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Thursday, January 16, 2014

Gimme a Head With Hair...Long Beautiful Hair

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?  And I'm not talking about making sure that you had enough money, or a car that is brand new, or having the chance to go on a game show to win a million dollars.

I'm talking actual physical attributes here.


As much as most of us out there claim to be one hundred per cent happy with ourselves physically, the truth is that all of us have something that we'd love to change about ourselves.

Perhaps you want to tone up your muscles or wish that you had a flatter tummy.  Or, maybe you aren't happy with the way your nose looks and you wish that it could be smaller.  Some people might be regretting that tattoo that they got on a binge-drinking expedition during their nineteenth year of life.  The point is that there's not one person out there who wishes that they could change something about themselves.

The only reason I say this is because of the fact that I have a little bit of a secret to tell you.  Well, okay, maybe it's not so much of a secret to those of you who actually know me in person (which admittedly is not a lot), but to most of you reading this blog, you have - until now - seen the image of me that I want you all to see.


But the truth is that although I'm definitely in a good spot when it comes to understanding and even liking who I am, there has always been one thing about myself that I have always hated about myself.  No matter what I did to it, it never turned out right, and I am really struggling to find even one picture in which it actually looked presentable.




Here's a clue above, as well as a clue below.  Have you figured it out?




If you haven't...well...here's the whole "hairy" story below in my own words...such as they are.  Enjoy.



(And, yes, I am trying to make these videos better...I just haven't figured out how yet...)

So, if you have any suggestions, I'm open-minded.  I am due for a trim after all.  :)



Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Allow Me To Teach You a Game...



It's January 15, 2014, and it happens to be a Wednesday.  I suppose this means that it's time to dust off the old bag of Clue character cards and select one at random to determine the subject for today's blog.  After all, as you can see, it is Whatever Wednesday day.

(Remind me to get this logo updated to the current look.)

Let's see what I have here.





Oh, I see that I have drawn the Mr. Green card today.  You know what that means?  It's a blog entry in which I will be talking about some sort of toy or game.

I suppose that in many ways, I'm glad to have drawn this card.  I skipped the toy entry last week to talk about hot chocolate of all things.  But here's my dilemma.  What am I going to talk about in this particular blog entry today?  And, to make matters even more pressing, this is one of those entries in which I have very limited time to complete this blog.  I need an idea, and I need an idea fast.


Well, I suppose that I could also make this blog entry a video blog.  Coming up with something to write about could take me two to three hours, but filming a video only takes fifteen minutes tops.  Yeah, I think that's what I'll do.

In fact, why don't I use this blog to teach all of you a game that was a huge fad twenty years ago?  As luck would have it, I came across my own personal collection of tokens used for this very game not too long ago, and it kind of gave me the inspiration to do up a full blog on this subject.

So, this is my idea.  Film an instructional video about this game, while talking about its origins, and showing off some of the mini collection that I had when I was a kid (and yes, I have saved them for over two decades...scary, I know.)

So, sit back and relax...because our feature presentation begins in five, four, three, two...



Tuesday, January 14, 2014

January 14, 2013

Today's Tuesday Timeline might not seem all that impressive at first...particularly since we're actually not going back in time that much at all this time around. However, the subject of the timeline is definitely a person who made a huge impact on the world of television, and for that, I feel justified in making this person the subject for today's blog entry.

Of course, before we go ahead with the Timeline, let us take a look at what else happened in the world on today's date. The following took place on January 14.

1539 – Spain annexes Cuba

1724 – King Philip V of Spain abdicates the throne

1784 – Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris with Great Britain

1858 – Napoleon III escapes an assassination attempt

1907 – More than one thousand people are killed in Kingston, Jamaica following an earthquake

1911 – Roald Amundsen's South Pole expedition makes landfall at the Ross Ice Shelf

1915 – Television producer Mark Goodson (d. 1992) is born in Sacramento, California – responsible for creating television game shows “The Price is Right” and “Family Feud”

1919 – Journalist and longtime 60 Minutes collaborator Andy Rooney (d. 2011) is born in Albany, New York

1933 – Australian cricket captain Bill Woodfull is seriously injured after he takes a cricket ball to the heart thrown by England's Douglas Jardine

1943 – The Casablanca Conference is held by Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt

1952 – NBC's “The Today Show” debuts with Dave Garroway as host

1954 – The American Motors Company is created following the merge of the Hudson Motor Car Company and the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation

1967 – The “Human Be-In” takes place in San Francisco, California's Golden Gate Park

1969 – Twenty-seven people are killed after an accidental explosion aboard the USS Enterprise occurs just outside of Hawaii

1972 – Queen Margrethe III becomes the first Queen of Denmark since the year 1412

1973 – Elvis Presley's television special “Aloha from Hawaii” is broadcast live via satellite, making it the most watched broadcast by a single entertainer in television history

1984 – Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald's, dies of heart failure at the age of 81

1986 – Actress Donna Reed passes away at the age of 64

1999 – Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman calls in the army for assistance after a huge snowfall (more than three feet fell over the city in a twenty-four hour period)

2006 – Actress Shelley Winters passes away at the age of 85

2007 – Actress Darlene Conley – best known to soap fans as Sally Spectra from “The Bold and the Beautiful” dies of cancer at the age of 72

2010 – Yemen declares open war against al-Qaeda

And, there happens to be a lot of celebrity birthdays for January 14. So, I'd like to wish the following famous faces a happy birthday; Fred Beckey, Warren Mitchell, Lucille Wheeler, Jack Jones, Faye Dunaway, Barry Jenner, Holland Taylor, T-Bone Burnett, Carl Weathers, Lawrence Kasdan, Jim Duggan, Geoff Tate, Steven Soderbergh, Mark Addy, Shepard Smith, Emily Watson, Saskia Wickham, LL Cool J, Jason Bateman, Dave Grohl, Georgina Cates, Angela Lindvall, John Reuben, and Jack P. Shepherd.

Now, what date are we going back to? Prehistoric times? The Middle Ages? The Swinging Sixties?



Nope. How about the wonderful date of January 14, 2013?

No, seriously, we're going back in time one whole year to 2013. I know some of you are disappointed and I imagine some of you probably want to forget all about 2013. But, what if I told you that 2013 was merely just the date where it all ended for one man?

Yes, sadly, on January 14, 2013, today's blog subject passed away.  And his death at the age of 89 marked the end of a television career that spawned several decades.  At the peak of his career, he was on two successful television series back to back between the years of 1972 and 1986.  This would be great success for young actors alone, but when you consider that in 1972, he was just shy of turning fifty years old, this was especially impressive, as back in those days, fifty was the age in which most people slowed down their career ambitions.  But not this man.

Mind you, he had other success stories throughout his career.  But the two television series that helped make him a star were "Maude" and "Diff'rent Strokes".  And certainly he helped make the characters of Dr. Arthur Harmon and Phillip Drummond two of the most recognizable sitcom characters of the 1970s and early 1980s.





Today, we'll be looking back on the life of actor Conrad Bain, who passed away on January 14, 2013.

Now, many people might not know this about Conrad Bain, but he was born on February 4, 1923 in Canada.  Lethbridge, Alberta, to be exact. 

(In case you're wondering where Lethbridge is, it's just southwest of Calgary.)

And, I bet some of you might not realize that Conrad Bain was an identical twin.  Although his twin brother Bonar didn't have as much success as an actor as Conrad, he did appear on a couple of episodes of "Diff'rent Strokes" and "Maude".  Bonar Bain passed away in 2005.

But, anyway, Conrad Bain grew up in Alberta, Canada, and actually served in World War II after enlisting in the Canadian Armed Forces!  I tell you, the things you learn about celebrities when you feature them in the Tuesday Timeline.  I think it's one of the reasons why I love this feature a lot!

After the war ended, Conrad opted to go to America to attend college, and found himself in New York City studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.  While he was studying in New York, he made the decision to become an American citizen, which he accomplished in 1946, when Bain was just twenty-three years old.


TRIVIA:  One of Bain's classmates was comedian Don Rickles!

Of course in the earliest stages of his career, Bain took work wherever he could get it, and that sometimes meant returning to Canada to take work there.  He even took a job at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.  And when he first began his career, he did so in front of the Broadway lights, taking a role in the Broadway revival "The Iceman Cometh", in which reviewers praised his performance.

In addition to Broadway musicals, he acted in a few plays off Broadway, and even held a role on the daytime soap opera "Dark Shadows".  Unfortunately, his character was killed off of that serial, but when you consider that the main character of "Dark Shadows" was a vampire, I guess it was somewhat inevitable.


But here's one interesting fact about Bain that I didn't even realize.  Did you know that he was one of the key players in implementing the Actors Federal Credit Union in the early 1960s?  It's true!  And apparently the reason why he took a stand and was a driving force behind its creation was that back in those days, it was very difficult for actors to establish a line of credit.  It was incredibly difficult for working actors to even be respected by financial institutions, let alone get access to credit, and thanks to Bain's effort, this is no longer the case.

Mind you, it still doesn't prevent some stars from filing bankruptcy anyway, but at the very least, Bain made it easier for people in the acting industry to be approved for loans without getting any scrutiny for it.  I suppose I would call that a win.


But of course, his two biggest roles were in the world of television...as as it so happened, they were one right after the other!




Now, I wasn't born when "Maude" was on the air.  A quick look at Wikipedia tells me that the series ran for six seasons between September 1972 and April 1978.  As you all well know, "Maude" starred future "Golden Girls" star Bea Arthur in the title role as the ultimate liberal feminist who was pro-abortion, pro-civil rights, pro-equality, and basically pro-Democrat.  And while the 1970s were considered a decade of radical change for the world, the early 1970s were still very conservative, and Maude certainly was quite a controversial show for its time.  I recall reading an article which stated that many people were up in arms when an episode was screened in which Maude became the very first sitcom character to have an abortion on the show.  I can certainly see it, especially as in 2014, abortion is still a rather hot topic.

Well, what kind of person would act as the ultimate foil for the very liberal Maude?  How about having a neighbour that is as Republican as Republican can be?  Enter Dr. Arthur Harmon, a very conservative minded individual whose values completely clashed with Maude's.  It's actually kind of a miracle that Maude and Arthur even had a relationship with each other because both were so different.  But of course, Arthur was best friends with Maude's husband (Bill Macy), and Maude was best friends with Arthur's wife (amusingly enough played by Rue McClanahan), so I suppose that there was already a built in tolerance between Maude and Arthur.

Still, if you click on THIS LINK, you can see Conrad Bain in action as Arthur.  I think that episode best showcases Bain's acting abilities alongside Bea Arthur's...which is actually quite good, considering that it's a first season episode.





Now, the role that I best remember Conrad Bain for was that of Phillip Drummond from "Diff'rent Strokes".  And the role that he played on that show was quite different from that of "Maude".  Sure, he still played a rich American who lived in a penthouse with his daughter, Kimberly (Dana Plato), but he also took in two boys from Harlem (Todd Bridges and Gary Coleman) and raised them as his own.  In fact, I found THIS episode of Diff'rent Strokes that I think probably best showcases Bain's acting abilities.  It's actually the episode called "The Bicycle Man", which is probably one of the most talked about episodes of the whole series.

Now, the reason why I posted two episodes of Bain in action was to show that he could play two completely different roles in two completely different ways, and still pull it off flawlessly.  That took real talent.

And, would you believe that Bain played the role of Phillip Drummond on three different shows?  It's true.  First of all, he played the role on "Diff'rent Strokes" between 1978 and 1986.  In between that, original cast member Charlotte Rae left the series to go and film "The Facts of Life" and Bain crossed over with the rest of the cast to help Rae with the transition.

But he also made an appearance on the very last episode of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" which aired in 1996.  Have a look!






As it happened, that appearance would be the last one that Bain would make in his life.  He would spend the last few years of his life in quiet solitude, until January 14, 2013, in which he passed of natural causes at the age of 89.

Although it's only been a year since he passed, his legacy remains.  He was one of the last cast members to pass away from "Maude" (well, aside from Adrienne Barbeau, that is), and with his death, only Todd Bridges and Charlotte Rae remain from the original cast of "Diff'rent Strokes".  But to me - and likely thousands of fans out there - he was and will always remain a class act.





Thanks for the memories, Mr. Conrad Bain.


Monday, January 13, 2014

007 Feature #2 - On Her Majesty's Secret Service featuring Lazenby...George Lazenby


As you can tell from the opening video, this is a Monday Matinee that is all about Bond...James Bond.

This is the second of six James Bond themed entries that will take us right into mid-February 2014, and if you're womdering why I've decided to make this a six-part feature, it's because there are six men who can make the claim that they have played James Bond at least once in their lives.  And interestingly enough, as of January 2014, all six actors are still alive.  So, I thought that I would do an entry on each of the six Bond actors by choosing the film that I either liked the best, or that I have a personal memory of.

Of course, for the second actor to play Bond, the decision of which film to feature was the easiest one to make.  After all, he did only play Bond once and only once.

He also happens to be as of this writing the only Bond to be born and raised outside of the UK.



Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the second actor to play Bond...the Australian born George Lazenby.



And today's film spotlight happens to be the one and only film Lazenby starred in...1969's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service.  Have a look at the opening titles below.



Now, I'm not sure which story is more interesting...the one about how Lazenby won the role of Bond, or the reasons behind why he decided to quit the Bond franchise after just one movie.

At the time, Sean Connery - who had played Bond for the first five movies in the Bond franchise - decided to walk away from the role while filming 1967's "You Only Live Twice".  He had grown disenchanted with the role that made him a star, and he wanted to leave the franchise to avoid being typecast as Bond.

(For the record though, I don't think that Connery needed to worry about being typecast, as he had no trouble getting roles since his final Bond film.)

Anyway, with Connery confirmed to be out for the sixth Bond film, producers Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman knew that they needed to find a new actor to play Bond, and quickly.  Following the release of "You Only Live Twice", a casting call was issued to find the new Bond, and from what I hear, thousands seemed to be interested in the role.  After what seemed like endless auditions, the final five up for consideration were John Richardson, Hans De Vries, Robert Campbell, Anthony Rogers and Lazenby.

In the end, all it took was a chocolate bar commercial for Lazenby to be considered for the part!  Apparently Broccoli and director Peter R. Hunt watched Lazenby in the commercial and thought that he was worth giving a shot.  And besides, prior to watching that commercial, Broccoli happened to cross paths with Lazenby at a barber shop, and he offered Lazenby an audition, thinking that he had just the right look to assume the role of James Bond.

Of course, at the audition, Lazenby committed what most would consider a deal breaker when he accidentally punched somebody in the face!  Of course, while most auditions would end at this point with the actor being thrown out, in this case it worked as Broccoli was impressed by his ability to show aggression on cue.

In fact, Lazenby was so well-received by the producers that he was immediately offered a seven-film contract as Bond!  Now, just to put things into perspective here.  Had Lazenby honoured his commitment to the seven-film contract, he would have played the role right up until 1983's "Octopussy"!  That's quite a long stretch as Bond...it would have been guaranteed work for the next fifteen years of his life and I am sure that he would have been set financially for the remainder of his career.

Instead, Lazenby decided to walk after just one film.

In November 1969 - one month before the film's December 18 release - Lazenby announced that he decided to quit the role of James Bond after just one film, as he had grown disillusioned with the role, and had begun feuding with the producers of the film.  I'm honestly not sure what Lazenby did to get out of the contract, but I imagine that his agent had something to do with it.  After all, it was the agent's idea for George to pull out of the Bond franchise in the first place.  But at the end of it all, it was a decision that Lazenby lived with and embraced, as he grew a beard and let his hair grow out to distance himself from the suave, sophisticated look that James Bond was well known for.

It's a tough call to determine whether George Lazenby made the right choice.  I mean, obviously for Lazenby it was the right decision for him...but I often wonder if he would have done well in movies like "Live and Let Die", "Moonraker", and "For Your Eyes Only".  But, we'll never know as Sean Connery returned for 1971's "Diamonds are Forever" and the other films were released with...well...we'll get to that Bond next week.

Admittedly, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was a film that I didn't get to watch until I was in my late twenties.  Apparently many people consider this film to be the "forgotten Bond film", and it's definitely one of the hardest Bond films to locate.  And, I'm actually kind of sad about that fact because the film itself is quite good.  I mean, yes, I'll admit that George Lazenby wasn't the best Bond actor, but when you consider that he only did one film, it seems kind of unfair to judge it too harshly.  Again, I would have loved to have seen Lazenby do at least two more Bond films, just to see if he would have gotten better at it, but I suppose Lazenby had his reasons for only doing one.



But as far as plot goes, it had a very interesting one.  Of course, I won't spoil everything, so here's a brief synopsis.  The main bad guy in this film is Ernst Stavro Blofeld (played by Kojak himself, Teddy Savalas), leader of SPECTRE, who is in hiding.  But even though Blofeld is in hiding, he still finds a way to create trouble in the world.  He has a harem of twelve different women from one of twelve different nations, and he has successfully brainwashed every single one of them to become his "Angels of Death".  Their purpose?  He plans to use them to destroy the global agriculture of the planet, which would cause a global food shortage and collapse entire nations.  The only way that Blofeld will even consider aborting that plan is if the government grants him amnesty for all his past criminal acts, and officially recognizes him as the current Count de Bleuchamp.

But anybody who knows James Bond knows that he does not negotiate with terrorists.  So he does everything he can to bring Blofeld out of hiding and put an end to his crimes before he has a chance to act on his threats.  But before he has the chance to do anything, he is charmed by a young woman who he saves from drowning at a beach, and before you know it, he ends up having a romp in the hay with her.

And when Bond is later kidnapped from the hotel by a group of men, it is revealed that the kidnapping was orchestrated by Marc-Ange Draco, the head of the European crime syndicate "Unione Corse".  Turns out that the woman that Bond rescued and bedded was one Countess Teresa "Tracy" di Vicenzo (played by Diana Rigg), the only daughter of Draco.  And Draco makes Bond a rather fabulous offer.  If he marries his daughter, he will reward Bond with a sizable dowry.  Of course, Bond refuses the offer, as he was never really a one-woman man...but he does agree to work with Draco to lure Blofeld out of hiding.

But as you will see if you watch the movie (and that's why I'm being very vague with the plot on purpose), Bond seems to have a very special connection with Tracy, and she makes Bond do something that he never thought possible.  And while most Bond movies end on a happy note, this one probably has one of the most melancholic endings of the whole Bond film series.  But again, you'll have to watch the movie for yourself.

But I do have some trivia for you.

01 - While the song is not heard in the opening credits, the official Bond theme for this movie was recorded by Louis Armstrong.  Have a listen below.



02 - Sadly, Ilse Steppat, who played Blofeld's henchwoman Irma Bunt, passed away of a heart attack at 52 years old on December 22, 1969...just four days after the film premiered in theatres.

03 - Sean Connery was offered a million dollars to return for this movie, but declined the offer.

04 - Interestingly enough, George Lazenby was 30 years old when this film debuted...the same age Sean Connery was when he first began filming "Dr. No".

05 - The film exploited the "breaking the fourth wall" technique a lot in explaining the switch from Connery to Lazenby.

06 - Lazenby actually suffered a broken arm while filming the ski scenes in Switzerland.

07 - Until 2006's "Casino Royale" was made, this movie was the longest running Bond movie at just under two and a half hours.

08 - Listen closely to the scene in which Bond passes a janitor in the hall.  The janitor is actually whistling the theme song for 1964's "Goldfinger".

09 - A body double had to be used for Diana Rigg for the ice skating scene, as Diana did not know how to ice skate.

10 - Brigitte Bardot was considered for the role of Tracy.

11 - The photo of Tracy's mother was actually a photo of Diana Rigg's mother.

12 - This is the only Bond film to be filmed entirely in Europe.

13 - Even though the actors had changed, in Germany, the same voice actor dubbed Bond's voice in the German release of the film, confusing some audience members!

14 - Adam West was actually offered the part of Bond, but turned it down as he always felt that a British actor should play Bond.  Of course, Lazenby was from Australia...

15 - Another person who was offered the role of James Bond was then 25-year-old Timothy Dalton.  He turned down the role then...but...well, tune in to Week #4...

16 - Believe it or not, Telly Savalas invited Lazenby to a poker game and nearly cleaned him out of all the cash he brought.  But thanks to Harry Saltzman joining the game mid-way through, Saltzman ended up winning most of Lazenby's money back!

17 - The film has two stars of "The Avengers" in this movie - Diana Rigg and Joanna Lumley.

18 - The body doubles in the skiing scenes were played by former Olympic athletes.

19 - A Rolex watch that George Lazenby wore in this movie sold at Christie's auction house for over forty thousand dollars in 2003.

20 - The last Bond film to use an instrumental theme in its opening credits.

So that wraps up our look at George Lazenby as Bond...James Bond.  He may have only made the one movie, but at least it was a movie that was quite good.

Next week on January 20, we'll be looking at the third James Bond in the series...and as it so happens, one of the SEVEN films he made was the very first James Bond movie I remember seeing.  But which one is it?  You'll find out next week!


Sunday, January 12, 2014

A Hero Lies In You

I am one of those people who can't imagine a world without music. I mean, if you took away every compact disc, concert ticket, and musical instrument in the world, I would find it to be such a bleak place. I really do consider music to be a universal language of sorts. Every song tells a story, every music video paints a picture, and every artist has had life experiences that they have shared through the gift of lyrical composition. I don't care if a song is an instrumental, or sung in English, French, Japanese, or Pig Latin. As long as it's got the power to make you move and the ability to make you think, then I would consider it a success.

And you know, even in today's pop charts, there are rare nuggets of beauty amidst the sea of mediocrity. I mean, just listen to any of the songs recorded by Lorde. I still have a hard time believing that she is still too young to legally drink in Canada!

Though, I will say that while this Sunday Jukebox isn't about Lorde, it is going to be a celebration of the best of the pop music charts.  Well...the best of pop charts throughout modern history, that is.

I suppose that for this whole year, I'll be adding a little bit of a Tuesday Timeline twist to the Sunday Jukebox entries.  So from now until the end of the year (unless some huge news story that is music related takes percedence), I'll be using the Billboard Hot 100 charts from years gone by and selecting one song that was #1 on the charts during this week in history.  Now, granted, some of these former #1 songs are still just as fantastic years later, while others are memories of novelty fads that just didn't last.


(I'm looking at you, #1 song of 1996.  Seriously, how the hell did the "Macarena" stay on the top of the charts for fourteen weeks?)

Anyway, for today's blog entry, I thought we'd take a trip back in time to January 1994.  And, 1994 was a rather interesting year in the world of music, as we had a little bit of everything reaching the top of the charts that year.  We had songs by Rod Stewart, Bryan Adams, Sting, Celine Dion, Ace of Base, R. Kelly, All-4-One, Lisa Loeb, Boyz II Men, and Ini Kamoze all topping the charts that year.  

Though, to be fair, the Rod Stewart/Bryan Adams/Sting thing were three artists recording one song.

But as the year 1994 kicked off, we were listening to the last songs of 1993.  And, as it so happens, this song was actually #1 in two separate years.  It hit the top of the charts on December 25, 1993, and remained on top until mid-January 1994.  And while these days, the singer of this hit is more well known for being Nick Cannon's wife and the sworn enemy of Nicki Minaj, twenty years ago she was one of the most respected female musical artists of the decade.  And I have to say that of all the #1 singles she's had over the last two and a half decades, this one is probably my favourite - not so much because of the music, but because of the message that the song provides.





ARTIST:  Mariah Carey
SONG:  Hero
ALBUM:  Music Box
DATE RELEASED:  October 19, 1993
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  #1 for 4 weeks



Now, there's an interesting story that I have to share with all of you before we get into the discussion about this song.  It was not actually meant to be a song that Mariah Carey was supposed to sing.  It was actually written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff for former Miami Sound Machine frontwoman Gloria Estefan.  Now, while I do believe that Gloria would have done a great job with this single, I honestly can't see anyone else other that Mariah Carey singing this song.  Even more interesting trivia about this song...it was actually considered to be used for the 1992 motion picture, "Hero", starring Geena Davis, Dustin Hoffman, and Andy Garcia, but at the last minute, Mariah decided that she would keep the song herself for her "Music Box" album.  So, after a little bit of tweaking (not to be confused with twerking), Mariah came up with what would be the final product.

Of course, Mariah didn't exactly want to commit to recording the song.  At least, not initially.  At the time, she was encouraged by her then fiance and head of Sony Music Entertainment Tommy Mottola to take the song for herself after hearing her singing it in rehearsals and thinking that it was too good a song to be used for a film soundtrack.  Maraih was hesitant, especially since the original lyrics of the song were considered to be a little too schmaltzy for her.

However, when Afanasieff encouraged her to take the song and make it a personal statement about herself, it persuaded her to not only keep the song, but to change the lyrics around a smidgen to better suit her.  And, considering that it was a #1 hit for four weeks, I do believe she made the right call.


And, when you think about those lyrics, it could not only apply to Mariah's own life, but to mine, yours, and everybody's.  Confused yet?  I'll explain it all in a bit.



Although Mariah Carey herself would likely tell you that the song "Hero" is not her favourite song that she's ever worked on, I think that over time, it grew on her...particularly since her fans always requested that she perform the song on every single one of her concerts.  She also received dozens of fan letters and postcards from fans explaining how the song "Hero" had changed their lives and how in some rare instances, the song actually saved their lives.  And, in all of my years of listening to Casey Kasem's Top 40 radio show, I seem to recall "Hero" being played during the request and dedication portion of the program dozens of times.

But you know, I could go on about how impressive the song is, but I think I'll let "Hero" co-writer Walter Afanasieff say it in his own words, as seen in an interview he did with journalist Fred Bronson.

"One person could say that 'Hero' is a schmaltzy piece of garbage, but another person can write me and say, I've considered committing suicide every day of my life for the last ten years until I heard that song and I realized that after all I can be my own hero, and that...that's an unexplainable feeling, like I've done something with my life, y'know?  It meant something to someone.  

Author Darlene Wade also weighed in with this observation about "Hero".

It encourages you to know the hero within.  I call it the 'Spirit of God' that dwells within me.  I believe we are all born with the hero status down on the inside of us.  We spend too much time looking for a hero, and when our hero lets us down, we get angry, depressed, and feel betrayed.  The problem is that all people are subject to error, no matter who they are, no matter how anointed they are, or what the call is on their life."

And certainly the lyrics of "Hero" are extremely powerful and moving.  And, I really particularly love the message that "Hero" presents, which is that everyone has it in them to be a hero in some manner.

I mean, certainly there are everyday heroes in all of our lives.  The volunteer firefighters who take time out of their days to put out fires before they cause too much damage.  The teachers who go above and beyond to make sure that their pupils learn valuable lessons both in and out of the classroom.  Even parents can be considered heroes in the eyes of their children.

But ultimately, we all need to understand that we all do things in our lives that make us heroes in some form.  Sometimes it might seem like an impossible dream to even look at yourself as a hero making a difference in the world.  Certainly I've had many moments of this in my lifetime.  I mean, sometimes I question the path I have gone down thus far and wonder if I made the right choices.  Sometimes I feel like I'm not making a difference to anybody's life the way I am right now.  And, yes, there was that one time in which I was probably one of those people that songwriter Walter Afanasieff was describing in his interview with Fred Bronson.


But then again, there are also times in which I have felt like I have made a huge difference in people's lives.  I've taken part in charity events, I've learned not to be so hard on myself (well, okay that is currently a work in progress, but at least I'm owning up to it), and I'm starting to realize that not everyone in the world is out to get me, but instead want to help me become someone better.  But of course, I have to do all the hard work myself.  But I suppose it's worth it.

It's funny, though.  I never saw myself as a "Hero".  And, some days I still don't.  But maybe we're not supposed to know how being a hero really feels.  Maybe it just happens on its own and we don't even notice it.

Points to ponder this Sunday.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Duck Hunt - And The Dog That Won't Quit Laughing

This week on the Saturday Smorgasbord, I thought that I would go old-school.  

These days, most of you are playing your Nintendo Wii U consoles, or still calling video game stores wanting to know when the next shipment of PlayStation 4 or XBOX One consoles will be arriving.

(Note to anybody who lives fairly close to where I work.  I don't know when we are getting any more in, and we do not have a waiting list for said consoles.  It is first come, first serve.  And, do not tell me a sob story about how you waited six hours in line for one of the consoles the very first day we offered them for sale because you would be a liar, as the first day we sold them, everybody who was in line walked away with a game console.)

Ahem...sorry.  Just doing a little bit of a rant.  Actually, the above situation spawned my January 9 blog entry, in case you were wondering, or if you cared...but I see that you're probably just wanting me to stop rambling on and just get to the point.


Anyway, in 2014, we all know what the top consoles are.  Thirty years ago, it was an entirely different ball game.  Truth be told, 1984 was a really horrible year for video games in general, as lack of interest and a string of horrible video games (remember Atari's attempt at bringing E.T. to life in a video game?) caused the video game industry to almost go kaput.  

Of course, we all know that this certainly wasn't the case.  By 1985, a company that had initially gone into business manufacturing card games switched their focus to electronics and video gaming.  And by the time the 1980s were over, the company known as Nintendo had successfully turned things around, with millions of players snatching up the Nintendo Entertainment System, the dozens of game cartridges, and the various accessories that came with it.

Of course, by the time the 1980s ended, Nintendo was joined by the Sega Master System and Turbo Grafx 16 in the once again competitive video game market, but Nintendo always seemed to generate the most revenue, and had the most success.  Of course, these days, Nintendo isn't doing quite so well, but they're still holding their own, and I certainly recommend the Nintendo Wii U or Nintendo 3DS as a good introduction for younger players just getting into video games.


And, you know what?  I still remember when I got my very first Nintendo.  I probably told this story already, but it was one of the first things that I saved up for.  Throughout the first few months of 1990, I scrimped and saved up every penny that I found on the ground, every dollar that I got from the tooth fairy, and deposited every single dollar that I got from birthday cards, getting more excited as I saw the total bank balance rise.

Finally, when I had the amount required, I went to the Woolco store, and purchased my Nintendo with my own money!  And, considering that I bought the Nintendo in September 1990, my parents soon regretted the timing of the whole thing, as I would sometimes blow off homework assignments to play Nintendo.

What the hell...I'm out of school now.  I can admit it.  I still ended up getting excellent grades that year anyway.




Now, the Nintendo system that I purchased looked a lot like this one pictured above.  It was the "Action Set", and it came with everything that you saw pictured.  It had the console, the two controllers, a game cartridge, and a funny looking orange thing that kind of looked like a water pistol.  Here, have a closer look.



Apparently, this gun had a name.  The Nintendo Zapper.  And, there were a handful of games that required you to use the Nintendo Zapper.  You'd aim the zapper at your television screen, and with one press of the trigger, you could shoot things that appeared on the screen without actually damaging your television.  It seems corny now, but thirty years ago, this was the height of technology!

But what sort of game could you use the Zapper with?  As easy as it might seem to use the Zapper to blow Bowser away at the end of world 8-4 in Super Mario Brothers to make rescuing that shrieking harpy klutz of a princess easier, alas, it could not be used for that purpose.



Oh, but wait...what is this "Duck Hunt" thing that happens to be written on the cartridge too?  Hmmm...let's find out.

Ohhhhh...yes, it's the game where you use the Zapper to shoot ducks that fly across the screen.  And, as luck would have it, the game is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary this April!

Released in Japan on April 21, 1984 (and in North America eighteen months later in October 1985), "Duck Hunt" is probably one of the easiest Nintendo games you could ever play...and surprisingly enough, also one that I had a lot of fun playing.  And, as a special treat, I've found an online version of the game that you can play absolutely free just by clicking HERE.  So, I'll leave you to play a couple of rounds of the game before we continue.




So, the object of the game is pretty straight forward.  You're in a swamp or marshy area of sorts, and you're armed with a gun.  You see those purple coloured ducks that fly up and travel around the screen (and, really, in nature, when are you ever going to see a purrple duck)?  Your job is to shoot as many of those ducks as you can.  But be careful though...there are ways in which your game can end as quickly as it started.

For one, you have to shoot at least the number of ducks necessary to clear the level.  In the first few rounds of the game, the number is low - meaning that you could literally shoot the screen with your eyes closed and still have a fair shot of making it to the next round.  Once you complete ten rounds of the game, though, the difficulty increases, and you soon have to shoot more ducks in order to proceed.  If you go below the minimum number of ducks that you need to shoot to qualify for the next round, your game is over.

And keep in mind that the ducks also start to behave more erratically in later levels, with them flying faster, and without any sort of pattern in their flight paths at all.

Did I mention that you only have three chances to shoot one duck before they fly away and the next duck appears?  So, take your shots carefully.

I only say this because I know how frustrating it can be to get a Game Over on this game...particularly due to one element that many gamers (myself included) found incredibly annoying.  I bet some of you know what that element is, but just in case you don't, here's a clue.




How many times have you just wanted to say "screw the ducks, I want to shoot the damn dog?"  For some of you, it would be many!  For me, I have to say that I've tried doing it when the dog showed up and started to laugh at me.  It doesn't work though.

(Surprisingly enough though, you CAN shoot the dog on the arcade version of the game.  Who knew?)




It's not as if the dog doesn't give you a reason not to.  Whenever you miss a duck, he pops up laughing.  When you get a Game Over screen, he's laughing.  Every time you screw up, he pops up and laughs.  I half expect the dog to pop up from behind the counter of the electronics department whenever I have a mishap on the cash register!  

I mean, wouldn't you have homicidal tendencies towards someone who was not supportive of you and made you a walking punchline if you had a bad day?  No wonder the Duck Hunt dog has made it onto several "Worst Video Game Character Ever" lists!




However, there is one option on the game cartridge that allows you to not see the Duck Hunt dog ever again.  Though, to be fair, you won't be shooting ducks either.  There's also a bonus game on the Duck Hunt cartridge that allows you to shoot clay pigeons instead.  But be warned, the difficulty level on the clay pigeon level is much higher, and the targets are much smaller.  I still managed to make it to the double digits in rounds on the clay pigeon level, but it wasn't easy.

(And, when I say double digits, I mean like round eleven.)


Oh, one last thing before I end this blog off.  On Duck Hunt, there are supposedly 99 levels to the game.  I myself have never made it to Round 99 (I usually lost interest somewhere around Round 15 or so), but apparently Round 99 is the hardest level in the game.  If gamers are to beat Round 99, they are rewarded with a glitch that effectively ends your game.  Because only two digits of memory were programmed into the Duck Hunt cartridge, the game will reset itself to Round 0, which is effectively a kill-screen for Duck Hunt.

(I'll bet the Duck Hunt dog was responsible for that one too.)



Friday, January 10, 2014

The Soap Opera Behind The Soap Operas

Okay, so I initially didn't plan on doing this particular blog entry today, but given that there's a current scandal brewing in the world of daytime television, it gave me the idea for the topic – a topic that I actually had to do a lot of research on, as I don't really have much experience with soap operas.

But given the real life soap opera that is unfolding behind the scenes of one of America's most watched daytime shows, I thought it would be a good lead-in. And, I suppose that this also inspired the title of this particular blog entry.

The Soap Opera Behind The Scenes of Soap Operas”. Kind of catchy, no?



So, I imagine that almost all of you who regularly watch soaps know all about “The Young and the Restless”. It's a show that celebrated 40 years on the air in 2013, and has been ranked the #1 daytime drama for twenty-five of those forty years.  That's quite a magnificent feat, given that the setting of the daytime drama is a mid-sized town that happens to be placed in a state that is most famous for cheese than anything else.

Of course, behind the fictional world of Genoa City, Wisconsin which includes several mansions, an athletic club, and a coffeehouse named "Crimson Lights" are real actors making a living doing what they do best in front of cameras on a soundstage at CBS headquarters in California.  And, on December 19, 2013, news broke that completely blurred the lines between fictional soap opera and real life scandal.



That was the day that the news broke that actor Michael Muhney, who has played the role of Adam Newman since 2009, had been fired.  And, naturally when the news broke out, many fans of the show were extremely shocked - especially when you consider that he had a strong fan base on the show, and his role of Adam was praised for being so multi-dimensional and layered.

Oh, sure, Adam Newman was an extremely flawed character who could be sweet as pie one day, and horribly evil the next.  What do you expect when you consider that his father is Victor Newman, probably one of the most ruthless characters on the whole show?


Needless to say, when fans learned that Muhney's last airdate would be at the end of January, 2014, there was a huge uproar on social media, with Michael's fans demanding to know why he was let go, and with lots of questions being thrown in the air without any answers being given.

So, when various websites began reporting details of what really happened with Muhney's firing, fans of the show soon wished they were still in the dark.  

According to various other websites (I think TMZ broke the story, but I'm really not sure), Muhney was let go from the show because he allegedly caused tension behind the scenes by engaging in some sexual misconduct with another actress on the show - a much younger actress who for the sake of this blog entry will remain nameless.  I say "allegedly" because at this point, I really don't know all the story, and unlike some tabloids I want to make sure that all information I post is accurate because the last thing I want is to post erroneous information here.

Erroneous opinions, I can deal with.  Erroneous information is a no-no.

Anyway, the information we do know is this.  Muhney has been let go from the soap indefinitely.  Muhney himself has stated in interviews that he "saw it coming", which implies that he at least knew what the circumstances were behind the loss of his job and has more or less accepted it.  And, for some reason, I also did some digging and discovered that a group of Muhney's fans actually paid money to fly a banner over the CBS studios where the show is taped, demanding that Muhney be re-hired (I mean, seriously?  There must be better ways to spend your money).

But on the ugly side, the actress who is also involved in this real life soap opera is now facing the wrath of Muhney fans who have posted some rather disgusting comments towards her and actually blaming her for the loss of their favourite star, which has caused some other members of the cast to publicly defend her.

It's just one gigantic mess.

For what it's worth, I don't know all the facts...but if things happened the way that they did with Muhney guilty of sexual misconduct with a younger co-star and the younger co-star did not like it at all, then as far as I'm concerned, it's an open and shut case.  No workplace in this day and age accepts sexual harassment as being okay, and soap opera soundstages should be no exception.  If things happened the way they did, Muhney's firing was justified.  Regardless though, I think that people just need to calm down about it.  Stop sending banners over studios, and stop the harassment of all the parties involved.  Let the parties deal with the situation themselves.


But you know, the more research I did on this particular case, the more tales from other soap opera sets that had me realizing that this latest incident isn't the only time in which the behind the scenes action seemed more dramatic than what was shown every weekday afternoon.  Upon research, I have found at least four other instances in which the behind the scenes action turned ugly in a huge way.  In most of these stories, the truth has been revealed, but in other cases, it's a little bit of a "he said/she said" tale.  I will make this clear as I continue with this blog though, as I definitely don't want to state that something is fact when it really isn't.

And, well, since we began with Y&R, let's continue with Y&R, shall we?



PETER BERGMAN vs. ERIC BRAEDEN

Now, to longtime viewers of "The Young and the Restless", you may recognize the two names above as being huge stars of the soap opera world.  After all, between Peter Bergman and Eric Braeden, they have a combined fifty-nine years of experience on the show.  Eric Braeden has played the role of ruthless Victor Newman since 1980, while Peter Bergman took over the role of Jack Abbott from the late Terry Lester in 1989.

But had show creator William J. Bell been pushed to do it, both men would have seen their careers end one fateful day in 1991.  




Now, on the show, Victor and Jack are enemies.  In fact, the last twenty-five years or so, Victor and Jack have been trying to take each other down.  It's probably one of the longest soap opera rivalries to ever be seen on daytime television.  But while some actors might play enemies on television, they may be the best of friends when the cameras shut off.

But apparently the hate between Victor and Jack turned personal, and from various articles that I have read, the tension between Bergman and Braeden became so great that it actually ended with both actors exchanging punches!  And, this prompted Bell to step in and tell both of them that if it happened again, he would have both of them fired on the spot, and their roles would be recast.

Since then, Bergman and Braeden have seemingly squashed their feud with each other and have maintained a professional working relationship since, with both men owning up to their part in the scuffle.  However, I'm curious now to see some of those Y&R episodes from 1991, just to see if the two actors were acting, or if they really did hate each other.




VICTORIA ROWELL vs. MICHELLE STAFFORD

Another dynamic fight of epic proportions reportedly took place on the set of Y&R between two actresses who are no longer on the show.  Victoria Rowell portrayed the role of Drucilla Winters off and on between 1990 and 2007, and Michelle Stafford played the role of Phyllis Summers Newman off and on between 1994 and 2013.

And, much like the characters of Jack Abbott and Victor Newman, it's a safe bet to say that Phyllis and Drucilla did not get along with each other at all.  Here's just one of their many fights on the show.




But again, much like the incident between Bergman and Braeden, a fight scene between Stafford and Rowell turned personal, according to Rowell's claims anyway.

After Drucilla was killed off in 2007 (though to be fair, her body was never found), Rowell did a series of interviews with various soap publications, and Rowell made the claim that things turned ugly between her and Stafford during a scene in which Drucilla and Phyllis were arguing.  At some point, Rowell made the claim that during a rehearsal, Stafford actually did a spit take and spat all over her, prompting a battle between the two co-stars.  Rowell also made claims that Stafford, as well as couple of other Y&R cast members actually launched a campaign to see that she never came back to the show again.  It's unknown whether these allegations that Rowell has made have any truth to them, as Stafford has never publicly spoken about the incident.  But, I will say this...now that Stafford has left the show, could it be possible that we see Drucilla again?  Time will tell.




KIMBERLIN BROWN vs. HUNTER TYLO

I suppose it's kind of symbolic that when they were acting on "The Bold and the Beautiful" together that Kimberlin's character of Sheila Carter would shoot Hunter's character of Taylor Forrester, making Taylor's family believe that she was dead for three years, because if you believe Hunter Tylo's claims, Kimberlin was the one who blew their friendship away.

At one point, Kimberlin and Hunter were very good friends.  When Brown crossed over to the B&B from Y&R in 1992, Hunter and Kimberlin were involved in quite a few stories together and their friendship seemed solid.

But then Hunter Tylo's marriage was beginning to falter, and at the divorce proceedings, it was expected that Kimberlin and her husband would be called to testify as character witnesses, given how close the two couples were.  What Hunter didn't expect to see happen was that Kimberlin would actually be on the side of her husband, and as a result of this, the former friends fell out for good.

Hunter Tylo left "The Bold and the Beautiful" for good in 2013.  As for Brown, she hasn't been seen on B&B since 2003, and since the character of Sheila Carter was supposedly killed off on Y&R, it's unknown if she'll ever come back to the show again...but I suppose you never know.




SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR vs. SUSAN LUCCI

These days, Sarah Michelle Gellar is making people laugh on the sitcom "The Crazy Ones", but twenty-one years ago - when Gellar was just sixteen years old - she debuted on the set of ABC's "All My Children" as a character named Kendall Hart who had a surprising connection to one of the residents of Pine Valley.  She was actually the illegitimate daughter of original "All My Children" diva Erica Kane, played by Lucci during the soap's entire broadcast history on ABC.

Of course, Erica didn't take too kindly to the idea of Kendall being her daughter, and between 1993 and 1995 (when Gellar left the series) the plot revolved around the scheming Kendall clashing with the headstrong Erica.

Turns out that if the stories heard around set were true, it was art imitating life.  It was widely reported that there was tension between Lucci and Gellar, and there were reports of everything happening from Gellar's mother getting too professionally involved in the show to Lucci being insanely jealous of Gellar's sudden popularity.  Now, I don't know if any of this was true, but I can't imagine Lucci feeling all that happy when Sarah Michelle Gellar won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1995 after just two years when Lucci had been nominated for fifteen years without taking home one award!


Whatever the case, Gellar left in 1995, became a big star through "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer", and is now married to Freddie Prinze Jr.  And, Lucci ended up winning an Emmy in 1999.  But do tensions still remain between Gellar and Lucci?  Nobody is talking, though when Sarah Michelle Gellar did a cameo for the final episode of "All My Children", it was quite telling that she never shared any screen time with Lucci...

And, that's all I have for this week's edition.  I'm sure that there are more soap opera behind the scenes feuds that I haven't touched upon yet.  If any of you know of any other stories that you have heard, or want to comment on this story, feel free!

Thursday, January 09, 2014

The Customer Is Always Right...Unless They're Mean About It

Before I go ahead with today's blog entry, I have a question for all of you.  Don't worry.  It's not a loaded one.



Seriously, just ponder that for a second.  Are you picturing it right now?  Are you thinking about your answer at all?
I certainly know what my answer is.  And since it's a Thursday Video Blog, I thought I'd speak my piece...well, as much as I can, anyway.  Just note that I never really talk about my own personal experiences, nor do I do any name dropping because A) I don't feel the need to name drop, and B) because the opinion can be applied to many different retailers.  Have a look.  We'll discuss it a little bit at the end.




I do apologize for it being so long.  It wasn't my intention...it's just that the timer blended in with the white background on my computer screen.

But before I go ahead with my further discussion on this topic, I want to post this sign.





Trust me, it's the sign that can save retailers and customer service specialists a lot of grief.  But as I said beforehand, it should really only be used as a trump card and only when the situation arises.  Because I have heard stories of people actually attacking retail workers in a physical or emotional sense because they didn't like the answer they received, and in cases like that where you cannot get away, call for assistance.  And, never, ever try to tackle a volatile situation alone.
And, keep in mind that respect is a two-way street.  After all, it would be pretty hypocritical if I told you to treat customers with respect if I didn't treat my customers with respect right off the bat.  Even though I have my good days and bad days, I never take it out on my customers...and if I ever do, please call me out on it!  Respectfully, of course, that is.

After all, I never want to come across as being exactly like this snooty waitress found on the BBC soap opera EastEnders.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BscsgZwOHw

Though, you have to admit...although the customer did everything that I said was absolutely wrong...you must admit, you laughed, didn't you?