Search This Blog

Tuesday, September 06, 2016

September 6, 1997

It's the first Tuesday Timeline for September 2016, and I have to say that I am feeling optimistic about this month.  The summer of 2016 wasn't that spectacular, and I am more than willing to move on towards fall.

I just wish today's subject was just as optimistic, but hey, you can't win 'em all.  For now, let's have a look at what happened on this date in history.

1492 - Christopher Columbus sails from La Gomera to the Canary Islands before setting out on his journey to cross the Atlantic Ocean for the first time

1522 - The Victoria becomes the first ship to circumnavigate the world

1628 - The Puritans settle Salem, Massachusetts

1803 - Symbols are first used to represent the atoms of different elements by scientist John Dalton

1861 - Paducah, Kentucky is captured by the army led by Ulysses S. Grant during the American Civil War

1870 - Louisa Ann Swain becomes the first woman to legally cast a vote in the United States

1901 - President William McKinley is shot and killed at the Pan-Am Expo in Buffalo, New York

1916 - Piggly Wiggly opens its first location in Memphis, Tennessee

1939 - South Africa declares war on Germany during World War II

1944 - Ypres, Belgium is liberated by Allied forces as Soviet forces capture the city of Tartu, Estonia

1947 - Disco/R&B singer Sylvester (d. 1988) is born in Los Angeles, California

1966 - Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd - the architect of apartheid - is stabbed to death during a parliamentary meeting in Cape Town, South Africa

1968 - Swaziland becomes an independent nation

1972 - Nine athletes from Israel lose their lives at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich - they had been kidnapped and held hostage by a terrorist group and died during a rescue attempt

1984 - Country singer Ernest Tubb dies at the age of 70

1985 - Thirty-one people are killed when Midwest Airlines Flight 105 crashes immediately after takeoff from Milwaukee, Wisconsin

1986 - Bananarama's version of the Shocking Blue single "Venus" becomes a #1 hit on the Billboard Charts

1990 - Creedence Clearwater Revival guitarist Tom Fogerty dies at the age of 48

1995 - Cal Ripken Jr. plays his 2,131st consecutive baseball game - a record not broken since 1956

2003 - The single "Shake Ya Tailfeather" by Nelly, P. Diddy, and Murphy Lee reaches the top of the Billboard charts

2007 - Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti passes away at the age of 71

And turning one year older this September 6 are the following famous (or infamous) faces; Jo Anne Worley, David Allan Coe, Roger Waters, Swoozie Kurtz, Jane Curtin, Buddy Miller, Carly Fiorina, Michaelle Jean, Jeff Foxworthy, Michael Winslow, Simon Reeve, Scott Travis, Chris Christie, Elizabeth Vargas, Mark Chesnutt, Rosie Perez, William DuVall, Macy Gray, CeCe Peniston, Cheyne Coates, Dylan Bruno, Idris Elba, Anika Noni Rose, Nina Persson, Cisco Adler, Foxy Brown, Kerry Katona, Max George, and Matt McAndrew.



Now, this is the date that we're going to be taking a look at eventually.  The date is September 6, 1997.  But before we do that, we're going to go back one week earlier when news broke of a devastating accident that sent the whole world into shock.



Here's my question to all of you.  Where were you when you first heard the news of Princess Diana's car accident in Paris, France?

I can tell you exactly where I was.  It was Saturday night, August 30, 1997.  It was the last weekend before the start of eleventh grade, and after playing a rousing game of "Super Mario RPG", I turned on the radio to my favourite radio station to hear the Saturday Night '80s show that aired each week.  Somewhere in between "Mony Mony" by Billy Idol and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen came the announcement of Diana's car crash, and I just remember being in complete shock.  At that time, Diana's companion, Dodi Al-Fayed was already declared dead, as was the driver of their car, Henri Paul, so there was still hope that Diana would at least survive.



Sadly, on August 31, 1997, Diana, the Princess of Wales, passed away, just 36 years old.  She left behind her two sons, William, then aged 15, and Harry, just two weeks shy of turning thirteen.  And, I'll tell you something, her death did send a little bit of shockwaves through me.  Although I never got the chance to meet the woman, I feel as though most of us knew her based on the extensive media coverage dedicated to her.  We learned about how she supported several charities, how she was devoted to her two children, and even saw her cut a rug with John Travolta once in a while!  Her wedding to Prince Charles in 1981 was one of the most watched global broadcasts at that time, with some 750 million people watched the couple exchange vows.

Of course, by 1996, the couple's divorce was finalized, so maybe the wedding wasn't as much of a fairy tale as was projected.  But still, it was an event that captured the attention of everybody who was alive at that time - though I'm sure I was sleeping through it on account that I was only two months old then.

Sadly, an even larger audience (two billion people are estimated to have watched part of the broadcast worldwide) tuned in to say a final farewell to Diana on Saturday, September 6, 1997.



I know.  I was one of those who watched part of it.  As I remember correctly, almost every television station (with the exception of The Weather Network and TVOntario) aired the funeral procession, so there wasn't a whole lot to watch at that time anyway.



As far as funeral services go, I do feel as though it was a beautiful service, even though the occasion was extremely solemn.  I mean, here was a woman who was the embodiment of elegance, class, and goodwill taken way too soon.  It's always a sad occasion when someone dies before they are meant to.  It was especially heartbreaking to see Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry walking behind the coffin, knowing that this would be their final goodbye.

It appeared as though a lot of people wanted to pay their respects to Diana as well.  Between August 31 and September 5, people lay flowers, cards, and stuffed bears at the gates of Kensington Palace - and still continued to do so months after her funeral, and on the morning of her funeral, an estimated one million people lined the streets outside of Westminster Abbey to pay their respects to Diana.

It seemed fitting that her longtime friend, Elton John - who had been comforted by Diana just one month earlier at the funeral services for fashion designer and mutual friend Gianni Versace - would write the song that would be performed at the service.  It was a reworking of a 1973 song written by Bernie Taupin about another woman who had passed away, Marilyn Monroe.



ARTIST:  Elton John
SONG:  Candle in the Wind 1997
ALBUM:  Something About The Way You Look Tonight (single)
DATE RELEASED:  September 13, 1997
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  #1 for 14 weeks

Okay, so there wasn't too many changes made between the two versions - the most obvious one being the opening line which changed from "Goodbye Norma Jean" to "Goodbye, England's Rose".  But it was a great way to honour her, and I'd like to think it was one final gift that Elton John gave to his friend.

And lest you think that Elton John profited from the song, you would be absolutely mistaken.  Every pound and dollar that was raised from the sales of the single went toward all of the various charities that Diana supported over the years.

It seems so hard to believe that it has been nineteen years since Diana was laid to rest.  The world has changed a lot in that time, as has the Royal Family.  Prince Charles wed Camilla Parker Bowles - the very woman that Charles had an affair with while still married to Diana.  Prince William found his own Princess in Kate Middleton, and together they have two children, George and Charlotte.  And Prince Harry has yet to settle down with anybody yet, though his relationships have seemed to become tabloid fodder - much to the chagrin of the Royal Family given the circumstances behind Diana's death in the Parisian tunnel.  Prince William is just two years away from being the same age that Diana was when she passed away.  It's mad how time goes by so quickly, isn't it?

And yet, even though nineteen years has passed since Diana left this world, her legacy continues to shine brightly, and she is still fondly remembered as the People's Princess.  Mainly because she probably understood the people more than any other monarch in history.



She will continue to be missed dearly.

Monday, September 05, 2016

Monday of Munsch: Thomas' Snowsuit

Happy Labor Day, everybody...or as we Canadians like to call it - Labour Day!  We do love our U's!

So, we're into the month of September, and for this and every Monday in the month, I thought that I would do something very special that incorporates my love of reading with life lessons learned along the way.

And to make this temporary feature even more special, every single book that I will spotlight will be written by the same author.  An author who I had the pleasure of meeting all the way back in 1990!



Okay, so I met him for maybe two minutes or so.  But when children's author Robert Munsch came to town, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to meet him.  Every single one of his books is a masterpiece, and I would cite him as one of the main influences in my creative life.

I suppose one of the main reasons why I love Robert Munsch as an author is the fact that he cam create stories from a wide variety of different sources.  Sometimes he'll even get inspiration from people who took him into their homes, or from kids he meets while he goes on reading tours.  This is exactly how he came to craft the story that I have chosen today, as he was trying to entertain a group of preschoolers in Halifax, Nova Scotia by telling them a story about a boy and his snowsuit.

That book became Thomas' Snowsuit.



Now, I know what you're thinking.  The first day of Winter is still months away, and we're still enjoying shorts and T-shirt weather.  It's way too soon to be thinking about snowsuit weather.  And, technically, you're right...however, I have to tell this story because it was the first story that popped into my head.

Now, for those of you who have read the story, you know exactly what it is all about.  There's a kid named Thomas who gets a brand new snowsuit to wear during the winter months.  The problem is that it is a plain brown snowsuit.  It's bland, it's dull, and Thomas hates it.  



He hates it so much that he does everything in his power to not wear it.  He gets into fights with his mother to the point where the entire living room gets trashed.  He has found a way to make the word NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNO last a whole minute.  And when he is forced to put on his snowsuit at recess, he somehow ends up getting his teacher and the principal to swap clothes while he continues to stand around refusing to put on the snowsuit until the kids call out for him to come outside and play.

It's quite a cute story about dealing with the situations you're dealt with and prioritizing what is really important in the world.

Now, I want to share with you my own personal Thomas' Snowsuit story.  Only, it's Matthew's Snowsuit.

And, I will just say this.  I hated snowsuits.  At least I did back in the 1980s, anyway.

You know the ones I mean, don't you?  They came with a parka and matching snowpants which were fashioned the same way that a pair of overalls were.  They were big, bulky, hard to get on, and hard to move around in.  I would have preferred to have skipped the snowsuit altogether and worn one of those bomber style jackets, but Mom always said that it was way too cold to do that in the second grade, and that snow was wet and cold and I would end up soaking wet if I played on the snow forts in the schoolyard.

Let me tell you, the old style snowsuits were like torture devices for the average seven-year-old, and the most pointless invention ever made.  I spent so much time getting the damn thing on that by the time I had the snowsuit, boots, mittens, and hat on, recess was over and I had to spend another ten minutes trying to get everything off again.  And heaven forbid you had to go to the bathroom during recess or lunch period.  That was a disaster in itself!

And just like Thomas, my snowsuit was a special kind of ugly.  Okay, so my snowsuit wasn't brown...but it was navy blue - a colour that I didn't care for when I was younger.  Every other kid in the class had brightly coloured ones, like red, and yellow, and green, and pink...

...well, okay, I wouldn't have worn the pink one either.

But still...I didn't like wearing the snowsuit, and I do recall having arguments with my teacher about why I didn't want to wear it.  I even tried to compromise with her about wearing part of it, but skipping the suspender snowpants, but she wouldn't budge.  I would have rather stayed inside the school and read a book rather than go outside in the playground and be bombarded with snowballs.

(Because let's face it...even though our school banned snowballs in the playground, we all still did it anyway because we were rebellious and stupid.)

However, looking back on it, I do realize that I was lucky enough to have actually owned a snowsuit.  There are some people who can't afford to buy one (because let's face it, snowsuits are extremely overpriced).  That's why I'm glad my area has snowsuit drives where we can donate them to other people who might need them.  And, really, if it keeps you warm, does it really matter what colour it is?  Sure, it did when I was seven and superficial, but in my mid-thirties, I tend to think a lot more practical.


Though, I still think that snowsuits that still use overall designs need to be banned.  Slush pants are just as effective and easier to put on!

Friday, September 02, 2016

Jem Reviewed: Episode 24 - The Jem Jam, Part 2

We were introduced to the Jem Jam in the last episode of Jem Reviewed, where we learned that Ba Nee was longing for a father, the Misfits were starving for attention, and Jem never wanting to see a balloon again for the rest of her life.



Let's see how this two part episode concludes with Episode 24: The Jem Jam - Part 2.

So, when we last left off, Jem was about to have her face ripped off by the dogs guarding Gabor Manor in an effort to get Luna Dark back to Starlight Mansion.  Luna Dark, of course, being the pop star who looks a lot like Madonna during her "Into The Groove" era.  Jem tries a half-hearted attempt to get the dogs to go away by having Synergy transform her into Pizzazz, but the dogs are too clever to fall for that.



So Jem instead instructs Synergy to project a hologram of a dog large enough to pass for a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Maybe the dogs aren't that smart after all.



The dogs make such loud noises that it alerts Pizzazz, Roxy, and Stormer who are inside the mansion at the time and they rush outside to find out what is going on.  Taking advantage of this, Jem manages to sneak inside the house just as the Misfits are exiting and locates Luna Dark in a side room.  Luna is thrilled to see Jem and decides to do an impromptu version of "Daddy Don't Lecture" right in the middle of Pizzazz's living room to celebrate.

Or, maybe Jem just guides her to the Rockin' Roadster so that they can go to the safe zone - Starlight Mansion.



It appears as though the Misfits will be safe and sound too...inside of the doggie kennel.  The dogs lunge for the girls, but Pizzazz locks them safely inside the kennel area...where it appears they'll remain the whole weekend!  Guess we won't be hearing from them until the first commercial break, huh?



Back at Starlight Mansion, the Starlight Girls and the Jem Jam guests are relaxing by the pool, having a great time - well, all except Ba Nee that is.  She's strapped on her roller skates and is stalking Randy James who is jogging down the street in one of those quintessential 1980s track suits.  Because as we know, Ba Nee thinks Randy is her father just based on the fact that he has red hair and he served during the Vietnam War once upon a time.  Ba Nee tells Randy that she was born in An Loc, and Randy admits that he's heard of the place before, which delights Ba Nee enough for her to tell him that she's his daughter and that he needs to buy her a pony.



Too bad Ba Nee absolutely sucks on roller skates.  She trips and falls, skinning her knee really badly.  Randy picks her up and decides that he will take her home so that Jerrica can bandage up her knee.  Ba Nee just hugs him, believing that he is her father and that he will take her home.  Oh, Ba Nee...why do I get the feeling that you're setting yourself up for heartbreak?



Krissie isn't having much fun back at Starlight Mansion.  It's bad enough that Dominic Lerner has stolen her room, but now Dominic expects her to do his laundry on top of all that!  Wow, what year is Dominic living in?  1787?

Fortunately, living with sixteen other women has given Krissie a lot of independence, and she throws Dominic's dirty underthings right back at him and tells him that she's no longer impressed by his star power and chooses to confront him by...singing him a song.  All right then.



"You May Be A Star" is not as strong as "A Father Can Be", but I think it's a little better than "I Can See Me".  You can definitely feel Krissie's anger and frustration towards Dominic, that's for sure.



But did you wonder why this two-part episode featured songs by Ashley, Ba Nee, and Krissie?  Well, perhaps this piece of Jem Trivia can help.  You know how Jem and the Holograms were first manufactured as dolls by Hasbro?  Well, Ashley, Ba Nee, and Krissie were the only Starlight Girls who were made into dolls - hence the reason why these three are featured the most in the series.  Sorry for those of you who wanted a Lela, Deirdre, or Delaree doll.



To make matters worse, Lena refuses to let Dominic perform at the Jem Jam, saying that he is way too young for the responsibility, setting Dominic off even more.



Pissed off at Krissie's "I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar" speech/song, and angry at his mother for being overprotective, Dominic decides that he'll ruin someone else's day instead.  He passes by a room where Ashley and the Starlights are rehearsing and point blank tells them that they suck.  Who's Dominic's father?  Simon Cowell?  Turns out that Ashley doesn't seem to want to listen to Dominic either and tells him that they'll get better with practice and that he should leave.



Dominic heads out to the pool area where Anne and Terri try to convince him to take a dip in the pool, but once again Dominic turns everyone off by bragging about how good he is and how he can outswim anyone.  This sets Krissie off and she gets so fed up with him that she shoves him into the pool with all of his clothes on.  This gets a few chuckles from Anne and Terri in the process and Krissie seems satisfied with her little stunt.



At least that is until Dominic doesn't come up to the surface, drowns in the middle of the pool, and Krissie is charged with his murder and goes to jail.



Just kidding.  As if they'd kill off Lena Lerner's son!  Krissie manages to save him from drowning and successfully pulls him up to the side of the pool with help from Anne and Terri.  Of course, Dominic tries to blow the whole thing off by saying that he did that on purpose to keep them on their toes, but Krissie could tell that he was really scared because he didn't know how to swim, and doesn't know why he just wouldn't admit to it.

Probably because Dominic Lerner is a narcissist with a fat head.  But hey, that's just my opinion.



Some time passes, and it's time for the Starlight Girls to go on a fun adventure to the local zoo where they hope to see lions, tigers, and bears.  Oh my!  And Ba Nee is super excited to be going on this trip with Randy because according to Ba Nee, he's her dad and he will do everything for her.  But when Ba Nee discovers that all the Starlight Girls are going, she is upset because she thinks they'll interfere with her getting to know her "father" more.  Jerrica is tired of Ba Nee's selfish attitude and tells her that if she doesn't apologize to her friends, she won't go.  Wow, where was this firm attitude 24 episodes ago?



Someone else who is in a foul mood is Dominic, who is still sulking that he won't be taking part in the Jem Jam.  He sasses back his momma who gives him a backhand right across the face!  Well, okay, that doesn't happen.  But Lena grounds Dominic and forbids him from leaving the mansion which means no zoo trip for him.  As Dominic sulks away, Krissie decides that she will stick around Starlight Mansion while everyone else is at the zoo, mainly so she can find out what's bothering him.



I'm guessing that three days have at least passed in between Dominic's near drowning and the zoo trip because the Misfits and Eric Raymond are inside Techrat's metal igloo demanding that the super creepy genius find a way to get the Misfits enough of a gimmick so that they can outshine the Jem Jam.  And after nearly getting electrocuted by one of Techrat's inventions, Pizzazz decides that this creepy setting would make a fantastic place to shoot a new music video.



I think this video was largely inspired by the weird music videos that debuted on early MTV combined with the stutter of Max Headroom and the visual aids of the Nu Shooz video for "I Can't Wait".  Either way, "Gimme a Gimmick" is definitely a song that sticks with you long after the song ends.  I do like it quite a lot, and the song style basically tells you that this is definitely an eighties cartoon!



And it seems as though Techrat has come up with a gimmick that he promises will overshadow anything that Jem and the Holograms could even be capable of.  We don't actually see what the invention is, except that is glows bright blue and is large enough to fit in some sort of airport hangar.  Oh, and Roxy and Stormer are completely mesmerized by its beauty.  Pizzazz wonders if the invention is safe, and Techrat gives his seal of approval.



Okay, so Techrat had his fingers crossed the whole time...it's still good, right?



Back at the zoo, the Starlight Girls are having fun looking at the animals, and a couple in particular note how funny looking the bears are.  Rio warns the girls that even though the bears look funny, they can also bite off their faces and feast on their intestines for dessert.  Okay, he doesn't quite say it like that, but you know he's thinking it.

Ba Nee couldn't care less about the animals.  All she cares about is being around Randy James.  So when she overhears a conversation between Jerrica, Randy, and Johnny Deacon about Johnny's upcoming concert in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ba Nee happily declares that she needs to get her suitcase so she can pack.  Jerrica questions why she would need to do that, and Ba Nee drops the bomb that Randy is her father and that Randy came back to take her home.

Randy denies the accusation, but since Maury Povich didn't have a talk show in 1987 and paternity tests were not easily achievable, we're going to have to take his word for it.  Ba Nee cries foul and claims that his red hair and the fact that he served in Vietnam is proof enough for her, but Randy explains that he was nowhere near Ba Nee's birthplace of An Loc, and that he can't possibly be her father.



Ashley tries to do her best to console Ba Nee, which is a hell of a lot more than what Jerrica does - she just stands there and watches her scream and shout that Randy has to be her father - and just like that Ba Nee takes off running towards the bear enclosure at the zoo.

Ba Nee shouts to the group that she will prove that Randy is her father.  Her plan is quite simple.  She plans to slide down into the bear pit where two gigantic bears are waiting for their next meal.  If Randy saves her life, she'll know that he's her father.



Let me say this again...Ba Nee is risking getting torn apart by two giant bears in order to manipulate a random red-haired stranger into adopting her as his own child.

WHAT THE HELL, BA NEE?!?



I'm guessing Ba Nee didn't think this plan thoroughly because once the bears spot her, she freaks out and now wants anybody to rescue her.  And at first, I'm thinking that it won't be Jerrica as she's just standing there with Randy making her "oh no, the bear's gonna eat my foster child and I'm gonna go to jail" face.  Jerrica's not very good at crisis management, is she?

Fortunately, Johnny Deacon, Randy, and Rio decide that they'll step up and save Ba Nee's life.  Their plan is to make a human ladder down the bear enclosure so that Ba Nee can climb up it before she becomes their next meal.  Unfortunately, Ba Nee is too short to reach Johnny's hand.  



Jerrica decides that now would be a good time to be a foster mother and try to save Ba Nee, so she climbs down to the bottom of the human ladder and attempts to reach out for Ba Nee.  But with Ba Nee still being too small to reach Jerrica's hand, Jerrica leaps down to the ground, scoops Ba Nee up, hands her to Johnny Deacon, and climbs back up the human ladder before the bears can attack. 



Away from the bear enclosure, Ba Nee cries that she risked everybody's life because all she wanted was a father, and that she feels completely alone without one despite the fact that she is one of twelve foster girls who can see because of Jerrica and some random musicians from the Jem Jam risked their lives to save hers.  Do you all now understand why I get so aggravated with Ba Nee?

Randy comes up to Ba Nee and tells her that although she is not his daughter, he would love to be Ba Nee's friend anyway because even though she almost got him eaten by a bear, he still thinks she's peachy keen anyway.  Ba Nee happily accepts his offer and gives him a big hug with Jerrica staring at them all like a big goon.  Meanwhile, Ba Nee seems to get away scot free.  At the very least, Jerrica should have taken away the TV for a month, locked up her books, and put a blindfold over her eyes as a reminder that if it wasn't for her, she wouldn't be able to see anything at all!  I mean, seriously, I get that she is feeling left out because she doesn't have a father but come on!  You can't let her control you!



Sigh.  You know what?  Let's just see how Krissie is doing with Dominic.

It looks as though Dominic is continuing to ignore Krissie, who is trying to get through to Dominic.  Dominic is too hurt by the fact that his mother doesn't think he is ready for a huge concert like the Jem Jam and he is pushing away people who legitimately want to help him because he is too proud to ask for it.  I guess this might explain why he's been so saucy with Krissie. 



And Krissie - having learned nothing from the time that she ran away from Starlight Mansion with Deirdre and Ba Nee - climbs up a large tower in order to convince Dominic to talk with her.  I say this because the last time she climbed a tower like this, she almost fell down and died.  Ten episodes later, and Krissie's fear of heights comes back with a vengeance, and she is paralyzed with fear midway through her climb.  
At first, Dominic teases her about not being able to make the climb, but when he sees how afraid Krissie is, he realizes that she needs help, so Dominic climbs down and helps Krissie to safety.  



Krissie and Dominic decide that they will make a deal with each other.  Krissie will teach Dominic how to swim, and Dominic will try to be nicer to everyone, and they shake on it.  Aw!  They made up!  I bet in 10 years time, they get married!  Well, okay, maybe not.  But at least Krissie and Dominic managed to learn something about each other, and became better people because of it.  At least neither one got eaten by a damn bear!



Night falls and the Jem Jam is about to start.  Jem and the Holograms are on stage to introduce the stars that will be taking part in the event.  Otherwise known as the people who are supposed to represent Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Madonna, Mick Jagger, and Tina Turner. 



But what Jem and the Holograms don't know is that Techrat has found a way to sneak into the audience of the Jem Jam - just as he had done at the Haven House Benefit Concert ten episodes ago.  This time around, he has a funky looking remote control that he turns on just as Jem is set to perform her first song.



What comes out of the darkness is a futuristic looking flying saucer!  What, has the Jem Jam become so popular that aliens from outer space have come to see it?  No, it's the Misfits wearing the laser beam outfits that they wore last episode singing "Gimme a Gimmick".  I have to say though, the amount of work that Techrat put forth in creating this portable light show is remarkable, and I think that if Techrat could have used his work for good instead of evil, he really could have been a technological revolutionary.  



However, I think Techrat's problem is that he did too good a job, because the crowd watching the show seem to believe that aliens really are attacking the Jem Jam, and they start to flee the stadium.  They crash into Techrat who loses the remote control which promptly gets crushed by the stampeding concert goers.



Because the controls are broken, the flying saucer careens out of control, and Pizzazz, Roxy, and Stormer are hanging on for dear life screaming their guts out.  Meanwhile, Luna Dark, Lena Lerner, and Jem are actually making fun of them as they spin out of control. 



On one hand, I think it's cruel for them to do that because there's a good chance that Techrat's flying saucer could crash and burn, killing all three women.  But on the other hand, Eric's balloon promotion nearly killed Jem and Johnny Deacon.  Maybe it's a draw.



It does seem as though the Misfits have a guardian angel watching over them as the flying saucer crashes into a tree and the only injuries that Pizzazz, Roxy, and Stormer sustain are bruised...dignities.  Techrat and Eric might want to take out extra insurance though, as Pizzazz, Roxy, and Stormer turn their fury blasters on them, and their story arc ends with Techrat and Eric being chased by the angry Misfits as the final song of the show is played.



I appreciate the concept of "Jam All Night Long".  It's very reminiscent of the song "We Are The World" in which different vocal styles come together in perfect harmony.  And I do like the fact that singing voices other than that of Ellen Bernfeld and Britta Phillips were used in this song.  What would have been better is if I actually knew who all of these singers were because they were all quite good.  The only complaint I have is that the song is sort of boring.  I mean, you have all of this hype about the Jem Jam being the biggest concert event of the 1980s and this was the best song that the powers that be could come up with?  I would have probably composed something more elaborate, but then again...I can't write music, so I suppose they did the best that they could do.  At any rate, that wraps up another two-part episode, and I think in general the double episode story arc works better than the standalone episodes.  I don't think this one was as well done as "Starbright" or "The Music Awards", but it still told a great story.  It's also nice to get to know the Starlight Girls more, even though Ba Nee annoyed the hell out of me.  



Coming up next week in the penultimate episode of season one, the Holograms go to New York to film a music video with a legendary video director - and get caught up in a diamond smuggling investigation in the process!  Sure, why not?

Thursday, September 01, 2016

September 1, 1984

Are you ready for a special edition of the THURSDAY TIMELINE?

I'll explain why I'm doing this.  See, last year, September 1 fell on a Tuesday, and I should have done one then...problem is that on September 1, 2015,  I was still unpacking belongings and my Internet hadn't been hooked up yet.  No online access, no blog entry.

So, I thought that to appease all of you born on the 1st of September, I'd do a special Thursday Timeline just for all of you.  We'll start by listing some of the happenings in history that took place on this date.

1715 - King Louis XIV of France dies after a reign of 72 years - the longest for any major European monarch to date

1804 - Karl Ludwig Harding discovers the asteroid Juno

1864 - A four month siege of Atlanta by William Tecumseh Sherman is ended when the Confederate Army General John Bell orders the city to be evacuated during the American Civil War

1878 - Emma Nutt becomes the first female telephone operator in the entire world

1894 - The Great Hinckley forest fire begins, killing over 400 people

1905 - Alberta and Saskatchewan officially join the Canadian union

1920 - Actor Richard Farnsworth (d. 2000) is born in Los Angeles, California

1922 - Actress Yvonne DeCarlo (d. 2007) is born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

1923 - 105,000 people lose their lives when the Great Kanto earthquake strikes near Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan

1931 - Singer-songwriter Boxcar Willie (d. 1999) is born in Ellis County, Texas

1933 - Country singer Conway Twitty (d. 1993) is born in Friar's Point, Mississippi

1939 - Nazi Germany and Slovakia invade Poland on the same day that Adolf Hitler signs an order that would allow mentally ill and disabled people to be euthanized

1951 - The ANZUS Treaty - a mutual defense pact between the United States, New Zealand, and Australia - is signed

1952 - Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" is first published

1979 - Pioneer 11 becomes the first spacecraft to visit Saturn

1985 - The wreckage of the Titanic is located during a joint French-American expedition

1988 - The Canadian television station YTV begins broadcasting

1992 - Super Mario Kart is released in North America for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System

2004 - The Beslan school hostage crisis begins and lasts for three days; by the end of it all, 330 hostages would lose their lives

2015 - Actor Dean Jones passes away at the age of 84

And celebrating a birthday on September 1 are these people; George Maharis, Seiji Ozawa, Alan Dershowitz, Lily Tomlin, Greg Errico, Barry Gibb, Phil McGraw, Joseph Williams, Dave Lumley, Gloria Estefan, Kenny Mayne, Boney James, Brian Bellows, Holly Golightly, Charlie Robison, Craig McLachlan, Padma Lakshmi, Josh Davis, J.D. Fortune, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Scott Speedman, Dan Gheesling, and Bianca Ryan.

Okay, so let's have a look at what day we're taking this Thursday Timeline to.



Ah, September 1, 1984.  I'm afraid that my memories of the year 1984 are quite hazy at best.  I was only three years old at the time and I could barely talk, let alone remember what was going on at that time.  I was still too young for school, though I did watch a lot of children's educational shows on both the CBC and TVOntario.  And for some reason, I seem to remember the music of 1984 quite well.  After all, every radio in the house was tuned to Top 40 radio stations every single day.  It's what happened when you had two sisters who were at the teen/pre-teen age at the time.

Yeah, the music of 1984 was very dominant in my early childhood years, and I think that could explain why many of my favourite songs are from that year.  Duran Duran and Michael Jackson were frequently played on the radio, as was the theme songs for "Ghostbusters", "Against All Odds", "I Just Called To Say I Love You", and "Footloose".  Unfortunately, this also meant that I heard the song "Jump" by Van Halen played a lot - and as I already wrote in this blog, that song scared me when I was a kid.  I think it was David Lee Roth that was responsible, but who can say?

One more song that I definitely remember hearing a lot in my childhood was a song by an artist who had definitely achieved success at least two decades prior.  Of course, back in those days, she was part of a husband and wife duo that charted several hits in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  But after her divorce was finalized in 1977, she had a bit of a struggle finding her way back onto the music scene once more.

At least that is until 1984, when she scored her one and only solo #1 hit on the Billboard Music Charts.  A song that first reached the top thirty-two years ago today.  Perhaps you've heard it before?



ARTIST:  Tina Turner
SONG:  What's Love Got to Do with It?
ALBUM:  Private Dancer
DATE RELEASED:  May 1, 1984
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  #1 for 3 weeks

Now, this song was not exactly considered a comeback song for Tina Turner - she had previously had a hit single the year before with a cover version of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together".  However, this single definitely could be one of Tina's greatest achievements.



First things first, let's just state that at the time that this single was released, Tina Turner was 44 years old (birthdate November 26, 1939).  And while thankfully this isn't the case now, back in the early 1980s, a female singer was more or less prevented from hitting the top of the charts once they reached a certain age.  Like, say...maybe 30, 35?  Again, it didn't make it right - it was just the way it was.

Well, not only did Tina Turner want to make a comeback - she hadn't had a Top 10 hit on the charts since the mid 1970s - she wanted to arrive back on the music scene with a bang!  So, when "What's Love Got to Do with It" hit #1, she became the oldest female to ever score a #1 hit!

Or, at least, she held that record for about a year.  That record was surpassed by Grace Slick (who is just twenty-seven days older than Turner) for her part in the song "We Built This City" by Starship.  And then in 1999, Cher smashed through that record by having her single "Believe" top the charts, when Cher was the ripe old age of 53.  But still, having a #1 hit at the age of 44 is an impressive feat - especially when you consider that Madonna's last #1 single was "Music" - which topped the charts when she was 42.

But would you believe that this song was offered to several different artists before Tina Turner even sang a note on it? 

The single was first offered to British pop crooner Cliff Richard, who turned it down.  Phyllis Hyman was also offered the song, and she did show interest in recording it.  However, she had to turn it down when the head of Arista Records, Clive Davis, put the kibosh on it.  Donna Summer was also considered, but she too decided against it.  A British pop group named Bucks Fizz did record the song in February 1984 and was about to release it as a single, but when Tina Turner dropped her single first, the planned release date was canceled. 




And as far as accolades go towards "What's Love Got to Do with It" go, it was certainly handsomely rewarded at the award shows.  In particular, the song won three awards for "Record of the Year", "Song of the Year", and "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance".  It also won the award for "Best Female Video" at the 1985 MTV Video Music Awards.  And, in 2012, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame!  Not a whole lot of songs can boast that achievement!

I guess the lesson learned from Tina Turner's stint at the top of the charts is this.  You can never be too old to achieve greatness.  And the singer from Nutbush, Tennessee with the legs of a twentysomething continues to release music and perform at the ripe old age of 76 and counting!  Believe me, there are some 20-year-olds that I know that can take lessons from Tina Turner in how hard work and determination can take you places you never dreamed of.

After all, it was 32 years ago today that she had the biggest single in the world of pop music.