As a trip down memory lane, here's a link to an early video from D.J. Jazzy Jeff with Fresh Prince, a.k.a. Will Smith. Parents Just Don't Understand was a huge hit from He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper, a multi-platinum album released in 1988, a couple of years before Smith moved to TV with the highly successful Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1990. You can definitely see the influence of the style of Smith's early music videos in the famous opening of the show.
It's funny listening to him rap, it doesn't even sound like him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wTbg-wg_zc
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
The Joker and Howard Beale
What do Heath Ledger and Peter Finch have in common? Well, aside from both being from Australia, they also both might be the only actors awarded an Oscar posthumously.
Peter Finch won his for the role of the deranged Howard Beale in MGM's 1977 film Network. The film was a searing indictment of television's complicity in locking society into bondage, blinkering people from seeing the madness arising as the elites consolidate their grip on power. Beale was a major network news anchorman, fired from his job who then promises to kill himself on-air. Driven by the unexpected ratings bonanza his antics attract, his network handlers allow Beale to rant on as a mad prophet of the airwaves, who most famously exhorted the American public to stick their heads out their windows and shout "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!".
Finch had a heart attack and died during the promotional run-up to the film's release. Heath Ledger, of course, died from an accidental overdose of Oxycodone and other prescription drugs in early 2008. He had recently competed filming the role of the Joker in the latest entry in the Batman franchise, The Dark Knight. And there is very strong Oscar buzz about his performance.
So, both from Australia, with Ledger's win they would both have posthumous Oscars... what else? Oh yes, their final roles would have been of madmen who simply held a mirror up to the insanity surrounding us, disguised as modern society.
Peter Finch won his for the role of the deranged Howard Beale in MGM's 1977 film Network. The film was a searing indictment of television's complicity in locking society into bondage, blinkering people from seeing the madness arising as the elites consolidate their grip on power. Beale was a major network news anchorman, fired from his job who then promises to kill himself on-air. Driven by the unexpected ratings bonanza his antics attract, his network handlers allow Beale to rant on as a mad prophet of the airwaves, who most famously exhorted the American public to stick their heads out their windows and shout "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!".
Finch had a heart attack and died during the promotional run-up to the film's release. Heath Ledger, of course, died from an accidental overdose of Oxycodone and other prescription drugs in early 2008. He had recently competed filming the role of the Joker in the latest entry in the Batman franchise, The Dark Knight. And there is very strong Oscar buzz about his performance.
So, both from Australia, with Ledger's win they would both have posthumous Oscars... what else? Oh yes, their final roles would have been of madmen who simply held a mirror up to the insanity surrounding us, disguised as modern society.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Game Over for Funland, famous Toronto Video Arcade Landmark
This is really a sad story, for me it's the final epitaph for arcade video gaming.
http://www.thestar.com/article/453843
There actually used to be three thriving arcades in that one block just north of Dundas and Yonge. Funland was the main hangout, and then FUN FUN FUN across the street, and little ways north of that The Pinball Spot which required you to bravely navigate a darkened stairwell to get to this basement arcade and its great selection of classic games and pinball.
If I really thought about it, I could probably fill a page with memories of Funland, but the one that sticks out most in my mind is actually mentioned in the article. I remember walking down one day and seeing a HUGE throng of people around a game, so big of a crowd that you couldn't actually get into the place without pushing through, and you couldn't get near to the game to see the screen. Thankfully management had installed a second monitor on top of the cabinet so you could see what was being played... the original laser game Dragon's Lair. I also remember being incensed that it cost a whole 50 cents to play! Seems like a bargain now.
Good old Funland. We'll have to head over to drop a last few quarters in there before they close at the end of the month.
read more | digg story
http://www.thestar.com/article/453843
There actually used to be three thriving arcades in that one block just north of Dundas and Yonge. Funland was the main hangout, and then FUN FUN FUN across the street, and little ways north of that The Pinball Spot which required you to bravely navigate a darkened stairwell to get to this basement arcade and its great selection of classic games and pinball.
If I really thought about it, I could probably fill a page with memories of Funland, but the one that sticks out most in my mind is actually mentioned in the article. I remember walking down one day and seeing a HUGE throng of people around a game, so big of a crowd that you couldn't actually get into the place without pushing through, and you couldn't get near to the game to see the screen. Thankfully management had installed a second monitor on top of the cabinet so you could see what was being played... the original laser game Dragon's Lair. I also remember being incensed that it cost a whole 50 cents to play! Seems like a bargain now.
Good old Funland. We'll have to head over to drop a last few quarters in there before they close at the end of the month.
read more | digg story
Monday, June 23, 2008
A Startling Admission
Lets start with an admission: I'm watching How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? on the Ceeb.
I'm not a huge fan of reality shows. To me, they are the scourge of modern television programming, continually the second half of the age-old statement "I never thought television could get any worse, but...". I only watch one other reality show regularly, that being the raucous Hell's Kitchen. But only for the non-stop stream of bleeped profanity that issues forth from Gordon Ramsay. His abusive cursing seems, to me, to be the only real bit of "reality" programming out of all these shows.
Maria? is interesting to me though. Not the least of reasons being that we have since bought tickets for the Toronto showing of The Sound of Music, the North American premiere of the Andrew Lloyd Webber revival of what has to be considered the pinnacle of musical theater. So I guess you could say that we've wagered on the Canadian public picking the right actress to play Maria, and I'm curious to see what our ticket money will have been spent on.
The opening shows were pretty good, featuring the culled hopefuls attending a singing and acting boot camp lovingly referred to as "Maria School", were pretty good. Instead of all the back-biting and useless manufactured drama of other reality shows of this ilk, it seemed like they were really trying to get to the core of what these women will need to perform the role on a professional stage. However, watching the latest episode featuring the selected 20 singing a la the Idol programs, was akin to dropping acid. The sight of them singing a strange choice of songs in weird outfits to a symphony channeling Meco was pretty disconcerting. But hands down, the worst part of this whole exercise is Gavin Crawford, the host of the program. Sure, we're not talking about a cure for cancer here, but a revival of The Sound of Music is a pretty big, even (in the world of musical theatre) Important deal. Crawford never fails to drag the whole thing down into ridiculous farce. It's true that in Canada we tend not to take too many things too seriously. But I think we usually draw the line at crapping all over them.
I'm going to close out this entry with the sad death of George Carlin yesterday, at the age of 71. Carlin celebrated 50 years in show business last year by releasing a huge boxed collection of his works, called All My Stuff. It is truly the mark of comedic genius when you can be pretty sure that the government has a huge dossier on you just for what you say. Carlin was perhaps most famous for his bit about the seven words you can never say on television, which resulted in him being arrested in 1972 on obscenity charges and which became the impetus for a legal case that went all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In a world seemingly built on hyperbole, we can safely say that George Carlin was one of the greatest comics the world has known. In these crazy times, his words of reason will be sorely missed. I'll leave you with one of my favourite bits of his. R.I.P. George.
I'm not a huge fan of reality shows. To me, they are the scourge of modern television programming, continually the second half of the age-old statement "I never thought television could get any worse, but...". I only watch one other reality show regularly, that being the raucous Hell's Kitchen. But only for the non-stop stream of bleeped profanity that issues forth from Gordon Ramsay. His abusive cursing seems, to me, to be the only real bit of "reality" programming out of all these shows.
Maria? is interesting to me though. Not the least of reasons being that we have since bought tickets for the Toronto showing of The Sound of Music, the North American premiere of the Andrew Lloyd Webber revival of what has to be considered the pinnacle of musical theater. So I guess you could say that we've wagered on the Canadian public picking the right actress to play Maria, and I'm curious to see what our ticket money will have been spent on.
The opening shows were pretty good, featuring the culled hopefuls attending a singing and acting boot camp lovingly referred to as "Maria School", were pretty good. Instead of all the back-biting and useless manufactured drama of other reality shows of this ilk, it seemed like they were really trying to get to the core of what these women will need to perform the role on a professional stage. However, watching the latest episode featuring the selected 20 singing a la the Idol programs, was akin to dropping acid. The sight of them singing a strange choice of songs in weird outfits to a symphony channeling Meco was pretty disconcerting. But hands down, the worst part of this whole exercise is Gavin Crawford, the host of the program. Sure, we're not talking about a cure for cancer here, but a revival of The Sound of Music is a pretty big, even (in the world of musical theatre) Important deal. Crawford never fails to drag the whole thing down into ridiculous farce. It's true that in Canada we tend not to take too many things too seriously. But I think we usually draw the line at crapping all over them.
I'm going to close out this entry with the sad death of George Carlin yesterday, at the age of 71. Carlin celebrated 50 years in show business last year by releasing a huge boxed collection of his works, called All My Stuff. It is truly the mark of comedic genius when you can be pretty sure that the government has a huge dossier on you just for what you say. Carlin was perhaps most famous for his bit about the seven words you can never say on television, which resulted in him being arrested in 1972 on obscenity charges and which became the impetus for a legal case that went all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In a world seemingly built on hyperbole, we can safely say that George Carlin was one of the greatest comics the world has known. In these crazy times, his words of reason will be sorely missed. I'll leave you with one of my favourite bits of his. R.I.P. George.
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