The Thing (1982): Memories of a great birthday party

Kurt Russell in "The Thing" in 1982.

Source: https://egreg.io/movie-review-the-thing-1982/

(May be subject to copyright)

Can you imagine being trapped at a base in the Arctic? Worse, what if there is literally a thing out to get you and everyone you are with?

That dilemma faced the men in “The Thing”.

What I will remember is more than the fact “The Thing” may be my favourite horror movie. If you know me, that is an incredibly small sample size.

No, what I will remember is the guys I was with to watch the movie, and the great time I had, back in 1984.

Friends for life
It is hard to describe the friendship I had with Mathew Ebner. Our families were neighbours before we were born and, in fact, my parents knew Mat’s dad when he was still a teenager. They even knew Mat's grandfather Emil before he passed on their farm to Mat’s dad Reinhold.

We rode the school bus together forever, even though we went to different elementary schools then different junior highs.

Yet, we hung out a lot over the years, even before we started going to high school together in Grade 10.

Again, we had a lot of the same interests. We both loved comic books, science fiction, music and computers. Mat got a TRS-80, the personal home computer Radio Shack used to make, and played on that thing for hours. Beyond this really cool adventure game we cracked, we tried designing our own video games.

Our friendship is hard to describe, because we were more like cousins. We were closer than friends, I thought, but I treated him badly sometimes, like a cousin would.

He never acted poorly, or badly. He was a kind and gentle soul, who really always tried to do his best for himself and others.

When we were in Grade 9, he invited me to his birthday party, which is still one of the best times I ever had as a teenager.

Guest list
Mat’s parents were really nice people too. Mr. Ebner was so supportive of his kids. He played with them, took an interest in everything they did, and supported them through everything. Mrs. Ebner was a hair dresser who had her own salon in their house, one that my Mom and sister would visit periodically. She was a kind soul too. It is hard to say where Mat gets it from, because they were both so nice and kind.

They said Mat could have three friends over. Mrs. Ebner would make some pizzas – and she made great pizza – while Mr. Ebner would go to town to rent the movies Mat requested.

Because we went to different junior high schools, I didn’t know any of his school friends, other than through the stories he told me on the bus. So, guys like Alan, Sanjay, and Jason were an idea to me, more than people. I had met them in passing, at McLennan’s the arcade downtown, when we walked to shop class. That was it though.

Mat ended up inviting me, his good friend Alan Uchimura and Jason Clements. They were both also really interesting guys.

Alan was a video game genius through and through. He was a master in the arcade. The joystick was like an extension of his hand. At a time where you had to pay a quarter to play a video game, and essentially start over when you ran out of lives, Alan played forever. Later, when home video game systems and computers provided great games, he mastered them too. Beyond that, he watched a lot of movies and read a lot. You could tell why he and Mat were such good friends.

Jason was less known to me. Mat wasn’t the only guy I knew from the other school. Whenever those guys talked about him, he was usually the butt of their jokes. I never took that too seriously because I’d rather form my own opinion. I still try to live my life that way. Beyond that, he had gone to McNally, a country school by Lethbridge, so he had only been going to the other school for junior high. I had encountered him in elementary school when our mini basketball teams played each other. But I didn’t actually know him.

The ride home
We took the bus to Mat’s place. All the buses for the town congregated at Kate Andrews High School. I hopped on a bus from St. Joe’s every night, and Mat hopped on a bus from R.I. Baker. They both dropped us off and we wound our way to the bus we took home. When I got on the bus home, Mat had already arrived with Jason and Alan in tow. It was a bit odd for me, because it just meant getting off the same bus, just one stop sooner – I was the last stop on the way home and Mat was the second last stop.

We chatted a bit on the bus, and I recall beginning to think Jason was a really cool guy. I wondered why the other guys from Baker treated him the way they did. That’s also when I was reminded of something really cool. Mat had told me Jason was bringing his Atari 2600 and the game “Pitfall II”. I was an Intellivision man, so I had never really played a lot of Atari. Actually, to that point in life, virtually none at all.

That would change.

The party
The smell of pizza was already wafting in the air when we got to Mat’s place. Soon after, Mr. Ebner arrived from town with the movies in hand.

The one Mat was really excited to see was “The Thing”. It was the 1982 version, which was still relatively new. We joked about making sure to get the right version, because I think Mr. Ebner had seen the original when he was younger.

This one was about a party trapped at an Arctic outpost who discover an alien entity that begins to hunt them down and kill them. It was an abject horror movie that starred Kurt Russell.

For some reason I cannot recall, Alan had to go home.

“Aww, but you’re going to miss the movie,” Mr. Ebner said.

Alan responded he had already seen it.

Mat couldn’t resist asking him where “The Thing” was at that point.

“It’s in the dog,” Alan said, then left shortly after.

Neither I nor Jason could believe it.

The dog seemed so to the side, and beside the point.

Sure enough, it wasn’t, and what unfolded in “The Thing” was , well, horrifying.

Everything paused as we ate and gave Mat his presents. I had visited a used bookstore and purchased for or five books by Andre Norton, a science fiction writer who was Mat’s favourite. She was prolific, but Coles didn’t carry her books, so I had to hit the used bookstores. Still, it was what he wanted, and I saw him reading those books on the bus and at school over the next few months.

We eventually drifted back to the Atari and “Pitfall II”. Jason had already solved the game, but he let us play it until we figured it out on our own.

It wasn’t that night though, because Jason graciously left his Atari and the “Pitfall II” cartridge at Mat’s. I recall going back there on the weekend to see how Mat solved the game.

Eventually it was time to go, and we all went our separate ways.

It was such a great party, that’s all I could think.

Parting thoughts
I thought high school was going to be great, because I was already meeting guys from the other school that were going to be my classmates in September.

It was great, but I never really did form the friendships I would with those other guys. We were friendly, said hi in the halls and, in Alan’s case, I did go with Mat over to his place to see him every so often.

Yet, for one evening in 1984, we had an amazing night together. When I watched “Stranger Things”, the camaraderie they had during their Dungeons and Dragons nights kind of reminded me of that, only we were playing video games and watching movies.

Every time I think about “The Thing”, I am taken right back to that basement on a farm north of Coaldale.

Roxette, Part Three: “Listen to Your Heart”

We were playing cards the other day and had this Internet music channel playing in the background. Suddenly, this song came on that sort of sounded familiar, but different.

It was a cover song. A new artist was singing “Listen to Your Heart” by Roxette.

Hearing that song, even if it wasn’t Roxette, reminded me of slow songs during one of the cornerstones of the Lister Hall social calendar in 1988 and 1989 – Ship night.

Ahoy!
Lister Hall, the student residence complex, at the time, was made up of Kelsey, Henday, and Mackenzie Halls. It was so big the actual Lister complex was a full conference centre with a massive dining hall, meeting room, banquet room and more.

It also had a student bar.

In 1988 and 1989, it was the place to be on Thursday nights.

Ship night
It was such an odd phenomenon. Only on Thursday nights would the Ship be bustling with activity. The other nights it was open were sparsely attended, if not completely dead.

Yet on Thursday, the Ship was hopping.

The best way to explain it, was that Ship nights felt like a Lister dance, only in a more intimate space.

I did not dance much. Instead I wandered around talking to people and enjoying the cheap beer. I also enjoyed the music because the deejays played current music you could dance to, but slowed it down at the end of the night.

Usually in my drunken stupor, when they announced the last dance, I would find a girl I liked and dance with her. They never really liked me back other than, you know, “Let’s just be friends”, but they always danced.

It was a lot of fun.

In 1989, the song that wrapped up Ship nights was “Listen to Your Heart” by Roxette.

Even as I write this, I can see in mind’s eye the lights on the dance floor dimming, couples slowly making their way on to the dance floor, the strobes lights swirling, and the music, pounding way too loud the words, “Listen to your heart…”

The song
“Listen to Your Heart” became one of the most successful singles of 1989, going all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Parting thoughts
For a period in time, Ship nights were the event of the week. The Ship was called a community centre by some, and it really did bring the community together. Some of the most fun I had in university was at those Ship nights.

Hearing “Listen to Yout Heart” takes me right back there.

Roxette, Part Two: “Dressed for Success”

“Get dressed for success, shaking me up to the big time…”

That song was coming from somewhere but I couldn’t find the source. I was lying in my bed in 149 Kelsey Hall. It was a special room that had a bed, bathroom and closet, all shoe-horned into a res room the same size as all the rest.

Where was it coming from?

Then I found the source. It was coming from a vent by a pillar where the ceiling met the wall.

I got closer, and discovered what was actually happening.

My room was right below the bathroom in the girls’ wing on Second Kelsey. It was a Thursday night, and the girls had a ghetto blaster in the bathroom playing music. It was background noise while they got ready to go out to the bar in res, called The Ship.

It happened every week, and often, it all started with “Dressed for Success” by Roxette.

Settling in
By this point, maybe late October or November of 1989, I had settled in to my new home on Main Kelsey as the hall vice-president of Kelsey Hall.

It was a great floor, with a great bunch of people.

Part of my job as vice-president, which I really did not think of as a job, was representing the entire tower, not just any one floor.

I did my best to get to know everyone in the building. In that effort, I was aided by the ten floor coordinators I had, one for each floor in Kelsey Hall.

In the summer, I had helped appoint a new floor coordinator for Second Kelsey, named Kelly Kleinmeyer. He was a friend of Bruce Freadrich’s, who I had met the year before. Back then, I was floor coordinator for Fifth Kelsey and he was floor coordinator for Fourth Kelsey. When we needed a coordinator for Main Kelsey for the 1989-1990 school year, we looked to Bruce. A month or so later, when the Second Kelsey spot had not been filled, Bruce suggested Kelly.

So, when students returned to school in September of 1989, by virtue of Bruce and Kelly hanging out, and the fact we were all neighbours, Main Kelsey and Second Kelsey began to hang out together.

It was a cross-pollination that went on for years, because there were a lot of really good people on both floors.

Over time, I met virtually all the girls on the floor too.

Yet, I never had the heart to ask who played their ghetto blaster in the bathroom.

How do you even phrase that question?

The song
“Dressed for Success” went all the way to number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and number 10 in Canada. Intrestingly, the first place I ever heard it was not the radio or MuchMusic, but coming out of the vent in my room in res.

Parting thoughts
Music can evoke such strong and vivid memories. So it’s funny, but no surprise, that “Dressed for Success” conjures up memories of that room in res, Ship nights which were amazing in that 1989-1990 school year, and especially those girls from Second Kelsey.

Come to think of it, they were getting dressed for success.

Roxette, Part One: “The Look”

“You got the look, you got the look…”

The song was blasting down the Teens Wing of Ninth Kelsey as I made my way to my new room for the first time. It was the summer of 1989 and a time of transition for me.

Every time I hear “The Look” by Roxette, I am reminded of that time, when I was closing one chapter and about to open another.

What are you doing for summer?
The 1988-1989 school year was a tough one for me. I had been the floor coordinator on Fifth Kelsey in the student residence at the University of Alberta, and it had brought its fair share of stress.

There were times I really looked forward to not being a coordinator anymore, and times I loved it.

Being a coordinator meant I was also on the joint council of our students’ association. As the year ended, our student association was holding elections for executive positions, and I was convinced to run for vice-president of Kelsey Hall.

I won that election so, as the year ended, I was wrapping up my year as floor coordinator and becoming familiar with my new role as hall vice-president.

I was also trying to figure out what to do for the summer. I was never one to be too organized, and actually look for a job while I was still in school.

One thing I did know was that I was not going back to the farm.

The year before, when I went for my interview as part of the floor coordinator process, I mused about staying in Edmonton that summer and going to summer school. But I did end up going back to the farm.

Not this time. I did enroll in summer school and decided to stay in res for the summer.

It was the best decision I made.

Summer school
It was typical of my life. I actually missed the deadline to apply to live in res for the summer, but got in anyway.

That was because, while going to school, Housing and Food Services also hired me to be a summer residence life assistant. It was kind of like being a floor coordinator, but with way less responsibility, and way less pay. After all, there was only a handfulI of students scattered on the top of Kelsey Hall. I also did the mail week days for the students living in res.

I had my choice of rooms on Ninth Kelsey. Out of nostalgia, I took 910 Kelsey, because in my first year, I had lived with best friend Chris Vining in 1010 Kelsey Hall, and just loved the view. It was also right next to the bathroom, which was more entertaining than convenient.

So, after everyone moved off Fifth Kelsey, and I concluded my duties as a floor coordinator, I moved to 910 Kelsey.

“The Look”
I had accumulated a surprising amount of stuff over the course of the school year, so I threw the first load on this cart and dragged it into the elevator, pressed “9”, and headed to my new home.

The elevator doors hadn’t even opened yet and I could hear the music.

The wing door had been propped open so the music was streaming out. It was coming from the far end of the hall.

It was “The Look” by Roxette.

The source was the room of a guy named Trevor Holt. He had lived in Mackenzie Hall the preceding eight months. I had heard of him but never met him.

That would change over the next four months.

So much would change that summer, as I met knew people, experienced new things, and had an amazing summer that dovetailed nicely into my first year as a hall vice-president.

The song
“The Look” by Roxette was released in January of 1989 and became Rozette’s first number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100. It was also number two in Canada.

Parting thoughts
The summer of 1989 is full of amazing stories, people and experiences. It is its own book really.

Whenever I hear “The Look”, it opens a door to all those great memories.

After all, "The Look" was playing to greet me when that door opened in the first place.

Mary Lou Retton: Darling of the 1984 Olympics

Mary Lou Retton at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Source: https://usopm.org/mary-lou-retton/

(May be subject to copyright)

She was the darling of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. It was a year punctuated by an Olympic boycott by the Soviet Union and almost all its Communist satellite countries, which led to American domination of the Olympics. Still she stood out among all the other great performances by athletes from the United States.

Moreover, when they had a chance to shine at home in front of their entire country, no star was brighter than gymnast Mary Lou Retton.

She not only captured gold, but the hearts of the world.

I just heard today she has been placed on life support and is not expected to live.

It is a shocking end to a fairytale story.

The 1984 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow were severely affected by a boycott of Western nations, including Canada and the United States. They were protesting the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. A lot of athletes were disappointed, especially those whose Olympic window was 1980.

Others were young enough to set their sights on the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The Eastern Bloc countries thought they would return the favour, so they boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics. This left the field wide open for a lot of athletes.

However, there was one Eastern Bloc country that did not boycott the Olympics – Romania. It did not mean much for a lot of sports, but there was one sport in particular that Romania excelled at – gymnastics.

Gymnastic powerhouse
The 1976 Summer Olympics were taken over by a young gymnast from Romania named Nadia Comaneci. She won gold medals in the all-around, uneven bars, and balance beam. She also achieved the first perfect 10 score at the Olympics, then earned six more before the end of the games.

She won two more gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, as Romania became a dominant force on the international scene.

Tough competition
The Americans dominated the Los Angeles Olympics, breaking records for the number of medals won. Many benefitted from their biggest rivals staying home.

That was not the case in women’s gymnastics.

Romania was still the team to beat, and they did beat everyone, taking the team all-around gold medal. They also won gold medals in balance beam, floor exercise and vault; a silver in individual all-around; and bronze medals in individual all-around and vault.

Olympic darling
Amid this Romanian storm emerged 16-year-old Mary-Lou Retton from Fairmont, West Virginia. She had been inspired by Comaneci. Ultimately, she ended up in the Karolyi gym, run by two Romanians who had coached Comaneci before defecting to the United States.

Retton began to win meets in 1983, then won the United States Olympic Trials in 1984. However, she injured her knee and underwent surgery just over a month before the Olympics.

She recovered and gave the world an effort to remember for the ages.

Retton engaged in a battle with Romanian gymnast Ecaterina Szabo for the women’s gymnastics all-around title. It was the ultimate test of skill as competitors moved through four rotations – uneven bars; balance beam; floor exercise; and vault.

Szabo lead by 0.15 points after the uneven bars and balance beam. I remember Retton’s uneven bars routine where she actually flipped over and looked like she was sitting on the bar.

She dug deep in the final two events. She turned in perfect 10 scores in the floor exercise and vault. I remember very well the fear and anxiety among coaches, teammates and spectators. Would Mary-Lou Retton’s knee hold up to the force of landing from the vault. Then, when she stuck the landing, assuring herself the gold medal, she just stood there and started to cry.

It was very powerful.

She had beaten Szabo by 0.05 points to become the first woman outside Eastern Europe to win the all-around gold medal.

Retton would also lead her team to silver in the team all-around, win a second silver in the vault; and win bronze medals in the uneven bars and floor exercise.

Her grit, determination, and positive attitude had made her the darling of the Olympics.

The years after
Mary Lou Retton would retire in 1986, and would go on to do a variety of things including television and movie appearances, act as a spokesperson, sitting on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, appear on “Dancing With the Stars”, and much more.

Since I first started writing this when I heard she was facing life-threatening pneumonia, I have read her condition has improved, and she is home recovering from the pneumonia that made her so sick.

Parting thoughts
I didn’t realize how young Mary Lou Retton was in 1984, just two years older than me. That’s why she could remember Comaneci and was influenced by her.

Although I was too young to remember the way Nadia Comaneci captured the spotlight in Montreal, it sounded similar to the way Mary Lou Retton captured the hearts of Americans at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

It’s fitting that one Olympic darling begets another Olympic darling.

Oh boy: Remembering the original “Quantum Leap”

At least once every episode of the re-boot of “Quantum Leap”, I find myself wondering what would Sam do, or alternatively, will he finally appear?

When I first came upon “Quantum Leap” back in 1989, I was really confused by the premise initially. When I figured it out, the show wasn’t a science fiction spectacle as much as it was a vehicle to tell heartwarming stories. Occasionally it made a point, or drew attention to a certain issue.

In its four-plus years on television, it became one of my favourite shows, with specific episodes I can vividly remember to this day.

I think back to that time I first stumbled onto “Quantum Leap” every time I watch Ben Sung leap through time in the re-booted "Quantum Leap".

From left are Dean Stockwell and Scott Bakula, 

he two stars of the original "Quantum Leap.

Source: https://www.imdb.com/

(May be subject to copyright)

Leap home
During the 1988-1989 school year, I didn’t go home that much. That changed Easter weekend in March of 1989. I had arranged my schedule so I had all my classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and none on Tuesday or Thursday. That meant, with Good Friday and Easter Monday off, I had a six-day weekend.

I took the opportunity to go home, so I hopped the Greyhound graveyard, milk run through the night and arrived in Lethbridge about 9 a.m.

That Easter Sunday night, I was flipping through the three channels we had on the farm, and came upon this show just starting on Channel 7.

At first I was not sure I understood it. This guy woke up face down in bed. It was Scott Bakula, an actor I had seen before, most notably in a “Disney Sunday Movie” called “I Man”. He looked in a mirror, but the reflection was not his own, it was someone else. Weird.

He soon discovers he is a test pilot in the 1960s. Then a hologram named Al appears, played by Dean Stockwell, and starts to explain things. The man is Sam Beckett, a genius who invented a time machine. He entered this “quantum accelerator” and is now leaping through time, but only the period that his own life spans. Al is the hologram, assisted by Ziggy, the computer brain behind the time machine. They discover Sam must fix something in time in order to leap home.

Sam does manage to fix what went wrong and does leap out – but he doesn’t go home. Instead, in the second hour of this series premiere, he leaps into the body of an aging minor league baseball player, where he must again right history.

He leaps again, but I didn’t get to see the next episode, because I had returned to university and never had much time for television.

Interestingly, when I got back to res, I ran into Dave Turnbull, one of my floormates on Fifth Kelsey. He too had watched the premiere of “Quantum Leap” when he went home to Calgary for Easter.

I think we agreed we’d watch “Quantum Leap” the next week, but never did.

It wasn’t until I went home again the following school year when I picked up the trail again.

Football players and the Queen Mary
The next episode I saw, was in the second season, 1989-1990, in early January when I was home for Christmas. Sam leaped into the body of a high school football player named Eddy Vega. He is the quarterback, and Eddy’s best friend Chuy is his receiver. Sam has to make sure Chuy doesn’t throw an important game, so they can earn college scholarships. Of course Sam succeeds.

After the school year ended, I went home in May of 1990 and saw another episode of “Quantum Leap”. This time Sam leaps onto the ship the “Queen Mary” where he has to reunite a man and woman, when the woman is about to marry a gangster.

There would be one more episode in 1990, a Christmas episode guest starring Charles Rocket as a Scrooge-like figure, that was part of the third season of Quantum Leap in 1990-1991.

The creators also did something really cool. At the end of each episode, when Sam leaps into his new body, the first words out of his mouth every time are, “Oh boy…”

A week’s worth
In the summer of 1990, I saw this mysterious ad announcing “it was coming.” I never found out until a year later what “it” was.

It was “Quantum Leap Week”, where NBC played an episode a night for a week in the summer.

It was brilliant, because it was an instant introduction to the show. Obviously, I didn’t see it in 1990, but I did in 1991 and the shows were all excellent.

In one, Sam leaps into a male stripper who saves a hearing-impaired dancer and helps her meet a major choreographer, played by Debbie Allen. In another, he leaps into a lounge singer saving him from a contract killer. That one was really cool, because Sam sings this amazing song with his partner called “Somewhere in the Night”. In a third, Sam leaps into a children’s show about science. He is in the body of the sidekick of the host of the show. In it, Sam discovers the host, played by Richard Herd, has the same theory of time travel that Sam does. At the end of the episode, a young Sam Beckett writes into the show and has his letter read on air.

They were all excellent.

Parting thoughts
The show would run for five seasons, including an intense amazing, season five premiere when Sam leaps into the body of Lee Harvey Oswald. My whole floor in res gathered in the fall of 1992 to watch it.

Although it seems to be a science fiction series, it is actually a lot like its creator Donald Bellisario’s other shows such as “Magnum P.I.” and “Airwolf”. It is full of action with some light humour interspersed, interesting characters, and it tackles some tough issues.

I never really liked the ending, although I could live with the fact Sam kept on leaping, and never got home.

That actually set up the new series nicely.

It also gives me hope that maybe for Sam, his next leap will be the leap home.

Matt Dunigan: Dawn of an amazing career

Matt Dunigan with the Edmonton Eskimos in the '80s.

Source: https://lakehighlands.advocatemag.com

(May be subject to copyright)

When superstar quarterback Warren Moon left the Edmonton Eskimos after the 1983 season, the question on many minds was, “Who will replace Warren Moon?”

The only option I had seen was this spindly, long-haired back-up who hadn’t even thrown much of a spiral.

From those humble beginnings, that back-up would restore the Eskimos to respectability. He would take two other teams to the Grey Cup, set a single-game passing yards record with a third, be a CFL all-star with a fourth, and ultimately be elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Now he is entertaining football fans as a broadcaster, part of a panel in studio, and occasionally as a colour commentator in the broadcast booth.

For Matt Dunigan, an amazing career started in the 1980s.

Getting his feet wet
Dunigan backed up Warren Moon in 1983, but appeared in all 16 regular season games, going 14 of 26 with 239 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. He also rushed for 23 yards.

He became the full-time starter in 1984, leading Edmonton to a 9-7 record, good enough for third place in the West Division, where they lost the West Semi-final to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Dunigan played in 13 games, going 220 for 412 for 3,273 yards, 19 touchdowns, 21 interceptions and a long of 81 yards. He also rushed for 732 yards, nine touchdowns, and an average of 8.2 yards.

In 1985, Dunigan played in 14 games, leading the Eskimos to a 10-6 record, a third place finish in the West Division and a date in the West Semi-final, which they lost against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Dunigan went 242 of 405 for 3,410 yards, 19 touchdowns, 22 interceptions and a long of 89 yards. He rushed for 737 yards, nine touchdowns, and an average 6.5 yards.

Dunigan was really just getting his feet wet as a starter. His numbers show he was still having trouble adjusting and reading defences as his interception totals increased, surpassing his touchdown total in 1985. Yet he was coming into his own, because he was also named a CFL and a West Division all-star.

Yet, a renaissance was coming, as Matt Dunigan was learning, and poised to break out.

Grey Cup bound
The first game of the 1986 season showed exactly what was to come. The Calgary Stampeders were on the verge of folding after the 1985 season, but managed to survive through a “Save Our Stamps” campaign. They re-tooled their entire team, and did end up making the playoffs.

Their season opener was at home against Edmonton. The teams went back and forth, and Calgary definitely showed they were a much different team than the door mat the Stampeders were the year before.

They led late, but I had this uneasy feeling. Dunigan was playing okay, but he seemed unflappable, and totally calm. There was no panic, just confidence. Then he unloaded a bomb to Stephen Jones and the Eskimos pulled out the victory. It was just like Warren Moon and Tom Wilkinson. They just were never out of a game, especially against the Stampeders.

Dunigan would lead the Eskimos to a 13-4-1 record, good enough for first place in the West Division. That year, the CFL had introduced a new format for the playoffs if the fourth place team in one division had a better record than the third place team in the other. In this scenario, the fourth place team would play first and second and third would play. So, Edmonton played Calgary, defeating them, then beating B.C, in the West Division Final.

For the season, Dunigan went 275 of 485 for 3,648 yards, 25 touchdowns and 14 interceptions with a long of 68 yards. He rushed for 594 yards, four touchdowns, and an average of five yards.

The Eskimos faced the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Grey Cup, and were blown out. The Tiger-Cats, who had been 12 point under dogs, were all over Dunigan, jumping out to a 29-0 halftime lead, and chasing him from the game.

It was a lesson he would learn for the 1987 season.

Dunigan had another good season, going 175 for 326, for 2,823 yards, 21 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. He rushed for 287 yards, four touchdowns, and an average of 5.6 yards.

The Eskimos would have a tougher road, if they wanted to get back to the Grey Cup. They had another good season, finishing with a record of 11-7, falling to second place in the West Division.

That set up a date with the Calgary Stampeders in the West Division Semi-Final at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. That was the first game I ever went to, and it was a good one. The Stamps stayed close, tying the game on an interception return for a touchdown.

However, Dunigan got the Stamps again. Remaining calm and poised, he led the Eskimos to an insurmountable lead. We heckled him, throughout the game too. I did not feel bad about that, becaue of what he did in the last few plays. The Eskimos had the game won and, instead of running out the clock, he plunged into the end zone for another touchdown. It was a long time before I forgave him for that, if I ever did as a player.

He would take the Eskimos to Vancouver the next week for the West Division Final, where they beat the Lions to go to the Grey Cup. The Eskimos stayed in town, because the game was at B.C. Place. They won the Grey Cup in a thriller on a last-second field goal by Jerry Kauric to beat the Toronto Argonauts.

Dunigan got knocked out of that game as back-up Damon Allen came on to lead Edmonton to victory.

It was the last game Dunigan ever played for the Eskimos.

Go west young man
I remember hearing the news when I was at a leadership camp at Blue Lake near Hinton. Matt Dunigan, was traded to the B.C. Lions in a massive trade that sent seven players to the Eskimos.

Dunigan flirted with a professional baseball career, working out and hoping to catch on with the Montreal Expos. That did not work out, and he indicated he did not want to return to Edmonton. The result was a trade that set up B.C. for a Grey Cup run, and turned Edmonton into a regular season powerhouse.

Incredibly, the Eskimos received receiver Jim Sandusky, pass rusher Gregg Stumon, linebacker Jeff Braswell, defensive back Andre Francis, runningback Reggie Taylor, defensive end Leroy Blugh, and the Lions’ first pick in the 1989 CFL draft, which turned out to be all-star fullback Michael Soles.

All of that talent for Dunigan. Incredible.

For the 1988 season, it all seemed worth it.

Dunigan helped the Lions win their last nine straight games, finish third in the West and qualify for the West Division Semi-Final against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Lions ran the table, beating the Riders in Regina then the Eskimos in Edmonton to advance to the Grey Cup against Winnipeg in Ottawa. It was the first time the Blue Bombers were representing the East in the Grey Cup, moved to that division after the folding of the Montreal franchise in 1987.

The teams went back and forth, but Dunigan threw a costly interception in the end zone on a deflection late in the fourth quarter, to give the Bombers a 22-21 victory and the chance to hoist the Grey Cup in victory.

Dunigan was a CFL and East Division All-Star in 1988. He went 268 for 471 for 3,776 yards, 26 toiuchdowns and 22 interceptions. He also rushed for 501 yards, six touchdowns, and an average 5.2 yards.

He closed out the decade in 1989 with his last season in Vancouver. He went 331 of 597 for 4,509 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions. He also rushed for 397 yards, 10 touchdowns, and an average of 5.7 yards.

It had been a good decade for Dunigan and would get better.

The years after
Matt Dunigan was traded to the Toronto Argonauts where he played in 1990 and 1991. His legend grew in 1991, when he led the Argos to a Grey Cup victory playing with a frozen shoulder.

He would move on to Winnipeg, where he played in 1992, 1993, and 1994. In 1994, he set a single game professional football passing record with 713 yards against the Edmonton Eskimos.

The CFL expanded to Birmingham in 1995, so Dunigan headed south where he was again named a CFL and South Division All-Star.

After Birmingham folded, Dunigan played with the Hamiltn Tiger-Cats in 1996. However, he only played six games before a massive hit gave him the concussion that led him to announce his retirement.

He finished his career passing for 43,857 yards and 303 touchdowns, and rushing for 5,031 yards and 77 touchdowns.

He was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2006.

Parting thoughts
What is there left to say about Matt Dunigan? He accomplished everything a player could, winning Grey Cups with two different teams and appearing with two other teams; being named a division and league all-star; and being elected to the hall of fame.

Maybe the best part for fans, is that he is sharing his vast knowledge and experience now from the broadcast booth.

It just extends what has already been an amazing career.

David Foster, you’re the inspiration

When I started following the music scene, I really didn’t know what a producer was. Then I heard about David Foster, and not only learned what a producer did but ended up considering David Foster a role model and an inspiration.

That also came from work he did for charity, and music he wrote and performed himself.

These days, he is heavily involved in the promotion of organ donation and transplantation. Some information about his work with the David Foster Foundation came across my desk the other day, and it reminded me of how much I really like him.

Chicago
David Foster first came to my attention when he was producing albums for Chicago. It was Grade 10 so the 1984-1985 school year, and I was just getting into music when I saw an interview with him and Peter Cetera, the lead singer of Chicago. The album “Chicago 17” was on the charts releasing hit singles and they talked about that. They also talked about the previous album, “Chicago 16”, and the number one hit it yielded called “Hard to Say I’m Sorry”.

Later on, a couple years ago, I recorded a special CTV made on David Foster, and it talked about his Chicago days.

When they hired him to produce, they were done. No one was buying their records but worse, no one was listening to their music. They had a real brass, jazzy kind of sound that just didn’t resonate with listeners.

Foster made them more of a pop band, and the hits started to roll. The documentary revealed he was kind of ruthless about it, but he made them famous again.

An obvious cleavage developed between the oldtime band members and Peter Cetera. You could hear it in their comments. The old band members said they betrayed their sound and stop being true to who they were because Foster changed their sound. Cetera said all he knew was he sang a lot of hits that made a lot of money.

Interestingly, as that segment concluded, they played a clip of Chicago performing recently – and it was one of the sell-out David Foster songs. Interesting.

David Foster at the recording of "Tears Are Not Enough" in 1984.

Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090141/mediaviewer/rm3038411520/

(May be subject to copyright)

Northern Lights
At about that same time, reports were coming in of severe drought, famine and starvation in Ethiopia. A group of British rock stars got together calling themselves Band Aid, and recorded a single at Christmas time of 1984 with all proceeds going to famine relief.

The Americans followed suit, forming a group called USA for Africa, and releasing a song called “We Are the World”. It was part of a full-length record.

Another part of that record was a song by Northern Lights, a group of Canadian performers, called “Tears Are Not Enough”.

It was a very proud moment to be a Canadian.

David Foster and Bruce Allen, a music agent for many including Bryan Adams, brought together “Tears Are Not Enough” and produced it.

Maybe a year later, CBC aired a behind the scenes documentary on “Tears Are Not Enough”, and it really showed how the process worked, given we only see the finished product.

One of the things I remember best was how each singer, who were only singing a few lines each, would sing take after take after take. Then Anne Murray sang her “If we can learn to share, and show how much we care”. Foster asked her to do it again, and again.

Then he paused, then commented she had nailed it the first take, and that rarely happens. Then he admitted he was so tired he almost missed it, and kind got down on himself.

It was very revealing, but showed me how committed and invested he was.

The results speak for themselves.

“Tears Are Not Enough” is a powerful, moving song.

Love theme
A few months after that, I was in Grade 11 by then, this really cool instrumental started playing regularly on the radio.

I used to listen to this request show weeknights at 9 p.m. on 1090 CHEC called “Rock and Roll Your Own”. One night, someone called in requesting the new song by David Foster. It was called “The Love Theme for St. Elmo’s Fire”.

There had already been one song from that movie soundtrack, “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)” that, as it turned ou, Foster had also produced. It had topped the charts and been a big hit for John Parr, who sang it.

Now, David Foster was moving behind the microphone, so to speak, with a song of his own.

It was awesome, and really stirred the soul. The accompanying music video was shot in black and white and told the story of Foster writing the song and reflecting on the relationship he was in while composing the song. Again, just awesome.

The “Love theme for St. Elmo’s Fire” went all the way to number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, pretty good for an instrumental.

A few months later I ordered the “Soundtrack for St. Elmo’s Fire” from Columbia House. I discovered there was a second version of the love theme, this one with lyrics.

It just didn’t sound the same.

Duet
A few months after that, in 1986, I heard Foster’s name on the radio again. This time it was a duet with Olivia Newton-John. It was this beautiful ballad called “The Best of Me”.

I was surprised by two things about “The Best of Me”. It peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 80, when I thought it would have been much higher. It did peak at number six on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. It must have benefitted by Canadian Content regulations because I heard it a lot. I even taped it off the radio one night. It did go to number 17 in Canada and number three on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart. I was also surprised that Foster had actually first released the song as the debut single on a solo album in 1983, also called “The Best of Me”. I didn’t realize he had a solo career, or that much of a career as a performer at all.

Which brings me to something else I learned about David Foster.

“Wild Flower”
David Foster had actually been in a band in the 1970s, and it had a pretty big hit. Skylark formed in 1971 and released “Wildflower” in 1972. It was a really heartfelt, soulful song. It went to number one in Canada on the Adult Contemporary chart and number 10 on the singles chart, as well as number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

However, Skylark was done by 1973, after their second album did not do as well as they expected.

Olympic anthem
Calgary hosted the Winter Olympics in 1988, and there was a lot of buzz in the Fall of 1987 when I left for university in Edmonton.

I was home for Christmas and driving in downtown Coaldale when I heard this great instrumental on the radio. It sounded like an anthem, and even a call to arms.

It turned out David Foster was back again, after writing this piece called “Winter Games” which was the instrumental theme song for the 1988 Winter Olympics. The song peaked at number 21 in Canada and made the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 85.

Prolific period
Wikipedia reveals David Foster did a lot more in the 1980s. Just some of the songs he was involved in 1982 were “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” and “Love Me Tomorrow” by Chicago; and “The Girl is Mine” by Michael Jackson; “

In 1983, there was “Twist of Fate” and “Take a Chance” by Olivia Newton-John; “Prima Donna” by Chicago; “We’ve Got Tonight” by Kenny Rogers; and “She’s a Beauty” by the Tubes.

In 1984, there was “Stay the Night”, “Hard Habit to Break”, “Along Comes a Woman” and “You’re the Inspiration” by Chicago; “What About Me?” by Kenny Rogers”; and “Lady of my Heart” by Jack Wagner.

In 1985, there was “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)” by John Parr; “Shake Down”: by Billy Squier; “Young and Innocent” by Elefante; “This Time it Was Really Right” by Jon Anderson; “Saved my Life” by Fee Waybill; “If I Turn You Away” by Vicki Moss; “Love Theme from St. Elmo’s Fire (Instrumental)”, “Georgetown”, and Love Theme from St. Elmo’s Fire (For Just a Moment)” all by Foster; and “Stressed Out” by Foster as Airplay, all from the “St. Elmo’s Fire Original Soundtrack”.

There was also “Somewhere” by Barbra Streisand; “Tears Are Not Enough” by Northern Lights; “That’s What Friends Are For” by Dionne and Friends; “Forever” by Kenny Loggins; “Who’s Holding Donna Now” by DeBarge; and “Stuck in the Rain”, “You’re the Only Love”, “Cruel Hearted Lovers”, and “Here’s the World 4 Ya”, by Paul Hyde and the Payolas.

In 1986, there was “If She Would Have Been Faithful” and “Will You Still Love Me” by Chicago; “Glory of Love” by Peter Cetera; “Now and Forever (You and Me)” by Anne Murray; and “On My Own” by Pattie LaBelle;.

In 1987, there was “Secret of My Success” by Night Ranger; and “Love Power” by Dionne Warwick and Jeffrey Osborne.

Parting thoughts
David Foster went on to even greater success in the 1990s and into the 21st Century with all sorts of performers from Whitney Houston and Josh Groban to Celine Dion and so much more.

Yet, as a typical Canadian, he is quite humble about all his accomplishments. I read his autobiography, “Hit Man”, and he really understates a lot of his work. Some of it he doesn’t even mention at all. I know this because I also saw a documentary on him on CTV.

David Foster is an incredible artist, a role model who just inspires me to want to do more and more.

He may have co-written “You’re the Inspiration.”

To me, he is the inspiration.

Dick Butkus: A bear on field and screen

Dick Butkus as Ski Butowski in the television series "Blue Thunder" in1984.

Source: https://variety.com/2023/film/obituaries-people-news

(May be subject to copyright)

He was a ferocious football player on the field, but I came to know Dick Butkus on the small screen. He may have been a Bear on the gridiron, but with that stern look, and intimidating persona he was a bear of a different kind on screen.

I was watching Thursday Nnight Football yesterday where the Chicago Bears were playing the Washington Commanders. As the Bears put the finishing touches on their first win of the season, announcer Al Michaels said it was a big victory on the night they were mourning the loss of one of the greatest Bears – Dick Butkus.

He died on October 5. He was 80 years old.

Typecasting
The first two times I saw Dick Butkus on screen, the characters he played had a football connection.

The first time was in an episode of “The Six Million Dollar Man” called “One of Our Runningbacks in Missing”. The title character, Steve Austin, has this friend who is a professional football player, a star runningback in fact. He is kidnapped on the eve of a big game to prevent him from playing, so Austin infiltrates the group to break him out. They end up playing a game of football against their captors and escape. One of the criminals was played by Dick Butkus. Steve’s friend, the star runningback, was played by Larry Csonka, who was also a decorated professional football player in real life.

The second time was in the movie “Gus”. It was a Disney movie with one of those improbable, bordering on ridiculous, plots. The California Atoms, a hapless professional football team, finds success when they discover a mule who can kick deadly accurate field goals. Butkus plays the antagonist, a member of the Atoms who thinks the whole idea is ludicrous. He ends up getting hurt and blaming Gus the mule. He joins another team, the Michigan Mammoths, who the Atoms ultimately face for the championship in the climax of the movie.

I would see him in a lot of other football movies such as “The Longest Yard”; “Necessary Roughness”; “The Last Boy Scout”; and “Any Given Sunday”. He also played himself in “Brian’s Song.”

My friend Bubba
Another memory was how often Butkus appeared with Bubba Smith, another retired professional football player.

Butkus played Ski Butowski in “Blue Thunder” in 1984, with his partner “Bubba Kelsey”, played by Bubba Smith. They were, essentially, the ground crew for a super helicopter piloted by James Farentino and his partner played by a very young Dana Carvey. They appeared in 11 episodes before the series was cancelled.

A year later, in 1985, Butkus and Smith played bodyguards Beau and Kurt in “Half Nelson”. It was a show about a diminutive former cop working as a private security guard for the rich and famous while trying to get his big break as an actor. Nelson is played by a young Joe Pesci. The show lasted a total of seven episodes before it was cancelled.

I also saw them make appearances together in other places, such as awards shows.

Guest starring
Dick Butkus was a prolific guest star in TV shows. Often it had some football connection or tie in too. In the 1980s those included “Fantasy Island”; “Vegas”; “Magnum P.I.”; “Matt Houston”; “The Greatest American Hero”; “Simon and Simon”; “The Love Boat”; “Murder, She Wrote”; “Blacke’s Magic”; “Night Court”; “Matlock”; “Growing Pains”; “Kate and Allie”; and “My Two Dads”.

He would keep on acting well into the 21st Century, with his last role coming in 2014, according to Wikipedia.

Parting thoughts
Dick Butkus retired from pro football when I was three years old, so I never actually saw him play. I came to know him as an actor, then learned more about him as a player.

The first time I saw footage of him play was in a package of profiles by NFL Films called “The Professionals”. It showed just how relentless, tenacious and tough he was. There is one play where he tackles the opposing runner so fast and so hard, the guy’s legs are still moving in the air after Butkus lifts him off the ground.

Beyond being a hard tackler, he was a smart player, as illustrated in one play by the way he read the play, dropped back in coverage and made an interception.

The profile also drove home the point that, although he enjoyed a lot of personal success, his team, the Chicago Bears were just not that good, and he rarely came close to playing for a championship team.

I learned a lot more a few years ago when I read his autobiography “Stop Action”, which takes us right from growing up through college and the pros. There he was wooed by both the NFL and the AFL when they were competing for the best players.

It all fleshed out what kind of a career he had as a player, something I could never see for myself.

Instead, I saw him as an actor first where he often played tough, no-nonsense football characters.

Which made him a bear on the screen as well as a Bear on the field.

Drew Barrymore: Not a little girl anymore

Drew Barrymore in "E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial" in 1982.

Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083866/mediaviewer/rm1518967040/

(May be subject to copyright)

Can you imagine being seven years old and meeting an alien, or starting fires with your mind, or even divorcing your parents?

Drew Barrymore experienced all that and more when she started her acting career in the 1980s.

I was thinking back to that time today, when I heard she was starting the next season of her current talk show.

It’s in the family
The Barrymores are a storied family in Hollywood, stretching back several generations. It started with her great grandparents who were actors, her grandfather was John Barrymore, one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation, and her parents are actors John Drew and Jaid Barrymore. She is the grand-niece of Lionel Barrymore, and related to many other actors. Her godmothers are Sophia Loren and Anna Strasberg, widow of actor and acting teacher Lee Strasberg’, while her godfather is filmmaker Steven Spielberg.

Breakout role
Drew Barrymore was seven years old in 1982 when Steven Spielberg cast her as Gertie in “E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial”. She plays the pesky younger sister of Elliott, a boy who befriends an alien stranded on Earth, and helps him avoid government agents to get him home.

Wikipedia reveals Barrymore won a the Young Artist Award for best young supporting actress, and was nominated for the Rising Star Award at the British Academy Film Awards. She also became the youngest person to guest host “Saturday Night Live” when she appeared in the show’s eighth season.

She had become one of the most famous child actors of the time.

Pyrokinesis
Two years later, in 1984, secret government agents were after Drew Barrymore on screen once again. This time she was Charlie McGee, a young girl with pyrokinesis, the ability to start fires with her mind.

The film was an adaptation of a Stephen King horror novel of the same name.

Breaking up
Barrymore also appeared in the movie “Irreconcilable Differences” in 1984. This time she played a young girl divorcing her famous parents, played by Shelley Long and Ryan O’Neal. The role earned Barrymore her first Golden Globe nomination, for best supporting actress, and good reviews for her performance.

Troubled times
Barrymore would suffer alcohol and drug abuse, but kept on acting through the rest of the 1980s, although I never saw any of her films. She was in “Cat’s Eye” in 1985, where she was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actress; “See You in the Morning” in 1989; and “Far from Home” that same year.

The years after
Barrymore would go through a rebellious period where she posed nude for “Playboy” magazine. She also keeps on acting and appearing on screen to this day. Some of her movies include “Poison Ivy”; “Wayne’s World 2”; “Batman Forever”; “Everyone Says I Love You”; “Scream”; “The Wedding Singer”; “Ever After”; “Never Been Kissed”; “Titan A.E.”; “Charlie’s Angels”; “Donny Darko”; “Riding in Cars with Boys”; “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”; “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle”; “50 First Dates”; “He’s Just Not That Into You”; and much more.

Parting thoughts
It is so hard to believe that Drew Barrymore has been in movies for more than 40 years. It seems like just yesterday she was chasing after her older brother Elliott in “ET”.

She has literally grown up before our eyes, for good and bad.

The most recent illustration of that was on her show, where she met someone very special in the studio audience. It turns out the woman was a flight attendant on a plane where Barrymore had a tough time when she was struggling with addiction. That flight attendant was comforting and sensitive, and helped her through a tough moment.

Barrymore recognized her immediately, and they had this powerful, tearful reunion on her show.

It just showed me Drew Barrymore isn’t a little girl anymore.