If you are a loyal reader, just visiting, or new to the site- welcome! In the event that you are a new visitor to The Creative Cabana, then this probably isn't a post you'll want to read first. It's been difficult trying to figure out the right words and the right time to bring the truth out about this blog and how it has shaped my life, as well as (hopefully) inspiring yours.
If you look at the date of this post compared to the previous post, you'll notice there is quite a large posting gap between these two entries. Why is that? About 95% of the reason for that is ME. For the last few months I have really struggled with being able to take the time to dedicate myself to this blog. I'll admit to have suffered a few episodes of Writer's Block during this time period, but a lot of it has to do with me looking to improve time management skills. So if there are readers out there who have been anxiously awaiting a new Creative Cabana post since September- I apologize. I have been dealing with a lot of personal issues and with that comes taking my free time to get other things done.
During this time, I also sat down and reevaluated my initial reasons for getting into Blogging. I started The Creative Cabana initially as my creative outlet. I wanted this to be a place where I could post and discuss different creative talents in the arts and people who inspire those talents. I have since discovered that I lack the time and focus to commit to those efforts. I had hoped that by this point, my life would be in a better position where I could invest in the tools needed to help my blog succeed. Unfortunately that has not happened, yet. Instead I have decided to shift my focuses into a new concept for blogging- essentially I'm starting over from scratch.
I'm changing blog platforms, subject, and goals into my new blog. The Creative Cabana will still be live and fully accessible through Blogger, however the corresponding social media accounts will be deactivated so that those accounts can be used for my new blog. My new blog which is titled Devotional Danielle will be available on WordPress starting March 1st. This new blog will be focused on uplifting and inspirational topics generated to get people thinking, and offer words of encouragement. It is my hope that the lessons I have learned from The Creative Cabana will translate into new aspects in Devotional Danielle.
I refuse to call this blog a failure because it isn't. This was my first official attempt at maintaining a blog on a regular basis and I created this particular site based on my interests. I'm still keeping true to those interests, I'm just starting over with a clean slate and a new idea. As soon as Devotional Danielle goes live, I will post a link on this site so that you can check it out. If you are currently following The Creative Cabana on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest look for those pages to come down as the month progresses. I simply want to thank each of you reading this now for your support and for your interaction with The Creative Cabana. It's not an end, it's only a new beginning and something new to look forward to. Best wishes and never hide your creativeness!
Happy Wednesday friends of The Creative Cabana! Thanks for stopping by for another week of Creative Mastermind appreciation awareness. This week's Mastermind though is being honored on a more tragic note than what I usually share. Making recent news with the announcement of his death, I would like to dedicate the honor of Creative Mastermind to a man of many voices: Casey Kasem.
Casey Kasem is one of my personal idols and I've admired him since I was a child. He was truly one of the most beloved actors and disc jockeys of the 20th century and his talent was unique. As you can see from the picture on the left, he was the voice of many famous cartoon characters- most notably Shaggy from Scooby Doo. Kasem was also the host of the popular radio show American Top 40 which was a countdown of the biggest music hits throughout the year. Kasem held the title of host of this program from 1970-1988 and 1998-2003. Today American Idol host, Ryan Secrest, is the host of American Top 40, however you can still hear the passion of Kasem's personality come through on each episode of the program. Casey Kasem had the energetic drive that could really engage people and draw them into what he was saying. Throughout his shows he would share different segments about up and coming music, trivia facts, and stories about the artists. This is what true radio broadcasting was like- all about the music, less about the money.
Casey Kasem was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1932. It is believed that he was inspired by radio from listening to "Make Believe Ballroom", another popular radio broadcast from the 1940s. After graduating from college, Casey Kasem was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1952, sent to Korea and became a DJ/Announcer for the Army's Radio Network. When he returned to the U.S. he became a success working in several radio stations across the country. He has earned a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and has also been inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame. Casey Kasem also provided the voices for several cartoon characters throughout his career. His most famous role was Shaggy Rogers from the popular children's show Scooby Doo. Kasem voiced Shaggy for 40 years between the TV shows, spin-offs, and movies. His unique voice provided a clear and comic relief to the character of Shaggy. As a tribute to Casey Kasem here is a great clip I found of Scooby Doo and Shaggy hosting a radio show. In this scene Shaggy does his "radio voice", stop and think about this: Casey Kasem is doing an impression of himself- CLASSIC
One of the reasons why I would like to honor Casey Kasem as a Creative Mastermind is that he was such an unique and talented individual, it can't go unnoticed. I firmly believe that many DJ and On-Air talents have an aspiration to be like him. It's difficult to really explain, but when you're working in a studio and the only way people know you is through your voice, you have to create another personality that comes alive. No one sees you, so you have a job to really create a vibrant personality using sounds. Casey Kasem did that with perfection. He didn't just announce music or read a script- he told stories, he shared moments with his listeners, and he reached out to people through his dedications and messages. Radio has lost that special feeling because everyone turns to their MP3 devices for music, and radio has just become another home to advertisements and sales. Casey Kasem created a whole new generation for radio listeners and gave us so many nostalgic memories as kids because we heard his voice on so many shows. He truly was a legend and creative in his productions. He could write, speak, entertain, and make us laugh so hard we thought we had lost our minds. People like that don't come around very often; many imitate, but few achieve. Thank you for educating us Mr. Kasem and reminding us to always "keep reaching for the stars".
Remember, the door is always open if you would like to send The Creative Cabana a nomination for Creative Mastermind. Have your favorite Creative Genius highlighted and put in the spotlight by simply leaving your nomination in the comments of this post or you can share it on our Facebook and Twitter accounts- just search "Creative Cabana". Be sure to give us details on who your nomination is and why they are a Creative Mastermind! Until next time friends, have a great day!
* I am in no relation or affliated with Casey Kasem or members of the Kasem family. All opinions in this post are of my own and are expressed in dedication to him. Scooby Doo is the property of Hanna-Barbara and Warner Bros. I do not own any of the characters mentionned in this post and hold no ownership to their rights. Images used in this post, were collected from Google Images search results. The sad Scooby Doo illustrations were found through my Facebook account where friends had shared these images from other sites. I am not the creator of these images, and I give credit of these images to the artist of each drawing. The YouTube clip was posted on the network by a YouTube user in dedication to Casey Kasem. The clip is being used here for educational purposes only. No Copyright Infringement Intended.
Hello everybody and thank you for stopping by The Creative Cabana! I'm your host, Danielle and I am happy to be back at the The Creative Cabana after a rough and stressful week in the real world. Since my last post, which was just over a week ago (sadly), I have been very busy picking up extra hours at work, doing some volunteer projects, and this past Friday I had to have surgery for my wisdom teeth. It's been crazy and dare I say, a little bit painful. However, as I work my way through recovery I'm taking time to finish up a post that I intended to have published much earlier on. But they say better late than never so here goes...
This post is going to be a bit different than my traditional Creative Mastermind posts, because it's a partial tribute, partial recognition, and partial appreciation for the man I could easily call my favorite actor- the late and magnificent, Robin Williams. It's been a hard two weeks since his passing and I, like most of the world, still remain in shock over the news of his death. It's weird how we treat celebrity deaths, because it's not so much about the person who died anymore, it's how they died. Another great Hollywood legend passed away shortly after Williams, actress Lauren Bacall- but notice how she didn't get no where near as much attention as Williams did. I think the fact is, that everyone was caught off guard. I honestly don't think I've seen this much coverage of a celebrity death since Michael Jackson's passing back in 2009. I don't want to focus on Robin Williams' death though. I want to celebrate his life and success and share a few memories of him that make him a great Creative Mastermind.
I am a hard-core 90s child. I grew up with a lot of great nostalgic moments, several which involved Robin Williams. When I think back as far as I can to when I first became introduced to Williams, I'm torn between Aladdin and Mrs. Doubtfire. I can't remember which role I was exposed to first because growing up I didn't always catch on to movies or TV right away. I can remember though seeing these two films at a very young age and always laughing at scenes where Robin Williams shines. I suppose what made him stand out to me was his ability to change personalities so quickly. He always seemed to remind me of a little kid that was on a non-stop sugar rush. To help celebrate his obvious and amazing talent, I spent an entire week watching and reflecting on movies in which he left a strong impact on me. Want to see the list? well here we go:
1. Aladdin & Aladdin and the King of Thieves
Ok before you ask, if you didn't already know this- I'm not including "Return of Jafar" in this list because Williams was not involved in this movie with the role of the Genie. I am including the two films together simply for the sake of being in the same franchise. Ever since Aladdin came out in the early 1990s I've often said if Robin Williams could be animated as a cartoon character then the Genie is it. Disney animators have often said that Genie was created based off of Williams- actions, expressions, character, and personalities. It definitely shows. The clip here shows a few moments for "Aladdin and the King of Thieves" where Williams does some of his best jokes.
2. Mrs. Doubtfire
This is probably my favorite role from Robin Williams as he portrays a kind, but "hip granny" who hatches up a plan to see his kids everyday while he and his wife go through a messy divorce. The character, Daniel Hillard, loves his children to death and decides he'll do anything to see them despite the objections of the loving, but work-obsessed mom played by Sally Fields. So when the Mom is hiring for a housekeeper to watch the kids, Robin Williams' character applies and gets the job disguised a loving British nanny. This movie hits all the right notes in terms of movie making- there's plenty of funny scenes, but there's also serious and sincere moments throughout the film. Sally Fields and Pierce Brosnan do a great job in their supporting roles and the children in this movie are to die for! It's a slam dunk cast. My favorite scene by far in this film is when a court social worker visits Mr. Hillard's apartment and he's still dressed as Mrs. Doubtfire. He's essentially playing two roles to confuse the social worker. I couldn't find a good clip to accurately show this scene- so the following clip is another favorite scene where Robin Williams just does an improv of several voices. Great stuff!
3. The Birdcage
This movie was hard for me to get into at first just because it was very confusing for me. I saw this movie when I was kid and was very confused by it because while it's a great comedy, there's many adult themes and other moral factors that, well children just don't understand at a young age. I saw this film when I got older and now that I understood the social environments being presented in The Birdcage, it made more sense. If you've never seen The Birdcage- you should, it's great. Robin Williams along with co-star Nathan Lane play a gay couple in South Beach, Florida who own a night-time drag club. When their son wants to marry his girlfriend from college, the men do everything they can to impress the girls' family who has a Republican senator for a father- yeah, this just begs for trouble. Both families go through a series of events involving relationships, scandals, and other humorous adventures all in the name of love, so that the children can get married. To see everything that makes this movie so great just watch this video featuring the best scenes of The Birdcage with Gloria Estefan's "Conga".
4. Ferngully
Ok, I have to admit I honestly forgot that Robin Williams was in this movie until I started going through my collection of movies to write about for this post. Ferngully was one of those underrated 90s kids movies that encouraged children to save the rainforest. It is great movie? Well, it's ok... in my opinion, Robin Williams and Tim Curry make the movie enjoyable. Robin Williams plays a funny bat who escaped a testing lab and lands in Ferngully. He tells the tree fairies, the residents of the land known as Ferngully, about the destruction that humans cause to the environment. Williams' character "Batty" (yeah, real original) befriends one of the fairies and helps them to save Ferngully from an evil pollution monster known as Hexus played by Tim Curry. If you've seen Ferngully chances are there's two things you remember from this film. One you might remember Tim Curry singing about "Toxic Love" and you might remember Batty's Rap- sung by Robin Williams.
5. Flubber
Flubber is another underrated, but still pretty good Robin Williams delight. This was one of Disney's "lesser known" films because I think it didn't really generate a lot of interest at the time. Flubber was a remake of the classic film "The Absent-Minded Professor", in which a scientist accidentally creates this dysfunctional goo. The goo causes all kinds of mischief and crazy stunts. Robin Williams plays the scientist in this film and enjoys interacting with his creation. I have to be honest, I have not seen Flubber in YEARS! I remember watching it and thinking "yeah this movie is ok", but that was it. I recorded it off of Disney channel back when the world still used VHS tapes and until Netflix decides to add it to the collection, that tape as been my only window to this classic. If you've never seen Flubber, it's a good "kill some time" movie. I like the parts where Williams plays around with Flubber in multiple scenes. Without ruining too much of the movie for you, here's a scene with Flubber in full action:
6. Jumanji
Holy crap do I love this movie! When you think of a typical 90s kid, this has got to be one of the movies that comes to mind. When Jumanji first came out, I didn't really know what to make of it- fun, scary, strange, weird, and massive. For being a 90s film, Jumanji was actually a really well-made movie. It had great visuals, good storyline, excellent cast, and a great action adventure built into it. Jumanji is about a game that comes to life and makes the lives of people who play it a living nightmare. Robin Williams plays Alan Perish, a child who disappeared in the 60s after playing the game with his friend Sarah. In 1995, two children find the game and as they play a round they release Alan who was trapped in the world of Jumanji. Alan, Sarah, and the two children play the game in order to fix the mess the game has caused. Robin Williams is a little bit more serious in this film, but he still gets plenty of good laughs throughout the film. I like Williams' role in Jumanji as more of the heroic icon. He's smart, funny, brave, and learns some good lessons throughout the movie. I highly recommend Jumanji for anyone who seeks a movie with an adventure!
7. Hook
The last Robin Williams film I would like to recognize from my childhood is Hook. Unlike the others listed above, this is probably the one film I had literally only seen maybe once or twice. I remember watching it in school because it was movie many of the kids enjoyed and it followed along well with the original Peter Pan stories. In this version of the Peter Pan classic, Robin Williams portrays Peter as a grown-up adult with two children who are kidnapped by a vengeful Captain Hook. In order for Peter to save his kids, he must return to Neverland and remember who he once was. Very similar to Jumanji, I think Hook allowed Williams to have a slightly more serious role. Hook has its fun moments and lots of good laughs watching Williams act throughout the movie. I think what draws me to this film, is the different portrayal of Peter Pan. I mean it reminds me of the "What if?" scenerio. What if Peter grew up? What if Peter had kids? Those questions get answered and what better person to be Peter Pan than the everlasting child himself- remember, I said earlier that Robin Williams often reminded me of a child. Besides who else would better suited to say: "To die would be an awfully big adventure..."
Ok my friends, there you have it! My favorite Robin Williams movies all tied up into my own Creative Cabana tribute to a wonderful mastermind and talent. I cannot express in words how much I will miss this beautiful soul, not just for his laughs and talents. He was also a great human in general- he gave so much to support St. Jude's- a philanthropy which I have personally supported through involvement with Greek Life during my college career. Robin Williams was someone I really hoped to meet one day, for real. There will never be another one like him and I still cannot believe that we will never see his smiling face again until it is time for us to pass on. I pray everyday for his friends and family who struggle with his loss. All I can say is Thank You Mr. Williams, Thank You. Wherever you may be, I hope you have found peace and happiness far beyond what this world could provide.
*All thoughts and comments mentionned in this post are strictly of my own beliefs. These do not reflect those of Robin Williams, his family, friends, co-workers, or entertainment associates. I do not own any of the movies mentionned in this post. All films and clips used belong strictly to their respective filmmakers, and producers. Clips used were published on YouTube from other associate users and have legal right under the Fair Use Act. Images used in this post were gathered from Google Images Search Results. These photos belong to their respective photographers/creators and I take no ownership over these images. No Copyright Infringement Intended.
