Holy Shit, Batman - It's Adam West!

Took the kids to see 'Batman - The Movie' starring Adam West, Burt Ward from 1966 on Friday night at the Toronto Underground Cinema. As a contender for 'Best Father of the Year Award' this is something a good parent does.

The first time I did it, First-born child was about three years old when I took her to a Saturday matinee at the old New Yorker Repertory Cinema to see the movie about 25 years ago. Just like Friday night, the place was packed. But back then it was packed with mostly young parents bringing their kids and the usual downtown hipster crowd. I should point out that this was BEFORE everyone and their dog owned their own home video-cassette recorder/player.

About a year later, I took her on her first train trip. It was up to Toronto where Adam West and Burt Ward were doing a personal appearance/autograph signing at a car-show at the somewhat new Metro Convention Centre. And they were still young enough to do it IN COSTUME without looking silly. Surprisingly, this being a car show, George Barris was not there with all his Batman vehicles.

Not long after, 'Batman - The Movie' came out on VHS and I remember buying it for about ten bucks in the discount bin at Zellers in Westmount Mall. And ever since, that movie and homemade VHS tapes of the TV series have been a part of my kids' childhoods. Just like 'The Andy Griffith Show,' 'Dark Shadows,' 'Eraserhead,' 'Twin Peaks,' 'Austin Powers' and Edward Scissorhands' and 'Leave it to Beaver.' And so far, they're pretty well-adjusted kids. I grew up on most of that stuff AND the 'Three Stooges' and I'm okay.

A couple of summers ago, second-born female and the boy and I went out to Steve Plunkett's classic-car show to see Adam West and Julie Newmar (easily the best of the Catwomen,) arrive in George Barris' Batcopter and then be driven to the autograph tent via the original Batmobile - and it's true, it can't go faster than 30 miles per hour. I believe that has already been documented on this blog so I won't rehash all that.

... anyhoo, the opportunity to see Adam West at a big-screen screening of the original movie was too much to pass up as a 'family event.' Even though I made sure that all my kids had personal autographs from Adam West, we had never seen the original movie on the Big Screen together.

And I gotta tellya - last Friday night, that theatre just rocked with laughter. It was a verification that regardless of what all the purists - and 'serious' film critics will tell you, the 1966 movie and the TV-series is a far more entertaining film - moment for moment - than the later works by Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan.

Even before the opening credits, this is what you see written on the screen - "This movie is dedicated to lovers of adventure, lovers of pure escapism, lovers of unadulterated entertainment and lovers of the ridiculous and the bizarre."

And *everyone* in the theatre Friday night GOT it. Easily the most fun I've had in a movie theatre since the midnight 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' screenings at the New Yorker a few decades ago.

After the movie, Adam West (in town with former co-stars Burt Ward and Julie Newmar for autograph signings at FAN EXPO,) came out for a Question & Answer session. For someone who is 82, he looks pretty good - and has a sharp wit.

Here are a couple of the highlights -

Question - Do you ever see Burt Ward these days?
Answer - "He's outside right now waiting in the limo."

Question - When was the last time you put on the old costume from the TV-show anymore?
Answer - "Last night in the hotel room."

City Councillor Declares War on Nazi War Criminals

Ward 14 City Councillor Stefan Orlon is to address London's Community and Protective Services Committee on Monday regarding the problems of Nazi mad-scientist war-criminals living in the community.

Orlon is asking that a task-force be created to address this on-going non-issue. He would like to see a hand-book created so that parents can educate their children about the dangers of associating with known Nazi mad-scientists who may have moved here in large numbers from Argentina in recent years.

"As the father of an impressionable 16-year-old boy who wears Doc Martens and has a skin-head haircut, I worry what would happen if he fell in with the wrong crowd and came under the influence of Dr. Joseph Mengele," says Orlon, referring to the infamous German S.S. officer and physician who was cynically known as the "Angel of Death" because of his cruel and sick experiments on the inmates of the concentration camp Auschwitz during World War 2.

To that end, Orlon says he would also like the task-force to create a "mapping system" which would identify the general location on a city street of any former Nazi mad scientist, so that parents could instruct their children to be aware of the danger by not playing on that side of the road and not be fooled into promises by seemingly kind elderly neighbours to "come here and let me see if I can take that sliver out of your finger."

Orlon is convinced that the mapping system would not promote vigilantism "because most people are still scared shitless of Nazi's today anyway. Let alone the ones who are evil mad scientists bent on restoring the Third Reich after reactivating Hitler's brain. Seriously, do you want your child around people like that?"

When asked about the timing of his latest crusade, Orlon declared that it was mere coincidence that the approaching municipal election of which he is a candidate is only two months away. "This is not a matter of blatant electioneering or a cheap, lazy attempt to get my name in the media," claimed Orlon.

"I am just trying to fulfill a campaign promise that I had made in the last election," he explained. Asked why it took him almost four years to start working on that campaign promise, Orlon confessed that he had been distracted by trying to count his chickens before they hatch.

How I Spent My One-Week Vacation, Part 1

Ola. Long time since I last rapped at ya. But my lumbago has been acting up and I've got a tetch of the misery and my trick knee keeps going out so I haven't really felt like blogging. What with all the physio I have to do. And on top of all that last week my Ford Fiesta died. No, wait a minute, that was Jim Anchower's car.

My car is running fine actually. Mavis and I gave it a good workout (gas-pedal and back-seat,) during the one-week vacation I'm just finishing up today. I bet we went through every small town in this part of of Ontario and beyond in the past 10 days.

From the Niagara region to Sarnia to North Bay. And you know what? All small towns don't look the same. Oh sure, they all have two churches at the second intersection off Main Street, and they all have an LCBO on the outskirts of town and they all have a Sobeys but other than that they truly are different.

Anyway. Got off work Friday morning at 7:00, had a quick nap and then drove up to Welland for an outdoor Andy Kim concert. They have this night-time music-series called 'Illuminaqua' set along the recreational canal. A floating stage just off the bank, and surrounding that about 100 of these pod (think of the bottom half of a very-big Weber round charcoal barbeque) things sticking out of the water on both sides and behind the stage. Guys in gondola-looking kyacks come along, fill them with firewood and then light them about dusk. It's an outdoor concert so you can hear it from anywhere and people line up on both sides of the canal to hear it for free - not unlike 'Rock the Park' at Harris Park. Or you can pay the giant sum of $10 for reserved seating to sit in the amphitheatre set-up they have in front of the stage. I decided to splurge and spend the 20-bucks. What the hell, it's 'vacation' money.

There was an opening act. This girl from Quebec with an acoustic guitar and someone else accompanying her on guitar. She sang these folk-music type songs with a bit of melodic pop feel. I think there must be some big federal-government grant money given to support Illuminaqua (hence the subsidized price of the tickets - It's 30-bucks a ticket at every other Andy Kim concert I've been to this year,) because the girl sang every song in French. And Welland is known for John Deere, not for having a big French community.

So part of the appeal wasn't just Andy Kim but what a great venue.

And it occured to me that London, Ont. could do the same type of thing at the Forks of the Thames. But that will never happen because for one thing, with Springbank Dam being busted for the past three years or so there's not enough water deep enough at the forks to keep afloat a kyack let alone a canoe, let alone a gondola-type vessle. At the moment, you could probably walk across the river-forks and yes, you would get a 'soaker' but you certainly wouldn't get your knees wet. If you were wearing shorts - even Burmeudas - they'd still be dry.

And of course, this being London, we have a City Council that just wouldn't go for putting on a cheap concert-series with 'name' acts for the people who live here AND tourists. City councillor Paul VanthemanBeergarten would oppose it for the same reason he opposes anything involving the Arts. Because he hates spinich. Even though it would create a few jobs. Summer jobs, but jobs just the same. And the usual grandstanders and wagon-hoppers would go along with him.

So let's face it. Something like Illuminaqua just ain't gonna happen here. To quote Michael Todd when asked about the danger of a Link Wray concert selling out at Call the Office - "That ain't gonna happen. Yer in London, man."

Anyhoo, the Andy Kim concert was as good as the post you can read below of his show in Belleville two months ago. Afterwards he sat down at the merchandise table to sign stuff. Here's a couple of things I like about the guy. When told by the Parks & Recreation people that he would only have 20 minutes because they wanted to go home, he said, "No, I'll be here until all these people in line have been taken care of." ... during the concert, he played one of a few new songs and thanked the audience for their indulence in politely listening to his first album of new material in 20 years - and then talked about how happy he was to be given the opportunity to have this "second kick at the can."

And lastly, when Mavis and I were at the merch. table and got to shake the actual hand which co-penned 'Sugar, Sugar,' being the considerate fan I am, I gave him a gift in return - and he was genuinely pleased. You can see it at the top of this post. One of two sheets of uncut jukebox title-strips. One was for his first single, 'How'd We Ever Get This Way.' The other for his last Number 1 song - the self-financed (making him one of Canada's first truly indie-artists,) 'Rock Me Gently.' I gave them to him 'framed' in a couple of empty CD 'jewel' cases.

And got him to sign the extra strip I had for myself. He was quite taken aback at these objects and said, "I have to ask, Sonny - are you in the jukebox business?"

Nope. Bought them on Ebay. Where else? But I thought it rather astute of the man to think that I might still be making a living at a business which has been dying a slow death for well longer than the past decade. Story of my life.