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Monday, September 23, 2013

Play Misty for Me

I think that in a world that is filled with playlists, mp3 players, iTunes, and Sirius Satellite Radio, there is still a market for classic radio stations.

What I mean by “classic radio stations” are the radio stations that we grew up listening to when we were children.



I remember years and years ago I used to have a collection of blank audio cassette tapes on hand because whenever I would listen to the radio and a song was playing that I absolutely enjoyed, I would grab a blank tape, stick it in my stereo, and press the red record button. Back in those days it was the only way to record your favourite song, as my childhood took place in an era before recordable compact discs, Napster, and the iPod.



(Wow...Napster. Remember that site? Seems like ages ago.)

But admit it. If you were born before 1990, there's a good chance that you've done this at least once. Let's face it. As a kid, records were not cheap. Back in my teen years, albums were available on CD and cassette format, and although cassettes were on average five dollars less than a CD was, they were still worth a hefty chunk of change.

(And back in those days, most of my money went towards renting video games at the local corner store.)

Therefore, recording songs off of the radio was a cheap, inexpensive way to make sure that you had one of the best music collections ever at a third of the cost.

And, for what it was worth, my choice of radio stations certainly helped me build up my collection.

Just going back to my own childhood, I can remember the many different radio stations that I listened to while I was doing homework, or playing with toys, or reading a book, or whatever activities that I was doing in my bedroom during my formative years. The main one was PAC-93, a station that was based out of New York State, which at the time played Top 40 music from the 1980s and 1990s. It has since changed format since its heyday, but it was a great station to listen to if I wanted the current hits at the time. After all, they did play Casey Kasem's Top 40 every single weekend! But I also listened to a station known as KOOL-FM based out of Ottawa, which added a little Canadian flavour to the weekly playlist of songs played. As well, a station that was known as MIX 96 would air Kid Kelly's “Backtrax USA”, which played some of the most recognizable songs from the 1980s (and later 1990s).

For the most part, the radio stations I listened to would play the majority of songs that I liked a lot, and I somehow ended up filling at least an entire 6 pack of blank cassette tapes with some of my all-time favourite songs (well, at least they were my favourite songs at the time that they were most popular).

But one of the most frustrating things that could happen was when you got home from school, turned on the radio, and one of your favourite songs was already half played. You couldn't very well record half a song, now could you? And unless the song was within the Top 20 on the charts (which meant that you would hear them played at least once every couple of hours), you could spend the entire day listening to the radio in hopes that maybe, just maybe, the disc jockey would play the song again.



This is where those All-Request radio shows came in handy.

Several radio stations often have an all-request lunch hour in which you would be able to request your favourite songs to be played on air. As well, PAC 93 always had an all-request show that aired between 10:00pm and 1:00am where night owls (like myself) could place a song request. And sometimes, calling into the request line was the only way you could get that last song necessary to complete your ultimate playlist on a series of audio cassettes.

I know that I have called request lines several times wanting to hear particular songs. Not all of my requests were honoured as several hundred people often called into the station all wanting to hear songs of their own. But the songs that were played, I really enjoyed hearing. And I'd switch up the song requests as well. Some people may have been content requesting the same Spice Girls, Hanson, or Backstreet Boys song over and over again, but I liked to request different songs each time I called in. Songs that didn't have the words “you are my fire”, “Mmmbop”, or “Zig-a-zig-ah” in their lyrics.

(I liked the obscure stuff.)

Well, here's a situation for you. What if you were a disc jockey, and you had the same person calling your station over and over asking for you to play the same song each and every call? Would you panic? Freak out? Probably not. You may find it a bit strange, but you brush it off. After all, I'm sure that many teenagers are calling radio stations right now, wanting to hear the latest One Direction hit over and over again.

Now, what would you do if the person who was obsessed with a particular song also developed an obsession with you? Staring at you, following you, even sneaking into your bedroom and crawling into your bed. Now that's something that you'd find disturbing, right?

Well, as it so happens, that last scenario I described happens to be the main plot of today's Monday Matinee. It's a film of suspense, thrills, and horror as one simple music request turns vicious and potentially deadly.



All because of four simple words. “Play Misty for Me”.



Play Misty for Me” was released in theatres on November 3, 1971, and not only did it have Clint Eastwood as its star, but he also directed the film! The film also starred Jessica Walter (best known for her role as Lucille Bluth on “Arrested Development”) and Donna Mills (best known for her role as Abby Cunningham on “Knots Landing”).

The film had debuted one month earlier at the San Francisco Film Festival, and by November was distributed nationwide to glowing reviews, grossing ten million dollars at the box office plus an addition five million generated from rental sales at video stores. Not bad for a movie that only had a budget of three-quarters of a million dollars.

So, what's “Play Misty for Me” all about? Well, I'll give you a hint. It's widely speculated that this film served as the inspiration behind such films as 1987's “Fatal Attraction” or 1993's “The Crush”.

It's all about what happens when a simple crush or admiration towards a person goes too far. And, it's a film in which the adored becomes the victim of psychological stalking.

And to think that the film started off so innocently too.



Eastwood plays the role of Dave Garver, a radio disc jockey who works at KRML on a nightly radio show in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. His specialty? A lot of smooth jazz records with a little bit of poetry reading on the side. I suppose it fits, right? After all, a song basically takes a poem and places it against a musical background.



Anyway, after a long night's work, Dave likes to kick back with a couple of cold ones at his favourite bar. And it is here where he happens to come across a young woman named Evelyn Draper (Walter). Now, at first meeting, Dave sees nothing unusual about the meeting. If anything, he thinks it is purely coincidental that they crossed paths at his favourite bar.

So, Dave, being a nice guy, offers to bring Evelyn home. But it's here where Evelyn reveals the truth. She actually didn't just wander into the bar on her own. She sought him out. Truth is that she's called his show before. Several times. And each time she called in, she would request the same song.



Misty”. A jazz classic that was first composed in 1954 by Erroll Garner. Beautiful song, isn't it? The song will certainly clash with the actual personality traits that young Evelyn will soon display. But early on in the film, Dave is smitten by Evelyn, and they spend the night together.

But don't think that Evelyn will be content with a simple one-night stand. Oh, no. She wants more than that. Much more.

Shortly after their first romantic encounter together, Evelyn manages to find out where Dave lives (an amazing feat given that back in 1971 nobody had Internet access) and shows up unannounced, which makes Dave very nervous. Dave later gets angry when Evelyn later disrupts a business lunch that he is attending because she believes that the woman who is seated with him is someone he is seeing.

Dave decides that maybe getting into a relationship with someone who obviously has jealousy issues is not the best way to go and he tries to let Evelyn down gently. But Evelyn decides that she won't have any of it and actually attempts suicide inside his house. And when Dave rejects her too many times, she actually goes as far as breaking into his house, destroying some of his possessions, and later attacking poor Dave's housekeeper who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.



The end result? Evelyn is sent away to a mental institution for her crimes, and Dave resumes life as normal. He even rekindles the old flame that he once shared with ex-girlfriend Tobie (Mills). For a few months, everything is going well, and Dave thinks that the nightmare is over.

But, little do Dave and Tobie know...one phone call will change everything. And as Evelyn requeste Dave to play “Misty” for her, Dave realizes that he has to protect his new love from her. But unbeknownst to Dave, Evelyn has found another way to creep back into Dave's life. And by the end of the film is one giant confrontation that puts all of our key players at risk.

But I won't reveal how this plays out. I instead recommend that you seek out this movie and watch it for yourselves. It's a psychological thriller seventies style, and I absolutely was glued to the edge of my seat the whole time.

Now, how about a little bit of trivia for you? If you want, you can scroll up and play a little bit of “Misty” while you read!

1 – Clint Eastwood has made a huge living as an actor and a director. Did you know that “Play Misty for Me” was Eastwood's directorial debut?

2 – Eastwood's debut as a director was quite successful on a financial standpoint. Not only was the film finished four days ahead of schedule, but he was also under budget by fifty thousand dollars!

3 – All of the concert scenes were filmed at the Monterey Jazz Festival.

4 – The film is set in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Fifteen years after this film was released, Eastwood would actually be elected mayor of the community!

5 – The film was shot in just twenty-one days!

6 – The events in “Play Misty for Me” were allegedly based on a true story, as radio personality Jean Shepherd was also stalked by a female fan.

7 – Steve McQueen was offered the lead role in the film, but he declined. His excuse? He didn't like the fact that the female lead had a stronger part than the male lead!

8 – Jessica Walter was nominated for a Golden Globe award for her performance in “Play Misty for Me”, but lost to Jane Fonda.


So, that's our look back on the film “Play Misty for Me”, as well as my memories of requesting songs on the radio so I could record them.

And, just as a disclaimer...I never did develop any crazy crushes on any of the disc jockeys I listened to. You know...just to make that clear.  

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Divinyl Intervention - Touching, No?

I've decided to keep the Sunday Jukebox a one-hit-wonder zone for the month of September, but before I go ahead with today's topic, I feel as though I need to offer up a little bit of a disclaimer.

Although I'm not going to be uttering a bunch of useless swears, disgusting, off-colour jokes, or turning this blog into a huge salute to the animated violence found in the recently released “Grand Theft Auto V”, I will be giving this blog a rating of “T” for Teen. I contemplated making the subject rated “M” for Mature, but to be honest with you, I don't think the subject matter is THAT bad.



That said, the subject matter is such that it's kind of on the...well...mature side. Too mature for say, a nine year old, but perfectly acceptable for someone who is thirteen or over.

So as you might have guessed, today's song has some subject matter which I would classify as not really appropriate for younger children. You've been warned ahead of time.

And, as you might have figured out, this song happens to be a one-hit-wonder – at least by American standards anyway.



So, I'm not sure if you've heard of the Parents Music Resource Center (affectionately or non-affectionately known as the PMRC). The group was founded in 1985 by Tipper Gore, Sally Nevius, Susan Baker, and Pam Howar, and if you're looking for the group that was responsible for those black and white “Parental Advisory” stickers that can be found on the bottom-right corner of most albums found in record stores today, they are the ones you can thank (or blame) for that addition.

They also came up with a list of songs at the time the group was founded known as the “Filthy Fifteen”. Songs that the group felt objectionable, and songs which the group believed provided a poor message to the youth of America.

I bet you're dying to know exactly what the so called “Filthy Fifteen” are, right? As it happens, I have that list. And, pay special attention to the ones that I have highlighted in a different colour.

Let Me Put My Love Into You” by AC/DC
Trashed” by Black Sabbath
High n' Dry (Saturday Night)” by Def Leppard
Sugar Walls” by Sheena Easton
Eat Me Alive” by Judas Priest
She Bop” by Cyndi Lauper
Dress You Up” by Madonna
In My House” by Mary Jane Girls
Into The Coven” by Mercyful Fate
Bastard” by Motley Crue
Darling Nikki” by Prince
We're Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister
Strap On Robbie Baby” by Vanity
Possessed” by Venom
Animal (F@#$ Like A Beast)” by W.A.S.P.

Okay, so looking at that list, some of them are understandable. The group known as W.A.S.P. may have their fans, but there is no radio station that would play a song with that title unless it was edited out. Prince's “Darling Nikki” is quite the explicit song. I don't even think I can post the link to it. And, let's face it. We all know that Sheena Easton's “Sugar Walls” can only be found...below the belt. Not going to say any more about that one.

But, putting that classic Twisted Sister song on that list? Really? I mean, I suppose that it was sort of wrong to promote violence as that mean old dad kept getting injured...but with his attitude at the beginning of that song, he was sort of asking for it! It's a song that urged kids to challenge everything and to stand up to bullies and to make a stand.

Oh, wait...now I know why the PMRC hated that song.

And, really. “Dress You Up” in my love? THAT'S offensive? Not compared to some of the songs that you hear on the radio now. Truth be told, dressing someone up in your love sounds incredibly romantic as far as I'm concerned.

But, I digress.

Whatever the case, the songs on the “Filthy Fifteen” were chosen because their lyrics promoted violence, sex, the occult, and drug and alcohol usage.

So, why have I specifically highlighed the Cyndi Lauper and Prince songs within the “Filthy Fifteen”? Glad you asked. As it so happens, today's song also deals with the same subject that placed Prince and Cyndi Lauper on that “Filthy Fifteen” list. And it's a song that when it was released in the early 1990s, it received quite a bit of controversy given its subject matter.

Of course, controversy seems to sell almost every record. In the case of this song, it took the song all the way to #2 on the Billboard Charts, and topped the charts in their native Australia. In fact, if you're reading this blog from the Land Down Under right now, you'll likely be calling me a liar, as down in Australia, this group was as far from being a one-hit-wonder as you could get. Here in Canada and the United States, this song was the only one to ever reach as high a position on the Billboard Charts.

And that's despite the fact that when the song was released, many radio stations refused to play it because they felt that people would become offended by the song's content. I actually almost died of shock when the retro music station that I sometimes listen to on the radio actually played the song in the middle of the lunch hour!

So, what makes this song so controversial? Well, why don't I just post it, and we'll get the discussion started down below.



ARTIST: Divinyls
SONG: I Touch Myself
ALBUM: Divinyls
DATE RELEASED: December 2, 1990
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #2

I'm sure that the title's a dead giveaway.

Of course, before we begin talking about the song, let's talk a little bit about the band.



While the band who called themselves “Divinyls” were just a one-hit-wonder band here in North America, it certainly wasn't the case back in their native Australia, with the band releasing a total of five studio albums – four of which made the Australian Top 10 album sales charts. Since the band was founded in Sydney, Australia in 1980, the band released approximately two dozen singles. Most of them only peaked within the Top 50, but a few reached the Top 40. The band even scored their first (and only) #1 hit in 1991 with the song heard above.

At the time that “I Touch Myself” was released, the Divinyls were comprised of Chrissy Amphlett, Mark McEntee (two of the founding members of the group), Tim Millikan, Charley Drayton, Benmont Terch, and Randy Jackson.

(And by Randy Jackson, I don't mean Michael Jackson's brother or the American Idol judge.)

Anyway, the band stood out amongst the crowd, thanks largely in part to the sexuality that lead singer Amphlett brought to every single performance, as well as the brashness and humour she was known to display during talk show appearances and celebrity interviews for magazines.

I suppose given that, it makes sense as to why Amphlett would agree to record a single about...well...touching one's self. An activity that some people believe is a sin.

(Some people. Not myself, but some people.)

Anyway, back to the story. The reason why those songs by Cyndi Lauper and Prince were added to the list of the “Filthy Fifteen” is because those songs included references to...well...touching yourself.

I would imagine that had this Divinyls song been released five years earlier than it was, it more than likely would have kicked the Twisted Sister song off the list. At the very least, it would have gotten one of those Parental Advisory stickers on it, right?

Well, to be honest with you, after listening to the song a bunch of times, I don't think it's as naughty a song as it once was. At least, not compared to some of the other songs that have been played on the radio as of late. Seriously, comparing this song to Rihanna's “Rude Boy”, it makes this song sound like it came from “The Sound of Music” soundtrack.

(Okay, now I have this disturbing image of Julie Andrews singing this song. My bad.)

But seriously...I think that there are a couple of ways that one could interpret this song...and it all stems from the way that you define the words “I Touch Myself”.

Now, we've already discussed the meaning of one of these ways. Obviously, most people will automatically gravitate towards the idea that touching yourself really does mean...well...touching yourself. And, I'm 99.9% sure that this was what the band meant for you to think. It was a killer song with an addictive hook that was hardly ever played on radio because people's minds instantly went there and decided that the song was too hot to be seen on air or played on the radio.

Though, to be fair, Madonna and Quebec chanteuse Mitsou both had videos banned from MuchMusic the same year that “I Touch Myself” was released. I take it 1990 was a year in which everything was challenged and one-upped. I'm just speculating though. I was only nine, and was very much likely shielded from watching the music video clips by my parents.

The joys of growing up as the youngest child in the family...

Now, what if I told you that I have found a different way to interpret the song. It's a stretch, mind you, but had radio and television promoted the single like this, it may have gotten more airplay. Bear with me here.

I'm sure that most of you have heard the saying “I feel so touched”, right? It has nothing to do with the actual sense of touch as it does the feeling of love. Obviously if your true love tells you how they really feel about you in a loving, devoted sense, you'll naturally feel this feeling of warmth and joy...almost as if they've touched your heart in a romantic way.

So, you could also make the claim that every time Chrissy Amphlett thought about her man, it touches her in a way that she never thought possible...as if nobody else could ever love her in that way the way that he could.

Again, I'm stretching that explanation more than most people would stretch a piece of taffy. But it kind of works, doesn't it? At least humour me and tell me that this is the case! Please?

Anyway, the song itself still remains a hit in the world of pop culture, and the level of controversy associated with the song faded over time. The song appeared in the 1992 film “Prelude to a Kiss”, as well as in this memorable scene from the 1997 film “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery”.



Yeah...a bikini brief clad Mike Myers using his body to blow up fembots. That's an image that I will have a hard time removing from my brain.

And would you believe that the song has since been covered by Eve 6, Ben Folds, P!nk, and Weird Al Yankovic over the years? Very impressive.

Unfortunately for the Divinyls, this song ended up being one of the band's last hits. Six years later, Amphlett and McEntee had a huge falling out which inevitably broke the band up in 1997, during which time Amphlett pursued a career acting on stage in plays and musicals. Both Amphlett and McEntee would pursue solo projects as well, albeit to limited success. The two reunited at the 2006 ARIA Hall of Fame (ARIA standing for the Australian Recording Industry Association), and released some new material the following year. Sadly, the reunion was cut short in 2009 as Amphlett was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and was forced to call the Divinyls quits. And because she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, it made her unable to seek out any cancer fighting treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in the early 2010s.



On April 21, 2013, Chrissy Amphlett passed away in New York City at just 53 years old.

However, somewhere up there, I'm certain that Chrissy is probably having a ball telling all of the angels up there about how her song about touching oneself ended up nearly topping the charts here in North America.


At least, we can dream of Amphlett making those stuffy harp-playing angels blush!  

Saturday, September 21, 2013

The Super Mario Brothers Super Show

So, this is the Saturday Smorgasbord for today, and to open things up, I will warn you ahead of time. Although the third Saturday in the month is usually dedicated towards cartoons, the first part of the entry will focus on video games. When you read on, you'll understand why.



I mentioned this last week in this space, but I've almost always been a loyal customer of Nintendo and Nintendo related products. I did own a Sony PlayStation and an Intellivision at some time, but for the most part, I've always been a Nintendo fan. I owned the original Nintendo, the Super Nintendo, and the Nintendo DS and 3DS. I just loved every single video game released on the various consoles. To me, Nintendo was a major part of my childhood (and remains a big part of my adulthood as well), and I wil forever be a fan.



That's why when I heard the news that former President of Nintendo Hiroshi Yamauchi passed away at the age of 85 after a battle with pneumonia, the video game world mourned his loss. This is a man who spent practically his whole life working for Nintendo. He joined the company in 1949 at a time in which the company only focused on the manufacturing of playing cards, and by the mid-1980s transformed it into one of the most successful video game companies of all-time. Although he stepped down from his role as president of the company in 2002, he remained with the company until 2005. What makes Yamauchi stand out in the crowd of CEO's in the business world is the fact that when he retired, he refused to accept his retirement pension (which at the time was worth at least ten million dollars US) because he felt that the company could find a better use for the money! And, while he retained a 10% share in all of Nintendo's profits, he used the profits generated from sales of the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS and built a cancer treatment center in Kyoto, Japan! Even with the recent financial troubles that Nintendo experienced in the latter part of 2012 in which Yamauchi reportedly lost a large fortune, he still had enough money to ensure that his retirement was a comfortable one.

His death on September 19, 2013 was a real loss to Nintendo, and the gaming world in general. I know that my childhood was greatly impacted by his contributions to Nintendo, and I for one am grateful for everything he did.

Granted, I don't think my teachers felt quite the same way as I often did my homework at the last minute as a result of a marathon gaming session. But, hey...they didn't have to know that at the time.

So, for today's entry in the blog, I wanted to pay homage to Hiroshi Yamauchi, as well as Nintendo in general by doing a special blog on Nintendo.

But, considering that this is supposed to be a blog on cartoons, can it be done?

I say...yes.

I'm not sure how many of you actually are aware of this, but several Nintendo video games have been made into animated cartoons. Years ago on TeleToon (Canada's version of The Cartoon Network), there was a cartoon that was based off of the successful Donkey Kong series.

If you watched Captain N: The Video Game Master at all, you'd recognize some characters found in Nintendo games. You'd recognize characters from Kid Icarus, Mega Man, and Castlevania found in that cartoon.

And, let's be honest here. Although Sega did create Sonic the Hedgehog, since Nintendo bought out Sega a few years back, Sonic is considered to be a part of the Nintendo family, and as such, we can include the two cartoon variations of Sonic the Hedgehog that have aired over the years.

But for today's special look back on Saturday Morning television, we're going to look at the cartoon that started it all off. It remains the very first Nintendo cartoon to ever air on television, and as of 2013, you can pick up the entire series on DVD format.

Unfortunately, the one beef that I have with the cartoon is that in the twenty-four years since it first aired, it has not aged well. But as an eight year old kid, I couldn't get enough of it. Though admittedly, I liked the cartoon portion of the show than the live-action parts.

Imagine that, a television show that combined cartoons with live-action.

I'm not about to keep you hanging with baited breath any longer. Let's just take a look at the intro of today's show.



Yes. We are going to be taking a look at “The Super Mario Brothers Super Show”!



The show debuted on most FOX stations on September 4, 1989 and ran for thirteen weeks with the run concluding on December 1 of the same year. But what was interesting about the show was that unlike most television cartoons in which a season was equivalent to thirteen episodes, this series ran for a total of sixty-five. That's because the show aired five days a week instead of just once. Although the series only lasted one season, the reruns continued well into 1991 – likely sparked by the popularity of Mario games at that time.

(Truth be told, if I were to ask a random group of people what they consider to be the golden era of Super Mario was, they'd likely say the late 1980s and early 1990s. But I'll also state that Mario has seen a period of renaissance beginning with the release of the New Super Mario Brothers series.)

Now, as I mentioned before, the show was a combination of live action segments and cartoon segments. At the beginning of the show and the end of the show were the live action components.



The way the live action scenes worked were like this. As most of you know, Mario and Luigi worked as plumbers in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Somehow, both of them ended up sucked into the wrong pipe while on a plumbing job, and they both find themselves in the Mushroom Kingdom, where they've essentially been rescuing Princess (I still refuse to call her Peach) Toadstool from Bowser's clutches since 1985.

Well, the live action scenes were set in the Mario Brothers plumbing offices in the heart of Brooklyn. Mario was portrayed by WWE wrestler Captain Lou Albano (1933-2009), and Luigi was played by character actor Danny Wells (b. 1941). And in each of their scenes, they would often be given a plot outlined on a sheet of paper, and both Lou and Danny would have to improvise their lines. Sometimes Lou and Danny would step out of character and portray themselves on the show as well.

The show would also feature special celebrity guests who at the time were huge named stars in prime time television or star athletes. Below is a partial list of some of the celebrities that appeared on the show.

Lyle Alzado (former football player)
Brian Bonsall (Wesley from Mr. Belvedere)
Donna Douglas (Elly Mae from The Beverly Hillbillies)
Nicole Eggert (Jaime from Charles in Charge/Summer from Baywatch)
Norman Fell (Mr. Roper from Three's Company)
Magic Johnson (former basketball player)
Cyndi Lauper (“Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” singer)
Danica McKellar (Winnie from The Wonder Years)
Eve Plumb (Jan from The Brady Bunch)
Nedra Volz (Adelaide from Diff'rent Strokes)
Vanna White (letter turner on Wheel of Fortune)

TRIVIA: This wasn't the first time Lou Albano would work with Cyndi Lauper. He played Cyndi's dad in the “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” music video!

The show also had a few crossovers with some other cartoons. Given that the cartoon was produced by DiC Entertainment, naturally other DiC creations would make an appearance. But, did you think that they would appear in the live action segments? It's true!

Ernie Hudson appeared as a character known as “Slimebuster”, a parody of the character he played in the 1984 film “Ghostbusters”. Dic Entertainment would have a hand in bringing the animated series based on the film to the small screen.

And even Inspector Gadget would make an appearance...though Don Adams wouldn't portray him. This version was performed by Maurice LaMarche (who actually voiced Chief Quimby in the cartoon's second year). “Inspector Gadget” was also produced by DiC Entertainment, and if you watch the clip below, LaMarche actually does a brilliant job doing “Gadget's” voice.


Now, as for the animated portions of the show? Well, depending on the day in which you watched the show, you would see different cartoons.



If you were to watch the show on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, you would see an animated version of the Super Mario Brothers. Given that the show originally aired in 1989, the cartoons were based on the video games “Super Mario Brothers” and “Super Mario Brothers 2”, as “Super Mario 3” wasn't released in North America until February 1990.

(However DiC would later produce separate cartoons for both “Super Mario Brothers 3” and “Super Mario World”, which aired on NBC in 1990 and 1991 respectively.)

Although enemies from both “Super Mario Brothers” and “Super Mario Brothers 2” appear in the cartoons, we only see Bowser as the show's main antagonist. Keep in mind that Wart was all a figment of Mario's imagination at the end of the second game.

In addition to Mario, Luigi, and Bowser, Toad and Princess (I still refuse to call her Peach) Toadstool make appearances as well. And, hey, in some of these cartoons, Princess Toadstool actually makes it through an entire episode without being kidnapped! Must be a new record!

Now, that was what you saw on Mondays through Thursdays. What about Fridays?

Well, lest you believe that Super Mario was Nintendo's only creation at the time the show aired, you would be wrong. Did you know that “The Legend of Zelda” was released in 1986 and became just as popular as Super Mario?



This explains why on Fridays, viewers were treated to an animated version of “The Legend of Zelda”, where we would see Link and Zelda teaming up to wage war against Ganon, who threatens the harmony of Hyrule as well as the power of the Triforce. Although the Zelda series didn't have nearly as many episodes of the series as the Super Mario series did, the way that they were broadcast, you almost had to watch every episode in order, or else you would be completely lost as to trying to understand the plot.

Here. I'll post an episode of the Super Mario series as well as the Zelda series below. Which one do you like best?



Even after the series wrapped up, the show found new life in syndication. In 1990, the show was re-aired under the title “Club Mario”, with the live-action Mario segments replaced with brand new ones featuring “Nintendo obsessed teenagers”. As well, beginning in 1994, The Family Channel began airing the animated series from The Super Mario Brothers Super Show in a package deal with the Super Mario World series (surprisingly enough, Super Mario Brothers 3 was left out of the deal). The cartoons were broadcast under the title of “Mario All-Stars” - coincidentally the same title as the Super Nintendo compilation which saw four Mario games compiled onto one cartridge.

Ultimately, The Super Mario Brothers Super Show was a forgettable entry in the world of Saturday Morning Cartoons, and the program hasn't quite aged as well as it probably should have. But you know what? I loved it. In fact, it probably helped fuel my love for all Nintendo products for ever and ever.

It certainly is a good representation of the legacy that Hiroshi Yamauchi left behind. Ultimately he wanted to create a product that brought fun to boys and girls of all ages, and that's exactly what he accomplished.


Much like The Super Mario Brothers Super Show did all those years ago.

Friday, September 20, 2013

Mrs. Krabappel - World's Worst Teacher?

All right...so over the last couple of weeks, I've talked about teachers and teaching, and how if you have a teacher who really cares about their job, chances are you'll learn just as many lessons outside of the classroom as well as within.

Two weeks ago, we talked about a fictional teacher by the name of Miss Bliss. She didn't appear on television very long (only about a quarter of a year), but in the thirteen episodes we got to know her, she showed that she was a great teacher. Her patience with her class could be tested (especially with Zack Morris and Screech Powers being in her class), but she genuinely knew what she was doing.

Today, we're going to be looking at what one could call the anti-Miss Bliss. Or, I suppose one could call her something along the lines of Miss Apathetic.

I'm sure we have all had at least one teacher out there who simply doesn't care about teaching at all. They're either in the classroom just to get their pay, because they have absolutely nothing else to do with their time, or because they have been left so jaded over the education system that they've seemingly given up.

I'll be the first to tell you that when I was in school, I recall having at least three teachers in my lifetime who simply didn't really have any desire to be there. Granted, in the case of one teacher, he retired shortly after I was a student in his class, so naturally I can't be surprised if he spent more time counting the days to freedom instead of teaching us all about just how evil Caligula really was. But the other two I think were suffering from either an extreme case of burnout, or they were simply in the wrong profession.

Coincidentally, while I won't reveal the identities of people who I have not really had that positive of an experience with...I will state that the teachers who simply didn't care about teaching certainly reflected in the grades I received in said class. After all, if the teacher didn't have any sort of interest in what they were teaching us, how could we as students attempt to even care? It was certainly one of those Catch-22 situations.

But then I thought about looking at it through the teacher's eyes. Maybe there's a reason why they were the way they were. Maybe something happened along the way that caused them to abandon everything they were ever taught about teaching and they built up this impenetrable force field that prevented them from being as good a teacher as they once were.

Or maybe they were just born jerks and there was absolutely nothing that I could do about it.

Well, in today's look back through the pages of TV Guide, we're going to look at a teacher who has seemingly lost her way. Oh, don't let the fact that this teacher is an animated cartoon character fool you. She is the very definition of someone who has seemingly lost sight of what being a teacher is all about, and she literally makes no effort in making sure that her students learn anything. I mean, when you stop and think about it, she's been teaching the same exact children for a grand total of twenty-four years and counting! Frankly, if I knew that a kid in my class was held back twenty-four years, I would be seriously questioning the quality of education my teacher was giving us.

Of course, I try to take a look at the good in everyone. Though it took me some time to find it, I did manage to come up with a list of pros in addition to the cons.

So, let's go over the clues. She's an animated figure, she's been teaching for almost a quarter of a century (even though she nor her students have aged a day), and she is so bitter about her job and placement in life that she has basically given the world of public school a huge “Screw You!”.

Have you figured it out yet?



If you guessed Edna Krabappel, you're absolutely correct! Since “The Simpsons” debuted on FOX in 1989, she has taught the fourth grade students of Springfield Elementary. And, considering the students that are in her class, it's no wonder why she seems to have given up on her once loved career.



Let's see. Well, we have Martin Prince. He's a self-confessed genius who knows everything there is to know about anything. Easily Mrs. Krabappel's best student. Of course, this sets the stage for Martin to outshine his teacher, which makes Mrs. Krabappel even more jaded than ever before.

There's twins Sherri and Terri, who are also bright students but could easily be classified as snobby mean girls who just want to make everyone else who doesn't have a twin feel self-conscious. Trust me, I went to school with a ton of Sherri and Terri's.

There's Nelson Muntz, the class bully who spends more time beating up the weaker kids of Springfield Elementary than cracking open his math books. There's Milhouse Van Houten, who spends more time hiding from Nelson Muntz than brushing up on American History.



And then there's Bartholomew J. Simpson. The very bane of Mrs. Krabappel's existence. The boy who has kept our teacher spotlight on a steady diet of dinners-for-one, cigarettes, and cheap wine for years.

Just how much trouble has Bart caused towards Mrs. Krabappel? Well...

  • He pretended to pose as a love interest for her to get revenge for her taking away his yo-yo.
  • He consistently gets horrible grades in her class, making her doubt her ability to even teach anybody.
  • He pulls pranks on her and all the other students and faculty in the school.
  • When Mrs. Krabappel embarked on a secret affair with Principal Skinner, Bart exposed their torrid little affair.

No wonder Mrs. Krabappel has absolutely no love for her job anymore.

But wait. There's a lot more to this story than what we're lead to believe. Yes, Mrs. Krabappel is a lost soul on the campus grounds of Springfield Elementary. But she certainly didn't start off that way.

To be honest, the origin story of Mrs. Krabappel has changed and been retconned so much that not even I know what the real story is. But the one that seems to make the most sense is the one theory that was explained in the episode “The Seemingly Never-Ending Story”, which originally aired on March 12, 2006.

In that episode, we learn that the summer before she began teaching at Springfield Elementary, she was in a relationship with Moe Szyslak of all people! The relationship between both of them was absolutely perfect, but Edna didn't particularly care for tavern owners, prompting Moe to come up with a way to abandon his business without Edna finding out the truth. The rest of the plot was kind of contrived involving known criminal Snake and a bunch of Mayan coins, but how the love story ended really sets the stage for Edna Krabappel's life.

You see, Edna and Moe were about to leave Springfield for good and one of the last things that she had to do was resign from her new job at Springfield Elementary. The problem was that there was one person who prevented her from doing exactly that.

Bart Simpson.

Turns out that Bart Simpson was feeling sorry for himself. At that time, Bart was a year or two away from being a student in Mrs. Krabappel's class, and he told her a huge sob story about how he constantly was getting into trouble and that he wouldn't amount to anything and that he was a lost cause. At that point in her life, Mrs. Krabappel didn't like to see anybody fall through the cracks, so she bought into Bart's cries for help hook, line, and sinker - unaware that Bart was only acting that way to cause a distraction for Nelson himself to steal some equipment from Springfield Elementary.

And, the rest, shall we say...is history. In just two short years, Mrs. Krabappel went from a teacher who wanted to change the world, to becoming a woman who was so jaded and so bitter about life that she just stopped caring. A rather depressing display, don't you think?



Ah, but wait. What if I told you that inside that battered, bruised, and broken heart lay a single ray of hope? What if I told you that despite all of the hurt in her life, there's still a little piece of her that still cared? You'd think I was nuts, right?

Well, consider this.

At some point before the show began, we know that Mrs. Krabappel was married. We can only assume that her former husband's last name was Krabappel. And we can assume that based on how she belittles herself and has a bit of a warped view on love that her husband certainly lived up to his name. The divorce was finalized by the time the show began, and we are constantly reminded that for the first few seasons of the show that Mrs. Krabappel was a lonely woman. She frequently bought soup servings for one, watched trashy television, engrossed herself in romance novels, and basically jumped all over every single man who crossed her path be it a high school principal, a Japanese sushi chef, or even a member of rock band Aerosmith!



That's why some people really considered it cruel when Bart created the mystery man of “Woodrow” (in the guise of hockey player Gordie Howe) in a fit of revenge against his teacher for spoiling his fun. 



However, when Bart witnessed his teacher breaking down in a fancy restaurant after “Woodrow” stood her up, he really felt horrible. With help from the rest of his family (well, with help from everyone except Maggie and Homer to a lesser extent), Bart wrote Mrs. Krabappel a final letter from “Woodrow”, which broke things off with her, but let her know that she was loved. And, you know, I do think that while Bart's intentions were initially mean-spirited, by reading Edna's letters to “Woodrow”, he got a better sense of who she was.



And hey, it's not as if Mrs. Krabappel took great pleasure in failing her students. Sure, when Bart kept failing her tests, she did take some joy in using her faithful red pen to mark off every question that Bart got wrong. But in the season two opener, Bart really did study hard for a test when he prayed for a snow day (and magically got one), and he missed passing by one mark. He broke down in tears in front of a shocked Mrs. Krabappel who actually attempted to comfort him. And in what could have been one of Mrs. K's greatest moments, she actually awarded Bart an extra credit point when during his meltdown he revealed a fact about American History that was correct. She found it within the kindness of her broken heart to award Bart an extra point bringing his final grade to a D-minus.



All right, so a D-minus is nothing special. To Bart, it was worth everything. And, he thanked his teacher by kissing her on the cheek...and promptly regretting it once he came to his senses!



Basically, Mrs. Krabappel could be a great teacher if she put out the effort to make it happen. And, I think at times when she was at her most happiest in life, those were the times in which she was at her happiest. In particular when she was in a relationship with someone else. She and Principal Skinner had a little fling going on for a few seasons (in which Bart accidentally discovered their secret which caused both Skinner and Krabappel to blackmail him into doing their dirty work, which lead to Bart exposing the affair), but we all knew that Principal Skinner's only commitment was to his mother. The relationship was doomed to fail from the very beginning.



Although, Mrs. Krabappel has apparently fallen for Ned Flanders of all people, which kind of makes me chuckle. The so-called scarlet woman of Springfield entering into a romance with the purest man in Springfield. Sigh...the writers of The Simpsons clearly know the definition of irony, that's for sure.

So, I suppose looking back on the life and times of Mrs. Krabappel, it's easy to see how she ended up the way she did. She came into the world of education ready to change the world and be a positive role model for her students. Unfortunately, she became a victim of the American public school system and was placed in what could easily be one of the worst elementary schools in the entire continent of North America, and the more problems she had in her class, combined with the general apathy of the school board and school staff who worked at Springfield Elementary...well, again, it's easy to see where her dreams got derailed along the way and she retreated into her shell of bitterness.

However, several people over the course of her life have gotten her to open up more and in some aspects, they have reminded her why she came to Springfield in the first place. Principal Skinner, Ned Flanders...heck, even Bart Simpson helped her.


Perhaps there may come a time in which Mrs. Krabappel finally sees her purpose, and she may end up getting her second wind yet. But, I'm not exactly holding my breath on that one.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Gym-Dandy? Not Very! (Part II of II)

Before I go ahead with today's blog entry, I just wanted to take the time to pay my respect to those who were killed or injured in the deadly double decker bus crash in Ottawa, Ontario yesterday morning. It was a devastating crash with at least six people dead and several others seriously injured, and I can't even imagine the terror that the people on the bus, as well as the people on the train that the bus collided with went through.

Ottawa is almost considered to be like a second home to me. I lived in that city for two years and loved every single minute of it. I rode on the OC Transpo buses almost daily when I did live in the city. Having a parent who worked for a railroad for over thirty years helped me understand railway crossing safety better than anyone else that I know. We don't know how the accident unfolded, and with the driver of the bus being one of the victims, we might never understand what happened. All I know is that my heart definitely goes out to the victims of the accident.

Now, when we last left off, I was doing a two-part blog entry. In the first part of the entry, I talked about my overall dislike of gym class, why I hated it, and why looking back on it all, they were just excuses that I had come up with to try and justify why I wasn't the most active kid in the world.

As we go ahead towards part two of this diary entry, I talk about how my general distaste for gym class affected me in my adult life...and how there's a certain kind of place that I am sort of nervous to venture into as a result of it. Not because of the things inside of it...but because of something else. It could very well be one of the most emotional things that I have ever revealed in this blog entry.

September 19, 2013

Okay, so where did I last leave off? Oh, yes. I remember now. I was making all sorts of excuses over why I was not the best student in any of my gym classes, and how those excuses seemed to give me a negative view on keeping fit while having fun.



Oh, dear lord...did I just channel Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod in this blog entry? Yikes.

Anyway, I have a bit of a confession to make that is related to the post that I made yesterday...and it is my hope that with this confession that I will be making that I will not only help people understand why my opinions of healthy wellness were always tinted in shades of self-loathing, but I also hope that with my confession, I start to understand myself a little better.

My confession is this.



You know all of those gyms that seem to pop up every so often? Be it a 24-Hour Fitness, or a GoodLife fitness club, or the gym at the YMCA, or a Bally's Total Fitness, or a Curves fitness club...they seem to be all over the place. Sign up today at one, and you can get right to work building your muscles and losing inches off of your waist, all while having fun doing it.



Would you believe that I've never set foot inside of a Curves gym? It's true. Of course, I suppose that the main reason is because it's a gym that only has female members.



But, here's the real confession. I've never been inside of a 24-Hour Fitness, a Bally's Total Fitness, a GoodLife Fitness, and the closest I ever got to the YMCA gym was when I had my birthday party at the YMCA when I turned eight years old. That's twenty-four years ago, people.

Truth be told, I'm afraid of going to a gym even though I have heard some people tell me that they are really fun places to go to and I can meet a whole lot of people there. The thought of even going inside the door makes my heart beat twice as fast, and I break out into a sweat even before I attempt to go on one of the various strength building machines scattered throughout the place.

But why would a bunch of machines cause me so much terror? Well, aside from not knowing how to use them, that is. And even so, I'm sure that most gyms would have people working there that would show you how to operate them so that you don't inadvertently become the next YouTube sensation.

I guess in some ways, it all boils down to the self-confidence that I still somewhat lack. I don't feel comfortable working out in front of other people in a gym setting.

Yes, I'm aware that a grade school gym class is way different than an adult gym where you see people running on treadmills and pedalling away on stationary exercise bikes. But I still feel like a fish out of water at places like a gym.

I'll put it out there. I'm a lot smaller than I was when I was in high school, but because of my surgery a couple of years ago, I've gained some weight back. And try as I might, I'm having a difficult time shedding the pounds the second time around.

I'm thinking to myself that enrolling at a gym would be a good step to try and tone up and lose some more weight. Not a fix all, end all solution, but a great asset. After all, you see people on “The Biggest Loser” and “Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition” working out on the show and getting amazing results. And yet, I can't bring myself to call up the number, pay the member activation fee, and work, work, work.

Sounds kind of strange, doesn't it? I'm someone who could benefit from working out at a gym, but yet I'm too chicken to go into one.

I guess there's that little part of me that thinks that I'm going to go in there, have no idea what I'm doing, and somehow end up being the butt of everyone's jokes...taking me back to the time in my life that I want desperately to forget.

It just sounds so incredibly silly for me to have these feelings of inadequacy when it comes to my health and how I look because I know that I have come a long way. I can do a 5K walk with absolutely no problems whatsoever (well, aside from overactive sweat glands which I wish I could do something about). I've participated in charity events in which I have had to do several endurance exercise activities and lived to tell the tale. And, would I have done an eight and a half mile circuit around a track at the Relay for Life back in June if I were as out of shape as I think I am? Of course not!

The truth is, I've overcome a lot of personal challenges in hopes of becoming a better, more active person. My childhood asthma is no longer as much of a hindrance as it was when I was a child, and I have actually found a way to make walking a lot more fun (mind you, it involves strapping on my fully-charged iPod).

I just have to try and find a way to translate that fun into working out at a gym.

But you know what? I've come to the conclusion that if I am really serious about making even more changes to my health and my wellness...I don't think I can do it on my own.

Remember how I told you yesterday about how I entered a weight loss competition at work, and I did especially well? That was only because I had a great group of people who really cared about me. They threw their love and support towards me. They made sure that I didn't eat or drink too much junk food, and they kept me motivated towards the goal. Granted, I came in second in the whole competition, but it was worth it because in the end, I was the healthiest I have ever felt.

I guess I need that support more than ever before in the next phase of my life. I guess I'm reaching out to everyone here, both in my real life, and to all of you who are reading this right now. I guess what I want to do is to feel more confident about myself. That ability has dwindled a bit since 2009, when I had my wake-up call. I guess what I need is people to continue to support me instead of tearing me down, and what I need is people to believe in me so that I can start to believe in myself again.

It's not going to be easy, but I think there's a way that I can become a better person than ever before. I just need help in making it happen.

So, who wants to help me pick out a gym and be my work-out buddy? I figure that my reluctance to drop trou in the locker room after a great workout will be lessened if I know someone who has my back will be there to support me in my goals.


As weird and strange as that sounds, believe me, it comes from the heart.