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Thursday, May 26, 2016

A Dozen Shows From 2011 - Which Ones Survived?

One thing you can say about the year 2011 is this.  It was a year in which a lot of new television shows debuted.

I don't have a full list of the shows available, but I would estimate it to be well over 150 new shows - if not more. 

And just as the case with many other television programs on television schedules over the years, many are hits, and many are misses.

How did the year 2011 rank?

Well, I took twelve random shows from the long list of ones that debuted in 2011, and I thought I'd do a then and now feature about each one.  Which ones are still on in 2016?  Which ones barely made it to 2012?  I've got some answers for you right here - along with my own personal commentary.



BOB'S BURGERS
Debuted January 9, 2011
6 Seasons so far, renewed for seventh

Bob's Burgers was a midseason replacement show for the FOX Network, and airing it during Sunday's animation block alongside "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy" was a great idea.  Created by Loren Bouchard, the show about the Belcher family business - a burger eatery that is situated near a funeral home and an apartment building.  It's a snarky comedy that balances running a business and taking care of a family - which can run on borderline crude in some episodes!  But, don't let that scare you away.  It's one of 2011's success stories - and although the show wasn't well received when it first aired, it's holding its own now!



CRIMINAL MINDS:  SUSPECT BEHAVIOR
Debuted February 16, 2011
Cancelled May 25, 2011

By all accounts, a spin-off of "Criminal Minds" should have worked.  After all, the entire run of the four CSI shows would have a total running time of thirty-six seasons!  And, "Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior" did have a fantastic cast.  With names like Forest Whitaker, Janeane Garofalo, and "Criminal Minds" actress Kirsten Vangsness as part of the cast, it had the formula to be another hit!  So, why did it miss the mark?  Ultimately low ratings sealed its fate.  And if not enough people are watching a show - no matter how well done it may be - it's hard for it to have a second year.  But another spinoff "Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders" debuted earlier this year and it has already gotten the green light for season two. 



BODY OF PROOF
Debuted March 29, 2011
Cancelled May 28, 2013

I don't know what it is about ABC lately, but they've been hit and miss when it comes to television shows.  For every "Lost", "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy" that exist, there are about a dozen other shows that didn't last that long.

To give "Body of Proof" credit, the show did eke out a three season run.  I credit that to the believability of Dana Delany as a medical examiner who uses the bodies of those recently deceased to solve crimes while balancing her hectic personal life.  And from the episodes that I've seen, it was a fairly good program.

In fact, at the time of the show's cancellation it was actually improving in the ratings!  It's really unknown why ABC would drop the program, but then again, it's not the first blunder ABC would make.  It's too bad the rumours weren't true about it moving to a new network because I think that this show was cancelled way too soon.



WORKAHOLICS
Debuted April 6, 2011
6 Seasons so far, renewed for seventh

Of all the shows listed on this look back at 2011 television, this is the only one I have not yet seen.  Mainly because I don't subscribe to Comedy Central.  But from what I have heard about this show, it's quite good, and I've been told I'm missing out.  Created by and starring Blake Anderson, Anders Holm, and Adam DeVine, the show depicts three college acquaintances who refuse to let go of their college years despite sharing a cubicle at the telemarketing company they work for.  Maybe that's the secret to having a television show last...debut it on a cable network instead of the Big Three...



FRANKLIN & BASH
Debuted June 1, 2011
Cancelled October 22, 2014

This is another case of a show ending too soon.  This was the show that brought Mark-Paul Gosselaar back to television once more following "Saved By The Bell" and "NYPD Blue", and paired him up with movie actor Breckin Meyer in a comedic drama set at a law firm.  When the show debuted on TNT, it became an instant hit.  In the UK, people referred to it as Ally McBeal with balls!  How cheeky!  The show did have a modest four season run and attracted both Jane Seymour and Heather Locklear as cast members which added to the intrigue.  I still say that it should have run longer...but at least Gosselaar and Meyer stayed good friends.  I most recently saw both of them on an episode of "Celebrity Name Game"!



SWITCHED AT BIRTH
Debuted:  June 16, 2011
4 Seasons so far, renewed for fifth

Sadly, I just recently discovered this show about a year ago - and now I hear that the fifth season - set to premiere in early 2017 - will be the show's last.  Airing on ABC Family and ABC Spark, the show might seem like a tired old cliche at first.  Two women give birth, and accidentally take the wrong child home and don't find out until several years later.  Well, what if one of those children had a hearing impairment and was sent to live with hearing parents, while the other child could hear perfectly fine but had deaf parents?  That's the hook that drew me in. 

In all seriousness, the show is superb, and for once we finally get to see a show that focuses on the hearing impaired community with actors who have a hearing disability and can only communicate via sign language.  Both Vanessa Marano and Katie LeClerc do a fine job in their roles as Bay and Daphne.  In the case of LeClerc, she purposely learned sign language at seventeen after learning that she has a condition that can eventually cause her to lose her hearing, so she wanted to be prepared for it.

It's a very good show - perhaps one of the best of the year!



BAR RESCUE
Debuted July 17, 2011
Currently airing Season 4

When this show debuted in the summer of 2011 on Spike, it was unknown just how successful it would be.  By 2016, it has aired over one hundred episodes, and has really showed all of us the best and worst of the bar business.

Based off of the popular show "Kitchen Nightmares", bar expert Jon Taffer goes to bars all over the United States and uses what he has learned in his near 40-year career to help other bar owners get out of debt and make money.  Sometimes the solutions are easy to fix, such as a new name, new look, or changing the cocktail menu.  Sometimes, the fix is harder, such as dealing with employees who steal, or fixing a building up to code.  Whatever the challenge, it's one that he is willing to take.

Well, except for those people who owned that O-Face Bar in Council Bluffs, Iowa.  Those people were beyond help.



FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS
Debuted August 5, 2011
Cancelled September 9, 2011

Some people might like the movie "Friends With Benefits".  And, let's face it.  Some people like BEING friends with benefits.  But this television show was something that very few people liked.  And this show was plagued with problems from the very beginning.  For one, it was originally pitched to ABC, but the network denied it, so it was instead aired on NBC as a summer replacement series.  But audiences were tuning out after episode one, and the series met a swift end just thirty-six days after it premiered.  Tough break.



THE JEREMY KYLE SHOW (U.S. VERSION)
Debuted September 19, 2011
Cancelled September 13, 2013

Now, I had to make a note that this is the American version of the show.  The original UK version debuted in July 2005 and is still airing eleven years later.  And really, you could consider Jeremy Kyle the British version of Maury Povich in a way, as he does almost the same kind of shows that Maury does (mainly paternity tests).  The difference was that whereas Maury Povich often showed sympathy towards his guests, Jeremy Kyle tells it like it is without apologizing for how he feels.  Well, Jeremy tried to make his UK based talk show work in the United States as well.  The problem is that there were too many shows just like his in the United States, and it kind of got lost in the shuffle.  His American talk show only lasted two seasons.



2 BROKE GIRLS
Debuted:  September 19, 2011
5 Seasons, renewed for sixth

One question.  How is this show still on the air?  Seriously, how?



UNFORGETTABLE
Debuted:  September 20, 2011
Cancelled:  January 22, 2016

This is a show that got bounced around so many times that many people might be surprised to learn that the last episode only aired four months ago.  When the show debuted in September 2011, star Poppy Montgomery had just come off of "Without A Trace" a couple of years earlier.  She played the role of Carrie Wells, a female officer who had a photographic memory that assisted her in solving cases alongside her partner and ex-boyfriend Al Burns.  The premise of the show was good, and it stayed on CBS for three seasons until the network decided to pull the plug.  This prompted A&E to pick up the show for the 2015-2016 season, a move that while filled with great intentions failed to deliver - and "Unforgettable" quickly became forgotten.



HELL ON WHEELS
Debuted November 6, 2011
Currently airing Season 5

This is a show that is set to air its final episode sometime in 2016 on AMC, but when it first debuted, it got a lot of positive attention.

It is a show that is set in the middle of the 19th century - specifically 1865.  The first episode took place days after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and set the stage for the main plot - the construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad across the United States.  It's also a show that I have recently discovered now that I subscribe to AMC, and I'm starting to wish that I had watched it earlier.  It's quite good!

So there you have it.  12 shows that debuted in 2011 - all with varying success rates.  Which ones were your favourites?  And can you add to my list?

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Angry Birds, Fruit Ninjas, and Kindle - Oh My! - 2011 Technology Moment


If one were to go to a movie theatre in May 2016, you really might think that what was massively popular five years ago has come back to become popular today.



It was just a few days ago that "The Angry Birds Movie" was released in theatres, and it made me think back five years ago when that mobile game was blowing up everybody's phones!

Well...everyone's except mine.  In 2011, I didn't have one.

But it's easy to see how Angry Birds became so popular.  It starts off quite simple enough, with you shooting red, black, white, and yellow birds at a group of evil green piggies who have built their homes on a variety of different terrains from grassland to outer space!  The further you make it into the game, the harder it becomes.  And once you reach that point, you have to make the choice of continuing on with the game, or throwing your phone at a bird feeder.

But it got me thinking...if Angry Birds was a hot app for the year 2011...what other things were people doing on their phones?  Well, aside from texting, calling, and taking selfies for MySpace. 

Or, was MySpace still a thing in 2011?  I'm thinking not.

Anyway, here's what some of you might have been doing with your mobile devices five years ago.  



WORDS WITH FRIENDS

Basically, there's really nothing all that different about this game.  It's essentially the game of "Scrabble" on social media.  But what made Words With Friends so much fun was the fact that you could challenge your Facebook friends to a game or two or thirty to a classic game of words.  The best part about this app was that you no longer needed to have Webster's Dictionary with you at all times.  If you tried to enter in a word that was slang, offensive, or not a word, the computer would let you know!

I imagine some people still play this game today, though nothing can ever really simulate the fights that can erupt at the kitchen table because your perfect word was spoiled by someone else who played their TRIPLE WORD SCORE word in the very spot you wanted.



FRUIT NINJA

First appearing for the iPhone in April 2010, by 2011, it had grown to be one of the most downloaded mobile games of the year.  And, I'm sure that at some point, everyone has played this game at least once.  I know I tried the game on a friend's mobile phone, and I liked it - even though I sucked horribly at it.

But look at Fruit Ninja as being able to achieve a dream.  Have you ever wanted to be like one of those Ninja swordsmen who really wanted to slice a watermelon, grapefruit, or honeydew melon in half but you weren't allowed to because you'd either make a mess in the kitchen or accidentally decapitate your grandmother?  This app allows you to live out your dream mess free and without the fear of going to prison for accidental murder!

And, one final positive about this game?  It is used in hospitals and care facilities as an aid to help with the recovery of stroke patients!



PLANTS VS. ZOMBIES

I have to say that of all the apps listed here, this one is my absolute favourite.  I didn't discover this game until maybe about a year after it was released.  I was actually gifted the Nintendo DS version right around my 30th birthday - which took place in 2011!

There is something to be said about zombies threatening to take over the world, and your only line of defense are sunflowers, pea shooters, and mushrooms.  Especially when those plants are souped up to survive almost any attack from the undead.  This is the ultimate strategy game where you have to use your brains - no pun intended - to stop the zombies in their tracks.  It's not so much choosing what plants to use as much as placing them in exactly the right spots.  Because as the game gets harder, the zombies come at you more frequently and quickly, leaving you with little precious time to make decisions.

This game is still very popular five years later.  A sequel was released in the summer of 2013.



KINDLE

Remember those days prior to 2011 where the only way to read an electronic book was with a little tablet like device known as a Kindle?  In some cases, the Kindles were no bigger than the average mobile phone, but if you had one, you could get access to almost 800,000 book titles.  The Kindle's surge in popularity certainly made it more appealing to read books online, and it's success more than likely caused some brick and mortar bookstores to go out of business.

These days, it's very hard to find a Kindle in an electronics store.  I don't even know if people are even still using them.  That's because right around 2011, Android and iPhone users could simply download the Kindle app onto their smartphones or mobile devices and access the library there.



INSTAGRAM

Who knew that when this simple photo app was introduced in late 2010 that it would change the way we look at digital imagery in 2011 and years to come?

Before the advent of Instagram, if you wanted your photos to have a specific look - vintage, black or white, etc. - you had to go to a photo lab and pay big bucks to get the desired effects you wanted.  But with the addition of Instagram, users could simply take photos with their phones, and put them through filters that allowed the photos to be displayed however the user wanted.  And once you were finished making your photos the best they could possibly look, you could use the same app to share the photos with anybody your Instagram account was linked with.  It certainly made photo sharing easier, and as Instagram developed further, it made it allowable for people to plug their phones into photo kiosks and print their photos via the Instagram app.  Though, to be fair, you can also do the same with Twitter and Facebook.

I don't know if you can do it with Snapchat.  I never use it.


So, those are just five apps that changed the way we looked at our phones five years ago.  What apps were on your phones in 2011?

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

May 24, 2011

Welcome to a very special edition of the Tuesday Timeline.  It's a date that is quite personal to me, and one that I really want to discuss.  I'm sure that if you have been following along with this blog, you may know why that is.  But before we get to that, let's see what took place on this date in history.

1607 - One hundred English settlers disembark in Jamestown - the first English colony to appear in America

1819 - Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (d. 1901) is born

1830 - Sarah Joshepa Hale's poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb" is first published

1844 - The first telegraph line is inaugurated by Samuel Morse who successfully sends the message "What hath God wrought?"

1883 - After fourteen years of construction, the Brooklyn Bridge opens to traffic

1895 - Henry Irving becomes the first person from the world of theatre to be knighted

1915 - Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary during World War I

1930 - Pilot Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Australia - the first female pilot to fly solo from England to Australia

1935 - The first night baseball game is played Cincinnati, Ohio between the Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies

1945 - Jazz/soul singer Terry Callier (d. 2012) is born in Chicago, Illinois

1956 - The Eurovision Song Contest is held for the first time in Lugano, Switzerland

1958 - United Press International is formed via the merger of United Press and the International News Service

1961 - Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi on charges of disturbing the peace after leaving their bus

1962 - Actor/choreographer Gene Anthony Ray (d. 2003) is born in New York City

1967 - Rap artist Dwight "Heavy D" Myers (d. 2011) is born in Jamaica

1968 - FLQ separatists bomb the American consulate in Quebec City, Quebec

1976 - The Concorde jet service begins with flights between London and Washington D.C.

1981 - The president of Ecuador - Jaime Roldos Aguilera - is killed in a plane crash along with his wife and presidential committee

1984 - Vince McMahon Sr. - the founder of the WWE - dies at the age of 69

1994 - Four men linked to the 1993 bombing of New York's World Trade Center are sentenced to 240 years in prison

2001 - At age sixteen, Temba Tsheri becomes the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest

2014 - An earthquake measuring 6.4 strikes near Greece and Turkey injuring 324 people

There's quite a lot of celebrity birthdays as well to list today.  Happy birthday to Michael Lonsdale, Joan Micklin Silver, Tommy Chong, Bob Dylan, Gary Burghoff, Patti LaBelle, Priscilla Presley, Albert Bouchard, Jim Broadbent, Nell Campbell, Alfred Molina, Rosanne Cash, Chip Ganassi, Doug Jones, Kristin Scott Thomas, John C. Reilly, Ricky Craven, Eric Close, Tommy Page, Greg Berlanti, Dermot O'Leary, Will Sasso, Marc Gagnon, Kym Valentine, Jo Joyner, Owen Benjamin, Andy Lee, Mark Ballas, Kimberley Crossman, and Billy Gilman.

So, I suppose it shouldn't come as a surprise that the date that I've chosen for this particular entry is this one.



May 24, 2011.

That date, of course, is the day that this crazy blogging project began!  I can't believe that I've kept this thing going for five whole years now!  I may have slowed it down a bit, but I still write in this space whenever I feel the need to.  This space is really one of the few spots where I can be free to be myself and not worry about what I say or how I say it.  Some of you may love what I write about.  Others might not.  But what I can tell you is that as far as the personality and heart goes in preparing this blog for the last five years...that is 100% truth.

That's why I've decided to make this whole month a celebration of what life was like five years ago.  It's because we've all changed so much over the last half-decade.  I know I certainly have.  And I know this blog certainly has!




Case in point.  This was my very first logo for this blog.  It's so cornball and cheesy, isn't it?  I drew this one myself using a couple of gel pens and I believe a leftover envelope from a birthday card I had received the week before.  Yep, my blog was low budget back then!



Oh, who am I kidding.  My blog is STILL low-budget.  But dammit, it had a lot of heart.  And that first logo inspired the current look you see today.  When I first began this blog five years ago, the colour scheme was blue and pink - much like it is now.  But it wasn't always the case.



Such as the purple and yellow phase I went through between 2012 and 2014.  I may go back to that when this blog turns six...I haven't decided yet.




Or, the time when I decided to completely change everything around including the logo itself.  This was certainly one of the brightest looks I've ever seen this blog go.  I can see why I ditched it after a few months.



Sometimes I would decorate the blog for the Christmas holidays.  This one turned out quite beautifully.



And until recently, I went with a gold theme - partly in celebration of my parents' Golden Jubilee anniversary last August.



The logos changed a lot over the last few years as well.  Most of them I was very happy with - at least until I got sick of them!  I'm really liking the one I have now.  I'll probably keep it for a while.

Even the content of this blog has changed quite a bit.  Before it was all about pop culture, but over the years, I've opened up myself more and more, and now it's almost second nature to bring pop culture and life together.

But it's really cool to see how much I've grown as a writer since May 2011 when I first started this blog off.  I go back to some of my entries that I wrote back when I first started and I cringe because my opinions have changed so much.  In 2011, I loved "The Biggest Loser", and now I can't even stand to watch the show any longer.  In 2011, I used to really be into video games, and now I've shifted my focus to music and arts.  And most importantly, this blog has sort of been a venting point for some of the demons that continued to haunt me, and I feel that this space has given me the courage to battle those demons and defeat them.  I'm not quite finished the battle yet, but I'm well on my way.  That's all anybody can ask for, right?

But one thing I don't think I've ever talked about - at least not in this blog anyway - is why I started this blog in the first place.

Well, I suppose part of the reason could be for me to actually have something to show people...at least digitally anyway.  It's hard for someone to make their mark on this planet when there are so many people on it, and I guess I'm at the age where I feel as though I want to be remembered for something that I did - not for what other people did for me or to me.  This blog is really the only place where I can be free to be me without judgment.

(Well, okay...some of the comments in my comment box have been not so nice, but I can just delete those.)

The point is - this blog is my own personal growth project, and a permanent - or at least until the servers stay up and running - reminder of who I am and how far I've grown.  And even though I've had a couple of things published over the years, nothing will take away from the fact that this is five years of dedication and joy.  And, I'm hoping to keep this going for another five - even if it means shifting the focus of this blog.



This blog has also helped me realize that I'm not as strange as I thought.  So often, I'd come up with topics that I would think nobody would ever relate to, and to my surprise they garnered huge responses.  Who would have thought that a blog on a soap opera called "Loving" would be within my Top 10 read posts?  Who would have thought that so many people would be fascinated by my personal story on paper cranes?  Who would have thought that so many people were trying to figure out the mystery behind Richard Marx's "Hazard"?  I mean, it's awesome to have opened up these dialogues and interact with other people on these subjects. 

But it also makes me feel good when I write about something deeply personal and share some stories from my childhood - which as you all know wasn't sunshine and daisies every day.  And to know that people not only responded, but also gained the courage to share their stories as well.  It's a good feeling!

I honestly don't know what the future of this blog will hold within the next five years.  But all I know is that A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S GUIDE TO LIFE has been a big part of my life since 2011...and I think I'm a better person because of it.



Thanks for supporting me all of these years.  I love each and every one of you.

Monday, May 23, 2016

Jack and Jill - 2011 Movie Moment

Unless you've been living underneath a rock, you probably have heard the sad story of Jack and Jill at one point.  Maybe it was at your nursery school.  Maybe it was at the library.  Maybe Ernie and Bert re-enacted the tale on an episode of "Sesame Street".  Wherever you heard the tale, it's a tale of frurstration, pain, and embarrassment.

You have a boy named Jack.  And you have a girl named Jill.  Now, there's nowhere in this story that depicts the relationship between Jack and Jill.  Jill could be Jack's sister, cousin, girlfriend, or that prostitute he met on the corner of Hollywood and Vine.  But the relationship doesn't really matter very much.  Jack is very thirsty and he wants some water to drink.

Now, I'm guessing that this story was probably written before stores started selling Dasani and Aquafina, because the only way that Jack can grab some water is to go up a gigantic hill.  And Jill, being extremely co-dependent, decides that she wants to go with him to get some water.

But tragedy strikes upon reaching the top of the hill.  Jack loses his footing, falls down the entire length of the hill and breaks his crown.  Now, whether that means an actual crown that he is wearing, or a porcelain crown on his tooth, I'm not quite sure.  All I know is that Jack had a crown, and it is now broken due to his klutziness.  And Jill - whether it be because of the hill being steep, or because she can't stand being left out - decides to come tumbling after.

There's no resolution at the end of the rhyme.  For all we know, Jack and Jill could have both ended up dead trying to get some H2O.  We never really do find out.

Of course, this was back in the 18th century.  I wonder what the rhyme might have gone like if it were written in...oh...2011, perhaps?

Jack and Jill released a film
Turned out to be very scary
The film, it tanked, it was so rank
Won lots of Golden Raspberries



Okay, that poem kind of sucked.  But then, so did the 2011 film "Jack and Jill".  Which has really nothing to do with the nursery rhyme at all - I just wanted a clever opening.

Seriously, this film was one of the worst films of the year 2011.  I mentioned in my little poem that it won lots of Golden Raspberry Awards - that's the ceremony that's like the Academy Awards, only instead of celebrating the best in film, they actually celebrate the worst.

And "Jack and Jill" probably holds a record that no other film wants to have - it won a record TEN Razzies!  And as far as I know, it is the only film to have won a Razzie in every single category.  Not even "Movie 43" was that bad...and I consider that film even worse than "Jack and Jill" - though not by much.

Seriously, check out this list of Golden Raspberry Awards that this film won. 

1.  WORST ACTOR - Adam Sandler
2.  WORST ACTRESS - Adam Sandler
3.  WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Al Pacino
4.  WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - David Spade
5.  WORST PICTURE
6.  WORST DIRECTOR - Dennis Dugan
7.  WORST SCREENPLAY
8.  WORST SCREEN COUPLE - Adam Sandler and anyone!
9.  WORST ENSEMBLE
10.  WORST PREQUEL, REMAKE, RIP-OFF OR SEQUEL

(NOTE:  #10 is because the movie was loosely based off "Glen or Glenda" - a film released in 1953.)

I'm guessing that the Golden Raspberry Awards Committee aren't fans of Adam Sandler.  Truth be told, neither am I.  The only Adam Sandler movies I enjoy feature Drew Barrymore.  But he must have been really terrible if he won for worst actor AND worst actress.



Well, that's because he played fraternal twins in this film.  Jack and Jill.  And the whole plot of the movie is this.  Jack is successful.  Jill is not.  And whenever Jack and Jill get together, they do more than fall down a hill trying to get water.  I won't really go into the plot details in this space because I don't think I can really get through it without either falling asleep at my keyboard or smashing my computer against the wall.  Trust me.  It's that bad.

In fact, if you go on the website "Rotten Tomatoes", you'll find that it only has a 3% Fresh rating.  That makes it one of the worst reviewed movies ever featured on that site. 


What really boggles my mind is the fact that this movie attracted some big name cameos.  What the hell was Al Pacino thinking signing up for this garbage?  I'll never understand it.  Same deal with Katie Holmes.  I mean, yeah, I get that her star power temporarily dimmed when she was married to Tom Cruise, but she's a very capable actress.  Why would she resort to this?

Though, I suppose this film is a perfect example of what life was like in 2011.  After all, Bruce Jenner and Jared Fogle were both in this movie, and as of 2016, one's a woman, and the other one's in jail for showing his five dollar footlong to the wrong age group.  Funny how five years can change people a lot, isn't it?

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Glen Campbell's Diagnosis - 2011 Music Moment

I don't normally follow the world of country music.  Truth be told, there are many times in which I've questioned whether or not I was adopted because I seem to be the only member of my family that does not listen to country music on a daily basis.

(Note:  I am NOT adopted.)

Don't get me wrong though.  Country artists do sing some very good songs, and there are even some songs and artists that I really do like.  I think Reba McEntire is fantastic.  I think Jennifer Nettles from Sugarland has a unique voice.  Luke Bryan's got a couple of songs that are quite good, as does Tim McGraw.  And I dare you to listen to Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise" without feeling the urge to dance.

And, I suppose I'd be fine with it if my parents listened to country music that was released within the past five years or so.  But they were always more into the retro style of country.  This meant a lot of George Jones, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Tammy Wynette, George Strait, and Conway Twitty.

Which I suppose wouldn't be bad if it wasn't for all of the twang and the "everyone's dead including my dog and truck" lyrics.  I'm not denying that they had talent - these artists are the foundation behind the current crop of country artists out there now, but they simply just aren't my cup of tea.

But five years ago, one of these legends received some devastating news that essentially put an end to his career...and he made the decision to end his career off with a bang.



When I say the name Glen Campbell - what are the words that you might associate with that name?  Well...I can think of exactly two.



ARTIST:  Glen Campbell
SONG:  Rhinestone Cowboy
ALBUM:  Rhinestone Cowboy
DATE RELEASED:  May 26, 1975
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  #1 for 2 weeks

Yep.  You're reading that correctly.  This was a country music crossover - the kind that Shania Twain and Taylor Swift are famous for.  The song "Rhinestone Cowboy" was #1 on the charts in September 1975, dethroning - would you believe - K.C. and the Sunshine Band's "Get Down Tonight"?  Of course, this song was overthrown by David Bowie's "Fame" just two weeks later, but still...having Glen Campbell on the top of the charts in 1975 alongside a disco band and Ziggy Stardust?  That's quite impressive.

Many people would consider "Rhinestone Cowboy" to be Campbell's signature hit.  But he's had so many more since his singing career began all the way back in 1958.  In fact, at one point in his life, he was a member of the band known as "The Champs" - you know, the band that brought us "Tequila"?  He left that band in 1961, but started up his own solo career shortly after that.

A career that launched over 70 studio albums, over 80 single releases, and sales of over 45 million records!  One of his records even went double platinum!  In addition to "Rhinestone Cowboy", Campbell enjoyed success with other songs such as "Wichita Lineman", "Southern Nights", "Galveston", and "Gentle On My Mind". 



And in his later years, he would partake in projects outside of singing.  He was the celebrity host of the Los Angeles Open for thirteen years, he did the voice of Chanticleer in the 1991 animated film "Rock-a-Doodle", and in 2005, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.  It's even stated that Glen Campbell was instrumental in helping discover new talent - including Keith Urban and Alan Jackson - whose wife he met on an airplane where she was a stewardess!

But over time, Glen Campbell's health began to take a turn for the worse.  He was having trouble remembering things, he felt disoriented, and he was having issues communicating with people.  The symptoms started happening right around the time he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, and by 2010, they were noticeable enough for his family to seek answers.



In December 2010, it was confirmed that Glen Campbell was suffering from the early effects of Alzheimer's Disease.  And anybody who has ever known anybody who battled it knows just how cruel a disease it can be.

But he chose to wait until June 2011 to make the official announcement because he wanted to make sure he went out his own way.

And this included one final album, and one final tour.  And he didn't have much time to make it happen, as he didn't know how long he would have before the Alzheimer's made it impossible for him to continue.



The final album, "See You There" was released in August 2013, released digitally, and on vinyl and CD.  It was sort of similar to a greatest hits album, as all of the songs on it were classic hits.  But they were re-recorded by the then 70-something Campbell.  In many ways, this was him saying goodbye and thank you to all of the fans who supported him, and it really did become a full circle moment for him.

As for his tour, it began in late 2011, and concluded on November 30, 2012.  For the most part, the tour went very well, although signs of the disease certainly became evident.  Once able to remember his lyrics without any problem at all, he was forced to rely on teleprompters to finish songs.  Much of his newer material was scrapped, as Campbell couldn't remember the chords needed to play the songs.  And sometimes Campbell was so into the concerts that he completely forgot he had Alzheimer's to begin with, and had to be constantly reminded.  It was a bittersweet tour, but I'm sure that anyone who saw him in concert in 2012 knew that just seeing him perform one last time was well worth it. 



He made his final televised appearance at the Grammy Awards on February 12, 2012.  And his final single release was nominated for an Academy Award just last year!

It's sad to say that since Campbell hung up his microphone in late 2012, his disease has gotten worse.  He currently lives in a Nashville facility where he has lost the ability to communicate with his loved ones, and is not even aware when people are speaking to him.  And, to me that just seems so unfair.  As I mentioned before, Alzheimer's is one of the cruelest diseases out there.  It completely destroys a person's mind to the point where only their body seems to remain.  I can't even imagine what his family must be going through.  It must be very difficult.




But you can't argue that since going public with his diagnosis five years ago that Glen Campbell wanted his last few years on Earth to be done his way.  And regarding his career, I'd say mission accomplished. 

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Farewell, Uncle Scrooge...

I'm taking a short recess from the "everything five years old is new again" theme to talk about something quite sad.

Now, I know that some of you can probably relate to this one, but you'd probably have different reasons why.  Take anybody who ever became a television journalist, for instance.  You might have been affected more by the death of longtime "60 Minutes" correspondent Morley Safer this past Thursday than the average population.  But that's not to discount what Morley Safer did...he was a fine journalist.  One of the best.

I'll admit to taking the deaths of both Prince and David Bowie hard because both of them were so influential in the music paths of so many entertainers, and I totally grew up listening to their music.  It's been a tough year for musicians already in 2016, but both of them passing within three months of each other seemed too much to bear.

And now, another legend has passed on...and this is one that really saddened me because he was an even bigger part of my childhood than any of the ones that I've listed in this post.



It all dates back to the early 1980s, when I first watched the holiday special "Mickey's Christmas Carol".  Of course, everyone knows that Mickey and Minnie Mouse are the official ambassadors of the Walt Disney company, and nobody could ever take their place.  However, the character of Scrooge McDuck certainly did his best to...shall we say...upstage them?  It wasn't Mickey and Minnie I was paying attention to - it was Scrooge!  It wasn't the first time that Scrooge McDuck had appeared in a Disney cartoon - some sources say that his first appearance was all the way back in 1947!



But it wasn't until Alan Young started voicing Scrooge that his character really started to take off.  I think his appearance in "Mickey's Christmas Carol" was outstanding, and again, that was to the credit of Alan Young, who really gave him a lot of personality.

In fact, I think he breathed new life into the character, as Scrooge emerged a favourite Disney character for anyone who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s.  After all, I think it was that success that created this show in the late 1980s, as well as a motion picture in 1990.



All Disney theme songs were fantastic - but I have a soft spot for "DuckTales".  It was my favourite of all the Disney Afternoon cartoons, and again, it had to do with Scrooge being the star.

I guess when I was a kid, I took Uncle Scrooge for granted.  I just always assumed he'd be there forever.  But as we learned on May 19, 2016, there's no such thing as forever.

Alan Young, the guy who voiced Scrooge, died that day at the age of 96 of natural causes.  And although he died at an age that most of us probably hope we could, it still makes it hard to swallow.

And that was just my own experiences with him.  Sure, I remember him best as Scrooge McDuck, as well as many other cartoons he did voices for - I'm thinking mostly of "The Smurfs", where he did the voice of Farmer Smurf.

But some people who are much older than I am - like say, my parents' age - probably remember him best as Wilbur Post, the clumsy man who had a horse that could talk.



To this day, I have not seen one episode of "Mister Ed".  And honestly I have no idea why that is the case.  I guess it's because no cable channel in Canada felt it was a good idea to rebroadcast the show in their kids' block of programming (yet felt it was a better idea to show endless reruns of "Size Small" with that grandmother whose lisp was so severe that every S sound made her whistle - it was fine for a while, but it grew annoying very quickly...)

I'm rambling.  Where was I again?  Oh yes, Mister Ed.

So, I never watched Mister Ed, but I've heard it was a fantastic show.  And although the series finale of that show was fifty years ago, it's still a beloved memory for people who grew up or were around in the 1960s.  And I imagine that they are grieving the loss just as hard as people in my generation are too.

There is a silver lining to this though.  Alan Young's career spanned almost eight decades.  That means that there's nearly 80 years of work that he has done over the years.  And while his work on the radio may forever be just a memory, there are lots of videos, DVD's, television shows, movies, and even video games of his voice in existence.  




(I'm not kidding about the video games either - he voiced Scrooge in the "Kingdom Hearts" franchise.)

Knowing that makes his loss easier to handle.




Thanks for the memories, Uncle Scrooge...