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Tuesday, October 07, 2014

October 7, 1951

Welcome to the very first TUESDAY TIMELINE for October 2014!  And in this edition of the blog, I hope you're well prepared to do some rocking and rolling, because this blog will feature a lot of classic music.  But before we find out who this mystery person is, we should take a look at the other events that took place on October 7 throughout history.

3761 BC - The epoch reference date origin of the modern day Hebrew calendar

1542 - Santa Catalina Island is discovered by explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo

1582 - Due to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, this date does not exist in Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain

1777 - The Americans defeat the British in the Second Battle of Saratoga during the American Revolutionary War

1868 - Cornell University holds its inauguration, in which 412 students initially enrol

1870 - Leon Gambetta flees Paris in a hot-air balloon during the Siege of Paris

1916 - In what is one of the most lopsided scores ever recorded in college football, Georgia Tech clobbers Cumberland University with a score of 222-0

1917 - Actress June Allyson (d. 2006) is born in The Bronx, New York

1919 - Dutch airline KLM is founded

1933 - Following the merger of five French airlines, Air France is founded

1940 - The McCollum memo proposes bringing the United States into combat during World War II by provoking an attack on America by the Japanese

1949 - The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) is formed

1955 - Poet Allen Ginsberg performs "Howl" for the first time at San Francisco's Six Gallery

1959 - American tenor and actor Mario Lanza dies at the age of just 38

1963 - President Kennedy signs the ratification of the Partial Test Ban Treaty

1988 - The "Free The Whales" campaign is launched following the discovery of three gray whales trapped underneath the ice near Barrow, Alaska

1993 - After nearly 103 days, the Great Flood of 1993 officially ends

1996 - The FOX News Channel begins broadcasting

1998 - Matthew Shepard is discovered tied to a fence after being beaten by two men in Laramie, Wyoming because of his sexuality - he would die of his injuries five days later

2003 - Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected Governor of California

And here are our famous birthdays for today;  Graeme Ferguson, Clive James, Joy Behar, Oliver North, Kevin Godley, Catharine MacKinnon, Diane Ackerman, Mary Badham, Vladimir Putin, Tico Torres, Yo-Yo Ma, Dylan Baker, Simon Cowell, Matt Roloff, Ann Curless, Dan Savage, Toni Braxton, Thom Yorke, Maria Whittaker, Nicole Parker Kodjoe, Daniel Boucher, Allison Munn, Alexander Polinsky, Jamie Hector, Taylor Hicks, and Ayla Kell.

All right.  Let's not waste any more time.  Let's just get right on with today's date.



October 7, 1951 - exactly sixty-three years ago today.

And let me tell you...coming to the conclusion that this man is sixty-three years old makes me feel old myself even though I am a good three decades younger than he is.  I suppose it could be because of the fact that I was always surrounded by his music as my whole family became fans of him.  After all, we were small town folk, just as he was.  I mean, just watching him moving around on concert stages and music videos, he seemed to be the very definition of a man who rocked in the U.S.A., crumbled down walls, and fought authority every step of the way - even though authority always won.

And let me tell you...this Indiana born man has had quite a life.  He became a father at the age of nineteen, and became a grandfather at the ripe old age of thirty-seven!  He overcame spina bifida as a child to become a rock star.  He dabbled in artwork and created several paintings in addition to recording several albums as a singer/songwriter.  There were even times in which he couldn't even decide what name he would perform as, and he ended up changing his stage name three times in total.



So, whether you knew him best as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar Mellencamp, or simply John Mellencamp, it really doesn't matter in the end.  All three are the same person! 

And today happens to be his sixty-third birthday!

So, in celebration of 63 years of John Mellencamp, I thought that I would do something special.  And when I say something special, I thought I would focus solely on the one thing that made him a superstar. 

His music.

But, I can't really do anything like post 63 of his best singles.  I honestly don't even think he had 63 singles charting on the Billboard charts.  However, I suppose I could do a Top 6.3 list. 

Yeah...that's exactly what I think I'm going to do!  I'll post my six favourite John Mellencamp songs, give some trivia about them, some chart positions, and other miscellaneous facts added in for flavour.  Oh, and that .3?  Well, I'll add in a bonus song that really wasn't written by Mellencamp but was still a fantastic song nonetheless.  I'll call it the "Bubbling Under" song.



BUBBLING UNDER - Wild Night (f. Me'shell Ndegeocello)
Album:  Dance Naked
Released:  June 1994
Peak Position on the Charts:  #3

Okay, so the reason why I didn't include this in my Top 6 list is because this is actually a cover version of a Van Morrison single from 1971.  The reason why I chose this single was because it was one of my favourite songs from the summer of 1994.  I don't know what it was, but the duo of Mellencamp and Ndegeocello worked like magic.  It certainly was a fantastic distraction from the depressing grunge fest that 1994 seemed to be.



6.  JACK AND DIANE
Album:  American Fool
Released:  July 1982
Peak Position on the Charts:  #1

Here's a little ditty about Jack and Diane.  Two American kids growing up in the Heartland.  And it also happens to be John's only #1 hit.

Interestingly enough, John has said that this record was one of the most frustrating songs that he has ever recorded.  Many people see the claps within the single making the song, but initially Mellencamp didn't want the clapping to appear at all.  It was only added in to keep the tempo of the song going, as Mellencamp found that his band was having trouble following along to the song's beat.  But when he edited out the clapping when pressing the record, he found that it just didn't sound right without it.  The things you learn!

Anyway, the reason why I have this particular song ranked so low on my Top 6 list is simple.  While I like this song, it is way overplayed...and frankly there are other singles of his that I feel have more power to them.



5.  R.O.C.K. IN THE U.S.A.
Album:  Scarecrow
Released:  February 1986
Peak Position on the Charts:  #2

Sadly, Falco's "Rock Me Amadeus" kept this single from topping the charts - which was too bad, as I instantly find myself grooving along whenever I hear this single.  Designed as a song that celebrated rock and roll from the 1960s, "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." was one song that made spelling very cool!

This song was also co-produced by John Mellencamp under the alias "Little Bastard".

Shockingly, this song was almost left off the "Scarecrow" album, as much of the material on that album was dark - a sharp contrast with the happy-go-lucky feel of the single.  But the more he thought about it, the more he decided to add the single on the album anyway.  And, well...this song helped cement Mellencamp as a legend of '80s rock and roll!



4.  SMALL TOWN
Album: Scarecrow
Date Released:  November 1985
Peak Position on the Charts:  #6

You'll quickly find out from this list that "Scarecrow" is my favourite John Mellencamp album, as this is the second of three songs from this album that I absolutely enjoy.  But surprisingly enough, none of the songs from "Scarecrow" make the top of my list.  I'll let you ponder that for a second.

In the meantime, one of the reasons why I like "Small Town" so much is because of the fact that while John Mellencamp wrote this song about growing up in small town Indiana, the lyrics could explain how I feel about having grown up in small town Ontario.  There's certainly a lot of things about the lyrics of "Small Town" that ring true about my own life.  Just sit back and really listen.



3.  HURTS SO GOOD
Album:  American Fool
Date Released:  April 1982
Peak Position on the Charts:  #2

They say that you get inspiration in the most peculiar places.  Well, in my third favourite John Mellencamp song, John came up with the idea for this song while he was in the shower one day, and he jotted the opening lines of the chorus shortly thereafter.

Now, there's been some debate over what the lyrics of the song really mean.  I'll leave that interpretation up to you.  But it remains a staple at bars, wedding receptions, and house parties for well over thirty years.  I can't help but not include it as a John Mellencamp staple.



2.  LONELY OL' NIGHT
Album:  Scarecrow
Date Released:  August 1985
Peak Position on the Charts:  #6

This song is just a near-perfect Mellencamp classic.  I always find myself playing and replaying this single over and over again whenever I get the chance.  It's just that good!  It's also the third single from "Scarecrow" to make my Top 6.3 list.  I told you "Scarecrow" was my favourite album.

The single's title was inspired by the 1963 film "Hud" which starred Paul Newman, and the film's plot about a youth's strained relationship with his father mirrored that of Mellencamp's own relationship with his dad.  That angst and frustration certainly made its way onto many of the songs on the "Scarecrow" album.

I'd say that this single was a strong choice to be the lead single for "Scarecrow", and it became another Top 10 single for Mellencamp.



1.  CHERRY BOMB
Album:  The Lonesome Jubilee
Date Released:  October 1987
Peak Position on the Charts:  #8

I know what you're saying.  "Cherry Bomb" is your favourite John Mellencamp song?  You bet your butt it is!  This song, the way it flows, the way the lyrics are sung, the general happy feeling that I get whenever I hear this song...it's just the perfect John Mellencamp song to me.  It is such a great song, and a great reminder of nostalgia.  The song is all about the fun and carefree attitude that a then-teenage Mellencamp had with his friends in various bars and clubs in Indiana.  It could also be a song that anyone who ever had memories of a teenage hangout or place from their childhood could listen to and feel those same warm memories that they shared so long ago.  Takes you back to a time in which life was a lot easier.  I just love this song.  I just wish it had performed better on the charts because it deserved to get more recognition.

Okay, so that's my list of favourite John Mellencamp songs.  What are some of yours?

Happy 63rd, John!

Monday, October 06, 2014

Down Goes The Bride, Deep-Six The Groom...

Today on FUNNY MONDAY, a different kind of funny.

In fact, this will probably be the first Funny Monday post that I do that will include both pictures and videos.

Now, the inspiration behind this post comes from an activity that I recently attended.  You see, a couple of days ago, I went to the wedding ceremony of a couple of friends of mine (with Mom's blessing as she wanted me to take some photos of the wedding for her to look at).  The people who were involved in the wedding planning really worked their tails off, and it was definitely one of the most fantastic wedding ceremonies that I have ever attended.  If ever I get married, I might just have to borrow a couple of the ideas that they came up with for their ceremony for my own.

Well, again, the key word here is if I get married.  If not, well, I can incorporate those ideas for my 40th birthday in seven years.  That'd be fun.

Anyway, I'm really glad that everything went well for them and that the day went by without as much as anything going wrong.  And, well...if anything did go wrong, none of us guests were aware of it because we were too busy having fun.

But of course, there are going to be some instances in which something can happen that throws an entire wedding out of focus.  And usually, these moments are quite hysterical when you watch them or relive them years from now, but when they happen in the moment they can be a bride or groom's worst nightmare.

So, let's take a look at some of the funny things that might seem mortifying at first, but ends up being rather funny to outsiders looking in.  I must warn you that some of the videos in the post might seem like they are staged.  They very well could be.  But even so, they do represent a potential wedding day disaster that might happen. 

Oh, and credit goes to Buzzfeed, ABC News, Bridal Expo Chicago, Wedding Cake Toppers, socialsafe.net, cakecentral.com and YouTube for the pictures and clips that you're about to see in this piece.



1.  When sending out your wedding invitations, it's cool to be creative...but at the same time, don't make your wedding invitation look like one of those ads you find on the back of a comic book.



2.  It might also be a fantastic idea to write your own wedding invitations.  You certainly wouldn't want the wrong person to promote your very special day - especially your future mother-in-law who happens to bring a special gift of bitterness to the invite.



3.  Many brides choose to double-barrel their name because they are reluctant to give up their old name.  But in the cases of these wedding announcements, sometimes it just doesn't work out.



4.  It might be a good idea to do a tour of the wedding venue before you take photographs.  Those pesky water fountains can be a major hazard.



5.  It also might not be a good idea to get married on a slippery platform in the middle of a pool.



6.  It's also probably not a good idea to light fireworks INSIDE OF A WEDDING VENUE WHILE THE COUPLE ARE SAYING THEIR I DO'S!



7.  It might also be a good idea to make sure that your groomsmen's suits are properly altered so that they fit like a glove.  Otherwise, you may have one of them providing a "wardrobe malfunction" on the way out of the chapel.



8.  Now, the wedding reception is a great place to relax, chill, and drink merrily as you get down on the dance floor jiving along to Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, or One Direction songs.  But if the dance floor happens to be outdoors, you probably shouldn't do a striptease on one of those flimsy tent poles.



9.  Everyone is always looking for ways to make their wedding photos memorable.  The couple on the left probably isn't the best example of this.

10.  And finally, when it comes to ordering a wedding cake...don't use these.



(Oi...that last one is enough to cause grounds for divorce!!!)

Sunday, October 05, 2014

Happy To Be Stuck With You

Welcome back to "A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S GUIDE TO LIFE" as it is meant to be presented!

Yeah, I won't lie to you.  These past couple of days have been a bit of a whirlwind, but I am happy to report that things seem to be calming down now.  My mom seems to be responding well to treatment, and I'm cautiously optimistic that things will turn out all right.  After all, she's a determined and tough woman who has a lot of fight left in her.  So very proud of her.

So, as a result of this good news, I'm going to try and get this blog back on track.  After all, it's been a while since I wrote anything pop culture related in here.  I just hope that this was worth the wait.

Anyway, in today's edition of the blog, we're going to go back to the year 1986.  And I have to say that when it comes to the Sunday Jukebox entry, 1986 is probably one of my favourite years for music.  I just think there was something about 1986 that defined the classic pop song.  Artists such as Madonna, Whitney Houston, Pet Shop Boys, Prince, and Bon Jovi all had classic hits coming out that year, as does today's featured band.

In fact, they had the #1 song twenty-eight years ago this week.  And this band is more than just a San Francisco treat.  These guys started their career over thirty years ago, and are STILL touring and playing today.

This was a band that had a lot of heart and soul.  They were a band that believed in love and told the world that it was hip to be square.  This was a band that climbed "Jacob's Ladder" to the top ten several times.  And yes, we're going back in time to take a look at one of their biggest hits ever.

Are you ready?



ARTIST:  Huey Lewis and the News
SONG:  Stuck With You
ALBUM:  Fore!
DATE RELEASED:  August 31, 1986
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  #1 for 3 weeks

Ah, yes.  Huey Lewis and the News.  A band made up of (at that time) Huey Lewis, Sean Hopper, Bill Gibson, Johnny Colla, Mario Cipollina, and Chris Hayes.  I don't know what it was about these six guys that made their songs so infectious, but I have to admit that their songs always made me get up on my feet and dance!  In fact, I'd say that "Stuck With You" always stuck with me as being one of my favourites, mainly because it was one of the first songs I remember hearing a lot of when I was a child.  You see, the song came out right around the time I was beginning kindergarten, and I'd hear this song a lot on the radio no matter where I was.  



From that song, I grew to like the album "Fore!", the first single off the album.  From there, I was introduced to their 1983 album "Sports", which many consider to be the band's breakthrough album, and well...basically this song helped make me a Huey Lewis and the News fan for life.



Anyway, let's talk a little about the song itself.  The song was a collaborative effort between Huey Lewis and Chris Hayes, and essentially it's a song that could be used to describe a couple who have been together for a substantial amount of time.

I like to consider it as the ultimate wedding anniversary song.

Just have a listen to the lyrics of the single.  Obviously this person has had moments in his relationship in which he questions whether or not they should be together.  And I'm sure that any married couple (or an unmarried couple who have been together a long time) would tell you that they certainly have asked themselves those questions in their relationships.  In the case of this single, they openly have thought about breaking up, or thinking about other people, or throwing all those years away.  However, they come to the conclusion that they would miss each other too much and that they're perfectly happy being stuck with each other.

Now, some people might choose to see this as a negative thing, but I really don't see it that way at all.  When you're in love with somebody that deeply and that strongly, that's all that matters.

The video for this song is also fantastic as well, with the whole video being shot in the Bahamas.  The director of the video was Edd Griles, also responsible for directing music videos by Cyndi Lauper, Sheena Easton, and Eddie Murphy.  And when it came down to filming techniques, he left nothing out of bounds.  He filmed the band on the beach, on a boat, up in the air, and even underwater!  I remember as a kid watching that video and wondering how the cameraman managed to film a video underwater, believing that the camera would get completely destroyed in the process.  I mean, sure, with modern technology, taking photos and videos underwater has never been made easier, but back in the eighties, I was really impressed.

Of course, in the eighties, I was a child...and everything impressed me back then.

Oh, and the woman that features prominently in the video?  That would be news personality Keely Shaye Smith - also known as Mrs. Pierce Brosnan.  This video was filmed right around the time that Smith was starting her career.  She was, after all, only twenty-three years old when this video hit the top of the charts.

(In comparison, Huey was thirty-six.)

Now, filming this video in the Bahamas was surely a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the band, and I would think that it was an incredible shoot.  However, the shoot wasn't without its problems.  Because the video focused mainly on Huey Lewis and Keely Shaye Smith, the rest of the band, the crew filming the video, and the extras that were used in the barbecue scene had to stay on a barge that was moored several hundred feet away from the island where the land scenes were shot so that they wouldn't be seen. 

All in all, though, the video helped catapult the single to #1 less than a month after it was released.  Not a bad day's work, huh?

Saturday, October 04, 2014

A Thousand Thank Yous

October 4, 2014

Hello, everyone!

I have to say that this past week has been one wild ride, and I'll readily admit that I've been feeling a hundred thousand different emotions all at once over the last few days.

I'm sure some of you are wanting to know what has happened over the last few days.  It's been a really exhausting few days, as evidenced by the fact that I basically skipped writing in this blog yesterday.  And when I take a break from writing, you know that something is very serious.

A few days ago, my mother was admitted into the local hospital in town after she had been experiencing shortness of breath, weakness, dizziness, and other symptoms related to being extremely sick.  What the results showed was that she had been suffering from pneumonia, and that her symptoms were so severe that she had to stay in the hospital.

As of this writing, she is still in the Step Down unit at the hospital (interestingly enough, she is hospitalized in the same exact room where I was placed when I came out of my gall bladder operation three and a half years ago), but she is a lot better now than she was when she was first admitted, and she is responding well to the antibiotics that she has been given to fight the infection caused by the pneumonia.

She's still got a long way to go, but she's a tough old broad (I mean it too...she underwent a serious surgical procedure almost 20 years ago, and she came out of that like a champ).  If anyone can get through this, I know she will.  We just all have to stay positive.



To those of you at my workplace, or who have me added as a Facebook or Twitter friend, or who may be regular readers of this blog, I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your love and support over the last few days.  It really means a lot to me and my family, and my mom also wants to express her gratitude to all of you.  Just knowing that so many care about her and want her to get better means a lot. 

I promise to keep you all updated as time passes.  In the meantime, I'll be trying to get this pop culture blog back on track over the next couple of days. 

Thanks again, everyone!

Friday, October 03, 2014

Postponed...



Due to a family emergency, this blog will be on hiatus today.  I will let you know more when I know more.

I apologize for this, but family always comes first.

I will be back when I hear more.

Thank you,
Matthew

"A Pop Culture Addict's Guide To Life"

Thursday, October 02, 2014

Scared Shrekless

Hello, everyone!  Welcome to the first Tube Talk Thursday entry for October!  And, as promised, I have decided that I would make the majority of these entries fall themed or Halloween themed.

This is one of those times.  I know, Halloween still isn't for another twenty-nine days, but I thought that the subject that I've chosen for today was going to be a fun one.

Now, when you think of Halloween, what are some of the first things that pop into your mind?  Some of you might have said costumes.  Some of you may have said candy.  Some of you might have even said tricks, as I'm sure some of you have egged a couple of cars, or threw toilet paper over people's trees.

As for me?  The first thing that comes to my mind whenever I hear Halloween is scary stories.  I can easily see people gathered around a bonfire in the middle of a campsite, or people gathered inside a dimly lit room surrounded by candles on a stormy night telling scary tales involving ghosts, goblins, monsters, and psycho killers, qu'est-ce que c'est fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better...



Oh, ahem.  Sorry.  I had a little bit of a "Talking Heads" moment.  Pardon me.

But seriously, how many of you remember telling ghost stories on Halloween night after you've gone trick-or-treating?  There's dozens of tales that you can tell.  Certainly in the world of pop culture - especially in television - there have been several references to ghost stories.  After all, the "Goosebumps" book series was turned into a television series in the 1990s.  "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" turned the average ghost story into a frightfully fun experience.  And even those Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror" episodes feature a trio of scary tales from both above and beyond the grave.

Well, in this edition of Tube Talk Thursday, we'll be taking a look at the popular Shrek franchise, and a particular holiday special that has aired around Halloween since it first debuted on October 28, 2010.

(Has it really been four years since it first aired?  Yikes!)



Yes, today, we'll be taking a look at the NBC holiday special "Scared Shrekless", which features a trio of very scary stories as told by your favourite Shriek characters.  There's Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, Puss in Boots, Pinocchio, Gingy, the Big Bad Wolf, and many many more! 

I guess it's to be expected that the Shrek gang would inevitably do a Halloween special.  Their "Shrek the Halls" special released during Christmas 2007 did extremely well, so naturally, they had to try the Halloween angle out.  It's a wonder they haven't tried to do a Valentine's Day special yet.

(Actually, the Shrek gang doing a Valentine's Day special might make that day much more tolerable for me.)

Now, there are a couple of things that you need to know about "Scared Shrekless" in that there are a couple of minor changes.  For whatever reason, Eddie Murphy was unavailable to record Donkey's voice for the special (or he turned it down, I'm not sure), so as a result Dean Edwards was cast as the new Donkey.  Though, to be honest, I think he did a good job in the role.

Another role that was recast was that of Prince Charming.  We all know that Rupert Everett breathed life into the villainous Prince, but in this special, he's voiced by Sean Bishop.

Other than that, the old gang returns to the special with Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, and Antonio Banderas reprising their roles as Shrek, Fiona, and Puss in Boots respectively.

And here's another interesting throwback to the past.  Remember how the first movie took place in the kingdom of Duloc with those annoying singing children puppets, jousting knights, and a ruler that could make Napoleon Bonaparte feel like Michael Jordan in comparison?  Well, Duloc makes an appearance in the 21-minute long special - but not in the way you might think.  Duloc has changed a lot since its 2001 debut, and it is now dilapidated and in disrepair. 

The perfect setting for a few scary stories!

Of course, I don't really want to spoil all the fun.  For those of you who haven't seen this special yet, I definitely encourage all of you to check it out because it is quite good and still keeps the Shrek charm alive.  I'd even say that it might even be better than Shrek: The Third.  Though given that the third movie was the weakest of the four films, that's not much of a bold statement.

All I can tell you is that the three stories in the film all feature a different character and is based on a classic Halloween story.



In "The Bride of Gingy", Gingy asks the Muffin Man who lives on Drury Lane to make him an extra sweet girlfriend named Sugar.  But when Sugar gets too sweet for Gingy to handle, will his solution to end things cause him more harm than good?



Then we take a peek inside "Boots Motel" in which Puss in Boots and Donkey tell a story about how they get trapped inside of a run down motel during a thunderstorm...or at least they TRY to tell a story. 



And finally, in the "Shreksorcist", Shrek talks about his experience in looking after a possessed Pinocchio who keeps hearing voices inside his head which slowly drives him to insanity.  But the twist ending is what the source of the voice ends up being.  It's quite funny.

So, seriously, go and see this Shrek special.  It's quite nice for the upcoming Halloween special.  And if you get the DVD version, you will see a special added bonus with the Shrek gang pulling out their best Michael Jackson moves!

Coming up next week, we'll be doing a Thanksgiving special for my Canadian pals...and I'll also include some reader mail within that inspired my decision for this post!

Wednesday, October 01, 2014

The Next Three Months...

Okay, so in this edition of WHO AM I WEDNESDAY, I really don't have much to say.

Mainly because I don't really have any pressing issue that's on my mind right at this moment.

So, I thought that I would use this post as a way to let you all know what you can expect to see over the next three months in this blog.

And why am I doing this?  Well, the next three months are months in which a lot is going on.  We have Thanksgiving, Halloween, Remembrance Day, and of course, Christmas.  So, because the three months are going to be jam-packed with events, I'll be coming up with ways to make the next three months a lot of fun here at A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S GUIDE TO LIFE!

So, here's what my plans are going to curtail, month by month. 



OCTOBER

Now, October is going to be one of those months in which we have a few things going on.  Now, because I'm in Canada, I'll be doing my Thanksgiving entries in October.  But of course, the major theme for October will be Halloween, spooky things, trick-or-treating, and other scary surprises.  Every Saturday movie entry will be some sort of scary film.  For Tube Talk Thursday, each entry will be a Halloween themed one (with the exception of one that I'll be writing for Thanksgiving), and if possible, I'll try to incorporate scary things for the Sunday Jukebox - though given that I'm doing #1 songs this year, I can't guarantee it.

Oh, and if possible, I'll try to make Tuesday Timeline entries really scary too - even if I have to spotlight the biography of a serial killer - which I really don't want to do, but at least I'll have a back-up plan.

Any future Wednesday entries in October will feature a funny story related to Halloween, and I think for Fridays, I'll feature some recipes and ideas for what to do with leftover candy.  It'll be fun!



NOVEMBER

Obviously, I'll be doing a special Remembrance Day entry for November 11.  This year, I believe November 11 falls on a Tuesday, and I have the perfect subject for that picked out! 

The rest of the month will be somewhat straightforward.  To honour the American Thanksgiving, I may do holiday dishes as the subject of each food day.  I think I'll also be featuring classic movies from the 1950's and 1960's on all of the movie discussions.  Really, November is one of those months that is just sort of a filler month.  At least it is in Canada.  But November runs into one of the busiest months of the whole year, and believe me, I've got a lot planned!



DECEMBER

This year marks the third annual edition of A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR, which means that the first twenty-five days of the month of December will feature a holiday themed entry. 

It will also be the one month of the year in which I WON'T be featuring any #1 singles.  Instead, I'll be consulting the holiday charts to choose a selection of Christmas classics that performed extremely well in sales and in airplay.  If you like Christmas music, December is the month for you.

I'll also be featuring holiday themed Tuesday Timelines, holiday themed Tube Talk Thursday, holiday stories on Who Am I Wednesday, holiday foods for Foodie Friday, and classic Christmas films for Saturday Night at the Movies.  I promise you 25 days of holiday goodness, and 25 days is what you'll get.

As for Funny Mondays...well, I do have something called the bastardization of Christmas past.  Don't be surprised if you see some song parodies in those spaces.

Now, of course, after Christmas, the rest of the blog will go back to normal...but that's all in preparation for...



JANUARY 2015

And, that month will feature some brand new changes for a brand new year.  But alas...I've said too much.

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

September 30, 1955

This is the last entry for the month of September 2014 - and it also happens to be the last TUESDAY TIMELINE entry of the month.  So, for today's entry, I'm prepared to make it a really huge date in pop culture history. 

Perhaps it could be one of the most famous dates in the world of Hollywood.  So famous that there was even a film made with this date as the title.

Of course, before we go ahead with that, we should probably take a look at some of the other events that took place on September 30 throughout history.

1399 - Henry IV is proclaimed King of England

1791 - The first performance of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" is first held at Freihaus-Theater der Wieden in Vienna, Austria

1882 - Thomas Edison's first commercial hydroelectric power plant begins operation in Appleton, Wisconsin

1888 - Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes become the third and fourth victims of serial killer Jack the Ripper

1907 - The McKinley National Memorial is dedicated in Canton, Ohio

1917 - American drummer Buddy Rich (d. 1987) is born in Brooklyn, New York

1927 - Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 60 home runs in a season

1935 - The Hoover Dam is dedicated

1939 - NBC becomes the first television network to broadcast a televised football game

1942 - Singer Frankie Lymon (d. 1968) is born in Harlem, New York

1947 - The World Series is first televised - the teams are the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees

1962 - African-American college student James Meredith defies segregation and enters the University of Mississippi

1967 - BBC Radio One is first launched in the UK

1968 - The Boeing 747 is first unveiled to the public

1972 - Baseball player Roberto Clemente records his 3,000th and final hit of his career - he would pass away just three months later

1982 - Pharmacies in Chicago take precaution after six people are killed following the ingestion of cyanide-laced Tylenol

1988 - American race car driver Al Holbert is killed in a plane crash, aged 41

1994 - Two London Underground rail stations - Aldwych Tube Station and Ongar Railway Station - cease operations

1996 - The United States Congress passes an Amendment that bars the possession of firearms by people previously convicted of domestic violence

2012 - Canadian figure skater Barbara-Ann Scott passes away at the age of 84

And, here is a list of celebrity birthdays for September 30.  Happy birthday to Angie Dickinson, Ben Cooper, Cissy Houston, Barbara Knox, Johnny Mathis, Len Cariou, Marilyn McCoo, Fran Brill, Basia Trzetrzelewska, Barry Williams, Fran Drescher, Marty Stuart, Susan Keith, Debrah Farentino, Crystal Bernard, Eric Stoltz, Monica Bellucci, Kathleen Madigan, Andrea Roth, Tony Hale, Jenna Elfman, Daniel Wu, Marion Cotillard, Stark Sands, Martina Hingis, Dominique Moceanu, Lacey Chabert, Kieran Culkin, Ryan Stout, and T-Pain.

So, what date will we be revisiting today?



Well, we're not quite going back six decades, but the date is an important one.  September 30, 1955.

Interestingly enough, that date - as I mentioned above - also happens to be the title of a film.



Released in 1977, the movie "September 30, 1955" depicts life in a small Arkansas town, and focused on the life of a young man named Jimmy J. 

(Jimmy J. was portrayed by "The Waltons" star Richard Thomas.)

Anyway, it's not so much the town that influences Jimmy J. and his incredibly rebellious behaviour that sees him holding up a liquor store, getting plastered, running around the streets in his underwear, and ultimately getting arrested and placed in jail.  Rather, it happens to be the date that all this takes place. 

You see, September 30, 1955 was a dark day in the world of Hollywood, as one of Hollywood's rising stars was cut down in a tragic automobile accident.  At the time of his death he was just twenty-four, and his passing resonated with a lot of people - particularly with teenagers and young adults.

It's no secret that the 1950s was sort of a conservative and conventional decade.  In fact, I sort of refer to the 1950's as the "Stepford Decade".  With everyone dressing and looking the same, the husbands going off to bring home the bacon, wives staying home to cook, clean, and nurture, and boys and girls simply expected to act like Wally and Beaver Cleaver or Annette Funicello, it certainly was a decade that celebrated perfect order, perfect families, and perfect everything.

And honestly, it seemed as though it was perfectly boring.

Well, back in 1955, this man laughed in the face of the cookie-cutter world of the 1950s and brought forth an aura of rebellion, mischief, and non-conformity.  And naturally, teenagers responded well.  After all, what teenager didn't rebel against authority once in a while?  I know I certainly did when I was fourteen, fifteen.

Certainly, this man was a rebel.  He didn't quite look like the stereotypical Hollywood heartthrob, but his confidence in front of the screen won him many fans.



Today, we'll be discussing the very short life of James Dean, and what kind of legacy he left behind.

He was born as James Byron Dean on February 8, 1931 in the community of Marion, Indiana - the son of Winton Dean and Mildred Wilson.  And James' early life was marked by an early tragedy.  After moving from Indiana to California, Dean's mother started to feel ill and rapidly lost a lot of weight from her illness.  It ended up being uterine cancer, and when James was just nine years old, his mother died of the disease.  This loss hit James especially hard as he had been really close with his mother, and often saw her as the only person in the world "who understood him".

After the death of his mother, his father sent him away to live with his sister, and during his childhood, it was allegedly reported that he endured sexual abuse from a pastor whom he had gotten close to, but nothing was ever confirmed.  And although he didn't do so well in the academic portion of high school, he was considered to be a gifted athlete and was one of the more popular kids in his school.  After graduation from high school in 1949, he enrolled in Santa Monica College to major in pre-law, but switched to UCLA to pursue a degree in dramatic arts, causing a falling out between him and his father.  Although Dean never did finish his college education, he knew that acting was the career he was meant to pursue, and in 1951 he made the decision to become a full-time actor.

Mind you, like most actors, he didn't become successful overnight.  One of his first gigs was a commercial for Pepsi, and he had walk-on roles in such movies as "Fixed Bayonets!" and "Sailor Beware".  To help support himself, Dean also worked as a parking lot attendant for CBS Studios where he met radio director Rogers Brackett, who became a mentor to him, as was actor James Whitmore, whom Dean had met while attending one of his acting workshops.

With their encouragement, James Dean made the decision to relocate to New York City to further his acting career.  Again, things were slow going.  He worked as a stunt tester for "Beat The Clock" and appeared in bit parts on random television series.  But it all paid off when Dean was admitted to the legendary Actors Studio - at that time one of the greatest theater schools in the United States.

Once Dean was admitted into the school, the opportunities for him grew exponentially.  He began to make more appearances on television, including one particular episode of the CBS series "Omnibus" where Dean played the role of a disaffected youth who refused to conform to standards and instead opted to march to the beat of his own drum.  Little did Dean know that this type of part would be one that he would play at least a couple of times.



Such as in the 1955 film "East of Eden", where Dean played the role of Cal Trask, a man who initially seemed aloof and emotionally disturbed on the surface, but proves to be savvy, knowledgeable, and crafty.  He also discovers the family secrets buried deep within his family and he has to deal with the fears of what he will find out once he does discover the truth. 

"East of Eden" was the first time he took on a major lead role, and Dean certainly did one fantastic job in the role.  Remind me to feature this film in a Saturday movie entry at some point.  It's really a good one!  It's also made even more impressive when you consider that many of Dean's scenes in the film were unscripted.  Watch closely in the scene where Dean hugs his father.  That whole scene was an ad-lib, but producers decided to keep it in the film because it looked so professional.  No wonder Dean earned himself an Academy Award nomination for the role.



Of course, who could also forget his role in "Rebel Without a Cause" (another movie I want to watch for this blog), a 1955 movie which essentially acted as a voice for teenage angst and rebellion.  The film certainly went against the idea of how teenagers were supposed to act back then, and certainly Dean's portrayal of Jim Stark seemed to bring that message out loud and clear.  His devil-may-care attitude towards life shook up the school in which he had just arrived at as a new student, and the mayhem that follows.  Again, I want to wait until a Saturday entry to talk more about this...but if you want a short summary of what you can expect to see in the film, you could watch Paula Abdul's video for "Rush Rush", which re-enacts scenes from that film.



James Dean also did a lot of preparation for what would become his third and final film, "Giant".  Playing a supporting role alongside Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson, Dean played the part of Jeff Rink, a man who made a fortune in Texas oil.  Because Dean had to play the part where Rink aged from young to old, Dean dyed his hair gray and shaved part of it off to make him appear as if he were losing his hair!  And once again, Dean was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance.

Sadly, he didn't live long enough to savour the nominations.  Nor did he live long enough to see the premieres of two of the three films he made.

Prior to September 30, 1955, Dean had developed a love of auto racing - likely inspired by his role on "Rebel Without a Cause", in which his character did a lot of street racing.  He even entered the Palm Springs Road Racers competition in March 1955, and performed quite well (finishing first overall on day one, and second overall on day two).  However, knowing how dangerous a career that auto racing was, Warner Brothers (the studio that produced "Giant") banned him from doing any more auto racing until after production wrapped up.



Still, Dean could not resist driving fast cars.  Tragically, his love of fast cars prematurely and permanently ended his career.  Shortly before six o'clock on the evening of September 30, 1955, Dean's Porsche 550 Spyder collided head on with a 1950 Ford Tudor being driven by  23-year-old college student Donald Turnupseed.  At the time of the impact, Dean had been driving the Spyder with passenger Rolf Wutherich, a man who had helped Dean build his car for the Palm Springs racing event.

Turnupseed survived the impact, as did Wutherich.  Dean was not so fortunate.  Because Dean was traveling at approximately eighty-five miles per hour at the time of the accident, Dean's Spyder flipped completely up in the air before landing in a gully on its wheels.  Dean sustained a broken neck, a crushed left foot, and extreme internal and external injuries.  An ambulance was immediately called, but Dean died on arrival just a few minutes after the crash.

He was just 24.

His funeral was held eight days later with reportedly over 600 mourners in attendance with another 2,400 people gathered outside the building during the funeral procession.

Dean's star may have burned out long before it was really supposed to, but you could also argue that it shone brighter than anyone else's.  It's hard to say what would have happened had Dean not died.  If he were still alive, he would be 83 today.  I could easily imagine him continuing his acting career and making himself a true member of Hollywood royalty.   It's really hard to predict how he would have fared through the decades.  But one thing he did have was talent and a lust for life.

He lived fast...and died young.