Another Musical Interlude

Before anything else I should mention that the old Randolph County Jail is going to be auctioned on EBay. They haven't put it on EBay yet, so I don't have a link for you, but it is supposed to be up for auction by the end of the day. The auction has even made the national news. There is an AP story about it and I guess it made it to TV. That's not bad at all for a medium sized county in the middle of Missouri.

Beyond that today finds me a bit blue. I won't go into the reason here (let's just say my hopes and dreams seem farther away than ever), but today I just feel down. Right now I am in the mood for depressing music. In this case, it is "Turn to Stone" by the Electric Light Orchestra. The song is from their album Out of the Blue. I do believe it was one of the singles off that album and even made the Top Forty. Anyhow, here it is:

"Turn to Stone" by ELO

Black Sabbath Makes It into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Yesterday the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced the latest bands and individuals to be inducted on thier March 13, 2006 ceremony. Among the indcutees are legendary heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Gruops and individuals become elgible for induction into the Hall of Fame 25 years after their first record. In the case of the 38 year old Black Sabbath, they were rejected seven times beofre finally being accepted into the Hall of Fame this time around.

Black Sabbath was formed in Birmingham, England in 1967 by Ozzy Osbourne, Terence Butler, Bill Ward, and Tony Iommi. Originally named the Polka Tulk Blues Band (later shortened to Polka Tulk) and later renamed Earth, the group changed its name to Black Sabbath after the song of the same name (possibly inspired by an old Boris Karloff movie). Black Sabbath combined blues style hard rock with elements of the European folk song and power chords. Their lyrics generally dealt with darker themes than other groups around at the time. The result was some of the earliest heavy metal music to ever be recorded. While Led Zeppelin is sometimes classed as heavy metal, it can be argued that they were a hard rock band who occasionally recorded heavy metal songs. On the other hand, there can be no dobut that Black Sabbath was a heavy metal band. In fact, they may have been the first heavy metal band to find success. Their first album, Black Sabbath, brought them a good deal of attention, although it was their second album, Paranoid, with the song of the same title and "Iron Man," that established them as a success. Among other things, Black Sabbath was one of the first groups to deal with fantastic themes in their songs. Besides their horror movie influenced early work, they also recorded such songs "Iron Man (about a man transformed into a creature of metal)" and "Spiral Architect."

Personally, I am a bit shocked that it took seven tries for Black Sabbath to make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. More than any other group, they helped shape the subgenre of rock music known as heavy metal. Their songs are still played to this day. And the band established the career of Ozzy Osbourne, who would later become a successful solo artist in his own right (not to mention a TV star). Of course, it must be pointed out that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has not been particularly favourable to heavy metal in the past. Off the top of my head, I can only think of one other heavy metal band to make it into the Hall of Fame--Australian band AC/DC.

As to the other inductees, Lynyrd Synyrd made it after seven tries as well. I cannot say that I am overjoyed with that, not being a big fan of the group, but I suppose that they did have an impact on creating southern rock (a subgenre I really don't care for). Among the inductees are also The Sex Pistols. As a Sex Pistols fan, I must say that I am happy about that. They were the first punk band to achieve any sort of prominence. And like Black Sabbath, I am surprised that they were not inducted sooner. Blondie has also made it into the Hall of Fame this time around. I really don't think Blondie had any impact as far as influencing rock genres, atlhough I have always been a Blondie fan. They produced some of my favourite songs from the late Seventies and early Eighties. Of course, I must admit that I had a bit of a crush in high school on Deborah Harry....

Over all I am pleased with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's latest inductees, particuarly Black Sabbath. They have been one of my favourite bands since I was a kid. And I don't think it can be argued that they did not have a lasting impact on rock music.

Ralph Edwards R.I.P.

Television pioneer Ralph Edwards died November 16, 2005 of congestive heart failure at the age of 92. For those of you who don't know woh Ralph Edwards is, he could be condsidered the father of reality television alongside Allen Funt (of Candid Camera fame) and Art Linklater. Among the shows he created were Truth or Consequences, This is Your Life, and The People's Court, the former two being some of the earliest examples of the reality format. For a man born on Friday the 13th, Edwards could not be described as unlucky.

Ralph Edwards was born on June 13, 1913 near Merino, Colorado. When he was 12 his family moved to Oakland, California. Edwards got his first job in radio in Oakland when he was all of 16. When attending the University of California in Berkley he worked at KROW and KFRC in San Francisco. It was in 1940 that he had his first big hit in radio, the show Truth or Consequencs. The format of the series was simple audience parcipitation. Contestants would have to tell the truth or face the consequences (usually some silly stunt or another). Truth or Consequences was wildly successful. In 1950 Hot Sprints, New Mexico voted to change their name to Truth or Consequences, after the famous show. Truth or Consequences may also have been the first reality show on television. It was also NBC's first commercial TV show. On July 1, 1941, the FCC approved commercial television broadcasts. That same month Truth or Consequnces aired on NBC-TV. World War II interrupted commercial television broadcasts and hence the first run of Truth or Consequnences, but it would return to television in 1950 for an unprecedented 38 year run.

Edwards's other famous creation, This is Your Life, debuted on radio as well. It ran on NBC from 1952 to 1961. This is Your Life featured guests who were tricked into being on the show, then being invited to reminisce about their lives with old friends and co-workers. The show featured guests who were celebrities as well as ordinary people. Among the famous people who appeared on the show were Gloria Swanson, Nat King Cole, Debbie Reyolds, Marlyn Monroe, Andy Griffith, and many others. The show has been revived a few times.

On btoh Truth or Consequnces and This is Your Life, Edwards was the host, although he would eventually hand the hosting chores off to someone else (in the case of Truth or Consequences, it was Bob Barker. He did not host his third famous creation, People's Court. Debuting in 1981, People's Court was one of the earliest shows which featured individuals going before a judge to solve their problems. Edwards also had a hand in many other shows, among them Name That Tune, Supeiror Court, and Wide Country.

Ralph Edwards was a true pioneer in the field of broadcasting. As I said earlier, alongside Allan Funt and Art Linklater he could be said to be the father of reality television. Truth or Consequences was among the earliest audience participation shows, while This is Your Life was one of the earliest shows to focus on the average person. I have never heard what Edwards thought of the current crop of reality shows, whether he liked them or not, but having grown up watching Truth or Consequences and This is Your Life, I think they were on the whole superior to the current crop of reality shows. While I do not know if I would like either show now (tastes do tend to change over the years), it does seem to me that they focused on fun and enjoyment rather than exploitation as many shows do today. Indeed, This is Your Life could even be uplifting. That is more than I think can be said for Fear Factor....

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (the Movie, not the Book)

Last night I watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the latest cinematic installment based on the wildly successful series of books. Besides Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith and King Kong, it was easily the most anticipated movie of the year. And I rather think most Harry Potter fans will not be disapponted with this film.

As Harry Potter fans already know, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire centres on the Triwizard Tournament, a 700 year old contest between wizardry schools which takes place every five years. The Tournment consists of a series of tasks, each rather dangerous, which the contestants must overcome. To be considered for the Tournament, individuals must submit their entires in the Goblet of Fire, a powerful artefact responsible for ultimately deciding who is to compete. Under the current rules, only students over seventeen are allowed to submit their names to the Goblet of Fire. Nonetheless, Harry founds himself chosen as one of Hogwart's champions....

Like the book upon which it was based, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is much darker and more violent than its predecessors. Anyone considering taking very young children to this film are strongly cautioned, as it is rated PG-13 for a reason. The movie begins with an innocent Muggle stumbling upon He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his cohorts, complete with large, slithering snake. The horrors don't stop there, as the climax is truly the most intense of any of the movies.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire also differs from the previous movies in another respect--it is the first to be directed by an English director. Mike Newell, director of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Pushing Tin For this reason this movie seems more essentially English than the other, previous three. Indeed, this is the first time in any of the movies that I can remember hearing genuine, British slang. But the Englishness of the film does not stop there. Newell's interest is not in the wonders and horrors that fill the Harry Potter books, but in the characters and their interactions. It is the emotional impact of the other characters and the events around them on the heroes which interests Newell, not the Gothic atmosphere or spectacular magic. Perhaps becuase of this, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire comes closest to capturing the spirit of the books.

Indeed, it must be pointed out that in this movie Harry, Ron, and Hermione seem so much older than they were in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Harry not only worries about the return of Voldemort, but getting a date to the Yule Ball. The relationship between Ron and Hermione heats up in this movie and, for those who have not read the books, there can be no doubt that the two have some very deep seated, if repressed, feelings for each other.

That is not to say this movie is all about violence, dark magicks, and teen angst. Like the book it has its share of humour. One of the funniest scenes takes place in the study hall as Snape keeps disciplining Harry and Ron for talking. Another hilarious scene invovles Harry and the ghost Moaning Myrtle in the Prefects' Bath (this is the most uncomfortable I think I have ever seen Daniel Radcliffe...). And, of course, Weasley twins Fred and George provide a good deal of comic relief throughout the film.

Harry Potter fans will probably debate the choices of what to inlcude in the movie and what not to include in the movie as far as the material in the book. Personally, I think screenwriter Steven Kloves and Mike Newell made the right choices, with the possible exception of one subplot (I won't name it here as not to spoil the book for those who haven't read it or the movie for those who haven't seen it). To me the movie has all the essentials of the book and nothing that is gratuitous. I guess I shouldn't point out that if the book were adaped literally and loyally, we would probably have a six hour movie on her hands....

In my humble opinion Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the best so far in the series. While it is perhaps not as loyal an adaptation as the first two movies, it captures the spirit of the books better than any of the other movies. Except for the staunchest purists, I think most Harry Potter fans will be pleased with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Pat Morita and George Best Pass On

Two well known individuals in their respective fields have died recently. One was Pat Morita, best known for his roles as Arnold on Happy Days and Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid movies. Norita died yesterday in Las Vegas of natural causes at the age of 73.

Morita was born in California to migrant fruit pickers. As a child he had spinal tuberculosis and as a result was in hospital for much of his early life. His life did not get any easier when he recovered. With World War II under way, Morita, like many Americans of Japanese descent, was sent to an internment camp in Arizona. Following World War II he opened a restaurant. There he discovered a gift for comedy. For a time he both worked as a comic and in computers at Aerojet General before taking up comedy full time.

Morita's big break came with appearances on The Hollywood Palace in 1964, 1965, and 1966. He would go on to make many guest appearances on such TV shows as Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. and The Courtship of Eddie's Father, as well as small parts in such movies as Thoroughly Modern Millie and The Shakiest Gun in the West. He also had a recurring on role on Sanford and Son. Racism against Asians being common in Hollywood at the time, many of the roles Morita played were demeaning at best.

It was in 1975 that Morita landed the role of Arnold, the owner of the local drive in restaurant, on Happy Days. The role brought Mortia to national attention for the first time and he was eventually rewarded with his own short lived series, Mr. T and Tina. Though the series did not last long, it is historic as one of the few American shows on which an Asian played a lead role. Following Happy Days and Mr. T and Tina, Morita worked regularly, appearing in many movies and TV shows. Besides The Karate Kid, Morita appeared in Midway, When Time Runs Out, Slapstick, Honeymoon in Vegas, and Spy Hard. He provided the voice for the Emperor in Mulan. On television he was a regular on Blansky's Beauties and played the lead on Ohara. Ohara is historic as it is one of the few times in which an Asian played a lead role on an American TV series (a police drama at that).

Morita never won any awards, although he was nominated for a few. He was nominated for the Best Oscar for an Actor in a Supporting Role for his part in The Karate Kid, a Golden Globe for the same, an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special for his role in Amos, and a Golden Globe for that same part.

For many Pat Morita will always be Arnold, but arguably his legacy in television and movies goes farther than that. He was one of the first visible Asian actors and comedians in Hollywood. And while many of his early parts could be considered racist, many of his later roles broke the racial barriers that Hollywood had constructed long ago. As pointed out above, both Mr. T and Tina and Ohara are historic as being among the earliest shows to have an Asian in the lead. Although not often recognised as such, Morita was a pioneer.

The other well known person to die was George Best. Now I realise many Americans may be saying "Wasn't he the fifth Beatle? (no, that was Pete Best)" but Best was famous outside the States. He was a football (as in soccer) legend who played for Manchester United and Northern Ireland.

Best is considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time. Over a period of twelve yeas he scored 180 goals for Manchester United. He also played in the States, where he scored a phenomenal 54 goals in 139 goals for the Los Angeles Aztecs, Fort Lauderdale Strikers and San Jose Earthquakes. He was only 17 when he began his career with Manchester.

In the Sixties Best''s fame was equal to rock stars of the era and, sadly, he chose to live the same lifestyle. He drank heavily and womanised. Reportedly he had slept with seven Miss Worlds, although Best claimed it was only four. Eventually his alcoholism would lead to liver disease and the need for a transplant in 2002. It was the years of drinking which killed him; he died from mulitple organ failure as a result of years of abuse.

While Best's lifestyle was nothing to admire (alcoholism and womanising not being traits desirable even in footballers), his achievements on the field were amazing. Few soccer players have matched him and even fewer have surpassed him. Sadly, it seems to me that he could have achieved even more greatness had he not made the choices he did. Regardless, many will mourn his passing.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloons

Growing up my typical Thanksgiving began by watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on KOMU. Afterwards we would have Thanksgiving dinner (always served at noon). I really have no idea when I first saw the parade, although I seem to recall watching it when I was three. Given that my parents also watched the parade, it seems to me that they must have started watching it before I was born. Of course, as a kid one the biggest attraction in the parade were the giant balloons. Actually, I have to confess that they still are (well, besides the Rockettes anyhow...).

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade began in 1924 as "Macy's Christmas Day Parade," even though it took place on Thanksgiving. By 1927 it was officially renamed "the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade." Both the 1925 and 1926 parades featured such live animals as lions, elephants, tigers, and so on. After those two prades Macy's concluded that the animals scared many children. The decision was then made to replace the animals with balloons. The task of designing those balloons fell to Tony Sarg. Sarg was a theatrical designer employed by Macy's to design their Christmas windows. Those first balloons were not filled with helium and hence they were not airborne. They were simply filled with air and supported by handlers on sticks. Regardless, those first four balloons would set the pace for many of the balloons to come in the parade's 81 year history. They were a dragon, an elephant, the first of many toy soldiers, and the parade's first balloon based on an animated character, Felix the Cat. The following year the balloons were filled with the mixutre of helium and air that has been used ever since.

At the end of that 1928 parade, the balloons were released in the air. Because helium expands as it goes higher in the atmosphere, the balloons all exploded before they reached the top of the Macy's building. For that reason they added safety valves to the balloons in 1929. The balloons were again released aand there was a $25 reward for anyone who captured one and returned it to Macy's. In 1931 famous aviator Clarence Chamberlain actually captured a giant pig balloon. In 1932 a woman learning to fly tried to capture a giant cat balloon. Instead she collieded with the balloon. She and her instructor survived, but the cat did not. From then on, Macy's stopped releasing the balloons after the parade. While I suppose some may have been disappointed that the balloons would no longer be released in the air, it did allow for old favourites to return to the parade again and again.

For literally decades the balloons were made by Goodyear's Aviation Products Division. They went out of the business of making balloons in 1981. The balloons would begin as a sketch, which Goodyear's engineers would inspect to insure that they would be able to fly. A scale, clay model would then be made of the balloon with attention paid to the character's likeness (it wouldn't do to have a Spider-Man balloon that doesn't look like Spider-Man) and such concerns as the necessary volume of helium to insure flight. A second model is then made and painted. Following this the balloon would be assembled and test flown on the airfield at Akron. The balloon would go through a number of test flights in early November. On top of all of this balloon handlers must be trained how to support and pilot the balloons. Each balloon requires about 50 to 60 handlers to fly.

Starting with Felix the Cat, balloons based on characters from pop culture have been a part of the parade. In the beginning such balloons were rare, although this would change. In 1934 Tony Sarg teamed up with Walt Disney to create balloons based on the Big Bad Wolf, the Three Little Pigs, Pluto, and Mickey Mouse (the first of many). The first of three Superman balloons made its appearance in 1939. Unfortunately, it would not survive. The advent of World War II saw the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parde cancelled in 1942, 1943, and 1944. The balloons were donated to the government to help in the war effort (rubber was in high demand). Besides the Superman balloon, the Uncle Sam balloon was also sacrificed to help our armed forces.

It was after World War II that the Golden Age for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade began. Although I have no data to back this up, looking at pictures it seems to me that the balloons grew in size Even if they didn't, it was during this period that some of the parade's best known and longest running parades made their debut. Mighty Mouse (1951-1972), Smokey Bear, Popeye (1957-1969), Bullwinkle (1961-1983), Underdog (1965-1984), and Snoopy (1968-1985) all first appeared during this period. And all of them had particularly long runs. Ironically, perhaps none were more durable than Linus the Lion Hearted. He was the animated spokesman for Post Crispy Critters Cereal. He even had his animated cartoons on Saturday mornings starting in 1964. Even after his series was removed from the air over FCC concerns about a commercial character appearing in a children's cartoon and even after Post stopped making Crispy Critters, his balloon continued to appear in the Macy's parade. In fact, it was last flown in 1991! Of course, among many of my generation the all time favourite balloon was Underdog. The Underdog balloon flew for 19 years, long after his series had left network airwaves. I don't know what the longest running balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was, but I suspect Underdog is in the top ten longest running.

Of course, the parade has had its share of balloons based on advertising icons. I am not sure what the first one was, but it could have been Dino, Sinclair Oil's allosaurus mascot. He made his debut in 1963 parade and continued to appear in the parade well into the Seventies. Since then there have been balloons based on Honey Nut Cheerios Bee, the Snuggles Bear, and Jeeves of Ask Jeeves fame (the first balloon to be based on an internet character).

Unfortunately, the balloons have not always had it easy. Nineteen fifty six saw particularly high winds that grounded Mighty Mouse before he had even hit Columbus Circle. Other balloons, the War Between the States themed Observer, and Gobbler (a giant turkey) also fell victim to the winds that year. In 1958 a helium shortage forced Macy's to fill the balloons with air and carry them through New York on cranes. In 1971 the balloons were grounded entirely because of high winds. In 1975 the Underdog balloon collided with a light pole. It seems to me that such incidents increased dramatically in the Nineties. In 1993 the Sonic the Hedgehog balloon knocked over a lamppost, while that same year a balloon based on the character Rex from We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story split in two when it hit another lamppost. In 1997 there was a balloon mishap in which someone was seriously injured. The Cat in the Hat balloon actually knocked a lamppost into a crowd of spectators and injured a woman. I think it may have been that same year that Bart Simpson hit a tree. As a result of these mishaps the City of New York passed laws restricting balloons to a size of 70 feet high, 78 feet long, and 40 feet wide and requiring more handlers.

Sadly, while balloon accidents have decreased since these laws were put in place, they have not stopped them from happening entirely. Today two people were injured when the M & Ms balloon crashed into a light pole. I must say that this disturbs me. First, I don't like the idea of anyone being injured, especially when they are simply enjoying a parade. Second, I worry about the future of the balloons in the parade. It seems possible to me that either Macy's or New York City could simply stop having the balloons in the parade. I cannot say I would blame them, given the various mishaps and injuries over the years. That having been said, it seems to me that such accidents did not start occuring until the Nineties, meaning that in previous years Macy's must have been doing something which made flying the balloons safer. Perhaps a few more regulations are needed to insure that the balloons are safer. At any rate, I don't want to see the parade without the balloons.

Anyhow, it seems to me that for some time after 1980 the appeal of the giant balloons went downward. Throughout the Eighties and the Nineties I can say that there have been only been a few balloons that have appealed to me: Spider-Man, Bart Simpson, Clifford, the new Bullwinkle balloon, and, of course, Spongebob Squarepants. I do think this years' crop of new balloons have improved slightly. Although I am not a big fan of the cartoon, I do like the new Scooby-Doo balloon.

Giant balloons have been a part of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade since 1928. It is hard to say what their future will be given today's incident, but one thing can be said. Many people have watched the parade over the years for the balloons and many have fond memories of various balloons from over the years. I know I do.

Star Wars III Revenge of the Sith on DVD

In a year when the most widely anticipated movie was not the latest Harry Potter, a big budget adaptation of C. S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, or a remake of King Kong (by Peter Jackson, no less), it could only mean one thing: the final chapter of the first trilogy of Star Wars had come out. Being the most widely anticipated movie of the year, Star Wars III Revenge of the Sith was naturally also the most widely anticipated DVD release of the year. Fortunately, the DVD release has also proven to be worth the wait.

I've already reveiwed Revenge of the Sith (you can read that review here), so I am not going to talk about the film itself. I will say that Revenge of the Sith could possibly be the best transfer of a film to DVD in the short history of that medium. The picture is clear and crisp. The details are sharp and easily seen. The sound also made the transition to DVD very well. Indeed, one can hear Star Wars III Revenge of the Sith in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX or Dolby Surroudsound. And in English, Spanish, or French at that. While many films fare poorly when transferred to DVD, Revenge of the Sith did not.

The Star Wars III Revenge of the Sith DVD set would be a "must buy" even if it only contained the movie alone. Fortunately, Lucasfilm saw to it to provide some truly sterling bonus materials. There are naturally the expected movie trailers and TV spots (my favourite--"In Three Days...Sith Happens...."). And there is also the expected audio commentary. In this case, we not only hear from director and creator George Lucas, but from producer Rick McCallum, animation director Rob Coleman, visual effects supervisors Jack Knoll, and Roger Guyett. Between the five men the audio commentary provdies insights into the film ranging from character development to the inspiration behind various scenes to the many techinical aspects from the film (from animating Yoda to creating the various special effects). Unlike many audio commentaries, it is truly entertaining and a must for any Star Wars fan to listen to.

As might be expected, the Star Wars III Revenge of the Sith DVD set also contains the expected "Making of..." documentary. That "Making of..." documentary is anything but expected, however, as it takes a completely different track than most. Rather than documenting the making of the entire film, it instead focuses on one pivotal sequence--the climatic battle between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader (I think he had pretty much ceased being Anakin by that point...) and just how many people were involved in the making of that sequence. Within a Minute further breaks away from the traditional "Making of..." documentary in not only discussing such aspects of film making as acting, special effects, cienmatography, and editing, but even discussing such members of the crew as the caterers, accountants, and production staff. Anyone who has ever wondered how films are made would be well educated by this documentary. There are also two other featurettes. "The Chosen One" discusses Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader and his final redemption at the end of the Star Wars trilogies. "It's All for Real" discusses the stunts that went into the making of Revenge of the Sith.

The Star Wars III Revenge of the Sith DVD set also features six deleted scenes, with introductions by George Lucas and Rick McCallum. Among the most interesting are two scenes which involve the beginnings of the Rebel Alliance and a discussion between Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Mace Windu regarding Chancellor Palpatine.

The Star Wars III Revenge of the Sith DVD also has web doucmentaries and a preview of the Xbox game Star Wars Battlefront. Not owning a PC equipped with a DVD-Rom drive or an Xbox, I couldn't view either of these.

The Star Wars III Revenge of the Sith DVD set is one that befits a movie some have considered the best of the series (or at least the second or third best...). Even if they had only released the movie alone, with no bonus materials, Star Wars III Revenge of the Sith would be worth getting. That they provided the DVD set with the bonus materials they did makes it all the better.

Sheree North

Blonde bombshell and character actress Sheree North has passed on. She died Friday, November 11 of complicatoins from surgery. She was 72.

Sheree North was born Dawn Bethel to to Edward and Ethel Bethel in Los Angeles, California. North began her career in entertainment early, dancing for the USO at age 10 and later dancing in Carroll’s variety shows. Her big break came with with the Broadway musical Hazel Flagg in 1953. Having appeared as an extra in the 1951 movie Excuse My Dust, her big break on the big screen came as a dancer in the film version of Hazel Flagg, Living It Up, the following year.

North was signed by 20th Century Fox as a possible replacement for the unreliable Marilyn Monroe that same year. She tested for two of Marilyn's more famous roles, those in Girl in Pink Tights and There's No Business Like Show Business. When Monroe turned down the lead in How to Be Very, Very Popular, it was North who got the part. Despite this, North was not destined for big screen greatness. She would appear in many films throughout her career, among them The Lieutenant Wore Skirts, Madigan, The Trouble of Girls, The Organization and The Shootist. Her bigget impact, however, would be on the small screen.

Throughout the Fifties, Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties, North guest starred on such series as Playhouse 90, Bonanza, The Loner, Kung Fu, and Matlock. She is probably best known for playing Lou Grant's girlfriend on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Kramer's mother, Babs, on Seinfeld.

North continued to appear on stage for much of her career. She appeared in the 1962 Broadway production I Can Get It for You Wholesale. She also toured with productions of Bye, Bye, Birdie, Irma La Douce, and Can-Can.

That Sheree North was beautiful there can be no doubt. She was also a talented dancer, and I rather suspect that if she had been born earlier she could have had a successful career in Hollywood musicals. One thing I have to admire about North is that she insisted on aging naturally, refusing to remain pegged as a blonde bombshell. This allowed North to make the move from mere window dressing in films to character roles. Indeed, if she is remembered best as Lou Grant's saloon singer girlfriend and as Kramer's mother, it may be because those roles were much more interesting than her earlier roles in Hollywood pictures. Very few actresses have ever made this transition successfully (the only other actress I can think of who did it was Shelley Winters). Groomed to be a glamour girl, North will forever be remembered as a character actress.

Harold J. Stone R.I.P.

Veteran character Harold Stone, whose career stretched from the forties to the eighties, has passed on. He was 92 years old. Although hardly famous, his face is probably recognisable to most people, having made guest appearances in over 150 TV show episodes, appeared as a regular in 5 TV shows, and movies ranging from Hollywood blockbusters to genre B movies.

Stone was born into a family of actors and made his debut at a young age on stage. He had considered going into medicine, even going so far as to get a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Buffalo's medical school. Instead of becoming a physician, however, Stone found himself drawn into the family business. Stone made his debut on Broadway in 1939 in The World We Make. He would appear in the next year in The Morning Star. Over the years Stone would appear on the Broadway stage several times, in such plays as A Bell for Adano (1944), Irma La Douce (1960), and a revival of Charley's Aunt (1972).

Stone made his movie debut in an uncredited part in The Blue Dahlia in 1946. Over the years he appeared in numerous movies. He appeared in such classics as The Wrong Man, The Harder They Fall, and Spartacus. A character actor through and through, he made his share of B movies: The Invisible Boy, Girl Happy (yes, that's right--an Elvis movie...), and X: the Man with the X Ray Eyes (the AIP classic).

Stone's biggst impact as an actor may well have been on television. He was seen regularly on the small screen throughout the Fifties, Sixties, and Seventies. He made guest appearances on such varied shows as You Are There, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, Have Gun Will Travel, Gilligan's Island, Hogan's Heroes, The Rockford Files, and Charlie's Angels. He was a regular on The Hartmans, The Goldbergs, The Walter Winchell File, The Grand Jury, My World and Welcome to It, and Bridget Loves Bernie. He earned an Emmy nomination for his guest appearance on the 1962 medical drama The Nurses.

I don't think it can be said that Harold Stone was a great actor. That having been said, he did seem to have a wide range. With a Romanesque nose and a strong jaw, his features naturally lent themselves to playing heavies, although he had his share of sympathetic parts as well. Over the years he played everything from con men to military officers to police officers to kindly grandparents. It was Stone's flexibility that allowed him to have a career that lasted over 40 years. As a familiar face from a number of movies and TV shows from my childhood, I must say I am saddened by his death.

Brides of Dracula

This past weekend I had the opportunity to watch The Brides of Dracula again. It has always been one of my favourite Hammer films. In my humble opinion it is one of the best films they ever made.

In 1958 Hamer released Dracula (known in the United States as The Horror of Dracula), featuring Christopher Lee as Dracula and Peter Cushing as Van Helsing. The film's success naturally begged for a sequel. Unable to secure Christopher Lee as Dracula, Hammer elected to do the unthinkable--to make a Dracula film without Dracula! The Brides of Dracula has Van Helsing (again played by Peter Cushing) face off against another vampire, who this time has an entire girl's school to prey upon. Van Helsing even gets the closest thing to a love interest he ever had in the Hammer films in the form of French school teacher Marianne (played by Yvonne Monlaur).

Indeed, in The Brides of Dracula, Peter Cushing is the star. He gives by far the best performance of any of the cast (perhaps the best performance of any Hammer film). What is more is Van Helsing is given so much more to do in this film. He is far more physical than in any of the other Hammer Dracula movies--swinging from ropes and dropping from windmills. My theory is that it was the presence of Marianne. Plato once said that at the touch of love all men become poets. I suppose in Hammer horror films at the touch of love all men (even Van Helsing) can become an action star. The rest of the cast also do quite well. David Peel is alternately charming and sinister as Baron Meinster, while Martita Hunt gives a suitably tragic performance as the baron's mother. Freda Jackson turns a great performance as the baron's overly protective, half-crazed nurse.

The Brides of Dracula also happens to be one of the creepiest (and in some ways strangest) films that Hammer ever made. It contains some scenes that will make one's skin crawl, among them Marianne's initial trip through the woods of Transylvania and Freda Jackson's demented nurse tapping on a coffin to awaken a newly spawned vampire.

The Brides of Dracula also boasts some of the best set design ever seen in a Hammer film. Castle Meinster is a truly breathtaking, at the same time beautiful yet frightening. The colour in the film is also incredible. Lush, Victorian hues fill the movie. It could well be one of Hammer's best looking films.

Even Terence Fisher's direction stands out. I always thought of Fischer as a competent director, whose direction was not truly outstanding. This is not the case with The Brides of Dracula. Fisher does some truly remarkable things with regards to camera angles and even transistions from scene to scene.

The Brides of Dracula is a film that any Hammer afficanado, any fan of vampire movies, or any fan of horror movies should see. Although not necessarily a perfect film, it is entertaining, original, and, best of all fun. It is definitely one of the best movies that Hammer ever made.

Vine Deloria Jr.

Author and Native American Vine Deloria Jr. died of complications from an aortic aneurysm Sunday. He was 72. He is arguarly the best known Native american author and scholar. He was the author of Custer Died for Your Sins, God is Red, and many other books. In all, he wrote over 20.

Deloria was born in Martin, South Dakota. He served in the United States Marine Corp. He also received three degrees--a Bachelor of Science from Iowa State University, a Master's Degree in Theology from the Lutheran School of Theology, and a law degree from the Univesity of Colorado. He was a professor at the Univesity of Arizona and later the University of Colorado. He served as Executive Director of the National Congress of American Indians from 1964 to 1967.

Deloria has been called the "Martin Luther King Jr. of Native Americans," and with good reason. He built the organisation into a force with which to be reckoned. In 1965 he wrote the editorial "Now is the Time," helping to galvanise the Native American movement.

It was in 1969 with the publication of Custer Died For Your Sins, however, that brought him fame. The book was essentially an attack on the stereotyping of Native American peoples perpetuated over the years. It established Deloria as both a voice for Native Americans and a successful author. He would go onto write over 20 more books. Deloria would also collect several awards, among them the the 2005 American Indian Visionary Award, the American Indian Festival of Words Author Award, the Circle Lifetime Achievement Award, 1996 Native American Writers Award, and the 1999 Wordcraft Circle Writer of the Year Award.

Among other things, the publication of Custer Died For Your Sins resulted in the first ethic panel on artefacts and tribes held by the American Anthropological Association.

I have always admired Vine Deloria Jr., even when I have disagreed with some of his views. Arguably, he has done more for Native American rights and for the recognition of Native Americans than any other person currently living. Even when I disagreed with his views, I could not argue that his points were not well thought out and well written. Indeed, I must say that God is Red has had a lasting effect on my life. I am truly saddened by his death.

Roald Dahl's Critics

This summer saw the release of another adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The first was the classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, released in 1971. The new movie is also in the long line of movies based on Dahl's works, among them The BFG, The Witches, Mathilda, and James and the Giant Peach. Given Dahl's continued popularity with children and adults alike, it may not seem remarkable that so many of his works have made their way to the big screen. What does make it remarkable is that Dahl is perhaps the most controversial children's writer of all time. His works are certainly politically incorrect. Indeed, Dahl has more than his fair share of his critics.

Perhaps no work Dahl ever wrote is as controversial as his best known book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. There are many who see a nasty streak throughout the work in the comeuppances dished out to the naughty children. Augustus Gloop gets sucked into a tube for extracting chocolate. After chewing Wonka's latest experimental gun Violet Beauregard is turned into a giant blueberry. Veruca Salt (perhaps the most unpleasant of the lot) is deemed a "bad nut" by Wonka's squirrels and tossed in the garbage. Mike Teavee gets broadcast over television and shrunk. While the children do make it out of Wonka's factory none the worse for wear, many adults find these comeuppances to be very objectionable. Indeed, the fact that Wonka takes a bit of enjoyment out of the children's predicaments makes the book all the more objectionable for many grown ups. While Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is perhaps Dahl's tour de force when it comes to dishing out punishments to unpleasant people, it is not the only book in which he does so. In James and the Giant Peach Aunt Spoker and Aunt Sponge wind up smashed by the peach of the title. After torturing various birds and monkeys, Mr. and Mrs. Twit find themselves glued upside down by the very animals they mistreated in The Twits. Similar comeuppances are dealt out to vile individuals in Mathilda, The Witches, and many, perhaps most of, Dahl's works.

Personally, I have always found the objections to the retribution Dahl inflicts on bad people in his books to be without merit. The way I see it, Dahl's books are essentially modern day fairy tales, albeit somewhat twisted ones. His world is one which is black and white, where the good characters (Uncle Joe, Miss Honey, the grandma in The Witches, and so on) are truly good and the bad characters (Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge, Trunchbull, and so on) are truly bad. It is also a world where the just, no matter how oppressed they may be for a time, will eventually get their reward, while the evil will suffer the consequences of their actions. It is indeed a fairy tale world. And it is a world where the comeuppances which the wicked suffer are often not so severe as those faced by the wicked in fairy tales.

Of course, here I must point out another one of the appeal of the comeuppances in Dahl's books. Often the comeuppances are dealt out to adults who mistreat children. Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge, the Trunchbull, Mr. and Mrs. Twit, and the Witches are all adults who abuse children. Much of the appeal for children in Dahl's books may be in seeing such unpleasant adults get their just rewards. In a sense, then, Dahl is a champion for children against those who would mistreat them.

This brings us to another accusation levelled at Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In a 1972 issue of The Horn Book children's author Eleanor Cameron launched an open attack on the book. Not only did she feel that it was about candy, but that it was essentially candy for the brain. While the book is highly critical of television, she felt that it delivered the same kind of vicarious thrills with its fast pace and shock filled plot. No less than sci-fi author Ursula LeGuin agreed with her. She thought that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory provided "a genuine escape experience, a tiny psychological fugue, very like that provided in comic books."

As both a fan of comic books and Roald Dahl's works, I have to disagree with both Cameron and LeGuin. It is true that nearly all of his works are written in a brisk, almost conversational tone. It is true that in many of his works the thrills come fast and fuious. That having been said, this does not mean that they are mere escapism or that they are empty of merit. In fact, not only can Dahl's works be seen as modern day fairy tales, but as modern day morality tales as well. As I pointed out above, in his works the good are rewarded and the wicked are punished. Perhaps this does not always reflect reality, but I feel it is still a good message for children to read nonetheless. In showing children that good can triumph, Dahl effectively encourages them to be good. Quite simply, he wants them to be Charlie Bucket and not Veruca Salt.

Another accusation hurled at Dahl is that his works are sexist. Many feminists have pointed to the portrayal of the aunts in James and the Giant Peach, his portrayal of the Trunchbull in Mathilda, and his statement in The Witches that witches are always female as signs that Dahl was a misogynist. Of all the accusations hurled at Dahl, I feel this one to be the most unwarranted and, indeed, even unjust. Many feminists ignore the fact that while Dahl tells us all witches are female in The Witches, he adds that all ghouls are male. Here Dahl is not espousing sexism, but rather creating his own mythology in which there are demonic beings of both sexes. As to the aunts in James and the Giant Peach and the Trunchbull in Mathilda, it must be pointed out that there are probably as many unpleasant men in Dahl's works as there are unpleasant women (maybe more). Mr. Twit in The Twits enjoys torturing animals. Mathilda's father in the book of the same name is a particulary despicable character. Speaking of Mathilda, I guess I should point out that one in of the good adults that book is a woman--gentle and caring Miss Honey. Miss Honey is not an anomaly in Dahl's works either. The grandmother in The Witches and Charlie's mother and grandmothers in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are other examples of postive portrayals of women in Dahl's works. Indeed, it must be pointed out that in both Mathilda and The BFG, the heroes are little girls. If Dahl was a sexist and misogynist, his misogyny would certainly extend to little girls as well as adult women.

So far I have dismissed (or at least disgreed with) most of the criticism levelled at Dahl. There is one, howevever, that I cannot really argue with--the thought that the original portrayal of the OompaLoompas in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was essentially racist. In the original edition of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the OompaLoompas were pygmies taken from the deepest, darkest jungles of Africa. Curiously, no one noticed anything racist about this until Cameron's article was published in The Horn Book in 1972. Among the many attacks Cameron made on the book was that the portrayal of the OompaLoompas was essentialy racist. The bitter irony is that while she only mentioned this in passing, it is the one thing in Dahl's work that has generated the most controversy in the past 23 years.

Quite frankly, I have to agree that the earlier portrayal of the OompaLoompas is essentially racist. In the original work, the OompaLoompas can be seen as the very stereotype of an African native. Indeed, they live in a very uncivlised fashion, surviving on a diet of beetles, catepillars, eucalyptus leaves, and the bark of the bong-bong tree. It takes Willy Wonka, the white colonial imperialist, to save them from this wretched life by employing them in his factory. To me there is a subtext that European culture is essentially superior to others--at the very least to that of the OompaLoompas. Dahl himself eventually decided that his portrayal of the Oompa-Loompas was racist, and in the 1973 edition they were revised so that they had pink skin, golden hair, and came from Loompaland rather than Africa. While I love Dahl's works dearly and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory most of all, I cannot deny that I find his original portrayal of the OompaLoompas somewhat repugnant. I must not be the only one. Even before Cameron published her attack on Charlie and the Chocolate Facotry, the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory changed them from African pygmies to orange skinned, fantasy creatures.

Ultimately, whether Roald Dahl's works can truly be considered objectoinable can only be answered by the question of whether they harm children or not. As someone who grew up on his works, I have to say that I do not believe they do. I do not think that I am sexist or racist. And I have yet to crush any adults I don't like under a giant peach or chuck spoiled brats into a garbabe chute. A whole generation has grown up with Dahl's children books (James and the Giant Peach being published in 1961) and yet we have not seen a dramatic increase in crime or juvenile deliquency in that time. While many may object to Dahl's works, ultimately I do not think they are harmful to children. Indeed, using myself as an example, they encouraged me to read more and hence to learn more. Certainly, Roald Dahl is one of the those writers who can be credited with making me a writer as well.

Two Werewolf Movies

Yesterday I watched The Beast Must Die and Curse of the Werewolf, two werewolf movies very different from each other.

The Beast Must Die is a 1972 film released by Amicus, a British studio known best for their horror anthology films (the best known perhap being the two they did based on EC Comics--Tales From the Crypt and Vault of Horror). It was based on the James Blish novella There Shall Be No Darkness. Both the novella and the movie drew a great deal from the Agatha Christie classic Ten Little Indians and the classic short story "The Most Dangerous Game." To wit, in The Beast Must Die (although the novella unfolds a bit differently) millionaire hunter Tom Newcliffe (Calvin Lockhart) invites a group of people to his estate, one of who may be a werewolf, with the whole intention of going on a werewolf hunt. The movie then acts a both a horror movie and a detective story. Indeed, The Beast Must Die even includes a "Werewolf Break" during which the viewer can guess the identitiy of the werewolf!

All of this might make the reader inclined to think of "The Beast Must Die" as high camp, although it actualy a good little film. It was one of the first movies to provide a pseudo-scientific explanation for lycanthropy (indeed, if I recall, the novella There Shall Be No Darkness was the first bit of fiction to provide such an explanation), with an explanation that is both interesting and original. It also features some well done sequences in which Radcliffe faces off against the werewolf. The movie also boasts a good cast, with horror veteran Peter Cushing (playing werewolf expert Dr. Lundgen), Charles Gray (best known as the narrator of The Rocky Horror Picture Show) as Bennington, Michael Gambon (currently Dumbledore in the Harry Potter... films), and Calvin Lockhart (perhaps best known to American audiences as Willie in Predator 2) as Radcliffe. The performances range from Gray appropiately hamming it it up to Gambon being wonderfully low key in the film. The Beast Must Die has two weaknesses. The first is that the angle of the detective story is not paritcularly strong in the film. It did not take me long to figure out who the werewolf was and I am guessing that the same will be true for other viewers. The film's other weakness is Paul Annett's direction. It is a bit inconsistent. While he handled the action scenes quite well, his dialogue scenes at times seem a bit static.

The Beast Must Die is an entertaining film with an original premise. It is worth anyone's while who loves werewolf movies or the Ten Little Indians motif. It is perhaps unfortunate that it is so obscure. This is a film that is not only worth seeing, but is just begging to be remade with a bigger budget.

While The Beast Must Die was produced by Amicus, Curse of the Werewolf was produced by Hammer. After having produced movies featuring Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Mummy, they finally decided to try a werewolf film in 1962. Unfortunately, the movie is a bit of a disappointment. There is the usual lavish production style one expects of Hammer films (in this case, the story is set in 17th century Spain). And the cast does quite well, particularly Oliver Reed as the tragic Leon and Cliford Evans as his father figure Aflredo. And while the movie turns out quite well towards the end, it takes quite some time to get started. The beginning of the movie is taken up by exposition, explaining the circumstances behind Leon's birth. It simply goes on far too long. I also have to question why Hammer chose to set the movie in Spain. Curse of the Werewolf was based very loosely on Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore and I think Paris may have been a more interesting setting for the film.

Although Curse of the Werewolf is not a bad film--the last half is Hammer at their best, the fact that it does take some time to get started does undermine the movie. Hammer fans and werewolf fans should definitely see the movie, although they best keep in mind that they will have to wait awhile for Oliver Reed to start sprouting fangs.

"Love Hurts"

I have never cared for talking about my personal life in this blog, but right now I just feel the need to express my feelings. I cannot say I have been happy for the past several weeks. The truth be told, I have to wonder if I will ever be happy again. And it is not hard for me to find the reason why. I suppose that many, if not most, people reach a point in their life when they know what they want. And I suppose that it is all too often, once they have found what they want from life, that they find their hopes and dreams have come crashing down around them. That is where I am at right now. For the past few years I have had one hope and dream, one that is dearest to me, one that I would sacrifice all my other hopes and dreams for it to come true. Now it looks as if it might never come true. And there is nothing else that can take its place. Or perhaps I should say, no one else...

Indeed, it seems that among my "theme songs" now number the song "Love Hurts." It was written by husband and wife songwriting team Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, who were responsible for many of the hits produced by both the Everly Brothers and Roy Orbison. Both Roy Orbison and the Everly Brothers recorded "Love Hurts." And in both cases the song was treated with a light touch, with a bit of humour. Even though both Roy Orbison and the Everlys had produced their fair share of heartbroken ballads (indeed, it was Orbison's forte), "Love Hurts" was performed with tongue strictly in cheek. This would not be the case for Scottish heavy metal band Nazareth, who remade the song in 1976 for their album Hair of the Dog. They took a song that had been treated lightly and turned it into one of the saddest, most tragic power ballads of all time. Indeed, it would become Nazareth's biggest hit and the best known version of the song. So, here it is, Nazareth's "Love Hurts."

"Love Hurts" by Nazareth

R. C. Gorman

R. C. Gorman, well known Navajo artist whose works were popular in the 1970s and 1980s, died of pneumonia at age 74 in Albuquerque November 1. Gorman was the son of one of the World War II Navajo code talkers and was born on a reservation in Arizona. He started drawing at the early age of three. He served in the Navy during the Korea War before attending Northern Arizona University, where he studied art and literature. He later went to Mexico to study the murals of Rufino Tamayo and others.

Gorman was best known for his paintings and sculptures of Native American women. His popularity soared in the Seventies and Eighties. His works were sought by the likes of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Andy Warhol. His artwork even appeared in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gorman did have his critics. Some thought his work to be repetitive. Yet others had a higher opinion of Gorman Of the popularity of his work there can be no doubt. Many praised him for the simplicity, clarity, grace of the lines in his paintings. The New York Times calleed him "the Picasso of American art." Despite this statement, I think it can be safely argued that Gorman was in a class all his own.

American Nightmare: a Review of Profit the Complete Series

"Anyone who thinks controlling people is a science is dead wrong...It's an art." (Jim Profit)

Over the years many movies and TV shows once considered shocking have lost their power to do so. Otto Preminger's The Moon is Blue was considered absolutely scandalous in some quarters when it premiered. Today it is considered laughably mild at best. The TV series All in the Family generated plenty of controversy when it first aired. Now many viewers probably wonder what the controversy was about. This is not the case with the short lived series Profit, which aired on Fox all too briefly in April 1996. The series, now available on DVD from Achor Bay Entertainment, is still as shocking as ever.

Profit was the creation of David Greenwalt and John McNamara. Greenwalt had directed the movies Secret Admirer and Rude Awakening, as well as episodes of The Wonder Years. He had also written episodes of The Wonder Years, Shannon's Deal, and The Commish and produced the TV series The Commish. He would later co-create the series Angel with Joss Whedon. John McNamara had been a producer on the TV series The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. He wrote episodes of both of the shows. He would later produce the TV seires Spy Game (another fine series whose run was all too brief). Together the two of them developed Profit, a series that was far ahead of its time (and to some degree still is for network television).

Indeed, Profit was perhaps the only TV show in the history of network television whose protagonist was also its villain. That protagonist was Jim Profit. Born Jimmy Stokowski, Profit has worked his way up from a nightmarish childhood to the position of President of Acquisitions at Gracen and Gracen, a large multinational corporation. Quite simply, he was one of the most dangerous characters ever to be seen on a network television series. Educated, intelligent, charming, and handsome, Profit was also a sociopath. Immensely skilled in the "art (as Profit calls it in one episode)" of manipulating people, Profit would do literally anything to achieve his goals (namely, being the power behind the throne at Gracen and Gracen). Worse yet, Profit is both intelligent and cunning. Although sometimes he is thrwarted, he almost never left behind any clues as to what he had done. And when he did, he usually found a way to cover them up. He was definitely one of the most original characters ever to be seen on a television series.

But then Profit took a fresh approach with all of its characters. This was none truer of Profit's stepmother Bobbi, with whom Profit had a very unusual relationship. Like Profit himself, Bobbi was hardly the most normal person in the world--think Blanche DuBois with a drug habit and a mean streak. Charles "Chaz" Gracen, the current head of the company, still maintained a strong sibling rivalry with his brother Pete Gracen, an achoholic who loved his wife, but cannot relate to her in a meaningful way. As to Pete's wife, Nora, she was a sweet natured ingenue whose cool blonde exterior hid many complexities, not the least of which was the torch she carried for Jim Profit (it seems even on TV shows nice girls fall for bad guys....). Profit's slightly bumbling assistant Gail remained loyal to "Mr. Profit," even though she sometimes pondered the morality of her actions. Profit's charm did not win over everyone on the show and he naturally had his nemeses. Joanne Meltzer was the head of security at Gracen and Gracen and caguht on to Profit's sociopathy almost from the beginning. Like Profit she had emerged from an abusive childhood, but while Profit was devoid of any real ethics or morality, Joanne was perhaps the most morally upstanding person on the show. Another opponent for Profit was lawyer Jeffrey Sykes. Like Profit and Joanne, Sykes had emerged from tragedy. Unlike Profit, Sykes sought to protect peole rather than manipulate them.

These characters were all brought to life by one of the strongest casts ever assembled for a television show. Adrian Pasdar played Profit very subdued--there was no archness or arrogance in his portrayal of Jim Profit. It was as if he was a cool, calculating machine. Kudos must also go to Lisa Darr, Profit's much put upon assistant Gail. There is a touch of screwball comedy in her performance, such as the fact that she seeems to jump whenever the phone rings. Darr's Gail is one of those wonderfully comedic sidekicks that have been a staple of movies for so long. Lisa Blount (it sometimes seems as if every actres on Profit was named "Lisa...:") also delivered an outstanding performance as Profit's stepmother Bobbi. Blount plays Bobbi as bold and flashy, as bombastic as Profit is cool. The rest of the cast, from Lisa Zane as Joanne Meltzer to Keith Szarabajka as Chaz all do wonderfully well. There is not a false note in any of their performances.

Of course, their performances were helped enormously by the well crafted writing of the episodes, nearly all of which were scripted by Greenwalt and McNamara. Not only are the episodes starkly original, but they offer genuine moments of humanity at Gracen and Gracen. Indeed, while many have accused Profit of being a very negative portrayal of corporations, it is actually a rather balanced one. It must be pointed out that while Jim Profit works at Gracen and Gracen, so too do Joanne Meltzer and Jeffrey Sykes. One of the best features of Profit are the monologues in which Profit tells the audience what he intends to do, explains situatoins, and even sometimes expresses his philosophies (an idea taken from Richard III). Not only are these voiceovers a useful means of going over exposition swiftly, they also add insiight into a character who is not the most emotive in the world.

Were the quality of the acting and the writing not enough, Profit was technically superior to other shows as well. Robert Escove, who directed the pilot and the bulk of the episodes, gave Profit the look of a feature film. In the commentaries Greenwalt and McNamara note that Escove thought out every transition from one scene to another--each one is elegant and well handled. And he used a variety of shots, from tracking shots to even the Dutch tilt. Director of Photography Rodney A. Chambers further gave Proft the look of a feature film. Nearly, every frame of the show could almost stand on its own as a still photograph. And while Profit was made on a relatively small budget, it looks very expensive. Indeed, even the computer graphics on Gracen and Gracen and Jim Profit's computers still look advanced today.

Sadly, as good as Profit was, it did not last long. Greenwalt and McNamara thought of the series in 1992, but it would not be until 1996 that it would air. Slated for a seven week run beginning in April 1996, only four episodes (including the two hour pilot) aired on Fox. Although it received great notices from critics, Profit did very poorly in the ratings. The pilot lost viewers by the hour. The succeeding episodes did no better. In the end Fox pulled the plug on the series As to why Profit never did well in the ratings, it is hard to say. Perhaps the show was simply too strong stuff for network audiences of 1996. Perhaps it was just too shocking. Regardless, its final three episodes would not air in the United States until it was featured as part of Trio's "Brilliant But Cancelled." Fortunately, as mentioned above, the entire series has been released on DVD through Anchor Bay Entertainment.

While the DVDs of many TV series leave the viewer somewhat disappointed, with either few or no commentaries and no bonus materials, Profit the Complete Series is guaranteed to satisfy any hardcore fan of the series. No les than four of the episodes (the majority of the series' run) feature commentaries from David Greenwalt, John McNamara, and Adrian Pasdar. The DVD package also contains a featurette entitled Greed Kills, which features interviews with the creators and stars of the show. Greed Kills follows the show from its conception to its untimely demise. The DVD package also comes with a booklet featuring an article by Jo Swerling, in which she outlines the history of the series. With Profit the Complete Series, no corners were cut.

In the aforementioned booklet Jo Swerling comments that Profit was about five or six years ahead of its time. Greenwalt and McNamara say the same thing in the audio commentaries on the DVD. Swerling, Greenwalt, and McNamara all believe that had the show came about at a later time, it would have found a home on HBO or FX. I have to agree with them there, although in my opinion the show is still ahead of its time for network television. Since Profit aired, I can only think of a few shows that have dared go as far as it did--Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel (co-created by Greenwalt), Desperate Housewives, and Lost. One can only wonder if they will maintain their shock value the way Profit has. At any rate, it is definitely a show that any lover of fine television should seek out on DVD.

The King Kong Trailer

"And the prophet said: And lo, the beast looked upon the face of beauty. And it stayed its hand from killing. And from that day it was as one dead."

According to the original King Kong, that quote is an old Arabic proverb. I rather suspect it was just a creation of screenwriters Merian C. Cooper, Edgar Wallace, James Ashmore Creelman and Ruth Rose, but it is a great quote nonetheless. Indeed, it is a great quote from one of the greatest movies of all time. Next month a remake of that classic is due to come out, directed by one of my favourite directors nonetheless.

I was a fan of Peter Jackson even before The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Both Heavenly Creatures and The Frighteners rank among my favourite films. I have been looking forward to King Kong for a long time. For that reason I was very happy to see the trailer yesterday. The film looks just incredible, with many of the scene very close to the original. What's more is that it looks like Jackson has stayed true to the spirit of the original movie. Ultimately, King Kong is not about a giant ape rampaging through New York City. Instead, it is one of the most tragic love stories in the histories of film. After seeing the trailer, I think Peter Jackson will indeed do it justice.

Some Guys Have All the Luck

This is one of those times when a song is constantly going through my head, in this case "Some Guys Have All the Luck." The song was originally performed by The Persuaders and released in 1973. It made Billboard's Soul charts, but did not make the Pop charts. Nonetheless, it was later remade by Rod Stewart for his Camouflage album, released in 1984, and released as one of the singles from that album. I daresay the Rod Stewart version is the better known of the two. Indeed, I have never heard The Persuaders' version.

Anyhow, I thought I would do something different today and engage in an analysis of the lyrics to the song.

Chorus:
Some guys have all the luck
Some guys have all the pain
Some guys get all the breaks
Some guys do nothing but complain

The chorus is very basic and posits a very simple concept. Basically, some guys get all the advantages in life and love, while others do not. And while the song is unabashedly romantic (as will be seen later), the chorus does seem to be a bit cynical. After all, most romantics would like to think that the nothing can stand in the way of true love, that the right guy and right girl will get together no matter what, that eventually every Miss Right will find a Mister Right. In movies from The Apartment to When Harry Met Sally, the couples get together through sheer perserverance and the strength of true love. On the other hand, the chorus to "Some Guys Have All the Luck" expresses an entirely different idea, that it is all a matter of luck. Of course, with that idea comes the idea that the less worthy guy could actually win the girl in the end simply out of sheer luck.

Alone in a crowd on a bus after work
And I'm dreaming
The guy next to me has a girl in his arms
My arms are empty
How does it feel when the girl next to you
Says she loves you
It seem so unfair when there's love everywhere
But there's none for me

From the first stanza we only learn a little bit about "our hero's" situation. He is quite apparently lonely and unattached, yet he longs to have a rellationship with someone. He could be anyone from a successful businessman to the Star Trek nerd living in his mom's basement. Indeed, there is no indication that he ever has been in love, although he does long for it. One thing is clear, despite his cynicism about finding love (it all comes down to love), he would seem to be a romantic, in that he places a good deal of importance in having a woman to love.

(chorus)

Someone to take on a walk by the lake
Lord let it be me
Someone who's shy
Someone who'll cry at sad movies
I know I would die if I ever found out
She was fooling me
You're just a dream and as real as it seems
I ain't that lucky

In the second stanza things become more clear. The hero of the song continues to long for someone he can love, he someone he can spend time with and enjoy things with. The last two lines of the second stanza makes it clear, however, that it is not a case of not having found someone to love. He is in a situation far worse than simply being lonely and wanting a girlfriend--he is already in love and apparently has little chance of winning her (that is, he "aint that lucky"). Indeed, from the line "Youre just a dream..." it is clear that he is addressing the song to the girl of his dreams.

(chorus)

All of my friends have a ring on their finger
They have someone
Someone to care for them it ain't fair
I got no one
The car overheated
I called up and pleaded
There's help on the way
I called you collect you didn't accept
You had nothing to say

In the third stanza the hero of the song once more bemoans the fact that he does not have someone in his life. All of his friends are married and he doesn't even have a girlfriend. The situation also becomes more clear. Not only has "our hero" found someone to love, but it is quite obvious that "our hero" had had a relationship with the woman he loves. When his car overheats, he calls her collect (I am guessing from a pay phone at a gas station or something). To even call the girl of his dream, he had to have had her phone number. This could indicate that at one point he did indeed have the woman of his dreams. How he lost her we are never told, but given the chorus ("Some guys have all the luck..."), it seems possible he lost her to a rival. I should point out that his car overheating continues the theme of the hero of the song being a Sad Sack with no luck whatsoever.

(chorus)

But if you were here with me
I'd feel so happy I could cry
You are so dear to me
I just can't let you say goodbye

The second chorus makes it clear that at some point he must have won and then lost the woman he loves. After all, how could she tell him "Goodbye" unless they were in some sort of relationship? To a degree, the second chorus also breaks away from the theme of some guys having all the luck. In stating that he can't let her say "Goodbye," the hero of the song is quite obviously expressing a determination to win her back. It seems then that he either believes he will get lucky or, more likely, that he believes that in the end perserverance and the power of love can even overcome bad luck. Ultimately, the song is not about having someone to love, but about having the one he loves. One gets the feeling that not just any girl will do.

Anyhow, I count "Some Guys Have All the Luck" among my favourite songs. I have never heard The Persuaders' version, although I did have the Rod Stewart version on vinyl. To me it is a sad song that expresses a line of thought that all guys have probably had at some point. And, sadly, I do have reason to identify with it.