Julie Harris Dies

Julie Harris Obit from NY Times

Julie Harris with two of my heroes: James Dean & Tarzan.

MY TWO FAVORITE HIGH SCHOOL MOVIES

It is back to school time, so I decided to look at my two favorite movies about high school: 1955's Rebel Without a Cause and 1986's Ferris Bueller's Day Off. There are basically two kinds of high school movies: 50s "juvenile delinquent" films and 80s teen comedies. When it comes to the later, John Hughes (Director and writer of FBDO) was to teen comedies, what John Ford was to the Western.

These two movies are the best examples of both of those kinds of high school movies and polar opposites of each other. One is a heavy drama, inspired by a non-fiction book by a psychologist and the other is a comical farce about a kid, with a habit of skipping school, being pursued by an obsessive principal.

These movies have staying power because they have managed to stay current through the next generations.
Rebel was far ahead of its time. It deals with problems, such as the "new kids in school," underage drinking, bullying, gangs, sexual orientation, animal abuse, abusive parents, abusive relationships, reckless driving, gun violence, cranky adults, school brown-nosers and over-zealous cops. Ferris Bueller is a brighter world, but every generation encounters boring teachers, school rules, gossip, loquacious stoners, mean principals, jealous siblings, snooty waiters and borrowing a parents car without permission.

One thing that makes these films transcend generations and universal is the fact that they are average kids. Not popular preppies or jocks, just kids. Not a caricature of what an adult believes a kid is like or something to be ridiculed, but the kids in both films are humans with dignity.

However, it is the overall theme that connects these two movies and have made them popular after the number of years since first released (Rebel will soon be 60 years old, Ferris is over 20 years old) is the theme of freedom, something all teenagers long for. The freedom to be yourself and escape a structured environment. Ferris, Cameron and Sloane skip school and go into the city, whereas Jim, Judy and Plato take refuge in an abandoned mansion.  

What I identify with in these films is Jim Stark's need to find friends and a sense of comfort away from bullies and his bickering parents. I identify with Ferris on an intellectual level. He seems to be smarter than the adults in his world and I have always thought I was smarter than most of the people I encounter. His philosophy on life is similar to mine.
 
It is unusual that two movies, made 30 years apart, could become iconic rites of passage for young people.

"If I had one day when I didn't have to be all confused and I didn't have to feel that I was ashamed of everything. If I felt that I belonged someplace. You know?" Jim Stark - Rebel Without a Cause.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Ferris Bueller - Ferris Bueller's Day Off.


 

COLLEGE RADIO IPOD PLAYLIST

I loved college and have written about it on the old blog. When I entered college at Southwest Missouri State University, the buzz word in Billboard and Rolling Stone was "college radio was going to be the next big trend in radio." Eventually, the industry changed the name of it to alternative radio and made the stupid mistake of putting emphasis on country and talk radio, which about killed the industry by driving away the young listeners.

Let me take you back to my college days with the great music of that time (in no particular order). Some of these were around since junior high and elementary school, but they weren't considered cool until we were in college. Along the way, I may throw in some mainstays of the college party culture.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure what the college freshman are listening to this year. It may blow what we liked out of the water. I probably should check it out. I'm not one of those old curmudgeons who complain about modern music and believe young people are stupid.

"Like the Weather" - 10,000 Maniacs
"The One I Love" - REM
"Love Will Tear Us Apart" - Joy Division
"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" - The Proclaimers
"Talk To Ya Later" - The Tubes
"Pretty In Pink" - Psychedelic Furs
"Talk Talk" - Talk Talk
"25 O'clock" - The Dukes of the Stratosphere
"Just Like Heaven" - The Cure
"Loaded" - Primal Scream
"Eye of Fatima" - Camper Van Beethoven
"Musique Non Stop" - Kwaftwerk
"Cool Places" - Sparks with Jane Wielden
"Epic" - Faith No More
"I Melt With You" - Modern English
"Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?" - The Cramps
"Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" - The Ramones
"Victoria" - The Fall
"Tower of Strength" - The Mission
"Under the Milky Way" - The Church
"I Wanna Be Sedated" - The Ramones
"Hey Jealousy" - The Gin Blossoms
"Knock Me Down" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
"I Don't Like Mondays" - The Boomtown Rats
"A Girl In Trouble" - Romeo Void
"Love Buzz" - Nirvana
"Anarchy in the UK" - The Sex Pistols
"About a Girl" - Nirvana
"Eloise" - The Damned
"Ship of Fools" - World Party
"Indian Giver" - The Ramones
"That Is Why" - Jellyfish
"Balloon Man" - Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians
"Orange Crush" - REM
"Bela Lugosi's Dead" - Bauhaus
"World Shut You Mouth" - Julian Cope
"Greenback Dollar" - Washington Squares
"I Wanna Be Adored" - The Stone Roses
"Rock and Roll" - Velvet Underground
"1976" - Redd Kross
"Baby Baby" - The Vibrators
"I Want to Help You Ann" - The Lyres
"Goo Goo Muck" - The Cramps
"Hey St. Peter" - Flash & the Pan
"What's Inside a Girl" - The Cramps
"Buried Alive" - The Lyres
"Happy Hour" - The Housemartins
"Euro-Trash Girl" - Cracker
"All Come True" - World Party
"Strangelove"- Depeche Mode
"Blister In the Sun" - Violent Femmes
"I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" - The Sex Pistols
"So Alive" - Love & Rockets
"This Beat Goes On/Switching To Glide" - the Kings
"Gone Daddy Gone" - Violent Femmes
"Birdhouse in Your Soul" - They Might Be Giants
"Echo Beach" - Martha & the Muffins
"What Girls Want" - Material Issue
"Private Idaho" - The B-52s
"Personal Jesus" - Depeche Mode
"No Rain" - Blind Melon
"Someday Someway" - Marshal Crenshaw
"What I Am" - Edie Brickle & the New Bohemians
"Rough Night In Jericho" - Dreams So Real
"Girl of My Dreams" - Bram Tchaikovsky
"No Fun" - The Stooges
"Charlotte's Remains" - The Fuzztones
"The Good Life" - Fire Town
"Cuts You Up" - Peter Murphy
"Blood & Roses" - The Smithereens
"Ashes To Ashes" - David Bowie
"Istanbul (Not Constadinople)" - They Might Be Giants
"It's the End of the World (As We Known It)" - REM
"TV Eye" - The Stooges
"Behind the Wall of Sleep" - The Smithereens
"Walk On By" - The Stranglers
"Step On You" - The Happy Mondays
"I Can't Stand It Anymore" - Velvet Underground
"Mayor of Simpleton" - XTC
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nivana
"Low" - Cracker
"Hazy Shade of Winter" - The Bangles

And for the Animal House fans:

"Fight For You Right" - The Beatsie Boys
"Funky Cold Medina" - Tone Loc
"Bust a Move" - Young MC
"Me So Horny" - 2 Live Crew
"Mony Mony" Billy Idol
 "What I Like About You" - The Romantics
"Shout" - Isley Brothers
"Louie Louie" - The Kingsmen

  

Blue Oyster Cult keyboardist Allen Lanier dead at 67

Blue Oyster Cult keyboardist Allen Lanier dead at 67

I felt I should post an obit for Mr. Lanier, since the name and original concept for "Desdinova the Super Villain of the Ozarks" comes from the Desdinova songs recorded by Blue Oyster Cult.

I WAS KICKED OUT OF THE AMAZON ASSOCIATES PROGRAM (Because I'm from Missouri)

This is going to be an odd post. This may dip into the nasty political waters of the old blog, but I hope to steer clear of that mess.

I received an e-mail from Amazon.com yesterday. Here is what it said:

"Greetings from the Amazon Associates Program.

We are writing from the Amazon Associates Program to notify you that your Associates account will be closed and your Amazon Services LLC Associates Program Operating Agreement will be terminated effective August 27, 2013. This is a direct result of the unconstitutional Missouri state tax collection legislation passed by the state legislature and signed by Governor Nixon on July 5, 2013, with an effective date of August 28, 2013. As a result, we will no longer pay any advertising fees for customers referred to an Amazon Site after August 27 nor will we accept new applications for the Associates Program from Missouri residents.

Please be assured that all qualifying advertising fees earned prior to August 28, 2013 will be processed and paid in full in accordance with your regular advertising fee schedule. Based on your account closure date of August 27, 2013, any final payments will be paid by October 31, 2013.

While we oppose this unconstitutional state legislation, we strongly support the federal Marketplace Fairness Act now pending before Congress. Congressional legislation is the only way to create a simplified, constitutional framework to resolve interstate sales tax issues and it would allow us to re-open our Associates program to Missouri residents.

We thank you for being part of the Amazon Associates Program, and look forward to re-opening our program when Congress passes the Marketplace Fairness Act.


Sincerely,

The Amazon Associates Team"

Am I upset about this? No. Why? Let me explain:

I understand the reasoning behind the legislation. I usually think everything the Missouri Legislature does is stupid, however, this is something I agree with.

If Missouri is the only state that is now requiring state sales tax on on-line sales, why ban everyone from Missouri from the Amazon Associates sales program? Childish if you ask me.

The main reason this doesn't upset me...I HAVEN'T SOLD A DAMN THING SINCE I HAVE BEEN WITH THE AMAZON ASSOCIATES PROGRAM. I started using the program with this blog because of the nature of the content. I thought it would be a great way to direct people to find songs to download or DVDs of movies and TV shows. I was especially impressed by the MP3 download widget. I loaded it with the more obscure songs mentioned here.

Nobody downloaded a song or bought a DVD. According to my stats, only 40 percent of refereals came from my sight.

I also had trouble with some of the linking and codes. They caused problems with the post structure and became time consuming. I tried to contact Amazon about this, but I couldn't find a direct way to talk to a tech person. The only resource was to "post on a message board," which for some reason wouldn't allow me to register even though I was an associated.

Another widget was supposed to update automatically with offers on merchandise related to the post on the blog. This widget didn't update very often. At first I was okay with it, because it showed some 80s hit compilations. After I had a post where I said The Man From UNCLE was cooler than 24, it showed Man from UNCLE and 24 DVDs. That was okay. Since January, when I posted an obit for actor Conrad Bain, it has showed nothing but Conrad Bain related merchandise. Not items people are clamoring to buy.

So, Amazon Associates, I'm not going to miss you, because you really haven't done anything for me. To quote the Boyce and Hart song "You can't lose a friend you never had."  

Actor Henry Polic II passes away at 68

'Webster' actor Henry Polic II passes away at 68

I want to point out that The Monster Squad mentioned in Mr. Polic's obit is the 70s TV kid show (see photo below), not the 1987 movie. Henry Polic II played Dracula.

This show was a favorite of mine as a child. 

SPRINGFIELD RADIO PERSONALITY ALEX STONE DIES

I hated to hear about the passing of radio personality Alex Stone. Alex was heard on many Springfield, Missouri radio stations such as KWTO-FM (99 Hit FM at the time), US 97, KGBX-FM, Hot 106.7, KOSP - Oldies 105.1, Mix/Magic 92.9 and B 95.5.

What I liked about Alex Stone, he didn't conform to the Ozarks style" or radio. He didn't try to sound like a hillbilly or a wimpy, hen-pecked husband.  Alex Stone sounded like a real big city Top 40 DJ - So Help Me, Real Don Steele!

I've linked to Ron Davis' Act Your Old Age blog. Ron worked with Alex at Radio 2000.

ACT YOUR OLD AGE: GOODBYE, BUDDY: