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Sunday, March 29, 2015

What's Love But A Secondhand Emotion?


I think that everybody agrees with me that love is probably one of the hardest things that one can ever hope to figure out. I know being single for the majority of my near 34 years on this earth, I'm having an extremely difficult time figuring it out myself. 



For instance, why is it that some people find love more easily than others? 

I know in my case (and I've said this before countless times I'm sure), part of the reason why I have such a hard time finding Ms. Right is because I have a hard time finding love within myself. The struggle with self-image and self-worth has always been very real to me. It's not easy for me to let my guard down with a prospective love interest, and I don't believe it's ever really been that way. One day, I hope to shed these feelings of fear and uncertainty within myself and go on living my life as happy as can be. And, I know that once I do, I'll be able to open my heart up to someone else. It sounds kind of mushy and touchy-feely, but damn it, it's the way I feel!

There was a time in which I would never even admit to having these feelings at all, because back when I was a teenager, I couldn't put my trust in anybody, because I was so convinced that everyone was out to hurt me. Now that I am older and wiser, I feel that my ability in picking and choosing people to confide in has greatly improved since then. So, I'm opening up about my feelings to oh...everyone who is reading this right now. Aren't I a nice guy?

I know that once I find a way to love myself, I can give 100% of my love and devotion to the woman that I hope will become my wife (or in the case of Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, common law spouse). It can't be that impossible of a dream, can't it? 

Besides, looking around at real life instances, television clips, and couples all over the world, I'm finding that maybe there is hope after all! 



I mean, I'm just going to come right out and say it. A lot of the relationships that I see amongst my family and close friends are quite toxic in nature. Of course I won't name names because I respect their privacy, but take my word for it, they can be quite bad. And, naturally, of course, when surrounded by said couples in constant nagging and yelling at each other, it tends to give one a very skewed view of romance and relationships. 

I just find love to be a word that I have a hard time defining. I mean, take my parents for example. At times, there are instances in which I ask myself "how the hell did they get past the first year of marriage". They kind of have something along the lines of an Archie and Edith Bunker relationship, or an Al and Peg Bundy coupling. Nag, nag, nag, yell, yell, yell, bicker, bicker, bicker, etc. 

And, yet they'll celebrate 50 years of married...something this year. Go figure. 

So, clearly, there's something there that is keeping them together. And, to be honest with you, I really don't have a clue what it is. Truth be told, I don't think THEY do either. Maybe it's LOVE?


I don't know. Maybe I'm spoiled from all the teen sitcoms, prime time soaps, and even Rob and Amber from Survivor, which show a generally idealized scenario for love. Hugs, kisses, maybe even a couple of PG rated bedroom scenes. 

Compare that to the relationships I've seen, and it's a deep contrast, that's for sure. But, I blame Hollywood more than human nature for that. 

I think deep down inside, we all dream of finding that perfect guy or gal, moving into the perfect house with the perfect white picket fence, raising two perfect children in a perfect neighbourhood, sending them to perfect college while you retire to perfect Florida, where we all live perfectly ever after. 

And, when we don't find perfection, some of us stick by it anyway, because we LOVE the person anyway. That's one thing that I have learned from being...what's the word...not love-starved, no...maybe choosing not to be in a relationship...yeah, that sounds better. That's one thing I have learned from choosing to not be in a relationship. If a person truly loves someone, they forgive and forget all flaws, because they just want to be close to them. That's what real, natural love is all about. 

But, does the same apply to manufactured love? 

It seems that everywhere you look, there's a new finding love television event mixed in with the crowd of old favourites. "Blind Date", "Love Connection", "The Dating Game", and "The Newlywed Game" were old classics that kept us in stitches. I mean, come on, I dare you to get through a rousing round of Bob Eubanks asking random strangers where they "made whoopee" last night without bursting into a belly laugh! I DARE YOU! 

Then there are some shows where the person looking for love makes you wonder how THEY can be more irresistible and attractive than YOU. I mean, Flavor Flav? The only person nastier than he is would be some of the women who threw themselves at him. Rock of Love? Ick.  Ah, well...I always said that I like a good train wreck on television. 

I guess the most popular of these shows would be "The Bachelor".  And, well, that show has always been subjected to controversy. Remember when that one guy chose one girl, dumped her on NATIONAL TELEVISION, and chose another girl he sent packing instead?  Remember how slimy that was?

What the hell was everyone thinking? 

I mean, I know that some people (myself included) have a difficult time finding the person they want to spend the rest of their lives with. Personally, I would never volunteer myself to go on one of these dating shows. It's an invasion of my privacy, not to mention the women that I would have to date. There's also the idea of hurting 24 other women just to find one, and personally, I don't think I would have the heart to do it. Of course, the idea of dating 24 women at the same time is asinine to me anyway. I mean, all these women claim to have a connection with the guy after a whopping 4 hours, 17 minutes, and 52 seconds. I cry FOUL!

(I personally think it takes at least 7 hours.)

In all seriousness, I find the whole "Bachelor" show to be a farce, and to tell you the truth, I'm kind of sorry I watched in the first place. I mean, I did some research for this note, and out of who knows how many seasons there have been of this show, only a couple of couples have made it to the wedding. All the others have busted up. Convince you yet? 

I just find the show to be so insulting to people who are looking for true love, and find the show a reason why people are getting disenchanted with the idea of love and marriage. The girl that was rejected by the guy after the guy proposed marriage to her was brutally hurt and humiliated on television. I mean, yes, the girl was taking a risk signing up for the show in the first place because there was no guarantee that she would be the one to win his heart. But, it's one thing to not get a rose during the first two rounds of cuts. It's an entirely different thing to get the proposal and ring from the guy and then have him admit a month later that he "make a mistake". I imagine that the decision must have been hard for the guy, but jeez...the guy needed to have some class, and broke up with her in private, and not for some stupid follow-up special deemed to be the "most dramatic ever". Shame on him. 

Of course, the guy is saying that ABC wouldn't LET him break up with her in private, and if that's true, that'll leave a black eye on the network for sure. But, unfortunately, it still doesn't change my opinion of this guy. He's a first-class jerk, and if the girl he eventually ended up with is smart enough, she'll head for the hills. 

Interestingly enough, the woman who was dumped is doing extremely well.  Not only did she go on "Dancing With The Stars", but she also found love with another man and they have lived happily ever after since. 

Because love itself isn't the source of pain...it's the stupid people who don't understand it that hurts. 

I just hope that when the time comes for me to love somebody...I'll know exactly what the meaning of love is. But, without the "dramatic rose ceremonies", thank you. 

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Guys...I Need A Favour (It'll Only Take A Couple Of Seconds)

You know, when it comes to figuring out what to talk about in this blog, I rely a lot of all of you who read this.  I have to say that some of you who have been following along with this blog since it began have been really good about floating me suggestions for discussion, or what you would like to see me do for special theme weeks.  This way, I allow all of you to have a little piece of yourselves in this space.

After all, I wouldn't have a blog if it weren't for all of you reading it.

This being said...I need your help.



You see, we're fast approaching the fourth anniversary of "A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S GUIDE TO LIFE" - yeah, you heard that right.  Four years I've been doing this!  I can hardly believe it either.  What started off as a project to document my thirties has now spanned four years.  Amazing.

Anyway, the official anniversary doesn't take place until May 24, but I'm trying to come up with a special way to celebrate the fourth anniversary of this blog.  I was actually thinking of doing a month long feature during the whole month of May - similar to what I do with the advent calendar that I do every December.



Here's the thing.  I don't know what to do.

I mean, I have a ton of ideas going through my head, but I can't seem to decide what one would work best.

So, I've decided to hit the masses, and ask you what you want to see.

Interestingly enough, I have four ideas to choose from (four years, four ideas, I suppose).  And, all of them are ones that could be considered doable.  However, I need your assistance in choosing which one I will do.

Remember, this will take place during the blog's anniversary month in May.  Every entry between May 1 and May 31 will have this theme.

Okay, here we go with the themes.



THEME 1:  MAY IS MUSIC MONTH

Remember how I used to have those Sunday Jukebox entries where I focused on a song, album, or artist?  This would be an entire month of those.

All month long, including Tuesday Timeline entries, I will be doing music spotlights.  I may even consider doing a different genre per day (Country Mondays, R&B Wednesdays, '80s Saturdays, etc).  I figure this way, we could all have fun dancing and bobbing along with the music.  And you can't have an anniversary party without music!



THEME 2:  MAY IS PERSONAL STORY MONTH

I did make a promise to myself that I would make 2015 more personal and that I would be bringing more of myself to the blog.  Well, if you vote option 2, I will be prepared to tell all of you thirty-one stories from my own personal treasure trove of memories.

And believe me.  I have a photographic memory.  I remember it all!

Of course, the Tuesday Timelines will be a problem, as I would have to try and incorporate personal memories from my own life into the fold.  But, I suppose I would have to find a way to do this while still maintaining the integrity of the theme day.



THEME 3:  May Is Birthday Month

Okay, the blog is turning four in May.  I am turning much older in May.  May is a big birth month for me.  So, if you vote for theme month #3, every single entry will be a birthday entry.  I'll do celebrity birthday spotlights and anniversary spotlights all the month of May, be it celebrating the birth of an actor/actress, the invention of a household item, the creation of a food item, or even celebrating the birth of this blog itself.  That's what you would get with option 3.



Theme 4:  May Is Food Month

At every anniversary party, there always has to be some food and drinks to eat.  Otherwise, guests get cranky and the mood turns sour like milk.

So, voting for option 4 will give you a whole month of food related topics!  This may cause me to get creative for the Tuesday Timeline entry, but seeing as how I don't have a whole lot of food representation in this blog (and remembering how much fun it was to write a food blog after the 7-Up entry yesterday), I thought...why not?

So, here's where you come in.  What would you like to see for the blog's anniversary month?

1 - MUSIC
2 - PERSONAL STORIES
3 - BIRTHDAY
4 - FOOD

Let me know either through the comments section, on Twitter (My handle is @PCA_GuideToLife), or on Facebook (the link to the page is on the sidebar).

I know that May is still a stone's throw away, but I want to have prep time.  In the meantime, stay tuned for April - I have a special Easter theme week planned beginning Monday, March 30!

Okay.  Carry on.  Happy Saturday, everyone!

Friday, March 27, 2015

7-Up - The Best Uncola In The World!

How many of you remember playing the classic children's game "Heads Up, Seven Up"? 

For those of you who may not know what I am talking about, or who are looking at me as if I have three heads, I shall explain.

"Heads Up, Seven Up" is a game that is played during your elementary school years.  This was a game played at my school to pass time in between classes, or to kill time before the school day ended.  Seven kids would be chosen at random, and the rest of the class would put their heads down at their desks so that they wouldn't be able to see anything.  One by one, each of the seven kids in the class would walk around the room and tap one of the kids on the head.  When the seven kids got back up to the front of the classroom, those seven kids that were tapped would stand up, and try to figure out which of the kids tapped them on the head.

If they guessed incorrectly, they would have to sit back down at their desk.  If they guessed right, they would switch places with the kid who tapped them, and then they would get the chance to do the tapping. 

It was basically a game in which you had to figure out a certain kid's tapping style...and it was a game in which you had to put on your best poker face, so that you were not found out.

But, hey, it was a lot of fun to play!

Besides, it has one of my favourite carbonated beverages in the title of the game...and yes, that's what this post is all about.



This post is all about the lemon-lime fizzy soda known by most as "7-Up"!  The "UNCOLA", as it is often called.

Would you believe that 7-Up turns eighty-six years old this year?  It was created by Charles Leiper Gregg, and originally went under the tongue twister like name of "Bib-Label Lethiated Lemon-Lime Soda".  Try saying that seven times fast!

The name was changed to 7-Up in 1936.

Interestingly enough, while the general consensus is that 7-Up was first available for purchase in 1929, the date that it was actually released has been debated.  While Gregg claimed that the soda was first released on October 15, 1929 - two weeks before the stock market crash that lead to "The Great Depression" - some sources claim the drink was available as early as February 1929.  Either way, the drink was the very first lemon-lime flavoured soda available to the world.

(Coca-Cola's version, "Sprite", wasn't available until 1961.)

But did you know that when 7-Up was first introduced, it wasn't just a delicious lemon-lime drink?  It was actually marketed as a cure for hangovers!  It's true!

I found this information out in a 2006 article from the Metropolitan News-Enterprise.  Back in 1931 - when prohibition was in full effect, an advertisement in the Monessen Daily Independent had advertised 7-Up as a counteractant to "Morning After Toxicity".  And several other newspapers made the same claim.

It's hard to say whether this has any validity, as I can't remember the last time I even had a hangover.  Anyone else reading this want to confirm that 7-Up relieved hangovers?

Another interesting fact about 7-Up?  Until 1950, the soda contained lithium citrate - a mood stabilizer!

Anyway, 7-Up has been a part of our world for over 80 years, so I suppose it is here to stay.

And I have a lot of wonderful memories of 7-Up.



When I was a kid, I used to visit my grandmother a lot, and she always had a supply of 7-Up in the house.  In most cases, it was the standard lemon-lime version.  However, on special occasions, she would have the cherry flavoured version of 7-Up.  And, I LOVE Cherry 7-Up!  I love it so much that I am almost considering writing a letter to the people in charge of 7-Up, asking them to bring Cherry 7-Up back to Canada!



Apparently, 7-Up is also available in Orange, Raspberry, and for a limited time, Pomegranate and Tropical Splash.  I admit that the orange one sounds like it might be good.  It may taste like carbonated "Five Alive" fruit cocktail.

Now, every good company needs a decent mascot to help advertise the product.  After all, A&W had the Root Beer Bear.  Domino's had the claymation Noid.  McDonald's has a whole slew of characters from Ronald McDonald to the Hamburglar.

Well, 7-Up had three different mascots in their lifetime.



During the 1950's, the company used a rooster for a mascot.  His name was Fast Freddie, and his role was the ultimate party planner.  He showed people how to have a good time by throwing parties, hosting picnics, and doing all the fun things that rebel teenagers used to do during the 1950s.  And of course, in every celebration there was always a massive supply of 7-Up!



There was also a mascot that was created in 1985 by Joanna Ferrone and Sue Rose with the name Fido Dido.  He basically looked like one of the characters you might find in the Nickelodeon series "Doug".  He started appearing in 7-Up ads in the mid-1980s, and has sporadically appeared in 7-Up commercials since.

However, the 7-Up mascot that I remember this most was introduced in 1987, and he appeared in 7-Up ads throughout my entire childhood.

You know that little red dot that appears in the logo of 7-Up?  Well, in 1987, the dot suddenly became a whole lot...cooler.



Dressed in his darkest Ray-Bans and a pair of sneakers, "Cool Spot" dominated television commercials for 7-Up throughout the late 1980s and 1990s.  Have a look at a couple of commercials with Cool Spot below!



And Cool Spot became so popular that there were even a couple of video games based on the character!  Sure, the video games were total 7-Up propaganda...but the game - to its credit - was incredibly challenging.  I only managed to finish it once!



Thursday, March 26, 2015

Finding Your Place - Through The Eyes Of A Pop Culture Addict

I've come to the conclusion that as far as loved ones are concerned, trying to understand them is much harder than writing a thesis on quantum physics, understanding the big bang theory, and mixing up the perfect shade of canary yellow at a hardware store paint counter.

Sometimes, family can drive one to drink, smoke, drive erratically, or bash one's head against an oak panel desk a half dozen times before they realize that action hurts like hell.  And, don't deny it, because we all have felt that way about our relatives at some point.

You'd think that there would be some families that can avoid the in-fighting and the backstabbing.  I mean, if one wants the idea of the perfect family, one needs to go no further than the Brady Bunch.  Two parents, six children, and even a maid?  Instant American dream!  Ah, but if we peel back the layers of the Brady Bunch, you'll see that not all is as well as it seems.



Sure, Marcia, Jan, Cindy, Greg, Bobby, and Peter may have seemed like the perfect children, but that was essentially their main downfall.  They seemed a little TOO perfect.  Nobody got angry at each other, they definitely didn't swear at each other, and looking back on it now, does anyone know ANY family like this these days?  Hell, I reckon that if I kicked a football square at my sister's nose, I probably wouldn't be alive to write this note in the first place.

And, they aren't the only ones that are like this.  The Full House gang was so sweet, they'd end up giving you a cavity, and the Flanders family on The Simpsons is so religiously motivated that the children are pretty much left more isolated than the boy in the plastic bubble.

There is one thing that these fictional families have going for them though.  It's also the same thing that dysfunctional families like the Bundys from Married With Children, the Connors from Roseanne, and the Simpsons from...well...the Simpsons.

They all seem to have some love and mutual respect for each other, no matter how jerky or perfect they may come across to others.

I'd like to think that my family is kind of like this.  I'd like to think that although we come across to some people as trailer park trash, that we do have mutual respect and love for each other. 

However, if I had to describe my own family and compare it to a family that's currently on television right now, I'd have to sing the theme song to "Family Guy".

Okay, so maybe it's kind of a stretch here.  There's no talking dog, I certainly didn't try to kill my mother at toddler-age, and I certainly don't remember there being a sexual predator named Quagmire who lived down the street from us.  For all I know, there very well could have been, but I never really talked to the neighbours much anyway.



Actually, come to think of it...Family Guy isn't like my family at all...LOL...

There is one member of the family that I can probably identify the most with.  One member who if not for the fact that we are of different genders, we'd be like twins.

I feel like I'm the Meg Griffin of my own family on some days.

Don't get me wrong, my life isn't nearly as bad as Meg's.  Meg has to suffer emotional and physical abuse from pretty much everybody around her, including her own parents.  My life was never that horrible. 

But, Meg was picked on a lot by her peers, and she suffered from low self-esteem because of it, and her family basically just ignored it.  I was picked on a lot by my peers and suffered low self-esteem from it, but instead of my family basically ignoring it, I feel as though they were unable to help me deal with it because they weren't sure how to handle it as they hadn't seen anything quite like it before.  And, that's not a slam against them at all.  Just the way that I saw it.

I get the feeling that my parents tried their best, and I'll give credit where credit is due.  But, I'm realizing that I don't really feel like I deserve the whole Meg Griffin treatment at all.

Part of the reason why I feel as though I identify a lot with Meg is because everyone sort of treats her like she's the black sheep of the family.  Do I feel that way about my own family?  Sometimes, I'll admit that I do.  Because I'm much younger than everyone else, I sometimes feel like if they had such a thing as a kids table that I would be forced to eat there at holiday gatherings.  I sometimes feel like if I have anything to say about myself, or if I want to comment, it's either ignored or worse, interrupted (and don't even get me started on how much I HATE IT when people interrupt my train of thought).  Sometimes I feel as though it's best to just sit down, eat dinner, and take a walk in silence, just so I don't like myself get too angry over not having a voice in it all.

I'm beginning to realize that this is not a good way to go through life.  You all see it.  Now, I see it too.

The thing is that sometimes family members say or do (or don't say or don't do) things that may end up hurting someone that they love, and sometimes they are too blind or too caught up in their own lives, or just plain stupid to see it.  And, most people don't really see what it is they are doing until it is too late.

And, sometimes, you might have to accept that no matter how much you try to see eye-to-eye with some people who you happen to share blood ties with, that they are so set in their ways that it seems almost impossible to get them to see things your way.

All you can really do is pick yourself up, and live your own life the way you want to because after all, you are the only judge of what's best for you, right?

If they want to support you in your quest to understand yourself better, that's perfectly fine.  If not, as much as it might sting a bit, well, they have to do what they have to do, and you'll have to do what you have to do.

No matter how difficult a challenge it might be.

I'm at the age and frame of mind now where I don't have to impress anybody anymore, least of all people I happen to be related to.  And, I made this note a bit ambiguous in nature for a reason.  I didn't want to publicly humiliate anybody for one, but I am the type of person who never liked conflict, and inevitably, if I did confront people about this, it would not end very well. 

That's what's great about my blog though.  It's one of the only places where I can truly be myself and not be afraid of anyone's comments or getting hurt.  If anyone did make a hurtful comment here, I can always delete it anyways.

This is like an oasis of sanity for me, as strange as it seems.  And, I don't think anyone remotely close to me could ever possibly hope to understand why.  But, that's fine with me.  I am not in it to impress anyone. 

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Gossip Sucks

March 25, 2015

I am definitely not a fan of a particular 6-letter word that exists in our vocabulary.  It is a word that has busted up friendships, broke up relationships and marriages, and is capable of destroying the reputations of men, women, and children all over the world.

And no, I'm not talking about the word "PovicH" as in Maury "You Are NOT The Father" Povich either - though I suppose if you look at it, this definition is not that far off from the truth.



No, this 6-letter word that I am referring to is the word "GOSSIP".  And believe me when I tell you I absolutely hate the stuff.

Truth be told, I'm not a fan of gossipy people either, but we'll get to that a little bit later.

You know, I remember the first time I ever heard of the word gossip.  It was in a most unusual place at that.

In one of the very first Archie Comics Digests that I ever received as a boy, I remember there being a one-page gag that involved Betty, Veronica, and Ethel talking at one of the tables inside of Pop's Chocklit Shoppe.  Betty was talking about how she had some "juicy gossip" to share with everyone at the table, and I was at a loss as to what Betty was talking about.

In fact (and this just goes to show you how naive and sheltered I was as a five year old going on six), when I first saw the word "gossip", I thought that "gossip" was a type of vegetable!



Seriously, I thought Betty had grown some fresh gossip in her garden right in between the radishes and rutabagas and that she wanted to share her juicy gossip with her two best friends.  Never mind the fact that there were no vegetables present in the joke at all.  I was convinced that gossip was some sort of food that one would purchase at the produce section of a Walmart Supercentre!

Alas, I was completely wrong.  Gossip is not something you serve as a side dish along with your roasted chicken and baked potato.  Although if one were to traverse down the produce aisle of a grocery store, you might hear a couple of people spreading gossip right next to the display of peaches and cream corn.  And believe me when I say that the corn isn't the only thing with ears.

I'm sure we've all known someone in our lives who is a chronic gossiper.  You know, the ones who are always going around trying to find out the secrets and lies of those closest to them.  They probably would have made incredible private investigators or police detectives if they really put forth the effort.  Instead, they use their deductive powers for bad instead of good.  And instead of helping people, they hurt them instead by spreading rumours and lies about people who came to them in total confidence with a secret or a revelation - all under the belief that the person they told will keep the information under lock and key.

I can tell you that I've been burned by idle gossip before.  Mostly during my teenage years - the period in which gossip can be the most vicious and nasty.  But to most people's credit, the urge to gossip greatly lessens after high school - mainly because we all have developed a sense of who we are and don't really care about how other people are living their lives, so long as it doesn't negatively impact our own.



That said, I get quite annoyed with grown women and men who continue to spread gossip around as if it is their God-given right to do so.  I happen to be living in an apartment building filled with people like this - people who will call up other people to find out everything that is going on around the building in a sorry effort to try and feel better about their own derailed lives by getting involved in other people's.

I don't consider that to be a good thing.  If anything, I consider that sort of behaviour to be disgusting.

I mean, how would you feel if you told someone in confidence something that you really didn't want a whole lot of people knowing, and just 48 hours later your life story is now on public display like your sunday wash on a clothesline - all because you chose a gossip queen or king to confide in.  Wouldn't that make you completely angry?  Wouldn't that give you trust issues?



It's like your entire life story suddenly becomes an episode of "Gossip Girl".  And that would be depressing - especially if you hate the show!

I guess the point that I am trying to make is this.  Nobody likes a gossiper.  Nobody likes being the subject of gossip.  But if you do happen to find yourself as the subject of a nasty rumour or a blanket of half-truths or outright lies...the important thing is to rise above it.  Don't let on that what people are saying is true or untrue.  Just smile and walk on.  Oh, and resist the urge to spread your own gossip about the person who got the initial ball rolling.  That is the wrong way to go about it.  Be better than that!

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

March 24, 1989

Get ready boys and girls!  It's time for yet another Tuesday Timeline entry, and I'll be the first to admit - I had a hard time picking a topic for this week's version.  March 24 may be a fantastic day, but it's also a day in which none of the events really stood out as being important enough to do a blog entry on.

That is...until I remembered an event that had devastating effects on the world...effects that are still being felt more than a quarter of a century later.

Before we go ahead with today's topic, why don't we have a look at some of the other events that happened on the twenty-fourth day of March?

Here we go.

1707 - The Kingdom of Great Britain is created following the union of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland as a result of the signing of the Acts of Union 1707

1721 - Johann Sebastian Bach dedicated six concertos to Christian Ludwig, margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt

1765 - Great Britain passes the Quartering Act

1832 - Mormon leader Joseph Smith is tarred and feathered by a group of men in Hiram, Ohio

1837 - African Canadian men are given the right to vote in Canada

1854 - Slavery is abolished in Venezuela

1878 - HMS Eurydice sinks, killing over 300 people on board

1882 - Robert Koch announces the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

1896 - The first radio signal transmission is made by A.S. Popov

1911 - American animator Joseph Barbera (d. 2006) is born in New York City

1930 - American actor Steve McQueen (d. 1980) is born in Beech Grove, Indiana

1944 - Seventy-six Allied POW's begin breaking out of German camp Stalag Luft III

1958 - Singer Elvis Presley is drafted into the United States Army

1965 - Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones is temporarily knocked unconscious after being electrocuted by a poorly grounded microphone stand at a concert in Denmark

1972 - The United Kingdom imposes direct rule over Northern Ireland

1973 - In the "Strange, but True" files, a fan leaps on stage during a Lou Reed concert and bites Reed on the buttocks - naturally, the fan is escorted off stage

1980 - Archbishop Oscar Romero is killed while celebrating Mass in San Salvador

1993 - Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 is discovered

1998 - Four students and a teacher are killed at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas by two other students, aged 13 and 11

1999 - Thirty-nine lose their lives in the Mont Blanc Tunnel fire

2008 - Actor Richard Widmark passes away at the age of 93

And for celebrity birthdays, we have the following to announce; Byron Janis, Mary Berry, Carol Kaye, David Suzuki, Bob Mackie, R. Lee Ermey, Curtis Hanson, Lord Alan Sugar, Tabitha King, Steve Lang, Tommy Hilfiger, Dougie Thomson, Louie Anderson, Robert Carradine, Donna Pescow, Bill Wray, Derek Statham, Nena, Kelly LeBrock, Star Jones, Mark "The Undertaker" Callaway, Lara Flynn Boyle, Sharon Corr, Megyn Price, Philippe Boucher, Jim Parsons, Chad Butler, Alyson Hannigan, Angellica Bell, Peyton Manning, Olivia Burnette, Jessica Chastain, Lake Bell, Keisha Castle-Hughes, and Isabel Suckling.

So, what date are we going to visit?  Well, I kind of already told you in the intro.  We're going back at least twenty-six years for this one.



Exact date:  March 24, 1989.

And it was a rather dark day in the world.  One that I remember quite well.

Now, keep in mind, back in March 1989, I was seven going on eight.  I was still trying to figure out how the world worked, and admittedly I didn't exactly understand it.  I couldn't quite grasp the concept between what was a serious news story and what was mindless fluff.  Hell, my biggest decision back in those days was deciding whether to watch "Pee-Wee's Playhouse" or "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" on Saturday mornings.

However, just after midnight on March 24, 1989, an event happened that caused catastrophic damage to a portion of the Pacific Ocean, and ended up being one of the largest, most costly man-made disasters to the global environment.  Entire sections of the ocean became uninhabitable for years afterwards, and entire groups of animals were wiped out due to the aftermath of the disaster.

And it forever left a damning finger of blame towards the name Exxon Valdez.



Yes, it was twenty-six years ago today that the Exxon Valdez oil spill took place.  And twenty-six years later, the effects are still being felt.

I seem to remember the Exxon Valdez oil spill being a key event in my elementary school education.  Prior to 1989, we really had no instruction or lessons on how to take care of our planet - though I imagine that back in second grade, teachers were more concerned with making sure our cursive writing was impeccable and that we knew how to multiply numbers by four, five, and six.  After the Exxon Valdez spill, we were suddenly learning about ecology, environmental protection, and reducing, reusing, and recycling.  And don't get me wrong, I am thrilled that our classrooms were taught these lessons in elementary school.  I just wish it didn't take a devastating oil spill for us to make those lesson plans happen.

Anyway, the story of the Exxon Valdez goes like this.  The oil tanker was scheduled to arrive and dock at Long Beach, California sometime before the end of March, 1989.  The tanker contained some fifty-five million gallons of oil.  At 12:04am, as the ship made its way around Prince William Sound, Alaska, the ship brushed up against Bligh Reef, which caused a hole to open up, spilling at least eleven million gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean (though some news reports have stated that the amount of oil spilled was much higher - some even estimating that the number was closer to thirty-eight million gallons).



Either way, the spill was incredibly devastating to marine life.  Salmon, sea otters, seabirds, and seals were displaced from their home, and the casualties to marine settlements were devastating.  At least 100,000 seabirds died as a result of the oil spill.  Several sea otters, orcas, and even bald eagles lost their lives as well.  Part of the reason why the animal casualties were so great were because of a number of factors.  The oil spill took place in a very rocky area that was only accessible to small aircrafts, helicopters, or boats, making the clean-up a painstakingly slow process.  Eleven thousand Alaskan residents worked alongside Exxon staff members to try their best to clean the area, save some of the animals, and try to restore the environment as best they could.  But despite the best efforts to clean up the mess, and despite the fact that marine life is slowly coming back to the area that was most affected by the oil, the fact remains that as of 2015, there is still an estimated 26 thousand gallons of oil washed up along the beaches and coastline of Alaska, and it is estimated that for some species of animals, it could take up to three or four decades for the area to be considered "safe for habitation".

So here's the million gallon question.  What the heck happened?  And could the spill have been avoided?  Well, in the years since the initial disaster, here's what we do know.

We know that the captain of the ship - Joseph Hazelwood - was not at the controls when the ship crashed into the reef.  Some sources claim that he had a little too much to drink the night before the crash.  We also know that the RAYCAS radar system was inoperable because it had gotten damaged more than a year before the oil spill took place.  Had the radar system been properly working, the crew more than likely would have steered the ship to safety before it could crash into the reef.  And we know that the third mate who was aboard the ship failed to properly steer the ship to safety.  The reason why remains unknown, but speculation was that the third mate was too exhausted or too overworked to handle the controls.

All of those factors were a recipe for disaster.

As the investigation progressed, more details were unearthed.  Details about how the staff was overworked due to the cutbacks in crew.  Details about the slight change of course by the oil tanker to avoid colliding with smaller icebergs, causing the tanker to sail dangerously close to shore.

Regardless, the damage was done.  And Captain Joseph Hazelwood was in the hot seat, as well as Exxon, the company that owned the oil tanker.

The case was sent to trial, and in the case of Baker vs. Exxon, a jury awarded $287 million for actual damages, plus an additional five billion dollars in punitive damages.  Since that ruling, Exxon has repeatedly appealed the sentence, and the punitive damages were eventually reduced to just over $500 million - which as of December 2009 was marked as "PAID IN FULL".

As for Hazelwood, he was sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service, issued a $50,000 fine, and had his masters' license suspended by the United States Coast Guard in 1991 for a period of nine months.  He issued an apology to the people of Alaska in 2009, but still maintained the belief that he was wrongly blamed for the oil spill.  I'll leave that up to you.

But one thing remains fact.  Until the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill was the worst man-made environmental disaster of modern day times.

And it happened twenty-six years ago today.

Monday, March 23, 2015

Bringing Home The Bacon

You know, it's been a while since I've done a post that whetted your appetite, and I thought that I would use this space to do a post all about a particular food.

Specifically, a food that everyone seems to love.

(Well, everyone that isn't a vegetarian, vegan, or Jewish, that is.)

It is a food item that seems to go best with eggs at breakfast.  It's the B in the BLT.  And in recent years, this food item has been used in the creation of mouth watering desserts.



Yes, today we're going to celebrate the power of bacon.

I'll be the first to admit.  I like bacon.  I like bacon a lot.  I remember way back when I was a little kid, it was considered a treat to have bacon for breakfast.  At the time I was a kid, bacon was ridiculously expensive (and sadly as of 2015, it is even more ridiculously expensive than ever before), and we didn't have it very often.  But when we did, I always had a few slices of it for breakfast.

And I always had a little bit of ketchup on the side of the plate for dipping purposes.  I know some may find that to be gross, but I liked it.  There was just something about the ketchup that made the naturally smoky flavour of bacon pop even more on the taste buds.

Of course, as I grew older, I found that bacon didn't necessarily mean that you had to only have it for breakfast.  It was just as delicious for lunch and dinner as well.  Those bacon wrapped filet mignon steaks that you might buy at the supermarket?  Absolutely delicious.  And yes, I always peeled the bacon off the steak before I ate the steak itself. 



Back in the days in which I used to eat a lot of fast food, I always liked getting the Bacon Double Cheeseburger from Burger King or a Baconator from Wendy's.  Mind you, eating that greasy food probably helped kill my gall bladder over the years, but at the time, they were so worth it. 

Though, I have to admit...there's a pizza place right near where I live now that has a Canadian style pizza that has little slices of bacon and mushrooms as toppings, and I can't get enough of it.  It's definitely worth the splurge.



(That pizzeria is Milano's, which is a chain of pizzerias in Southeastern Ontario, which is where I live.  If you are in the area, do check them out.  The pizza sauce alone is amazing!)

So, yes, bacon is a delicious food.  And in recent years, bacon has become one of the most popular ingredients to use in coming up with new concepts for old favourites.

For instance, I just saw a commercial for another pizza place (I want to say that it was Little Caesar's, but it could have been Papa John's.  Apparently the SPIKE channel has every pizza commercial ever made), and one of their new products is a pizza with bacon wrapped crust.

Just picture it.  Bacon wrapped crust pizza.  Could this be the most incredible innovation to pizza since the invention of stuffed crust pizza?  I know one thing.  I'd try it at least once.

But one thing I probably wouldn't go for are the number of bacon flavoured desserts that seemingly pop up out of nowhere.

Well, okay, that's a lie.  I did try one.  Remember a few years back when Burger King came out with the bacon ice cream sundae?  It was more or less a hot fudge sundae topped with bacon bits.  Sounds pretty gross, right? 



Well, just to satisfy my curiosity, I did try one.  It is surprisingly edible.  There's just something about hot fudge and bacon mixed together that makes it seem quite...nice.  It's like one of those May-December romances that you might see.  On paper, it should not work.  But when you see it in action, you think...wow, they're really good together.

Of course, I draw the line at bacon milkshakes.  Now that just sounds like a heart attack in a glass.  A really disgusting tasting one at that.



Oh, and don't forget all of the foods that have artificial bacon flavouring to them as well.  I know that we should all limit our intake of processed food, but I can't help but eat almost a whole box of Bacon Dippers crackers if I happen to come across them.

Smokey bacon potato chips are also just as fantastic.

And, I suppose that you could use the scent and flavour of bacon on inedible products as well.  I'm really surprised that the good people who work for Mr. Sketch markers haven't come up with a bacon scented marker yet.  I imagine that somewhere in the world are perfumes, shampoos, and deodorants that have a hint of bacon scent.  It wouldn't surprise me if there were bacon flavoured lip balm available.  But, maybe it's a good thing that there isn't.  With some people's love of bacon, we might have several gals in the emergency room complaining of abrasions and bite marks on their lips.

I even remember watching an episode of "Bones" where Hodgins and Oliver were working on a case and somehow ingested some bacon-flavoured lubricant!

Now, wouldn't THAT be something?