No kidding.
On The Cover Of The Rolling Stone
The ASME has picked the best 40 magazine covers of the past 40 years, and I’m not very impressed (Caution: their page takes a looong time to load). The #1 choice is the classic Naked-Fetal-John-Lennon-Kissing-Yoko (Anne Leibowitz) from the cover of Rolling Stone. Ugh. Anyway, here are my eight favorites of the ASME Top 40, in order:
Sig Frohlich, R.I.P
Sig Frohlich is dead. Sig Frohlich, who has died aged 97, was a bit-part actor for much of his long career in Hollywood, playing messengers, waiters, callboys, clerks and soldiers, rarely earning even a flicker of recognition from viewers over 50 years. In 1935 he was a mutineer in Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Clark Gable, and a gentleman in … Read More
Sad News
August Wilson, who chronicled the African-American experience in the 20th century in a series of plays that will stand as a landmark in the history of black culture, of American literature and of Broadway theater, died yesterday at a hospital in Seattle. He was 60 and lived in Seattle. The cause was liver cancer, said his assistant, Dena Levitin. Mr. … Read More
The “Most Challenged Books” Meme
Via Majikthise: "How many of the American Library Association’s top 100 most frequently challenged books have you read?" Mmmmm…. 3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou 5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck 13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger 18. The Color Purple … Read More
Don’t Dream It, See It
I generally don’t write about local events, but my weblog stat counter thingee informs me that I am averaging a couple hundred hits a day now, and many of you are from the Triad region. So to anyone within driving distance of Winston-Salem, have I got a show for you to see. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the … Read More
Would You Believe?
Don Adams ("Agent 86" on Get Smart, as well as the voice of Inspector Gadget) is dead? I blame CHAOS.
Survival Tips From The Emmy-Award Winning Series “Lost”
As a public service, I thought I would pass on some knowledge that I have accumulated by watching the hit ABC series "Lost". These tidbbits might come in handy the next time your plane crashes on a remote tropical paradise: After a few days on the island, abandon all hope of being rescued at all . . . ever. Chances … Read More
Now Presenting…
What do movies "Big", "Singing In The Rain", and "Carrie" have in common? Need a hint? Add to that list: "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", "Hairspray", "The Producers", and "The Lion King". Yup. They are all movies that have become Broadway musicals. The stage versions of "Big", "Singing In The Rain", and "Carrie" bombed. But, quite obviously, others like "The Producers" didn’t. … Read More
Gilligan Voted Off The Island
Bob Denver is dead. He was 70, and I feel old. He died here last Friday at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital. I didn’t even know he was in town. Full bio (sort of) at Wikipedia.
A Million Ways
Partly because I’m over 40, and partly because I believe that music videos jumped the shark about 15 years ago, it’s no surprise that I never heard of "OK Go" and their video for "A Million Ways". But no more. This is a great video (and a great song). No fancy shots, no babes, not even a single video cut. … Read More
There’s No Place Like . . . Hey!
A pair of the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the "Wizard of Oz" were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids Saturday night. Few details were available on the theft Sunday evening. Grand Rapids Police Chief Leigh Serfling confirmed the theft of the slippers to the Herald-Review on Sunday, but declined to comment on any of … Read More
In A World…
where movie trailer voiceover guys are heard, but rarely seen . . . and just when you thought it was safe to avoid satire . . . comes a hil-AR-ious comedy for the whole family… If you must see only one funny short film made by the guys who do movie trailer voiceovers this summer, make it this one (mov … Read More
Beware The Red Shirt!
Wikipedia reminds us about the significance of red shirts in science fiction television: A redshirt is a stock character in science fiction whose sole purpose is to die violently soon after being introduced. Redshirts are a plot device used to indicate the dangerous circumstances faced by the main characters at the start of a narrative. *** The term comes from … Read More
Klingon Fairy Tales
From McSweeney’s: "Goldilocks Dies With Honor at the Hands of the Three Bears" "Snow White and the Six Dwarves She Killed With Her Bare Hands and the Seventh Dwarf She Let Get Away as a Warning to Others" "There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe With a Big Spike on It" "The Three Little Pigs Build an … Read More