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Wednesday, January 07, 2015

The "Squinterns" of "Bones"

This is a blog post that is solely pop culture themed, but with a Who Am I Wednesday kind of twist to it.

(Hey, I said that I would be lessening the focus on pop culture, not completely abandoning it.)

Actually, this post is absolutely inspired by a show that I have absolutely gotten hooked on.  This obsession began a couple of years ago, and during the month of December (on my off days from work), I had a bit of a binge watching session of said show.

On a side note, doesn't the term "binge watching" just make you want to cringe?  I mean, spending an entire day watching a marathon of television episodes just seems like a big waste of time!  Luckily, the weather hasn't been great lately, so I can make a logical justification that binge watching television is a safer activity than walking down a snow covered street where the temperature is forty below with the windchill.

Anyway, I'll tell you a little bit about the show before I go into more detail about today's blog.



Have you ever heard of the show "Bones"?  The show debuted on FOX on September 13, 2005, and is currently in its tenth season.  The show features Emily Deschanel as forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan and David Boreanaz as FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth.  Together, the two solve cold cases and unsolved murders just by examining the skeletal remains of the deceased.  Along the way, the relationship between Bones and Booth develops over time, and by the beginning of the tenth season, both are married and have a child together named Christine.



The show is based loosely on the life and writings of novelist and anthropologist Kathy Reichs, and was created by Hart Hanson.  In addition to Boreanaz and Deschanel, the series also currently stars Michaela Conlin, TJ Thyne, Tamara Taylor, and John Boyd.  The show also starred Jonathan Adams (Season 1), Eric Millegan (Seasons 1-3), and John Francis Daley (Seasons 3-10).

But in this blog, we're actually not going to be talking about the main characters of "Bones".  Instead, we'll be talking about a group of recurring characters that began airing on "Bones" beginning with the show's fourth season.  Characters that are lovingly referred to as "squinterns".

Now, a squintern is just a slang term that Booth came up with on his own to describe the various interns who help Dr. Brennan, Dr. Hodgins, Dr. Saroyan, and Angela solve murder cases at the Jeffersonian Institute.  The original intern was Dr. Zack Addy, who was a graduate student of Dr. Brennan, and was chosen personally by her to be her intern.  That internship ended abruptly at the end of season three after Zack blew off his own hands in an explosion, and it was later revealed that he was the accomplice of a serial killer.  Zack has since been institutionalized after pleading insanity, though he has since made guest appearances in season four and five.

After Zack's departure, the intern spot was filled with a series of recurring, rotating "squinterns", each with their own distinct personalities and backgrounds, and depending on the murder case presented in front of them, some squinterns perform better than others.

At the beginning of season four, six squinterns were introduced.  One was introduced in season seven, another in season eight, and two more in season nine.



Now, for this blog, I will only be focusing on the first eight to be introduced.  Nothing against Rodolfo Fuentes (Ignacio Serricchio) or Jessica Warren (Laura Spencer), but they are still fairly new, and haven't been on much.  Maybe if "Bones" gets renewed for an eleventh season, we'll see more of them.  But the others have appeared in at least one or two episodes a season since they were introduced, and therefore have more personality to dissect.

And, since this is a personal blog as well, I'll try to see if I can see a little bit of myself in each squintern.  Let's begin, shall we?



Clark Thomas Edison (Eugene Byrd)

Initially, we first met Clark at the very beginning of the third season of "Bones" where he served as Zack's replacement after he went on tour in Iraq.  When Zack returned, Clark left.  He would later return to the show in the beginning of season 4 as the first of the rotating squinterns. 

Now, one way that I can definitely identify with Dr. Edison is the fact that he is absolutely professional in everything he does.  When he comes to do a job, he wants to get the job done and not mess around with drama and silliness.  But where Clark and I differ is that he goes too far.  Clark - especially in his first couple of seasons - is so serious that he completely doesn't know how to have any sort of fun whatsoever, and alienates his fellow co-workers at the Jeffersonian.  He does end up becoming more relaxed as the show progresses, but is easily still the most serious minded of all the squinterns. 

PRO:  He is extremely focused on his work.
CON:  He doesn't seem to understand what "fun" is.



Daisy Wick (Carla Gallo)

If there could be one symbol that I could use to best describe Daisy Wick, it would probably be a Care Bear.  She is absolutely perky and filled with sweetness, and she absolutely wants to help out in every way she can.  But unfortunately, that's about as similar as a Care Bear as she gets.  You see, Daisy is brilliant at her job, but she doesn't usually do it for the good of the Jeffersonian.  She does it to score brownie points with Dr. Brennan, who responds to Daisy with annoyance and aggravation.  Daisy is the only intern to have been fired from the Jeffersonian TWICE for her over-eager behaviour.

Still, Daisy really doesn't mean any harm.  I actually like her on the show because she is so enthusiastic about her job that it's hard not to get inspired by her.  I would also say that she also has a childlike way of looking at things that sort of warms your heart.  I guess it's no wonder that Dr. Lance Sweets fell head over heels in love with her.  It's a shame that Sweets was killed off before the birth of his son with Daisy, Seeley Wick-Sweets.  But, I am sure that Daisy will have help from her friends.

PRO:  She is extremely enthusiastic about her work.
CON:  That enthusiasm can get really grating, really fast.



Wendell Bray (Michael Grant Terry)

Right off the bat, Wendell has one thing in common with me.  He comes from a working class family, as I have.  And what is even more impressive is that Wendell does not believe in free handouts either.  Although his hometown raised the money for him to be able to intern at the Jeffersonian under a scholarship program, Wendell's main goal is to repay the people every last penny.  What a guy!

I think Wendell is probably my favourite of all the squinterns because he appears to be the most well-rounded of all of them.  He dates, he socializes, and he has no major faults.

Well, okay...he does have one fault.  He has the ability to make his own problems worse.  It must have been awkward for Wendell to date Angela after she broke up with Hodgins, and even more awkward for Wendell after Angela and Hodgins got back together again.  And, I'm sure that Wendell didn't expect that his use of marijuana to treat his cancer diagnosis in season nine would nearly get him fired from the Jeffersonian!  In the end though, thanks to the firm friendships that he made at the Jeffersonian, the team found ways to keep Wendell employed at the Jeffersonian.  In turn, Wendell has probably been the most help in solving murder cases.  After all, of all the squinterns, Wendell has appeared in the most episodes of "Bones" so far.

PRO:  He has a keen tendency to relate to almost anyone.
CON:  His impulsiveness has gotten him into trouble.



Colin Fisher (Joel David Moore)

Colin is an odd duck.  There.  I said it.

In most cases, while the murder investigations can be a tough (and disgusting) job, the people who work at the Jeffersonian can usually find humour and positivity in their jobs.

Well, all except Colin, that is.  He is essentially the poster child for clinical depression if ever there was one.  Making dark and depressing comments at every opportunity should be enough for anyone to lose their minds.  But the way that Colin delivers his lines, it makes it nearly impossible to stay annoyed for very long.  He may be a killjoy, but his comic timing is impeccable.

Oh, and he is extremely good at his job, too.

PRO:  Underneath the dark cloud lies a brilliant scientist.
CON:  It's just a shame the dark cloud is more like a never ending fog.



Arastoo Vaziri (Pej Verdat)

What can you say about this Iranian born Muslim who prays several times a day and who speaks fluent Farsi?  Well, you could call him a liar, as he faked having an Iranian accent for months before it was exposed that he had an American accent by Dr. Saroyan! 

But Arastoo had a good reason for it.  He believed that if he talked with an accent, then people would not question his religious affiliation.  Keep in mind that Arastoo became an intern at the Jeffersonian just a few years after 9/11. 

As a result of this, Arastoo tends to view each murder victim with compassion and humanity, seeing the skeletons not as a pile of bones, but as an actual person.  And that human touch and soft side that Arastoo possessed helped him form a romantic relationship with Dr. Saroyan which still continues as of season 10.

PRO:  Shows a lot of empathy and has a compassionate side.
CON:  Starting off his internship with a little white lie.



Vincent Nigel-Murray (Ryan Cartwright)

If my favourite squintern is Wendell Bray, then Vincent Nigel-Murray is probably the one that I am most like in real life.  Okay, so I don't possess a British accent like Vincent did.  But he does have a very retentive - almost photographic - memory of random facts that he has no problem sharing with the world.

Gee, I wonder who else I know that has that affliction...

Vincent's main problem was that sometimes the facts he blurted out had absolutely nothing to do with the murder investigation, which grated on the nerves of the other people working in the Jeffersonian.  But even though Vincent could be unpredictable with random trivia, he somehow managed to bring everything full circle.

Sadly, Vincent was killed at the end of season six, cut down by a bullet meant for Seeley Booth.  He is still missed.

PRO:  Possesses an incredible smorgasbord of random knowledge.
CON:  Unfortunately, most of that knowledge is irrelevant to any case.



Finn Abernathy (Luke Kleintank)

I suppose you could consider Finn to be Vincent's replacement.  Eighteen years old and filled with Southern charm, it's hard not to be mesmerized by him.  Especially considering that he is probably one of Dr. Brennan's best interns as far as forensic anthropology goes.  But Finn's past is rather dark.  The rumour was that he had murdered his abusive stepfather.  There were police reports of him attacking his stepfather with a knife when Finn was younger, and as a result, he served time in juvenile detention.  But when Finn turned 18, his record was cleared, giving him the chance to work as an intern at the Jeffersonian.  He had a lot of work to do in convincing his co-workers that he had changed, but eventually he found a way to fit into the group.  He even started up a hot sauce business with Hodgins in Season 8!  How cool is that? 

PRO:  Is easily considered to be one of Dr. Brennan's most knowledgeable squinterns.
CON:  Even though he has changed for the better, you don't want to get him angry.  He still has glimmers of a hot temper.



Oliver Wells (Brian Klugman)

I think Oliver is one of those people you either really really love, or really really despise.  Certainly he isn't one of the easiest people to get along with.  In fact, he comes across as having such a superiority complex that even Dr. Brennan gets annoyed with him.  He got so obnoxious that Angela was forced to give him a letter telling him to stop being so obnoxious!

That said, when he is on top of his game, he does show that he knows what he is doing, and he has definitely earned his place on the Jeffersonian team.  His place in the social aspects of the lab?  They need major work.

PRO:  Is a diligent worker who has a lot of drive.
CON:  Is an absolutely insufferable individual to work alongside.

So, I suppose that if I had to choose three squinterns that I would working for me on a case (that is, if I were an anthropologist and not a blogger), I would definitely go with Wendell, Finn, and the late Vincent.  But really, each one of them has earned their place on the team and bring forth their own skill sets to create one of the best fictional forensics teams ever show on an hour-long drama. 

And, here's a tip for you.  Watch the season eight episode "The Patriot in Purgatory".  Five of the eight squinterns appear in this episode alone, and while it does seem to be a dynamite stick ready to explode at first, it quickly becomes a team that when they come together, differences mean absolutely nothing.

So, how many of you watch "Bones"?  And if you do, who is your favourite squintern?  Daisy?  Arastoo?  Ahem...Oliver?

Tuesday, January 06, 2015

January 6, 1994

Welcome to the very first Tuesday Timeline of the year!

While I have decided that I am changing the focus and the format of this blog for the year 2015, one thing that I am keeping for the foreseeable future is the Tuesday Timeline entry.  I've always been a pop culture history buff, and back in the days in which I used to do theme days, Tuesday blogs were always the most fun to write.

So, let us see what happened throughout history on January 6, shall we?

1412 - It is estimated that French saint Joan of Arc (d. 1431) is born on this date

1540 - King Henry VIII marries Anne of Cleves

1838 - In what is to become the forerunner of Morse code, Alfred Vail demonstrates a telegraph system that uses dashes and dots

1839 - Dublin, Ireland is devastated by the most damaging storm in three centuries, flattening one-fifth of the city

1912 - New Mexico becomes the 47th state to join the United States

1929 - Mother Teresa arrives in Calcutta, India to begin her work treating the nation's sickest and poorest people

1930 - Actor Vic Tayback (d. 1990) is born in Brooklyn, New York

1931 - Thomas Edison submits his final patent application - he would pass away in October

1941 - In his State of the Union address, Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his "Four Freedoms" speech

1944 - Actress Bonnie Franklin (d. 2013) is born in Santa Monica, California

1960 - National Airlines Flight 2511 is blown up by a bomb enroute from New York to Miami, killing everyone aboard

1974 - Because of the 1973 Energy Crisis, daylight savings time begins three and a half months early in the United States

1978 - The Crown of St. Stephen is returned to Hungary from the United States - the crown had been held on American soil since the second World War

1993 - Singer-songwriter and trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie passes away at the age of 75

2000 - The last surviving Pyranean Ibex is found dead, making the species extinct

2006 - Singer Lou Rawls passes away at the age of 72

And for famous birthdays, we have the following turning one year older; George H. Ross, Dickie Moore, Terry Venables, Trudie Styler, Rowan Atkinson, Angus Deayton, Scott Bryce, Nigella Lawson, Howie Long, John Singleton, Norman Reedus, Julie Chen, Gabrielle Reece, Johnny Yong Bosch, Danny Pintauro, Tara Spencer-Nairn, Camila Grey, Tiffany "New York" Pollard, Kate McKinnon, and Lil Reese.

So, what date will we go back in time to this week?  Well, I thought that we would give the 1990s a try.



How about January 6, 1994?

Now, let's see...I should remember this date well.  I was twelve and a half years old, and I was mid-way through the seventh grade.  Oh, and one other detail I remember quite well.  That was the year that the Olympics were held during the winter months.

It was a big deal to have the Winter Olympics in 1994.  It was the very first time in history that the Olympics were held on a non-leap year.  Prior to that, the Winter Olympics were held in leap years (1992, 1988, 1984), the same as the Summer Olympic Games.



The host city that year was Lillehammer, Norway, and the games lasted from February 12-27, 1994.  Sixty-seven countries participated in the games with over 1,700 athletes competing in all.  Of course, Norway won the most medals overall with twenty-six in total, but Russia had the most gold medals won with eleven.

For the record, my country of Canada was seventh overall.  Three gold, six silver, four bronze, making a baker's dozen.  Good job, Canada!

So, if the Winter Olympics didn't begin until February 12, what makes January 6, 1994 so important?

Well, one month before the Winter Olympics, a shocking event took place after a practice session for the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championship.  Two women who had both been selected to join the American figure skating team for the 1994 Winter Olympics were at the center of the controversy when one woman was accused of orchestrating an attack on the other woman which could have completely jeopardized her chances of competing.  Twenty-one years later, people still remember the incident that happened, as well as the two women who were at the center of everything.  In today's Tuesday Timeline, we'll look over the events that lead up to January 6, 1994, how it all went down, and what became of the two women since.



This is the story of a rivalry gone bad.  This is the story of Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding.

Now, prior to 1994, just looking at the statistics of both women, both Kerrigan and Harding were shoo-ins to make the team just based on performance alone.

Let's take a look at Tonya Harding's stats before January 1994, shall we?  Harding began skating when she was just three, and by the time she was twelve, she had already begun competing in skating competitions.  She started competing in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 1985, when Harding was just fifteen. 



Now, Tonya had always been a strong competitor in figure skating, but her biggest year was 1991.  Not only did she win the gold medal in that tournament, but during one of her performances, she became the first woman in figure skating history to successfully complete a triple axel jump.  Her performance was good enough for her to land a spot in the 1991 World Figure Skating Championship, in which she placed third overall.  She was also one of the athletes who represented the American figure skating team at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, where she placed fourth.

She also won the bronze in the 1989 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, as well as in 1992, and in 1993, she won the pewter.  However, by January 1994, she was well on her way to winning her second U.S. Figure Skating Championship title.  But although she was competing against several other talented female figure skaters, there was one who seemed to be her biggest rival.



And it is easy to see how Harding could have been intimidated by Nancy Kerrigan.  Kerrigan, a year older than Harding, began skating at the age of six.  In 1985, Kerrigan began competing in the U.S. National Figure Skating Championship, and though she started off slow, by the beginning of the 1990s, she was quickly finding her groove.  She won the pewter in 1990, the bronze in 1991, the silver in 1992, and the gold in 1993.  She was well on her way to taking a second consecutive gold by the time 1994 arrived.  She also competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, where unlike Harding, she won the bronze medal for figure skating.

Now, just to put into perspective how important the U.S. Figure Skating Championships were in relation to the Winter Olympics, the American Olympic team is selected based on the performances of the athletes during the U.S. Figure Skating competition.  Anyone who received the gold medal automatically got a spot on the team.

So, when the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships were held in Detroit, Michigan from January 4-8, 1994, it was almost expected that either Kerrigan, Harding, or relative newcomer Michelle Kwan would be gunning for gold.

But nobody expected what would happen on January 6, 1994, when after a practice session for the women's competition, a man struck Nancy Kerrigan just above the knee with a police baton.



I can only imagine the physical pain that Kerrigan went through, and certainly everyone who owned a television set in 1994 could see for themselves how devastating it was for Kerrigan.  The six o'clock news played footage of the aftermath of the attack for weeks after it happened. 

The man responsible for "The Whack Heard Round The World" was Shane Stant, who had been hired by two men to put Kerrigan out of commission for the Figure Skating championships, and to potentially prevent her from competing in the 1994 Winter Olympics. 

Those two men?  Jeff Gillooly and Shawn Eckhart.  The then-husband and bodyguard of Kerrigan's rival, Tonya Harding!

Obviously, Kerrigan was still in too much pain to continue with the competition and was forced to withdraw.  And initially, Tonya Harding proclaimed her innocence, claiming that she had nothing to do with the attack, which did not stop her from winning the gold medal in the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.  However, the story did not end there.

You see, Kerrigan, despite her injury, recovered very quickly, and ended up being chosen by the United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) to fill one of the two spots that were available on the American Olympic team despite Michelle Kwan winning the silver medal in the championships.  This would prove ironic, as the other spot had been filled by Harding who had won the gold.  But her determination to compete in the Olympics that year and to rise above her injury caused her to train twice as hard so she could be in tip-top shape, and she won the silver medal in figure skating at the Olympics.  Tonya Harding placed a disappointing eighth overall.

But that wasn't the only disappointment that Harding would have.  It was later revealed that Harding - while she didn't take part in the actual assault on Kerrigan - knew of the attack prior to it taking place and tried to cover up her involvement.  Her 1994 gold medal from the U.S. Figure Skating Championship was stripped from her, and she was banned from taking part in any future event run by the USFSA, effectively ending her figure skating career.

In the end, one event sparked by jealousy and insecurity caused a lot of lives to be ruined, and destroyed the career of a once respected figure skater. 

So, what happened to the people in the story since January 1994?



Well, Kerrigan retired from professional figure skating the same year she won the silver medal at the Olympics, and while she did have some minor controversy regarding some comments that she made about figure skater Chen Lu and Mickey Mouse (believe it or not), Kerrigan, for the most part, has lived a quiet life.  She has appeared in a few "Ice Wars" competitions, and participated in 2006's "Skating With Celebrities".  She wrote a book entitled "Artistry on Ice", and served as a correspondent for "Entertainment Tonight" during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  She has also gotten married to Jerry Solomon, and has three children.  And in 2004, she was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

Harding's path has taken on a very different route.  After being banned from figure skating and admitting her role in the attack on Kerrigan, Harding pleaded guilty of conspiracy of hindering prosecution of the attackers in March 1994 and was given three years probation, 500 hours of community service, and a fine of $160,000.  Everybody else who took part in the crime, including Gillooly, Eckhardt, Stant, and getaway car driver Derrick Smith, served a prison sentence. 

Harding divorced Gillooly shortly after the Winter Olympics, and Gillooly released a sex tape of him and Harding to a tabloid television show.  She attempted to go into the world of boxing in 2002, but that career only lasted a couple of years.

Randomly, Harding set an automobile racing land speed record in August 2009 when she raced a vintage 1931 Ford Model A at the Bonneville Salt Flats. 

And, Harding also became a mother in 2011, giving birth to a son with her third husband, whom she married in 2010.

It's hard to believe that it has been 21 years since that incident took place.  And it is one incident that could be considered a double edged sword of sorts.  On the one hand, the events of January 6, 1994 caused a sudden interest in figure skating, and watching Kerrigan come back from a terrible incident to a second place finish at the Winter Olympics likely inspired a lot of young girls to follow their dreams of becoming professional figure skaters.

On the other hand, it's a shame that an incident like this marred the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and to a lesser extent, the 1994 Winter Olympics, as the media coverage seemed to put the attack at a higher priority than the athletes who were competing.

All in all, what the events of January 6, 1994 taught us is that jealousy is one ugly monster that should never be unleashed, and that no good can ever come out of being jealous of someone else.  However, since I try to look at the good in everything, the events of January 6, 1994 also taught us that if one is knocked down, then we can get right back up and be better than we ever were before.

Monday, January 05, 2015

Help Is NOT A Bad Four-Letter Word

I have to admit that we're only five days into the new year, and already I feel as though I have made a lot of progress in reinventing myself.  And, as the other 360 days pass by, I absolutely feel as though everything is beginning to finally make a little bit of sense.

Trust me, it's a good feeling to have. 

And because I am feeling really good about things, I thought that I would issue myself a little bit of a challenge for this year.  If anybody has noticed, I have decided to switch things up for the blog.  There's still going to be a little bit of pop culture mixed into every post that I make this year, but it will no longer be the main focus of the blog.



Instead, I've decided to make 2015 the most positive year that I have ever experienced.

So, for today and every other day in the blog, I am going to try and make each post positive.  Or, if I can't find a way to make that happen (some of the Tuesday Timeline entries can be somewhat on the depressing side), I will try to make one positive comment.

I think a large factor behind my stagnation over the last few months was because I was feeling negative all the time, and I couldn't find an escape.

But now I feel as though things are starting to come into play.

And, you know what?  I have to confess something right here, right now.  I have to explain what has shifted my focus on bigger and better things.

You see, at my workplace, they have this telephone number posted all over the store.  It's a number that allows people to speak to...um...how should I word this..."professional listeners".  Yeah, I definitely like that description. 

Long story short, I summoned up the courage to dial this number, and I spoke to someone who really put things into perspective, and helped me see things through a different point of view.  It really helped me come to terms with everything that was going on.  Sure, the chat didn't really solve any of the current problems that I was (and am) having at the moment, but I did feel like things weren't nearly as hopeless as I initially believed it to be.

But would you believe that I was nervous about even calling up the number in the first place? 

I guess it's only natural for anyone who is afraid of asking for help to be apprehensive about seeking it out.  Trust me, I was one who never asked for it when I was younger. 

I guess if you could assign a symbol for my coping techniques, it would be similar to one of those plastic bottles filled with Pepsi or Diet Coke.  I bottled everything up inside, and I kept it locked up tight.  It worked for a while until the liquid began to make the bottle bulge.  After a while, things would become so stressed out that the bottle itself would burst, and I would have an epic nuclear meltdown similar to the reaction one would have by dumping an entire package of Mentos into said bottle of Diet Coke.

I don't really need anyone to tell me how destructive that coping mechanism can be. It sucked to have to bottle everything up like that, and I still hate the fact that I go back to old habits and keep things bottled up until they blow.  But I had my reasons for it at the time.

I had great difficulty trusting people.  I had lots of instances in which I put my trust in people only for them to let me down later on.  My mistake was that I was so frustrated with everything that I painted every single person with the same judgmental brush.  I had people who backstabbed me, therefore everyone had sharp implements that they could use to also stab me in the back, thus seemingly providing me with enough information not to talk to anybody about my problems for fear that they will use what I tell them against me.

Not a good way to go through life.



Therefore, talking to someone who more than likely went through some of the same problems that I was experiencing really helped out a lot.  And, honestly, my only message for today is...if you need help, don't be afraid to seek it.  Talking to people about your problems is not weird.  It is not annoying.  It's what humans do.  Help should NOT be a bad four-letter word.

Just don't ask someone who doesn't know a thing about computers to help you put one together.  That would be detrimental.

Sunday, January 04, 2015

The Power of Positive Thinking and Positive Actions

I think that this is a year in which everything is going to become crystal clear, so to speak.  At least, I'm staying positive that 2015 will be the year that answers a lot of unanswered questions.



Because I have already decided that 2015 will be the year of positive thinking!

For instance, I am positive that 2015 will be a better year than the murky, sludgy, disgusting mess that was 2014.

You know how when we were kids, we used to have snow days that prevented us from doing much of anything?  As kids, we all loved them because they prevented all of us from going to school.  But if you look beyond the superficial reason behind why we wished for snow days as a kid, you'll notice that the skies are dark, the air is cold, and the ground is so slippery that you can't figure out how to walk in a straight line.

I consider 2014 to be an entire year of snow days.  Not necessarily saying that I was completely depressed and miserable during the whole year.  I did have some great moments last year.  I'm saying that in 2014, I had pretty much a year of stagnation and uncertainty where I questioned basically everything that I was doing, and focusing too much on negative things instead of positive ones.  And admittedly, that lead to some really frustrating days.

2014 wasn't the worst year that I ever went through, but it certainly wasn't the best.

And a lot of that comes from the fact that I had a hard time staying positive when it seemed like everything and everyone around me was negative.

I have never exactly been the kind of person who would stand up for myself.  I guess in some ways, I could be considered a people pleaser of sorts.  I would try to do everything possible to be everybody's buddy, even if I wasn't treated with the same respect back.  It turned out to be a lousy way to be, especially when I was younger, but I had assumed that once I hit adulthood, those days would long be past, and I would finally have the freedom to be who I wanted to be without any judgment.

Of course, in 2014, this wasn't the case.  In fact, 2014 was probably one of those years that started off with me being completely beat down by people who I never expected to be beat down by.

These people included neighbours, social media contacts, customers, co-workers, and other people who I dealt with on a daily basis.

Now, of course, there's nothing that I could do about the customers that were...shall I say...less than pleasant.  Not that I would want to anyway.  After dealing with them, I usually didn't see them again for another six to eight weeks.  Besides, anything they do makes them look foolish.  Not me.

But I really had a bit of a learning experience when it comes to dealing with people this past year.  And one thing I noticed was that part of the reason why I was feeling so down about myself was because I was always hanging around people who were Debbie and Derrick Downers.  People who lived only to complain, complain, complain.  Whether it was lunchroom gossip about other people at work, or whether it was people making fun of other people on social media, or whether it was instances in which people who I thought were good friends turned out to be wolves in lamb suits.

(Yeah, yeah...I know sheep's clothing is the proper term...but since when do sheep wear clothes?  Never did understand that expression.)

This past year, I had to go through a lot of negativity which in turn caused me to be rather negative myself.  And, believe me, I hate feeling that way.

Even on days in which I was feeling on a high and wanted to share that with people, I had people always knocking me down.  They would criticize everything I did, or they would purposely make comments to me that sent my happy thoughts crashing down around me.  And, you know, for a while, I decided that I would take it as constructive criticism.  I had made a pledge to myself that I would not end any friendships with anybody no matter what the circumstances were because I knew how it felt to be rejected, and I didn't want anyone to feel this way. 

There's just one problem with that.  If you allow toxic people into your life, and allow their words of negativity to fester inside of you, it not only destroys your self-confidence and personality to the point where you lose yourself.  It actually impedes your ability to make new friendships and experience new opportunities with new people. 

And that is one hassle that nobody needs.



So that is why before 2014 ended, I made a commitment to reverse my previous feelings about friendship.  No longer was I going to tolerate friendships that were one-sided, damaging, or toxic.  I cut myself away from gossipy co-workers who only spread rumours about others to make themselves feel better.  I unfriended about fifty people from my Facebook page on "National Unfriend Day" to remove the negativity there.  Truth be told, some of them had it coming for a long time now, and since I've gotten rid of them, I have found that social media is a lot more fun! 

Most importantly, I'm beginning to figure things out a lot more, and I am coming to the conclusion that at the beginning of a new year, things are going to be okay.  I have positive people in my life who will offer constructive criticism when they need to, but who will also support me no matter what I do.  I have decided to spend more time socializing with people in the real world rather than the online world (though I do have a lot of love for the few online contacts I have kept).  And, I have a clearer view of what my goals in life really are.


I just have to stay positive.  Positive thinking wins every time.

Saturday, January 03, 2015

Green Slime of Ignorance

How was your New Years' celebrations?  Were they great?  So-so?  Don't quite remember it because you had one too many tequila shots?

Well, I have to tell you that my New Years celebrations were extremely quiet.  They were filled with episodes of "Bones", Chinese takeaway, and snow!  Seriously, the first day of 2015 brought forth a real winter blizzard!  I suppose it was a good thing that all of the stores were closed for the day because I can only imagine how much a mess it would have been trying to go on the roads that day.

Meanwhile, our Christmas was green.  I think the weeks got mixed up on the calendar this year.  We're supposed to have snow on Christmas, not New Year's Day!

Oh, well.  Since the snow pretty much kept everyone inside (at least in my neck of the woods, it did), I opted to spend the day doing absolutely nothing but curl up with some books, and watch a little television from my iPad mini. 

But you know, I've been also doing a lot of thinking about the upcoming year, as well as a lot of other things that have been flowing through my mind (which is really good, since 2015 has been designated the official anything goes year for A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S GUIDE TO LIFE), and all I have to say is that I've been thinking about a time in which things didn't seem so complicated.

As I enter a new year, I have a wide awakening of what I want out of life.  And, all I have to say is that what I am doing is not living life.  I guess the best way that I can describe it is that I am feeling like I am stranded on a gigantic orange buoy in the middle of a huge body of water, and I...



Ick!  How did that happen?  Now I am soaked.  Oh, wait.  That's right...I can't say wa---that substance that keeps all of us alive because I'll get it dumped on my head.



Oh, yeah, you're probably wondering what I'm talking about, right?  Well, on New Year's Day, since I was stranded inside because of the snow, I chose to watch a marathon of a television show that used to be on the air when I was a little kid.  It was a show that I used to love a lot because of just how funny and daring it could be.  From 1979-1990 (mind you, I wasn't born during the earliest years of the show), "You Can't Do That On Television" made hundreds of child actors wet whenever the said the "W" word, and they also dropped a lot of green slime on them whenever they said those three magic words "I Don't Know", just li...



...GROSS!  I'VE BEEN SLIMED!

Anyway, as I was saying, when a child proclaimed that he was clueless about something, down the green slime came.  And depending on the recipe that was used, the green slime could be quite hard to wash out.  Poor Christine McGlade and Vanessa Lindores must have had to soak in the tub for a week after shooting this scene from the 1982 "Television" episode.



But wait...I thought the show was called "You Can't Do That On Television".  Well, it was.  And back in the days in which it aired (which was the decade known as the conservative 1980s), the show did push the buttons on several instances with jokes that featured vomiting, flatulence humour, belching, risky subjects, and opposite sketches.  Usually the show did a good job walking on the border between decency and indecency, but a couple of episodes on "Divorce" and "Adoption" were banned from both CTV and Nickelodeon (though interestingly enough, I remember watching both on YTV).

But of course, many people complained that it was cruel and unusual punishment to throw buckets of green slime over someone because they did not know the answer to a question asked by another kid, Abby Hagyard, or the dozens of characters played by late character actor Les Lye.  Of course, I was not one of those people.  I loved it when the kids were slimed!  It was fun just to see how they would react when that slimy, green liquidy stuff splattered all over them.

And, you know...I think that I would rather take a bath in the stuff than admit that I didn't know something.  At least, that's how I felt when I was a kid.

I guess what I am trying to say is that when I was growing up, I found it difficult to ask for help when I didn't know the answer to something.  I reckon that had I been a cast member on "You Can't Do That On Television" when I was seven or eight years old, I would have probably been slimed more than a hundred times by the time I had turned ten.  It wasn't because I considered myself to be some sort of know-it-all or anything like that.  I suppose I felt some sort of embarrassment in admitting that I needed help once in a while because I saw it as being a sign of weakness. 

I'll readily admit that as a kid, I didn't really show much aptitude in street smarts though.  Book smarts, absolutely.  Street smarts, not so much.

Now as an adult, I will readily admit that I no longer see asking for help being a detriment.  Sometimes it may very well be the only way you can actually learn something about yourself.  And sometimes, it may help you figure things out a lot better.

Such as, when you're doing algebra homework and you can't figure out how "x" equals 51,881.  You can call a homework help line to get tips on figuring out the answer.

Or, when you are trying to mount a television to a wall, but can't figure out what tools you need to use.  You simply read the instructions or have someone help you install it.

Or maybe...just maybe...if you're looking to shake things up in 2015 by finding either a new job, or a new place to live (or both actually), and you are having a really hard time asking friends to help you out in your search...there's no shame in asking for that help.

Or, so I tell myself, anyway.

Sigh...remember when getting green slimed was the only thing you had to potentially worry about when you were a kid?  I miss those days.

Anyway, since I brought up "You Can't Do That On Television", I thought I would share my list of Top 10 episodes of the series.  I thought it would be a fun way to reminisce about the program, and these are the ten episodes that made me laugh the hardest.  I do not have links provided for these shows, but you can find every episode of the series on YouTube in some capacity.  At least, you can for now.

Anyway, here are my top 10 favourite episodes of "You Can't Do That On Television" in order of appearance.

1.  NUTRITION (1981) - Christine McGlade talks about the benefits of healthy eating...by wearing most of the food she talks about!  Oh, and Lisa Ruddy gets a special porridge surprise.  Definitely the funniest 1981 episode.

2.  TELEVISION (1982) - This was Vanessa's first episode, and also the episode which featured the multi-coloured and striped slime which I showed up above.

3.  COOKING (1983) - Everybody hates Christine's cooking, and aren't afraid to show their disgust.  This also features one of the most creative introduction sketches ever seen on the show.

4.  TECHNOLOGY (1984) - Touch the green square if you'd like me to continue this list.  Touch the red square if you want me to stop.  Oh, green won!  Too bad!



5.  REVENGE (1985) - This is a really great way to illustrate just how messy revenge can get.  Now with more ketchup, jello, milk, and maple syrup!



6.  POP MUSIC (1986) - Alanis Morissette gets slimed.  Enough said.

7.  POVERTY & UNEMPLOYMENT (1986) - This episode starts off being painful to watch as nouveau riche Naida forces Alasdair, Vanessa, Doug, and Robert to be her personal slaves.  Thankfully, she gets her comeuppance at the end of the episode.

8.  TIME (1989) - Ever wonder what slime looks like from a black and white filter?  Though many people dislike the 1989-1990 season, I thought it was one of the best.  Watch Chris, Christian, Sariya, and Jennifer literally go back in time for this one!



9.  AGE (1989) - Because the "Adoption" episode was banned, Ross asked Vanessa to come back for one episode about the subject of age.  It was a brilliant episode for mixing old cast members like Vanessa with the new cast members like Stephanie, Chris, and Patrick.  And, hey, keep an eye open for cameos by Christine, Alasdair, Doug, and Kevin Kubusheskie.



10.  INVENTIONS (1990) - Sadly, this was the final episode of the series, but it was also one of the best, as a robot that looks just like Christian causes a lot of problems on the link set.

Friday, January 02, 2015

2014 In Pop Culture - News Events

Well, here we are.  The final chapter in our look back at 2014 in pop culture.  To end this feature off right, we're taking a look back at the events that changed the face of our planet and mourning the losses of some famous folks.



This is 2014 IN POP CULTURE - NEWS EVENTS.

And following the conclusion of this blog, I will have a very important announcement to make regarding the immediate future of A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S GUIDE TO LIFE.  So, definitely stay tuned for that one.

For now, here's a flashback of the year gone by.  We will start with news events.  I will go month by month and list two or three major happenings that took place during that month.  Some are good moments, some are bad moments, and some are - pardon my abbreviated French - WTF moments.  How many do you remember?

JANUARY
1 - Recreational marijuana shops open in Colorado following the legalization of marijuana in that state
29 - Singer Justin Bieber surrenders to Toronto authorities on charges of assault



FEBRUARY
7 - The 2014 Winter Olympic Games hosts its opening ceremonies in Sochi, Russia.  The event concludes on the 23rd
22 - The Parliament of Ukraine votes to oust President Viktor Yanukovich from office after days of civil unrest
26 - Pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine leads to the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation



MARCH
8 - Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappears over the Gulf of Thailand with 239 people aboard
24 - Russia is temporarily suspended from the G8 following the annexation of Crimea
25 - The World Health Organization reports on the Ebola outbreak which originated in Western Africa in December 2013

APRIL
10 - The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe passes a resolution of strip Russia of its voting rights on a temporary basis following the Crimean crisis of 2014
14 - In Nigeria, an estimated 276 women are abducted from a school and held hostage
16 - A Korean ferry boat capsizes and sinks, killing 304 people - most of the victims being high school students

MAY
5 - Boko Haram militants kill three hundred people in a night attack on Gamboru Ngala
18 - AT&T agrees to purchase DirecTV in a $48.5 million deal

JUNE
5 - ISIS begins its offensive through Northern Iraq in an effort to capture the city of Baghdad
8 - "All The Way" is named Best Play at the 68th Annual Tony Awards



JULY
8 - Israel launches "Operation Protective Edge" on the Palestinian Gaza Strip
13 - Germany wins the 2014 FIFA World Cup
17 - Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is shot down by a missile over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 passengers on board
24 - Air Algerie Flight 5017 crashes in Mali, killing all 116 passengers

AUGUST
8 - The United States military begins air campaign in an attempt to slow down ISIS

SEPTEMBER
27 - Japan's Mount Ontake erupts, leaving 250 people stranded and airplanes being forced to change their flight routes

OCTOBER
20 - In Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Warrant officer Patrice Vincent is killed when he and another soldier are struck in a hit and run caused by an ISIS/ISIL sympathizer
22 - A gunman storms Parliament Hill in Ottawa, killing Corporal Nathan Cirillo before being taken down by Commons Sergeant Kevin Vickers



NOVEMBER
12 - The Rosetta spacecraft's Philae probe lands successfully on Comet 67P - the first time in history that such a feat has ever happened
24 - Riots take place in Ferguson, Missouri following the grand jury's decision to not indict police officer Darren Wilson in the August death of Michael Brown

DECEMBER
15 - A man takes several people hostage inside of a cafe in Sydney, Australia - the ordeal ends hours later with the deaths of the gunman and two hostages
28 - Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 disappears with 162 people aboard; the wreckage is later found in the Java Sea

So, those were the major events that took place in 2014.  Now, let us take a moment to pause and reflect on some of the people we lost in 2014.

January 11 - ARIEL SHARON, 85, former Israeli Prime Minister



February 2 - PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN, 46, actor
February 10 - SHIRLEY TEMPLE BLACK, 85, actress
February 12 - SID CAESAR, 91, actor
February 24 - HAROLD RAMIS, 69, actor/director
March 21 - JAMES REBHORN, 65, actor



April 6 - MICKEY ROONEY, 93, actor
April 29 - BOB HOSKINS, 71, actor
May 2 - EFREM ZIMBALIST JR., 95, actor
May 6 - FARLEY MOWAT, 92, author
May 28 - MAYA ANGELOU, 86, author/poet
June 9 - RIK MAYALL, 56, actor/comedian
June 11 - RUBY DEE, 91, actress



June 15 - CASEY KASEM, 82, radio host/voice actor
June 27 - BOBBY WOMACK, 70, singer/songwriter
June 30 - PAUL MAZURSKY, 84, director/producer
July 11 - TOMMY RAMONE, 65, musician/record producer
July 16 - JOHNNY WINTER, 70, singer/guitarist
July 17 - ELAINE STRITCH, 89, actress/singer
July 19 - JAMES GARNER, 86, actor



August 11 - ROBIN WILLIAMS, 63, actor/comedian
August 12 - LAUREN BACALL, 89, actress
August 24 - RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH, 90, actor/director



September 4 - JOAN RIVERS, 81, comedienne/actress
September 10 - RICHARD KIEL, 74, actor
September 12 - JOE SAMPLE, 75, pianist
September 20 - POLLY BERGEN, 84, actress
October 9 - JAN HOOKS, 57, actress/comedienne
October 14 - ELIZABETH PENA, 55, actress
October 20 - OSCAR DE LA RENTA, 82, fashion designer
November 1 - WAYNE STATIC, 48, musician
November 19 - MIKE NICHOLS, 83, director
December 22 - CHRISTINE CAVANAUGH, 51, voice actress



December 22 - JOE COCKER, 70, singer
December 31 - EDWARD HERRMANN, 71, actor

They will be forever missed.

And now comes my announcement. 

Over the last three and a half years, I've kept you all entertained with this blog.  I have kept a largely structured blog where every day was a theme day, and where I did a lot of research to try and bring the pop culture to you at every opportunity.

What I ended up doing was taking myself out of the equation.  And well, you can't have much of a blog if you don't put a little of yourself into it.  Otherwise it just reads like a bad Wikipedia entry.

So, I'm doing away with almost all of the theme days and implementing a free speech theme for this whole year.  I am going to make this mostly a year of WHO AM I entries...because over the last couple of years, I have really lost focus of who I am.  And, frankly, I want to get that back.

I'm off to a great start with cutting out toxic people, and focusing on those who do care about me the most.  Why surround yourself with negativity?  I'm also plotting a couple of things out that will allow me to build a more positive foundation.  But most of all, I want to recapture my love of writing.  I spent so much time doing pop culture research that I sort of put everything else on the backburner.

If I happen to be thinking pop culture along the way, so be it.  And the Tuesday Timelines will be sticking around for the foreseeable future, as I always have fun writing those.  But everything else...well, I guess we'll just leave it up to fate.  And sometimes, I may not have anything to write in the blog other than a meaningful quote.  But, sometimes, less is more.  I guess that is something that I have to go by as I begin this year off with a lot of uncertainty about myself and my future.

I'm ready for the challenge, and I hope all of you will be along for the ride as I make this radical change.



Hang on 2015...it's gonna be a bumpy ride.