This
week's Tuesday Timeline entry is going to play out
a little differently than it has in previous months. You'll see why as I progress through it. It's part history in the making, and part
opinion piece. But don't worry...I
promise in this piece, I won't be attacking anybody. Just making a few observations.
Let's
go ahead with what events took place on the 8th of November throughout history.
1837 - The Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (which
would later become Mount Holyoke College) is founded by Mary Lyon
1861 - The "Trent Affair" occurs during
the American Civil War which causes a crisis of diplomacy between America and
the United Kingdom
1887 - John Henry "Doc" Holliday dies
at the age of 36
1889 - Montana becomes the forty-first state to
join the United States of America
1892 - The New Orleans General Strike begins
1895 - Wilhelm Rontgen discovers X-ray technology
1920 - Actress Esther Rolle (d. 1998) is born in
Pompano Beach, Florida
1923 - Adolf Hitler leads the Nazis in an
unsuccessful effort to overthrow the German government in an event known as the
Beer Hall Putsch
1927 - Singer Patti Page (d. 2013) is born in
Claremore, Oklahoma
1931 - Journalist Morley Safer (d. 2016) is born
in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
1933 - The Civil Works Administration is unveiled
by President Roosevelt during the Great Depression
1947 - Singer Minnie Riperton (d. 1979) is born in
Chicago, Illinois
1957 - Pan Am Flight 7 disappears en route
between San Francisco and Honolulu; bodies and pieces of the plane are
discovered a week later
1960 - John F. Kennedy wins the American
Presidential Election, making him the 35th elected President of the United
States
1965 - The death penalty is abolished in the
United Kingdom
1966 - The National Football League merges with
the American Football League as a direct result of an antitrust exemption
signed by President Johnson
1972 - HBO makes its network debut
1973 - The severed ear of John Paul Getty III is
delivered to the offices of a newspaper, complete with a ransom note demanding
almost three million dollars cash in exchange for John Paul's life
2011 - Asteroid 2005 YU55 passes by Earth within
a distance of just 201,700 miles - the closest that an asteroid has ever gotten
to the Earth's surface; also on this date, cartoonist Bil Keane and rapper
Heavy D pass away
And
celebrating a birthday today are the following celebrities; Richard Stoker, Nerys Hughes, Bonnie Bramlett, Bonnie Raitt, Mary Hart, Christie Hefner, Alfre Woodard, Rickie Lee Jones, Patricia Barber, Richard Curtis, Gordon Ramsay, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Parker Posey, Diana King, Gretchen Mol, Tara Reid, Colin Strause, Jully Black, Bucky Covington, Dania Ramirez, Laura Jane Grace, Holly Walsh, Ted DiBiase Jr., Steven Webb, Magda Apanowicz, Jessica Lowndes, and Lauren Alaina.
Okay...now
it's time to look at the date we'll be going back in time to. Hope you're ready because this time we're
going all the way back to...
...wait
a minute. November 8, 2016? That's TODAY'S date! Have I made a mistake?
Actually,
no. I haven't. I've decided that today is a great day to
stop the Tuesday Timeline express because we are on the cusp of what could be
considered one of the most important elections that the United States of
America has ever seen. An election that
has not just Americans talking, but the entire world. As someone who lives just a few kilometres away from the New York
state border, I sort of have a bird's eye view of the circus that this election
has spawned.
And
believe you and me...it is a circus of epic proportions. Maybe not quite as scandalous as Britney
Spears' song of the same name, but close to it. It almost makes me glad that in my own nation of Canada, our
elections were nowhere near as crazy!
So,
today is election day for over 300 million Americans. And one by one at polling stations from Spokane, Washington to
Baltimore, Maryland will be busy with men and women, Republicans and Democrats,
and people of all backgrounds will be casting a vote to determine who the next
President will be. By the end of today,
either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump will be packing up their belongings and moving into 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue for at least the next four years.
Well,
okay...I suppose Jill Stein and Gary Johnson are running too, but unless something happens that cancels out every
vote in the lower 48 states, I doubt either one of those two will win.
Regardless
of who ends up winning, I encourage any and all Americans out there to make
their voices heard. I've seen a few
people who have made the claim that their vote doesn't matter, but I don't
believe that to be true for a second.
Every single person in the United States has their right to throw their
support towards a candidate, and every person who is registered to vote has the
chance to make history by casting a vote for the next President of the United
States, just as we Canadians made history by voting in the Canadian elections
last October.
So,
I guess the message I'm sending is - vote, vote, vote! And make sure you are as informed as you can
possibly be about each candidate before you pull the lever or put a check mark
in that box or shoot a blue or red paintball at a target or however you
Americans cast a vote these days. And
what I mean by informed voting is making sure you know everything that a
candidate promises and making a decision based on fact and not fiction.
And,
yeah...don't trust any opinions on CNN, MSNBC, FOX or any other news
source. When it comes to politics, no
media source is 100% fair and balanced, no matter how much they may proclaim
that they are. We are often our own
best judges of our character and our choices, so go with what you feel is the
right choice. I certainly won't judge you
on who you vote for.
For
that matter, I don't think ANYONE should judge anyone based on who they vote
for. Well, unless you're one of Donald
Trump's kids and you vote for Hillary.
But that's not likely to happen.
I've
seen so many cases of people verbally abusing others based on their support for
a candidate that they don't like. I've
seen photos and videos of people vandalizing other people's homes because they
have a Trump or Clinton sign on their front lawn. I've seen people who have been friends for twenty or more years
fall out because of the election. It's
just getting extremely ugly, and honestly I am really looking forward to today
being over as a result of it. There's
no need for anger and hatred. As far as
I'm concerned, no matter who wins the election, all of you Americans are in
this together.
Well,
unless you all start another Civil War - which I DO NOT RECOMMEND YOU DO.
What
I'm saying is that this election is probably one of the most important ones
that many of you in America will see for a while. It's also one of the most controversial, as many of you believe
that you deserve better choices than the ones you got. Frankly, I agree with that statement - but I
also remind you that you all CHOSE these nominees through the various state
primary elections. You could have had
the chance to change things back then, but many of you sat it out - all the
more reason for everyone to exercise their right to vote.
After
all, prior to the 1920s, only half the population of the country was eligible
to vote as women didn't win the right to vote until 1919.
We're in the home stretch now. By the end of today, America will have a new
President. Hopefully Americans will
make the choice that is best for them - but more importantly, I hope they make
the choice that will ultimately be best for their country. After all, the person you choose will have
four years to build a case and prove themselves.
Last week on Jem Reviewed, the Misfits performed
their cruelest act towards the Holograms yet, and poor Jem nearly ended up
institutionalized. But Jem recovered
and the show goes on.
This
is Episode 33: Father's Day. And yes, I am aware that it's November. It's just how it worked out.
We're
at a film studio where Video Montgomery is filming the newest video for Jem and
the Holograms. The weird thing is that
the song the video is for is "When It's Only Me and the Music" - a
song we heard all the way back in Episode 13!
Talk about falling behind schedule.
Whatever
the case, the Holograms are thrilled that Video has made yet another
masterpiece and Jem asks if there is anything that they can do to repay her for
her hard work - well, aside from paying her lots of cash that is. Video does mention something about wanting
to get her father something for Father's Day, and mentions that her hometown of
Mulberry is holding an annual Father's Day banquet. I pause to wonder if Video just wants to bring Jem along to have
her Mary Tyler Moore moment where she throws her hat up in the middle of the
street proclaiming that she's made it after all. She doesn't exactly mention anything about inviting them, but Jem
comes up with the idea of filming a video for Video's father, which Video is
receptive to.
This
prompts all of the other Holograms to talk about their own dads. We know Raya's is still alive, but the other
four lost theirs. Nevertheless, Jem,
Aja, Shana, and Raya talk about how they have old photos and home movies of
their dads and think about possibly watching some of them to get inspired. But far in the distance, Kimber is not
having any of it. In fact, she looks
like she wants to tear off all of their faces!
Later on their way back to Starlight Mansion, Jerrica and Kimber are
having a talk and Kimber flat out tells
Jerrica that she thinks the idea to perform at the Father's Day banquet is a
silly one and she's against it.
Jerrica, who we know has a habit of disregarding Kimber's feelings tells
her to get over it and write the song they plan to sing. Wow...sisterly love. You gotta love it.
It's
not until we get to the attic of Starlight Mansion that Kimber finds a box of
her father's old things - which feasibly should have burned up when their old house
burned down in the first episode, but we're going to pretend to ignore that
plot contrivance. As Kimber looks
through the stuff, she starts to get very emotional, and we hear a song playing
in the distance.
See, now THIS is how "Something is Missing in My Life" should have
been used! Not like in Episode 10 where
Jerrica is singing about earrings! No,
Kimber losing her father is MUCH more poignant. It also explains why Kimber is so reluctant to help with Video's
Father's Day gift. She was extremely
close to her father and she worries that it will bring up bad memories. Oh,
and here's some Jem Trivia for you. The person who storyboarded this video
concept is Vicky Jenson. She would
later go on to work on the 2001 animated feature, "Shrek".
Kimber
locates the old movies, but tells everyone that she's not staying - which
prompts the other Holograms to dismiss her thoughts as being yet another Kimber
tantrum. But we see Kimber crying in
the doorway as the others watch the movies of Emmett Benton and I'm beginning
to understand why she is the way she is.
It
seems as though Kimber's not the only one dreading the idea of Father's
Day. Spoiled little rich girl Pizzazz
is trying to get her father's attention, but her father is completely ignoring her
again. In fact, Pizzazz is so
frustrated by him that she leaves in a huff.
In this case, I can't say I blame her - though the relationship between
Pizzazz and Harvey Gabor was never considered to be close.
Pizzazz joins her bandmates and Clash in the next room and vents about
everything that just happened. Clash
has a wonderful idea though. She wants
the Misfits to go with her to Mulberry for the Father's Day banquet! Uh-oh, I knew this was coming! Pizzazz scoffs at the idea, saying that all
fathers are the same, but Clash counters with the fact that her dad adores
her! The other Misfits think it might
be a good idea, so Pizzazz relents.
Mulberry
is your typical small town with a big heart.
It's the kind of town you might see in television sitcoms. And the big purple house is the home of
Clash's family!
And as Clash runs into the arms of her doting father, Buzz, Pizzazz is
completely in shock at the scene - not because of the fact that they are in
small town suburbia, but because Clash's father really does love her! And just like that, a little crack in
Pizzazz's hard exterior begins to form!
As
luck would have it, Video's family lives not just on the same street as Clash's
father, but they live just next door!
And compared to Clash's outspoken father, Video's parents are as sweet
and boring as their daughter! Now, because the two families live so close together, it's only natural that
they greet each other. And Clash's
father greets everyone by inviting himself, Clash, and the Misfits to his
brother's house for dinner! I'm getting
the feeling that I know why Clash is the way she is now. Video's mother is worried that she doesn't
have enough food to feed everyone, but relents and lets them all in to Video's
annoyance.
Sure enough, the Misfits eat the Montogomery family out of house and home, and
Clash's dad shows no remorse about it.
But that's all done and good because Video's father has some home movies
to show! Okay, does EVERY family in
this show have old school movie projectors in their houses? My family never even had a video camera
until the mid-1990s! It's just so
bizarre!
I
don't have clips of the actual home movie portion - mainly because it's kind of
boring - but the clips basically show that Video and Clash's rivalry began at
birth. Highlights include Video getting
her first video camera at age 10, Clash getting her first set of cymbals at the
same age, and Clash's natural hair colour as being dark purple despite being
introduced with bright pink hair in the series. And when is dark purple a NATURAL hair colour on anyone that
isn't a Furby?
No,
the more interesting part is that the Misfits uncouth behaviour at the
screening, which include throwing popcorn on her and sending her chair flying
backwards! Video's father angrily
throws them all out, and Video is upset that the Misfits and Clash have ruined
their dinner. She wonders if there is
any way to get back at Clash.
Back
at Starlight Mansion, Kimber is still sulking about not wanting to write the
song, and Jerrica thinks that she has an idea to get Kimber's wheels of
inspiration going. Um, Jerrica, unless
you can bring your father back from the dead without turning him into a zombie,
I think you're out of luck. But
regardless, Kimber agrees to go with them, thinking that the day can't get any
worse.
And
in Mulberry, the Misfits are incredibly shocked at how boring the town of
Mulberry is and they decide to sing a song about it.
To
be honest, the lyrics of the song "Let's Blow This Town" can be
exactly the same way I feel about my hometown.
It's small and sleepy like my own community, but unlike Mulberry, it's
very easy in my town to feel like an outsider even though you were born and
raised there. But that's another topic
for another day. This song's a good
one. Not their best, but it's a good
one.
The
Misfits pull up in front of Clash and Video's homes where Video is hanging
around with a group of kids. I believe
Video is teaching them how to operate a video camera or something like that. Maybe it has to do with the Father's Day gift she's working on with Jem. Unfortunately, Clash has major insecurity
issues and she makes the claim that she has brought her friends, the Misfits,
to the Father's Day celebrations, and the Misfits proudly announce that they
will be happy to sign any autographs for the townspeople. Humble, thy name is NOT Phyllis
"Pizzazz" Gabor.
Though, true to their word, they honour their commitments and sign pretty much
anything the townspeople have - including their own skin! And naturally, Video is seething that Clash
has one-upped her once again.
But
when Clash makes insinuations that Video doesn't really know Jem and the
Holograms as well as she claims, this sets Video off and she angrily declares
that Jem and the Holograms will be performing a new song at the Father's Day
banquet! How nice of Video to make that
claim without letting them know! Sure,
she did it out of anger, but if Jem doesn't show up, she'll look like a
fool. But hey, Jem and the Holograms
will be in Mulberry anyway to deliver a special video gift, so Video will have
the last laugh, right?
Tell
me I'm right.
For now, it looks as if Jem and the Holograms are going to go horseback riding
at a place called Christy's Stables.
Ah, nice reference to showrunner Christy Marx there! It appears as though Jerrica and Kimber used
to go riding there all the time when they were children and Kimber's beloved
horse "Lucky" is still there waiting to give Kimber a ride.
To everyone's surprise, the horseback riding excursion goes very well at first,
and Kimber's mood seems to be improving.
Well, at least that is until Aja opens her big mouth and asks Kimber if
she's inspired to write a new song yet.
This
causes Kimber to go into complete meltdown mode where she burst into tears and
steers Lucky away from the group so she can be alone. But Kimber loses control of Lucky and Lucky accidentally throws
Kimber to the ground where she breaks her neck, loses consciousness, and dies.
Okay,
just kidding. Kimber doesn't die. But she is seriously hurt and none of the
Holograms seem to know how to do first aid.
As
fate would have it, Harvey Gabor just happens to be in the area on his own
horse, and he instantly springs into action.
He sits by Kimber's side and orders a couple of the Holograms to get the
doctor who lives nearby to take a look at Kimber. Wow, who knew Pizzazz's dad could have it in him to be nice? Of course, with the medical drama
surrounding Kimber, it's going to be hard to get a hold of them. Sure
enough, Video's trying to get a hold of Jem to let them know that she sort of
promised that they would perform at the Father's Day banquet, but since they
are unavailable at the moment due to a horse nearly killing one of them,
Video's quickly realizing that she may have to go to her non-existant Plan
B.I hate to say it, but it sort of
serves Video right stooping to Clash's level in a way.
Kimber
recovers from her injuries enough to recognize the fact that Pizzazz's dad
saved her life. The rest of the
Holograms are grateful as well and Harvey is happy he could help. It seems as though Harvey is also aware of
the fact that his daughter has been a pain in the neck to their band - after
all, last episode, she tried to drive Jem nuts! But Harvey does the honourable thing and apologizes for his
daughter's actions.
Here's
where things get really interesting though.
It turns out that Kimber and Harvey have a bit of a heart-to-heart talk
about fathers, and it ends with Kimber breaking down in Harvey's arms over how
much she misses her father. Now, this
is a pivotal scene for two reasons.
Firstly, it's telling that Harvey seems to be absolutely perfect comfort
for complete strangers, but has a very difficult time connecting with
Pizzazz. We also learn that Pizzazz's
mother ditched the family a long time ago, so he overcompensated for that loss
by buying Pizzazz anything she wanted.
So, right there is why Pizzazz is the way she is. She just wanted attention from her father,
but her father mistakenly believed that providing monetary items would fill the
void. It's quite a sad situation, and
for the first time I find myself feeling pity for the lime-haired Misfit.
But
I also think it's important to note that Harvey seems to show more compassion
towards Kimber than HER OWN SISTER!
Seriously, Jerrica/Jem comes across as a real jerk in this episode.
Kimber
does feel better after a bit though, and Harvey's words of wisdom have actually
given Kimber the courage and inspiration to write a very powerful song. But a problem arises when the Holograms
realize that they won't make it to Mulberry in time for the banquet due to
Kimber's accident, and Harvey excuses himself to make a phone call. The other Holograms believe that Harvey is
putting business before everything else, but Harvey's actually making plans to
get all of them to Mulberry using a private jet. Wow...you know, aside from the fact that Harvey's a lousy dad,
there does seem to be a little bit of good in him. A very complex character, he is.
It's
the night of the Father's Day banquet and everyone who's anyone in Mulberry has
shown up to celebrate with food, drinks, and thanks to Video, a live
performance from Jem and the Holograms!
It's
just too bad that Jem and the Holograms haven't arrived yet. And while Video's parents try to offer her
some moral support, it's not nearly enough for the angry mob of people who have
seemingly only come to see Jem. It's
like, who cares about Dad! We wanna see
Jem!
Clash's father pipes up his opinion by stating that Clash's band can perform
instead. Wait...Clash has a band? That's news to me! And apparently, it's news to Pizzazz who questions what Clash is
talking about.
Oh, I think I understand. It appears as
though Clash has fudged the truth to her loved ones back home by making them
believe that she was a Misfit too! To
be honest, I'm surprised she isn't one.
Sure she's tone deaf and I doubt she plays any instruments, but she's
the ultimate Misfit groupie! You'd have
thought they would have made her a Misfit through osmosis or something.
No,
instead the Misfits proclaim that Clash is NOT a Misfit, and they actually make
fun of her for even suggesting such a thing!
Clash even begs them to make her a Misfit for the day, but Pizzazz tells
Clash that won't happen as her explanation is...you're either born a Misfit or
you're not. It is a bit cold towards
Clash, but at the same time Clash is far from being a Misfit. Truth be told, she has a loving father and
seems to get along well with the people back home whereas the Misfits grew up
rough. I suppose Stormer would be the
exception, but even she's had some tough moments.
By
this point, the Mulberry residents have seemingly had enough of Video, Clash,
and the Misfits and they almost decide to leave the banquet - but they are
stopped in their tracks by the sound of a gigantic plane approaching.
I'm
guessing that must be the jet that Harvey commissioned for himself and the
Holograms because Jem walks out of the plane as soon as it lands and greets the
crowd! I can't wait to see the reaction
of Pizzazz when she finds out her own father helped bring the Holograms to
Mulberry!
Yeah! That's the look! Kind of like that!
Needless to say, Pizzazz is absolutely FURIOUS with her father - especially
after he leaves the plane arm in arm with Kimber. Kimber, to her credit, does try to get Harvey to listen to Pizzazz
and encourages him to reach out to her so they can make up. But when Pizzazz tries to physically kill
Kimber on the ground, I'm guessing that plan doesn't quite work out so well.
Basically,
it ends with Pizzazz screaming at Harvey about spending Father's Day with
Kimber instead of his own daughter, and Harvey complaining that Pizzazz doesn't
understand him and that he gives up on her.
Jem can just shrug her shoulders and look at Pizzazz as if she's crazy. But the thing is that I am completely on Pizzazz's
side here. And, I'll explain why at the
end of this post.
For now, it's time to listen to the song that Kimber wrote. Video and Clash listen to the song with
their fathers as Kimber touches a photo of her own father that she taped to her
keyboard.
The
song "Always There in My Heart" does everything it was meant to. It packs an emotional punch, it's got a
great meaning, and it even intersperses Kimber's feelings for her father with
Pizzazz's conflicted one. It's a
bittersweet song, but one of the Holograms best.
Okay, so "Father's Day" is simultaneously one of the best and
frustrating episodes so far. What did I
like about it? Well, it finally showed
us the reason why Pizzazz is the way she is, and how much Harvey failed her
even though he truly believed he was doing right by her. It's such a sad situation all around. And while Pizzazz blamed Kimber for this
latest fiasco, I actually don't blame Kimber at all. I mean, yes, Kimber and Harvey did sort of bond during this
episode, but at no point did Kimber look at Harvey as a substitution for her
own loss. Kimber actually showed a lot
of maturity by encouraging Harvey to make amends with Pizzazz. I think this episode not only helped me
understand Pizzazz more, but it made an effort to make Kimber more likeable -
in which this time around, they succeeded.
I also feel that I want to take Pizzazz's side because even though Kimber had
no desire to come between Pizzazz and Harvey, there was no effort made on
Harvey's part to clear up the misunderstanding. Granted, there was no effort made by Kimber either, but when
Pizzazz wanted to kill her, Kimber obviously had other things on her mind, so
I'm giving her a pass. To be honest,
Pizzazz deserved a lot better from Harvey back then - and I think had Pizzazz's
mother stuck around, she might very well have turned out differently. But
while Kimber's personality improved, the rest of the Holograms sort of dipped a
bit.They seemed more concerned about
Video's feelings than Kimber's.And
while Aja, Shana, and Raya's reasons could be explained, there's no reason why
Jerrica should have disregarded her own sister's feelings.She should have at least talked things
out.Instead, Jerrica became an
unlikable, irresponsible, self-centered jerk!
So, next episode, we get to go on a treasure hunt with the Starlight
Girls! How exciting! See you then!
Happy
first of November, everybody! And,
welcome to the very first Tuesday Timeline of the month! Today's subject is one that is guaranteed to
make your head hurt...or maybe not.
Confused? Don't be. It's actually a clue for today's topic. For now though, let's see what events did
not make the cut.
1503 - Pope Julius II is elected
1512 - The painting on the ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel painted by Michelangelo is displayed to the public for the first time
1520 - The Strait of Magellan is first discovered
1604 - Shakespeare's "Othello" is
performed for the first time in London
1611 - Seven years after "Othello"
debuts, Shakespeare's "The Tempest" is also performed for the first
time in London
1755 - Lisbon, Portugal is destroyed by an
earthquake which kills at least 60,000 people
1765 - The Stamp Act is enacted on the Thirteen
Colonies by British parliament
1800 - John Adams becomes the first President to
live in the White House
1848 - Boston becomes the home of the very first
medical school for women
1870 - The first weather forecast is made by the
Weather Bureau in the United States
1896 - A photo of a woman with exposed breasts
appears in National Geographic magazine for the first time
1918 - In Brooklyn, New York, a rapid transit
accident takes place at the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Malbone Street,
killing 102
1940 - Military veteran/singer-songwriter Barry
Sadler (d. 1989) is born in Carlsbad, New Mexico
1942 - Actress Marcia Wallace (d. 2013) is born
in Creston, Iowa
1956 - The Springhill mining disaster occurs in
Springhill, Nova Scotia; although 88 miners are eventually rescued, 39 lose
their lives
1960 - John F. Kennedy announces an idea to
create the Peace Corps during his Presidential campaign
1968 - The Motion Picture Association of
America's film rating system is introduced with the ratings of G, M, R, and
X. PG, PG-13, and NC-17 would come
later
1982 - Honda becomes the first Asian car company
to produce cars within the United States
1984 - Anti-Sikh riots occur in India following
the Halloween assassination of Indira Gandhi at the hands of her Sikh
bodyguards
1985 - Comedian Phil Silvers dies at the age of 74
2006 - Actress/director Adrienne Shelly is found
dead in her studio apartment having been murdered; Shelly was just 40 years old
2013 - Gunfire erupts at Los Angeles
International Airport, where the gunman ends up killing one and wounding seven
And
celebrating a birthday on November 1 are the following people; George S. Irving, John Clark, Gillian Knight, Bill Anderson, Larry Flynt, Kinky Friedman, Yuko Shimizu, David Foster, Belita Moreno, Lyle Lovett, Joe DeRenzo, Susanna Clarke, Lauren-Marie Taylor, Anthony Kiedis, Rick Allen, Big Kenny, Sophie B. Hawkins, Tina Arena, Tie Domi, Toni Collette, Bo Bice, and Penn Badgley.
So,
we know the date is November 1. What
year will we be looking at this time around?
How about November 1, 1959?
And
to begin with this edition of the Tuesday Timeline, let us look at the world of
professional hockey.
Having watched games at both local and national levels, I can tell you that
hockey is definitely not a sport for the faint of heart. It can be quite dangerous. Why, you could sustain a broken bone or
two. You could lose a tooth or
two. Heck, in one case, you could accidentally
take a skate to the throat and end up nearly bleeding to death on the
rink! Fortunately for Clint Malarchuk -
the hockey player who did have his neck cut - he survived.
As
did the subject of today's Tuesday Timeline subject - Jacques Plante. In 1959, he sustained a serious injury on
the ice while playing a game for his team, the Montreal Canadiens. And that injury would quite literally change
the face of how hockey is played all over the world.
Jacques
Plante was a goalie for the team, and when you think of goalies you have a
particular image in your head of how they are supposed to look. They are easily the most recognizable player
on the team because they are wearing so much protective equipment and padding
that you sometimes wonder how they can even move around at all! Perhaps the most common piece of equipment
one might expect a goalie to wear is the protective face mask that softens the
blow of any hockey puck that might sail their way. Because let's face it - would you want a flying hockey puck to
bean you square in the face? I don't
think that would be an experience that I would want.
These
days, it's required that all goaltenders wear a protective mask. Prior to 1959, however, they weren't. In fact, the very day that Plante got
injured - November 1, 1959 - he was NOT wearing any sort of protective
mask. The end result was that Plante
took a puck to the nose which broke it and he was forced to get stitches as a
result of it.
Interestingly
enough, Plante had created his very own protective mask at least three years
prior to his injury. At the time, he
had suffered from a condition known as sinusitis - which is something I know
all too well as I also was inflicted with it a lot as a child. I missed quite a few days of school because
of it, and Plante missed thirteen games because of sinusitis. Plante created a mask made out of fibreglass
to wear during practice sessions as an aid in countering the sinusitis, which
was allowed by then head coach of the team Toe Blake. But Blake refused to allow Plante to wear the mask on the ice
during actual games.
But
that all changed once Plante took a puck to the nose, and he came back to the
ice - wearing the mask. At first, Blake
was livid and told Plante that he needed to get rid of the mask, but Plante
stood his ground and said that if he wasn't allowed to wear the mask, he wasn't
going back out on the ice.
And
considering that there were no alternate goalies on that day, Blake relented
and told Plante that he could wear the mask until his stitches were taken
out. The end result of the game was
that the Canadiens defeated the New York Rangers 3-1.
But as time passed and his cut healed, Plante
made the decision to continue to wear the mask anyway, not only labelling it a
good luck charm, but a piece of equipment that could prevent him and any other
goalie from sustaining serious injury.
Case in point, the Canadiens would win the next consecutive EIGHTEEN
games with Plante wearing his mask. The
one game he was forced to remove it, the team lost. At that point, Blake realized that his argument was null and
void, and he allowed Plante to wear the mask for the rest of the season. That year, the Montreal Canadiens won the
Stanley Cup!
Now, I'm not saying that the mask truly was a good luck charm. To be honest, I think the idea of Plante
feeling he was safe from harm while wearing it worked in his favour as he could
focus more on winning the game and less on worrying about injuries. And although health problems would cause the
1959/1960 season to be Plante's last as a player, he would go on to patent a
model of face mask for other goalies - and he would forever be known as the man
who made the goalie mask a mandatory piece of equipment in the game of hockey!
This is going to be a very short message as I have a lot of preparing to do for
tonight. Let's see...I've got lollipops
and Reese's peanut butter pumpkins to give out to the trick-or-treaters, I've
got the pumpkin carved and put in the front porch window to let people know my
home is open for Halloween goodies.
And,
I've also got some window cleaner available in case someone decides to egg my
house. I don't know anyone I've pissed
off enough to warrant that, but we shall see what happens. I'm prepared for worst case scenarios here.
All in all, I just want everybody to have a safe and happy Halloween. Dress in costumes that reflect light. Carry some glowsticks in your hands or
incorporate them into your costumes so that people can see you. Don't eat anything from your loot bags that
might have been tampered with. And
definitely don't eat Popeye candy sticks.
Not because they're dangerous, but because they are tasteless.
You
know, Halloween hasn't always had the greatest memories associated with it for
me. It was around 25 years ago this
time that I had to say goodbye to my grandmother who passed away two days
before Halloween. Believe it or not,
her wake was held ON Halloween. That
might seem creepy to you, but under the circumstances, there really was no
other choice.
But that's not to say that I don't like Halloween. On the contrary, I enjoy it a lot. Though in recent years, I haven't bothered with costumes. Heck, this is only the second year that I've
had trick-or-treaters since I moved into this house last summer. But, I could be coerced to change
that...especially for next year.
So,
I'm going to ask all of you...what should I be for Halloween next year? Give me some suggestions, and I may choose
one of them for Halloween 2017.
I almost considered dressing up as the scariest thing ever this year...but I
couldn't find a Hydro One Meter Reader costume. And dressing up as Kathleen Wynne is out because I don't think
I'd be able to do her justice. Not that
she has any to begin with but still...
I
hope you've all gotten your costumes, bought all your candy, and stocked up on
window cleaner - trust me, you might need it if you find yourself the victim of
egg throwing maniacs.
This
is the final Sunday in October, which means that we're going to have one final SOAP SUDS SUNDAY to talk about this month. And
believe me when I say that I've saved the creepiest, scariest - and campiest
storyline for last.
And,
unlike many of the shows that I have talked about in this space (with the
exception of "General Hospital"), this is a show that is still on the
air. It has been for over fifty years!
It's
also the only daytime drama currently airing on NBC.
Yes,
the show we're going to look back at is "Days of our Lives". At one point, the show was aired in a
daytime drama block which once included shows like "The Doctors",
"Santa Barbara", "Another World", "Sunset Beach",
and "Passions", but as of 2016 it is the last one standing. But I can see why that is. It can be argued that the fan base for
"Days of our Lives" is huge.
Many of the fans of the series are extremely loyal to it and each
weekday they tune in to see what escapades the residents of Salem will face.
Over
the last few years though, "Days of our Lives" has been one of the shows
that forces its viewers to believe the unbelievable. And certainly the storylines that have screened on the soap are
anything but believable. How can the
victims of a serial killer storyline be alive and well and trapped on an
island? How many times can Stefano
DiMera come back from the dead? How the
hell many characters can Eileen Davidson play on that series at the same time
(and how did she not drop dead of a coronary during that time)?
I
think the most controversial and most talked about storyline that took place on
that show was the one that I'll be talking about today - one that is most
definitely appropriate for Halloween.
Here's the kicker. I didn't watch this
show when this storyline aired, so I'm going to be using a lot of visual props
for this one. Truth be told, they could
probably tell the story better than I ever could.
Back
in the mid-1990s, the decision was made by then head writer James E. Reilly
(the man behind "Passions") to create a story in which a main
character was possessed by the devil, and did some very strange and evil things
to everybody around them. The show
would borrow heavily from films like "The Exorcist", "The
Omen", and other horror classics in order to tell the story.
Now,
if a devil possession story seems bizarre - keep in mind that the man in charge
of this storyline also created the show that featured a talking doll, a witch,
and an orangutan as main characters.
Suddenly doesn't seem all that strange, does it?
The
unlucky victim was Dr. Marlena Evans, a psychiatrist in Salem played by Deidre
Hall off and on since 1976. And the
storyline began playing out in late 1994 when Marlena went to Louisiana to find
John Black - a man whom she had been having a romantic relationship with and
who was the father of her youngest child, Belle. Unfortunately for Marlena, she also discovered trouble in the
form of Stefano DiMera, who more or less was the personification of evil. Think of him as the Victor Newman or Alan
Spaulding of "Days of our Lives" if you will.
The
plot had Marlena and John finding their way back to each other and leaving
Salem together, but at the cost of Marlena's marriage to Roman Brady. But what John and Marlena didn't realize was
that Stefano had also arrived in Salem and he wasn't ready to leave them alone
just yet.
He
managed to slip Marlena some very powerful drugs that caused her mind to
snap. As the days went on, Marlena
became more and more distant from everyone she was close to and she started to
become more evil.
This
was right around the time in which Marlena had become possessed by the
devil. In the clip below, you can see
the exact moment when the possession takes place.
And
during the course of the storyline, nobody was safe - especially not Kristen
DiMera, a popular target of Marlena's devilish side. Marlena also caused a lot of damage while possessed by the devil,
even going so far as torching an entire church!
It
wasn't until Easter of 1995 that the possession storyline finally ended, and it
would be John Black that would ultimately banish the devil from Marlena once
and for all. At the time of the
storyline, John was a priest (it would be later proven that he in fact was not
a priest, but back in 1995, everyone believed that he was), and John believed
that he could perform an exorcism on Marlena to get the devil out of her so
that Marlena could return to her life as she knew it.
There
was a risk though. Marlena was weakened
by the devil's influence on her, and the threat of Marlena losing her life was
very much real. But as you can see in
this clip, John managed to do the exorcism successfully and Marlena was saved.
It was most definitely one of the weirdest and
controversial storylines that a daytime drama ever featured. And executive producer of the show, Ken
Corday actually looks back on that period with some remorse, stating that he
regretted greenlighting the devil possession storyline in the first place. However, ratings for the show went up,
Deidre Hall and Drake Hogestyn certainly did their best with an unbelievable
storyline, and it remains one of the most memorable daytime storylines to
screen on television.