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Sunday, April 13, 2014

I Love Rock 'n' Roll

I think that for today's edition of the Sunday Jukebox, I've chosen a song that most everybody will love.  And it happens to be a song that topped the charts over thirty years ago.

In fact, why don't we go back in time exactly thirty-two years ago to the year 1982 for this one?  Doesn't that sound like a fun year to visit?

Okay, so what was the trend on the charts for 1982?  Well, apparently 1982 was the year in which it became quite difficult to get a #1 hit.  A grand total of fifteen songs hit the top of the charts that year.  Only 1996 and 2004 were tougher to have a chart-topper.  Just put that into perspective here.

And, just what types of music topped the Billboard charts in 1982?  With the exception of the instrumental "Chariots of Fire", and slow jam songs by Lionel Richie, Chicago, Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes, and Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, the charts that year were all about rock and roll. 

With artists such as The J. Geils Band, Hall and Oates, Human League, Toni Basil, Steve Miller Band, and Survivor topping the charts, it became clear that disco was dead and buried and that rock and roll was here to stay.

And certainly one anthem best described the turning tide of music during that time period. 

Just have a listen.  You'll know what I mean.



ARTIST:  Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
SONG:  I Love Rock 'n' Roll
ALBUM:  I Love Rock 'n' Roll
DATE RELEASED:  January 20, 1982
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  #1 for 7 weeks

Ah yes...the song that made everybody put another dime in the jukebox baby!  A song that seems horribly out of date when you realize that jukeboxes take quarters now...and when you realize that all people have to do now is click on the "shuffle" button on their iPods to listen to rock and roll.



This was a huge hit for Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.  The song spent seven weeks at the top of the charts between March 20 and May 7, 1982, and certainly established Joan Jett as one of the first ladies of the 1980s rock movement right alongside Blondie's Debbie Harry and The Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde.

But I have a bit of shocking news for you all.  Some of you may know this piece of trivia already, but for those of you who do not, here's the news.  Apparently, "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" is NOT an original composition by Joan Jett and the Heartbreakers.

(But then again, it doesn't come as that much of a surprise, given that another one of the band's success stories was their cover version of Tommy James and the Shondells' "Crimson and Clover".)



No, the truth is that "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" was originally recorded a full seven years before Joan Jett made it famous.  In 1975, a British/American group who went by the name of Arrows released the song first - a song that was written by Arrows band members Jake Hooker and Alan Merrill.  Merrill explained that the song was written as a "knee-jerk response" to a Rolling Stones single "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It)".  Originally intended as a B-side, the single was flipped to A-side status on future record releases.

(See, back in the olden days in which there were no CD's and mp3 players, people listened to music on records and tapes.  Each record and tape had an A-side and a B-side.  A-sides were reserved for #1 hits or songs that record companies felt would be commercially successful.  B-sides were mostly forgotten songs that while still good, producers felt weren't strong enough to promote as much as an A-side song.)

Here.  I'll post the Arrows version below.  Let you get a feel for the record.



Now the original version by the Arrows didn't really do as well as anyone had hoped it would.  On the British charts, it didn't really make much of an impression, and it was virtually unheard in the United States - largely in fault of the band's record company which dropped the ball on promoting the single.  However, it wasn't a complete loss.  Because the band performed the single on the British television series "45", producer Muriel Young offered the band a weekly television series, which debuted in March 1976.



And, it was because of this television show that a then seventeen year old Joan Jett first heard the song that would help catapult her to the top of the charts in the early 1980s.  At that time, Joan was experiencing the London club scene while touring with her then band "The Runaways" in 1976.  She caught the band performing the single on that show, and made it a mission to do her own version one day.

In actuality, she recorded the single twice.  The first time she recorded it was back in 1979, and she had help from a couple of real sex pistols.

(Seriously, "Sex Pistols" band members Steve Jones and Paul Cook helped Joan Jett record her first version.)

Of course, most people never knew that such a version existed.  You see, even though the single was recorded in 1979 and released on vinyl, it was as a B-side and not very successful.  It actually took another fourteen years for that version to be released on CD format.  Let's see if I can even find this version.



Well, I'll be damned.  It does exist.

Anyway, Joan Jett decided to release another version...this time recording it with her band, The Blackhearts.  It became a part of her 1981 album of the same title, and because of the fact that MTV had just debuted months before the single was released, it was decided that to help promote the single, a video would be filmed as well.

And, certainly the black and white tinted video showing Joan and her band in a dingy dive bar performing the single to the rowdy crowd inside certainly helped the song's popularity.  It was a video that was firmly in MTV's rotation for at least two years running, and it likely helped the song become song #484 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

TRIVIA:  Of course, the black and white video was actually a last minute decision.  It was originally planned for the video to be in colour with Joan Jett dressed in a red leather jumpsuit.  But when the video was finished, Joan was not very happy with her look at all, and the decision was made to take out the colour and make it black and white.  Ultimately, it was a good decision.  The video looked more artistic in black and white, and I honestly think that Joan Jett probably wouldn't have come across so powerful in bright red.



These days, Joan Jett is still going strong at fifty-five years old.  Although she hasn't really had many hits on the Billboard charts as of lately, she still tours and records music - her latest album being 2013's "Unvarnished".  She was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in October 2006, and although she has been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as of 2014, it hasn't happened.  Yet.

But it's nice to know that Joan Jett made an impact on the charts with "I Love Rock 'n' Roll".  It may not have originally been her song, but she sang it with such power and passion that any hint of a "bad reputation" in the music scene was permanently eradicated from the minds of all doubters.

Of course...who knew that twenty years later, the single would become a hit once more - by a former Mouseketeer?  A singer who actually believed that Pat Benetar sang this song and not Joan Jett!  Because Pat Benatar and Joan Jett just sound SO similar...



ARTIST:  Britney Spears
SONG:  I Love Rock 'n' Roll
ALBUM:  Britney
DATE RELEASED:  May 27, 2002
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  N/A

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Bart vs. The Space Mutants

It's the second Saturday of the month, which means that I'm going to be peeking through the vaults of classic video games and selecting one at random to talk about today.

And I'm going to warn you ahead of time.  This particular video game is one that some of the younger generation may not know even exists, but is also one that people my age or older may not have played.  And even though it's been nearly a quarter of a century since this game was released, this game still gets mixed reviews.  Some people loved the game when it was first released, but others claimed it to be the worst video game they've ever played.

To be fair, I think that's a bit as an exaggeration.  I can think of several games that are worse.  "E.T.", "Where's Waldo", "Stretch Panic", etc...

Anyway, we're going back to the year 1991 for this one.  And, certainly 1991 was a year of transition in the world of video gaming.  The Super Nintendo was beginning to make its presence known, the Sega Genesis was really making an effort to compete, and even the Turbo Grafx 16 had its moment in the sun.  And some really fantastic titles were released in 1991.  "Sonic The Hedgehog", "Super Mario World", "Final Fantasy IV", "Streets of Rage", and "Battletoads" were just some of the most talked about games that year.  And, yes...I have played all of these games.

But 1991 was also a year in which a lot of television cartoons and movies were adapted into video games...and in a lot of cases, these video games were often scrutinized as being boring, unimaginative, and flawed. 

And, certainly today's video game was under that scrutiny.  When this game was released in 1991, some of the reviews were not that great.  The game was called "relentlessly unforgiving", "frustrating and generic", and "insanely difficult".  At the same time, some defenders of the game praised the fact that it was "fast", "had clever strategic puzzles", and stayed true to form of the television series.

Which I suppose was easy to say, given that the television series only debuted two years before the game did.  But who knew that "The Simpsons" would have so much staying power at that time? 

Now, there have been dozens of Simpsons video games that have been released over the years.  Some have been really good (such as "Simpsons Hit and Run" and "The Simpsons Game").  Some have been passable ("Bart's Nightmare", "Simpsons Road Rage"), and some have just sucked ("Bart vs. The World").



But "Bart vs. The Space Mutants" kicked off the whole shebang.  And, my personal opinion?  I loved it...even though it took me...get this...a full year before I even beat the first level!  Let's just say that the critics weren't kidding about the difficulty level!

However, over time I did manage to beat the whole game.  And once I had, I wore it like a badge of honour.  After all, if anyone could beat that game, they were considered a real video game master!



And, of course, the game features some of your all time favourite Simpsons characters...well, at least the ones who existed around the time of the show's second and third seasons.  Aside from Bart, Homer, and the rest of the Simpsons cast, you have guest appearances from Moe, Jimbo, Nelson Muntz, Krusty the Clown, and even some former Simpsons villains making a cameo!

The version that I played was the one for the Nintendo Entertainment System.  But would you believe that it was actually ported to no less than NINE different consoles including the Sega Master System, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and the Sega Game Gear between 1991 and 1992?

So here's the plot of the game.  You remember those two space aliens that pop up in the occasional Simpsons Treehouse of Horror specials each year?  I believe their names are Kang and Kodos?  Well, it turns out that they are trying to take over the world one city at a time (or at least I think they're Kang and Kodos...their colours are different in the game).  Springfield happens to be city number one.

The only problem is that the method in which they plan on taking over the world is not quite finished yet.  Their "ultimate weapon" is not yet completed, and they need to borrow a few household items from all over the city.  In each level, they need a specific item to complete their machine.  Here's the full list.

LEVEL 1 - Collect 24 purple-coloured objects
LEVEL 2 - Collect 25 hats
LEVEL 3 - Collect 40 balloons
LEVEL 4 - Collect 6 exit signs
LEVEL 5 - Collect 16 plutonium rods

OBSERVATION:  Okay, so I can understand the plutonium rods, and I can even maybe see the balloons being important, as latex could have been used for the construction of the machine.  But what the heck do hats and exit signs have to do with it?  And, do the aliens really need purple things, or do they just like the colour?



Whatever the case, it's up to a ten-year-old boy named Bartholomew J. Simpson to stop the aliens from taking over the world once and for all.  As it turns out, he's got quite a few weapons that he can use to fight back.



First thing off the bat, he has a pair of X-ray specs.  But they allow you to do more than see people in their underwear.  They allow Bart to tell the difference between real humans and aliens posing as humans.  If Bart attacks the aliens at just the right angle, he'll kill them and the aliens will leave behind a glowing orb.  These come in handy later on, so stay with me here.

Bart also holds some other gadgets on him as well - particularly during levels one and three.  He has red spray paint canisters, firecrackers, cherry bombs, and magnets that he can use to make his quest a little bit easier.

And, by the way, remember how I talked about those glowing orbs earlier?  If you collect enough of them, you can spell out the name of one of Bart's family members and they will help you battle the boss at the end of each level.  Maggie will appear in level one, Marge in level two, Lisa in level three, and Homer in level four. 

So, what exactly are the levels?



LEVEL ONE:  Streets of Springfield

Okay, so you know that you have to either grab or destroy 24 purple objects.  And there are a lot of purple objects to be found in the game.  The problem is that actually collecting them is the most difficult part of the whole game, and this was the main reason why I struggled for a whole year with the first level.  Some of them were simple to grab, but it took me a while to realize that you needed to use the items you were given to get the purple objects needed to move ahead to stage two. 

For instance, if you were coming across a pedestrian who was wearing a purple sweater, all Bart would have to do is spray the person with a red can of spray paint to change the colour!

Just move out of the way!  Part of the difficulty of the game is that Bart can only get hit twice before losing a life.  Luckily there are plenty of 1-UP Krusty the Clown decals to keep Bart playing for a little while.  And, collecting the head of the Jebediah Springfield head will grant Bart temporary invincibility.

Other ways you can collect purple objects is by shooting rockets at them, turning on fire hydrants to wash away wet paint, hanging around the movie theatre when the timer reaches 200 and 400 seconds to spray purple clad pedestrians.  Heck, you can even phone Moe and spray him red if you like!

At the end of the level, Nelson Muntz will try to stop your progress.  But if you collected enough orbs, Maggie can help you out.



LEVEL TWO:  Springfield Mall

Of all the levels in the game, this one is probably my favourite.  You have to collect hats from all over the mall.  Four floors of shopping goodness awaits you with Ms. Botz at the top of it all.  If you get enough orbs, Marge will provide you with assistance.  But the trip won't be easy.  At the end of each floor, there's a mini-boss that you have to defeat, and each mini-boss has a specific theme that you will automatically notice as you pass by the mall.  The first floor will try to destroy your sweet tooth as you pass by candy obstacles.  The second floor kicks you when you're down by launching an army of killer shoes.  The third floor is all about the power of magic as you try to avoid killer wands, carnivorous bunnies from a hat, and floating handkerchiefs.



LEVEL THREE:  Springfield Amusement Park

Mind you, this game was released before "Itchy and Scratchy Land", "Duff Gardens", and even "Mount Splashmore", so this stage is just a generic amusement park filled with dozens of carnival games, and at least 40 balloons that you have to pop.  You're armed with a slingshot to get all of the floating ones, and believe it or not, there's even a pop a balloon win a prize game.  There's even a fun house and a gigantic Ferris wheel in the level!  If you get 40 balloons, you face Sideshow Bob.  And, if you get enough orbs, Lisa will team up with you to defeat Krusty's sidekick gone bad.



LEVEL FOUR:  Springfield Museum

I.  HATED.  THIS.  LEVEL.  And, rather than write about why, I'll show you a video of this level taken from YouTube.

NOTE:  You may as well just run into the laser beams and let yourself die the first time around.  There's a glitch that only gives you 300 seconds to beat the level - which unless you're a speed demon is impossible.  When you die, the timer will reset itself to a more reasonable 800 seconds.  Dr. Marvin Monroe is the boss here, and Homer will hide behind the paintings to lend a hand - provided you have enough orbs.

And, this takes us to level five.  





LEVEL FIVE:  Springfield Power Plant

And, well, all I'll say about this level is that all four members of the family will help out in some manner, there's lots of donuts to be found, and it's probably one of the most confusing levels to navigate.  Enjoy!

Friday, April 11, 2014

A Different World

Today is Friday, which means that we're going to be talking about a television show that was launched as a spin-off of another show altogether.  And, believe it or not, I almost considered not doing a spotlight on this show because I thought I already covered it.

(This has been a general concern that I have been having lately.  After all, I have been keeping this blog an ongoing project for nearly three years now.)

That's one of the reasons why you will see why I have added a gigantic search bar directly below the main logo of this blog.  Mind you, a part of the reason why I did this was so that all of you could have the opportunity to have the chance to see if you could find your favourite topics via an actor's name, a television show title, or song lyrics.  But I have to admit that there was an ulterior motive for putting that search bar on my blog.  I use it to check and see which topics I have covered, and which topics I haven't.  Because as good as my memory is, I still need to have some sort of assistance in trying to remember what topics I've covered and haven't covered.

Luckily, after a brief search, it turns out that today's topic is one that I haven't done yet.  However, I have already done a topic on the parent show that this particular sitcom stemmed from.



Of course everybody knows the television series "The Cosby Show".  At the peak of its 1984-1992 run, the series was definitely one of the most successful sitcoms to ever air on television.  In fact, it consistently ranked at the top of the Nielsen ratings for several years - well, at least until "The Simpsons" dethroned it in 1990.  But still, the television sitcom was a show that was a ratings winner, and made household names of Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Raven-Symone, Keshia Knight-Pulliam, Tempestt Bledsoe, and Lisa Bonet.



And, while we're on the subject, let's talk a little bit about Lisa Bonet, or the former Mrs. Lenny Kravitz, or Lilakoi Moon, or whatever name she happens to be going by these days.  As most of you know, Lisa played the role of middle daughter Denise Huxtable.  And, when "The Cosby Show" debuted in 1984, Denise was considered to be the offbeat Huxtable.  While she was always good in school and got good grades, she was considered to be the kind of person who chose her own path in life, and who would always rebel against what everyone else was doing.  She was happy just following her own path.  And, Denise was also very popular in her high school years, often changing boyfriends as much as people change their jockey shorts.  But, lest you think Denise was easy, she was always portrayed as the "good girl", as opposed to Theo and Vanessa, who almost always were the Huxtable kids who would more often than not get into trouble.

So, when Denise's character graduated high school at the end of season three, producers Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner came up with the idea to spin-off Denise's character onto another show that they created featuring Denise's adventures at the fictional Hillman College in the state of Virginia.



The television show was called "A Different World", and it debuted on September 24, 1987 on NBC.  Appropriately enough, for the majority of the show's run, it would air at 8:30pm on Thursdays, immediately after "The Cosby Show".



And, again, as I stated, the main intention of "A Different World" was to follow Denise Huxtable through her college years, with Denise periodically dropping onto the occasional episode of "The Cosby Show" for guest appearances.  But let's just say that something happened along the way that caused the main premise of the show to derail considerably.

When Lisa Bonet turned twenty years old, she had decided to elope with then breakout rock musician Lenny Kravitz.  A few months later, Lisa Bonet ended up getting pregnant with Lenny's child.  That child, Zoe Kravitz, would be born in December 1988.

Now, in most cases, this would not be a big deal.  In Lisa Bonet's case, it was an extremely big deal.  You see, Denise Huxtable was the star of the show, and showrunners felt that it would not be suitable for an unwed Denise to end up knocked up during her first year of college.  It seemed to be a decision that Bonet mutually agreed with, and in the spring of 1988, Bonet left "A Different World", and would eventually rejoin the cast of "The Cosby Show" after giving birth to Zoe.

Of course, this lead to a bit of a crisis at the end of the show's first year.  With the main character gone, how could the show possibly survive?

Well, showrunners brought forth a familar face to help them revamp the series for the second season.  Former "Fame" actress Debbie Allen (who ironically enough is the younger sister of Phylicia Rashad who played Clair Huxtable on "The Cosby Show") was brought aboard to make the necessary changes to the show to keep it on the air. 



The first change was to bring forth a new main character of the series, and Allen succeeded by elevating supporting cast members Jasmine Guy and Kadeem Hardison to lead cast members.  Guy and Hardison as you know played the roles of spoiled bad girl Whitley Gilbert and Dwayne Wayne respectively.  Dawnn Lewis was also kept on the show in the role of Jaleesa Vinson until her departure later in the series.

But because change number two meant that Hillman College would become more of an African-American school, this meant that the non-black cast members of the program were let go.  This included future movie star Marisa Tomei, if you can believe it.

But with the departure of Tomei, Loretta Devine, and Marie-Alise Recasner came new students in the form of Kimberly Reese (Charnele Brown) and Freddie Brooks (Cree Summer).  As well, some new adult figures were added to the cast which featured Glynn Turman as Colonel Taylor and Sinbad as Coach Oakes.



Certainly these changes were risky, but the show's ratings were high enough during season one that it was automatically renewed for a second season that it was worth a shot.  Who knew that these changes would actually keep the show on the air for an additional five seasons, with "A Different World" ending in July 1993?

You want to know what else lasted from 1987-1993?  Lisa Bonet's marriage to Lenny Kravitz.  Quite a coincidence, no?

Of course, the reason why the show lasted a grand total of six seasons in all had very little to do with the cast changes, though I suppose in some manner, it was more realistic to do so, since most people only spend an average of four years in college - well, unless you go off to med school, that is.

If anything, I think it had to do with the fact that "A Different World" touched upon certain subjects and plots that other sitcoms never really dealt with out of lack of knowledge, fear of retribution, or controversy killing ratings.  "A Different World" truly was a different show in the spectrum of evening sitcoms because of the fact that the program did take some risks.

For instance, did you know that "A Different World" became one of the very first sitcoms to deal with the HIV/AIDS epidemic?  It seems hard to believe that it took until 1990 for a television sitcom to even speak about AIDS, given that it was first discovered nine years earlier in 1981, but a fourth season episode of the show featured a guest appearance by Tisha Campbell-Martin, who was playing the role of a student at the school who was dying of AIDS.  It also featured the harsh realities of having a lack of understanding of the disease at that time when some of the students began shunning her because they were afraid of catching it (which as we all know is impossible because AIDS is not an airborne virus).  It was definitely a powerful episode, as well as an educational one.

But there have been others as well.  The sitcom tackled the subject of date rape, when Freddie almost becomes a victim of it herself.  Fortunately, she was rescued by Dwayne, but it was a very terrifying ordeal for her, as well as a very educational episode, showing people what steps they can take to prevent becoming a victim themselves.

The show also dealt with topics that focused solely on black history as well.  There was an episode that talked about how during the era of slavery, that it was entirely possible for African-Americans to have slaves.  Certainly Whitley was stunned to learn that some of her ancestors held slaves.  An episode entitled "Cat's In The Cradle" dealt with the topic of racism and how it wasn't necessarily a black and white issue...particularly when it displayed that prejudice can affect people of any colour.  The show even referenced the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill scandal as well as the Los Angeles riots of April 1992 which took place after the acquittal of the police officers responsible for beating Rodney King.

It truly was a show that was quite current for its time - even more so than "Murphy Brown"!

And to think...it initially began as a spin-off venture for a Huxtable...and yet over the years, it became much more.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Sensitivity Training 101

Okay, so first things first, I would like to direct you to the below link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P30mM7oTFOk



This will take you to the side project that I am involved in that I was telling you about last week.  The talk show is called "MOTIVE2CHANGE", and my friends Josh and Carine have been having a blast with recording each episode so far.

I just would like to let everyone know that the MOTIVE2CHANGE talk show is now officially going to be a weekly thing!  Each and every Sunday, we'll be picking a topic for discussion that is related to the struggles and decisions that people (specifically the youth of the nation and beyond) have to face each day.  So, definitely mark down April 13 on your calendars because that is when the third episode of our chat show will air.

And, as always, you can have your say!  If you want to suggest a topic, or comment on our shows, just click HERE to visit our YouTube page.  The link to this blog will be present as well as the Twitter accounts for two-thirds of us, as well as the show itself.  Definitely have a listen, because it's well worth it!

Say...maybe I should just devote Thursdays as "MOTIVE2CHANGE THURSDAYS"!  What do you think?

But here's the thing.  Episode 2 is all about acceptance.  And, something happened to me yesterday that had me questioning what acceptance is...at least on a personal level.

Such as the case with today's vlog.




Wednesday, April 09, 2014

Death With Archie?

Today's edition of the Whatever Wednesday blog really needs no introduction.  I don't even need to choose a Clue card.  I already know that I'm going to be talking about some recent news that I had heard regarding one of my all-time favourite comic book series.

News that I initially misinterpreted as that of a complete and total cancellation.

Okay, so picture this.  The date was yesterday - April 8, 2014.  The time was just after three o'clock in the afternoon.  I had had a full day filled with a safety meeting, 474 price changes, and setting up displays for The Hobbit, some Justin Bieber concert DVD, and that movie in which Julia Roberts beats up Meryl Streep.  So, when I left work to go home, I was already feeling tired and not really processing information properly.

So imagine my surprise when a family member informs me that Archie Andrews is going to be killed in his own comic book and that no more comic books would be printed.  At least, that's how it was told to me.

My heart immediately skipped a beat.  How could this be?  I had been a loyal fan of Archie comics since 1987 when I received my very first Archie comic as an early birthday present.  That's twenty-seven years ago, my friends.  I already explained that part of the reason why I fell in love with the series was because it was the one place in which I felt as though I could visit and automatically fit in.  I had a really difficult time fitting in with people my own age - and for that matter, I STILL have problems fitting in with people my own age, and I suppose that Archie kind of made me feel as though anybody could have friends, and that there was a way for anybody to be a part of a community.

Well, that is unless you were there to knock down the Chocklit Shop, or bulldoze Riverdale High, or kidnapped Betty and Veronica.  Then, you'd be run right out of town.

Over the years, I've managed to amass a huge collection (well over four thousand comics), and I have firmly stated that it is the one thing from my childhood that I refuse to let go of.  And, before any of you point fingers at me, let me remind you that every single person has one thing from their childhoods that they won't let go of either be it a seashell collection, a Barbie doll collection, or a room filled with Star Trek memorabilia.  Archie comics just happens to be mine.  Believe me, there could be worse things I could be addicted to like chainsaws.

So, needless to say, when I heard word that Archie was being killed off, I was thinking - were all those years of collecting a waste?  What would I collect now?

As it turned out, the link to the story was posted on my own personal Facebook account, so I clicked on it, half nervous that maybe Archie comics had hit financial troubles and that the books would stop being made for good, and half hopeful in thinking that the article was posted on April 1st and that it was just some April Fools Day joke.

Well, it ended up being not as bad as I thought it would be, but still fairly shocking.

It turns out that Archie Comics Publications is NOT bankrupt, and is not going out of business just yet.  The Digest series of books will still continue, as will the "Archie", "Betty & Veronica", "Kevin Keller", and "Afterlife With Archie" comic series.



However, they still plan on killing Archie Andrews off - his expected date of death being listed as July 16, 2014 - the same day that the thirty-sixth issue of the "Life With Archie" magazine is set to hit comic shelves.  It will end up being the penultimate issue of the series before the thirty-seventh and final issue will be released, tying up all the loose ends.

So, just to clarify, it will only be the "Life With Archie" magazine title that will be ending - along with Archie Andrews' life.  The rest of the titles will continue.

But how can this be so?  How can a comic book serial continue without the main character?  In the comic book's near 73-year-old history, this is by far one of the most shocking and finite stories to ever be crafted for the series.  And, you'd think that with no Archie, there would be no more Archie comics.



But alas...there is a twist.  You see, the other Archie titles (including "The Walking Dead" like "Afterlife With Archie" series) have Archie as a forever teenager, never looking a day over seventeen and a half.



But "Life With Archie" on the other hand, features two different realities in which Archie is much older.  In one story, Archie is married to Veronica Lodge.  In the other story, Archie is married to Betty Cooper.  And over the course of the past thirty-four issues (Issue #35 is set to go on sale within the next few weeks), we have seen what has happened to Archie as he struggles to maintain a marriage, a career, and the political happenings in Riverdale as a thirtysomething character (actually, I'm not sure how old Archie is supposed to be in the "Life With Archie" title, but I just am guessing that he's at least in his early thirties - a.k.a. the age that I am at now).



The idea for the "Life With Archie" reboot (the original Life With Archie ran for thirty-three years between 1958 and 1991) came about shortly after the very successful "Archie Marries..." storyline, which spanned six issues between Archie #600 and Archie #605.  In the first three issues (600-602), Archie marries Veronica, while in the last three (603-605), Archie marries Betty.  Then again, Archie #631-634 showed him marrying Valerie from Josie and the Pussycats.  I'm half expecting Archie #671-674 to feature Archie marrying Sabrina, or Archie #697-700 featuring him marrying Cheryl Blossom.



Man-whore, thy name is Archie Andrews.

Anyway, the Life With Archie series has featured a lot of storylines that have been progressive, yet have also been slightly controversial (why, I'm not sure).  The title has featured Mr. Lodge temporarily transforming into the ultimate antagonist in the first few issues of the series, killed off Miss Grundy in issue #6, burned down Riverdale High in issue #12, and featured openly gay character Kevin Keller marrying his husband Clay in episode #16.

As of right now, Archie's two different lives with two different girls has taken him on some rather interesting journeys.  With his life with Veronica, he is staunchly defending her after she is wrongly accused of committing a finance related crime, and he is also getting involved in the investigation purposes trying to prove her innocence.  And, in the Betty scenario, Archie is feeling left out when Betty's job seems to take over everything, leaving her with no time to spend with him.  It's prompted Archie to almost embark on an affair.

(This ain't your momma's Archie comic.)

And recurring themes in both sections of the "Life With Archie" magazine, the stories have some common threads.  You have a character running for state office (Kevin for Senator...and believe it or not, Moose for Mayor!)



You also have a story arc that features gun violence, as Kevin's husband ends up getting shot.  As well, Jughead has also had to deal with some unsavoury characters hanging around his little sister, and having to fight to keep the Chocklit Shop alive (Jughead took over his favourite soda shop after Pop Tate retired).

So, given that the press release for the death of Archie states that Archie dies a hero, giving up his life to save someone else...there's lots of ways that Archie could be killed off.

He could discover a way to clear Veronica's name and dies getting the message out.  He could get caught up in the gun violence and become the next victim.  He could take a knife to the chest trying to save Jughead from being stabbed by the goons hanging around Jellybean.  He could end up getting run over with Betty's car after she catches him in the act of an affair.

No, wait.  Scratch that last one.  Archie wouldn't die a heroic death that way.

The truth is that until issue #36 comes out on July 16, we just don't know how it will all end.  And even though the classic tales of comedy will remain in the publications' nine other titles, somehow it's going to be kind of weird reading a story in which Archie has a funny thing happen to him, knowing that he'll be dead in a few years time.

Of course, who really knows what will happen?  Who knows, it could be one of those instances in which it could be like the television show "Dallas" in which a few years from now Betty or Veronica wake up after a dream and see a very much alive Archie in the shower.  After all, the entire "Life With Archie" series were two different alternate realities in one book.  It very well could still have that "Twin Peaks"-y twist at the end where Archie isn't really dead after all.  Regardless, it will be interesting to see how this progresses.





Though, for Archie to die after 73 years...I would hope that his death scene is incredibly spectacular.  After all, in the original Life With Archie series, he survived fires, floods, kidnappings, robberies, getting nearly eaten alive by animals, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, shipwrecks, viruses, and alien invasions.  It would be a slap in the face if Archie survived all that only to have final act be to crack his head on the pavement while slipping on a banana peel!

Tuesday, April 08, 2014

April 8, 1966

It's another edition of the Tuesday Timeline, and unlike last week's April Fools Day gag, this week's will be one hundred per cent truthful.  Hey, what can I say?  I had to play a trick on April Fools Day.

But now here comes the tricky part.  Since this Tuesday Timeline will be legitimate, I have to come up with a real life event.  And, for April 8, this proved to be difficult because of the fact that all of the really good topics that I had to choose from were topics that I have already done blogs on.  And, what was left over, I didn't know enough about to create a decent topic.

So, I really had to get creative with today's topic...and I think that I came up with a solution.

But first, why don't we take a look at some of the other events that happened on this date throughout history, as we always do on this and every Tuesday.  Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

1730 - The first synagogue in New York City - Shearith Israel - is dedicated

1820 - The Venus de Milo statue is discovered on the Aegean island of Melos

1864 - Union soldiers are thwarted by the Confederate Army in the Battle of Mansfield

1866 - Italy and Prussia fight against the Austrian Empire

1904 - Longacre Square in New York City is renamed Times Square, after the New York Times

1906 - The first death from Alzheimer's Disease takes place, with the passing of Auguste Deter

1908 - Harvard University votes to establish the Harvard Business School

1916 - Race car driver Bob Burman crashes his car in Corona, California, which kills three spectators and injures five more

1918 - Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks begin selling war bonds on the streets of New York City's financial district

1943 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt implements a wage and price freeze to control inflation due to the cost of World War II; the measure also prohibits people from switching jobs

1945 - An air raid accidentally destroys a train carrying at least four thousand Nazi concentration camp internees near Prussian Hanover, and all survivors are executed

1954 - Thirty-seven people are killed when a Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair Harvard collides with a Trans-Canada Airlines Canadair North Star over the community of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

1975 - Frank Robinson becomes the first African-American manager of a Major League Baseball team (Cleveland Indians)

1987 - Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis resigns from his position following a Nightline interview in which he made racially charged remarks

1992 - Tennis legend Arthur Ashe announces that he has AIDS which was contracted from blood transfusions - he would die just ten months later in February 1993

2005 - The funeral of Pope John Paul II - more than four million people are in attendance

2008 - Actor Stanley Kamel dies of a heart attack at age 65

2013 - Former Mouseketeer Annette Funicello dies of complications from multiple sclerosis at the age of 70

And for celebrity birthdays, we want to wish Shecky Greene, Stuart Pankin, Steve Howe, John Schneider, Elise Guilbault, Richard Hatch, Julian Lennon, Donita Sparks, Biz Markie, Robin Wright, Patricia Arquette, Emma Caulfield, Alex Gonzalez, Rachel Roberts, Jocelyn Robichaud, Katee Sackhoff, Taylor Kitsch, Adrian Bellani, Keegan DeWitt, Taran Noah Smith, Kirsten Storms, Bridget Kelly, Philip Dowling, Ty Panitz, and Skai Jackson.

So, now that we've listed the things that I won't be talking about this week, we'll instead be focusing on the one date that we will be talking about.



The date I've chosen is April 8, 1966.  And this date is linked to a person that many of you in my neck of the woods (North American) likely would never have heard of.  But her story has a very tragic ending, and we'll be talking about that as well as the impact that her death had on others and what we can learn from it.  At the same time, I also want to make this blog entry a celebration of her life as well, talking about some of the good things that she did during her career, and some of the things she achieved during her time on this earth.



If she was still alive, New Zealand born media personality Charlotte Dawson would have turned 48 years old today.  She was born in Auckland, New Zealand, but was given up for adoption shortly after she was born.  She spent the first sixteen years of her life in Auckland before she moved out of the country when she turned 16.  Beginning in 1982, she was signed to Ford Models, and did some campaigns in both Europe and America - specifically fashion friendly cities such as London and New York.  For the next ten years, she continued to model for various campaigns before settling down in Australia in the early 1990s.  Over the next two decades, she would soon become a powerful force in both Australian and New Zealand based media outlets.

She started off her career in the print industry, with Dawson getting the opportunity to be the beauty and fashion editor for Woman's Day magazine beginning in 1997.  A couple of years later, she broke into television when she became the host of her own fashion segment on the morning program "Good Morning Australia", and earned a real once-in-a-lifetime break when she was chosen to feature in the fashion section of the 2000 Summer Olympic games opening ceremonies which were held in Sydney, Australia.

She also worked as a fashion correspondent for E! News, and became a regular panelist on the Australian daytime program "Beauty and the Beast".  During which time, she also became the fashion editor for Australia's "Today" program, and she was regularly featured in editorials and photo shoots for Elle, Vogue, and Cleo.



And beginning in 2007, Dawson began her most high-profile job yet.  She was hired to serve on the judging panel of the reality television program "Australia's Next Top Model", which as many of you know was based off of the American version hosted by Tyra Banks.  



Now, certainly all judges on reality shows are there to do a job.  And sometimes that job involves constructive criticism that comes off as being harsh.  I mean, every reality show has one judge that is difficult to impress.  MasterChef has Gordon Ramsey.  American Idol had Simon Cowell.  The remake of Star Search with Arsenio Hall had Naomi Judd.  And yes, I am openly admitting that I watched the lame Star Search remake.  I'll own it.

The only reason why I bring this up is because many viewers of "Australia's Next Top Model" had the opinion that Dawson was the "mean judge" of the show, often becoming somewhat aggressive in her judging style and making it out as if she was discouraging the contestants.  But, you know, the way I see it, I don't think that she was doing that at all.  Not that I would know anything about this as the only modeling experience I have is participating in a spring fashion show at my workplace when I was thirty, but for people who seriously consider going into modeling as a career, it's not easy.  You have to develop a really thick skin to be able to roll with the punches and land jobs.  I honestly think that Charlotte was just trying to make the contestants aware of what challenges they would be facing should they be named "Australia's Next Top Model".

And based on what former contestants of the show have said about Dawson, they claim that they really looked up to Charlotte and said that when the cameras weren't rolling, she was also their biggest support system, and they felt that if they had a question about the industry, she would know.  After all, she started off her career as a model!



Unfortunately for Dawson, while she understood that her critiques had to be blunt in order to prepare the aspiring models for success in the world of fashion, when it came down to accepting criticism, this was where she seemed to struggle.

No, actually, criticism she handled fine.  Online bullying was what she couldn't cope with.  And, reading some of the stuff she had to go through, I can understand her unease.

She endured a very public battle on social media site Twitter with a group of "internet trolls" who followed her on the site to hurl all sorts of abuse towards her, calling her out on her appearance, her actions on the show, and other things.  Now, for most people who go online, there's always a risk of people hurling abuse towards you for no reason other than to give themselves attention.  And, in all likelihood, this was the case.  But what many people didn't know was that Charlotte Dawson also battled depression, and the comments posted on Charlotte's Twitter feed affected her so strongly that she actually attempted suicide in August 2012. 

But despite that suicide attempt, Charlotte made the decision to publicly speak out about her ordeal, even going on television to speak out against online abuse just weeks after the attempt.  It certainly was a brave move, and I can see the good intention behind the idea, which was to make the point that no matter what, anonymous abuse can be tracked.  In some countries, cyberbullying has been declared a crime which people can have charges pressed against them.  Whether Charlotte's decision to speak out influenced these laws, I can't say.

However, as I stated before, this story does not have a happy ending.  On Charlotte's Twitter account (which as of this writing is still up), she talked about how she had just left her job as judge of "Australia's Next Top Model" after the eighth season filmed, and she lamented about the fact that there were hardly any resources available for her to go to in regards to how to handle depression.  And, in a lot of cases, I agree with her.  There are a lot more options available now than there were twenty years ago, but you have to know exactly where to look for them.  Not a whole lot of people do.

Her last tweet was posted on February 20, 2014.  Two days later, she was found dead by a real estate agent who stopped by her Woolloomooloo, Australia home to inspect the property. 

The cause of death.  Suicide.

Now, I suppose that one way of looking at this is that with Charlotte's death, it did raise awareness to outlets, hotlines, and groups that specialized in dealing with suicide prevention, and I think that there's been more focus on online harassment, which was sparked by Charlotte's first attempt.

But it's also very upsetting and tragic that someone who apparently had the world on her shoulders and a brilliant career felt so unhappy and depressed felt that suicide was the only way out.  And, it's even more tragic that it took a suicide attempt for people to actually begin talking about depression and online abuse.  



That's why I wanted to focus the Tuesday Timeline not on the day she died...but on the day she was born...because even though her life ended in the most disparaging of circumstances, the amount of things that she achieved during that time (both with her career and her activism for anti-bullying groups) was worth writing about.  And, I hope that on what would have been her 48th birthday that you got to know and understand who she was a little better.

If you or someone you care about is dealing with depression or has thoughts of suicide, please visit www.depressionhurts.ca or www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org