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Thursday, May 11, 2017

May 11, 1889

Happy eleventh of May to all of you!  It's also a Throwback Thursday kind of day, and I think I'm going to touch upon a subject that is quite sweet.  May 11 may have been the last day of this gentleman's life, but in the over one hundred years since he passed, he made his mark on the world - one delicious footprint at a time.

But before we get to that, I'll talk about some of the other events that took place on May 11, as well as celebrity birthdays.

So, for historical happenings of May 11, we have the following;

868 - A copy of the Diamond Sutra is printed in China, making this the oldest known dated printed book

1502 - Christopher Columbus departs from Cadiz to embark on his fourth and final visit to the Americas

1812 - John Bellingham assassinates the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Spencer Perceval in the lobby of London's House of Commons

1858 - Minnesota becomes the thirty-second state to join the United States of America

1880 - Seven die in the Mussel Slough Tragedy

1888 - Composer Irving Berlin (d. 1989) is born in Tolochin, Russian Empire

1904 - Artist Salvador Dali (d. 1989) is born in Spain

1910 - Glacier National Park in Montana is established by the United States Congress

1911 - Comedian Phil Silvers (d. 1985) is born in Brooklyn, New York

1927 - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded; on the same day, actor Bernard Fox (d. 2016) is born in Port Talbot, Wales

1945 - USS Bunker Hill is hit by two kamikazes, killing 346 members of its crew during World War II

1947 - American drummer and Allman Brothers Band member Butch Trucks (d. 2017) is born in Jacksonville, Florida

1949 - Siam officially changes its name to Thailand for the second time

1953 - Waco, Texas is devastated by an F5 tornado that strikes the downtown core - at least 114 are killed

1960 - Fugitive Nazi Adolf Eichmann is captured in Buenos Aires, Argentina

1963 - Actress Natasha Richardson (d. 2009) is born in Marylebone, London, England

1970 - An F5 tornado strikes Lubbock, Texas, killing 26

1981 - Jamaican singer Bob Marley dies at the age of 36

1982 - Actor/singer Cory Monteith (d. 2013) is born in Calgary, Alberta

1985 - Madonna's "Crazy for You" reaches #1 on the Billboard charts

1987 - Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon, France for war crimes committed during the Second World War

1996 - One of the deadliest days of Mount Everest's history - a total of eight mountain climbers died during their attempts to reach the mountain's summit

1997 - Deep Blue becomes the first computer to defeat a world-champion chess player in a classic match

2006 - American boxer Floyd Patterson dies at the age of 71

2010 - David Cameron is elected Prime Minister of England

And the following people are turning one year older today; Mort Sahl, Arthur Labatt, Johnny Devlin, Eric Burdon, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Frances Fisher, Mike Lupica, Martha Quinn, Roark Critchlow, Jeffrey Donovan, Erin Lang, Kulap Vilaysack, Matt Leinart, Cam Newton, and Sabrina Carpenter.

Now, as I mentioned before, we're taking a trip back in time over a hundred years.  It's one of the oldest dates that I've ever taken a trip back in time to.



That date is May 11, 1889.  Yep.  That's right.  One hundred and twenty-eight years ago.

I also mentioned that today's topic is quite sweet considering that this date was the last day of someone's life.  Actually, that would be considered to be bittersweet, but let's just try to stick with the theme of the blog.

You see, before he passed away, this man was involved with one of the largest confection companies in the world.  In fact, it's currently the second largest candy manufacturer in the world with only Wrigley's ahead of it.  And I'm sure that most of you have sampled some of the products associated with this particular company...only you probably might not know it.

Truth be told, I think when it comes down to it, Easter is probably one of the best days to sample their wares.  If the bunny that clucks like a chicken doesn't jog your memory, certainly the delectable tastes of a Creme Egg, a packet of Mini Eggs, and perhaps even a couple of bars of Dairy Milk chocolate might give you an idea as to what subject we're talking about...



...or, in MY case, one gigantic Dairy Milk bar.  A holiday tradition for me since the mid 2000s at least.



Yes, John Cadbury was one of the leading figures behind the creation of the Cadbury Company - a confectionary company behind some of your favourite chocolate treats.  Whether it was Curlywurlys, Fruit and Nut bars, Rum and Butter Bars (WHICH NEED TO BE BROUGHT BACK ASAP), or Crunchie Bars (the BEST way to eat sponge toffee), I can't think of a kid in my area that HASN'T had at least one of these treats.

Well, any kids that aren't allergic to chocolate anyway.

But here's some things that you might not know about this British chocolate maker.  Well, aside from the fact that he died on May 11, 1889 at the age of 87.

Born in Birmingham, England on August 12, 1801, Cadbury was born into a family of Quakers - a historic group of religious movements known as the Religious Society of Friends.  But Cadbury found that being a Quaker in 19th century England meant that certain opportunities were not available to him.  Quakers were not allowed to enter or enroll in a university, so any hopes of a career in law or medicine were not an option.  Nor could he join the armed forces, as Quakers were also pacifists.

So, he shifted his focus towards business opportunities, and one thing that you might not be aware of is the fact that before he went into the world of developing and producing chocolate treats, he embarked on a crusade to stop animal cruelty.  He formed an organization known as the Animal Friends Society which would evolve into the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.  Now that's an interesting piece of information that I didn't even know myself!


It was in 1824 that Cadbury would begin his chocolate empire of sorts.  He started selling teas, coffees, and cocoa mixtures in Birmingham, and soon started producing his own versions of cocoa and drinking chocolate for consumption.  It wasn't long after that when he decided to go into the business of chocolate making with his brother, Benjamin.  In 1854, not long after opening up an office in London, they received a Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria herself to manufacture chocolate and cocoa to her and her royal court.  You know your product must be good if the Queen orders the product exclusively.

Tough times in the 1850s caused the split in partnership between John and Benjamin, and by the time that John's sons George and Richard took over the business, it was already in financial trouble and was forced to lay off almost half the staff.  However, the sons' decision to abandon the coffee and tea part of the business and focus more on the chocolate development paid off, and by the mid 1860s, the business had done a complete turnaround!  I'm sure John would have been proud.

By the time that John passed away in 1889, Cadbury was becoming a huge powerhouse in the chocolate making business.  It's just a shame he didn't live long enough to sample the Dairy Milk bar - the quintessential Cadbury creation made with more milk than any other milk chocolate bar wasn't invented until 1905.  I'm sure he would have found it delicious!

Tuesday, May 09, 2017

The Truth About Myself - Part 3

Before I go ahead with Part 3 of "The Truth About Myself", I just would like to comment on something first.  What I post in this blog is my own personal thoughts about various things that come through my head.  I'd say that 90% of these thoughts are pop culture related (hence the name - A Pop Culture Addict's Guide To Life).  The other 10% are personal tales.  Some of which are good memories.  Some of which are not so good.  But that's the way that life is.  And I will not apologize for posting whatever I feel like posting on this blog because it is my personal space to do with whatever I like to. 

Some people might not understand it, but getting my feelings out here is very cathartic, and I feel much better letting it out.  Now, I realize that this may not be for everyone, and I totally get that.  There's hundreds of other entries that you can read instead.  In fact, there's a search bar at the top of the blog just below the logo that you can use to locate any blog topic you want.  Chances are that if you are looking for it, I've covered it. 

But please do me a favour.  If you don't like a post, just skip over it.  Don't leave me any negative comments or call me names.  I do have the right to remove any comments that I feel are less than constructive, and I plan to exercise that right and exorcise the trolls from this space if I so choose to.  I like the fact that this is mostly a controversy free zone where people usually get along with each other, and I want to try and keep it that way.

Thanks for understanding.  

So, in the first part, we talked about brain structure and spectrums.  In part 2, we talked about social dysfunction.  Now let's talk about love.



I know, I know...bad transition.  But since I'd rather preach love than preach hate, I suppose it kind of works.

Love can be a many splendored thing.  It can also be a many stress filled thing.  And depending on the type of person you are, you can see love in a variety of different ways.



There are the ones who see love through the eyes of Michael Bolton.  The glass half full types who think love is a wonderful, wonderful thing.



There are the ones who see love through the eyes of the J. Geils Band - the ones who are so bitter about love that they want to pop ever heart shaped balloon and poison every box of heart shaped chocolates because in their eyes, love stinks.  Trust me, I've been there before. 

But then there are people (and I do include myself in this mix) who see love through the eyes of the band Foreigner.  The ones who think that love is a confusing emotion that they don't understand.  Some choose not to understand it while others are desperate to unlock its secret.



But no matter what, the general view of Foreigner love is - they want to know what love is.  And they want to be shown it.

But what happens when your experience with love makes you feel more confused about what it's supposed to be?  Then your ideas about love can get pretty complex. 

I know they are for me.  And while there are some truths about myself that I don't quite understand, I can tell you this.  Love is a four letter word that I find extremely hard to define because I feel as though I'm not capable of showing it.

Well, at least on a romantic level.



I mean, sure, we've all had our first kisses before.  I know I remember mine, and it was quite nice.  But since it's rude for a guy to kiss and tell, I'll keep that to myself.  Same deal with anything beyond kissing because let's face it.  Nobody really cares about that stuff.

But I do have to admit that when it comes to love, I find it harder to explain than quantum physics.

You know that movie "Inside Out"?  The one where you have the five emotions that transform memories into multicoloured marbles that represent either anger, joy, sadness, disgust, and fear?  I don't think any of those emotions represent my feelings about love because I don't have any.

I mean, for me, Valentine's Day was always just another day on the calendar.  I mean sure, we exchanged cards that had Disney characters on them and we choked down those chalky conversation hearts that had slogans on them begging someone else to "BE MINE".  But I didn't really understand or care about stuff like that.  I just wanted the free candy and the Donald Duck cards.  Nowhere in my brain did I equate Valentine's Day to romantic love.

And here I am, all these years later, and I feel as though the microchip in my brain that processes romantic love has been damaged.  Perhaps I was born that way.  I can't say for sure.  The one truth I know is that I haven't fallen head over heels in love with anybody romantically.  I don't know if I ever will.

And the funny thing is...I'm perfectly fine with that.

I mean, I'm not going to say that it might never happen.  I was always taught that you shouldn't ever say never to anything.  There could be a time in which I do feel my heart go a flutter whenever someone I'm interested in getting to know better.  Truth be told, there are some cases in which I've had crushes that have ended up becoming really good friendships.  But at this point in time, I think that I don't really want to search for it.

Nor do I really want it to find me. 

I think one of the truths that I've learned about myself through this period of self-discovery is that I don't really need to have romantic love in my life to feel like a person.  For some people, love makes them feel fuller.  For others, love drains them into emptiness.  But I'm at the point right now where I'm like this.  I'm almost 36.  I'm not in love with anyone yet.  And that's okay.  There's no textbook that tells you when you are supposed to fall in love by.  Hell, I could be 86 before I feel it.  Again, that's absolutely fine.  And while in my younger years, I saw it as being anything but normal - these days it's almost become cool to not rush into relationships.

Well, unless you're a contestant on the Bachelor or Bachelorette.  Something I will NEVER do, by the way.

There's no pressure to fall in love, get married, and have lots of babies.  I'm nowhere near that phase in my life.  I'm at the point right now where I really don't know if having a spouse or having children is in my future at all.  I'm not ready financially.  I'm not really mentally.  I'm certainly not ready for it right this second.  Again, I'm okay with that.

Besides, I think there was something I heard someone say one day.  For some reason, I keep wanting to think it was a famous scholar, but it very well could be RuPaul.  I always get those two mixed up.  Anyway, the idea is that someone said "if you can't love yourself, how can you love anyone else"? 

I'm getting there.  For someone who understands what love is in a family and friends sense, I'm already at that point.  And I believe that Whitney Houston sang that learning to love yourself was the greatest love of all.  Certainly a lot more profound - and a lot less squeamish than a certain single by the Divinyls (though let's face it, that song was quite good).

Sometimes I think that love can be overrated.  But it's also something that makes the world go around.  It's better than like.  It's infinitely better than hate.  But love can be so elusive to find, and so rare that for some it's almost not worth pursuing at all. 

I think it is...but not for me.  Not yet anyway.  And if it happens, it happens.  If not, I'll survive.





I'll get by with a little help from my friends.  Speaking of which, that's what Part 4 is all about.  The truths I've learned from friendship.

Friday, May 05, 2017

Jem Reviewed: Episode 59 - Midsummer Night's Madness


Last week's Jem Reviewed was exciting and mysterious as we watched Danse finally find her long lost father.  Unfortunately her mother is still missing, and since this was Danse's last episode, the mystery will have to remain unsolved.  Cue Robert Stack introducing "Unsolved Mysteries".



As for today's episode...the mystery is...how did I sit through this tripe?  This is Episode 59: Midsummer Night's Madness and let me tell you...this whole plot direction is madness.  You'll see why as we proceed.

Welcome to Greece in late July or early August - long before the collapse of Greece's financial markets.  It appears as though two groups - Jem and the Holograms and the Stingers - are performing at a special midsummer night festival.  How nice.



Well, okay, maybe it's not a nice experience for the Stingers.  The roadies hired to help them are so taken aback by the Stingers' arrogance and rudeness that they actually pretend not to understand English to mess with them.  When they smash an amplifier on the ground, Minx comments on how all foreigners are stupid.  Wow, she'd fit right in with Trump's America, wouldn't she?



At least most of the Holograms seem to be having a better time.  Aja, Shana, and Kimber are in love with the beautiful scenery, and Raya comments that it is the perfect condition for love and romance.



Which is quickly juxtaposed by a blowout fight between Jerrica and Rio!  So much for love and romance.  Apparently it's another one of those "you think Jem is better than me" arguments which makes no sense because Jerrica is too afraid to tell Rio that she's Jem because he hates lies and he hates deception.  The fight is quite serious with Jerrica throwing a clipboard at Rio and Rio responding with comments that are drenched in sarcasm and immaturity.  So in other words, it's a typical Friday for them.  Oh, and they break up for the four hundredth time.    



Aja tries to comfort Jerrica, but Jerrica is worried that she's lost Rio forever.  The Stingers overhear the whole conversation, and Riot remarks that he doesn't care about Jerrica.  He only loves Jem.  Oh, there's lots of irony in this episode!



The Holograms suggest that Jerrica try to forget about Rio and accompany them to the midsummer street festival as a happy distraction.  Jerrica agrees, but once she arrives at the festival she goes back to being a sourpuss and takes off from the rest of the group.  Way to bring down the mood, Jerrica.



As she walks down the streets of - actually, they never reveal what city they are in, so let's just go with Athens.  As she walks the streets of Athens, she passes by Riot who expresses some concern about her break up with Rio.  He turns on the charm that he claims will make every woman fall for him, and at first Jerrica seems captivated by his spell.  But once Riot asks Jerrica for help in getting Jem to fall for him, Jerrica literally loses it and screams WHY IS EVERYTHING ALL ABOUT JEM?!



(Well...considering that the show title is JEM...didn't you get the memo after almost 60 episodes, Jerrica?)



Jerrica's self-pity party leads to our first song of the episode - a rehash of a song first heard in Episode 16.  I do love the song "Can't Get My Love Together", and it was one of my favourites from Season 1.  The recycled version for Season 3 is still good, but I really don't care about the love triangle between Rio, Jem, and Riot.  Oh, and of course Jerrica has to change to Jem to sing because apparently Jerrica has no musical talent despite handling herself well on the song "Imagine Me".



Synergy appears to give Jerrica some words of encouragement and tries to tell her that Rio does care about her.  He wouldn't just kick a plant for anybody.  But Jerrica once again proves just how much of a brat she has become by telling Synergy that a computer as fantastic as her would know nothing about love, and tells her to go away and leave her alone.  Just for that comment alone, Synergy should change Jerrica into a cockroach.

Think this story has been strange so far?  Keep watching.



You see, as Jerrica continues to feel sorry for herself, a strange woman who introduces herself as an oracle named Phaedra.  How...convenient.  Phaedra claims that she knows everything about her - even that Jerrica is really Jem.  How...strange.  And Phaedra starts her prediction by telling Jerrica that she is a workaholic who needs to loosen up more like Jem!  How...awesome!  Jerrica reasons that she could never be as fantastic as Jem.  Um, Jerrica...YOU ARE JEM!!!  This is just freakin' bizarre.  Jerrica of all people being jealous of Jem.  Phaedra does offer Jerrica some advice though...she tells her to think of why Rio seems to be attracted to Jem and to start bring more of Jem's personality into her own.  Well, she could start by telling Rio that she is Jem, but Jerrica's too much of a coward for that to happen.



She changes into her Jem hologram and starts to have a conversation with Rio, but Rio steals Jem away from him rather quickly to try to seduce Jem away.  To Jem's credit, she responds that she is with Rio and wants to finish her conversation with him...



...but when Minx is seen throwing herself over Rio, Jem gets the wrong idea and basically tells both of them off before storming away.  I don't even know what the hell just happened here, but let me preface this by saying that all of these people are nuts.  Every last one of them.  Especially after Jem curses the oracle out as she storms away.



That last comment was said within the earshot of Rapture...and you can automatically sense the wheels of evil cranking around her morally bankrupt personality.  I can only imagine what scheme she has going through her head right now.



Jem meets up with Phaedra and informs her that Rio still doesn't notice her, nor does he care.  Phaedra seems to come up with a solution.  Create a whole new persona.  Yeah, because two just isn't enough.  She already has an issue with dual identity disorder - you want to try for multiple personalities now?



Surprisingly, Jem thinks this is a great idea with her reasoning being that Rio would be able to see through to her no matter what she looks like.  So she asks Synergy to transform her into a dark haired Greek girl named Jaime.  I don't recall Jaime being a Greek name.  Aphrodite, Apollina, Dionysia, and Eurydice, maybe.  But Jaime?  I don't even know if the letter J even exists in the Greek alphabet!



Anyway, Rio (who has tried to find Jem to explain what happened) quite literally crashes into "Jaime", and almost instantly the two hit it off.  Rio even comments that even though they have just met, Jaime makes him feel as though he has known her his whole life.  And I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.  I mean, Rio is essentially hitting on every girl with a pulse, and Jerrica as Jaime is just eating it up.  Told you this episode was maddening.

You know, I've had enough of this.  Let's check in with what else is happening in Athens.

Wow, a strange oracle has appeared in a town square, promising the future to random Greek citizens - for a hefty price of all the money in their possessions.  And if you've figured out that Rapture is using Jem's oracle story to line her own pockets with gold, you have successfully predicted the future better than Rapture can.



Minx and Riot are wise to her scheme, but really don't care.  Minx's destiny is towards making Rio hers.  Riot's destiny is to make Jem his.  Both of them leave Rapture to her own destiny of getting rich off of the gullibility of others.



However, as terrible of people as the Stingers are, they do make fantastic music.  "Destiny" is a fantastic song, and it's really nice to hear Minx and Rapture sing instead of just Riot.  But does the female singing voice sound familar to you?  It should if you're old enough to remember the 1970s.  In this installment of Jem Trivia I can tell you that one of the girls singing in this clip is late disco singer Vicki Sue Robinson, whose most well known hit would be the one featured below.



Though, I don't see Rapture turning the beat around and quitting while she is ahead.  In fact, with Aja, Kimber, Raya, and Shana approaching, Rapture takes it as an opportunity to really mess with them.



As the oracle, Rapture tells the group that someone they care for is experiencing a crisis of love, and that she needs help.  Well, of course Rapture knows this because she was there when Jem had her meltdown.  But Kimber and Raya seem to hang onto her word.  I'm a little surprised by Raya's naive attitude, as she was one of the more intelligent characters last season.  Kimber's still an airhead, but Raya knows better.



It's only when Rapture announces that the group should give up playing music and become professional basket weavers that Aja starts to suspect that something isn't quite right.  When the oracle mentions the Stingers, it more or less confirms Aja's suspicions.



And when Aja unmasks Rapture as the oracle that has been taking everybody's money, an angry mob of people go running after her.  Rapture probably won't learn anything from this, but at least she won't try to rip off the poor people of Greece.



The Holograms set off to find Jem, but instead they run into Rio - who is taking Jaime on a tour of the Greek neighbourhoods.  The other Holograms are NOT impressed that Rio is seemingly dating another woman (not realizing that Jaime is really Jem who is really Jerrica), and they basically call Rio a lying, cheating pig!  Wow, how ironic that the king of anti-deception is being deceptive towards Jerrica.  Even more ironic that he doesn't know that Jaime is really Jerrica who still hasn't told Rio that she's Jem.  I think I sense a migraine coming on.

Jaime leaves Rio and follows the Holograms to try and talk to them, to which Shana more or less calls her a tramp.  She doesn't actually say it, but she implies that she is one.  To which Jaime utters a "Show's Over, Synergy", and changes back into Jerrica which stuns everyone else into silence.



The Holograms all ask Jerrica what is going on, and Jerrica says that she was told that if she became Jaime then Rio would actually fall in love with Jerrica, and this makes all the Holograms go HUH?  Jerrica also explains that the oracle told her to do it and that she ended up making things worse, and Aja tries to tell her that the oracle was Rapture and that she was just lying, to which Jerrica reveals that there is another oracle and that she isn't on drugs, and she isn't drunk, and storms off.  Okay, what is this, the "everybody loses their mind" episode?



I guess it must be because no sooner has Jerrica left her friends than she is abducted by Riot - who is dressed in a gladiator outfit and is riding a horse drawn carriage.  Yeah, there's definitely something in the water - especially after Riot announces that he doesn't love Jem any more...he wants Jerrica and he wants Jerrica now!  Oh, sweet Jesus, how much longer is this episode?  I almost want to skip through it like I did with "Aztec Enchantment".  It's THAT HORRIBLE.



Oh, and Minx tries to hit on Rio again because she hates all Americans except Rio and she has no self worth.  Rio rebuffs her advances once again, and Minx is about to rip the purple hair right off his scalp.  Luckily for Rio, Rapture's angry mob fast approaches and now Minx has joined Rapture in the quest to not get murdered by said mob.

Seriously, is this show over yet?



Riot continues to try and schmooze Jerrica, and he is definitely turning on the charm - even more so than he has with Jem.  This tells me that he's definitely up to something, and I think Jerrica is starting to see it too because she excuses herself and changes back into her Jaime persona.



It's actually kind of funny to see Riot running down the streets of Athens wearing a gladiator costume screaming his love and affections towards Jerrica knowing that she's literally standing two feet away as Jaime.



Jaime quickly bumps into Rio again and does a little bit of flirtation, but Rio's not really interested in chatting with him running away from Minx and with him trying to find Jerrica.  But Rio brushes Jaime off so rudely that Jaime decides to silence herself for good.  She changes back into Jerrica and proclaims that at least Riot has noticed her and that he will take her back.  Oh, my lord, end this insanity now please.



I'm not exactly sure what happens now because I've honestly stopped paying attention to the dialogue at this point, but eventually Riot and Rio come face to face and they start dueling over Jerrica, saying that Jerrica is better than Jem.  But then Jerrica completely goes postal at both of the men saying that just a few hours ago, both of them wanted Jem, and now they want her instead.  She blasts both of them for being immature and tells them that they are stupid for being so indecisive!  Well if that ain't the pot calling the kettle pink.  Oh, sometimes I hate this show.

Jerrica runs into the Holograms who still believe that Jerrica needs a straitjacket to go with the JemStar earrings.  They still don't believe Jerrica's story about the oracle, and they want her to sit down and sing Kumbaya with them.  Well, not really, but they are concerned.



Ah, but wait.  The oracle Phaedra makes an appearance, and Jerrica is about ready to rip her a new one.  Jerrica says that she did everything she suggested and nothing worked.  Rio is such a man-whore that he hits on anything that moves, and that he doesn't care about her.  But Phaedra reveals that simply isn't true.  For every time that Rio was presented with a new girl, he thought only of Jerrica, for Rio was able to see her inner beauty within.  Oh for the love of poundcake.  Seriously?!?  That's lame.  I suppose next the oracle is going to reveal herself as a friend of Jerrica.



Oh, shocker.  Phaedra is really Synergy.  And actually what Synergy reveals makes a lot of sense under the context.  It was clear that Jerrica wasn't going to listen to Synergy, so she had to synthesize the Phaedra hologram to get her to listen - much like she had Jerrica turn into Jaime to get Rio to listen to her inner self.  Well, when she explains it like that, it makes quite a bit of sense.  The episode is still insanely stupid, but I get the point of it now.



I guess Jerrica was so busy coming to terms with everything that she forgot that she left Rio and Riot pummeling each other in the middle of a Greek neighbourhood.  They rush back to see both of them engaged in a fighting pose ready to bust open each other's noses.

But then Riot does something completely out of the blue.  He tells Rio that Jerrica is all his.  When he asks Riot to explain, he says that Jerrica is a lovely lady, but only second best for him.  Wow, what a real charmer this one is.  He decided to stage the fight so that Rio would see what a jewel he has in Jerrica leaving him free to pursue Jem.  Oh, the irony is just overflowing in this episode much like some of the coastal areas in the Eastern part of North America at this time!



At least Rio tells Riot that Jerrica is more of a woman than Jem could ever be, and naturally Jerrica swoons at the news.  Aja encourages her to go over and tell Rio how she feels and it's happily ever after for Jerrica and Rio.  Excuse me while I barf.

But Jerrica's not finished yet.  She remarks that Riot wants a fantasy girl, so she'll create the fantasy.  She projects a hologram of Jem in the distance which causes Riot to run towards it.



Of course, Riot only runs into his bandmates who essentially have lost five pounds running from the angry mob.  It's only until Riot fills a pot with the money Rapture stole and smashes it on the ground in front of the mob that they stop, leaving the Stingers free to make their escape like the platinum haired cowards they are.



And it's time for our final song.  It's a song with a Greek beat called "Midsummer Night's Madness".  It's okay, but not my favourite.  And that wraps up one of the most frustrating episodes of Jem that I've ever seen.  With only seven episodes left of the series, I shudder to wonder what the next one is all about...everyone seemed to lose their minds in this one.  Ah, here's a brief description for episode sixty...



...Jem DIES?!?  REALLY?!?  Oh, please don't tell me that this is going to stretch out until the series finale.  I might not make it! 

Thursday, May 04, 2017

May 4, 1959

Hello, everyone!  May the 4th be with you!

Unfortunately, this
Throwback Thursday post is NOT Star Wars themed.  But that's not to say that there WON'T be one this month.  There very well could be.  But this week, we're going to go a different, but delightful direction.  One that is pleasing to the ears, if you want to look at it that way.

In the meantime, let's have a look and see what happened throughout history on the 4th of May with the historical happenings that I did not select for today's blog topic.

1471 - The Battle of Tewkesbury takes place during the War of the Roses; Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales is killed by Edward IV

1776 - Rhode Island becomes the first colony to renounce allegiance to King George III

1814 - Napoleon I begins his exile on the island of Elba

1871 - The National Association - the first professional baseball league - opens its debut season in Indiana

1904 - The United States begins construction of the Panama Canal

1910 - The Royal Canadian Navy is established

1919 - Students in China protest the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in Tiananmen Square

1926 - The UK General Strike commences

1929 - Actress Audrey Hepburn (d. 1993) is born in Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium

1932 - Al Capone begins serving an eleven-year prison sentence for tax evasion in Atlanta, Georgia

1942 - Singer Nickolas Ashford (d. 2011) is born in Fairfield, South Carolina

1945 - The Neuengamme concentration camp is liberated by British armed forces

1946 - United States Marines are called into Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary to stop a riot that had broken out two days earlier

1949 - Nearly the entire Torino football team is killed in a plane crash; the two surviving players were not on the flight at the time it crashed

1953 - Ernest Hemingway wins the Pulitzer Prize for "The Old Man and the Sea"

1958 - Artist Keith Haring (d. 1990) is born in Reading, Pennsylvania

1970 - Four students are shot and killed and nine others wounded at Kent State University by the Ohio National Guard who were attempting to break up a protest the Cambodian Campaign

1979 - Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1988 - Henderson, Nevada is rocked by an explosion at the PEPCON plant, which is caused by the ignition of Space Shuttle fuel

1998 - The Unabomber is sentenced to four life sentences plus thirty years

2007 - The town of Greensburg, Kansas is almost completely demolished by an EF5 tornado

2009 - Actor/comedian Dom DeLuise dies at the age of 75

2012 - Founding member of the Beastie Boys Adam Yauch dies at the age of 47

2014 - A series of bus bombings in Nairobi, Kenya kill three and injure 62

Now for celebrity birthdays, we have the following people turning one year older...Katherine jackson, Thomas Kinsella, Ron Carter, Dick Dale, Robin Cook, Russi Taylor, Darryl Hunt, Jackie Jackson, Pia Zadora, Randy Travis, Andrew Denton, Jay Aston, Gregg Alexander, Will Arnett, Mike Dirnt, Erin Andrews, Lance Bass, Dallon Weekes, and Rory McIlroy.

And what day are we going back in time to this week?



Ah, May 4, 1959.  I remember it well.  Wait, no I don't.  It was 22 years before I was born.

But it was a very interesting date in the world of music.  In fact, one could say that it was the day that musical artists finally got recognition for their talent.

I suppose in some ways prior to 1959, musical artists would get a lot of gratification from their fans in knowing that the career they pursued was the right one.  Certainly the more records one sold, the more popular and successful an artist could be.  But I imagine that before 1959, artists were thinking that there should be a way to formally recognize an artist for the talent that they have.



Enter the creation of the Grammy Award.  Named after the Gramophone - the ancient looking record player that adorns the top of every single award - the very first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on May 4, 1959, celebrating the best of music from the year 1958.

I have to say that when it comes down to it, the Grammy Awards are really the only awards show that I have the slightest interest in.  I've been a faithful viewer of the awards show since 1988, and have watched every year since (well, minus 2011 when I was recovering from surgery on Grammy night).  I've always loved music, and I appreciate the fact that the Grammy Awards put together some interesting performances that pair up artists that you never thought would go together. 

Of course, pop music has become less and less popular with me, and these days I find myself wondering who the heck some of the performers really are when just twenty years ago, I was so hip on the current music scene.  Oh, to go back to 1997 again.

Well, how about we go back to 1959 to see who won the very first set of Grammy Awards?  Would you believe that back in 1959, there were only twenty-eight awards handed out?  That's a fraction of the awards that are handed out now.  The number changes frequently due to the changing nature of the categories, but I wouldn't be surprised if more than a hundred awards are handed out at each ceremony.  And this includes the Latin Grammy Awards, which were first handed out in 2000.

Anyway, just to give you an idea as to what happened at the first Grammy Awards, I can tell you that it was unique in that the inaugural Grammy Award ceremony was not broadcast on television.  In fact, it wouldn't be until 1971 before the Grammy Awards would be broadcast live on television (though pre-taped ceremonies began to be broadcast beginning with the second Grammy Awards held on November 29, 1959).  Another unique bullet point about the Grammy Awards is that two different ceremonies were held on the same day.  One was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, while the other one was held in New York's Park Sheraton Hotel.

So, who were the winners?  Here's a partial list...how many of these songs and artists do you know?



RECORD OF THE YEAR:  Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu (Volare) - Domenico Modugno
ALBUM OF THE YEAR:  The Music from Peter Gunn - Henry Mancini
SONG OF THE YEAR:  Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu (Volare) - Domenico Modugno
BEST FEMALE VOCAL POP PERFORMANCE: Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook - Ella Fitzgerald
BEST MALE VOCAL POP PERFORMANCE: Catch a Falling Star - Perry Como
BEST GROUP VOCAL POP PERFORMANCE: That Old Black Magic - Keely Smith & Louis Prima



BEST R&B PERFORMANCE:  Tequila - The Champs
BEST JAZZ PERFORMANCE:  Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berling Songbook - Ella Fitzgerald
BEST COUNTRY PERFORMANCE: Tom Dooley - The Kingston Trio



BEST CHILDREN'S RECORDING:  The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) - Ross Bagdasarian Sr.

The rest of the awards were mostly for technical things such as album packaging, production and engineering, and spoken word albums.  But with only twenty six awards to hand out, I can't imagine the ceremony being very long.  Certainly not the three hour spectacle (at least) that we're used to seeing.

And considering that the Grammy Awards are set to celebrate their sixtieth anniversary in 2018, I'd say that the first annual Grammy ceremony was the beginning of a lot of beautiful music.  And it's estimated that over 8,000 awards have been given out ever since. 

Now that's something to sing about!