Author Archives: Gabrielle Ramsum

Pete Rose Childhood to 1970

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Big Red Machine, Great American Ballpark

Peter Edward Rose Sr. commonly known as Pete Rose was a professional baseball player and manager. Growing up, his parents encouraged him to participate in sports. He played baseball and football throughout high school. In the spring of 1960, he played for the Dayton Amateur League. If it wasn’t for his uncle, Buddy Bloebaum, this would’ve been the highlight of his career. You see his uncle was the scout for the Cincinnati Reds and he had urged the Reds to give Pete a chance and they did. 

His first year with the Reds was in 1963. During a spring training game against the New York Yankees, Whitney Ford gave Pete the nickname Charlie Hustle, after he sprinted to the first base after drawing a walk. However, if you watch the Ken Burns documentary called ‘Baseball’, one of their teammates Mickey Mantle claimed that Whitney had given Rose the nickname after he, while playing left field, made an effort to climb the fence to try to catch a Mantle home run that was about a hundred feet above his head. He also won the National League Rookie of the Year Award.

After the end of that season, he enlisted in the United States Army Reserves. He was assigned to Fort Knox for 6 months of active duty and, for the following six years, he was a part of the 478th Engineering Battalion USAR unit at Fort Thomas Kentucky. Part of what he did in Fort Thomas was he served as one of the company cooks. This meant he had to come in early for one weekend per month for meetings and he could leave early so he could participate in Red’s home games. There were even two other members of the Reds in his unit.

In 1968, he had started this season in a 22-game hitting streak however, he missed 3 weeks with a broken thumb. He then had a 19-game hitting streak later on in the season. In 1970, he was involved in one of the most infamous plays in All-Star game history. Pete was part of the National League and they were against the American League. During this All-Star Game during the bottom of the 12th, a ball was relayed to one of the American League catchers, Ray Fosse, in time to tag Pete out however, Pete went barreling towards him making him drop the ball and score the winning run. Both Pete and Ray ended up with injuries. Ray ended up suffering from a fractured and separated shoulder and Pete missed three games because of a bruised knee. 

Ocktoberfest

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Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest is right around the corner and there are so many events taking place here, all around Canada and in other countries. What is Oktoberfest you may ask? Oktoberfest is a two-week festival that is held every year in Munich, Germany during late September (usually the third week of September) and early October (usually the first Sunday of October) to celebrate Bavarian culture. It’s the largest folk festival in the world. Yes, it is usually very well known for its beer-based celebrations but there is more than just that. There are other cultural things during it like German entertainment, food, parades, and people dressing up. 

You might be wondering why I am talking about Oktoberfest. Well, here in Canada we do have some celebrations for Oktoberfest. People celebrate it all around the world but the largest one in Canada is in Kitchener, Ontario, which actually is the largest one outside of Germany. 

Here in the Greater Vancouver Area, we have a few places that you can go to. You have the Harvest Haus beer fest on October 4 and 5 at the PNE Forum. The Parallel 49 Brewery has festivities with German-inspired music, German-style food and prizes for best dressed from September 20 until October 5. And there are even festivities at the Bacchus Restaurant located in the Wedgewood Hotel. It is to pay tribute to their executive chef who has German heritage. They have a limited-time menu that features a Bavarian platter, a poached Bavarian weisswurst and a warm apple strudel. Bacchus Restaurant’s festivities run from September 21 to October 6. Some of these places do this sort of thing every year for Oktoberfest. 

Oktoberfest has been happening in Germany since 1810, with periods of time where they couldn’t have it, obviously, but it is a big tradition. Funny enough the last day of Bavarian Oktoberfest falls on the German equivalent of Thanksgiving, Erntedankfest, which is about a week before we have Thanksgiving here in Canada. 

I am part German myself so I do find it ironic that I am talking about a German holiday. It’s also funny because I’ve never been to any Oktoberfest events myself but I’ve also never had time when it’s happening to be able to go. I do wish to go for one year hopefully. If I’m not too busy when it happens next year or in the coming future years I’ll actually be able to go. 

Bo Jackson

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Bo Jackson

Source Image: Davide Costanzo, "Bo Jackson", 2012, 
Via www.flickr.com/photos/badswan/8282722328

Vincent Edward “Bo” Jackson is an American former professional baseball and football player. While he was in high school he played football and baseball. Although he also was a two time state championship in the decathlon where he did indoor high jump and triple jump.

In 1982, he was selected by the New York Yankees in the second round but he chose to attend Auburn University with a football scholarship. During college, he did football, baseball as well as track and field.

After college, he was picked first overall in the 1986 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, he refused to play for them. However, he did go for the Kansas City Royals, who drafted him in the fourth round in the 1986 Major League Baseball draft. They released him just five years later. 16 days after he was released from the Royals, the Chicago White Sox offered him a three-year deal. In 1994, he signed a one-year deal with the California Angels. After that season, he decided to retire from baseball at the age of 32.

Now in the middle of playing baseball, he was also playing football and was part of the 1987 NFL Draft, where he was selected in the seventh round by the Los Angeles Raiders. He had originally chosen to focus on baseball and didn’t want to sign, however, his interest piqued when he learned the owner of the Raiders was a fan of his. He joined the Raiders just in time for their Week 8 matchup against the New England Patriots. He suffered a career-ending injury and had to retire in 1991.

He had suffered an injury to his left hip. It was dislocated by a tackle during a football game. Apparently he popped his hip back into the socket, which damaged the blood vessels supplying blood to the hip. However, doctors did not find proof that Jackson reset his hip and they did discover that there was a fracture in one of his hip bones. He also suffered necrosis to the bone tissue. This forced his retirement from football and caused him to have a hip replacement in 1992.

After he had to end his career, he went on to get a Bachelor of Science degree in Family and Children Development at the same university he went to back in 1982. Throughout the 90s, he also dabbled in acting. He’s also done a lot of brand deals since. He had become a popular figure for his athleticism in multiple sports throughout the 80s and 90s, one ad campaign that he did for Nike was called “Bo Knows”.

He was inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame in March 2024.

Steve Nash

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Steve Nash and Andre Miller

Source Image: benefit1970, 'Steve Nash and Andre Miller', 2009,
Via www.flickr.com/photos/35054524@N03/4013795016/

Stephen John Nash also known as Steve Nash is a Canadian professional basketball coach and former player.

As a kid, he played soccer and ice hockey with his younger brother, he also played lacrosse and rugby. He didn’t actually start playing basketball until he was about 12 or 13. In Grade 8 he told his mother one day he would play for the NBA and become a star. He was not recruited by any University until the Santa Clara coach Dick Davey and requested video footage. He was awarded a scholarship by Santa Clara University for the 92-93 season. In the 95 to 96 season, he began to attract the attention of national media and professional scouts.

After graduating with a degree in sociology he was selected for the first round of the 1996 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns. Suns fans weren’t very happy about this. During his second season, he ranks 13th in the league 3-point field goal percentage. During the 1998 NBA Draft, he was actually traded from the Suns to the Dallas Mavericks. During the 1999 to 2000 season, he missed 25 mid-season games due to an ankle injury but came back to record 6 double-doubles in the last months of play. He led Canada to a silver medal at the 1999 Tournament of the Americas which qualified the team for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. His career highs came in the season of 2001-2002 with an average of 17.9 points and 7.7 assists per game.

After the 2003 to 2004 season, he became a free agent. He attempted to negotiate a long term contract with Mark Cuban. However, the Phoenix Suns made a better deal and he returned to the Suns for the 2004-2005 season. During the season, he became the first and only Canadian, at the moment, to earn the NBA MVP award. He ended up getting the award a second time the next season. During the 2006-2007 season here under that being one of the few people at the time to average 18.6 points and a career-high of 11.6 assists per game during a regular season. Towards the end of the 2011-2012 season, he was awarded the PBWA’s Magic Johnson Award which was his last season with the Phoenix Suns.

In the summer of 2012, the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Nash in a sign-and-trade deal with the Phoenix Suns. In his second game of the 2012-2013 season, he suffered a non-displaced fracture in his left leg after a collision with a member of the Portland Trail Blazers. He was out of the lineup for about 7 weeks when it was only supposed to be 1 week. He also ended up missing the last eight games of the season with a right hip injury that had caused nerve damage to his right hamstring. He ended up missing a total of 32 games in the regular season. He continued to suffer from nerve problems into the next season. In July of 2014, he announced the 2014-2015 season was gonna be his last. During pre-season, he experienced back pain that also ended up reoccurring during games.

In May 2012, he became the general manager of the Canadian senior national team and transitioned into a Senior Advisor role in 2019. In September 2015 he had taken on a part-time consulting role for the Golden State Warriors. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame three years after his retirement. From 2020 to 2022 he coached the Brooklyn Nets.

Books, Cinema, and TV Shows in Pop Culture

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CB068378

Source Image: Raoul Luoar, 'CB068378', 2011,
Via www.flickr.com/photos/72006245@N05/6506066531/

There are some books that actually helped pop culture. A specific genre that actually helped pop culture is young adult fiction. With books like ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Hunger Games’, and ‘Twilight’. They all became cultural phenomenon’s. Each got its own set of movies. Or you have a book like ‘Ready Player One’, which has just a bunch of references to pop culture.

BookTok became very big on TikTok. Do you know how many books I’ve bought because of TikTok? I probably can’t give you an exact number. But I hear about them and want to buy them or at least read them.

Although some of the films that actually made an impact were ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ which brought global warming to more perspective. ‘Bambi’ caused a drop in hunting. ‘Super Size Me’ gave light to what happens when you eat fast food for an entire month. However, I put ‘V for Vendetta’ into the mix, where it inspired the hacktivist group Anonymous. Even movies like ‘Titanic’, ‘Star Wars’, and ‘The Avengers’ have had an influence in pop culture itself. ‘The Avengers’ just started out as a comic book. Well, at least different comic books that ended up all coming together to form ‘The Avengers’.

Some people would argue that comic books weren’t very popular but got more popular when we ended up with superhero movies.

Sitcoms became very popular. With shows like ‘Friends’, ‘Seinfeld’, ‘How I Met Your Mother’, and ‘The Big Bang Theory’. Both ‘How I Met Your Mother’ and ‘The Big Bang Theory’ both got spinoffs. And I mean ‘Big Bang’ got a spin-off of a spin-off.

Yes, books, films, and TV Shows don’t always go together. But I put them together because they have a different way of influencing us in pop culture. Books are how we got some of our favourite movies and have influenced some TV shows that I’ve even watched. For TV shows that were books before like ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘13 Reasons Why’, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, or even ‘Pretty Little Liars’ and ‘Bones’. You also have any DC show or Marvel show that derived from the comics.

I can probably bet you that you’ve seen somebody cosplay a DC character or Marvel character. I know I have, but I’ve also been to many, many conventions. But I’ve also seen them online. I’ve also seen cosplays of people from ‘The Handsome Tale’ and ‘Game of Thrones’. And many people have read the ‘Harry Potter’ books, not including myself ’cause I have yet to read them but I do own them. And even though most of us don’t like JK Rowling, I’m pretty sure a lot of us know what our Hogwarts house is.

Counterculture

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Hippies

Source Image: Travis Simon, 'Hippies', 2009,
Via www.flickr.com/photos/travis_simon/4009899340/

Counterculture was an anti-establishment cultural phenomenon and political movement. It was a big thing in the mid-60s to mid-70s. The people that were normally involved in this were called hippies or flower children.

You have so many movements that happened during this era. You have the civil rights movement, The Black Power movement, the Free Speech Movement, the sexual revolution, as well as the Women’s liberation movement. Granted, most of this happened in the US. But to be fair, we watch a lot of what happens in the US.

During this time, there was a lot of experimentation when it came to clothing and Hollywood and music. Musical acts like The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan all came with a new sound. That we hadn’t heard really before. The Beatles are one of the biggest bands to exist. There were less restrictions when it came to censorship for films. One of the films created during this time that was very popular was Bonnie and Clyde. And this is when the miniskirt was invented as well. They were very popular as well as jeans were very popular as well.

Of course, this time was mostly known for the movements as well as the protests that happened. It all depended where you were in the world. In France, you had French students uniting and nearly toppling the government. Or in Mexico, you had the youth revolt. Or you had The Digger publishing monthly between 1972 and 1975 and served as a national outlet for many movements within Australia.

Music was a big thing during this time. Bob Dylan himself was a protester and sang it in his lyrics too. And I mean, Jimi Hendrix started his career at the Monterey Pop Festival And ended up at the 1969 Woodstock Festival with other acts like Santana, Sly and the Family Stone, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Creedence Clearwater Revival and even The Who. Or if you want a Canadian band The Band even played.

Again, there’s a lot to go over with Counterculture. But the effect it had on us. I mean, it took. 40-50 some-odd years but some drugs are legalized. We have more women’s rights and expanded our clothing styles. We’re not as afraid to push the boundary.

Yes, counterculture still exists today. But is it ever actually going to go away because I honestly think it probably won’t. But honestly, who knows what will happen in the future.

Cancel Culture

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Microphone head

Source Image: Andy Dudley, 'Microphone head', 2008,
Via www.flickr.com/photos/sparetomato/2641110677

A Culture that is more relevant now than ever is Cancel Culture. Now, cancel culture is a cultural phenomenon in which an individual, usually a celebrity or a public figure, thought to have acted or spoken in an unacceptable manner is shunned. That is the best definition of it that you’re getting from me.

Now, the origin of cancel culture actually started in the 1980s but gained more popularity in the 2010s. Cancel culture does hold that person accountable for what they’ve done, although some people don’t actually care.

This can materialize in different ways. One of which is online mobs which is the one I think we see more nowadays. This can also be categorized as cyber bullying. They try to get people to take their own lives, dox people, or destroy folks lives for minor offences. Now don’t get me wrong, not everybody does do this. But there was an instance in 2019 where the trans community tried to cancel Dave Chappelle. And a young up and coming trans comedian defended him, and the mob turned on her, she ended up killing herself six days later. I remember when author Lauren Hough became a victim of cancel culture. The reason why was because she was reading reviews. Which, if you’re an author, you shouldn’t be doing either way but that is beside the point. People had flooded her Goodreads page with one star reviews because of it. These are awake 2 examples of online mobs.

Another one is trying to get people fired for speaking out. Now, in 2020, a children’s author by the name of Gillian Phillips was fired from her publisher. Now you might wonder why. She has changed her Twitter handle to include the hashtag #IStandWithJKRowling. That is what got her fired from her publisher. Now I get it. Don’t worry, I got it. It’s just people have their own opinions.

Other ways it’s materializes is disinviting speakers, self-censorship, and governmental pressure which yes, can also happen. It doesn’t happen often but it does happen. Now, government pressure is here because the legislators in public officials realized that they can leverage a version of cancel culture to punish corporations who don’t toe the right line. One example of this is that in 2022 when Florida passed a lot of revoking Walt Disney Company special tax status.

I will not say cancel culture is right or wrong because everybody has their own opinion. But I do have to say it’s not right to bully someone into doing anything. But that is the only stance that I have on the subject.

Cosplay, Manga, and Anime in Pop Culture

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Comic Con Sign

Source Image: Gage Skidmore, 'Comic Con Sign', 2007,
Via www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/2168599682/

Anime, also known as Japanese animation, began in Japan in the 1960s. A lot of earlier artists associated with anime were often creators of popular Japanese manga. The first anime that made it to North America was ‘Astro Boy’ in 1963. Four seasons were made, but only two actually aired in North America.

Anime got more popular in the 1990s and early 2000s. This is when it exploded in North America. With shows like ‘Sailor Moon’, ‘Naruto’, ‘Dragon Ball Z’ and ‘Pokémon’ becoming staples in kids programming.

Even now, anime influences a lot of our TV shows and movies. From shows like ‘Avatar: the Last Airbender’ and ‘Teen Titans’ in its style to movies like ‘The Matrix’ that acknowledge the inspiration from works like ‘Ghost in the Shell’.

Even manga has influenced us in our storytelling. Particularly how it is structured and told.

Anime and manga have both influenced the gaming culture. Although, I think the video game that I can think of right off the bat is ‘Pokémon’ which was a cultural phenomenon by itself. With it having an expansive amount of video games, cards for the card game, as well as the anime itself.

Even in all of this it also influences our music and our fashion. In music, it influences our music videos to make them more anime-like. Whereas in fashion we have merch or cosplay.

Cosplay, also known as costume play originated in Japan in the 1970s. It involves dressing up as characters from anime, manga, video games, movies, and other forms of pop culture. It started to gain more popularity in North America in the 1980s.

Cosplay became more popular in the 2000s. Cosplayers would wear cosplays from TV shows and movies. This is also when cosplays got a lot more elaborate and creative. Nowadays you can use 3D printing to help make your cosplays and props.

It influenced us into having conventions. One of the earliest conventions was the Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Comics Convention which took place in San Diego, California in 1970. This convention is now known as the San Diego Comic-Con, an event that people Cosplay at all the time. Although the first anime-specific convention documented was in the US in 1981 and held in New York City and it was called AnimeCon.

Here in Canada, we have Fan Expo as well as Anime Revolution. Fan Expo is our Comic-Con, which I’ve been to many times as well as Fan Expo.

Pop Punk in Pop Culture

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Paramore 03.07.2014 @Parahoy

Source Image: Laurence Dion, 'Paramore 03.07.2014 @Parahoy', 2014,
Via www.flickr.com/photos/laulawsky/13128820715/

Pop punk was a cultural phenomenon. It originated in the 1970s, but became more popular in the 90s and early 2000s. One of the first times the term pop punk was used in paper was in a New York Times article that was published in March 1977. The article was written by John Rockwell to describe Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Bands like the Ramones, The Clash and the Sex Pistols laid the groundwork for the genre in the 70’s. But it was bands like Green Day, Blink-182, and The Offspring that really brought it to the forefront, mostly for the more relatable, rebellious, and catchy lyrics.

Even here in Canada, we had Sum 41, Simple Plan, and Marianas Trench, just to name a few. And I even listen to these ones. Marianas Trench is one of my favourite bands to listen to to this day. They do do more than just pop punk nowadays.

Pop punk didn’t only revolve around music, it also influenced fashion. Pop punk fashion was characterized as having an edgy, rebellious aesthetic, and incorporated elements like ripped jeans, fan T-shirts, leather jackets, colourful hair, and some statement pieces.

Pop-punk fashion has just seemed to stay with us. With stores such as Hot Topic capitalizing on the popularity of pop punk. It sells a lot of punk-inspired designs as well as band T-shirts.

A lot of movies of the 2000s even had pop punk artists appear in them, or at least their songs. Such as Paramore’s ‘Decode’ being in Twilight. Or you have EuroTrip with the song ‘Scotty Doesn’t Know’ by Lustra but in the movie was performed by Matt Damon. The song is used as a plot device in the movie. Although I think one of my favourite instances of pop punk being in a TV show is from One Tree Hill where Fall Out Boy has a three-episode arc.

It started underground, went into the mainstream, and then went back underground. But it’s back in the mainstream again with artists such as Olivia Rodrigo, Machine Gun Kelly, and Yungblud.

Even Olivia Rodrigo’s song ‘Good 4 U’ was inspired by Paramore’s 2007 song ‘Misery Business’. Or at least the chorus was. One of the genres that influenced her for the song was pop punk. And I mean, this song only came out in 2021 so it still influences us to this day.

Pop Culture a Brief History

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John Paul George and Ringo

Source Image: Terry Kearney, 'John Paul George and Ringo', 2017,
Via www.flickr.com/photos/oneterry/32256424340

Culture comes in many different forms. When we talk about culture most people think about traditional culture which includes clothing, ceremonies, and even belief systems. However, culture can also be what we see in our regular lives such as sports, film, anime, etc. Most of this we call pop culture which is short for popular culture. Pop culture is spread through mass media.

The phrase “popular culture” was coined in or around the 19th century. It all started with a serialized novel that became popular. They were published in magazines or newspapers in order to reach a wide range of people.

With the development of film in the late 19th century, people were able to watch recorded video which revolutionized pop culture. In the 1920’s you had the popularity of jazz music, flapper fashion and film.

Even with the introduction of television in the 1940s and 1950s, it brought pop culture into people’s homes. It was much easier to get your fill of pop culture considering it helped raise the rock’n’roll music scene and youth culture. Most notably, you had Elvis Presley and The Beatles. The Beatles became a global sensation during this time.

In the 1960s you had the counterculture movement when teenagers started to challenge mainstream values and norms.

The 1970s went for more hip-hop influences and saw the video game industry begin to flourish with games like ‘Space Invaders’.

In the 1980s you have music and TV combined into MTV (Music Television Channel) and one of the biggest pop stars of the time Michael Jackson revolutionized it with his hit ‘Thriller’ in 1983.

More recently the biggest change in pop culture was the creation of social media in the early 2000s. Social media has become a big part of all of our lives and it’s one of the best ways for us to consume pop culture.

Things have changed so much in the span of just a hundred years. Now we have so many ways to get our fill of pop culture because of the internet. With the advent of the mobile phone, we can now get that content anywhere we go.

There will always be concerns about how we mainly consume pop culture now because we are constantly on our phones. Some people reading this might even be reading it on their phones. You don’t know. But pop culture is so much more than just social media, it’s part of history and we can’t change that.