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Monday, June 16, 2014

One Moment That Changed My Life



Okay, guys.  This is MOTIVATION MONDAY, which means that I have a brand new episode of the chat show that I am involved in.  It's a little show called MOTIVE4CHANGE, and I'm one of the hosts, along with my friends CARINE, JOSHUA, and JONATHON.  And in this episode, I'm pleased to inform you that this is not like the nine episodes of MOTIVE4CHANGE that you have already seen.

For starters, the episode is only twenty-five minutes in length.  According to our fan base (and yes, there is a fan base for the show!  Yay!) everyone thought that our previous shows were too long.  I have to agree with that sentiment.  Our seventh episode lasted almost seventy minutes - the same length as an episode of "The Good Wife" and a couple of "Sesame Street" segments!  So, by retooling our show and only inserting the relevant parts, we thought it would make a difference.  At the very least, it meant that more people would tune in.  After all, we live in a busy world!

And secondly, the subject of today's blog entry is quite an interesting one.  We talk about the subject of autism, which certainly had a lot of opinions from the four of us.  But we also talk about the one moment in our lives that changed us forever. 

Here's the episode in full length below.  I hope you enjoy it.  In fact, I recommend that you have a listen to the episode before you continue reading the rest of this entry.  It'll make sense later, I promise you.

EPISODE 10:  MOMENTS THAT CHANGED OUR LIVES (6-15-2014)



By the way, check out the new opening segment that details our changeover from MOTIVE2CHANGE to MOTIVE4CHANGE.  It's kind of cool, don't you think?

The first thing that I want to say is that all of us had some really powerful moments in our lives that really affected how we saw the world.  For Joshua, the decision to take music really helped him cultivate his talents and influenced his hopes and desires.  In Carine's case, an accident involving her mother helped her develop a closer bond with her.  Jonathon's story about losing his best friend was one that really broke your heart, but helped him see the value of life.

And, in my case...talking about the time that I almost decided that life just wasn't worth living and then making the decision not to go through with it...well, it helped me realize that nothing in this world was worth dying for.  Sixteen was the lowest point in my life, and it's certainly a year that I never want to revisit ever again.  However, I'm glad I lived through it because since then, I've had some really great things come my way.

But one thing that I didn't elaborate on was why I even got to the point where I suddenly decided that taking my own life was even an option.  After all, we only had a limited amount of time to tell our stories, so a lot got left off the cutting room floor.

Ultimately, that one day in December 1997 in which I was at my lowest, I was feeling extremely alone and I felt as though nobody understood me.  I didn't even feel comfortable talking about it with my family because...well...let's face it, they all had their own problems, and the 16-year-old me thought that if I took myself out of the equation that their problems would magically disappear.

Because, let's face it.  Sixteen was the year of stupidity.

Eventually I did tell them about my thoughts of suicide...some fifteen years later.  And not to my surprise, they were stunned to hear about it.  They literally had no idea that I was even thinking about that.  I suppose that at age 16, I did a pretty convincing job of keeping those thoughts to myself.  I just hid in my bedroom and played video games to numb the pain and to close off any conversations.  You know, looking back on everything, it turns out that the age of sixteen was the year in which I completely isolated myself from everything and everyone because I felt so much shame in the thoughts that I was feeling.  I didn't want anyone to know that I was feeling this way because...I honestly didn't think that anyone would care.

And that all stemmed from previous encounters that I had throughout my formative years.

I certainly didn't feel comfortable telling things to my classmates.  After all, I had so many of them stab me in the back in elementary school that I learned pretty quickly not to confide in them at all.  Imagine telling a person who was supposed to be your friend, sharing your Oreo cookies in the playground at the same time, something very personal that you trusted them enough to understand and keep it to themselves...only to come to school and having everybody in the playground know all about it the following day.  Needless to say, that made it difficult to trust people my age.

It also didn't help matters much that I was quite gullible as a child, and I let some of the kids in the class manipulate me into doing something that got me into trouble.  How was I supposed to know what hand gestures meant in first grade? 

Of course, this also lead me to have a strong distrust in teachers as well.  To me, the teachers that I had were excellent in putting 2+2 together, but were complete disasters in putting "two and two" together.  Just re-read that sentence.  It makes more sense than you might think.

It was frustrating enough to have teachers automatically take the side of your enemies and branding you the troublemaker.  Trust me, I got that a lot when I was in elementary school.  But when teachers actually bully you, belittle you, and make you feel like garbage because you are more unique than the other kids in the class...that's low.  By the time I got into high school, I never confided in any teacher, guidance counselor, or even a custodian because I didn't trust them to have my best interests in heart.  I think that's why I was such a wallflower in high school.  I had absolutely nobody that I could talk to because I didn't trust them at all.

Do you know how much I wished we had a Mr. Belding or a Miss Bliss at my school?  They would have been cautious listeners, and they would have known how to make me feel better, and how to open up, and keep things confidential.  But, to me, those were fictional characters...and the real world was a lot more cruel.

Would you believe that I even called Kids Help Phone and got a busy signal?  Story of my life, I said to myself at the time.  And, again, as I said in the episode, I am not using this to downplay the importance of teen lines.  Kids Help Phone is a wonderful tool for young people to use.  It's just that back in 1997, the resources were quite limited (Internet access was still fairly new in '97), and the busy signals were understandable given that they only had a limited amount of counselors to take your call.



And, to be honest with you, I felt a bit weird calling Kids Help Phone at that time...because to me, I didn't think my problem was that serious.  When you saw the commercials at the time, they all showed young people walking in the rain, calling the line because they were homeless and afraid.  I certainly didn't feel that.  All I wanted to do was see an end to all the pain that I was going through.  By any means necessary.

I guess it was just my luck that at 16, I was so afraid of death that I couldn't go through with it.  And I thank my lucky stars that I didn't overcome my fear that day.  I guess it was that one moment of sanity that made me decide to go on living.  And, well...this blog wouldn't exist if I had made the other choice.

I guess the point that I want to make is that back in 1997, things worked out for the better.  But I had literally no resources to use to help me through it.  That's why I strongly urge all of you out there that there is hope for you.  There are more resources out there than you can even imagine.  Don't keep things bottled up like I did.  Seek out help. 

Here's some numbers that you can use in the meantime.

NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE:  1-800-273-TALK

KIDS HELP PHONE:  1-800-668-6868 (only in Canada)

LIFELINE (N. Ireland):  0808 808 8000

HOPELINE UK: 0800 068 4141

LIFELINE Australia:  13 11 14

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Love You Inside Out

Hi, everyone!  I think I'm more or less fully recovered from the 2014 Relay for Life now to post these blogs on a regular schedule again!  Let me give you a little bit of advice for all of you.  If you're going to do a marathon lap of nine miles, take frequent breaks, drink a lot of water, wear sensible shoes, and definitely make sure you apply liberal amounts of Bengay, or whatever pain relieving ointment you have in your medicine cabinet immediately after sitting down.  Your muscles and joints will thank you later.



And before I begin with this blog, I do want to take a moment to reflect on the passing of Casey Kasem, who passed away earlier today at the age of 82.  Casey Kasem was such a huge part of my life, and one of the main influences behind my cultivation of pop culture history.  For years, I remember watching him on television voicing the role of Shaggy on just about every incarnation of the Scooby-Doo cartoon series.  I also used to watch his video show on NBC's Saturday Morning line-up, and I listened to him every Saturday afternoon hosting Casey's Top 40, or American Top 40, or whatever name you remember the show going by.  Every time I heard his voice, I can still picture myself struggling with algebra homework while listening to him read off his long distance dedications.  He truly was a legend in his own right, and he will be missed terribly.

But as Casey Kasem would always say...on with the countdown...or in this case, blog entry.



In the meantime, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all the dads out there in the world!  Especially my own father who is celebrating his 48th year of being a dad (my eldest sibling was born 48 years ago this year).  My goodness, that's a lot of bookshelf building, lawn mowing, bicycle tire inflating, and toy fixing!

Now, this is where the blog gets somewhat frustrating.  Earlier this year, I promised myself that for every entry in the SUNDAY JUKEBOX feature (barring the Advent Calendar in December), I would be featuring a song that hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.  And this week, on account of it being Father's Day, I would try to post a song that had to do with fathers and fatherhood.  Unfortunately, I came up empty.  The only two songs that I could think of spur of the moment that could have been perfect for this entry were Luther Vandross' "Dance With My Father" and Bob Carlisle's "Butterfly Kisses".  And neither one of those songs made it to the #1 spot on the Hot 100.  So, those choices were out.

And, it wasn't as if the choices that I did have were any better.  Let's see what I had to choose from, shall we?

The Purple People Eater/SHEB WOOLEY (Um...not quite)

Mrs. Robinson/SIMON & GARFUNKLE (Good song...not really the best choice)

You're The One That I Want/JOHN TRAVOLTA & OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN (Would've worked if I didn't already do a blog on "Grease")

One More Try - GEORGE MICHAEL (Next, please.)

The Boy Is Mine - BRANDY & MONICA (No...just, no.)

Lollipop - L'IL WAYNE (Um...what?)

Boom Boom Pow - BLACK EYED PEAS (?!?!?)

Yeah.  You see what I mean?

Okay, so if choosing a song based on fathers was out of the question...why not pick a song performed by a man (or group of men) who were fathers themselves?  Yeah.  That could work.

In fact, in this song spotlight, the three men who made up this group certainly had a lot of experience being fathers.  The three men had a total of eleven children with their respective wives and partners.  And while there is nobody in the world who can call themselves a perfect dad (except maybe Ward Cleaver, and even that is saying a lot), these guys certainly did try.

Barry Gibb certainly had a lot of experience being a father.  With his wife, Linda, they had five children between 1973 and 1991!

Robin Gibb had two children with his first wife in the 1970s, a child with his second wife in the 1980s...and another child that he fathered with a housekeeper in 2008, bringing his total to four kids overall.

And while Maurice Gibb did struggle with some personal issues involving alcohol, the death of his brother Andy in 1988 helped him fight his way back to sobriety and he was well enough to host a recommitment ceremony with his wife, whom he had two children with.

Again, if you tally up the math, that's eleven children.



Although Maurice died in 2003, and Robin passed on nine years later, Barry Gibb is still alive, as are all eleven children that were born to the legendary pop trio known as the Bee Gees.  And, today's Sunday Jukebox spotlight falls on a song that hit the top of the charts exactly thirty-five years ago this week.  It's a song that held a lot of meaning for the band, and had a distinct impact on the lives of Barry Gibb, as well as the band in general.

Would you like to hear the song now?  I bet you would!



ARTIST:  Bee Gees
SONG:  Love You Inside Out
ALBUM:  Spirits Having Flown
DATE RELEASED:  April 15, 1979
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  #1 for 1 week

Okay, so the song itself only lasted a week on the charts, sandwiched in between two #1 weeks in which Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff" was the hottest stuff on the pop music scene.  But the song itself with its disco twist certainly earned its position on the Hot 100.  After all, 1979 was the year in which almost every single #1 song was a disco hit, and the final year in which disco was in vogue before people turned their noses up at it. 



I suppose that could have been the very reason why "Love You Inside Out" was the final #1 single the band ever had. 

However, this song marked the beginning of a lot of other things...mainly the shattering of some records, and the tying of others.  Who knew that a love song would have such a huge impact on the history books of pop music, huh?

Let's start with the fact that the song hit #1 on the charts in June 1979.  At that time, this Bee Gees song was the ninth one to hit the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.  Now this might not be such a big deal in the grand scheme of things as several artists have had more than nine hits to top the charts.  Heck, Mariah Carey had twice as many alone!

But here's where the record part comes into play.  The song "Love You Inside Out" was the band's ninth #1 single of their careers...and it was their ninth #1 song of the 1970s!  That's right!  The band achieved the goal of having nine #1 singles in the same decade.  For posterity's sake, here is the complete list.

HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART (1971)
JIVE TALKIN' (1975)
YOU SHOULD BE DANCING (1976)
HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE (1977)
STAYIN' ALIVE (1977)
NIGHT FEVER (1978)
TOO MUCH HEAVEN (1978)
TRAGEDY (1979)
LOVE YOU INSIDE OUT (1979)

The proof is in the pudding, my friends.  And during the 1970s, it seemed that everyone wanted to jive talk and catch the night fever from the Bee Gees.  And since I've posted a list of all of the Bee Gees #1 hits, this brings me towards a record that this band had tied with the Beatles!

Take a look at the last six singles that are on the list.  Well, those six singles were six consecutive #1 hits by the Bee Gees...and the only other group to have had that happen to them were the Beatles, who achieved that goal in the mid-1960s - right around the time they were visiting America for the first time.

I suppose that the 1977 film "Saturday Night Fever" had a lot to do with that success.  Until Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was released in 1982, the soundtrack for "Saturday Night Fever" was the biggest selling album of all-time.  If you take a look at where the Bee Gees hit train kicked off, the first single on that list was "How Deep Is Your Love", the main ballad piece of that film.  The success of the film certainly made the Bee Gees popularity skyrocket, and that success helped keep the band at the top of the charts until the natural death of disco came in 1981.

This brings me to record #3, which the Bee Gees broke in 1979, and as of 2014 still hold.  They were the only band to have three consecutive singles to each hit #1 on back-to-back albums.  Taking a look at the six consecutive singles that did hit #1, the first three were from the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack, and the last three were from the band's 1979 album "Spirits Having Flown".  Interesting piece of trivia, isn't it?

And finally, there's one more piece of trivia that has to be revealed.  It involves Mr. Barry Gibb.  As many of you already know, Barry was responsible for penning nearly all of the Bee Gees biggest hit singles.  And when the band achieved that feat, he became one of pop music's most respected and successful songwriters, having tied the record held by John Lennon and Paul McCartney!  As a songwriter, Barry Gibb had written #1 songs for his band and other artists during the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and even the 2000s!  And his songs have been recorded by such artists as Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, Dionne Warwick, and even his own brother, Andy Gibb!  How is that for talent?

And to close off this blog on the Bee Gees, I will end off with one of the many cover versions of this song.  This one was recorded by Feist (you know, the one who sang 1, 2, 3, 4), and it was a minor hit in Canada in 2005.  Enjoy!



Saturday, June 14, 2014

Relay for Life 2014 - The Rainy Day Edition




As promised, I have a complete look at the 2014 Rely for Life event that yours truly took part in on June 13th and 14th. 

First things first, I do apologize for the lateness of this blog.  When one walks around a track from seven in the evening until seven the following morning, it tends to make a person not want to do much other than sleep!  But, trust me.  The coverage that I will be showing you will hopefully be worth the wait.

There's just one minor snag that I didn't realize until I watched the videos in the playback.  I didn't know that the camera in my iPod didn't automatically rotate when you switched the camera angle.  As a result, some of my videos were accidentally filmed sideways.  It's not a big deal.  I edited the videos on YouTube and made them so that they would rotate 90 degrees...but apparently it takes time to reformat the videos, so you'll have to be patient on that one (and also have great neck muscles to truly appreciate the video).



So, the Relay for Life adventure for myself began at four in the afternoon on June 13.  We had a bit of rain coming down earlier in the day, but at 4:00, it was nice and clear.  It was perfect.  Almost too perfect.

And it was here that I made my first video.



I'll also show you a couple of other things too.



This was the banner that I worked on at the store during my day off.  It still looks amazing, and the paint is absolutely water resistant.  Keep that in mind.

I also did up a sign where we could keep track of all the laps that we did.  Unfortunately, circumstances prevented us from using it.  Whatever the case, here's what it originally looked like.



And, our campsite looks pretty decent, don't you think?



By the way...did I tell you that a total of 29 different teams signed up for the Relay for Life this year?  Here's just one of the many that made an appearance.



Anyway, right around five o'clock, I was starting to get a little bored, so I decided to have a stroll around part of the track, and I point out some of the buildings and some other teams that really went all out on their decorations. This was one of the videos that I tried to fix on YouTube...so forewarned, it might still be sideways when you go to view it.



(By the way, right next to our camp, all we could smell was buttered popcorn.  That's because the team next door to us sold popcorn for $2 a bag, with all proceeds going to the event.  Our Cancer Kickers really must come up with something like that for our team because it was an ingenious idea!)

At 6:45pm, all the teams were summoned up to the main stage where we would be hosting our survivor walk and partake in our warm-up ceremonies.  And here's a few photos and a video to detail exactly that.  But why does the sky look so dark?  This can't mean that we're going to get a storm...can it?




While we were waiting for the Survivor Lap to start (after a woman bravely spoke about the cancer battle her granddaughter was fighting and winning), I decided to interview our team captain.  Again, I've requested this video be fixed too, so bear with me here.



And, just after 7:00, the Survivor Lap began...and well...you just have to see it.



From there we were supposed to do our team laps around the track, and get our team pictures taken, and walk around the track as many times as we could.  But Mother Nature had her own plans.

A flash of lightning and a torrential downpour sent all of us scurrying around the track, trying to find shelter.  Thankfully, we were just a few feet away from our own shelter (which was surprisingly cozy and warm), and we all huddled in the tent area while the rain was falling.

That's where the teaser video came from.  Here.  I'll play it again.



The rain lasted a total of 45 minutes.  The track got flooded.  Unfortunately, some luminaries were unfair casualties of the storm, and some of them were damaged beyond repair.  Fortunately, the ones that remained, the volunteer staff worked overtime to drain the bags out so that they could be lit.  Some people even replaced the luminaries that were destroyed.  It was just one of those freak summer storms that you couldn't predict. 

The good part about it all was that we all bonded as a team during that summer storm.  I think that helped us get our motivation going when we were finally given the all clear - even though we had to rebuild our campfire as the rain successfully put it out.

And once we were back on the track, I filmed another little video.



Unfortunately, once the sun went down, my videos became pointless.  I tried to film one where they were lighting the luminaries, but as you can see...it didn't turn out.  



At least you can HEAR the luminary ceremony.



And, I did get some shots of my grandfather's luminary below.  I bought three - one for him, and two more for my co-workers who died of cancer related illnesses.

As the night went on, some people left to go home, but I (and eight others from our team) stayed on the track, listening to music and live performances, collecting beads for the bead laps, grabbing some food and drinks when needed.  The Relay this year was a little bit more subdued this year due to the bad weather and the fact that our event was competing against a Ribfest in another town.  But it was still a great deal of fun...and here's two final videos for you to watch.  One talks about how it feels to do over thirty laps on the track...and the other talks about how much money we raised for the Relay this year!




Thanks so much to the Relay for Life committee for having another banner year, and special thanks to the Walmart Cancer Kickers Kim, Dorothy, Marg, Carol, Theresa, Paul, Jay, Albert, Christina, Lorissa, and Ann!



And coincidentally...here's one last picture.  The purple ribbon is the one that I used for the bead run in 2013.  The red one is the one used for this year's Relay.  No wonder I'm exhausted!  All in all...it was for a great cause!



Friday, June 13, 2014

Recipe Post and Run

The first thing that I wish to do is apologize in advance to all of you for this "post and run" entry.  I won't be talking about anything too substantial in this entry.  In fact, this entry will probably be one of the shortest ones that I've ever done.

Why?

Well, as you read this, I will be doing some last minute preparations for this year's "Relay for Life" event.  It is an all-day and all-night affair lasting from seven in the evening to seven in the morning.  So, basically, my time is very limited in what I can actually put into this piece.

Secondly, I'm going to apologize to all of you in advance for the Saturday, June 14 entry.  Because I'll be staying up all night long on the thirteenth, I will likely be sleeping away most of the fourteenth.  So, the June 14 entry will be posted very late afternoon.  But, hey...good things always come to those who wait right?  I promise you that I'll make it up to you all in later days.  That I swear.

But for now, since today is
FOODIE FRIDAY, I decided that for this entry, I would just post a recent recipe that appeared in the January 2014 issue of Canadian Living Magazine.  Hey, for those of you living in America or abroad, it might be a really great recipe to try.  The recipe comes courtesy of Amanda Barnier, food specialist.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same.  I'm not a fan of pecans.  But for those of you who are, this is your lucky day!  Enjoy! 



THE ULTIMATE PECAN PIE

Hands-on time:  20 minutes
Total time:  4 1/2 hours
Makes:  12 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup liquid honey
1 tbsp. cider vinegar
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups pecan halves

FOR PIE PASTRY:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/4 cup cold water

HOW TO MAKE IT

PASTRY:  In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt.  Using pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until in coarse crumbs with a few larger pieces.  Drizzle cold water over flour mixture, tossing with fork to form ragged dough and adding up to 1 tsp. more cold water if necessary.  Shape into disc; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.  (make ahead; refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze in airtight container for up to one month.)

Let pastry stand at room temperature until slightly softened, about 5 minutes.  On lightly floured surface, roll out pastry into 12-inch (30 cm) circle; fit into 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate.  Trim to leave 1-inch (2.5 cm) overhang; fold overhang under and flute edge.  Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.

In small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat; whisk in brown sugar until smooth.  Remove from heat; whisk in honey, vinegar, vanilla, and salt.  Whisk in eggs.

Sprinkle pecans in pie shell; pour egg mixture over top.  Bake on baking sheet on bottom rack in 350 F (180 C) oven, until filling is set (approximately 50 minutes to one hour).  Let cool completely in pan on rack.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Teen Scenes from the Small Screen

I have a question for you all.  Think back to when you were in high school.  For some of us, it was the best time of our whole lives.  For others, it was four years of torture.

But one thing that could have made the high school experience a lot better were the teen hangouts.  The meeting places where kids would gather during their lunch hours or after school to talk about the latest gossip, make plans for Saturday night, or even actually do homework!

I'll admit that my school was located in a place where there was a whole lot of nothing available.  On one side of the school was the city hospital (I can't see too many high school students choosing to hang out there, although I did used to go to the hospital gift shop to buy candy and magazines).  Across the street was a playground that used to be a cemetery (true story), and down the street at the time we had a health food store, and an abandoned Buns Master Bakery.  Hardly the places that would be considered attractive to the teen scene.

Still, I remember one place during my high school years in which I would sometimes frequent.  It was a little nook that was attached to a hair salon (that used to be a convenience store years ago) that had a really tiny kitchen and only enough room for two people to stand there comfortably (literally, the place was the size of a front porch).  But this place made some of the greatest poutines in the whole world.  It was a place called "Pizza Pro", and although it didn't really help my waistline any, it kept me supplied in poutine rich goodness right through my graduation from high school in 2000.  Add to the fact that it was at the time the only food place outside of campus and it proved to be a semi-popular spot.  Other restaurants have come and gone since then, but I will always have a soft spot for "Pizza Pro".

So, okay...it's not quite the place where all the teens hung out.  Still, it was my own personal nook, and it was a nook that you could find me at least once every other week.

Still...I can't help but think of all the teenage hangouts that I remember seeing in my television viewing days, and I can't help but think of how much cooler school would have been if we had at least some of these hangouts in my town.

So, come sit down with me, grab a menu, and have a fond time looking back on the teen hangouts of yore.

Ready?  Let's go!



ARNOLD'S DRIVE-IN from HAPPY DAYS

Now, people from my generation probably recognize this place from the 1994 music video for Weezer's "Buddy Holly".  Here...I'll post it below.



Of course, we all know that Arnold's was first seen in the television sitcom "Happy Days", which ran for ten seasons between 1974 and 1984.  Interestingly enough, we never did get to meet the real Arnold.  The first owner of the diner that we ever saw was the Japanese man named Mitsumo Takahashi (Pat Morita).  Of course, Takahashi simply called himself Arnold because it would have cost too much to have the diner sign renamed to Takahashi's.  Over the course of the show, the diner would transfer ownership to Al Delvecchio (Al Molinaro) for six seasons before Arnold returned following Al's departure from the show in 1982.

Anyway, if you wanted to have a full appreciation of what diners looked like back in the 1950s (remember, "Happy Days" was set at least two decades in the past when it started airing in 1974), Arnold's was a pretty good representation.  Nothing fancy or unique.  Just a place with booths, a jukebox, and some great food.  And it was also the main haunt of Richie, Potsie, Ralph Malph, Joanie, and The Fonz.  What could be better than that?

From there, we now take a look at another diner that was heavily influenced by the 1950s.



THE PEACH PIT from BEVERLY HILLS 90210

We were first introduced to this Beverly Hills lunch counter after Brandon Walsh (Jason Priestly) quit a busboy job from hell.  His friend Dylan McKay (Luke Perry) knew a place where they made some great peach pie, and it is here that Brandon first meets Nat (Joe E. Tata), the owner of The Peach Pit, a diner that plays music from the '50s and '60s, and is famous for its Megaburger.  Brandon ended up working for Nat for three years, and the rest of the 90210 gang shared laughs, tears, romances, and hard times in the booths and stools of the restaurant.  Even Brenda (Shannen Doherty) took a turn as a waitress in the diner.  Have a look below!



In 1994, Steve Sanders (Ian Ziering) and Dylan opened up a nightclub right beside The Peach Pit, called "The Peach Pit After Dark", which arrived just in time for the 90210 gang's college and adult years. 

To be honest with you, I would have totally dug having a Peach Pit in town.  Or, at the very least, having an owner like Nat at the helm.  He wasn't just some fry cook in the back of the kitchen.  When you entered his establishment, he treated you like family.  A true representation of customer service.

And it's nice to know that Nat's business continued to survive.  When 90210 was revived in 2008, the Peach Pit was still in business...with Nat still treating his customers like family.



RACHEL'S PLACE from FAMILY MATTERS

Okay, so a little bit of history needs to be talked about when talking about Rachel's Place.  When Family Matters first debuted in 1989, the teen hangout at the time was called "Leroy's", and it wasn't anything too spectacular.  It was just one of those greasy spoon type places with a couple of video games and some tables.  Leroy's was the site of Laura Winslow's (Kellie Shanygne Williams) and Steve Urkel's (Jaleel White) first jobs.  Unfortunately neither one was employed there for long after Steve accidentally burned the whole place down!

Fortunately, this was where Laura's Aunt Rachel (Telma Hopkins) had a brilliant idea.  She was looking at starting up her own business and in 1990, she bought the land where Leroy's once stood and opened up her own diner called Rachel's Place.  It certainly was a brilliant looking place.  I'd definitely eat there if it existed.  But I get the feeling that Rachel wasn't a very good businesswoman.  Both she and the diner were gone by the mid-1990s.



THE MAX from SAVED BY THE BELL

Okay.  On the inside, it looked like a geometry textbook had exploded all over the walls.  But it was one of the coolest places near Bayside High.  Originally run by amateur magician Max (Ed Alonzo), The Max was the place where Zack and Kelly fell in love.  The place where Lisa and Screech won a dance contest with "The Sprain".  The place where the gang threw Slater a party with Screech at the Pineapple Princess. 

The original Max continued on in the New Class adaptation for four of its seven seasons, but New Class student Ryan Parker left some Christmas tree lights on overnight which burned the diner to the ground.  It was rebuilt in Season 5 with an even more tripped out design than the last one.  I tried to find a picture, but none really exist.  You'll just have to take my word for it.



SHARKEY'S from CALIFORNIA DREAMS

It was exactly like The Max, only with less geometry and more surfboards.  Oh, and a band called the California Dreams would play gigs there every weekend.  If you loved live music, Sharkey's was the place to be.

CONFESSION:  At the time, I really dug the California Dreams songs...and appreciated the fact that in the first couple of years, the actual cast really did do the singing!  Even some twenty years later, some of the songs are still quite catchy.



PUNKY'S PLACE from PUNKY BREWSTER

Okay, this hangout just has a bizarre story, so I'll just come out with it.  When Punky Brewster first aired, Punky's guardian Henry (George Gaynes) was a photographer who owned his own photography studio.  But at the end of the show's third year, Henry was bought out by a photo store chain and given $100,000 out of the deal, which Punky (Soleil Moon Frye) begged him to use to open up a restaurant.  Somehow, Henry agreed, and Punky's Place was born.

Problem was that Punky's Place wasn't exactly used a whole lot in the show's final season.  In fact, the only episode I remember that took place at Punky's Place was the one in which Punky and Cherie (Cherie Johnson) believed that a customer had died in one of the booths there and that Punky and Cherie had actually killed him!  Turns out he just had narcolepsy!  Silly kids!

Okay, so those are just a few of the teen hangouts I remember.  What other ones can you add to the list?

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

A Banner Day


In this edition of WHO AM I WEDNESDAY, I'll be opening up with a short video entry.  And, here it is!  Enjoy!



All right, so based on the video, you probably know what I'm going to be doing for this entry.  It's something that I talked about a little bit in Monday's entry...about how I was working on a special project for the upcoming RELAY FOR LIFE entry that I will be participating in.  



Well, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what I have planned for the event, which takes place on June 13-14, 2014.  As I talked about in the video above, I plan on welcoming all of you to the Relay for Life event here in my hometown by doing a series of videos from the actual event periodically so that you can have a better idea of what happens during the Relay.

Mind you, they won't be posted live from the event...I highly doubt that the track in which we'll be walking on has convenient Wi-Fi access.  But sometime next week, I'll be making it happen.  Who knew my iPod doubled as a video camera?

Of course, I'll be uploading pictures from the event as well...just to give all of you the feeling like you were there with me, cheering our team on!  Trust me, it'll be great.

Until then, I'll tease you with the first part of my Relay for Life 2014 coverage, which is that special project that I was working on.  You see, prior to 2014, we had a lady who worked in the produce department who designed all of our banners for the event.  Have a look at the banner she did for us a couple of years ago that we used for the 2012 and 2013 events.



Not bad, huh?

Well, this year, she officially left the company for good, and the team needed someone to design the banner for the 2014 event.  And, well...I decided to step in and take the initiative.

There was just one problem.  I have never done a banner in my life.  In fact, when it comes to arts and crafts, I very rarely used paint at all.  I was always more of a coloured pencil kind of guy.

So, this was definitely a challenge.  But what do I always say?  I love a challenge!

Okay, so the supplies I had to work with were...

1 gigantic piece of white fabric
4 large tubes of waterproof fabric paint (red, blue, yellow, white)
6 pie plates
9 paintbrushes
10 fabric markers in various colours
7 small spray bottles of neon coloured paint (
red, pink, orange, purple, green, blue, yellow)
2 small bottles of fabric paint (red, blue)
1 pair of old shoes
1 No. 2 pencil
1 box of paper towels
1 bottle of multi-purpose surface cleaner

(The last two items will make sense later.)



By the way, here was my original blueprint for the banner.  Those blue splotches are from my paint-splattered hands.

So, to begin, I had to take the basic colours that I had and mix them together to make some pastel colours.  You know, green is made from blue and yellow, and so on. 



Some colours turned out great, like the orange, light blue, and light green.  But for some reason, my purple ended up becoming a cement colour.  If I do another banner, I'll just buy purple paint instead.

And, then I took the shoes, painted the soles of them with the coloured paint, and stamped them all around the border like this.



The reason for the shoes?  We're the Cancer Kickers, and unless you like doing things in the non-conformist way, most people kick with their feet!

Now, some people told me after the fact that they would have done it with bare feet around the border, and I agree that it would have been awesome if we could have done it this way.  But since the only day off before the relay was on Monday and my living space isn't big enough to work on a banner, I just did it in my workplace's training room (with permission from the management team, of course).  It would have been too messy doing it that way.

(Besides, when I was working on the banner, the paint soaked right through the fabric onto the tables that I was working on!!!  Now you understand why I needed the cleaning solution!)

Anyway, once the border was completed, it was time to work on the font.  And some people wondered where I got the font idea from.  I knew that I wanted to choose a font that was unique and stood out.  So, I looked all over the Internet for a font just like that.



Would you believe that a Kylie Minogue album inspired the choice of font?  It's true!  Have a look at the U.S. album cover for her 1989 album, "Enjoy Yourself".  Particularly take a look at the title.



PLEA TO THE AUDIENCE:  I have absolutely no idea what this font is called, but if anyone knows out there, please let me know so I can download it onto my own computer.  I absolutely love it!



Of course, it would be silly to blindly paint letters onto the canvas, so I sketched them out in pencil before hand.  As you can tell, I sort of screwed up the second "C", but nobody's perfect.  From a distance, you'll never be able to tell anyway.  Once the font was completed, I grabbed the small bottles of red and blue fabric paint (and whatever leftover yellow that I had), and did up the Cancer Kickers logo.  It was difficult to try and stay within the lines, but somehow, it turned out great.

I even used fabric markers to go around the red part of the logo.  The blue I left alone as I thought it looked better without the outlining.  Now, you will see some white spots around the border...that's because the paint didn't quite dry when I did the border.  I ended up getting some red dots on the sheet.  But that was fine because the neon paint was used to camouflage the mistakes that I made. 

And, here's the finished product!





Not bad for my very first banner, huh?