Take the Bionic Assessment Test

There's been a Bionic Man, A Bionic Boy, and a Bionic Woman. How about the Bionic Brother? As a preview for their upcoming remake of "The Bionic Woman", NBC has launched the Bionic Assessment Test site (http://www.bat-test.com). I found this test on another blog a few weeks ago. I tried posting my results then, but ran into format problems. It's a fun test that measures your hand/eye coordination, memory recall, speed, etc. If you want to see whether your bionic parts are up to speed, click on the "Test Yourself" button above or the "See What You're Made of" link below.

See What You're Made Of - Visit The Official Site

Whoopi Gives Her Take On the Michael Vick Case

I have some earth shattering news for you. Members of the media can be shady as hell at times. As many of you know, Whoopi Goldberg made her debut as the regular moderator of "The View" on Tuesday. During the telecast, she and the other panelists (Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Joy Behar, and Barbara Walters) discussed the Michael Vick case. Whoopi said that she believes that Michael Vick grew up in a culture that condones dogfighting and as a result, Vick originally didn't think he did anything wrong.

What has me pissed off is that some members of the media aren't giving the whole story in regards to Whoopi's comments. For example, the online video put together by the Associated Press (AP) shows less than 60 seconds of the nearly 5 minute segment. In the footage that they selected, Whoopi says, "…and the world that he comes from its not important. We have a different relationship to dogs and cats and things. It’s like the Chinese. They have a different relationship to cats. You know. And you and I would be really pissed if somebody ate Kitty." For many people who only saw that brief footage, they were understandably confused by Whoopi's comments when she said "we have a different relationship to dogs and cats and things". Some misinterpreted the "we" as meaning black people. If you watch the entire segment, it's more clear that the "we" is people not involved in the dogfighting culture.

During the segment, it sounds as if Whoopi feels that dogfighting is a Southern thing. On that point, I will disagree. I can't tell you whether or not it is more prevalent in the South. What I do know is that when I lived in Flint, Michigan there was a dogfighting story that made local headlines a few years ago. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it's still going on there, as well as in other parts of the country outside of the South.

Below are links to the abbreviated AP clip and the full segment. Even after watching the full segment, we all aren't going to come to the same conclusion regarding Whoopi's comments. However, certain members of the media need to do a better job of presenting the full picture of a story and then let people decide.

AP Clip

Full Segment

Thursday Thirteen #11: Some of My Favorite Movies With School Settings

Since it's the time of year when many of us are back in the classrooms after a summer layoff, I thought that it would be an excellent opportunity to list some of my favorite movies set in school.

1. Lean On Me (1989)- This movie is the true story of New Jersey principal Joe Clark. At the very least, Morgan Freeman should have gotten an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Clark. Favorite quote: Joe Clark to his Asst. Principal after Joe's showdown with the city's fire chief: Do you know what he's saying right now? The black bastard can't throw me out. Do you know where he's saying it? Out in the parking lot.

2. Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982)- This was kind of like the "American Graffiti" of the 1980s in that it was a coming of age film that featured many future stars (Sean Penn, Forest Whitaker, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Anthony Edwards, Eric Stoltz, etc.) early in their careers. One of the most important lessons to take from the film... don't ever order pizza when you're in Mr. Hand's class.

3. Stand and Deliver (1988)- The true story of Jaime Escalante, an L.A. teacher who teaches his underachieving students calculus. Starring Edward James-Olmos as Escalante and Lou Diamond Phillips as one of the students.

4. Summer School (1987)- Any comedy that features an homage to "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is at least worth a look. One of my favorite lines is when Mark Harmon (Mr. Shoop) learns that Robin Thomas (Vice Principal Gills) is dating the character played by Kirstie Alley.

Shoop (to Gills): My god... you're a heterosexual!
Gills: And a darned good one too!

5. Blackboard Jungle (1955)- The first movie that dealt with delinquent students who are turned around by an idealistic teacher. It also features Sidney Poitier, Vic Morrow, Paul Mazursky, and Jamie Farr (billed as Jameel Farah) as some of the high school students in Glenn Ford's class. Plus, it includes one of my all-time favorite tunes... "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets.

6. Back To School (1986)- Stars one of my all-time favorite comedians... Rodney Dangerfield as Thornton Melon. This has so many hilarious scenes: Rodney's showdown with a manic history professor (played by Sam Kinison), Rodney's reaction when an English professor (played by Sally Kellerman) passionately recites James Joyce' "Ulysses", etc. Plus, it features Jason Hervey (The Wonder Years) as a young Thornton Melon.

7. The Marva Collins Story (1981)- A TV-movie that stars Cicely Tyson as the Chicago educator. Don't take this as any macho BS, but I don't cry when I watch movies. However, after watching this film... I came close. Although it's not a tearjerker in the traditional sense, the scenes where Ms. Collins was able to reach her students were really moving to me. This movie isn't on DVD or VHS, but it does show up on TV occasionally.

8. Fame (1980)- This is one of those films that I watched over and over when we 1st got HBO/Cinemax in the early 80s. "Hot Lunch Jam" anyone?

9. School of Rock (2003)- Jack Black's character is probably one of the all-time champion B.S. artists in movie history. Plus, Black and the kids that played the students worked really well together. Whenever I hear "The Edge of Seventeen" by Stevie Nicks, I think of this movie. One of my favorite scenes is when one of the students (Summer) who Jack's character designates as one of the "groupies" confronts him after she does some research: I researched groupies on the Internet. They're sluts. They sleep with the band!

10. Cooley High (1975)- When it comes to B.S. artists, Glynn Turman's character "Preach" is right up there with Jack Black. Along with some hilarious and touching scenes, this movie also has an awesome soundtrack filled with Motown classics (which makes sense because it's set in 1964). Don't blink or you'll miss a young Robert Townsend in a high school gym scene late in the movie.

11. My Bodyguard (1980)- Another movie that I watched quite a bit during the early days of cable. I love films where the bullies get their comeuppance! Along with a young Matt Dillon and Joan Cusack, the movie also features a pre-Flashdance Jennifer Beals in a small role.

12. School Daze (1988)- Set on a college campus, this early Spike Lee joint was one of the first movies (if not the first) to deal with the topic of animosity between light skinned and dark skinned blacks. As a matter of fact, one of my favorite scenes in the movie is the song and dance number between "The Jigaboos" and "The Wanna-Be's". Look for Samuel L. Jackson in a small role as one of the "townies" who confronts some of the college students outside of a KFC.

13. The Breakfast Club (1985)- You will be hard pressed to find someone who grew up in the 80s who has not seen this film. If you are anything like me, you can also recite several lines of dialogue as well. As for favorite scenes, there are many for me (Bender getting Saturday after Saturday added to his detention schedule by Vernon, the kids' escape into the hallways, Allison making it "snow"on her artwork, the weed smoking scene, etc.). Although I don't want to see a sequel, I am a little curious to find out whatever happened to John, Clair, Andrew, Allison, and Brian. Come on admit it... aren't you?

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1. The Gal Herself
2. Jenny McB
3. Lori
4. No Nonsense girl
5. Nap Warden
6. Wacky Mommy
7. Lara Angelina
8. Jessie
9. Joyismygoal
10. Kara
11. Robin
12. The Thirsty Bitch
13. Lori (A Cowboy's Wife)
14. Sparky Duck
15. busy91
16. Head Gaggler
17. Morgan St. John
18. Amy The Black
19. Buck Naked Politics
20. Mama Pajama
21. The Rock Chick
22. The Mistress of the Dark
23. Sandee (Comedy +)
24. L^2
25. DoubleDeckerBusGuy


(leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)


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Jerry Lewis Lets Loose With An Anti-Gay Slur During the Telethon

This year's Jerry Lewis Telethon set a new record, raising $63.7 million dollars for the MDA. However, this achievement was overshadowed by an incident involving the longtime host of the event. During the 18th hour of the annual Labor Day telethon, comedian Jerry Lewis uttered an anti-gay slur... the same one that earned Isaiah Washington his walking papers (wrongfully in my opinion) from ABC's "Grey's Anatomy". While joking around with one of his cameraman, the 81-year old Lewis went into a monologue about imaginary family members:

"Oh, your family has come to see you," he said, speaking to the camera and gesturing toward thin air.

"You remember Bart, your older son," he said, and motioning toward another unseen character, "Jesse, the illiterate f-----.

"No," Lewis said, quickly stopping himself before continuing.

I guess he realized that he wasn't at The Sands and the year is 2007... not 1957.

The president of GLAAD (Neil Giuliano) issued a statement on Tuesday in which he said that Lewis' remarks were "simply unacceptable". Lewis in turn issued an apology on the same day, explaining that he was making a joke to a member of his production team. Lewis went on to say the following:

"I apologize to anyone who was offended. Everyone who knows me understands that I hold no prejudices in this regard. In the family atmosphere of the telethon, I forget that not everyone knows me that well.

"That something like this would distract from the true purpose of the telethon pains me deeply. ... I accept responsibility for what I said. There are no excuses," he said.

After reading various message boards, I found that the reactions regarding Lewis' remarks have been mixed. Do I think he should be fired? No I don't. He said something stupid, got called out for it, and apologized. It'll be interesting to see if there is any additional fallout from this incident.

TV Series "The Mod Squad" Coming To DVD

On December 18th, "The Mod Squad: The 1st Season Volume 1" is scheduled to be released on DVD. The series, which ran on ABC from 1968-73, told the story of Pete Cochran (played by Michael Cole), Linc Hayes (Clarence Williams III), and Julie Barnes (Peggy Lipton): three young, undercover cops who worked under the guidance of Capt. Adam Greer (Tige Andrews). The upcoming DVD release of "The Mod Squad" is great news for fans of the series because although it was a big hit in its original run, it rarely shows up in reruns today.

Since the DVD set is subtitled "The 1st Season Volume 1", it will most likely include the 1st 13 episodes (which featured such guest stars as Lou Gossett, Della Reese, Isabel Sanford, Joan Van Ark, and Dabney Coleman). As the release date approaches, please feel free to visit TV Shows On DVD for more details.

Update On WKUF

Due to the "technical difficulties" that WKUF (the station that airs my radio show) is experiencing, all live programming has been cancelled until further notice.

The Results of My First Poll

The results of my first poll are complete and Paris Hilton has been chosen as the celeb most deserving of being wished into the cornfield... never to return. The final results are:

Paris Hilton- 50% of the vote
Tom Cruise- 25%
Lindsay Lohan- 18%
Victoria/David Beckham- 6%
Nicole Richie- 0%

Thanks to all of you who participated. Due to Monday being Labor Day, I will have the next poll up on Tuesday.

Oh, one more thing. Before we banish Ms. Hilton to the cornfield, let's turn her into a Jack-in-the-box first!

And the Award Goes To...

Thanks to Mama Pajama for awarding me with the Blogging Star Award. Since both she and Taj of Taj Wanders With Coffee In Hand have bestowed awards on me, I can't go Little Richard on you guys and say that nobody never gave me nothing.

This award was originated by Barb at Skittle's Place. In order to spread the love to others that are worthy, I am giving the Blogging Star award to the following:

A Cup of Coffey

Book Mama

Christine Kane

Electronic Village

Haley-O

Life Is RANTastic!

Lori's Old School Mix

Taj Wanders With Coffee In Hand

The Pop Eye

Welcome To the Amy Experience

Writing From the Inside Out

To all of the honorees, here's what to do now:

• Proudly display the award on your blog along with a link to who gave it to you.
• Mention that it originated at Skittles' Place so Barb can follow it's journey.
  
• Pass it on to any blogger(s) you think should have it.

Happy Birthday To All My Children's Tad Martin

On Friday's episode of "All My Children", many of the residents of Pine Valley gathered to celebrate the birthday of reformed bad boy Tad Martin (born on Sept. 1st, 1963). Of all the characters on the show, he is one of my favorites. Even though Tad has always served as "eye candy" for some of the fans, he wasn't one of those pretty boys that male viewers wanted to punch in the face. Another thing that I've always enjoyed about Tad is that he has a great sense of humor, delivering some of the funniest one-liners on the show.

When I began watching AMC in 1985, the character was still in his Tad "The Cad" phase. Among his many conquests were: Dottie Thornton, Hillary Wilson, Liza Colby, and her mother Marian (a mom and daughter combo... you go Tad!).

After his marriage to Hillary ended, Tad left Pine Valley for a couple of years. When he came back, he had cleaned up his act a little bit. It was during this time that one of the best storylines in the history of AMC began... the love affair of Tad and Dixie. One sign that Tad had renounced his cad status was when he claimed to be the father of Dixie's unborn baby in order to protect her (rat bastard Adam Chandler had actually impregnated Dixie... even though he was married to Brooke at the time). One of my favorite Tad and Dixie moments was when he proposed to her (the first of many) while wearing a bright yellow chicken suit! Over the years, the twosome would divorce and remarry several times... ah life in the world of soaps!

As is typical of a soap character, Tad has been through a lot (teenage runaway, amnesia, jail time, kidnapping, fatherhood, etc.) and held many occupations (TV producer, CEO, and private investigator just to name a few) over the years. Throughout most of it, he always manages to lighten the mood with a funny line or two.

Below is a montage of Tad and Dixie clips set to "You're the One That I Want" by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John:

40th Anniversary of The Final Episode of The Fugitive

Because of time constraints, I didn't get the chance to post this on Wednesday. However, I would be remiss if I didn't make note of the 40th anniversary of the day the running stopped... the final episode of "The Fugitive".

Since I wasn't born when it first aired in the U.S. on August 29th 1967 and "The Fugitive" was rarely syndicated I was growing up, I didn't see the final episode until the early 1990s when A&E started showing reruns. After hearing about it for years and only seeing a few clips on various retrospectives, I have to say that the final episode lived up to its hype. To me, it would have been a disappointment for the show to end without Dr. Richard Kimble getting the chance to clear his name and catch up with the One-Armed Man.

Below is the climax of the series finale of "The Fugitive". Even though I've seen it several times, it is still exhilarating to see Dr. Kimble finally get justice after being on the run from Lt. Philip Gerard for so long.