It's
time for another installment of the Tuesday
Timeline, and
the only thing that I can say about this week's topic is that it is all about
love!
I
just hope the weather holds out long enough for me to get this all typed
out. As I write this, the sky has
turned black and we're expected to get thunderstorms and quite possibly a
tornado. So, my ability to post this
really depends on whether or not I still have power - or a house, for that
matter.
For
now, let's have a look at the events that took place on this date in history
that I didn't choose. A lot happened on
June 21!
1734 - Marie-Joseph Angelique is put to death in
Montreal after being convicted of setting the fire that nearly destroyed the
whole city
1749 - The city of Halifax, Nova Scotia is founded
1788 - New Hampshire is admitted as the ninth
U.S. state
1791 - Louis XVI begins the Flight to Varennes
during the French Revolution
1854 - The first Victoria Cross is awarded
1877 - Ten Irish immigrants convicted of murder -
known as the Molly Maguires - are hanged
1900 - China formally declares war on the United
States, Britain, Germany, France, and Japan in the Boxer Rebellion
1919 - Two people are killed by the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police after they fire a volley into a crowd of unemployed war
veterans who gathered together as part of the Winnipeg General Strike
1921 - Actress/singer Judy Holliday (d. 1965) is
born in New York City; also born on this date is actress Jane Russell (d. 2011)
1925 - Actress Maureen Stapleton (d. 2006) is born
in Troy, New York
1944 - Director Tony Scott (d. 2012) is born in
Tynemouth, England
1945 - The Battle of Okinawa ends
1954 - British soap actress Anne Kirkbride (d.
2015) is born
1964 - Members of the Ku Klux Klan murder civil
rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Mickey Schwerner; Edgar Ray
Killen is convicted of manslaughter exactly 41 years later in 2005
1970 - The largest American bankruptcy takes
place on this date as Penn Central declares Section 77 bankruptcy
1982 - A not guilty verdict by reason of insanity
is given to John Hinckley for his assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan in
March 1981
2001 - Actor Carroll O'Connor passes away at the
age of 76
2006 - The newly discovered moons of Pluto are
named Hydra and Nix
2008 - American puppeteer Kermit Love passes
away, aged 91
2012 - A boat carrying over 200 refugees capsizes
in between Christmas Island and Java, killing 17, and leaving 70 missing
And
happy birthday to the following famous faces!
Turning another year older are Wally
Fawkes, Bernie Kopell, Eddie Adcock, Don Black, Mariette Hartley, Joe Flaherty, Lyman Ward, Dan Henning, Marjorie Margolies, Ray Davies, Brenda Holloway, Meredith Baxter, Michael Gross, Ian McEwan, Joey Kramer, John Paul Young, Nils Lofgren, Marcella Detroit, Berkeley Breathed, Kathy Mattea, Kip Winger, David Morrissey, Doug Savant, Lana Wachowski, Gretchen Carlson, Mancow Muller, Carrie Preston, Sonique, Juliette Lewis, Pascal Rheaume, Craig Lowndes, Shelley Craft, Sarah Slean, Chris Pratt, Brandon Flowers, Edward Snowden, Kris Allen, Sharna Burgess, and Lana Del Rey.
That's
a lot of June 21 birthdays!
All
right. It's time to check and see what
date we'll be looking at this week.
Ah, June 21, 1975. A good
year indeed. Or at least that's what
I've heard. I wasn't born yet.
But
I suppose you could say that as far as 1975 was concerned, it was the summer of
love...at least it was on the music charts.
During the summer of 1975, everyone did a little bit of "Jive
Talkin'", they did the Hustle, they were "Fallin' in Love", and
they even did a little dance, made a little love, and got down tonight!
Of
course, the song that kicked off the summer of romance hit the top of the
charts forty-one years ago today. And
that song was also the song that had the longest chart run of the year - four
whole weeks at the top!
Come on. Let's listen to that song
together.
ARTIST: Captain & Tennille
SONG: Love Will Keep Us Together ALBUM: Love Will
Keep Us Together DATE RELEASED: April 1975 PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #1 for 4 weeks
Ah,
yes. "Love Will Keep Us
Together". The debut single for
Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille - otherwise known as Captain & Tennille. This pop duo entertained people throughout
most of the decade known as the 1970s, but this song will forever be known as
their signature hit.
But
did you know that this song was actually a cover version?
The
original version was recorded two years earlier by singer-songwriter Neil
Sedaka. He's the guy that brought us
"Calendar Girl", "Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen", and
"Laughter in the Rain".
Though the single was recorded in 1973, it was never released in the
United States (which could explain why so many think that "Love Will Keep
Us Together" was a brand new song when it was released in 1975). Sedaka's version of the song was released in
some parts of Europe - most notably France.
Also
in 1973, the UK first got their taste of the song courtesy of singing duo Mac
and Katie Kissoon - who just happened to be brother and sister. Yeah, that's not creepy. That's not creepy at all.
Anyway,
their version also failed to make an impact on the American charts as well,
though in the Netherlands, their song peaked at #12.
Enter
Captain & Tennille, who released their version to much fanfare...though if
the Captain was the one who was steering the ship, "Love Will Keep Us
Together" would NOT have been the song that they would have preferred to
have as their debut. Instead, the
Captain believed that their version of "I Write The Songs" (made famous
by singer Barry Manilow later that year) would have been a better choice. But when the single peaked at #1 on the Easy
Listening charts on June 7, 1975, Captain & Tennille knew that they were on
the verge of something big with that single.
Two
weeks later, the song peaked at #1 in the United States. It would also chart at the top of the
Canadian and Australian charts later that year. And it would eventually be the song that kicked off the recording
careers of Captain & Tennille who would later go on to release
"Muskrat Love", "Can't Stop Dancin'", and "Do That To
Me One More Time". The song was
even translated into Spanish and peaked at #49 on the charts - one of the few
instances in which the same song released in two different languages would chart
on the Billboard 100!
It turns out that the song could have very well
have been a personal statement for the duo.
Having been involved as a couple in real life when they recorded this
song, Captain & Tennille would get married on November 11, 1975 - just a
few months after the song peaked at the top of the charts.
Sadly, love didn't keep these two together.
After thirty-eight years of marriage, Toni Tennille filed for divorce
from the Captain in January 2014 - and the Captain himself had no idea that she
had even filed until he was served with the divorce papers! Although nobody really knows why the divorce
went through, it is speculated that a neurological condition that the Captain
was experiencing was preventing him from performing. Whether or not that had anything to do with the split, who can
say?
But back in 1975, Captain & Tennille were very much in love. And I'm sure that this song has been playing
at wedding receptions ever since.
This
could end up being one of the most ironic statements that I have ever made in
this blog space, but I really dislike the word "popular".
It's quite ironic, given that the "POP" in "A Pop Culture
Addict's Guide To Life" stands for popular.
I
mean, it's not like I don't like the word popular in the same context that most
people don't like the word moist. Truth
be told, I know a lot of people who don't like the word moist. It makes me wonder why that Canadian band
Moist would ever think it to be a good name.
Anyway,
back to the word "popular" and why I don't like it.
Interestingly
enough, the reason why I don't like the word isn't because of the fact that I
never really saw myself as being popular.
Truth is, I'd be the first one to tell you that I'm not popular. That's the way I sort of like it. I don't need to have an entourage of people
telling me that I am great - because, let's face it. That'd get real old, real tiring, and real creepy real fast.
The
reason I don't like the word popular is because I feel that it is an impossible
word. Because when it comes down to
popularity, it is fleeting and doesn't always last forever. If it did, I'm sure that CSI, ER, or any other
show that ranked at the top of the Nielsen ratings would still be on the air
today. The popular cheerleaders don't
always stay popular after the rah-rah-rahs and sis-boom-bahs are uttered. The football jocks of yesteryear fade away
to make room for the fresh young blood.
And eventually people come to the realization that they only need to
have the love and respect of a few select people instead of everybody in the
world. I think it's an absolutely
pointless quest to try and become the most popular person because there are
always going to be people who don't agree.
I mean, I can think of a few people that I know who think that they are
popular, but in reality not a lot of people care too much for them. I'm not going to reveal who those people
are...but I've met a few who are like this.
The
thing is that life is not meant to be a popularity contest. It's nice to be liked, but understand that
getting the whole world to fall in love with you is an impossible
situation.
I suppose that when it comes to the lives of fictional high school students Sam
McPherson and Brooke McQueen, popularity either came naturally or it was
something that you had to work on.
Interestingly enough, the two names I dropped came from the short-lived
television series "Popular".
The
show aired between September 29, 1999 and May 18, 2001, and I do recall it
being a show that a lot of people watched.
I was in my OAC year when the show debuted so certainly it was a
byproduct of my generation. Despite the
show's success (it was created by Ryan Murphy who also was the creative genius
behind "Nip/Tuck" and "Glee"), it only ran for two years,
mainly because it was featured on the struggling WB Network. All in all, the show itself wasn't terrible,
aside from the fact that the show's storylines became more like an episode of
"Passions".
It
is a classic case of what happens when you blend the popular in-crowd with the
geek squad. Brooke McQueen (Leslie
Bibb) is the popular cheerleader who is adored by nearly everybody at Kennedy
High School. She will do anything to
stay popular, no matter how bitchy or insecure she might come across as. On the other side, you have shy and
incredibly intelligent Sam McPherson (Carly Pope), a young woman who has her
circle of outcast friends and is quite content with not wanting anything more
than that.
Two polar opposites with two different upbringings. Now, imagine if the two were brought together by something
unexpected...like say, a marriage?
When Brooke's father gets engaged to Sam's mother, and Brooke and Sam are
forced to live in the same house together, tensions flare. Immediately, both girls declare that they
hate each other and they both make it a point to try and break their parents up
so that they can go back to the way things used to be. And you know what? They almost succeed in doing exactly that at the end of the
show's first year.
But here's the great part about "Popular". By the second season, the girls have a major change of heart and
decide that their family deserves to stay together, and they even become closer
as a result. Even more interesting is
the fact that both of the girls' social circles expands as both girls and their
sets of friends start hanging around together.
Some examples include Harrison John (Christopher Gorham), a socially
awkward individual who slowly breaks out of his shell and ends up falling for
both Brooke and Sam. We have Nicole
Julien (Tammy Lynn Michaels), the incredibly brash and manipulative head
cheerleader who is known as Kennedy High's pot stirrer, but behind that social
piranha exterior is a wounded and insecure person. There's Carmen Ferrara and Lily Esposito (Sara Rue and Tamara
Mello), two friends of Sam's who start out as part of the unpopular crowd but
somehow find a way to move up the social ranks. There's Josh Ford (Bryce Johnson), the quintessential school jock
who softens up the moment he gets involved with Lily.
And, well...there's Mary Cherry (Leslie Grossman), and well...Mary Cherry is
such an enigma of a character trainwreck that I would need an entire blog entry
to dissect her incredibly unbelievable personality. But while she may come across as completely insane, she does
provide ample amounts of comic relief.
And you know, when it comes down to popularity, the whole quest for it just
seems like one huge comedic moment.
It's almost like a sitcom filled with karmic retribution and a storyline
that will never end because the quest for total popularity is one that cannot
be won. Though the good thing about
"Popular" is that it certainly did a great job spoofing the very
quest to be popular. I only wish it had
a chance to go on.
And, well...there's a particular reason why I decided to talk about
"Popular"...and sadly, the reason is one of sorrow.
One of the stars of the show, Ron Lester, passed away on June 17, 2016 at the
age of 45. On the show, Ron played the
role of Michael "Sugar Daddy" Bernardino, afootball player who simply
wants to be respected and find love despite the fact that he knows his size was
a major factor. Believe me, I could totally
relate to Sugar Daddy's concerns.
As many well know, Lester underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2001, dropping
over 300 pounds as a result, and undergoing several cosmetic surgeries to
remove excess skin as a result of it.
Unfortunately, fourteen years after the surgery, Lester developed problems
with his kidneys and liver, and went into hospice care in early 2016.
When we last left off with Jem Reviewed, the Holograms won a
fashion contest thanks to Shana's designs and a little help from Synergy. Let's see what happens this week.
Why,
it's time for another two-parter episode.
Like we didn't have enough of those! This is Episode 13: The Music Awards - Part 1.
The
setting is one of the many bedrooms inside of Starlight Mansion. And inside the bedroom are three of the
Starlight Girls. Playing with the Jem
doll - and a nice tie in with merchandising courtesy of Hasbro - is Ba
Nee. Brushing Ba Nee's hair is a new
girl we haven't met yet named Krissie.
And
standing in front of the mirror annoying both Ba Nee and Krissie is another
Starlight Girl named Deirdre. And Deirdre is a huge fan of Jem. In fact, with the posters plastered all over her bedroom wall,
one might say she's obsessed. Wouldn't
it blow her mind to know that she's been living with Jem all this time? But of course she'll never find out. She has a hard enough time telling RIO! But of course, Deirdre is determined to
learn the guitar well enough to one day play on stage with Jem. Too bad with the way she's playing, that
won't happen until the year 2017...which back in 1986 was decades away!
Lindsey
Pearce's show is on, and it's here that one of the plots is introduced - the
one that this episode is named after.
There's an awards show celebrating music (I'm assuming that it's the
American Music Awards, as the Grammys are usually held in February and this episode
screened in September), and in the category of Best New Rock Group, Jem and the
Holograms have been nominated for the award - which makes all the Starlight
Girls shriek with glee.
But
guess what? The Misfits are also
nominated in the same category. And
since Jerrica Benton took over Starlight Music and ousted the Misfits from the
company, that very well could be the only award they get. I'm also thinking that the episode might
have aired out of order...I think it probably should have been sandwiched in
between "Starbright: Rising Star" and "The World Hunger
Shindig" for it to make sense...but that could have been an oversight.
At
any rate, Pizzazz decides to take matters into her own hands and practically
begs her father to buy her a record company.
Because when he bought that movie studio for her seven episodes ago,
that worked out SO well! But having
learned nothing from that fiasco, Harvey Gabor does what Pizzazz wants, and
makes some calls. This isn't good.
But
we've got no time to worry about that now.
School starts very soon, and Jerrica has taken all twelve Starlight
Girls to Target to get the hottest fashions from 1986! Time for a song to commemorate this
occasion!
It's been said that this video is one of Christy Marx's least favourites, and I
can see why. It's a lot like the music
video for "Something Is Missing In My Life". There's nothing wrong with the song
"She Makes An Impression". If
used properly, it could have packed a punch.
But somehow watching a group of junior high students and grade schoolers
shopping for clothes that Punky Brewster would reject just makes this video
kind of...meh.
Deirdre
thinks she's hit the jackpot when she finds a dress that looks exactly like
Jem's.Oh yeah, like some junior high
school will let you wear that around the hallways.Jem's hemline isn't exactly long, you know.But to Deirdre's frustration, Jerrica seems
to be caught up in other things for her to notice Deirdre.My guess is that her heart probably stopped
when she saw the final bill.Happens
all the time when you're shopping for twelve.And they haven't even gone to Staples yet for school supplies!
After
the shopping excursion has ended, Jerrica goes back to work to make up for all
the money she spent on Vuarnet T-shirts and rainbow coloured toe socks when her
secretary Joanie alerts her to something going on across the street. It doesn't take long for Jerrica to realize
that Pizzazz's dream has come true.
Across
the street in the blackest, darkest, tallest office building that you could
imagine is "Misfits Music".
Oh, that's cold. Opening up
across the street from your competitor.
That's like opening up a Krispy Kreme donut shop in the same shopping
plaza as Dunkin' Donuts! With all of
this happening, and the stress from the upcoming awards show, this is too much
for Jerrica to handle.
Jerrica
calls for Aja, Shana, and Kimber to meet in Synergy's room, but before they get
there, Deirdre is trying to show Jerrica the cool new chords that she has
learned. Once again, Jerrica brushes
her off, and this time, Deirdre is venting her frustrations to Krissie and Ba
Nee. She's quite upset...and honestly
while I would say she has reason to be, this behaviour of putting the band over
the girls is nothing new for Jerrica.
Unfortunately.
Once
inside Synergy's room, the Holograms request Synergy's assistance in using
special effects to try and get an edge on the Misfits at the Music Awards, and
as shown by this screenshot, she definitely delivers.
But
outside of Starlight Mansion, a limousine pulls up. And inside the limo are the Misfits, Eric Raymond, and some weird
looking dude with a creepy voice who simply goes by the name of Techrat. But if Christy Marx had her
way, Techrat would look even weirder.
In this edition of Jem Trivia, Christy's initial sketch
of Techrat was supposed to be more androgynous. Think either David Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust phase or Boy
George.
Well,
Techrat - in addition to being very creepy - is also very handy with
technology. His latest invention is a
little box that can reportedly take any electronic item within a certain area
and make them go out of control. The
device would most certainly screw up Jem's appearance at the Music Awards, but
Techrat has to test it first.
When
he turns on the box outside of Starlight Mansion, everything goes haywire. Lights flicker on and off, Deirdre's
electric guitar starts making weird noises, and a blender explodes all over
Starlight Girl Delaree...who I think might only have like two lines
in the whole series.
Synergy
also starts to go crazy, and the light show turns into deadly lasers that could
divide the band into twenty-eight equal pieces! Jerrica tries to get close enough to Synergy to unplug her, but
those lasers are shooting at her very quickly and unpredictably for her to do
anything about it.
Fortunately,
luck - and Pizzazz's "Gimme Gimme Gimme" attitude strikes at the
right time, and she tries to get control of Techrat's invention so she can play
with it. Techrat, who can't stand to be
touched, is very aggravated by Pizzazz's forwardness, and in the scuffle, the
invention gets smashed into a million pieces, stopping the craziness inside the
mansion.
Once
everything has calmed down, and Synergy explains that the outside interference
caused her to go loco, Jerrica suspects the Misfits are responsible, which
makes her resolve to beat them even stronger.
The
rest of the Starlight Girls tell Jerrica and the others what happened, and
Jerrica tells them not to worry, as it was just a freak electrical mishap. But once again, she brushes Deirdre off, and
Deirdre loudly complains about Jerrica in front of the whole group. Surprisingly enough it is Ashley that acts
as the voice of reason, and explains that Jerrica is very busy, and that she's
doing her best. But Deirdre doesn't
believe Ashley, and remarks that Jem would never brush her aside like Jerrica
does.
And
where is Jem? Well, she's on her way to
a mysterious location with Rio, Video, and the rest of the Holograms. What's so special about a house on a simple
residential street? Video explains that
the Holograms have to meet with someone who may be able to improve their
choreography skills in their live concerts.
And...wow...I
know she's a cartoon character, but she is absolutely stunning. She can really dance too. Have a look!
The video for "When It's Only Me And The Music" is stunning. Visually, it's near perfection. And as far as the song itself goes, it once
again proves that Jem and the Holograms' strength is with ballads. Absolutely beautiful. In fact, just as "Designing Woman"
might be my favourite Misfits song, I think this one might be my favourite Jem
song so far!
Once
the song ends, and Jem and the others applaud the mysterious woman, the woman
seems shocked and then flattered by the attention. Video introduces the group to Giselle Dvorak. But her stage name is...yep. You guessed it. Danse. Oooh la la...she uses the French spelling too!
Turns
out that this wonderful dancer with the multi-coloured hair also has a huge
heart as well. When she's not working
as a dancer on rock videos and stage productions, she works at a place called
Haven House - the location where they are now.
Haven House is a place where teenagers who have run away from home go to
stay. The space is limited and there
aren't enough beds for everyone, but they do the best they can with the
resources they have.
The
reason why Danse wanted to meet with Jem and the Holograms is because she needs
their help. Haven House is putting on a
benefit at Stouffer Stadium where all proceeds will go towards the house, and
Danse thinks that if Jem performs at the benefit concert, it would be a big
help. Jem, of course, doesn't hesitate
in saying yes.
Back
home, Jem and Rio are discussing the plans for the benefit concert, and Rio is
thinking of trying something new with the lighting on stage, but Jem makes the
mistake of telling Rio that they've got it covered - not realizing that Rio
doesn't know about Synergy. Actually,
there's not much Rio knows.
All
Rio knows is that he's upset that Jem seems to think that someone else is
better than him, and this leads to a small fight between the two of them. And of course, Deirdre picks the worst time
to try and show Jem how to play guitar because Jem snaps at her and brushes her
off again, causing Deirdre to cry.
We
see Deirdre shredding all of the posters on her wall, and crying about how much
she hates everyone, and how she is going to run away from home to get away from
everyone. Ba Nee thinks it to be a fun
adventure, and decides she wants to run away too. Yeah, never mind the fact that Jerrica tortured herself making a
movie to pay for an operation that ALLOWED YOU TO SEE!!! That's gratitude for you!
Krissie attempts to make Deirdre see the error in her ways, but Deirdre insists
on taking off. Krissie, unable to
change her mind, agrees to go with her - but before they leave, Krissie leaves
a note for Jerrica explaining the situation.
At least ONE of the three are thinking sensibly. But when Deirdre announces that they'll be
going to hide out at the Misfits, I shake my head. Did Ashley not tell you ANYTHING about what happened to her when
she ran away? I mean, you might be able
to get in good with Stormer, but Pizzazz and Roxy? Yeesh...
And
there's also a scene that seems tacked on where a man throws his son out of the
house and orders him not to come back ever again. I don't know why they do this...I mean, what are the odds of this
having anything to do with the storyline?
Completely
oblivious to what is going on - as usual - Lindsey is meeting with Jem and
Danse to discuss the benefit concert for Haven House. Apparently, it's being held on August 3, 1986 - which seems like
an eternity ago, doesn't it? But it's
nice of Lindsey to agree to promote the cause on her show.
But
no episode would be an episode without conflict. And this conflict is a huge one.
The night of the Haven House benefit is the same night as the Music
Awards. And as Lindsey explains to Jem,
skipping out on the Music Awards could mean career suicide. Unfortunately, Jem seems to agree with
Lindsey, and breaks Danse's heart by telling her they can't make the
benefit. Danse takes the news with
disappointment, but handles it really well.
A lot better than I would handle it.
Seriously,
Jem...you can't go back on a commitment you made to Danse just to puff up your
ego and win an award! Who do you think
you are? Pizzazz? This is why Jem/Jerrica aggravates me
sometimes.
Speaking
of Pizzazz, Deirdre, Krissie, and Ba Nee arrive at Misfits Music, and Stormer
immediately recognizes them as Starlight Girls. Deirdre explains the situation, and while Stormer is assigned to
watch them, Pizzazz and Roxy make a phone call.
The
phone call they make is to a child protective services officer named Jack Sobieski. The fact that Pizzazz of all
people is reporting a crime against child welfare is hysterical comedy in
itself. But unfortunately, Pizzazz's
call to CPS does make Mr. Sobieski very suspicious, and he vows to take the
matter seriously. Seems to me like
Jerrica is about to receive a cosmic bitchslap any time now.
Sure
enough, Jerrica's finally ready to hear Deirdre's song - only to see the
bedroom floor covered with bits and pieces of Jem posters. If this weren't a cartoon, that would be
very creepy. Ashley runs in with the
note that Krissie left behind explaining that they ran away from Starlight
Mansion, and before you know it, Jerrica is swallowing a huge slice of humble
pie. I hope it tastes really bitter,
Jerrica. Believe me, you kind of
deserve it.
Back
at Pizzazz's mansion, would you believe that the Misfits are making Deirdre, Ba
Nee, and Krissie do chores? They
thought that by running away from Starlight Mansion that they'd never do chores
again! Silly kids! But Pizzazz does tell them that because of
their work, they have earned free tickets to their concert that night...which
Deirdre sees as justification for running away.
Meanwhile,
everyone at Starlight House is going all over the city trying to find the
missing girls. They check the video
arcade, the local diner, and even a bus depot.
Still no luck.
At
this point, Jerrica realizes that she's made a terrible mistake - well,
actually she's made terrible mistakes.
As in plural. But that's all
semantics now, and she now has to do what is right.
The
first thing she does is make things right with Danse, and they tell her that no
award is worth having the wonderful opportunity to play a charity gig, and
Danse happily accepts their recommitment to the cause. But when Danse asks what changed their mind,
the Holograms are a little too chatty and tell her everything that happened
with Deirdre, Krissie, and Ba Nee, which I find to be a bit much considering
that they only met yesterday. Why Danse
could be an undercover cop and all four of them would be thrown in jail! Whatever the case, Jem believes that if the
girls see them perform at the benefit concert, it will make them come back
home.
Outside
of the arena where the Misfits are performing, we see a scalper trying to sell
Misfits tickets for outrageous prices.
Well, okay, maybe fifty bucks doesn't sound like a lot now, but it was
worth a small fortune in 1986. I'd have
to lose 50 baby teeth to make that much back then! That kid that was thrown out of his home earlier in the episode
crashes into the scalper, and he swipes one of the concert tickets, angering
the scalper. But before he can get his
hands on the kid, the kid enters the concert hall, and the scalper threatens to
deal with him later.
And
Krissie and Ba Nee are starting to get angry with Deirdre, and try to convince
her that staying with the Misfits is not a good idea, but Deirdre refuses to
listen to reason until after the concert.
They have a hard time seeing the show, so Deirdre spots a nearby
antenna, and the three girls decide to climb up on it to get a better view as
the Misfits start their set.
I have to say, "I Am A Giant" is a
kick-ass song with a creative video. I
think this may be the only video in the Jem series that has actually utilized
black and white so far. It's very
stunning, and Pizzazz as an Amazon woman would be one scary sight!
Krissie on the other hand is scared of heights, and she realizes that she wants
to climb down. But she loses her
footing and falls off the antenna with Deirdre screaming in horror!
But we don't get to see Krissie go kersplut on the ground, as the TO BE
CONTINUED graphic gets superimposed over her look of pure horror. We'll have to wait until next week to see
what happens next. And believe me, I'll
have plenty of opinions in that show too.
I
present to you a historic moment in the Tuesday
Timeline
feature. This is officially the
furthest that I have ever gone back in time with the Tuesday Timeline - well,
aside from that April Fools Day joke I pulled a few years back. Trust me though...this history lesson will
be worth it. Especially if you live
south of the Canadian border.
I'll leave you with that thought as we take a look at some of the events that
took place throughout history on June 14.
1158 - Munich, Germany is founded by Henry the
Lion
1287 - Kublai Khan defeats the force of Nayan and
other traditional Borjigin princes in Manchuria and East Mongolia
1775 - The United States Army is founded under
the original name of the Continental Army
1789 - Bourbon is first produced by Reverend
Elijah Craig
1900 - Hawaii becomes a territory of the United
States - it would become an official state fifty-nine years later
1907 - Women in Norway are granted the right to
vote
1928 - Ernesto "Che" Guevara (d. 1967)
is born in Rosario, Argentina
1940 - Paris, France falls under German occupation
forcing the Allies to retreat during World War II
1945 - Brazilian director Carlos Reichenbach is
born - he would die on his 67th birthday in 2002
1949 - A rhesus monkey named Albert becomes the
first monkey to go into outer space
1954 - Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill that
places the words "under God" into the United States Pledge of
Allegiance
1964 - Railway workers at a London station are
shocked to find a twelve-year-old girl inside of a tea chest alive; she decided
to mail herself to The Beatles!
1967 - Mariner 5 is launched towards Venus on the
same day that The People's Republic of China tests its first hydrogen bomb
1985 - TWA Flight 847 is hijacked by Hezbollah
shortly after taking off from Athens, Greece
1986 - A deadly accident takes place at the West
Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta after the Mindbender roller coaster smashes
into a concrete pillar after failing to go around a loop - three people are
killed
1994 - Riots break out in Vancouver, British
Columbia following the Stanley Cup Playoffs in which New York Rangers win the
championship against the Vancouver Canucks; over 200 are arrested and damage is
estimated at $1.1 million - on the same day, composer Henry Mancini dies at the
age of 70
1997 - Actor Richard Jaeckel dies at the age of
70
2002 - An asteroid misses the Earth by a narrow
margin - only 75,000 miles!
2015 - 6,500 acres are destroyed following a
wildfire near Willow, Alaska
And
the following famous faces are turning one year older today! Happy birthday to Don Newcombe, Marla Gibbs, Jack Bannon, Jonathan Raban, Joe Grifasi, Donald Trump, Hiroshi Miyauchi, Jim Lea, Alan White, Eddie Mekka, David Thomas, Will Patton, Paul O'Grady, Nick Van Eede, Boy George, Chris DeGarmo, Yasmine Bleeth, Traylor Howard, Campbell Brown, Faizon Love, Eric Desjardins, Steffi Graf, Heather McDonald, Dominic Brown, Sutan "Raja" Amrull, Alan Carr, J.R. Martinez, Siobhan Donaghy, Kevin McHale, Lucy Hale, and Courtney Halverson.
Now,
as I mentioned before, this is the oldest Tuesday Timeline date that I have
ever talked about in this space. It's
so old, we're going back over a couple of centuries!
How
about we take a look at what happened exactly two hundred and thirty-nine years
ago today on June 14, 1777?
Yep. We're going back to a time in which Canada
wasn't a country, and the United States was just a few weeks shy of celebrating
its first birthday as a unified nation.
Of course, back in those days, America was only made up of thirteen
colonies/states - Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
South Carolina, and Virginia.
When
the United States officially became an independent nation on July 4, 1776, the
nation needed its own flag to symbolize the event. The only problem was that back in 1776, the Continental Congress
wouldn't legally adopt any flags that contained a star shape in a blue field. As a result, the first flag of the United
States looked something like this.
In the corner was the British Union Jack - the country that America declared
its independence from - and the red and white stripes represented the colonies
that declared its independence from Great Britain. Count the stripes and you will see that there are exactly
thirteen.
That
design would last for eleven months before the Continental Congress would pass
a new bill regarding the design of the flag.
That bill was passed on June 14, 1777.
During that time, Congress had a change of heart over the inclusion of
stars in the flag design, so the decision was made to remove the Union Jack
from the original design, and instead place thirteen stars inside of a solid
dark blue background representing the first thirteen states to join the union.
The
design of the American flag is credited to New Jersey resident and naval flag
designer Francis Hopkinson. Though some
may say that this is false, it is widely believed to be true, as Hopkinson was
the only one to make that claim during his own lifetime and reportedly sent
several letters and bills to Congress supposedly proving it. But there are some who also claim it to be
false, as Hopkinson's original design had seven white stripes and six red
stripes (the opposite of what the current American flag holds), as well as six
pointed stars instead of five. At this
point in time, it's hard to say what the real truth was, as nobody living in
1777 is still alive. But it is generally
believed that Hopkinson came up with the concept.
It is also widely believed that Betsy Ross was
the first person in the country to sew the American flag after being given a
pencil sketch by George Washington himself - a design that was like Hopkinson's
plan except the stars were five pointed and arranged in a circle. However, there is no evidence that suggests
that Betsy Ross was given that design, or even was responsible for sewing the
flag at all. In fact, some descendants
of flagmaker Rebecca Young claim that Young was the one who sewed the first
American flag, not Ross.
Whatever the case, the first American flag was publicly raised in June 1777 and
remained the flag's symbol ever since.
Though, the original design was modified with the creation of each
state. The first amendment was made in
1795 with the addition of Kentucky and Vermont to the Union, and twenty-five
subsequent redesigns were made over the next two centuries - the final one
being made in 1960 with the addition of the fiftieth state, Hawaii.
And the fifty star design just happens to be the one that has lasted the
longest - nearly 56 years and counting.
So, unless something drastic happens such as Quebec separating from
Canada and becoming the fifty-first state, I suspect this design will continue
to hold true.
So, whether you refer to it as "Old Glory", the Star-Spangled Banner,
or simply the American flag, know that it was on this day 239 years ago, it was
first introduced.
Which could explain why "Flag Day" has become an American holiday.