I'm testing a theory that Victor Fleming's masterpiece "The Wizard of Oz" is so woven into popular culture that someone or something makes reference to it at least once every day. It comes up in conversations, songs, TV shows, ads, other films, colloquial saying, etc. For one year I'll be updating this blog each time Oz comes up. Check back daily to see if the theory holds water, or melts in it. (And try it yourself. You'll start to notice Oz everywhere, I promise.)

Monday, April 28, 2008

quote

I'm watching the fantastically wonderful Oz three-disc Collector's Edition (if you want to purchase it, scroll down for a link to it on Amazon). One of the bonus features is a documentary called The Legacy of Oz. Oz historian John Fricke says the following:

...It’s almost impossible to watch television for a week and not hear an Oz reference, a paraphrase of Oz dialog...

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Surrounded by Oz

As I type this I'm literally surrounded by Wizard of Oz materials. I can't seem to escape it! (That's a good thing.) But I can't count these as references, as it's work related. So the outside world needs to start coughing up some Oz references too.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

me = neglectful

I'm sorry. Oz has been everywhere but I've been neglectful of updating. There was an Oz reference on Jeopardy yesterday, and last Thursday's The Office had one as well. I should be providing more details, but it's getting late and I'm tired. You trust me, right?

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Judd Apatow needs to chill

Apatow is just putting out too many movies. The first few were funny, but they are becoming formulaic and repetitive, with fewer and fewer truly funny moments. I just watched Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. It was ok at best. At least it had an Oz reference. In a song about fighting for midget rights, Dewey sings:

I'm banging your drum,
your big day will come
When they remake
The Wizard of Oz.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

IT TRULY IS A YEAR OF OZ

Today my yellow brick road took a pretty fantastic twist. Without being able to say too much, I was very fortunate to be on the receiving end of a Wizard of Oz assignment at work. (Well, I lobbied for it a bit. But seriously, who else should get the Wizard of Oz project?)

So it truly will be a Year of Oz. I'll be doing something Oz-related practically every day for the next few months. I won't count these as official references, but I'm pretty stoked none-the-less.

If I were a monkey, this is about how I looked today:

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

there's something to this...

Every time I post complaining that there haven't been any Oz references, one pops up a few hours later.

I've already admitted that I watch American Idol, while tonight the hippie dude (Jason Castro) sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." He did the Israel [something-or-another]'ole version, which you may remember from an eToys commercial several years back.

Israel's version is stunning, and I must say, the hippie dude didn't butcher it. I was pleasantly surprised on all counts.

cold, slow

Sorry no updates lately. There simply haven't been any Oz references to speak of. It's about as depressing as this winter has been. Maybe spring will bring a more fruitful batch of references.