Rebel Without A Clue

I have never understood the fascination with actor James Dean, who died in a car accident on this date in 1955.

Handsome?

Well, I suppose so-at least that’s what women have told me. In fact, his brand of “bad boy” is still the epitome of “cool”.

Talented?

Depends on who you ask, but the general consensus is that he was a decent actor. Without the looks, however, he probably wouldn’t have gotten a second glance- a trademark of Hollywood that affects untold thousands of people you’ve never heard of simply because their talent couldn’t overshadow that lack of cinematic/photogenic magic.

Dangerous?

I think this notion goes to the heart of his appeal. Maybe some lady out there can explain to me the attraction women have to “bad boys”. The polite and wholesome young man who is deferential to and doting towards a certain girl—is often snubbed in favor of a rude and self-centered roughneck who treats that same girl like you-know-what. Despite his lack of affection, attention or common courtesy, the girls forgive and forget. The lady ends up with a broken heart while the object of their affection is merely “misunderstood”.

Yeah, right….

Anyway, it is only an early and tragic death that will solidify your iconic status—and James Dean forever cemented his by crashing his Porsche 550 Spyder (nicknamed “Little Bastard”-how appropriate) on a California highway.

Ironic that Dean conducted this “interview” about—DRIVING SAFELY—check it out:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7u8bA_L6yU

Dean rose to stardom in 1955 in “East of Eden”-in the role of Cal Trask, reportedly beating out another young actor by the name of Paul Newman. His performance earned him a posthumous Academy Award nomination-the first time in Oscar history that an actor was nominated after his death. “Rebel Without A Cause” was also released in 1955-and Dean’s role as a rebellious teen defined him as the ultimate in disaffected youth.
His final film, “Giant” was released after his death in 1956-and he received his second posthumous Oscar nomination.

After all these years, his grave in Fairmount, Illinois is visited by thousands each year. Fans also flock to the site of the fatal accident in Cholame, California.

Like Marilyn Monroe, James Dean’s tragic death-especially because it came too soon—guarantees a form of immortality that a long and storied career cannot.

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Fangs For The Memories

It was on this date in 1930 that “Dracula” began filming.

It starred Bela Lugosi, a Hungarian born actor who emigrated to the United States in 1927. The film was so successful that Lugosi was identified with the role of a vampire for the rest of his life—you might say it was a “stake in the heart” to his career aspirations to be a well-rounded actor. (ahem)

Watching that film today, it’s hard to imagine how audiences were terrified. Considering the blood and gore of modern day horror flicks, the original “Dracula” is pretty tame in comparison. Even the acting is a bit strained and overplayed. Yet, the black and white film, the poor lighting (perhaps intentionally so) and the movie sets are CREEPY!!

Based on the Bram Stoker novel-and loosely modeled on the life of the “real” Dracula, “Vlad The Impaler”, the original 1931 release remains the most popular of all the Dracula movies. From 1958’s “The Horror of Dracula” to “Dracula 2000”, the Bela Lugosi vampire remains the best.

Here below is the original trailer for “Dracula”:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nfmh178L98

I must admit that I am not a horror fan. I get scared enough opening up my cable bill each month. I don’t need to actually PAY MONEY for the privilege of soiling myself or having nightmares. I never understood the attraction for untold millions to expose themselves to the aberrant behavior of homicidal maniacs and their handiwork-- blood and gore. I was first appalled at “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” in 1974---again, that may be tame in comparison to today’s releases—but intrigued at how people attending such a bloodbath, munching popcorn and Milk Duds can term it as “entertainment”

Huh?

Maybe I’m behind the times. Maybe I’m “old fashioned”. I actually agree with those who connect the dots between the increase in violence and the desensitizing effect of our prolonged exposure to violence as “entertainment”

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy a good “shoot’em up” cop show or western—it’s just the really warped gore that is graphically displayed—and intended to shock the audience---needs to keep getting more explicit as the “bar” for shock value keeps rising.

“Dracula” is harmless fun—is it “terror”? Probably not, but it remains creepy enough to qualify as a classic horror film. “Frankenstein”, all of the Vincent Price movies and most of the older films have stood the test of time.

If you’d like my blog in your e-mail weekdays (free of charge and excessive gore), just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com

A Good Day For Ted Williams

September 28th was a good day for Ted Williams-TWICE!

It was on this day in 1941 that Ted elected to play in a double-header against the Philadelphia Athletics. It was the last day of the regular season and Ted could have opted to sit out the games and preserve a .400 average, the first time that had been done since Bill Terry in 1930. But no, he played-made eight trips to the plate and got six hits. He ended the season with a .406 batting average. No one has gotten to .400 since.

It was also on this date-19 years later—that Ted hit a homerun in his very last at-bat at Fenway Park—a “storybook ending” (as Ted himself described it) to a fabled career.

Ted’s relationship with the fans and the Boston media was often rocky, but no one could deny that he remains the greatest hitter ever to play the game. After a less-than-stellar season in 1959, hitting only .254 with a bad back, the Red Sox urged Williams to retire.
Too proud to hang it up in this manner, Ted returned in 1960 and hit .317 with 29 home runs at the age of 42!

In his final at-bat, hit launched a 1-1 pitch from Orioles pitcher Jack Fisher into the Boston bullpen. After being booed early in his career, he swore never to tip his cap to Boston fans again. True to form, there were those who thought he MIGHT make an exception for his last great moment at Fenway.

They were disappointed.

Enjoy the footage below of Ted Williams. That last home run at Fenway is in there, about 50 seconds into the video:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImPB6Da13Fo

Regardless of his tempestuous relationship with the media and his fans, he DELIVERED.
He did it often and consistently, all without steroids or fanfare. He lost three seasons to fly combat missions in World War II and Korea—and STILL put up incredible numbers!

The Sox sure could use him this season-but there will never be another Ted Williams.

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Let's All Laugh!

It’s FRIDAY-a beautiful and breezy Fall day in New England—and it has been a CRAZY week. As such, I’ve made an executive blog decision-namely:

I’ll dispense with the serious stuff and pass along some laughs from one of my favorite comedians-Jim Gaffigan. Yes, this is a colossal cop-out, but one that you may enjoy more than my usual fare.

Now be aware, Mr. Gaffigan can PUSH THE ENVELOPE—to the point of being a tad sacrilegious or a bit crude, but the following clip is pretty tame—and yet, it remains HILARIOUS.

Jim takes aim at the traditions of our various holidays-enjoy:




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjJCIbC9sxA

Hope you enjoyed-and were not offended. Either way, feel free to comment. If you’d like my blog in your box weekdays, let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com

Lucy, You've Got Some 'Splainin' To Do!

This blog has often lamented the fragmentation of audiences caused by the explosion of our media choices-and on this, the anniversary of the LAST “I Love Lucy” episode in 1961, that point is driven home.

I think there is value in “shared experience”-even if it is only TV. It is said that there are no more “mass” audiences-just micro-targets—perhaps to the point that someday, we’ll each have our own “channel”—one that no one else sees.

Of course, in the early days of television, the choices were 2—and then 3. Somehow, we all survived as a society—and in my estimation, may have been better off.

“I Love Lucy” ran for 10 years. Lucille Ball, a former Hollywood starlet and radio actress, teamed up with her husband Desi Arnaz. Ball insisted to network executives that her husband be cast in the show as her TV hubby as well, despite their claims that the country wouldn’t believe or accept the idea that a white American actress would be married to a Cuban bandleader.

Seems the suits were wrong.

“I Love Lucy” became one of the most popular sitcoms in history, ranking in the top three shows for six years-and turning the couple’s production company “Desilu Productions” into a multi-million dollar entity.

Thanks to reruns, everyone over 35 years of age has a “favorite” Lucy episode. Mine happens to be the candy factory assembly line where Lucy & Ethel can’t keep up with the flow of chocolates and must eat or hide the product as it races by!

In case you don’t remember (how COULDN’T you?!), here it is:




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wp3m1vg06Q


Of course, it’s tough to think of only ONE show that makes you laugh out loud. The beauty was that you KNEW that everyone you knew had watched the same show at the same time.

Today, with DVR’s, (or even stone-age devices like the VCR in my home), timeshifting means that commonality is lost. The closest thing we have is “American Idol”-but even that could be watched a day or two after it originally airs.

As for Lucy, she became President of Desilu Productions following her divorce from Desi in 1960. She then starred in several other “Lucy” shows : “The Lucy Show” which debuted in 1962 and ran for six years, “Here’s Lucy”-which also starred her two children. A later program, “Life With Lucy” was cancelled after only 8 episodes. Ball died in 1989-and Arnaz in 1986.

Despite less than stellar attempts to recreate the magic of that first show, Lucy’s impact on TV and in our nation’s collective pop culture can’t be overstated. There was no one bigger than Lucy during “I Love Lucy”’s heyday.

It was a simpler time—and the ability of TV to create HUGE consistent tune-in has never been higher.

If you’d like my blog in your box, just let me know! Tim.moore@citcomm.com

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Hey, that college with the funny name!

My first recollection of RPI was as a kid, visiting my relatives in Troy, NY, my dad’s hometown. The trip from Washington, D.C. was 8 hours long, but what fun we had in Troy for a week or so each summer!

RPI was that nearby college just blocks away. Siena College and Russell Sage were also in the area—and I lumped them all together. Big mistake. RPI is in a class of its own.

Fast forward some 40-plus years—and now my oldest son John is a STUDENT at RPI. No parental pressure or legacy was to blame. John, a superior student (and that would be MY term, not his) wanted to study Engineering as his major, so RPI was one of the DOZEN (yes, 12!) schools he applied to. Aside from USC, we got to visit most of them, even Georgia Tech down in Atlanta.

After much soul-searching on his part, RPI came out on top. That the track team wanted him may have been the clincher, but I think John had an inner feeling that this was the right place for him. I must say that my respect for RPI has grown with each passing day.

Now in his junior year, John has been consistently on the Dean’s list as a double-major in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering (am I even SPELLING that correctly?)—and his mother and I could not be prouder of his accomplishments. I am also in AWE of the subject matter that John navigates each semester. A trip to the RPI bookstore is eye-opening. Peruse the textbook section to see an array of disciplines that you didn’t even know EXISTED.

Nothing like a trip to RPI to make me feel like a dope.

When I heard the Brooklyn Bridge was built by an RPI grad, I was duly impressed. More recently, the video game “Guitar Hero” also owes its invention to a Rensselaer alum.

Watch the following propaganda film about RPI and you’ll get an inkling of what these students tackle:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIJuA17pE7Y

In this economy especially, there is no substitute for lifelong learning—and for every problem afflicting man and womankind, there is likely a “geek” toiling away in an obscure laboratory on a campus like RPI—solving the problem quietly.

I am so proud of John—and of his sister Christina, just beginning her journey at Creighton University in Omaha (no doubt the subject of a future blog!). I am now finding it easier to turn the TV off for my youngest, Kevin, who at 9 years old, has yet to appreciate the value of the opportunities that accrue to those who “crack the books!”

Maybe “SpongeBob Squarepants” is educational TV, but I tell Kevin that unless he spends some time reading and learning, he could end up resembling that cartoon’s stupid starfish, “Patrick”. Even at 9 years, every kid understands this analogy.

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The Darwin Awards

Judging from the thousands of minutes of sheer stupidity available on YouTube, it is truly amazing that the human race has made it this far.

We deserve complete extinction, if you ask me.

Insulated from the natural dangers that afflicted our prehistoric ancestors, it appears that modern man needs to actually CREATE situations where we purposely put ourselves in danger.

The Darwin Awards, a tongue-in-cheek tribute to evolutionary scientist Charles Darwin-are those given to individuals who “do humanity a service by removing themselves from the gene pool”, usually through sheer stupidity, thus insuring those idiot genes are not passed down to the next generation.

This, of course, means death.

While people exiting this world is such a stupid fashion has spawned a series of bestselling books, I prefer to focus on those whose stupidity merely entertains us-without hopefully causing serious injury.

Check out the video compilation of human folly:




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svEPX2GpoXY

I don’t know if intelligent life from other planets is able to tap into our internet and view these episodes of sheer lunacy. If they are, it’s a good bet that are planning trip to Earth for an easy conquest. How can a species that behaves like THIS ever hope to put up a decent fight?

Of course, we have ALL done stupid things-it’s just that nowadays, the likelihood of someone nearby capturing your embarrassing episode on video has never been higher.

Here’s to staying safe—and if you MUST make a fool of yourself, check to see that nobody is filming it!

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Monday Night Football USED To Be Special

I suppose that “millions” of people will tune into ESPN tonight to watch the Miami Dolphins and Indianapolis Colts tangle on Monday Night Football.

I won’t be one of them.

Hey, the match-up is OK, but the thrill is gone. Monday Night Football USED to be a big deal, but now, it’s just another football game.

The original Monday Night Football debuted 39 years ago today-the Jets versus the Browns—but it was the SHOW that captivated everyone’s imagination.

First, there was Howard.

The bombastic egomaniac encased in Howard Cosell’s body came out every Monday night to annoy tens of millions of football fans nationwide. His unmistakable delivery and cadence made him a favorite for impressionists to mimic—and nearly everyone could do a decent Howard Cosell.

“Dandy” Don Meredith was a whack-job, pure and simple. His former career as a player was the only thing keeping him on the air. No matter how many times we heard him sing, ”Turn off the lights, the party’s OVER” at the end of one team’s hopes of winning the game, we would laugh and wince simultaneously.

Frank Gifford-also a former player—made for an exciting intro to each week’s game, but that’s about where it ended. His factual gaffes throughout the telecast were legendary.

Yet…despite all of this…those three SOMEHOW managed to crawl into the nation’s psyche and plant themselves as indispensable—the backdrop to some of the game’s greatest moments.

ABC’s Roone Arledge created the idea of a prime-time football game since nothing else seemed to be working—the network was struggling, so it was time to throw out the playbook (sorry for the gratuitous sports metaphor) and try something completely different. Critics mostly hated the telecast, the announcers and the whole idea, but Americans had a different response.

Technological innovations such as slow-motion replay and interactive graphics (things we take for granted today) made THIS football game a SHOW.

Never packaged in this manner before, we were front-row witnesses to the evolution of Sports-As-Entertainment.

Some interesting stats:
Most points-55 by Indianapolis in October of1988
Most One-side Game-45 points-Baltimore 48, Green Bay 3—December of 2005
Highest Scoring Game- 95 points- Green Bay 48, Washington 47—October of 1983
Lowest Scoring Game-3 points—Pittsburgh 3, Miami 0---November of 2007
First Sponsor of MNF—Marlboro Cigarettes, before tobacco TV/radio ad were banned by FCC

Nothing against Al Michaels, who is my favorite TV Sports anchor-and MNF Play-by-play announcer since 1986, but his supporting cast has been a revolving door. I liked Dan Dierdorf, thought Dennis Miller a horrible choice (even though I think he is brilliant in his chosen field, which is NOT sports)-and Tony Kornheiser, who is likewise brilliant, hilarious and knowledgeable. It's just that no one JELLED the way the original trio did.

Here is a clip from that very first Monday Football game-notice how much has changed, from the telecast itself to the equipment!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dwwtl79uxig


After experimenting with different start times, it was clear that Monday Night Football was doomed to exit network TV in prime time.

I’m hoping that it makes a return-even though it seems that every bar in America has cable and ESPN—it’s more the idea that MNF was somehow part of the cultural fabric of the nation for so long. After all, it is where most Americans learned of the assassination of Beatle John Lennon. Hearing the news from Howard Cosell was not exactly comforting, but Monday Night Football was such a part of our common experience on Monday nights, in some weird way it was appropriate that we learned the news from Howard.

It’s true that you can’t go back—and to think that magic could be recreated is folly…..but then again…who knows?

“Are you ready for some football?”

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Where Are The Comedy Duos?

It was on this date in 1950 that Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis made their debut as hosts of the TV show “The Colgate Comedy Hour”. Of course, they were well known to America by then, having first teamed up in 1946.

With the “Jay Leno Show” making an attempt to bring a comedy/variety show back to prime time, I can’t help but notice that ‘ol Jay is going it…ALONE.

In fact, I was trying to think of the last time a comedy DUO made it big! With the proliferation of comedy clubs and Comedy Central on cable, it could be said that comedy itself is in it’s “Golden Age” right now---TONS of funny people out there, men and women, but are there any comedy twosomes?
I don’t think so.

After all, the reality show is called “Last Comic Standing”, not….”The Last Two Of You Left”

Since the turn of the century (and by that I mean TWO turns ago), we have enjoyed the antics of :

Laurel & Hardy
Burns & Allen
Martin & Lewis
Abbott & Costello
Bob and Ray
Rowan and Martin
Hudson and Landry
The Smothers Brothers, even
Cheech & Chong

It seems there is a HUGE hole now for a great team to emerge. Maybe two funny guys/gals/one of each--like George & Gracie, who perhaps can’t make it on their own, but maybe as part of a team.

Enjoy this tribute video to Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNxRdYihOa0

Martin & Lewis suffered through a bitter public break-up-and certainly each was successful afterwards, although Jerry Lewis’ primary association would be through his work with Muscular Dystrophy-“Jerry’s Kids”. Neither was as popular alone as they were together.

A TV sitcom might be the best launching pad for such a duo—as the “variety show” route has been nonexistent for years—let’s hope Leno revives it!

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Roadrunner Makes His Debut--With Coyote

Are there days when you feel like Coyote?

Days when no matter what you do, you are thwarted, steamrolled, blown up or squashed?

Of course, in cartoons no one ever dies, which is fortunate for Coyote, who otherwise would have croaked a thousand times over.

It could have been from the ANVIL that landed on his head from high above in the canyon. Perhaps the Acme rocket used to catch Roadrunner that malfunctioned and slammed into the sheer stone face would have done the trick. Or, maybe my favorite is Coyote sheepishly opening a small umbrella over his head, fully aware it would be useless against the bus-sized boulder hurtling his way from above.

For a cartoon series where The Roadrunner is the hero and Coyote the villain, you have to at least admire Coyote’s never-give-up attitude. I’m thinking he must have bought all that Acme crap on credit---considering what he spent, he could have bought 10,000 steak dinners. Acme products often failed, but immediate delivery to the middle of the desert had to the clincher when considering his purchase.

Coyote’s resilience is amazing, unbelievable and unrealistic.
That’s why I love it.

Where else could you be cooked to a crisp, blackened to the wisp of a charcoal cinder—and then in the next frame be plotting your next attempt-without a scratch?

Roadrunner debuted in the Warner Brothers cartoon “Fast and Furry-ous” on this date in 1949. Like the countless other characters, it was Mel Blanc’s voice that provided the cheerful “Beep, beep!”

Here’s a classic sequence of pain :



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUq9hynzCVo


When one says “Roadrunner” nowadays, the immediate thought is Time Warner’s internet service (I get it, it’s FAST!), but let us never forget the ORIGINAL Roadrunner.

While it is unlikely that a commercial enterprise will use Coyote as the symbol of their product, you have to at least admire his ingenuity. Who else could, in about 10 seconds, paint a tunnel on the side of a canyon wall, only to have it “work” as such for Roadrunner—and yet remain a wall when Coyote gave it a try? If persistence is a virtue, then Coyote is your “patron saint”.

Beep, beep!

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