Why Shirley Temple still matters

The death of Shirley Temple Black February 10 received widespread media attention, and for good reason. It wasn't necessarily her talent that made her well remembered, despite being a triple threat as an actor, dancer, and singer during her childhood. Nor was it her intelligence, although a director of one of her films said she only needed to be told something once to remember it.

What makes Black well remembered in the national consciousness has more to do with the period she is associated with than any talent she possessed. As a child star in the 1930s, Black gave hope to people in the midst of the Great Depression, when grown men stood in bread lines for hours and families lived in shanty towns called Hoovervilles. Her smile and optimism that shone on the silver screen helped people who were down on their luck to forget all their troubles, if only for a couple of hours. "As long as we have Shirley Temple, we will be all right", declared President Franklin Roosevelt, another national figure who gave hope to the hopeless in the midst of the Depression.

After marrying Charles Black in 1950, the former child star entered into a life of public service, running for Congress in the 1960s and later serving as U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia. But it was her ability to make people smile during a very dark time in our country's history that is her most crowning achievement. 

How I Met Your Mother Theory: Robin is Dying

There's been a theory going around the internet lately that the mother in How I Met Your Mother is dead by the time Ted tells his kids the long story of how he met her.

One of the foundations for this theory is a recent interview with Cobie Smulders in which the actress says she started crying and had to leave the room when she found out how the series is going to end.

Though that may point toward a bittersweet series finale, I highly doubt that the mother is going to die. The whole crux of the relationship between Ted and the still-unnamed mother is that these are two people who need to let go of people they love but can't have in order for them to be fully open for each other. Ted needs to let go of Robin, who is about to marry Barney, while the mother needs to let go of her deceased boyfriend Max, who dies eight years before she meets Ted. Having the mother die would essentially "reunite" her with Max, thus making the whole letting-go aspect of her and Ted's relationship seem irrelevant. Another reason why I debunk this theory is the attitude of Ted's kids. If their mother was dead or even dying, they would be more interested in knowing the full details of how their parents met. And the third, but most important reason why I debunk the Mother Is Dead Theory is that Carter Bays and Craig Thomas have said publicly that the show is geared towards Ted's happily ever after.

That said, I have a theory of my own that I want to express to my fellow HIMYM fans, and it has everything to do with Smulder's character on the show.

My theory is that in the year 2030, Robin is dying, and before she dies Ted wants his kids to understand that if it wasn't for her, none of them would have been born.

I say dying because we know from the Season Eight episode Bad Crazy that Robin is still alive (maybe she decides to confess everything about Marvin to Lily because she just got her diagnosis?). Having Robin dying would create a sense of urgency un Ted wanting to tell the whole story to his kids. Why tell them now, when they are 15 and 13? Why not tell them when they're older? Also, Ted didn't have to go into detail about his and Robin's relationship, as well as his other relationships since meeting Robin. He could have just said, "kids, I met your mother at the train station right after your Aunt Robin and Uncle Barney's wedding". He could have talked about seeing her play at the wedding, being in the wrong classroom, taking her mother's yellow umbrella at the St. Patrick's Day Party, and being in their mother's apartment without meeting her-all without mentioning Robin. In fact, this might possibly be the "shorter version" of the story with their mom's yellow umbrella that Ted mentions in the Season Three premiere episode Wait for It. The whole story could have just started with Ted's almost-marriage to Stella-her meeting him at the street corner and Tony trying to make amends by getting him that teaching job.

Yet the whole series starts off with Ted meeting Robin. It is his love for her that leads him to meeting the mother of his children.

The creators of the show have used "heartbreaking" as one of the words to describe the series finale. Having Robin about to die would be heartbreaking for Ted and his group of friends, especially Barney. Neil Patrick Harris has called the series finale "complicated", which would make sense if his character's wife passes away.

The one hour finale of How I Met Your Mother will air on March 31, so until then we won't know the whole story. But if my theory stands correct, then the entire series would be more that just about Ted Mosby meeting his future wife. It would be a celebration of the life of Robin Scherbatsky.

Why 2016 Democratic Convention Should be in San Francisco

Despite the fact that Democrats have been able to take California for granted for a generation, I believe it would be a good idea for the party to hold their next national convention in San Francisco.

The City by the Bay was brought into the talk of potential 2016 convention sites last August when a California Democratic Campaign Strategist named Bob Mulholland urged San Francisco's Mayor Ed Lee to submit a bid to the Democratic National Committee.

San Francisco is no stranger when it comes to hosting national political conventions. It has hosted either a Democratic or Republican National Convention a total of four times, and the last time it hosted a Democratic Convention was in 1984 when Geraldine Ferraro became the first woman to run on a major party presidential ticket. With the likelihood that a certain former first lady will become the party's next Presidential nominee, that historical allusion would become all the more significant.

The conventional wisdom is that the Democrats should hold their next convention in a battleground state, such as Ohio. But 2012 may have proven that convention locations really don't matter that much anymore. Obama lost North Carolina despite his convention taking place in Charlotte, while Romney lost Florida despite having his convention in Tampa. I believe what's more important than the convention location is the message the convention sends. While a Democratic Convention in, say, Columbus, Ohio would send a message that the Democrats are serious about winning the Buckeye State and white-working class voters, having their convention in San Francisco would send the message that the Democratic Party is the party of gay rights. This is turn could boost turnout among millenials, one of the components of the Obama Coalition that also includes single women and non-white voters. As the country becomes less white, it is a better idea for the Democrats to spend more time enacting Get-out-the-vote efforts among the Obama Coalition than trying to win over swing voters.

San Francisco's reputation as a city of gay rights and gay activism is not as harmful as it once was when it comes to a potential bid. The country has come a long way in the past decade in terms of acceptance of gay rights. In 2004 Democrats treated then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom as a political pariah when he ordered marriage licenses to be issued to same-sex couples. But in 2012 Obama won re-election despite his support of same-sex marriage. He may have even won voters because of his support for same-sex marriage. And voters who voted against Obama because of that one issue probably wouldn't have voted for him anyway.

Another reason why I think the Democrats should hold their convention in San Francisco is the issue of money. Despite going off without a glitch, the last Democratic Convention in Charlotte ended up deeply in the red. It takes a lot of money to host a national political convention, which is why not every major city in America is rushing to host one. A convention in San Francisco has the potential to be well-funded and in the black thanks to Silicon-Valley Democratic donors, who have become a major donor group within the Democratic Party in par with Hollywood liberals.

As of this writing, Mayor Lee has yet to make a decision on whether or not to submit a bid. But I believe his city would be more helpful to the Democratic Party than any city in any swing-state could. 

Why "Back to The Future" Fans should be disappointed in NBC's decision to cancel "Michael J. Fox Show

Every Back to the Future fanatic should be upset at NBC for their decision to cancel The Michael J. Fox Show. Not only is Fox a role model and an inspiration for anyone experiencing hardship, but NBC decided to pull the show from its Thursday lineup before an episode featuring Christopher Lloyd could even air.

That's right my fellow Back to the Future fans. NBC has refused to give you the right to view an episode that would have brought Marty McFly and Doc Brown back together again. In the unaired episode, Lloyd plays the principal of the school where Mikes wife Annie works at. In canceling the series before this episode could even air, NBC has made yet another bone-headed, what-were-they-thinking idiot programming decision. I'm not saying this episode would have been the overall ratings winner the night it would have aired, but I'm pretty sure if there was a good marketing campaign targeted at us Future fanatics there would have been a pretty good increase in viewers over the previous episode.

Thanks to Netflix and digital streaming, it's more likely than in the past that we will be able to view this episode. But until then all we fans have to console ourselves with are the trilogy box set of all three movies on DVD. 

Bridge Scandal hurts Christie's Presidential Chances.

Despite the fact that there is no front runner for the 2016 GOP Presidential Nomination, I had always believed that Chris Christie was the odds on favorite due to his being re-elected Governor in a blue state by a landslide last November. His victory was due in part by inroads among women and minorities, constituencies that Republicans desperately need to reach out to if they want to remain a viable presidential party in the near future.

But in the wake of e-mails and text messages released today that reveal that some of Christie's top aids closed down George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey last September because Fort Lee's Democratic Mayor declined to endorse Christie for re-election, Christie's own political future in New Jersey may be at stake more than his presidential ambitions.

"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" said Christie's deputy chief of staff Anne Kelly in an e-mail to one of Christie's old high school friends David Wildstein, who was appointed at the Port Authority that controls the bridge.

When Wildstein texted Kelly that he felt sorry for the kids of Fort Lee, Kelly texted back that they were children of Barbara Buono voters, referring to Christie's Democratic opponent last November.

"Is it wrong that I am smiling?" Wildstein texted Kelly. No it's not, Kelly replied.

Today might go down in history as the day that Christie's political fortunes changed dramatically, the day that a storm as big as Sandy washed away any hope of Big Boy ever occupying the Oval Office. The closure of George Washington Bridge, which connects New Jersey to Manhattan, led to a delay in an ambulance response to a cardiac arrest. So not only did the lane closure lead to inconvenient traffic problems for many residents of the Garden State, but it also could have lead to the death of an individual just because he lived in a city where the mayor was of a party different from that of Christie's.

Ever since taking office, Christie was seen as a bully by many in the media. But his victory just a few months ago was in part due to New Jerseyan's believing he was a bully that was on their side. Before Christie can entertain any thoughts of sitting in the Oval Office chair, he's going to have to answer to the people of Fort Lee about why his office retaliated against them for political purposes.

"Butler" Has Poor Presidential Casting Choices

   Lee Daniels made some very poor casting decisions when making The Butler.

   I am not talking about Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey. The Oscar-winning actor gave a performance that should earn him another nomination, while the former Queen of Daytime TV shows that after a 15 year absence from  the silver screen she can still act in addition to running a media empire. 

  No, I am referring to Mr. Daniels decision to cast John Cusack as Richard Nixon and Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan. 

  Lloyd Dobler as Tricky Dick and Snape as The Great Gipper? Hard to believe, but it's true. Go to your local movie theater and see for yourself. 

  These casting decisions make absolutely no sense to me, nor should they make any sense to anyone who saw Say Anything or any of the Harry Potter movies. Every time Mr. Cusack's head popped on the screen the thought going through my head wasn't "Hey, that's Richard Nixon!" but "Hey, that's the kickboxing guy who won Diane Court's heart". Not only did Mr. Cusack look way too young to play Mr. Nixon, but he looks nothing like the 37th President, nor did he make any attempts to sound like him.

  Mr. Rickman plays The Gipper in some alternate reality. While the real Mr. Reagan was charismatic and had a sunny demeanor, the Reagan portrayed in The Butler is a President who is serious and doesn't smile all that much. During a scene in the film in which the alternate Mr. Reagan threatens to veto a bill that would put sanctions on South Africa, it felt as if Snape was talking, the only difference being his hair and his clothes. It was as if Snape had risen from the dead, stole Hermoine's time turner, and used pumpkin juice to pass himself off as the 40th President (if you have never read Harry Potter I apologize, for I know I have lost you). 

  When actors are most well known for certain roles, it is often hard for audiences to picture that actor playing someone else. Mr. Cusack will forever be known as the guy who puts a boom box over his head outside Diane Court's bedroom window, while Mr. Rickman will forever be seen as Harry Potter's least favorite professor at Hogwarts. What went through Mr. Daniels mind when making these horrible casting decisions, I will never know. 

Youth Summer Theatre Conservatory Brings 'Velveteen Rabbit' to Life

http://www.lbpost.com/life/arts-culture/2000002632-children-s-workshop-at-long-beach-playhouse#.UgAUKBbQ6fQ

If you pass by The Long Beach Playhouse these days, you will most likely hear the sounds of children singing.

That's because they are taking music lessons as part of the Playhouse’s Summer Youth Musical Theatre Conservatory, which began on July 15 and will culminate with a production of The Velveteen Rabbit in the Mainstage Theatre on Saturday, August 3 at 3PM and 7PM and on Sunday, August 4 at 3PM.

Based on the 1922 children’s book by Maggie Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit is a musical about a stuffed bunny that is given to a boy at Christmas. Even though the bunny becomes one of the boy’s favorite toys, the bunny longs to become real.

“It’s sort of the 1920s precursor to Toy Story,” said Bethany Price, who both wrote the play and is directing it for the summer workshop at the Playhouse. “We see how some of the toys interact with one another."

Price first wrote The Velveteen Rabbit about five years ago for an elementary school production in Long Beach.

“I read a lot of versions and I kind of hated them all,” she Price. “I just didn’t think any of them captured the real wonder of Margarie Williams' fabulous story and so I decided I was going to write my own version."

Despite having been performed in Pennsylvania, Virginia and in Orange County, this is the fist time that Price’s version of The Velveteen Rabbit will be performed at The Long Beach Playhouse.

The camp consists of 40 kids ages seven to 17 and takes place all day Monday through Friday. As a full day camp, there is little time to be idle. In the mornings, the kids, who are divided up into three groups, rotate between singing, acting and dancing lessons. And then in the afternoons, the kids rehearse for the play.

Zoe Hedgpath, who plays the Velveteen Rabbit, says that she enjoys the rehearsal process despite having to learn a lot of lines.

“It’s a little tricky, but it’s fun,” Hedgpath said.

Despite having only 15 days of rehearsal, Price and the other instructors at the camp believe the kids will put on a great performance.

“It’s going to be a great experience,” said Brian Bozanich, who is the camp’s acting teacher. “The kids are so energetic, so enthusiastic. It’s a wonderful story, and the way we’re telling it, it’s a blast."

Tickets for the performance are on sale for $10. For more information, call (562) 494-1014 or visit The Playhouse online at http://www.lbplayhouse.org