Blogging
February 28th, 2018 by Proprietor
I started blogging or web blog writing when I found a free platform. That ended after I got into building my own website and working with content management software, like WordPress.
Having researched great blogs, the advice is, you do not have to post every day, just be consistent on the days you post. If you post on Sunday’s and Wednesday’s, like I do, post on those days. There can always be special posts, like a favorite actor or singer dies, and you want to do some sort of good bye.
Then there is content. What do you want to write about? There are all kinds of blogs out there, mostly pop culture related, since it is an easy topic. I have been all over the board with pop culture, and focused for a while on Brady Bunch. There are other blogs out there about the same subject. There are millions of blogs out there.
Promoting your blog is the hard part. Various ways of doing this are join forums and link to your site. Repost someone else’s blog for track backs. Social media. Many free ways to promote your blog.
For added content I put in a web comic, though the comic is a main focus, and the blog is sort of secondary content, it is much easier to produce the blog. Blogging is just writing, and if you have a basic text editing software, like most computers have, and a browser, you can produce a blog.
Before you start blogging, make sure you have content written up before hand. It does not have to be perfectly edited, just well written. If you plan on posting twice a week, make sure you have at least two or three weeks of content written before hand. I prefer to have at least five to six weeks of content, and once and a while I will write a random blog.
If you are a wanna be writer, like me, blogging also keeps you writing. Like I tell people who want to be writers, just keep writing.
Thanks for stopping by.
Island Brady King
February 25th, 2018 by Proprietor
Season 5, Episode 11, “The Cincinnati Kids” has the Brady Bunch go to Kings Island, an amusement park in Ohio, near Cincinnati. Mike’s boss, Mr. Phillips, who was probably acting on behalf of Mr. Matthews, wants Mike to deliver the architectural firm’s designs for a new part of the park, and meet with the executives from a company in New York who own the park. Like Hawaii, Mike could bring the family along for a sort of working vacation. Mike has risen high in the confidence of the bosses of the architectural firm. The first year he was a goof, losing a major client like Beebe Gallini, but over the years, as an architect, he had made many clients happy.
The children are split into groups of two so they can have fun in the park without being in each other’s way. Greg and Peter, Marsha and Jan, while Bobby and Cindy make up the last group. Mike, Carol and Alice hang out together until Mike has to go to the meeting. Thankfully no Cousin Oliver yet. The episode follows the adventures of each group, spliting between sight gags and quips as they navigate through various rides, and adventures. The major goal, set things up so Mike does not deliver the plans, but like all things Brady, things work out in the end.
Bobby and Cindy are warned about over eating, most of the gags ran along those lines. Usually the two were eating something and remarking about how they should be careful. Greg and Peter were out chick shopping. Greg eventually becomes attracted to a park employee takes his aggressive, but awkward flirting in stride, even giving back as good as she gets. Marsha and Jan get to show off their gorgeousness, and ride on the rides. Jan stops in a gift shop to pick up a poster for a child she is babysitting. So it is hinted that the two oldest girls maybe have a career in babysitting before Haskell’s Ice Cream Parlor, though Marsha was probably gunning for trophy wife. Since Jan was babysitting a little girl, it was obviously not any of the Kelly Family.
In the meantime, Mike and Carol go on rides with Alice. Ann B. Davis does the whole motion sickness and balking at going on anything more aggressive than a park bench. The family meets for lunch and the culmination of events that will be hilariously embarrassing for Mike happen. Bobby and Cindy are a bit sick due to eating too much. Alice is a bit queasy from the rides. Greg cannot stop talking about the chick he met. Jan is worried about the poster she purchased being damaged, so Mike consents to doubling up the designs from his firm into one tube, so Jan can put the poster into the other.
Mike leaves for his meeting, naturally with the wrong tube. The rest of the family goes on their merry ways. Greg goes to hunt down the girl whom he is smitten with, paying another park employee to borrow his costume. He then comes onto his family, and trade quips, then continues on to search for the girl. While the rest of the family joke around and enjoy the park, at the meeting, Mike pulls out the plans and realizes he has the wrong tube, apologizing, revealing his mistake, but vows to make it right.
Marsha and Jan have been on dozens of rides, and Jan realizes she has forgotten the poster on one of the rides. No big deal, she can by another. At this point anyone with logic would think, why did Jan not wait until the end of the day to purchase a poster?
Mike gathers the Bunch and informs them of the events. Jan feels sick about the situation, but the bunch breaks up for an extensive search of the amusement park. Marsha and Jan retrace their steps from lunch time to the start of the search, while Bobby & Cindy search in all the food places. Greg and Peter search other areas, and Alice searches rides. Mike and Carol go to all the lost and found stands. As the deadline to get the sketches to the managers office looms, Mike faces the inevitable. Mike goes off to explain the situation, while Carol continues to look.
Marsha and Jan find the sketches in a canoe ride, and rush across the park. They pass the sketches to Alice who darts across the park to bring them to the managers office. Alice exhausted, passes them to Bobby & Cindy who continue the relay. The two youngest pass the sketch to Peter and Greg, who manage to get the sketches to Carol who runs to meet Mike at the managers office. All is good. Mike did not lose another major client, and have to face the wrath of his boss. It was probably the sale of the designs to the owners of King’s Island that set the stage for the pool table being delivered, and Bobby wanting to quit school to be a pool playing champion.
The show closer has Mike and Carol reflecting on the events. Enter what is assumed to be Greg in the animal costume Greg had worn to find his girl, but it is revealed to be Peter. Greg did get the girl, and was going on a date with her, but she needed someone to fill in for her. Peter volunteered, because not only did he get to walk around in a funny animal costume, the park was paying him. Peter is happy to be working, since he hasn’t had a job after being fired from Martinelli’s Bike Shop. Later he would be fired by Marsha from Haskell’s. Seems Peter cannot hold a job for longer than a few days, either he loses interest or just focuses on one aspect of the job to extensively. This is the kid who ends up in the military, then becomes a stock trader.
Like all shows in the Brady Bunch, everything ends happily.
Thanks for stopping by.
Ten More Albums You Need To Own
February 21st, 2018 by Proprietor
Or at least give a listen to.
It has been a while since my last post in regards to music. When it comes to music, my tastes vary to a degree where even bad music is good. The albums I am posting are ones I think any real audiophile should have. Just because the albums are consistently good. Some of the albums are of bands I had listed in a previous post. All the albums are good in my opinion, I listed them in no real order, the numbering is for convenience. Enjoy the music.
1. Rush – 2112:This is the album that introduced me to Rush, and made me a lifelong fan. The story behind the reason is close to my heart. The A side is an album long story loaded with all kinds of good music and political commentary. The B side contains several songs that should get broader airplay, but do not. This album is a hidden gem. Anyone who likes good music should overcome their prejudices and listen to this album.
2. Sound Garden – Badmotorfinger: Chris Cornell is one of my favorite singers. This album brought the world grunge rock in a very gritty form. Considered to be one of the seminole grunge rock albums, it contains some of the best work of any new band that was part of the 1990’s grunge movement.
3. Social Distortion – Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell: 1980s Punk at it’s best. Social Distortion was one of the key bands of the punk era. Like all punk bands, they were misunderstood, and pre-judged. The album was one of the top selling albums for Social Distortion, and had broad popular acclaim. There are great albums that Social Distortion put out, but there is a reason why this album is commercially successful.
4. Asia – Asia: Considered a power band, made up of members from other bands. Asia was one of the best bands of the 1980s progressive rock movements. Featured in the movie “The 40 Year Old Virgin“. This album is consistent and good from start to finish.
5. Toto – IV: Another 1980’s super band. The music was consistent. Very mellow and worth listening to from start to finish. The most popular song “Africa” was beautiful, and is still revered, as well as parodied by many people who listen to the great album.
6. Audioslave – Out Of Exile: The second album of the power group composed of members from Rage Against the Machine and Chris Cornell, from Soundgarden. This album overcomes the sophomore slump associated with many bands. It is a superior album to the first album.
7. Beastie Boys – License To Ill: Compared to Paul’s Boutique, it is not as heavily sampled or superior in construction, the album was more commercially successful. “No Sleep Til Brookly” and “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)” were the most commercially successful songs for the band for a reason.
8. Boston – Don’t Look Back: Though the second album to the largely commercially successful, and incredible, first album, the second album was just as good. Not as well known, because albums from Boston came out inconsistently, this album is still a follow up album anyone who appreciates good music should own.
9. Heavy Metal – Heavy Metal Soundtrack: Loaded with great music, it is an under appreciated soundtrack. Sammy Hagar did the penultimate hard rock theme to the album. It is loaded with great music, and the movie is a good watch. Brilliantly and cutting edge animation for the time.
10. Bruce Hornsby And The Range – The Way It Is: Admittedly one of my favorite albums. This is a very poignant and powerful album done in a very country and mellow way. It is consistent in lyrics, and theme, making it an under rated album, and one people need to buy.
All of this is subject to opinion, and I have been accused of liking not good music, but then again, I have been told, I sure as hell know my stuff.
Thanks for stopping by.
Unscripted Television
February 18th, 2018 by Proprietor
It used to be called reality television, but once people caught on, and realized the shows did not reflect real life, they were just overly exaggerated game shows or peeks into people’s lives, television people changed the label.
I admit, I was a VH1 addict when Flavor of Love came out. The reality shows produced were mind numbing and entertaining. If you did not take the show seriously, you were not going to be upset about the show. Did anyone really think Flavor Flav was going to find true love by picking a winner in a glorified gameshow? Fav is a hype man, hence self promotion was the goal. Like any dating show, it is a gamble, but publicity does not hurt. Then came the spinoff shows, I Love New York, I Love Money… I loved VH1.
When you look at the television shows though, you can tell that there is an attempt to structure a story via editing. You have the good guys and bad guys. The women who seem to get the most screen time are also the most likely to be a finalist or the final pick. It also becomes more apparent whom might be the final two as the number of women dwindles. Some bloggers I have read claimed you could tell who actually won based on the previews for the next shows. Guess people spend a lot of time analyzing things that probably do not matter.
The concept of the unscripted television show is people are saying what is on their mind at the time, and their reactions are not rehearsed or directed. Though a lot of it is highly edited to make a person look like a total jerk.
Right now, the only unscripted television show I have bother watching is Hell’s Kitchen. A cooking competition seems interesting. Otherwise, I have been at times reviewing old VH1 of love shows. Some of them are now unedited on HULU. By unedited the vulgar words are not beeped out and if there is any nudity, you see it, no black bars, and some of the women showed more than they probably wanted to for the camera.
All three seasons of Rock of Love are available. Watching the unedited versions of the three seasons made me realize how much more trashy the shows became. The women on Season 1 were not prim and proper women, but compared to the women on Season 3, it became apparent that casting for the shows was attempting to not find the finest women. Granted, the women were good looking, but well educated and having good manners was not a priority. As long as the women did not have a criminal background.
Now if HULU could get the rights to the unedited versions of I Love Money Seasons 1 & 2, I would add them to my watch list.
Thanks for stopping by.
Killer Boss
February 14th, 2018 by Proprietor
Mr. Ed Phillips, played by Jack Collins, who was introduced in the “Call Me Irresponsible” episode 6 of season 2, was technically Mike Brady‘s direct boss. But the president of the architecture firm was Mr. Harry Matthews, played by the great Jim Backus, who famously played Thurston Howell III in Gilligan’s Island. It would be Jim’s second guest appearance on the Brady Bunch. He played the old prospector in Season 3, Episodes 1 and 2 “Ghost Town USA” and “Grand Canyon or Bust“.
Season 5, Episode 21 “The Hustler” was one of the final episodes of the Brady Bunch. Robert Reed was growing tired of playing a character he felt was unrealistic, and in a sitcom he felt was holding his career back. Throughout the entire run of the show, Robert was a bit of a jackass, but he did love the children. As it was, the Brady Bunch was running out of steam anyway. The children were getting older, Greg was planning on going to college and moving out of the attic. Marsha was probably following in his footsteps. Producers had tried several ways to revive the show. Introducing the Kelly Family as an attempt to back end a spin off. Then bringing in Cousin Oliver to keep the cuteness factor going. But, none of it made any sense, and ratings were not as strong, if the network renewed for another season, Mike Brady was going to be replaced. Though more sinister thoughts had crept in, and conspiracy theories evolved.
A pool table had been delivered to the Brady House, with no note as to whom it was from. Once the pool table was uncrated and assembled in the car port, Bobby became a hustler. With Cousin Oliver as his sidekick, Bobby gained sweet revenge on his brothers. Mike and Carol were befuddled as to who would send such a nice gift. When Mike returned to work the next Monday, Mr. Matthews asked Mike if he liked the gift he sent. Turns out the Mr. Matthews was so pleased with work Mike did for a major client, he sent the pool table as a reward. A pool table seems like a real downer compared to Hawaii and King’s Island. Though Mike was grateful for the gift, and happy to solve the mystery. To show his gratitude, Mike invited Mr. Matthews and his wife over for a cookout and to play a few games on the table. This is where things go sideways.
Having covered all the events in a previous post, we get to the conspiracy theory. Mr. Matthews was obviously a generous man to his employees, especially loyal ones, except it was hinted he had a petty and dark side. Though it seemed like losing a major client like Beebe Gallini was no big deal, losing at a game of pool was a big deal.
Two other men who worked at the firm and their wives had been invited. The men went to the car port to play pool, and look at the Driscoll’s Toy Store box, while the women chatted, and Alice made the food, maybe some cake as well. The men fearing losing their jobs, at the least, lost to their boss, Mr. Matthews. Enter Bobby. Having finished his delinquent homework, because he was too busy being a pool champion in his mind, Bobby asked if he could play. At first Mike balked, either understanding that Mr. Matthews was petty, losing to employees was not acceptable, so losing to a boy would bring far more grievous consequences, or Mike just did not want Bobby to get a swelled head again.
Bobby began beating Mr. Matthews quite easily. After several games, and betting to make it more interesting, Mike’s co-worker advised Mike to break Bobby’s arm. This is where the conspiracy theories begin to build the case as to why Mike Brady did not appear in the final episode.
Even though Mr. Matthews appeared fine with losing to Bobby, and having to send him over 100 packs of gum, underneath the cool exterior was seething rage at being so humiliated. To compound the humiliation, Mr. Matthews wife, Frances, played by Dorothy Shay, found out. Mr. Matthews toyed with getting rid of the pool table he had or maybe even having Bobby teach him to be better. In the end, Mike, trying to salve his boss’ wounds, suggested donating the pool table in the car port to a charity. All seemed good, except Mrs. Matthews bemoaned to Carol about not being able to have her grand piano back. Things get real dicy in the realm of conspiracy.
Mrs. Matthews angry that she cannot get rid of the pool table and replace it with her beloved piano, more than likely gave Mr. Matthews an earful. Already stinging from being humiliated by Bobby, and his gift being given away, was probably pushed too far. A message had to be sent. Mike was killed, and the Brady family silenced. In the last episode Mike did not appear, and there was no mention of his absence from what was a major event in his oldest son’s life, graduating high school. This is conspiracy of course, and people having fun with certain thought processes. Mike would return in the spin offs. Not only was he forgiven, but he would be promoted to senior partner.
The reality of the situation was Robert Reed being a jerk. If the Brady Bunch were renewed for a sixth season, Robert was going to be replaced. In my humble opinion, Mr. Brady should have been sent to somewhere exotic to oversee the construction of a project his firm designed. It would have left open the ability to bring Robert back and explain Mr. Brady’s absence, since the firm did have a reputation for sending Mike off to inspect building projects, Hawaii or meet directly with clients, King’s Island. Though it would be really snarky to just have Mike disappear completely, like Tiger and Fluffy, leaving his drafting board in the den as a reminder of his existence, like Tiger’s dog house in the backyard.
Thanks for stopping by.