Remember 'The Sandlot'?

 

     Summer is just around the corner, and 'The Sandlot' movie is the one movie to watch this summer. Only if...you remember it.

    It came out around 1993 and has been considered a movie made for kids that love baseball. If you don't remember it...here's the story.

   An adult Scotty Smalls relives his past on how he moved into a new town. He even has a stepfather he hasn't gotten along with.

   He soon meets another guy named Benny 'The Jet' Rodriguez. With Scotty not a fan of baseball, Benny decides to help him out.

   That's where we meet the other boys as they all love to do one thing.... play baseball. They are named: Squints, Ham, Heater, Yeah-Yeah, Timmy and Tommy.

     It takes them a while to warm up to Scotty. Eventually they do as they have an interesting summer adventure.

    There's even a love interest between Squints and a lifeguard. He decides to play a trick and pretend to drown.

   Wendy Peppercorn, the female lifeguard, tries to save him...he kisses her. They soon are banned...but it seems that Squints falls for Wendy after that.

   The boys play in a vacant yard where...there is a beast behind the fence and any ball that goes past the fence belongs to the beast.

    One of the boys tells Scotty a story that involves the owner of the beast and how rude he is and that the beast would eat one of the children. But that's just an urban legend.

  Scotty decides to 'borrow' is stepdad's baseball that was signed by Babe Ruth. Not knowing who he was, Scotty uses the ball and Benny hits it over the fence.

    When Scotty reveals that Babe Ruth signed the ball...all the boys go crazy and try to find ways to get it back.

 Feeling that they have been defeated, Benny soon gets a ghostly vision of Babe Ruth. He tells him that the inning is not over and that it's just foul in their plan.

    Knowing what he has to do...the next day he had to find a way to defeat the beast.

   Benny's whole life revolves around baseball. He decides to be a brave thing and retrieve the Babe Ruth ball. 

  All his friends, including Scotty thinks he's being suicidal as he gets the ball, but is chased by the beast which turns out to be an English Mastiff dog. He chases Benny all over the town, but a fence falls on him.

   Thankfully, Scotty and a few of the other boys get the fence off the dog, named Hercules. He kisses both Scotty and Benny as they decide to return the dog to the neighbor.

     It turns out the neighbor, portrayed by the late James Earl Jones, knew Babe Ruth personally and used to play baseball. He told the boys they could have come to him if they lost their baseball.

  

   He gives Scotty another ball and tells his stepdad what happened. He becomes great friends with the boys he played baseball with, but he stayed close to Benny as he became a baseball star on his own.

     After the movie ended...a few years later there was a sequel. But it didn't compare to the original which is by far the best.

   What happened to most of the actors after the movie. Some stayed actors as others went on to do other stuff with their lives.

   The actor that portrayed Benny left the acting world and became an actual firefighter. The actor that portrayed Ham is now a father and is acting in small roles.

    The kid who portrayed Scotty went into small roles and left acting to have a normal life.

   The Sandlot today is known for being timeless classic movie that is enjoyed mostly in the summer. When Baseball is considered the sport to play.

    There have been other baseball movies that are considered classics as well. Like "Field of Dreams", "Angels in the Outfield", "The Natural".  But I guess I grew up watching the Sandlot and loving it. Still do today.

Memorial Day-POEM

 

'

Remember them,

Remember the fallen,

The ones that sacrificed themselves,

the ones that didn't

come home

My grandfather,

served,

in WWII,

and came home,

a hero,

while others,

he knew,

did not

From the Civil War

to the wars of today,

Brave men,

and women,

fight,

for our freedom

Remembering them,

through more than one day,

Also,

in November,

but Memorial Day,

is the beginning,

of the Summer,

that will soon arrive

For the men and women,

that never came home,

this day,

is for the fallen,

the missing,

the survivors

Memories of the soldiers,

who survived,

the turmoil,

they suffered,

for the soldiers,

that suffered,

afterwards

It might be the start,

of Summer Vacation,

but it begins,

with sorry,

as we will always remember,

our heroes,

who fought,

for our freedom

Simpson Characters Killed Off

 

    This show has been on for over 30 years and there have been a few characters that have been only one-time characters, or characters that have been killed off and not many people seem to notice.

    Here are some of the Simpson characters that have.......died. Why? Maybe their character wasn't popular enough, or the voice actor passed away. Who knows...but here are a few.

     One of the first to die was Lisa's idol Bleeding Gums. Voiced by the late Ron Taylor, then again by Kevin Michael Richardson, Bleeding Gums shared the same blues that Lisa had when she was feeling down in the first season. He came back again, only to die from...I have no idea how he died, but he was in the hospital. He had a fabrigae egg collection that was considered a habit of his.

    His son was introduced in a recent episode where the son is deaf and the first thing he listens to after the surgery is his father's records.

   Mrs. Glick was introduced in the second season and was voiced by the late Cloris Leachman. Later was voiced by Tress McNeal....she was more a side character. Considered seen once in a while. They killed her off while she was playing the church organ.

   However, I've seen her character come back. Either it was an animation error...or she had a twin sister. Who knows.

  The Simpson family has gone through tragedies of their own. First with the death of Snowball One. Then...Snowball II was killed after being hit by a car. After replacement cats killed themselves...I think, Lisa got another cat similar to Snowball II.

    She named it Snowball V, but decided to keep Snowball II's bowl and ever since Snowball II or V has stayed with the Simpson family.

    Maude Flanders was featured in the second season and voiced by Maggie Rosswell. She was pretty good, was more a side character and wife of Ned Flanders. After Maggie left temporarily, they killed off Maude Flanders with a barrage of t-shirts.

   She has come back in either a ghost or seen in episodes that contain the past. Maggie Rosswell did come back, and so did Maude....once in a while. She still wants revenge on Homer at times.

   This is sadder than having to have a character off because the fans got tired of them. Marcia Wallace voiced Edna Krabapple until her death of cancer.

     Mrs. Krabapple married Flanders after Maude died. Only to relive the death of her after Marica died. They even had a chalkboard saying... we'll miss you Mrs. K. It's hard to watch old episodes only to know Marica is no longer with us...but only as a teacher who retired because the voice actress died.

   A long while ago, Homer wanted to take Flanders to Vegas. They end up getting married and when they come back, Homer's kicked out of the house. Amber is his second wife. Soon getting a divorce after she 'accidently' married Grandpa Simpson.

   She was killed off after standing up in a roller coaster. I think the Simpson crew didn't want to deal with another character.

   Joe Mantanga has voiced Fat Tony since the third season. A couple of seasons later...they killed Fat Tony....or did they?

    Well Fat Tony had a story of his own. Losing his wife; having a son in the same grade as Lisa and dealing with a lot of mob stories. Ended up getting heart attack and dying after Homer reveals that he was snitch.

     Fit Fat Tony comes and replaces his cousin, also voiced by Joe Mantanga. I guess it's the same thing as Snowball II. Keep the name.... but a different story.

   Glenn Close voiced Homer's mother Mona who was absent most of his life because she was on the run. She has come back in a couple of episodes. However; she dies without her and Homer reconciling the fight they were having.

    The episode aired during Mother's Day and it was dedicated to the voice actor of Homer, Dan Castellaneta's mother who passed away a few weeks before the episode aired. Mona does come back, but mostly in Homer's dreams.

    A recent episode of the Simpsons killed off a character mostly seen in Moe's bar. His name was Larry. No one knew about him until his death and his mother talked about how kind Homer and his bar friends were.

   They decide to find out more about Larry and go on a journey which revealed something else about Larry. Something that neither Homer, Lenny nor Carl knew about.

   Hershel Krustofski was Krusty the Clown's father. He passes away while telling Krusty how he felt about him.

  Krusty starts getting depressed thinking that his father wasn't proud of him. After all... his father was a Rabbi, and he thought Krusty would do the same. Finding out later that his father loved him and the jokes he told.

   There have been other characters that have died, but they were mostly one-time characters like Frank Grimes, Sherri Bobbins and many more.

    Sometimes you realize why certain cartoons kill off a character. Maybe because the voice actor died and didn't want to be replaced.... or something else. There are many reasons. Some Simpson voice actors have passed away, but with some voicing more than one character, they got a replacement. God rest their souls.

Dead Poet Society 37 years later

 

     We all miss Robin Williams. Recently, I saw 'Dead Poet's Society' and thought about what has happened to the actors that were in the movie. Where are they now? Well...let's talk about this movie first.

   'O Captain, My Captain.' A line mostly said at the end of the movie when everyone says goodbye to their friend and mentor John Keeting (portrayed by the late Robin Williams) The story takes place in a private school for men. A lot of the male leads were in their mid to late twenties playing teens. 

    The story happens when, after meeting Keeting, they decide to start a club called 'Dead Poets Society' A club where they would read poems written by deceased poets. However, stuff happens that soon ends in tragedy for one of them.

       Neil Perry is one of the leads played by Robert Sean Leonard. HIs character, Neil, wants to be in plays and star in theater. His father (played by Kurtwood Smith) wants him to follow the family and become a doctor. Neil doesn't want that and decides to follow his heart.

    After starring in a play, his father pulls him out of school and Neil...commits suicide.

       The actor that portrays Neil will soon be a doctor in the show HOUSE which is one show I love. So... I guess he did follow the Perry family's footsteps after all.

    Ethan Hawke portrayed Todd Anderson. Ethan was eighteen when he was in the role. Might have been the only actor that was the teenage age...but then again...many of these actors could have been in their late teens.

   After the movie, Ethan went on to star in other movies such as 'Great Expectations', 'The Purge', 'Boyhood' and many more. HIs daughter, Maya, is also an actress and following her parents' footsteps. Ethan said that he was suffering from depression himself when starring in the movie.

   Josh Charles starred as Knox. Another student that wanted for a cheerleader to fall in love with. Although he seemed like a coward in the movie, Josh Charles is considered a hilarious actor. I started noticing him in more roles recently.

     One being in a show called 'Best Medicine.' Thankfully getting a second season, this show follows Charles as a doctor who only cares about patients and fears blood. 

  I remember Neil's father, portrayed by Kurtwood Smith, from a show called 'That 70's Show' where he portrayed Red. That show was funny.

   He even had a guest role in an episode of House where he reunited with Robert Sean Leonard. In his character in the movie, he's overbearing and wants his only son to follow in his father's footsteps. Finding out her disobeyed him pushed Neil over the edge to suicide.

 

   This movie was written by Tom Schulman who also wrote the screenplay for Honey I shrunk the kids' The film was even nominated for best picture but lost to Driving Miss Daisy. I think Dead Poets should have won, but Driving Miss Daisy is ok. 

   Best Director and Best Screenplay as well. It won for best screenplay but lost for director. 

     Robin, we will never forget you...and we miss you every day. 37 years later, and this movie is still worth seeing.

  Loved it from beginning to end. Sad about a death, but you can tell why one character wants to do something without upsetting his father...then again, he took the one way out which is the coward's way.

    This movie was great and it is worth seeing even after Robin is gone. One of the top 15 of the best Robin Williams Movie. I'd rank it at number 11. 'O Captain....My Captain'

How kids were punished in the past

 

   Long time ago...corporal punishment was known in schools and would make kids squeamish and fear their teachers. 

   Back before people talked about their feelings, teachers didn't care if they ended up fired. They only cared if the students would pay attention.

   Some used whips to keep students in line. Others would make kids have their hands out, sometimes showing their knuckles as a ruler is taken out and smacked against the knuckles feeling pain.

   Sometimes, kids would feel that pain all day. Other times, they would have red marks on their hand. Mostly, when my father was a kid, he would go to a Catholic school, and the nuns would do the same thing for the kids that would talk back or not know the lord's prayer.

 Back in medieval times, they were worst to the children. Even leading to spankings and other forms of threats that would not be tolerated today.

   Kids would be scared to even be seen by their teachers even if they've been punished. Never telling their parents in fear of getting hurt some more.

 Even the famous dunce cap is known back when my family, as well as I were kids. It would make kids feel as if they are stupid.

  Sitting or standing in a corner facing the wall. A dunce cap on their head to signify they were lower and weren't as smart as the other students.

    Now a days, people would feel ashamed and teachers would be fired. A couple of years after I left school, corporal punishment in schools were starting to take a different toll.

   Some parents started to become concern about their children's wellbeing as well as their mental health. I would be.

   I remember Bart Simpson writing on the chalkboard almost in every episode. Now a days, they're barely chalkboards in the schools. Been replaced by whiteboards. Now a days, kids don't even write on the Chalkboard anymore. But it was a form of punishment back when I was young.

      Now a days, using corporal punishments in schools is considered a ground for teachers being fired or placed under arrest.

   A lot of states are taking punishments involving being hit by a ruler or sent to the corner. But kids would still be sent to the principal's office for being rude or doing anything to hurt others.

    Somes schools now have concealers that can help troubled children.

    I guess back before the internet was born, kids were afraid of disappointing their teachers. Thinking that they would end up in detention or in a metal crate with nails sticking out.

   Getting slapped with a wooden board on their behind. Now a days, a few states still do it.... but it's miniscule at best. We now know that people need to open up about their feelings, so they won't be afraid to get punished just because they acted out. Thank God corporal punishment has diminished every year and kids are now safe to no longer fear their teachers. Unless they're sent to the principal's office.

The heat from hell- POEM

 

The heat feels as if

it's coming early

as if summer

is creeping closer

eliminating spring

It's May,

Almost Mother's Day,

and it's starting to feel,

like summer,

once in a while,

as the rain,

returns,

after the heat

A fan,

is turning on,

as we feel,

as if,

summer is 

already here

Beautiful skies,

allergies still here,

as Spring still has not left,

I feel sneezy,

watery eyes,

and hot at the same time

May is feeling as if,

Spring is leaving,

and when June arrives,

Summer arrives,

And when it comes,

we will melt away