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Sunday, April 05, 2015

The Berenstain Bears' Easter Surprise

Well, everybody...allow me to be the first to wish all of you out there a very...

Happy Easter!!!

And for today's special Easter blog and the conclusion of Easter week, I thought that I would do a blog on a particular piece of pop culture that I had absolutely no idea even existed!

It's a television special that features one of the most famous bear families in the whole world.  I have absolutely no idea how many books that have been released starring this bear family.  I think I lost count at a hundred or so.  And no, I certainly didn't own every single book ever published.  I had a lot of them, but not all of them.  I suppose I can thank the Scholastic Book Club order forms for the ones that I did have.



No wonder the Berenstain Bears are so beloved worldwide!  Even though the creators of the bears - Stan and Jan Berenstain have long since passed away, but their son, Mike Berenstain, has taken over authorship, and continues to work on the series today.

And of course, I not only remember reading the Berenstain Bear books, but I remember watching them on television too!



Of course, the version that I remember the most was the one that aired on CBS on Saturday mornings in the mid-1980s.  That series was based on some of the earliest Berenstain Bear books, and I was heartbroken when they cancelled it. 

There's also the revamped version of the show that first debuted on PBS in 2003, and that version is still shown on some cable channels like Treehouse TV.  I haven't seen as many of the newer episodes as I have the older ones, but the ones that I have seen seem to stay true to the books.

So, here's where you might be confused.  If I've read most of the books, and watched the Berenstain Bears on television - then how can there be something that I have NOT seen before until now?

Well, apparently, prior to the CBS series debuting, NBC held the rights to televise "The Berenstain Bears" on television.  And between 1979 and 1983, NBC aired five Berenstain Bears specials on television. 

Now, given the timeline, I understand why I never saw any of these specials.  The first one debuted two years before I was born, and I was only two years old when the last one aired.  And I would wager a guess that these specials aired only once, as I can't remember seeing any of them air on television in my childhood.

It's really too bad, because the third special happened to be Easter themed, and today would have been the perfect day to air it.

Oh, what the heck?  Let's watch it right now!  Just click on the link below.  Don't worry.  We'll have a discussion about it a little bit later.  For now, enjoy...




This special originally aired on April 14, 1981 on NBC - which I completely missed on account of being trapped in the womb.  Not that I remember that part of my life much...but admit it, it's a good reason for missing it!

And believe me, this is one of those years in which this special was surprisingly appropriate.  Believe me, I know exactly how Bear Country felt that particular Easter.  I swear, the year 2015 is going to be known as the year with the never ending Easter.  It may say April 5 on the calendar, but here in Ontario, we STILL have some spots where there is still a little bit of snow hanging around. 

But unlike us, in which we rely on the prediction of a troublesome rodent with a cutesy-poo name, the residents of Bear County rely on the actions of a special bunny.

Interestingly enough, in this special, the bunny in question is not referred to as the Easter Bunny, but by Boss Bunny.  Doesn't sound like the most friendliest of names, but when we first meet him, we completely understand why his moniker isn't exactly sunshine and daffodils.

Ah, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.

This story takes place in the past, long before Sister Bear comes into the picture.  The Bear Family is just made up of Papa, Mama, and Brother Bear.

(Side note:  Couldn't the Bear family come up with more original names than Brother Bear and Sister Bear?  How about Brian and Stephanie?  Benjamin and Sarah?  Brendan and Saskia?)



Anyway, Brother Bear is feeling rather conflicted.  When he hears that his family have a very special Easter surprise for him, he is really excited and anxious for Easter to arrive.  At the same time, he is feeling rather lonely as he has nobody to play with.  Most of his friends hibernate for the winter, and his one true friend, Billy Bunny even decided to go somewhere else for the winter, leaving Brother Bear all alone.

(Side note:  Why didn't they call him Small Bear in this one?  That's what he was called in the books that pre-dated Sister Bear?  Sigh...semantics.)

Whatever the case, the surprise that Brother Bear is expecting seems to be put on a permanent hold, as Bear County has been experiencing a permanent frost.  You see, the residents of Bear County know when Easter (and Spring for that matter) is coming because Boss Bunny will twitch his ears, flick a couple of switches, and ta-dah - instant Spring.

So when the word gets out that Boss Bunny has resigned from official Spring beared of Bear County, everyone is confused, saddened, and questioning why Boss Bunny would leave them in a lurch.  Things got so bad that even Papa Bear tried dressing up as a bunny to try and salvage the Easter celebration.

When that didn't work, Brother Bear decided to launch an investigation of his own.  That investigation reunited him with his old pal Billy Bunny, who just happened to be the son of Boss Bunny!  And Billy Bunny, being ever so polite, decided to invite Brother Bear over so that Brother Bear could convince Boss Bunny to bring back Spring.

Of course, that proved to be a challenge, as the normally jovial and peppy Boss Bunny has devolved into a cranky, bitter, worthless excuse of a rabbit.  I'm telling you, he's more depressed and pathetic than the Trix bunny.



Seriously, we're supposed to believe that this "poser" is Boss Bunny - the happy bunny that can melt snow and cause flowers to bloom? 

Of course, Brother Bear refuses to give up on bringing Spring back.  Partly because he wants his Easter surprise, but partly because he doesn't want to live in a "marshmallow world" any longer.  But the bunny refuses to budge.

That is until he gets zapped with a rainbow that magically appears out of thin air.

(Side note:  Where DID that rainbow come from?  Did the Care Bears notice Boss Bunny's tantrum?  Did they see that the caring meter was decreasing so they decided to send a Care Bear Stare from Care-a-Lot to Bear County?  Actually, that would make a really brilliant crossover!)

Anyway, rainbow zaps bunny.  Bunny becomes less depressed and more productive.  Spring arrives.  Easter is saved.

And now comes the surprise.  Brother Bear got a chocolate bunny and a basket, which was nice.  But the real surprise came from Papa and Mama.  Sister Bear was born on Easter Sunday, and she promptly greeted Brother by bopping him on the nose!  Isn't that precious?  But in the end, Brother got his greatest wish of all.  Now with a sister, he was never alone.

And then the special ends with Brother Bear asking where babies came from, which cues the end of the show.

But man...I'm really sorry that I missed this special the first time around.  I mean, granted, I had a really good reason for missing it - but still...I think it's a television special that should be played more often.  At least with this blog entry, you will all have a chance to watch it again!

Saturday, April 04, 2015

Things You May Not Have Known About "The Ten Commandments"

Okay, so I did say that for the most part, Easter Week would deal with the more modern celebrations of the holiday.  But today, I thought I would do a spotlight on a particular movie which talks about the religious part of the holiday.

It's a movie that is next slated to air on April 5, 2015 (tomorrow night) at 7:00pm EST on ABC. 

This is a movie that depicts the biblical story of the adopted Egyptian prince, Moses and how he leads the Exodus to Mount Sinai where he is given the Ten Commandments by God.  Directed by Cecil B. DeMille and released by Paramount Pictures in October 1956, the film boasted a who's who of what was then the Hollywood elite.  Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Yvonne DeCarlo, Edward G. Robinson, John Derek, and even Vincent Price all appeared in this film, which was the highest grossing film of 1956.



And "The Ten Commandments" has been an Easter tradition ever since.

Now, here's the deal.  I've never actually been able to sit through the whole film.  With a running length of almost four hours, I always manage to tune out before the end.  Don't get me wrong, I know about the story of Moses and the Ten Commandments, so I can pretty much figure out how this movie ends anyway.  But I always told myself that I would never do a film review on a movie that I have never completely watched.

And I'm not going to.

You see, with a movie that was the greatest film of 1956 and with four hours of footage, you can bet that this film has a lot of behind the scenes trivia, scandal, and secrets associated with it.

Would you like to find some of these secrets out?  I bet you would!

Here are some little known facts about the filming of "The Ten Commandments"



1 - Charlton Heston won the role of Moses after impressing Cecil B. DeMille with his knowledge of ancient Egypt.

2 - Heston's newborn son, Fraser, played the role of infant Moses.

3 - Though the film was nominated for several Academy Awards, it only won the one - for Best Special Effects.

4 - ABC has aired the film every year on Easter Sunday since 1973 - with one notable exception.  When the film was not shown in 1999, the network received thousands of calls from irate viewers who were upset that the film was not screened.

5 - One of the most remembered scenes in the movie was the orgy scene.  Apparently the filming for the scene was so brutal that Heston recalled one female extra asking "Who do I have to f@#$ to get out of this movie?!"

(Of course Marie Barone would exclaim that this is not Easter language, but she was yesterday's featured blog topic, so who cares, right?)

Anyway...

6 - Though the film is set entirely in Egypt - less than 5% was actually filmed there.



7 - Cecil B. DeMille had a heart attack while on the set of the movie and returned to filming two days later despite his doctor's advice that he take more time to recuperate.

8 - "The Ten Commandments" ended up being DeMille's last film project.  He died three years after production wrapped up.

9 - 14,000 extras were hired to appear in the film.

10 - More than 15,000 animals were used in the film.

11 - Egyptian authorities were more than happy to grant DeMille the right to film some scenes in Egypt.  After all, they were huge fans of "The Crusades" - another DeMille work.

12 - One of the greatest mysteries of the film was who provided the voice of God, as no actor was credited.  It was confirmed in 2004 that Heston did do the voice of God, but several other people were suspected as well, including Delos Jewkes and even DeMille himself.

13 - The red smoke in the Mount Sinai scene was a matted special effects superimposed over the real Mount Sinai filmed on location.



14 - The scene of the Red Sea parting was achieved by filming two large dump tanks that were flooded and then shown in reverse.  Gelatin was also used to give the illusion of sea water.

15 - Nina Foch played Moses' mother in the movie.  She was one year YOUNGER than Charlton Heston.

16 - Yul Brynner immediately began a vigorous weightlifting program upon being cast as Pharaoh Rameses II because he did not want to be physically overshadowed by Heston.  Plus, he spent a lot of the movie shirtless, so I suppose that was another reason behind it.

17 - DeMille celebrated his 75th birthday on the set of the movie, making him - at that time - the oldest working Hollywood director.

18 - The movie was NOT filmed in stereophonic sound.  In fact, it was one of the only Biblical films from the mid-1950s not to be.

19 - William Boyd was initially approached to star as Moses, but he turned the role down, fearing that playing "Hopalong Cassidy" for two years prior would hurt the film.

20 - The script was 308 pages long, and boasted a whopping seventy speaking parts!

21 - William Sapp was responsible for the special effects that turned the Nile bright red.  All that was needed was non-toxic red dye and a hose!

22 - Because Yul Brynner was starring in the Broadway production "The King and I" when he was given the part in "The Ten Commandments", he had to film all of his Egyptian scenes in one day!

23 - The role of Nefretiri was originally considered for Audrey Hepburn.

24 - It is rumoured that Fidel Castro was an extra in the film, but as of 2015, this cannot be confirmed, nor denied. 

Friday, April 03, 2015

"The Canister"



Can you believe that it has been ten years since the sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond" aired its final episode?  It doesn't even seem like it was that long ago! 

Of course, it could be because the show is still in syndication and probably will be until the year 2030.

Now, even though it's been a decade since the show aired, a lot of people from that show have gone on to do great things.  Ray Romano has appeared on "Men of a Certain Age" and "Parenthood".  Patricia Heaton is one of the stars of "The Middle".  And Brad Garrett seems to be in almost every single Disney movie ever made these days.  "Finding Nemo", "A Bug's Life", "Planes"...am I missing any?



And you know, for what it was worth, the show did have some great episodes.  Who could forget the time in which the family went to Italy?  Who could forget the love quadrilateral with Robert, Amy, Stefania, and Robert's ex-wife?  Remember when Robert's girlfriend ate a fly?  Or the time Marie made a sculpture that looked like a diagram you might see in sixth grade sex education class?  The show had some funny storylines, and I can see why it lasted ten years and over 200 episodes.

So, why am I bringing up the show "Everybody Loves Raymond" during Easter Week in this blog?

Well, it's quite simple.  Would you believe that in all of the sitcoms that have ever been made that very few Easter themed episodes have been made?  You can find episodes for Christmas, Halloween, and even Valentine's Day fairly easily, but try finding an episode about Easter and it could take you quite a long time.

Fortunately, "Everybody Loves Raymond" made not just one Easter episode, but two.  And in today's edition of the blog, we will be having a look at one of the two episodes.



The episode that we'll be discussing today will be the one entitled "The Canister", and it was the nineteenth episode of the show's fifth season.  Original airdate:  April 9, 2001.

The episode starts off quite calmly as the Barone family makes plans to have Easter dinner together.  On the guest list is Ray, Debra, their three children, Robert, Marie, and Frank.  And Marie is determined to make this Easter the greatest one ever.

But of course like every sitcom, there has to be some conflict in order to make the episode flow, or else it would be quite boring.

In this case, the point of conflict happens to be a little yellow canister - one that one may use to store sugar, salt, or other spices.  It turns out that Marie needs it for Easter preparations and she can't seem to locate it anywhere in her house.  Her first instinct is to go and ask Debra if she borrowed it - after all, Debra and Ray live right across the street!

But Debra claims that she never had the canister.  This causes a little bit of an argument between the two and Debra is angrily insisting that she never took Marie's canister, despite Marie's insistence that she did.

Eventually, Marie concludes that Debra must be telling the truth, and she offers Debra a heartfelt apology, which floors both Ray and Robert!  After all, Marie is the type of mother-in-law that most people dread having.  Argumentative, condescending, and never being wrong about ANYTHING!

But with the apology made, things go back to normal, and Debra is feeling pretty proud of herself for standing her ground with Marie...

...that is until Debra and Ray's daughter Ally comes into the living room holding the canister causing Debra to have a full blown panic attack!  You see, Debra did borrow the canister after all, and Ally believed that the canister would be a great container to store her crayons for her colouring book.

Of course, with Ally being in possession of the canister, Debra is now freaking out.  She knows that the right thing to do is return the canister, but if she does, Marie will become even more sanctimonious and even more judgmental, and that would be absolutely unbearable for her.

I can honestly say though that I completely understand Debra's point of view.  I imagine that all of us have been in a situation before where we all have been accused of something that we claim we didn't do...and then having to eat a big slice of bitter humble pie when we come to the conclusion that yes, yes we did do what we were accused of doing, and now we feel bad because of it.

Been there, done that.

Of course, in any of my situations, none of the people who have confronted me have been as manipulative or excruciating as Marie Barone.

(Can you tell I'm NOT a Marie fan?  A Doris Roberts fan, absolutely.  A Marie Barone fan?  Never.)

But what's interesting about "The Canister" isn't the way that the episode plays out, but how the episode ends.  You see, the relationship between Ray and his father could be considered prickly at best, and Frank Barone has never really been considered Mr. Congeniality.

But while I won't spoil the ending for you all...there is a moment between Frank and Debra that will really make the episode worth watching.  And Frank does something that shows Debra just how lucky she is to have him in her corner.  It's both really touching...and really hilarious! 

Thursday, April 02, 2015

Handsome In Pink

April 2, 2015

You want to know what I enjoy the most about Easter and spring weather?  Losing the big bulky parkas and earmuffs and being able to show off your true fashion sense in bright, bold, vivid colours.

I know I am one who likes most things about the Spring.  The only thing that I don't particularly like is the fact that my allergies are at their worst in the Spring.  I always have to take allergy meds between April and June to keep from sneezing my head off.  Trust me, seeing me off my allergy meds during that time is NOT a pretty sight.

But I have to tell you this much.  I love wearing bright clothes.  I love colours and patterns and all that fun stuff.  In fact, if one were to look at my wardrobe, you'd see two distinct sections of clothing.

The first section is all of my black and white clothing that I would wear to work.  You see, my workplace has a distinct dress code where we are only allowed to wear black and white clothing, and on days in which I have to report for duty, I have to wear those.

However when the work day ends, the black and white clothes come off and I put on the clothes in the second section.  Clothes that are in every single colour of the rainbow and have wacky designs and patterns that definitely make a person stand out.

And believe me...as someone who is well over 200 pounds, I definitely stand out whenever I put on bright colours.

Seriously, I love wearing colours such as orange, and purple, and blue, and pink, and...

Yeah, that's right.  I said I like wearing pink.



This is a picture that I took a couple of days ago in a pink shirt, and I have to say that I think it looks great on me.  I would go out on a limb and say that I look pretty...no, wait.  Handsome.  That's it.  I look handsome in pink.

But you know, there are some people out there who would probably poke fun at me for wearing a pink shirt.  They claim that pink is a "girl" colour, and that if I were a real man, I wouldn't even think of wearing pink.

See, I always thought what made a real man was being proud of who you are and not caring what other people think.  In fact, I'll go out and say that my favourite colour is purple - another non-traditional colour for males.  Yeah, you try telling the Toronto Raptors that one of their main colours is "girly".

I mean, a colour is a colour.  Simply that.  But it's absolutely amazing how judgmental some people can get when they see someone wearing the wrong colour.



It reminds me of that Simpsons episode where Homer's white clothing got mixed up in a load of laundry with Bart's lucky red cap, and all of his white shirts ended up pink.  Homer naturally freaked out about it, but Marge tried to tell him that nobody would get upset if he wore a pink shirt to work.

Of course, people did care, and Mr. Burns and Smithers decided that wearing a pink shirt equated to being clinically insane and Homer found himself institutionalized in a mental hospital.

Now, I understand that the reason why this was the case was to make a subplot that introduced a character voiced by Michael Jackson.  But to throw someone in a mental hospital for wearing a pink shirt?  Talk about overkill.

Why, that's like having two states introduce a bill that makes it legal to withhold services for people who identify themselves as a member of the LGBTQ community.

Oh, wait.  That's already happened.  And to the people who implemented that bill into Indiana and Arkansas legislature - SHAME ON YOU!

Anyway, that's another topic for another day.  Please remind me to bring it up again - which I most certainly will.

Anyway, back to colours.  Just because a boy decides to wear pink - it doesn't make him a sissy, or girly, or anything like that.  It just means that he's secure enough in himself to wear whatever colours he wants.

I think that we all have the right to express ourselves in the way that we think is best for all of us without having to worry about prejudice or closed-minded opinions from people who really should know better.

Just some food for thought.

Wednesday, April 01, 2015

Fun With Peeps!

Hǝllo' ǝʌǝɹʎqopʎ¡  I ɔǝɹʇɐᴉulʎ ɥodǝ ʇɥɐʇ ʎon ɥɐʌǝ qǝǝu ǝuɾoʎᴉuƃ Ǝɐsʇǝɹ Mǝǝʞ ᴉu ∀ ԀOԀ Ɔ∩˥┴∩ɹƎ ∀ppIƆ┴,S פ∩IpƎ ┴O ˥IℲƎ¡  I ʞuoʍ ʇɥɐʇ I ɥɐʌǝ qǝǝu ɥɐʌᴉuƃ ɐ loʇ oɟ ɟnu ɔoɯᴉuƃ nd ʍᴉʇɥ soɯǝ Ǝɐsʇǝɹ ʇodᴉɔs ʇo ɔɥᴉuʍɐƃ ɐqonʇ - ǝʌǝu ʇɥonƃɥ ʇɥǝ ┴nǝspɐʎ ┴ᴉɯǝlᴉuǝ ǝuʇɹʎ ʎǝsʇǝɹpɐʎ ʍɐs ɐqonʇ MɹǝsʇlǝWɐuᴉɐ˙ 

I ɯǝɐu' lǝʇ,s ɟɐɔǝ ᴉʇ˙  ┴ɥǝ Ǝɐsʇǝɹ qnuuʎ ᴉs uoʇ ʌǝɹʎ lᴉʞǝlʎ ʇo qopʎ slɐɯ ɐ Ԁǝǝd ɐuʎ ʇᴉɯǝ soou˙

∀uʎʍɐʎ' ʍǝlɔoɯǝ ʇo ʇɥǝ ɟᴉɹsʇ pɐʎ oɟ ∀dɹᴉl˙  I ɔɐu,ʇ qǝlᴉǝʌǝ ʇɥɐʇ ᴉʇ ᴉs ∀dɹᴉl Ɩsʇ ɐlɹǝɐpʎ˙  Wɐu' ouǝ-bnɐɹʇǝɹ oɟ ʇɥǝ ʎǝɐɹ ᴉs ƃouǝ ɾnsʇ lᴉʞǝ ʇɥɐʇ˙

Sɐʎ˙˙˙soɯǝʇɥᴉuƃ poǝsu,ʇ bnᴉʇǝ ɟǝǝl ɹᴉƃɥʇ ɥǝɹǝ˙  I sǝǝɯ ʇo qǝ ʇʎdᴉuƃ onʇ ɯʎ ʍoɹps ʌǝɹʎ ɔɐɹǝɟnllʎ' qnʇ ɟoɹ ʍɥɐʇǝʌǝɹ ɹǝɐsou' ʇɥǝʎ ɾnsʇ pou,ʇ looʞ ɹᴉƃɥʇ˙ 

Hǝʎ¡  Soɯǝouǝ dlɐʎǝp ɐ ʇɹᴉɔʞ ou ɯǝ¡  ┴ɥǝʎ ɯɐuᴉdnlɐʇǝp ɯʎ ɔoɯdnʇǝɹ ʞǝʎqoɐɹp so ʇɥɐʇ ᴉʇ ɔɐu oulʎ ʍɹᴉʇǝ ʇɥᴉuƃs ndsᴉpǝ poʍu¡  Mɥɐʇ ʇɥǝ ɥǝll¿

Sᴉƃɥ˙  ┴ɥǝɹǝ,s oulʎ ouǝ ʍɐʎ ʇo ɟᴉx ʇɥᴉs˙  ſnsʇ ƃᴉʌǝ ɯǝ ɐ ɔondlǝ oɟ sǝɔoups˙

ʞ∀q˥∀WWO¡¡¡
KABLAMMO!!!

Phew.  That's better.  I think someone was playing an April Fools Day joke on me or something.  But hey, April Fools Day is all about playing practical jokes on people, so I guess I had this one coming.

Okay, so now that I have everything back to normal, I thought that I would use this post to talk about an Easter treat that can actually be used in a number of different ways.  Only one of which is eating them.



I am talking about the brightly coloured, yet versatile Marshmallow Peep.

In fact, I suppose that you could say that I have a rather memorable experience with Peeps.  It comes in the form of a story.

Back when I was a teenager, a family member made Easter cupcakes that had bright yellow Peeps on top of them.  And when I received one, I had decided that I would eat the cupcake a little later so I set it down on the counter for just a couple of seconds.

Well, that was all it took for my then two year old niece to march up towards the counter, take her little paw out, snatch the Peep off of the cupcake and shove the whole thing into her mouth!  And all I could respond was "YOU STOLE MY PEEP!"

And to add insult to injury, she thought that was the funniest thing in the world.

Sigh.  Sixteen years later, and that incident has become kind of a running gag.

The irony is...both of us hate Peeps now.  I was never a really big marshmallow fan to begin with, so I probably would have given her the Peep anyway.

But I still say that Peeps can be used for so much more than topping cupcakes.  Here are a couple of other things that Peeps can be used for.



1.  MICROWAVE SWORDFIGHTS

Seriously, this is so much fun.  All you need is a microwave oven, two different coloured Peeps, and a couple of toothpicks.  Stick the toothpicks in each Peep, put the Peeps on a plate, and nuke the chicks for thirty seconds to a minute.  One thing about Peeps is that if you microwave them, they expand to three times their size.  The game is, you see which toothpick stabs the other Peep first.  If that happens, you win the match!  Of course, trying to explain to your parents/roommate/spouse why the inside of your microwave is yellow and blue might be a challenge.

2.  MULTI-COLOURED RICE KRISPIE SQUARES

Are you bored with white marshmallows?  Well, why not use marshmallow Peeps to your Rice Krispie treats to add a little colour to your desserts?  At least it would be a great way to dispose of the half-eaten ones.



3.  MAKE TOYS OUT OF THEM

I think I'll let this image that I found on Pinterest explain it.  Isn't that ingenious?

4.  INSULATE YOUR HOUSE AT A LOW, LOW COST

Oh, sorry.  That was an April Fools Day joke.  I do wonder if that could be possible though.



5.  TURN THEM INTO A DAIRY BEVERAGE

Interestingly enough, this is NOT an April Fools Day joke.



6.  MAKE AN ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE

Neither is this.

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

March 31, 1985

Hello, everyone! 

Now, I know that Easter Week just kicked off in the blog, and I know that I wanted to come up with a whole week of Easter goodness...but let's get real.  Finding an Easter themed Tuesday Timeline entry is next to impossible.  Though, I suppose that part of the reason why is because Easter is one of those holidays that changes its date each year.  The earliest I've seen it has been March 26, and the latest one I can remember is April 24.  And since today is March 31, I can tell you that Easter Sunday has only fallen on this date five times over the last one hundred years.

(If you're interested, the years were 1918, 1929, 1991, 2002, and 2013.)

So, I decided that I would just make this Tuesday Timeline just another ordinary one.  Of course, this entry has absolutely nothing to do with Easter, but to make up for it, I can tell you a little story leading up to the Tuesday Timeline event.

Of course, we have some other business to take care of before that.  Let's take a look at what happened on the final day of March throughout history!

1492 - Queen Isabella issues the Alhambra Decree, ordering her Jewish and Muslim subject to convert to Christianity or be kicked out of Spain

1889 - The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public

1906 - The Intercollegiate Athletic Association is founded to set rules for college sports (later renamed the National Collegiate Athletic Association)

1909 - The construction of the RMS Titanic begins

1918 - Daylight Savings Time goes into effect in the United States for the first time

1921 - The Royal Australian Air Force is formed

1922 - Actor Richard Kiley (d. 1999) is born in Chicago, Illinois

1929 - Fashion designer Liz Claiborne (d. 2007) is born in Brussels, Belgium

1931 - University of Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne is killed in a plane crash

1942 - Japan invades Christmas Island during World War II - a British owned island

1949 - Newfoundland becomes the tenth and final province to enter Canadian confederation

1951 - Remington Rand delivers the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau

1966 - The Soviet Union launches Luna 10 - the first space probe to enter orbit around the moon

1990 - More than 200,000 people take to the streets of London to protest the Poll Tax

1993 - In what could be described as a tragic accident, actor Brandon Lee is killed in a freak accident involving a gun on the set of the film "The Crow" - Lee was just 28

1995 - The "Queen of Tejano Music", Selena, is shot by her former friend and dies, aged just 23

2005 - Terri Schiavo dies in hospital at the age of 41 after being on life support for fifteen years, sparking a debate on euthanasia

And for celebrity birthdays, we have the following famous faces; William Daniels, Gordie Howe, Richard Chamberlain, Shirley Jones, Herb Alpert, Israel Horovitz, Michael Savage, Christopher Walken, Valerie Curtin, Gabe Kaplan, Al Gore, Rhea Perlman, Ed Marinaro, Angus Young, Marc McClure, Kyle Secor, Tony Cox, Suzanne Westenhoefer, Brad Slaight, Fez Whatley, William McNamara, Samantha Brown, Damon Herriman, Craig McCracken, Ewan McGregor, Andrew Bowen, Adrian Holmes, Emma Atkins, Rich Clementi, Shawty Lo, Josh Saviano, Daniel Mays, Ryan Bingham, Melissa Ordway, Stephanie Bendixsen, and Thomas Batuello.

Okay.  So, what date will we be looking at this week?



Well, we're going back in time exactly three decades to March 31, 1985.

(And just to prove that it is NOT Easter themed, Easter Sunday in 1985 wasn't until one week later, on April 7.)

As promised, I have a story to tell you regarding today's selection.



How many of you out there watch wrestling on television?  I have to admit, there's quite a few people at my workplace who watch it every week.  And, I can definitely see where the appeal is.  The wrestling matches are always filled with spectators who go wild when someone gets flipped over, or thrown out of the ring by a back flip.  With the way that the matches are presented, wrestling has almost become as interesting and scandalous as a daytime soap opera.

Now, this has prompted many to believe that wrestling is completely fake, and that the outcome of certain matches was predetermined prior to the matches taking place.  They claim that all the wrestlers are just acting from a script given in front of them.  I can't say that I totally agree with that statement.  Certainly the injuries that wrestlers sustain in the ring are not faked.  I can't imagine anyone willingly signing up to get paid for doing themselves bodily harm - well, unless you're a stunt person.

But I do believe that some aspects of a standard wrestling match are not necessarily fabricated, but are manipulated in a way to keep certain variables in check (increased rivalries, backstabbing between competitors, etc.)

But you don't dare tell that to one wrestling fan that used to haunt a community message board that I belonged to once upon a time.  He would defend wrestling with a lot of passion - which I totally respect.  The problem is, he would insult other people and act as if he had a total chip on his shoulder in trying to defend his stance - which I cannot respect at all.  I think he eventually left the group at his own accord when he realized that he wasn't getting anywhere with the rest of the members by being arrogant and mean. 

But the fact is that wrestling is not likely to go away anytime soon whether you believe that the matches are real or staged.  And I would say that the public's love of wrestling began with one major event that has taken place each year over the last thirty years.  The thirty-first edition of this competition was broadcast just a couple of days ago.  But the very first one was held on March 31, 1985 - back when the WWE was known as the WWF.



March 31, 1985 - The date of the very first WRESTLEMANIA.

It was billed as "The Greatest Wrestling Event of All Time".  Held at New York City's Madison Square Garden, over 19,000 fans were in attendance to see their favourite wrestlers go toe to toe with each other.  In fact, there were a total of nine wrestling matches in a row.  And these nine matches were...



1 - Tito Santana vs. The Executioner
2 - King Kong bundy vs. Special delivery Jones
3 - Ricky Steamboat vs. Matt Borne
4 - David Sammartino vs. Brutus Beefcake
5 - Junkyard Dog vs. Greg Valentine
6 - Nikolai Volkoff & The Iron Shiek vs. The U.S. Express
7 - Andre The Giant vs. Big John Studd
8 - Wendi Richter vs. Leilani Kai
9 - Hulk Hogan & Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper & Paul orndorff

The winners of each match are highlighted in pink.  Oh, and regarding match #4.  It ended with a double disqualification, so no winner was crowned.

What was amazing about WrestleMania I was all of the promotion it received leading up to the event.  The event began its planning stages in 1984 when WWF CEO Vince McMahon wanted to launch an event to compete with Starrcade's Pay-Per-View event launched by Jim Crockett Promotions.  And needless to say, McMahon knew exactly what demographic to hit.

First, he appealed to the 18-34 crowd by doing cross-promotion with MTV.  MTV would often air commercials advertising the event, and this prompted some famous celebrities at that time to lend their support to the event.



After all, how often do you get to see Hulk Hogan tag teaming with Mr. T of all people?  Not often, I bet.



The official theme song for the event was an instrumental version of this song.  I have to say...I can see it working very well.



Cyndi Lauper made an appearance to support Wendi Richter in her battle against Leilani Kai. Muhammad Ali served as a guest referee. Even Liberace served a purpose in this match, playing the role of timekeeper.



Seriously.  Just picture Liberace at a wrestling match without laughing.  Pretty hard to do, isn't it? 



Of course, not all the promotions ended up being successful.  In fact, it lead to Hulk Hogan getting sued!  In the days leading up to WrestleMania I, Hogan was a guest on Hot Properties, a cable television show hosted by Richard Belzer.  Belzer wanted Hogan to demonstrate a wresting move for him, and Hogan obliged by putting Belzer in a front chin-lock.  Unfortunately, the sudden move caused Belzer to lose consciousness and when Hogan let go, Belzer fell to the floor, hitting his head and causing a nasty laceration to the scalp.  Belzer sued Hogan for five million dollars, and the case was settled out of court.

Despite that, WrestleMania I proved to be a huge success, both in the venue itself and on pay-per-view television.  The following year, even more people tuned in to watch.  Today, WrestleMania continues to be a huge event, with at least 75,000 people buying tickets to watch the event live, not to mention the millions of people who watch the event on television.

And hey, for those of us who were cartoon fans, if it weren't for WrestleMania, we wouldn't have this cartoon cult favourite.


Monday, March 30, 2015

Photographs With The Easter Bunny



Hey, guys and gals!  Welcome to Easter Week in A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S GUIDE TO LIFE

This week, I'll be taking a look at some Easter traditions and customs (mostly modern day ones, as I am far from being the religious type), and hopefully you will like what I have planned.  After all, six of the seven entries will have some reference to Easter.

(It's kind of hard to find one for the Tuesday Timeline entry.)

Even so, I think that this is going to be a lot of fun, so let's get on with the commencement of Easter Week.

So, to begin, I want to ask you all a question.  What is the very first thing you think of when you think Easter?

Certainly many of you will point out the fact that it is a holiday that is faith based, which is very much true.  But when it comes to symbols of Easter, what do you think of?



Some might think of chocolate.  And why not?  Next to Valentine's Day and perhaps Halloween, Easter is one of the holidays where a lot of chocolate is sold - and where a lot of dentists make their fortunes, apparently.  True, while chocolate is quite important in the Easter, that's not what this blog is about.



Maybe some of you immediately thought of Easter eggs.  After all, the eggs that are dyed in bright pastel colours are a tradition of modern-day Easter.  The White House has hosted an annual Easter egg hunt every year for as long as I can remember!  And yes, we will be talking about Easter eggs in this blog - but not today.



Maybe some of you immediately thought of the baby chicks that hatch out of eggs.  Well, okay, I've never seen a chick hatch out of an Easter egg dyed in purple and orange.  Nor have I ever seen chicks in either one of those colours.  But chicks are definitely an unofficial Easter mascot.

However, if you want me to name the one thing that I consider a true sign of Easter...well, you need not go any further than the good old Easter Bunny!



(Note, I said Easter Bunny.  Not Easter BEAGLE.  Although, I do love that Peanuts special!)

Yeah, as far back as I can remember, I have always had a soft spot for the wonderful Easter Bunny.  How could I not?  He always brought wonderful treats every Easter Sunday to snack on and he always looked so cute and cuddly and soft.  Just made you want to hug him!

Of course, I admit that my love for the Easter Bunny might have been a little biased.  Who could resist the clucking bunny in the Cadbury commercials?



Sigh.  No matter how old I get, I love that clucking bunny.  The Cadbury Creme Eggs though, not so much.  I love sweets, but those things are TOO sweet.

Of course, one of the earliest memories that I have of the Easter Bunny was going to the local shopping mall to visit him and get my photo taken with him.  And I think that I made my parents take me every year until I was at least seven.

Want proof?  Below would be a photo taken at our local shopping mall circa 1986.  At least, I want to say it was 1986.  Could have been 1987, though.  Either way, I was old enough to know that lace up shoes were a pain and that velcro was (at the time) my shoe of choice. 



Now, I have no idea what I was doing in this photo.  Maybe I was tired and rested my chin on my hand.  Maybe I lifted my arm up because I wanted to feel more comfortable on the Easter Bunny's lap.  Maybe I was "voguing" before Madonna made it a #1 smash single.  Either way, the pose that I was making surprisingly works in this photo.  It's probably one of the few childhood photos that I feel comfortable sharing on this blog, to tell you the truth.

Of course, I always remembered seeing the Easter Bunny at the mall.  However, when I posted this same photo a few years ago on social media for one of those "Throwback Thursday" postings, some people seemed genuinely shocked that shopping plazas even did stuff like that for Easter. 

I can see their point.  Everyone is used to taking their children out to see Santa Claus for Christmas.  It's been a tradition since "Miracle on 34th Street" was released - maybe even earlier than that!  But while you see so many pictures of kids posing on Santa's lap every Christmas, you don't really see too many Easter Bunny photos.  Though I will say this.  The photos that I have seen are mostly cute.

Mind you, some of those Easter Bunny costumes could be frightening.  If I had to sit on the lap of the following photos that I found, I reckon that the tone of this blog entry would be radically different.



Instead of praising the Easter Bunny, I would be so traumatized that the sight of a carrot would cause me to hyperventilate and break out in a cold sweat.

Admit it.  You would too.