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Tuesday, November 12, 2013

November 12, 1929

Well, it's the day after Remembrance/Veterans/Armistice Day, and you know what that means? It means Christmas carols playing at the mall, holiday displays being set up in store windows, and seeing those guys and gals in the Santa hats standing next to those kettles ringing a bell, asking for donations for charity.

Yes, it seems that November 12 (coolly this year, it can be written as 11/12/13) is that official date in which we all drop everything and start focusing on all things Christmas. The “Merry Christmas” signs at my workplace have actually been up since November first or second!

Some say it's too early, and I admit to being one of those people. But others like the fact that we're arriving closer to the holidays. One of my friends actually has her living room completely filled with Christmas decorations already! But, you know, I have to say, the photos she showed everyone on her social media page were fantastic.

And, this year, November 12 falls on a Tuesday – which means that it's time to go back through time once more. As far as today's topic goes, there's not a whole lot of reference to Christmas, but the subject is about someone who could be considered a class act.

We'll get to that a little later.

For now, let's see what happened in the world on this date in history, shall we?

1439 – Plymouth, England becomes the first town incorporated by the English parliament

1602 – San Diego, California is discovered and named by Sebastian Viscaino

1793 – The first mayor of Paris, France – Jean Sylvain Bailly – is guillotined

1892 – William “Pudge” Heffelfinger becomes the first professional American football player on record

1912 – The frozen body of Robert Scott and his men are found on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica

1918 – Austria becomes a republic

1927 – Joseph Stalin is left with the undisputed control of the Soviet Union following the expulsion of Leon Trotsky

1933 – Hugh Gray takes the first known photos of the Loch Ness Monster

1936 – The bridge spanning between San Francisco and Oakland opens up to the public

1941 – The Soviet Union launches ski troops for the first time against the German forces following a dip in the temperature to -12 degrees Celsius in Moscow

1942 – The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal between the United States and Japan commences during World War II

1956 – A trio of countries join the United Nations; Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia

1958 – Warren Harding leads a team of rock climbers in the first ascent of The Nose on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley

1969 – Independent investigative reporter Seymour Hersh breaks the story of the My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War

1971 – President Richard Nixon sets a date of February 1, 1972 as the date in which he would like the United States to pull all troops out of Vietnam

1981 – Actor William Holden dies following injuries sustained in a fall at the age of 63

1990 – Tim Berners-Lee publishes a formal proposal for the World Wide Web

1993 – The first Ultimate Fighting Championship match is held in Denver, Colorado

2001 – American Airlines Flight 587 crashes minutes after take-off, killing everybody on board plus five on the ground

2011 – Silvio Berlusconi tenders his resignation as Prime Minister of Italy

November 12 has a lot of celebrity birthdays too, and blowing out candles on 11/12/13 are Marjorie W. Sharmat, Ann Flood, Jack Betts, Brian Hyland, Booker T. Jones, Al Michaels, Neil Young, Buck Dharma, Errol Brown, Katharine Weber, Megan Mullally, Vincent Irizarry, Nadia Comaneci, Sammy Sosa, Craig Parker, Mayte Garcia, Radha Mitchell, Ethan Zohn, Angela Watson, Tevin Campbell, Ashley Williams, Ryan Gosling, Anne Hathaway, and Omarion.

(Oh yeah...Charles Manson and Tonya Harding were born today too...but I don't consider them to be celebrities. More like a psychopath and a jealous figure skating queen bee. And yes, I did go there.)



And, today's blog subject would have turned 84 years old today had she lived...which would make her birthday November 12, 1929.

Have you guessed who it is yet? Here...maybe this song will give you a hint.



Thanks, Mika...for introducing our blog subject for today.  



Today we'll be looking at the life and times of Grace Kelly...the actress turned royal.

Today we'll be talking about Grace Kelly's rise to stardom, how she became one of the most beautiful actresses to grace the silver screen, and how the man she fell in love with introduced her to a life of luxury and royalty.

It just seems hard to believe that the lady who would eventually become the Princess of Monaco began her life in the city of Philadelphia eighty-four years ago today.  Grace Patricia Kelly was born to John Brendan "Jack" Kelly and Margaret Katherine Majer.  And, here's a little bit of trivia for you.  Did you know that Grace was named after her aunt Grace, who died when she was a little girl?  It was because of a promise that Grace's father made to his mother, saying that after the birth of his first daughter in 1925, the next daughter would be given the name.  I suppose it was fate that made sure that another daughter was added to the Kelly family, ensuring that the promise was kept.

Anyway, Grace was the third of four children, and she was born into a family who were very athletically gifted.  After all, her father won gold medals in the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games for rowing.  Her brother John Brendan "Kell" Kelly Jr. was also an Olympic athlete, competing in three Olympic games, winning a bronze medal for swimming in 1956.  As for what he did with the bronze medal...well, we'll get to that a little later.

Of course, Grace didn't follow in the footsteps of her father and brother.  Oh, sure, she might have had the athletic abilities passed down to her.  But rather than swim and row, she decided to go into acting and modelling.  When she was a little girl, she modelled fashions at social events all over Philadelphia, and I suppose you could say that her first part ever was in a production of the play "Don't Feed The Animals", when she was just twelve.  She graduated from high school in 1947, and interestingly enough, if you were to look through the pages of the 1947 Stevens School Yearbook, you might come across the following prediction on the page marked "Stevens' Prophecy".

"Miss Grace P. Kelly - a famous star of stage and screen".

Who knew that prophecy would come true?

Of course, Grace's decision to study acting was not initially well-received.  It was bad enough that she had been rejected from a prestigious school because her math grades were poor.  But when she made the decision to enroll at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, her father wasn't exactly the most supportive.  In fact, he actually compared the profession of acting to streetwalking!

Once she was admitted into the acting program, Grace proved to be a very ambitious student - even using a tape recorder to practice and perfect her speech.  She was more than determined to show everyone that she could be a great actress, and more importantly, she wanted to achieve success on her own.  Fortunately, her acting career got off to a great start, acting in a couple of Broadway musicals including "The Father" and "The Philadelphia Story".

Shortly after that, producer Delbert Mann cast Kelly in the role of Bethel Merriday, which ended up being the first of SIXTY live television appearances...and that success on television made Grace Kelly a sought after actress in the world of motion pictures.



But do you know what her very first movie role was?  I see some of you saying "High Noon" here, which was a very prominent film role for her.  But it actually wasn't her first.  Her very first film appearance was in the 1951 film "Fourteen Hours".  It was actually kind of one of those "blink and you'll miss her" type performances, as she only had a small part.  And unfortunately, it wasn't really noticed by film critics, nor did it lead to instant acting roles.  However, one person who did notice her was her future "High Noon" co-star Gary Cooper, who had met her while visiting the set of "Fourteen Hours".  And after their first meeting, Cooper was heard to remark that Kelly was "different from all these actresses we've been seeing so much of."



And not long after Cooper's first meeting with Kelly, Grace Kelly received a telegram from Hollywood producer Stanley Kramer, offering her the part in "High Noon".  It's unknown as to whether Gary Cooper had any influence or sway in Kelly getting the part...but I'd like to think that he did pass along the suggestion.

And from there, the rest is history.

I could go on and on about the number of films that she did over the next few years for MGM, but I'd be here all day.  Instead, I'll show you a few highlights.



1953's "Mogambo" was actually a role that Grace Kelly got after another actress - Gene Tierney - dropped out of the project for personal reasons.  Not that it mattered for Grace Kelly.  She was more than happy to take over the part.  After all, the film had three irresistible components that made it hard for Grace to turn down.  The film was directed by legendary director John Ford.  Her co-star was Clark Gable.  And the film was shot on location in Nairobi, Kenya.  The fact that the movie was filmed in Africa was the selling point for Kelly, who later claimed in an interview that she would have turned the part down had the film been shot in Arizona!



"Dial M For Murder" was the first time that Kelly would work with director Alfred Hitchcock, and after Hitchcock watched her screen test, he was very impressed - so impressed that he became a mentor of sorts to Kelly.  And the film did extremely well at the box office, largely because of scenes like the one below.  



And, of course this lead to the second project that Kelly would work on with Alfred Hitchcock, "Rear Window" (which coincidentally happens to be my favourite film starring Grace Kelly).  The success of the film was largely attributed to the chemistry between Kelly and co-star James Stewart.  Of course, it helped that James was extremely enthusiastic about working with her.  Have a look at the trailer below.



There's an interesting story about Grace Kelly's performance in "The Country Girl", which she starred in alongside Bing Crosby.  She was nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award, but the odds on favourite to win was Judy Garland for her role in "A Star Is Born".  At the 1955 ceremony, Garland was unable to attend the actual ceremony because she had just given birth to her son.  Because everyone expected her to win, a television crew was set to film her from her hospital bed when the award was announced.  When Grace Kelly ended up winning the award instead, the television crew dispersed without saying one word to Garland!



Can you say...awkward?

And then there was 1955's "To Catch A Thief" - arguably Grace Kelly's signature role and the third and final film in which she would work with Alfred Hitchcock.  She starred in the movie alongside Cary Grant, and rather than talk about the movie, why not show you a clip from the film featuring Grant and Kelly?



In April 1955, Grace Kelly was invited to the Cannes Film Festival to head the United States delegation, and while she was there, she met with Prince Rainier of Monaco for a photo session.

Upon returning to America to film "The Swan" (ironically enough playing the part of a princess), it was discovered that Grace had been secretly sending messages and telegrams to Prince Rainier, and there was speculation that when Prince Rainier visited America on a trip that he was there to look for a wife.  After all, there was a treaty drafted up in 1918 that stated that if Rainier had not produced an heir, Monaco would revert to France as a result of the Monaco Succession Crisis of 1918.

Luckily for Prince Rainier, it seemed as though he and Grace Kelly were meant to be together.  Three days after meeting Grace's family, Rainier proposed marriage, and Grace accepted, leading to what some Hollywood insiders at the time would call "The Wedding of the Century".

(I dunno...I think Charles and Diana's 1981 wedding holds that title.)



But whatever the case, the wedding took place in April 1956, and the ceremony was broadcast all throughout Europe.  Some thirty million people watched the wedding on television, and the couple had a honeymoon aboard Rainier's own personal yacht Deo Juvante II that lasted seven weeks!

(And, remember how I told you that Grace's brother had won a bronze medal for swimming in the Olympics?  He actually presented Grace with the medal seven months after her wedding as a present to her!  Isn't that sweet?)

So, that was how Grace Kelly became Princess of Monaco.  She gave birth to three children, Caroline, Albert, and Stephanie between 1957 and 1965, and although she was tempted to return to the silver screen after her wedding, she never did act in any film after 1956.  Instead, she spent the rest of her life preserving the art institutes of Monaco, and even establishing the Princess Grace Foundation as a way to help artisans get started with their careers.  She also planned a yearly Christmas party for local orphans, as well as promoted La Leche League - an organization that promoted breastfeeding.

Sadly, on September 13, 1982, the life of Princess Grace met a tragic end.  She was driving to her country home with her daughter Stephanie in the passenger seat when she suffered a stroke behind the wheel.  The car steered off the road and down the side of a mountain.  Although both Stephanie and Grace survived the accident, Grace was unconscious and unresponsive.  One day later, on September 14, Princess Grace was declared dead.

At her funeral four days later, several of Grace's co-stars and world leaders arrived to pay their final respects which included Diana, Princess of Wales, Nancy Reagan, and James Stewart, who eulogized her with these words.


"You know, I just love Grace Kelly. Not because she was a princess, not because she was an actress, not because she was my friend, but because she was just about the nicest lady I ever met. Grace brought into my life as she brought into yours, a soft, warm light every time I saw her, and every time I saw her was a holiday of its own. No question, I'll miss her, we'll all miss her, God bless you, Princess Grace."

And, to end this entry off...a duet she sang with Bing Crosby on what would become her final film...1956's "High Society".


Monday, November 11, 2013

Saving Private Ryan

Before we go ahead with today's edition of the Pop Culture Addict's Guide To Life, there is something that I need to do.



Today is November 11, which depending on what part of the world you live in can have several different names.

For instance, if you happen to be reading this blog entry from across the pond in the group of countries known as the United Kingdom, then today is known as Armistice Day.

If you're in the country directly below the one that I am typing this blog entry from (in which case would be the United States), then you would be observing Veterans Day.

And in my home country of Canada, we take time out every November 11 to remember those soldiers who were killed during times of major conflict - which could explain why in Canada today is known as Remembrance Day.

This is the third Remembrance Day entry that I have done since I began this blog two and a half years ago, and as you can tell, there are similarities in every single November 11 blog entry that I've done.  You'll notice that every single entry that I have written on this date have been in red.  That's partly because of the fact that the international symbol of Armistice/Remembrance/Veterans Day is the poppy - made famous by the John McCrae poem "In Flanders Fields".  Here, I've posted the poem below this paragraph for all of you to reflect on.



Secondly, I'll be posting some image of a poppy within this blog as a show of remembrance.  You can see it below.



Now, whether you choose to wear a red poppy to honour those soldiers who died in combat, or whether you happen to decide to wear a white poppy (for more information on that controversial move, you may click HERE if you like), or whether you choose not to wear a poppy at all...well, that's entirely your choice.  Myself, I choose to wear a red poppy and display a red poppy decal because of the fact that thousands of soldiers sacrificed their lives for their country so that we still have the opportunity to make the decision as to what kind of poppy (if any) we want to wear on this date.

And, thirdly, as always, I want to take the opportunity to remember those brave men and women who died for us by posting a moment of silence within this blog.  Before you scroll down any further in this blog, take the time and observe the moment of silence with me and all of the readers who happen to be viewing this entry.



And now, on with the main topic for today - which is one that I find to be appropriate given the tone of the day.

As you well know, Armistice/Remembrance/Veterans Day is one of those days in which we pay respects to those who fought in the trenches and who lost their lives to protect the freedoms and dreams that all of us currently have and enjoy today.  For those of us who have known someone who served in the Army, the Marines, The Navy, or the Air Force, we all have heard the stories of war and all of the things that they witnessed.  When I was in school, we would have men come into the classrooms to talk about their experiences fighting in World War II, and while some of the stories they told were interesting, they were also very tragic.  Hearing all of the stories of those men witnessing their friends lose their lives or seeing innocent people get slaughtered because they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time...they were heartbreaking.

I honestly don't think that I could imagine being on the battleground of a major conflict during the two World Wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, or even Operation: Iraqi Freedom.  My hat certainly goes off to the men and women who have fought for our freedom and defended our nations.  They certainly have exhibited more bravery than I have.  I only wish I could be as strong and valiant.

So, for today's blog, why not discuss a movie that features the bonds that soldiers formed with each other as they united for a common cause.  A film that was one of the best war movies ever made.  A movie in which its first 25 minutes featured some of the most realistic depictions of battles during the second World War.



Ever hear of a movie called "Saving Private Ryan"?  It was only one of the biggest films of 1998, after all.  It also happens to be the absolute perfect film to spotlight in this entry for Armistice/Remembrance/Veterans Day this year.  

I was actually torn between "Saving Private Ryan" and the 2001 film "Pearl Harbor", but I decided that Saving Private Ryan was a much better fit for today.  Besides, "Pearl Harbor" was kind of slaughtered by the critics anyway.

The film - released July 24, 1998 - was an epic masterpiece put together by the team of Steven Spielberg and Robert Rodat, and the entire cast was a who's who of Hollywood A-listers.  You had Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Jeremy Davies, Adam Goldberg, Paul Giamatti, Ted Danson, Bryan Cranston, Nathan Fillion, and Dennis Farina starring in the picture.  It was almost as if they had cast the entire attendance list at the Cannes Film Festival in one movie!

Is it any wonder that the film earned a total of almost half a billion dollars at the box office, and that it earned several awards including five Academy Awards? 

The story of "Saving Private Ryan" was inspired by a trip that screenwriter Robert Rodat took to New Hampshire four years before the film was released.  In the small community of Putney Corners, Rodat found a monument dedicated to those who served in the armed forces from the early days of the American Civil War to the final days of the Vietnam War.  And one detail about the monument inspired Rodat to come up with the main plot of the story.

After discovering the names of eight siblings who fought and died in the American Civil War, Rodat went to work on drafting a story about the same subject - only changing the timeline to World War II (1939-1945).  Rodat finished the draft and sent it in to producer Mark Gordon.  Gordon did accept the script for the screenplay - but only after Rodat had to tweak it and redo it several times beforehand.

I believe that the finished draft of the final script was attempt number eleven!   But you know what?  If you were really passionate about the project as Rodat was, you'd re-write it more times than that if you really wanted to see your vision come to life!

As the story goes, actor Tom Hanks was given the script to read by Gordon, and Hanks loved it right from the start.  In fact, it was Hanks who actually passed the script along to Spielberg to read which prompted Spielberg to take the directing gig.

(Of course, this would hardly be the first and last project that Spielberg would attach himself to regarding the subject of World War II.  Spielberg - who said in an interview once that he believed World War II was the most significant event of the last one hundred years - also had his name accredited to other similar projects such as "1941", "Empire of the Sun", "Schindler's List", and "Band of Brothers".)

As "Saving Private Ryan" begins, the date is June 6, 1944.  And, those of you who are history buffs know that the date is a significant one in the history of World War II.  It's the date that is known as D-Day, the beginning of the Allied invasion of Normandy.  As as many of you might know by reading history textbooks and studying the event in class, you'd know that it was one of the deadliest days in the war, with at least ten thousand people losing their lives.

In this clip below, you can see the arrival of the Allied forces on Omaha Beach and the ensuing battle between the men led by Captain John H. Miller (Hanks) and the German forces.  Be warned though...although this clip only shows a fraction of the action (rhyme not intended) shown within the first twenty-five minutes of the movie, it's still not recommended for young children.



Captain Miller ends up surviving that attack, and forms a group of soldiers to continue to penetrate the German attacks.  

However, fate would send Captain Miller and his men off in an entirely different direction - and that direction would cross paths with the last surviving sibling of the Ryan family.

General George Marshall (Harve Presnell) has received word that of the four Ryan siblings who were all fighting in the war, three of them were killed in action.  Back in the days of World War II, whenever a soldier was killed, a telegram was sent to the homes of their families, informing them of the tragic news.  Imagine being a mother of four boys and getting the news that three of them were never going home again.  It was raw emotion at its finest.

To make matters worse, the fourth brother - Private First Class James Francis Ryan (Damon) - is MIA.  Details were sketchy, but General Marshall deduced that Private First Class Ryan was somewhere in Normandy, and he issues the orders to find him and bring him back home.

And, guess who gets assigned to the task?  You guessed it.  Captain Miller.

Miller assigns six soldiers within his crew to join him in the hunt for Private First Class Ryan - Caparzo (Diesel), Horvath (Sizemore), Jackson (Pepper), Mellish (Goldberg), Reiben (Burns), and Wade (Ribisi).  And over the course of the next few days, the team is confronted with all sorts of challenges and obstacles in order to find out the whereabouts of Private First Class Ryan.  



All I can say is that one of the group of seven meets his end very early in the movie.  I can also tell you that the group happens to have a very interesting encounter with a German soldier who calls himself "Steamboat Willie".  One of the members of the group actually has the desire to defect and flee, but changes his mind at the last minute.  And, the group also discovers the reason why Private First Class Ryan has gone missing from one of Ryan's friends.  It turns out that Ryan has decided to defend a bridge that spans across the Merderet River in the town of Ramelle which is a key place in the battle.  Whoever has control of that bridge would ultimately gain a huge advantage in the battleground.

But as Miller's group knows - attempting to launch such a mission solo would be absolute suicide - so Miller and his brothers in arms try to locate Ryan and force him to come back home before he ends up getting injured or worse.  But little does Miller and his men realize that Ryan has his own agenda in mind, and by the film's conclusion, we learn exactly what it means to be a part of a brotherhood of men, fighting together for the greater good...and learning the true meaning of sacrifice along the way.

And, that's all that I plan on talking about in regards to this film.  I purposely refused to give out too many spoilers in this film because I recommend that for today, you give this movie a viewing.  It is probably one of the best examples of a film that I can think of to honour those who fought for the freedom that we all enjoy today, and to really appreciate just what these brave men and women sacrificed in order to keep the peace.


Sunday, November 10, 2013

Close To You - A "Bonafide" Hit

The 1990s were an interesting decade of sorts in the music industry. After all, it was one of the few decades which seemed to have a distinct mosaic of musical styles topping the charts, depending on what part of the decade you experienced.

Having lived through the entire decade known as the 1990s (I was eight when they began and eighteen when they ended), I can certainly attest to the different styles of music that dominated the charts, depending on the year.

For instance, if you were to visit the late 1990s – the period between 1996 and 1999 – you'd notice a whole lot of pop music dominating the charts. The Spice Girls, The Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and 98 Degrees all released their debut albums during that period which I affectionately call the “Boy Band Era”. In the mid-1990s, grunge music was all the rage. And, the early part of the decade brought us tons of high energy dance music. I often wonder how many car accidents took place between 1990 and 1993 because of people driving down the road and getting distracted by all that dance music? Literally, it was all you heard for three or four years during the early 1990s.

And yet, I have to admit that some of my all-time favourite music comes from the period between 1990 and 1993. That period that was jam packed with high energy music filled with funky beats, rap solos, and where every single song had at least one piano solo.

I suppose that a part of it could be the fact that a lot of us fondly remember the music that was playing on the radio during our formative years.

Also known as the years that we were entering puberty.

For me, that period was the early 1990s. In fact, if you were to look at my playlist on my iPod, you would find three distinct eras of music. You would find 1980s New Wave (a favourite), 1960s Motown (also a favourite), and 1990s rhythm and blues and new jack swing music.

Most guys my age back in the early 1990s listened to a lot of the rock and roll music of that era, and I will admit that there were some artists and bands that put out rock music that I enjoyed. R.E.M., Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stone Temple Pilots, and U2 were probably among some of my all time favourite rock groups of the time.

But I'll admit that some of my favourite music was music that was a combination of classic pop, blues, and jazz. And, there was no better time in the history of music where all three of these genres were fused together than the early 1990s.

Lisa Stansfield, Shanice, Tevin Campbell, TLC, Toni Braxton, Boyz II Men, and Michael AND Janet Jackson.  Those were the people who made my childhood musically memorable.  I don't know if I could "jam" as well to those jams as those guys did - mainly because every time I tried to jam along with the jams, my jams always looked like an awkward version of the "Lady Marmalade" dance.  But, I have to admit that at least doing homework assignments in school were made a lot more fun listening to those songs on the radio.

And, well...today's flashback to 1990s music continues with a spotlight on a man who some of you may not know.  But you will know him better after reading this article on him, which will include today's Sunday Jukebox spotlight.

Now, if I told you that today's musical artist was born with the given name of Max Alfred Elliott, you'd probably wonder what singles he released, or even who he is.  Some of you might think that Max Elliott is the name of a brand of hair conditioner, while others might believe him to be that guy who lives on your street three doors down.  




But what if I gave you the name Maxi Priest?  Now we're getting somewhere.  Maxi Priest is a fifty-two year old British born reggae artist who has released nine studio albums, two greatest hits albums, and a slew of singles which performed well in both the UK and the USA.  You might not remember what some of his songs were, as he hasn't had an album release in close to six years, but I imagine that once I talk about him some more, your memories will soon be jogged.

But, wait.  A twist!  What if I told you that Max Alfred Elliott and Maxi Priest were the SAME PERSON?  Shocking, I know.

I'm not exactly sure how or why Maxi Priest came about choosing his stage name though.  I wish I could have found that information out, but after half a dozen searches, I came up empty.  But, the one thing that I did happen to find out was the fact that his family lineage contained a lot of music history.

For instance, did you know that his cousin - Jacob Miller - was the frontman of the group known as "Inner Circle"?  That group was responsible for the classic single "Bad Boys", which served as the main theme song for the long running FOX program "Cops".  

And, it seems as though talent has not skipped a generation either.  Maxi's two sons were both involved in musical projects too.  His son Ryan for instance was a member of the boy band "Ultimate Kaos", who were a definite influence on the British pop charts in the early 1990s, and his son Marvin has released a couple of singles, one of which went double platinum in the spring of 2011!

But of course, the main bread and butter of the article is all about Maxi's contributions to the world of music.  And, boy oh boy does he have a lot of contributions.

Like a lot of artists who are just starting out in the world of music, Maxi Priest had to earn his stripes and pay his dues to make his mark.  And just as others had done before him (and many future artists to come), he started off his career by releasing independent releases within his native Britain.




By 1988 though, Maxi Priest had his very first hit single.  Mind you, it was a cover version of the 1970 Cat Stevens single "Wild World", but I thought it was an interesting take on a classic seventies single.  In fact, I have to say that if given the choice between the single released by Cat Stevens and the cover version performed by Maxi Priest, I'd probably rather listen to the Maxi Priest version.

Maxi also had some great success in collaboration efforts as well.  In 1991, he scored an American Top 10 hit by recording a duet with Roberta Flack, and five years after that, he scored a Top 30 hit with the single "That Girl", in which he sang a duet with hip hop artist Shaggy.

But would you believe that his biggest hit was a single that did much better on the American charts than the UK charts?  In fact, Maxi Priest joined a rather elite club with the release of today's featured song.  He was only one of two British based reggae acts to top the Billboard 100 with a single release!  The first was UB40, whose hit "Red Red Wine" reached number one in 1983.

Seven years later, Maxi Priest would also enjoy the rewards of having a #1 single with this release.





ARTIST:  Maxi Priest
SONG:  Close To You
ALBUM:  Bonafide
DATE RELEASED:  July 10, 1990
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  #1 for 1 week




The single topped the American charts in October 1990, and the success of the single helped make Bonafide...well...a Bonafide hit.  It's only a shame that the other three singles didn't do so well on the charts.  "Just A Little Bit Longer" was really the only other single that reached the Billboard charts from the album, and it only peaked at the sixty-second position at that!  Yet, because of the success of "Close To You", the album still sold enough copies to be certified a gold record in early 1991.

Now, here's an interesting bit of trivia about "Close To You".  Did you know that the single had two different music videos?  The one above was the first video released, I believe.  For all I know, it could have been the official UK version of the video.  But a second video was released for the single which showed Maxi Priest singing on a soundstage filled with musical instruments, small kids, and some lady who appeared to be wearing a hat made out of the fake grass that you find in a small child's Easter basket!  I'm also guessing that the second version of the video was the American release.  You can watch the second video below, if you like.  It's the same song, so you're really not missing much if you've seen the first one.  No crazy remixes or anything like that.



As far as the subject of the song goes, it's a typical love song.  The lyrics basically talk about how he wants to get close to the one he loves and do all of the things that she wants him to do.

(Which, given that the song came out when I was nine years old, I believed implied that Maxi wanted to play a game of Simon Says with her.  Which very well could be true, depending on how...well...kinky they wanted to be together.)

Ahem...where was I again?  Oh yeah.  Maxi Priest and "Close To You".

Okay, so maybe I misinterpreted the chorus of the song when I was busy doing my fourth grade humanities homework.  It was still a fantastic song back then and it still is a fantastic song now.  It's not too hard, but it's not too soft either.  It's a perfect fusion of different sounds to make a veritable feast for your ears.  Where else can you hear the smooth flow of a jazzy beat mixed with the rhymes and styles of British-Jamaican reggae?  I can't really think of another song that does that.  With the exception of UB40, I can't even think of another artist who has blended the two successfully.

(And, no...Snow's "Informer" does not count.  Couldn't stand that song back then, can't stand it now.  Though I admit that "Everybody Wants To Be Like You" is a million times better...well, if I were to offer up a suggestion for all things Snow.)

And, to conclude this entry, since I brought up UB40 in this blog entry, would you believe that at one point, there were rumours circulating that he would be taking over the lead singer position of UB40 from the departing Ali Campbell.  Of course, while Maxi Priest did do some touring with UB40 as a solo artist, the rumours of him taking over the gig just proved to be exactly that.  Duncan Campbell - Ali's brother - replaced him.

But hey...the fact that Maxi Priest was even considered a suitable replacement at one time - even if it was just a rumour - still shows that he holds some clout in the music industry some twenty-three years after his first (and only) American number one single.

Saturday, November 09, 2013

Final Fantasy VI's Kefka - 100% Pure Evil

This is going to be another one of those “can I write a blog entry in just two hours” entries. Needless to say, now that November is here, I'm having a real shortage of free time.

The good news is that today's Saturday Smorgasbord deals with the subject of video games, so I have chosen a topic that I am extremely familiar with. The bad news is that for those of you who are unfamiliar with or simply don't care for the RPG genre of games, you might not get a whole lot out of this one.

How many of you have played at least one of the “Final Fantasy” games that have been released over the last few years? I'm sure that even the most casual gamer has played at least one. There have been at least fourteen made, and those don't even include the dozens of prequels, sequels, and spin-offs that have been made based on the games.

Not bad for a video game company who named the game “Final Fantasy” some twenty-six years earlier because the near-bankrupt company felt that it would not be able to continue operations, and they decided that “Final Fantasy” would be the final hurrah for the company. Ironically enough, “Final Fantasy” breathed new life into the series, and it is still going strong...even though by this blogger's admission, the last few games have not really been up to par in comparison to some of the older games in the series. But then again, I suppose we all have our different tastes.

In some Final Fantasy titles, the games have taken place in a medieval era, or a steampunk setting. Others have taken a futuristic look at the world, introducing machinery and technology. But the gameplay is more or less the same. You gather the power of the elements from a variety of sources (mostly crystals and magic spells), and you unlock mysteries and gather mystical weapons and armor in order to defeat the ultimate evil at the end of the game.

And that is exactly what this topic is all about. We're going to be talking about one of the major enemies of the Final Fantasy franchise. Perhaps he could be considered to be the worst of the worse when it comes to evil doings.

But which ultimate Final Fantasy antagonist will we be focusing on? After all, there's been so many.

I suppose that I could have talked about Kuja from my personal favourite of the Final Fantasy games, “Final Fantasy IX”. In the ninth installment, he certainly caused a lot of trouble. He was responsible for manipulating the queen of a kingdom to the point where she completely destroyed entire communities to fuel her power trips, and then once she was killed in a battle, he really went nuts. But, to be absolutely honest, I chose not to focus on Kuja, as he was really controlled by an evil demon known as Necron. Who was basically a giant tree.

Nor did I want to feature Exdeath from “Final Fantasy V”. He was nothing more than a giant tree. What is it with Final Fantasy games and possessed trees?

Golbez from “Final Fantasy IV” was promising...but then he turned good at the end because he was being controlled by a monster named Zeromus...who was essentially just one gigantic cosmic blob. Certainly not a good choice.

Sin from “Final Fantasy X” was one-dimensional. All he did was destroy things. Mind you, the story of how Sin came to be, as well as how Sin keeps coming back year after year was interesting...but that will be for another topic for another day.

And, I know that some of you who were huge fans of “Final Fantasy VII” will go on and on about how Sephiroth was the ultimate baddie of the game because he murdered Aeris/Aerith Gainsborough in cold blood. And certainly Sephiroth has earned his place on the list of the biggest, baddest enemies of the whole Final Fantasy series. But to me, he is not the ultimate Final Fantasy bad guy.

Golbez, Exdeath, Kuja, Sin, Sephiroth...none of those Final Fantasy evil doers could even compare to today's blog subject.

Even his laugh sounds evil. Have a listen.



Creepy. I remember finding it extremely creepy when I first began playing this game for the first time as a 13-year-old boy who was completely obsessed with the Final Fantasy universe.



Does the name Kefka Palazzo send shivers down your spine? Have you even heard the name Kefka Palazzo? Don't worry. You will. And when you read about his various crimes, you'll likely hate him too.

(Or, maybe not. He is a 16-bit video game character, after all.)



Anyway, Kefka is the central antagonist of “Final Fantasy VI” (or Final Fantasy III if you happen to have played the game in North America as I have). The game was released in 1994, and still remains a favourite. In fact, Final Fantasy VI is probably my second most favourite Final Fantasy game out of the entire series. It's got fourteen playable characters, each with their own distinct abilities and personalities, and the gameplay itself can last upwards of fifty to sixty hours, depending on how much time it takes to play the main quest and the sidequests. Really, it was one of the biggest masterpieces of the Super Nintendo console, and I'm praying against all odds that the game is re-released for the Nintendo 3DS. I'd love to get a chance to play it again.

Anyway, Final Fantasy VI takes place in a world at war with each other. The war is between the evil Empire who has taken over half the world and occupied several towns, filling its townspeople with worry and dread. The men of these villages have been forced to serve in the Empire's army, and not every single man comes out of the battle alive.

On the other side of the world, you have the Returners. A quiet group residing in the north who oppose the Empire's tactics at every opportunity. The home base of the Returners is located just outside the community of South Figaro, and Figaro Castle acts as a safe haven for Returners business. After all, King Edgar of Figaro is one of the members (as well as one of the fourteen playable characters).

And then you have Kefka who doesn't care for either side. All he cares about is bringing destruction and pain to everyone who happens to stand in his way – be it Returner or Empire member.



When we first meet Kefka, it's in a flashback that Terra (another playable character) experiences after getting knocked out following a battle in the caverns of Narshe. Kefka plants something called a “Slave Crown” on Terra's head, which allows the Empire to control her every move – seemingly leaving us to believe that Kefka is on the side of the Empire. Luckily, the Slave Crown gets destroyed in that battle, and Terra soon joins forces with King Edgar and Locke Cole, a thief who calls himself a “treasure hunter”.

But then Kefka arrives to pay Edgar a visit in Figaro Castle, and it is here where we start to see the real Kefka come shining through.



Sand on his boots indeed. Talk about diva.

Turns out that Kefka wants to capture Terra (whom Locke and Edgar have staying in Figaro Castle) for...experiments (after all, Terra can use magic – which has been banned from the world ever since the conclusion of the War of the Magi one millennium earlier). Edgar flat out lies to Kefka, telling him that Terra is not there, but for whatever reason, Kefka does not believe him, and sets the entire exterior of the castle ablaze.

In the kerfuffle, Edgar escapes with Terra and Locke, and flee the castle just as Edgar orders the castle to sink into the ground. You see, Figaro Castle had apparently been attacked by the Empire before, so as a precaution, an underground tunnel was built underneath the castle so that the people inside the castle could be protected against enemy attack. The fire was put out, the people inside the castle were spared, and Kefka's rage grew.



It grew so much that when the Empire set up a base just outside of the kingdom of Doma, Kefka only had murder on his mind. Despite the orders of the kind General Leo of the Empire not to interfere, Kefka coldly poisoned everybody in the Kingdom of Doma, with a knight named Cyan being the only survivor. As expected, Cyan joins the Returners, as his entire family was wiped out by the poison, but for Kefka, this was not enough. Knowing that he had killed an entire kingdom of people transformed him into a living, breathing, monster. He staged an attack against the people of Narshe to get control of a frozen monster known as an Esper. He later figured out that Espers could be drained of their magical powers, and he caused a lot of damage to the Magitek Research Facility in order to suck up all the power for himself.

And, then there was the incident in the tiny little community of Thamasa, where Kefka committed several crimes. These crimes included...

  • Slaughtering several dozen Espers and grabbing their powers.
  • Being responsible for trashing the community of Thamasa.
  • Murdering General Leo in cold blood when Leo tried to intervene.
  • Using the power of the Espers to cause an entire island to float up to the sky

Yes, you read that right. He caused a whole island to rise up to the sky. Reason? It was the only way he could access the three statues of the goddesses responsible for the War of the Magi one thousand years ago. The legend went that the three goddesses turned themselves to stone to end the suffering and to end the misuse of magic that would have lead to the destruction of the planet. The only request to the people of Earth was that they remained dormant, not even to be disturbed. The fear was that if the statues were ever moved out of position, the chain reaction would mean apocalyptic doom.

But as far as everyone was concerned, it was all a nasty rumour. Nothing like that could ever happen in real life, could it? Even though Kefka purposely moved the statues around on top of the flying continent, it couldn't possibly destroy the world, could it?



OH MY GOD, KEFKA DESTROYED THE WHOLE WORLD!!! Fire burned everything! Tidal waves flooded everything! Lightning fried everything! Continents and countries split apart! Animals died off in alarming rates! The world has come to an end!

Okay, not really. As it turns out, one of your characters (Celes) has survived, and she sets out to find the rest of her friends (who all survive as well) in a world forever changed by Kefka. And with Kefka being in full control of the world now that the Empire and Returners were completely wiped out, what kind of a world is it?

  • It's a world where Kefka uses a “Light of Judgment” to burn down entire communities who oppose him. Just ask the people of Tzen and Mobliz.
  • It's a world where despondent people have formed a cult of worship, praising the life of the man who literally destroyed theirs.
  • It's a world where trees and plants are all but dying.
  • It's a world where the once blue water is now a sickly shade of purple.
  • It's a world where the animals are now sickly and more dangerous than ever before.
  • It's a world in which legendary monsters like Phunbaba, Doom Gaze, and eight scary dragons now reside.

Basically, it's a world in which it is very difficult to have a positive outlook on things.

But our heroes don't ever lose hope. The world may have been forever changed, but they all have the idea that if they can get rid of Kefka once and for all, then hope will finally return to the planet, and they can begin to rebuild the planet back to the way it was.

The journey won't be an easy one, but once you reach the end of the game, you'll see just how hope will prevail...as well as just how damaged Kefka really is. And what better way to end this blog off than by posting the entire final battle of the game? It's not like I'm spoiling it too much. The game is almost 20 years old, after all!


Friday, November 08, 2013

The Blondes of Three's Company

I have to admit that I never thought that I'd be one of those people who would go and buy entire television seasons on DVD. I mean, what was the whole point of buying an entire television series on DVD when at some point they would be syndicated on cable television? There are websites which boast that they have free television programs available for downloading at any time (but do your research before you log onto the sites...otherwise you might end up crashing your whole computer). And while I myself have never used Netflix (I know, shocking, isn't it?), I hear that for a low cost, you can watch virtually any television episode you want.

But yet here I am. I'm confessing to going on a television series purchasing bender.

But lest you think that I am being absolutely frivolous with my spending, think again. After all, I am trying to keep my finances in order for the new year so I can embark on some brand new opportunities for myself. I've actually been buying them from my workplace at low costs, and I've also picked up a few DVD's at a relatively low cost from online retailers.

And one of the shows that I have been actively seeking out these past few weeks is the topic of today's Friday discussion.  



I don't know exactly what prompted or fueled my quest to get every single season of "Three's Company" on DVD, but I've been on a bit of a retro kick as of late.  I know that "Three's Company" has more or less been syndicated on cable networks since the early 1980s, and when I was in sixth or seventh grade, I would watch this sitcom every day during my lunch hour.  Of course, back when I was a pre-teen, a lot of the jokes and humour went completely over my head as I didn't have that much life experience at that time.  Now that I'm older, "Three's Company" has become a lot more fun and hilarious.

All the more reason for me to want to have the complete collection of the series.  That way, I can watch my favourite episodes whenever I want to.  I'm already almost halfway there.  I have seasons one, three, and five, and have number six on order, which means that I just need four more seasons to complete the set.



Now, you might be asking...why "Three's Company"?  Well, why not?  It was one of the more popular shows of the 1970s and 1980s, dealt with a subject that was extremely taboo back in those days (even though in 2013 it is absolutely no big deal for a guy to move into an apartment with two women), and featured the comedic genius of John Ritter, who in my opinion was one of the best physical comedians of all time.

But one of the things that made "Three's Company" stand out among other sitcoms of its era was the fact that the show had a revolving door of cast members.  Some were let go, some left of their own accord, and in the case of one, they left in a cloud of scandal.  By the end of the series run in September 1984, only John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt remained of the original cast.  The Ropers were written out of the series in 1979 following the creation of their own original spin-off program, Lana Shields only lasted half a season, Larry was a recurring character until season four, and Mr. Furley didn't join the cast until 1979.

And then there were the blondes of "Three's Company"...perhaps the role that was recast the most often during the show's eight season run.  Three different actresses portrayed the role of the third roommate in apartment 201, breaking bread and swapping stories with Jack Tripper and Janet Wood.  The characters that they played on the series "Three's Company" had their own distinct quirks and personalities that made them who they were, and depending on who was living in the apartment at the time, they certainly left their own impressions on Jack and Janet.

So, who were the three roommates with hair of gold that lived in the apartment that Jack and Janet called home for eight years?  Well, unfortunately I wanted to supplement this blog entry with actual clips from episodes, but since video clips of this series are so difficult to find, you'll have to settle for me trying to describe them as best as I can in this blog.



CHRISTMAS "CHRISSY" NOELLE SNOW
Played by Suzanne Somers (1977-1981)

Chrissy Snow was the first blonde roommate of "Three's Company", and when we're first introduced to her, she and Janet were cleaning up their apartment after a going away party for their former roommate, Eleanor.  Chrissy is the first one to discover a sleeping Jack in their bathtub, and Chrissy is also the first one to suggest that Jack take Eleanor's place as their roommate.  

As far as Chrissy's personality goes, I would consider her to be an absolute sweetheart of a character.  She treats people and animals with nothing but kindness, she is steadfastly loyal to her friends, and she very rarely has a nasty word to say about anybody.  Really, if there was any flaw that Chrissy seemed to have, it was that she was a little too trusting, and she was very naive...and as a result, she kind of came across as a stereotypical dumb blonde.  

And, yeah...she certainly did showcase that "dumb blondness" in a number of ways.  She said things that made Jack and Janet want to bang their heads repeatedly against a wall, and she often did things on the show that made you question whether she even had a brain in her head at all.  Who could forget the time that her friend came by for a visit and she almost ended up becoming a callgirl because of a misunderstanding?  Who could forget the time that she accidentally ate part of Jack's pie for a baking competition, and rather than throw away the evidence, she swallowed the whole thing!  Or, the time that she ended up joining an organization that more or less ended up being an extortion racket because she was charmed by a guru.

But then again, Chrissy did show that she was more than just a "dumb blonde".  She outsmarted that guru when she saw right through his facade (she knew he just wanted to sleep with her).  She also came up with the idea to substitute another pie to replace the one she ate.  While the idea eventually ended up leading into a pie fight, at least Chrissy showed that she was thinking quickly.  Either way, Chrissy ended up being a loyal friend to both Jack and Janet.

Well, that is until the fifth season of the show when salary negotiations turned sour and Suzanne Somers purposely missed tapings of the show as a way to make a point.  Well, that point was made all right.  Suzanne was fired from the show in 1981, and her role reduced to nothing more than a ninety second phone call that was edited into the end of certain fifth season episodes.  Interestingly enough, in those fifth season episodes, Chrissy seemed to become even more of an airhead than before.  Maybe it was revenge from the writers and production staff?  Who can say really?

At any rate, with Suzanne Somers off the show, Chrissy was written out by having her make a permanent move to Fresno.  And because of that, Jack and Janet needed a new roommate.



CINDY SNOW
Played by Jenilee Harrison (1980-1982)

Enter Chrissy's cousin, Cindy, who moved into Apartment 201 at the tail end of 1980.

The thing with Cindy is that not a lot of fans claim to like her.  In fact, some people have claimed that the moment that Cindy Snow arrived on the show was the exact moment that the show jumped the shark.  But, I tend to disagree with this statement because while it might seem on the surface that Cindy Snow was just a carbon copy of Chrissy, there was more to her than met the eye.

You see, the first difference between Chrissy and Cindy was noticeable right away from the moment she appeared on her first episode.  Chrissy may not have been entirely book smart (or street smart in some cases), but at least Chrissy never really had any instances in which she was completely unable to...well...walk without knocking someone or something over.

Cindy was an absolute klutz.  Within the first ten minutes of her introduction onto the series, she accidentally hooked up Jack's girlfriend and Janet's boyfriend with each other, nearly took out Jack and Janet with a giant inflatable boat, and completely destroyed the kitchen table after she knocked Jack on top of it!  And despite this, Jack and Janet let her stay for the rest of the fifth season!

And, secondly, while Cindy inevitably ended up being a replacement for Chrissy (right down to even taking over Chrissy's old job), Cindy had her own mind, and she wasn't actually afraid to use it.  The problem was that Jack and Janet had already made their own minds up about her and felt that they needed to handle her with kid gloves because she was just as naive and...for lack of better word...braindead as her cousin.

Thing is that Cindy was hardly that kind of person at all.  She had a backbone and she could stand up for herself whenever the situation called for it.  If anything, Jack and Janet usually made things WORSE on their own!  I mean, who could forget the episode in which Jack and Janet believed that Cindy had let herself get abducted by a man only for Jack and Janet to discover that the man was really Cindy's father!  Or, how about when Jack came up with the conclusion that Cindy was pregnant when in actuality it was Cindy's friend who worked at the Regal Beagle that was expecting.  Though, admittedly, Jack proposing to Cindy was one of the funnier episodes of the season.

Still, there were some instances in which Jack and Janet's concern for Cindy was very much appreciated.  After all, had Jack and Janet not intervened, Cindy would have ended up married to a man she didn't even love!

And for what it's worth, I thought Jenilee Harrison did a good job, given that she was essentially cast at the last minute following the Suzanne Somers fiasco.


What was interesting about Jenilee Harrison was that she wasn't added into the opening credits until season six...which ironically enough was the same season her character moved out of the apartment to attend school at UCLA.  Jenilee would make sporadic appearances throughout the sixth season, but by 1982, she was off the show permanently.  And so the third blonde roommate moved in.



TERRI ALDEN
Played by Priscilla Barnes (1981-1984)

Terri Alden was the final blonde roommate to move into the apartment, and one thing that you might notice about her is that personality wise, she is so far removed from the Snow cousins.  She wasn't your everyday run of the mill blonde bimbo stereotype that "Three's Company" seemed to portray on every other episode.  

For one, while Cindy and Chrissy worked as office secretaries (a noble profession), Terri worked as a nurse at a nearby hospital.  And Terri had the brains to back up her position as well.  When she moved into the apartment, there were some instances in which I wondered if Janet had hung around Chrissy too much as Terri made Janet appear like a dimwit on occasion.

And, here's something else about Terri that made her stand out.  Unlike Chrissy and Cindy who immediately developed an instant rapport with Jack, when Jack and Terri met each other for the first time, they couldn't stand each other.  Mind you, it didn't help much that Terri administered a painful shot in Jack's buttocks on their first encounter, but needless to say, Terri didn't exactly fall for Jack's charms (which you had to admit were cheesy even for Jack Tripper standards).

Still, when Terri moved in, she and Jack eventually formed a comraderie, and she, Janet, and Jack easily became the best of friends for the remainder of the series.  But while Jack, Janet, and Terri became instant friends on-screen, Priscilla Barnes reportedly said in interviews that her three seasons of "Three's Company" were among some of the worst years of her entire professional career.  And this is coming from someone who ended up working a slew of B-movies post "Three's Company"!

To be fair though, Priscilla Barnes had nothing but kind words to say about her co-workers.  I think her comments were more or less directed towards the people who worked behind the scenes.  I don't have much more details other than that, but given how tumultuous things were on "Three's Company" in the middle of the series, it wouldn't surprise me if Barnes had to deal with the same sorts of issues that Somers did - although to a lesser extent.



Despite Barnes' unhappy experiences on the set, you never knew it.  To me, Terri always seemed as though she was having a great time on the show.  And, I'll let you in on a secret.  Terri's first season is actually my second favourite season of the whole series (right behind the near perfect season three).

And, there you have it.  The three blondes of "Three's Company".  

Chrissy, Cindy, and Terri.  Which one was your favourite?