss Scarlet, meaning that we're going to be rummaging through our vinyl collections and music trivia books for today.

And, in some ways, I almost think that it was kismet because I really did want to do a music spotlight today after hearing a particular song playing on the radio just the other day. It was a song that I had heard time and time again, and one that I absolutely loved...but for whatever reason, I could not figure out who sang it. At first I thought that it was The Beatles during their “Let It Be” period, but I couldn't quite make out any of the Beatles' singing voices, so I suspected that I was incorrect.

And I was...partly.

Sure, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr had nothing to do with the composition of this song. George Harrison on the other hand? He produced the song...well, at least partially. See, he already had a prior engagement to produce the Concert for Bangladesh, so Todd Rundgren took over the unfinished product.

And this was the end result.



ARTIST: Badfinger
SONG: Day After Day
ALBUM: Straight Up
DATE RELEASED: November 10, 1971
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #4

I'll admit that this song always manages to make me smile. Granted, it's a song about a lonely man longing to see his true love again...but there's just a timeless quality about it that is sorely lacking in today's pop music. I would much rather listen to Badfinger non-stop than any Justin Bieber album. Of course, that's just my own personal preference.

Now here's the double edged sword. This Badfinger song was light, fluffy, and serene...which contrasted with the ultimate fate of the band. Truth of the matter is that the history of Badfinger is a tale filled with betrayal, hardships, and in the case of a couple of members, death at their own hands.



This is the story of the rise...and fall of Badfinger.

When the band first got together in 1961 in Swansea, Wales, they went through several band names (including “The Wild Ones” and “The Black Velvets” before settling on “The Iveys”. The group's original members were Peter William Ham, Ronald Llewellyn Griffiths, David Owen Jenkins, and Roy Anderson.

(Or, as they liked to be called, “Ham”, “Griffiths”, “Dai”, and...um...Roy.)

In 1965, the group added member Michael George Gibbins to the lineup, and soon after began to perform as the opening acts for several up and coming British groups which included “The Spencer Davis Group”, “The Yardbirds”, “The Moody Blues”, and “The Who”!

The group began touring around the London club circuits playing cover versions of a variety of musical genres. Top 40, psychadelic pop, R&B, Motown...nothing was off limits. I suppose that their versatility as a band worked to their advantage, as several record companies were interested in signing the band as a result. Ray Davies of The Kinks even helped the band produce some demo tracks to ship around to various record companies. Bill Collins signed on to be the band's manager in 1966, and throughout 1967, the band would perform occasional concerts. There was a minor shake-up in the band's line-up when Jenkins was asked to leave the group, but the split seemed amicable. Jenkins would be replaced by Thomas Evans Jr, completing the group line-up.

And then in 1968, the group received their big break, courtesy of Beatles' roadie and assistant Mal Young. Bill Collins invited him as well as Apple Records A&R rep Peter Asher to view one of their concerts, and almost immediately after the show, Young persistently asked all four members of the Beatles to listen to the band's demo tapes. It took some time, but all four Beatles eventually heard the demos and put their stamp of approval on signing the band.

The band signed to Apple Records on July 23, 1968 – making them the only non-Beatles act to be signed to the record label. But while their first few releases (under the name of The Iveys) did quite well in Japan and several European countries, the singles stalled in the United States and did even worse in their native UK. This was a common occurrence for the band, and soon the band began to get frustrated with executives at Apple Records, who kept rejecting the new songs that the band wrote. They gave interviews to the press explaining their disappointment, which Paul McCartney happened to read! But instead of getting angry about it, he offered the band a song. The song was called “Come and Get It”, meant for the soundtrack of “The Magic Christian”. The only stipulation was that the band had to perform the song exactly as McCartney had intended for it to be performed.

But shortly after the band recorded that song, as well as a couple of others, Griffiths would depart the band ten months after the birth of his first child, and reportedly his departure caused tension within the band as Griffiths later revealed in an interview that his decision to leave the band to spend more time with his family was met with hostility by Evans, who he claimed made Griffiths feel as if he was no longer a member of the band.



With the release of “Come and Get It”, there were two final changes. The band changed its name to “Badfinger”, which stemmed from an early working title (Bad-Finger Boogie) of the Beatles single “With A Little Help From My Friends”. And with the departure of Griffiths, the band hired Joseph Charles Molland to replace him.

Long story short, “Come and Get It” was released in late 1969, and it instantly reached #7 in the United States and #4 in the United Kingdom, and the single sold one million copies. Over the next few years, Badfinger would enjoy three more chart successes; “No Matter What”, “Baby Blue”, and the song which you heard earlier in the blog entry, “Day After Day”.

And in the case of Ham and Evans, they were even awarded a prestigious songwriting award in 1972 following the success of this song that Harry Nilsson (and later Mariah Carey) had on the charts.



So, how did the band unravel so quickly, with many of its members suffering tragic fates?



Well, many people have pointed the finger of blame at the gentleman up above...one Stan Polley. In 1970, Polley – then a New York City based businessman – signed Badfinger to a business management contract. Each member of the band signed a contract which dictated that all receipts of touring, recording, publishing, and songwriter performance royalties that automatically went into holding companies controlled by Polley himself.

I know what you're thinking. Giving control of everything you earn to one man and his business skills? Instant red flag. But the members of Badfinger trusted him, as Badfinger wasn't the only musical act he was dealing with at the time (Polley also managed Al Kooper of Blood, Sweat & Tears, and Lou Christie).

By 1972, the band's opinion of Stan Polley began to change, and they were getting somewhat suspicious of how he really was handling their money that was earned from album and single sales and concert tours (which given that the band's heyday was in 1972, should have amounted to a small fortune). Badfinger was doing very well, but Apple Records were sustaining hard times (brought upon by the fact that their biggest moneymaker, The Beatles, had broken up two years earlier), and Apple Records flat out told the band that when it came to signing a new contract, they wouldn't be as generous as they would be the first time around.



Nevertheless, the band's final album with Apple Records, 1972's “Ass” (yes, that was the name of the album) was released, despite the fact that there were problems in the production of the album (original producer Todd Rundgren quit the project after just one week due to a financial dispute). Unfortunately, the album did not do as well on the charts as their previous work.

Still, according to Polley, that didn't matter. While Badfinger was putting the finishing touches on their final album, Polley was working out a contract with Warner Brothers Records, which wanted the band to release a new album every six months over the next three years. Once the band's commitment to Apple Records ended, Polley presented the band with a new contract with Warner Brothers Records, detailing the two-album a year condition. The band was however warned by then vice president of Badfinger Enterprises Inc., (a company started by Polley) not to sign the contract. But the contract seemed too good to pass up. It was worth three million dollars, and the deal would provide the band with twelve per cent of all retail sales in the United States, and 8.5% of sales everywhere else in the world. In addition, the band would be presented with an advance of $225,000 for each album they delivered under the new contract. It was too irresistible to pass up.

But, like the iconic image of the jackass chasing after the dangling carrot on the cover of their 1972 “Ass” album, this contract would have the band chasing after a golden opportunity that never presented itself.



After touring the United States throughout late 1973 and early 1974, Badfinger returned to the studios to record the album “Wish You Were Here”, and it was released in October of 1974, which Rolling Stone magazine gave glowing reviews. The album could very well have been Badfinger's best effort yet.

But then it all fell apart.

It all began with tensions erupting within the band, as Molland's wife, Kathie, was becoming increasingly frustrated with the politics within the band, and her assertiveness rubbed Ham the wrong way. In fact, Ham became so annoyed with Kathie Molland that he up and quit the band during an executive meeting! He stayed away for three weeks before being convinced by Warner Brothers to return to the band, as they would have no further interest in promoting Badfinger without him. Ham returned to the band three weeks after he quit, but Molland himself would be out of the band by the end of the year.

But if the tensions within the band weren't bad enough, the behind the scenes action that went on between Polley and Warner Brothers Records.

In 1973, Warner Brothers began to get suspicious of Stan Polley due to the fact that Polley was not communicating with them at all in regards to an escrow account of advance funds. As it was written in the contract, Polley was to deposit a quarter of a million dollars into a mutually accessible account for safekeeping, which Polley did. But Polley neglected to let Warner Brothers know where the account could be accessed. The company sent him letters asking him to divulge the location of the account, but Polley refused to acknowledge them.

This was all done WITHOUT Badfinger's knowledge, by the way.

With Molland's departure from the band in December 1974, Polley pressed the band to give up touring the United States in support of the “Wish You Were Here” album to record the band's follow-up album, “Head First” at the Apple Recording Studios – while under contract with Warner Brothers! But when the band recorded tracks for the album and submitted them to Warner Brothers American offices, they were denied. Their publishing arm had already filed a lawsuit against Polley and Badfinger in the Los Angeles Superior Court in December 1974.

Polley's plan was to submit the tapes in hopes that they would secure one final cash advance before the litigation, but Warner Brothers refusal to accept the tapes meant no cash bonus. On top of all that, the lawsuit that was filed forced the record company to stop production on the “Wish You Were Here” album after just seven weeks, which ultimately became the final nail in Badfinger's coffin.

By 1975, times became tough for the band, as all of the income they were receiving had suddenly stopped. Every band member left in Badfinger was worried and panicked, but none more so than Peter Ham, who had just bought a house and whose girlfriend was pregnant with their child. Out of desperation, Ham tried contacting Polley on numerous occasions, but he was unable to reach him. The band tried to go on without Polley, but the search for new booking agents lead to dead ends, based on the restrictive contract that Polley had the band sign.

Seems like they should have taken that man's advice in not signing the contract.

It all came to a tragic head on the morning of April 24, 1975. The night before, Ham received a call from the United States, and in that phone call, it was revealed that all of his savings were now gone. He and Tom Evans met up at a pub later on where Ham reportedly drowned his sorrows in whiskey.

Hours later, Peter Ham hung himself in his studio garage. In his suicide note, he openly blamed Stan Polley for pushing him into the suicide, proclaiming that he would find a way to bring him down with him.

With Ham's death, Badfinger had no choice but to go their separate ways. Gibbins would join “The Flying Aces” while Evans and Bob Jackson (who was hired with the band after Peter Ham temporarily left Badfinger) joined “The Dodgers”.

The band attempted a reunion of sorts in 1977 (which reunited Evans and Molland after three years), and had a bit of a comeback with their 1979 album “Airwaves”. But tragedy would strike again in November 1983 when following an argument with Molland over past events, Evans would commit suicide in his own garden – using the same method that Ham had used eight years earlier. It was widely reported that Evans – who had seen Ham's dead body – never got over his death, and that months before his death, Evans was heard to make comments about wanting to be where Peter was.

It was a very sad ending to a band who ended up becoming the innocent victims of a lawsuit filed without their knowledge, as well as the victims of a man whose poor choices lead to the band's ruination in the mid-1970s.

So, what has happened to the people since?

Tragically we know the stories of Ham and Evans. May they both finally rest in peace.

Since the 1990s, Molland still tours under the Badfinger name. Come to think of it, I think that he's supposed to be playing at a nearby fair later this month. I did see an advertisement for it on television recently. It is good to see that at least one of the members is trying to keep the name alive.

Bob Jackson also performs some Badfinger staples along with his band, The Fortunes, which Jackson rejoined in 1995.

Sadly, Gibbins would die in his sleep on October 4, 2005 at the age of 56 from a brain aneurysm.

As for the man who caused the Badfinger bad blood? Well, Stan Polley pleaded no contest in 1991 to charges of misappropriating funds and money laundering in California. In an unrelated case to the Badfinger story, aeronautics engineer Peter Brock accused Polley of swindling him for a quarter of a million dollars after the two set up a corporation to manufacture airplane engines. Polley's sentence for that case was a five year probationary period, as well as being ordered by the court to return all missing funds to Brock. But according to Brock, he never did honour that restitution.

Stan Polley passed away in July 2009 at the age of 87, never really paying the price for everything that he did to the members of Badfinger.


A real shame.