Remembering “The Last Days of Pompeii”

Linda Purl and Duncan Regehr were just two of the

stars of the 1983 miniseries "The Last Days of Pompeii".

Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086746/mediaindex/

(May be subject to copyright)

It was a city buried by ash and lava, but lives on in lore and legend, but also reality.

Our friend Abi is currently touring through Italy and paid a visit to Pompeii. She has been sending photos and posting them on social media. There was one my spouse pointed out, of skeletons that had melted and were fused to rock.

That made me think I don’t know much about Pompeii, but I could have back in the 1980s if I had chosen differently.

Battle of the miniseries
The 1980s was the hey day of the television miniseries. Honestly, it is a pre-cursor to all these shows now that only produce eight or 10 episodes.

In 1983, there were two miniseries going head to head, as they often did back in the three channel universe, battling for the hearts and minds of viewers.

In one corner was “V: The Final Battle”, while in the other corner was “The Last Days of Pompeii”. I chose “V: The Final Battle”.

Yet, that did not stop me from wanting to know more about, well, the last days of Pompeii.

The miniseries
Although I did not see “The Last Days of Pompeii”, I did read about in “TV Guide”, because Canadian actor Duncan Regehr was in the miniseries. He played a gladiator who falls in love with a blind woman and slave, played be Linda Purl. She was best known at the time for playing The Fonz’s girlfriend on “Happy Days” for one season.

"The Last Days of Pmpeii" has several plot lines, according to the Intertnet Movie Data Base. There is a merchant considering a run for political office; a priest after a noble’s money; and persecution-fearing Christian slaves.

The cast
As with most miniseries, “The Last Days of Pompeii” had a star-studded cast including Ned Beatty; Ernest Borgnine; Lesley-Anne Down; Franco Nero; Anthony Quayle; Laurence Olivier; Olivia Hussey; and of course Linda Purl and Duncan Regehr.

Parting thoughts
A lot of viewers made the choice I did, because “V: The Final Battle” beat “The Last Days of Pompeii” in the ratings.

Ironically, “V” would become a series for one season, and Duncan Regehr would join the cast.

The period also shows how different life was then. It used to be everyone gathered to watch the same show at the same time because that was the only time it was on. With the demise of appointment television, viewers don’t have to make a choice of shows to watch. They can either record the show, or stream it whenever they want. They can literally have the best of all worlds.

Beyond that, with YouTube and the Internet, viewers can watch the shows they missed all those years ago. In this case, I discovered all parts of “The Last Days of Pompeii” are online free to watch.

Maybe now I will, at long last, watch “The Last Days of Pompeii”.

Miles Gorrell: One of the best

Hall of Fame offensive lineman Miles Gorrell was one of

the most durable players in CFL history.

Source: https://cfhof.ca/members/miles-gorrell/

(May be subject to copyright)

He was one of the best in the business, providing protection for some of the finest quarterbacks in the Canadian Football League for close to 20 seasons. He also opened some pretty big holes for some of the best ball carriers in that time period.

Yet, what I will remember most about Miles Gorrell is some of the stories I heard from and about him, that really made him an interesting character.

All of this came back to me last week when I was watching Winnipeg play Edmonton on TSN and Matt Dunigan was doing colour commentary.

He referred to his old friend Miles Gorrell when they were playing together in Winnipeg.

The years before
I did not realize it, but Miles Gorrell was born in Edmonton, and played high school football for Henry Wise Wood in Calgary. He would play his college football for the University of Ottawa from 1975 to 1977 and win a Vanier Cup with the GeeGees in 1975. He was a CIAU All-Canadian in 1976, and was the team’s outstanding lineman and most valuable player in 1977. The University of Ottawa named their award for outstanding offensive lineman in his honour too, the Miles Gorrell Award for Best Lineman.

In 1978, he was a territorial selection for the Calgary Stampeders.

Long service
Miles Gorrell joined the Stampeders and played for them right through to 1982. Part way through the 1982 season he was traded to the Ottawa Rough Riders along with Larry James for future considerations. He played just two games for Ottawa before they traded him to Montreal for a pick in the 1983 draft. Interestingly, in 1982 Gorrell played 17 games in the 16-game schedule, with eight for Calgary, two for Ottawa and seven for Montreal.

Gorrell flourished in Montreal. He was a CFL East all-star at offensive tackle in 1983 and 1984. However, they released him in September of 1985, and Hamilton signed him as a free agent. He finished the 1985 season with the Tiger-Cats and stayed with them until 1991.

His career really took off in Hamilton. He was again a CFL East all-star at offensive tackle in 1986, 1988, and 1989. He won the Leo Dandurand award for outstanding offensive lineman in the East Division in 1986 and 1989, and was runner-up both years for the Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award. Gorrell was also an All-Canadian offensive tackle in 1989.

While with Hamilton, Gorrell appeared in the 1986 and 1989 Grey Cups, winning in 1986.

The years after
After the 1991 season, Gorrell was traded to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for a third round pick in the 1992 CFL Draft. That is when he met and became good friends with quarterback Matt Dunigan. He was the Canadian Football League Players Association Outstanding Offensive Lineman in 1993, and played for the Bombers in the 1992 and 1993 Grey Cups.

Gorrell became a free agent after the 1995 season, and signed with Hamilton where he played every game in the 1996 season, his final year in the CFL. He was released in February of 1997, and retired.

Miles Gorrell, whose career spanned 1978 to 1996, finished his career playing in a total of 321 games, fourth most in league history at the time of his retirement and most for a non-kicker. He also did not miss a game in his final 10 seasons.

He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2013.

Joking
One season CFL commentator Leo Cahill was calling a game that Gorrell was playing in. At one point, Cahill was complimenting his play and his size, which is a benefit on the offensive line.

Then he said of Gorrell, “He should have an ‘A’ on the end of his name.”

There was a silence in the booth, and one of the other announcers said something to the effect of “I’m glad you said that and not me.”

The comment spread around the league, because the announcers on the other network doing football at the time, alluded to Cahill’s comment.

The secret
Another time, one of the announcers was describing an interview he had with Miles Gorrell.

When he asked how Gorrell found so much success, he replied, “I hold on every play. The refs aren’t going to call it every time.”

Parting thoughts
Offensive linemen are the unsung heroes of football. They battle in the trenches which can be some of the toughest, most physical and dirty play in the sport, so the so-called skill players can gain yards and score touchdowns.

From the time I started watching the Calgary Stampeders in 1979, Miles Gorrell was one of the anchors of their offensive line.

What always struck me was just how durable he was. He always showed up to play, and rarely ever missed a game. Moreover, he continued to play at a high level.

Quite simply, Miles Gorrell was one of the best.

John Carpenter: More than horror in the ‘80s

Director John Carpenter, at right, with Kurt Russell who appeared in a number of Carpenter's films.

Source: https://www.studioremarkable.com/reviews/the-state-of-john-carpenter/4206/

(May be subject to copyright)

Now, I am not much of a horror movie follower, that is my spouse’s domain. However, when I heard director John Carpenter has a new six-part series coming out, it did take me back to the 1980s when he did, on occasion, scare the pants off me.

Beyond that, he made a lot of movies that weren’t horror, that I hold dear to my heart, and I have actually written about on this blog.

The years before
John Carpenter got his start directing films in 1969 with “Captain Voyeur” then did “Dark Star” in 1974 and “Assault on Precinct 13” in 1976.

He hit it big with his cult classic “Halloween” in 1978, and followed that up with “The Fog” in 1980.

Dawn of the decade
That was just the start of a directing career that got rolling in the 1980s. John Carpenter would become best known for his horror movies, but in the 1980s he did a lot of mainstream work as well.

Escape from New York
Carpenter started the decade with the dystopic “Escape from New York” in 1981, set in a future where Manhattan has become a walled prison. Kurt Russell plays Snake Plisskin, who is going to New York as a prisoner. However, he is offered the chance of a pardon if he rescues the president of the United States whose plane has crashed in New York.

I was just a kid when “Escape from New York” came out. However, I was home sick one day and watched a review of “Escape from New York” on “Canada AM” on Channel 13 of the peasant vision dial. I recall host Norm Perry interviewing the reviewer whose name escapes me.

I think it was maybe in university in the summer of 1989 that I finally saw “Escape from New York”.

The Thing
Carpenter was back in 1982 with “The Thing”, a movie that is horror but also suspense. A group is trapped at an Arctic outpost. They soon discover an alien entity that begins to hunt them down and kill them. It also starred Kurt Russell.

My outstanding memory is seeing “The Thing” at my friend Mat’s birthday party.

Christine
There was no name more synonymous with horror in the decade than Stephen King, so it was no surprise he teamed up with John Carpenter on “Christine” in 1983. I did not see the entire movie, just the few minutes that involved a high school football game.

The movie is about a haunted or possessed vehicle. I do recall seeing the car just start on its own in the movie.

When remote starters became more common a few years later, I recall walking past a car in Edmonton.

Suddenly, it just started. I was the only one around.

“It’s Christine,” I thought.

Starman
There could be no bigger departure from horror than the sweet, sentimental movie “Starman” in 1984. Jeff Bridges plays an alien who crashes on Earth. He then assumes the shape of the dead husband of a woman played by Karen Allen. They too fall in love as he desperately tries to get to a rendezvous point for a ship to take him home.

It is such a poignant moment, highlighted for me by a moment when the two sing “All I Have to do is Dream” by the Everly Brothers.

It is a touching story. Some compare it to “E.T.” but I think they are very different movies.

Big Trouble in Little China
For a third time, actor Kurt Russell teamed up with John Carpenter, this time for the 1986 film “Big Trouble in Little China”.

I never did see this film. Russell plays a truck driver who gets caught up in some intrigue in San Francisco's Chinatown and the secret world underneath it.

My biggest memory is using “Big Trouble in Little China”, as slang when you were deep into something bad.

The rest of the decade and beyond
John Carpenter closed out the 1980s with two more horror films – “Prince of Darkness” in 1987 and “They Live” in 1988 – but I never saw either of them.

He would keep on making movies including “Memoirs of an Invisible Man”, “Village of the Damned” in 1995, and “Escape from L.A.”, a sequel to “Escape from New York” in 1996.

He keeps working to this day.

Parting thoughts
John Carpenter’ s finger prints are all over this blog, whether it is “Starman”, “The Thing” or “Big Trouble in Little China”.

It is funny that I never made the connection until I did research for this post, but John Carpenter played a bigger part in my pop culture experience than I realized.

That is due in large part to the fact I always thought he was just a director of horror films.

He was so much more.

Yates Memorial Centre: Remembering grad and more

The Yates Memorial Centre in Lethbridge, site of the 1987 graduation ceremonies for Kate Andrews High School in Coaldale.

Source: https://www.songerarchitecture.com/genevieve-e-yates-memorial-centre

(May be subject to copyright)

Looking back, it’s a funny thing to not have your high school graduation in your high school. For the past 22 years I have been living and working in a town where, like clockwork, I go to the high school where they have their grad right in their gym.

It turns out, my high school was just too small to have grad in the gym. Yet, in 1987, we took it not only out of the school but right out of the community.

When I was thinking about what to blog about today, I just looked back on my day. Earlier, I went to see my niece Megan Laqua dance in Lethbridge at the Yates Memorial Centre complex.

It reminded me of that day in June of 1987 when we climbed in my parents Oldsmobile Omega, headed to Lethbridge, and walked across the stage at the Yates Memorial Centre.

Rehearsal
The first time I was ever in the Yates Memorial Centre was for the grad rehearsal. It was held during the day, a few days before the ceremony.

I recall picking up my best friend Chris Vining. We stopped at a place called Corky’s first, where I bought some fried chicken. I ended up eating the last of it as we walked into the Yates. I was trying to look cool, although I am not sure that constituted cool.

After that, the rehearsal went off without a hitch.

Dressed for success
The fact I was about to graduate from high school seemed surreal to me. It would be the culmination of all the years of school and work I had done, but it just did not seem possible it was here.

In fact, it took others, like my Mom and my best friend of the time Chris Vining, to push me along.

One of the biggest thing was a suit for grad. A couple times, my Mom had brought it up. It was just something you did then.

However, earlier in the Spring I had participated in a grad fashion show, where I modeled a couple tuxedos. Herb’s Men’s Wear in Coaldale had supplied the clothes for the fashion show.

I suggested to my Mom we rent from there. She was fine with that, because it would cost less and really, how often would I wear that suit, given I was 17 and still growing?

So, Vining and I went to Herb’s Men’s Wear during a spare and looked for tuxedos. While I looked through the catalogue, there were a few that looked like the one I had modeled. I wasn’t sure. Vining suggested asking. Sure enough, Mr. Fletcher had kept a record, so I just reserved the one I wore to the fashion show.

Vining had received some advice from the girls from the greenhouse where we worked after school. They suggested like a silver-grey coat and a wine-coloured bow tie. It was different, but cool.

I told my Mom, and she took care of the rest. As she usually did.

We were set – but there was more to do.

Flower power
It might have been Mr. Fletcher who suggested we needed boutonnieres, because there was a specific hole in the jacket for one. To that point, I thought it was called a corsage, but that was for women. Men wore boutonnieres.

Coaldale had a flower shop right next to the post office. I went in there and ordered a boutonniere for me, and a corsage for my escort. I got a pink carnation, I think partly influenced by the Marty Robbins song. I got my escort a rose.

So we were set.

What’s that about a date?
For so long, I had assumed I would not have a date, or escort, for grad. Then I got the courage up to ask this girl out. We went out on a couple disastrous dates near the end of school, but I just couldn’t give up the idea we should keep dating.

Grad was coming, and I did plan to ask her to be my escort. Before I got the chance, I was approached by a friend of hers. This friend had acted as a go-between when I first asked her out.

She now asked me if I was going to ask her friend to grad, because she had already bought a dress for it.

So I did.

Vining then ended up asking that girl to be his escort, but just as friends.

Working at the car wash
Grad was not until the afternoon, so I had time to take care of a few things.

The first was getting our family car, the Oldsmobile Omega, washed. I picked up Vining and we went to this car wash by Highway 3. As I washed, he fed coins into the machine. Then I was done washing, and put away the washing wand. He told me he had put in four more quarters. There was no way to take them back out.

There was an old lady behind me, so I tried to explain to her that there was money already in the machine, so could she just give us the dollar and we could call it even. She looked stressed and had that look of mistrust of a teenager.

“We should talk to the manager,” she said.

I tried explaining again. She kept talking about the manager.

We were on a bit of a time line, so I just gave up.

“Enjoy the free car wash,” I said, as I walked away.

Vining was waiting in the car.

“Some people just think we’re always trying to rip them off,” he said.

He was so right about that.

Getting ready
We picked up our tuxedos at Herb’s Men’s Wear, got our flowers at the flower shop, and I dropped off Vining at his house. We agreed that I would pick him and his escort up and we would all go together to the Yates Memorial Centre.

I went home and got ready. My parents were doing the same. When I was done, my Mom checked me over then I left, agreeing to meet them at the Yates.

It was time to pick up my escort. I knocked at the door, and Gina was there waiting. She looked great, in a white lacey dress, white stockings, a pink hat, and perfect make-up and manicure.

As was the case for virtually every date, she really said very little. This time, after I picked up Vining and his escort, the two girls talked like old friends, which they were. Me and Vining did the same.

Grad surprise
There is not much I remember about how we entered. I don’t think there was a grand march, and we definitely did not wear a gown or mortar board. I am pretty sure though, that we sat alphabetically, meaning Vining and I would sit side by side – as we always did.

Before the parchments were handed out, there were some award presentations. The actual diplomas could not be presented. Diploma exams had just been written and the final marks, and who actually earned a diploma, would not be known until after diploma marks were finalized.

The awards were all presented, and went to pretty much everyone I expected. Then, the emcee said there would be one more, presented by Mr. Ed Ryan. It had just been added recently.

Mr. Ryan was our high school guidance counselor, a mentor, and a dear friend. He was there to present the University of Toronto National Book Prize. He started describing how it went to a student who was strong academically, but the recipient also wrote a play about his classmates and friends.

Wait, that was me. I was shocked.

Then he announced my name, I went up to the stage at the Yates Memorial Centre, and accepted the award. It was a book with an inscription on the first page.

It was so cool.

A picture of me accepting that award also ended up in the year book.

After that, we would all walk the stage and receive our parchments.

The grad banquet, dance, and bash all happened after that, but those were held elsewhere, outside the confines of the Yates Memorial Centre.

Reach for the Top
The other memory I have of the Yates Memorial Centre was when I was young, and watching a high school quiz show called “Reach for the Top”. The province was divided into several regions, or flights. Kate Andrews High School of Coaldale was a power house, regularly winning its region. In fact, when I started Grade 10 at Kate Andrews, the Reach for the Top team won the national championship. It aired on CBC, Channel 9, and the Lethbridge and area flight was taped at – the Yates Memorial Centre.

I always wondered what it looked like, but would have to wait for my grad to finally see it.

Parting thoughts
Since that day in 1987, I have been to the Yates Memorial Centre many times, mostly to watch New West Theatre musicals, but also to see my niece in her dance productions.

Every time I step in the building I am taken back to my grad, and reminded how that was the end of one chapter in my life, with a new one soon to begin.

Remembering Skulktoberfest 1988

When my spouse hosted an Octoberfest celebration at the retirement residence she works at, the giant inflated mug of beer, German flags, and costume she was wearing, reminded me of another Octoberfest I attended, back in 1988.

This was at a residence of another type, a university student residence, and this Octoberfest was a new twist on an old and storied festival.

What is a hall event?
Lister Hall at the University of Alberta in Edmonton was a massive residence complex made up of three towers – Kelsey, Henday, and Mackenzie Halls. Each tower had a hall council, made up of a hall vice-president and the coordinators from each floor in the tower. Kelsey and Henday Halls had 10 floors, Mac had 11.

One of the rolls of the hall council was to plan and put on a hall event.

These hall events were steeped in tradition, each one held at about the same time each year.

Mac County Fair was right near the beginning of school in September, put on, you guessed it, by Mackenzie Hall. King Louis, put on by Kelsey Hall, was held near the end of January.

Henday Hall hosted Skulk, which was usually at the end of September.

In 1988, I was a floor coordinator on Fifth Kelsey when Bryan Common, the Henday Hall vice-presidenr, announced at a joint council meeting, that Skulk would be different that year. Joint council was made up of all 31 floor coordinators, three hall vice-presidents, a president and some managers.

“Get ready,” he said. “For Skultoberfest.”

The big unit
Hall events were not merely a festival of events, they were an actual competition. Each activity had points attached to it.

The 31 floors were divided into 10 units, with each unit made up of one floor each from Kelsey, Henday and Mackenzie Hall. Looking back, whoever designed that was brilliant, because it was a fantastic way to meet people from across the Lister complex.

The units were named and led by the host floor.

So, for Fifth Kelsey, we were in the Third Henday Unit, along with Tenth Mac.

Once the unit packages were handed out, which outlined the whole week, we walked over to Third Henday for our unit meeting.

The games were pretty much centred around drinking, including a beer chugging contest that used a plastic gravy boat. Much of it was already divided up when we got there too, so I am having a hard time remembering some of the events. Still, there is one that will live on in my memory forever.

Skit night
By far, the event I remember most is the skit night. The theme was “The Sound of Music”.

Everything had been settled at the unit meeting, except the skit. I met with the other coordinators, Peter Thomas of Third Henday, and Scott Empson, of 10th Mac. I am not sure how we came up with the idea we did.

Scott would dress up as essentially the Julie Andrews character, and start singing “A Few of My Favourite Things”. Then he would start flashing joints. Then Peter, me and two guys from his floor named John and Rob, dressed in suits and sun glasses would come in to the theme from “Peter Gunn”. We would dance some sort of weird polka, that involved chest bumping, then chase after Scott, arrest him and take him away.

We didn’t win, although we had by far the most unique, or at least most unorthodox, take on the “Sound of Music” theme. It turns out we were disqualified because we were only supposed to use the music from “The Sound of Music”.

Scott and I were not impressed.

Parting thoughts
Octoberfest reminded me of Skulktoberfest which reminded me of all those hall events. Those were some of the most memorable times I had back in my second and third years of university in particular.

It was a great chance to meet new people and have some fun.

The fact it was on a German theme makes it even better.

Burt Young: Rocky Balboa’s brother-in-law and more

Burt Young, at right, as Paulie Pennino, with his brother-in law Rocky Balboa, played by Sylvester Stallone.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/18/movies/burt-young-dead.html

(May be subject to copyright)

In one of the most pivotal scenes in “Rocky III”, he takes a mouthful of water from Rocky right in the chest. That is one of my memories of Burt Young, who played Rocky’s brother-in-law right through the entire Rocky series, spanning six decades.

When I saw today that Burt Young had died, it reminded me of how great a movie “Rocky III” was, all the “Rocky” movies to be exact, and the part Burt Young played in them.

He was 83.

Adrian’s brother
“Rocky” was an incredible movie about a journeyman fighter, and part time enforcer for a Philadelphia loan shark, who gets his shot at the world heavyweight title and makes it count.

We see him, initially, as a dim-witted, punch-drunk fighter who is really good at taking a punch. We soon learn there is much more to him. He is a caring, sensitive man who is in love with a mousey woman named Adrian. She becomes the love of his life and, ultimately, his wife and mother of his son.

Like any relationship, this one comes with in-laws. For Rocky, it is Adrian’s brother Paulie Pennino. He was a character who did evolve over time.

Initially, he worked in a meat packing plant. That was the setting of one of the iconic scenes in “Rocky”, when he starts hitting a side of beef like a punching bag. He bloodies his knuckles and stops when Paulie yells, “Hey, you’re breaking the ribs.”

Paulie drinks heavily, really feels sorry for himself, and can be jealous of his friends and family. At one point, drunk and jealous of Rocky’s fame, he stumbles into an arcade. There he sees a ”Rocky” pinball game and throws his bottle at the picture, smashing the machine.

Ultimately, Rocky hires Paulie to work in his corner, and he is there when Rocky regains his title, defeating Clubber Lang. Right before they walk out for the title fight, Paulie tells Apollo he “done good”. Initially, he had disagreed with Apollo’s training methods, but did see the light in the end.

One of the funniest parts of Apollo’s training methods was when Rocky was swimming. At one point, when Rocky is making a turn, he grabs Paulie, who is standing at the edge of the pool, and pulls him into the water.

Burt Young ended up being in “Rocky” where he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor; “Rocky II”; “Rocky III”; “Rocky IV”; “Rocky V”; and “Rocky Balboa”. By the time of the movie “Creed”, Paulie had died. Wikipedia reveals Burt Young's death was February 22, 2012.

More than Paulie
Burt Young appeared in a lot of movies in addition to “Rocky” from the 1970s into the 21st Century such as “Chinatown”, “The Choir Boys”; “Convoy”; “Once Upon a Time in America”; “The Pope of Greenwich Village”; “Back to School”; “Betsy’s Wedding”; “Mickey Blue Eyes”; “The Adventures of Pluto Nash”; and much more.

He also appeared on TV, guest starring in shows such as “M*A*S*H”; “The Rockford Files”; and “Baretta” in the 1970s. Then, in the 1980s, he was in the TV movie “Murder Can Hurt You”, as Lieutenant Palumbo, a spoof of Columbo; “Miami Vice”; “Airwolf”; “The Equalizer”; “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”; and “Roomies”.

The years after he guest starred in “Tales from the Crypt”; “Columbo”; “Walker, Texas Ranger”; “Law and Order”; “The Outer Limits”; “The Sopranos”; “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit”; “Kevin Can Wait”; and more.

Parting thoughts
There are actors so associated with their roles that, if someone hears their name or sees their picture, they instantly think of the character.

That’s exactly how Burt Young was with Paulie Pennino.

Even in all the tributes to him when the news broke of his death, the first thing every one of those tributes referred to was his work as Paulie.

He did play the character over a 30-year period that spans four decades, so he was a part of the Rocky Balboa universe.

What I will always remember was how he provided a bit of comic relief. However, he also, in his last turn as Paulie, gave Rocky a pep talk about getting out all the grief, rage and anger he let build up inside.

I didn’t know that Burt Young had been nominated for an Oscar for playing Paulie.

At times like the pep talk he gave his brother-in-law before a big fight, I can see why.

My first 45: Remembering “Shaddap You Face”

My spouse is the master of a thousand faces and voices. We were joking around in the kitchen today when she said in her best Italian accent, “Shaddap You face”.

I stopped in my tracks.

“You know that song?” I asked.

“What song?” she responded. She really had no idea what I was talking about.

“Shaddap You Face,” I replied.

She still had no idea what I was talking about.

When I was growing up, there was a novelty song my sister told me all about called, “Shaddap You Face”.

The interesting thing is, when I was growing up and heard that song, my spouse was three years old. She had never heard the song, so I told her all about it.

The song
It was 1980, and I really was not listening to music too much. My sister came to the farm and, at some point, I said something that prompted her to say, “Shaddap You face.”

I kind of laughed.

Then she told me about this song she heard on the radio. Playing the same role my spouse did 43 years ago, I said I had never heard of it.

So my sister started singing it. I still had never heard it, but I was intrigued.

Star on 45
Not too much later, I went to Lethbridge with my parents on their weekly Saturday shopping trip. I asked Mom if we could go to “Anglo’s Stereo and Photo”.

It was a store my brother went to a lot when I was growing up. It was loaded with records, and seemed to have pretty much everything – at least to this 10 year old. They even posted the weekly album and singles charts.

On this day, I was looking for this song my sister had sung to me, that sounded kind of interesting. So much so I wanted to hear it for myself, whenever I wanted.

I actually saw the singles chart on the wall, scanned it, and there was “Shaddap You Face”.

That is when I learned it was sung by an artist named Joe Dolce.

Back then, you could buy records called 45s. They were smaller records with one song on each side.

I found “Shaddap You Face” and bought it.

I think it was the first 45 I ever bought.

Spin that disc
My Mom had this old blue and white record player, that I had just begun to learn about. That's where I set about playing my first ever 45.

They were an odd record though. The 45 has a hole in the middle of it quite a bit larger than the hole in a regular album that fits nicely on the turn table. The hole in a 45 is about the diameter of a loonie or so. In order to play it, you need this thing that fits in that hole and reduces down to the size of the pin of the turn table.

The thing everyone used looked like a snow flake and was yellow. It fit perfectly in the middle of a 45 and allowed you to play it.

I had seen a couple of those yellow things around, but had no idea what they were.

Now, I was in search of one to play my first 45.

My Mom kept everything related to the turn table nearby, so I found one of those things, fitted it in and carefully placed the 45 on the turn table.

I pressed a button and the 45 dropped onto the turn table and the record needle dropped on the record.

It took a few seconds, but the music started.

I was finally going to hear that song.

“Shaddap You Face”
My sister did a pretty good job of singing “Shaddap You Face”. It is a novelty song, with a fair bit of talking with singing but it certainly is memorable.

I listened to it again – and again – and again.

You can do that when you own the 45.

“Shaddap You Face” was a bigger hit in Canada, where it peaked at number two, then the United States, where it peaked at number 53 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Parting thoughts
There are a lot of novelty songs out there, such as “The Streak”, “The Monster Mash”, “The Purple People Eater”, “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini”, and “Shaddap You Face”.

What sets “Shaddap You Face” apart, beyond its creativity, is that it was the first 45 that I ever bought.

Now it is also an inside joke between me and my spouse.

What more could you ask for?

(By the way, that yellow thing you put in the centre hole to play a 45 is called a 45 RPM vinyl record adaptor. It’s like the plastic thing on the end of a shoe lace, which is called an aglet.)

Remembering Lethbridge Community College open house ‘87

It’s interesting. I had no intention of going to school there, but I decided to go to an open house at Lethbridge Community College in the Spring of 1987 anyway.

Little did I know a dozen years later I would find my way there.

Today, I had a news release cross my desk from Lethbridge College, as it is called now, because heaven forbid mentioning community in your college. It was an invitation to an upcoming open house.

It reminded me of that time back in 1987, where I thought I knew where I was going. Little did I know it would be somewhere else.

North to university
To be honest, I don’t exactly remember when I set my mind to go to the University of Alberta. Some time in Grade 10, because when I mentioned it to my best friend Chris Vining, he was all in. That was back in 1984, when we were still getting to know each other.

I really cannot speak for him, but I knew I never even considered the University of Lethbridge or Lethbridge Community College, as so many of my high school classmates had. I really wanted to get off the farm, and out into the wider world.

It was a done deal pretty early, as I applied to the University of Alberta as soon as I could, and got accepted pretty early on.

There would be no looking back.

Open house
My Uncle Ed, who is married to my Mom’s sister my Aunt Johanna, is one of the best people I know. He worked for Lethbridge Community College for a long time, loved the college, and even sat on the board of governors, as one of three elected members.

It was through him that we found out the college was having an open house on a Sunday afternoon. I went with my parents, my sister and my Uncle Ed and Aunt Johanna. Obviously, I had no intention of going there, because I was committed elsewhere.

Yet, I did not consider it beneath me, as some of my high school classmates did. Some even referred to LCC as Last Chance College. Instead, I went with an open mind, and looked around to see if there was anything that would interest me, were I looking to apply.

Uncle Ed did show us around. We toured various automotive shops, classrooms, and I distinctly remember going to the LCC Meat Store. Back then they had a meat-cutting program. Even then I thought it would be a cool learning experience to operate an actual store. I also recall my sister asking the person showing us the meat store, if students were taught to cut other meat beyond beef and pork, like from wild animals.

We wound up our tour by sitting and having coffee and treats in the gym, where they had set up tables and chairs. The treats were made by students.

I remember thinking it seemed a lot like high school, not in a bad way, but definitely more of a gradual transition to post-secondary. The lockers in the hall, the shops, even the gym, all gave it an intimate setting.

Looking back, I was glad I went, more as an outing than to actually consider going there. After all I was laser focused on going to the University of Alberta and, by that time, I was at the point of no return.

Parting thoughts
Fast forward from that day in 1987, to the Spring of 1999. I thought about that day I went to the open house when I applied to Lethbridge Community College and their print journalism program.

As I said, I never looked down at the college. I always believed college and university complemented each other. Universities offered theory and colleges offered practical applications. To my mind, you need both.

In journalism, in particular, I have benefitted a great deal from an arts background coupled with the skills of organizing, planning, researching and writing taught by journalism school.

What I will always remember about my first day of college in the Fall of 1999, is thinking to myself, “This is sure different than it was in 1987.”

The amazing comeback of Suzanne Somers

Suzanne Somers rebuilt her career with parts

like this one in "Hollywood Wives" in 1985.

Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088536/

(May be subject to copyright)

There she was, voluptuous, sexy and manipulative. A Hollywood actress who knew how to get what she wanted. You didn’t really want to mess with Gina Germaine.

All I could think was, “She isn’t Chrissy Snow anymore.”

Although Suzanne Somers is best known for that role as the cute, ditzy blonde in “Three’s Company”, as the 1980s went along she had been banished from the show, rose from the ashes, and branched out.

The best example is the role of Gina Germaine in “Hollywood Wives”, but Suzanne Somers really began to experience a complete re-birth in the 1980s and beyond.

When I heard today that she had died, I thought back to that time where she was such a big part of “Three’s Company”, then was just gone.

Exile
Suzanne Somers had become one of the most popular performers on television with her role as Chrissy Snow in “Three’s Company”.

Then she asked for more money as the fifth season started in 1980. After she rejected the network’s contract offer, she was essentially banished from the show. Jenilee Harrison had been hired ostensibly to replace her. Somers did appear in every episode to finish out her contract, but it was a 60-second appearance at the end of each episode when she phoned the other characters. In fact, Somers taped those spots in a room by herself.

She was then fired, and consigned to the trash heap of television.

Branching out
Suzanne Somers had to rebuild her career, and did a number of things. In 1984, she appeared nude in “Playboy” magazine, although still smarting from a previous appearance. The magazine had published old photos taken at a time in her life when she needed money to pay some medical bills for her son. Now, she figured another appearance would re-establish her career.

She started performing live in Las Vegas, first at the MGM Grand before it burned down, then the Las Vegas Hilton. Somers also performed for U.S. servicemen overseas.

TV Time
The Internet Movie Data Base reveals Suzanne Somers did very little television work in the 1980s after “Three’s Company”. In fact, there are two entries.

One is her appearance in 1985 in the miniseries “Hollywood Wives” as Gina Germaine, where she was absolutely awesome, shattering any typecasting that could have been left over from her “Three’s Company” days. In “Three’s Company”, she played the innocent daughter of a preacher. Gina Germaine is the exact opposite. Sexy, manipulative, and willing to do anything to get what she wants. In the miniseries she wants to move away from the sexy movies she was making into a more serious project.

The other entry was a sitcom called “She’s the Sheriff” which ran for two seasons, from 1987 to 1989, for a total of 44 episodes. It was her actual return to series television after “Three’s Company”.

The years after
Suzanne Somers made a rather complete comeback in the years after. She became the spokesperson for the “Thighmaster”, and wrote a number of books. She had a successful seven-year run on the sitcom “Step by Step”, starring opposite Patrick Duffy, from 1991 to 1998 for a total of 160 episodes. Somers also performed on Broadway, hosted various talk shows on television and online, and did much more.

Parting thoughts
A few years ago, I saw a docudrama about “Three’s Company” where an actress played Suzanne Somers. It showed how she had been treated at the end of her tenure on “Three’s Company”, then her miraculous comeback through singing in Las Vegas, promoting the “Thighmaster”, and re-emerging on television.

I was always so impressed with her resilience, and the fact she became more attractive as she got older. One of the hallmarks of her career after “Three’s Company” was her health. She always seemed to be the picture of health, through diet and exercise, so it was a cruel irony that it was breast cancer that finally got her.

It was the end of a career that started so well, cratered, but then came back better than ever.

Still, her comeback, through hard work and determination, is nothing short of miraculous.

Remembering “Ripley’s Believe it or Not”

Holly and Jack Palance hosted "Ripley's Believe it or Not".

Source: Facebook/Fabulous Films & Stars

(May be subject to copyright)

My spouse was telling me about her trip to see the “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” museum in Niagara Falls recently. It reminded me of Sunday nights after supper. We used to gather around the TV to watch Jack Palance tell us all about some oddity then wrap it up by looking straight into the camera, seemingly raising an eyebrow, and saying, “Believe it or not”.

The book
Jack Palance was not my initial exposure to “Ripley’s Believe it or Not”. That actually occurred earlier, when I took this book out of the library at St. Joseph’s School in Coaldale. It was full of cartoons, compiled from a comic strip called “Ripley’s Believe it or Not”.

The book explained that Robert Ripley collected the stories of oddities and wrote about them in his comic strip. Of course, once the comic strip took off, people would send in their own stories.

It was a neat book. I liked it so much, I ended up buying another “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” paperback at Coles Books in the Wooidward’s Mall. I recall it having a shiny gold cover, and I am pretty sure it is in a box in my garage.

So, when I heard Channel 7 on the peasant vision dial was airing this show called “Ripley’s Believe it or Not”, I had an idea what it would be about.

The show
When I tuned in for the first time, “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” was similar to a couple other newsmagazine shows on TV at the time. “That’s Incredible” and “Real People” aired odd, interesting, inspiring and unique true stories, and "Ripley's Belie it or Not" had the same vibe.

“Ripley’s Believe it or Not” was hosted by Jack Palance who had this really unique voice, perfect for narration. It was deep and authoritative, perfect for explaining the odd and different.

Wikipedia reveals season one aired in the 1982-1983 season and Catherine Shirriff, a Canadian actress, was Palance’s co-host. I have no recollection of that whatsoever. My suspicion is that “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” was like some other U.S. network TV shows, that aired in the States but no Canadian network picked them up. Often, if they were successful, they would be on peasant vision the next year.

In my first memory of “Ripley’s Believe it or Not”, Jack Palance’s co-host was Holly Palance, who was his actual daughter. That was Grade 9, so the 1983-1984 season.

Holly Palance would be co-host for two season, 1983-1984 and 1984-1985. Then I read in “TV Guide” she would be replaced for the fifth, and what would turn out to be final season, in 1985-1986, by singer Marie Osmond.

The content
On Sunday nights, I did my homework in front of the TV while “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” and “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” played on, so sometimes my attention was divided.
 

Wikipedia reminded me of some interesting stories, such as an Indian man with the longest fingernails; the Komodo Dragon; the running of the bulls in Pamplona; the origin of Sid Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood; the Hindenburg; the Hatfield-McCoy feud; sewage treatment using worms; a man juggling bowling balls, flaming swords, and a chainsaw with two apples; Edgar Allan Poe’s fear of being buried alive; giant vegetables; Mount Rushmore; Hiroshima; the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre; Pygmies human teeth sharpening; the fortress at Masada; and so so much more.

You can see, the show covered everything.

The other thing they did was show actual Robert Ripley “Believe it or Not” comic strips on the show. I even recall them noting a segment they did was based on one of the cartoons.

Local content
The show itself spawned an odd imitation that only appeared on Channel 7 on the peasant vision dial. It was a commercial for a farm implements dealership in Taber owned by Bruce Millikan. The narrator was discussing the selection and deals being offered.

Then Bruce Milliken himself appeared on the screen, in a dimly lit room and, doing his best Jack Pallance imitation, bellowed, “Believe it or Not.” He even had a raised eyebrow, like Palance’s, painted on his face as he said the famous words.

It was so cheesey but so cool all at the same time.

Parting thoughts
While I was looking at the content of all those old episodes, I realized “Riplley’s Believe it or Not” and the stories it shares, is not much different from what I do for a living. We share stories of an endless variety that inform and entertain.

Maybe that’s why I liked it in the first place.

I also find, after all these years, when I sometimes tell a story about something fantastical, I will utter, “Believe it or not.”

And I can see Jack Palance looking straight at me through the TV saying it.