I have been watching the new show on Fox – On The Lot. The premise of the show is to find the best new director and give them a movie deal. Each week they give the directors a new assignment. Last week they all had to make a short one minute comedy movie. There were a few good ones, and a few stinkers. You can vote online, so watch the show and then get out your online bic pens and cast your vote!
Well it looks like the news on Anna Nicole Smith has finally run its course. I did a search for her name the other day and most of the results were based on her job as spokeswoman for Hoodia (Trimspa). Of course, she does have some “memorable roles” in films I can’t really remember the names of. At least the films are not on my ‘must rent’ list!
Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day (due to the decoration of graves of those who have died in service in the Civil War). It was proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan and was first observed on May 30, 1868 when flowers were placed on the graves of Confederate and Union soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first State to recognize the holiday was New York in 1873 and by 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The southern states refused to recognize the holiday until after the end of World War I. They preferred to recognize Confederate soldiers on a different date.
After World War I, Memorial day became a date to remember all who have died in wars. It is now recognized in almost every state as the last Monday in May, and it is a federal holiday. Several Southern states still have a separate date to honor Confederate soldiers.
Some people believe that this date is a day to honor all dead, but it is actually a date reserved to honor those that have fallen during military service. Many cities still have parades and celebrations, but these activities are fading. In December, 2000, Congress passed a resolution for a National Moment of Remembrance. At 3:00pm on Memorial Day, Americans are encouraged to take a moment of silence or listen to Taps to remember those who have fought for freedom for this country.
Now that there are so many people running for President, I think I am going to put out yard markers for Dave. Dave was a 1993 movie starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver. Dave was the splitting image of the President and when the President suddenly becomes ill, his Chief of Staff encourages Dave to play the part for “a while.” Dave is only supposed to do what his Chief of Staff tells him, but he decides otherwise and becomes a President that everyone likes.
My favorite part of the movie is when Dave calls his friend Murray Blum (played by Charles Grodin) to help him with the budget. Blum is a CPA and is amazed at the mess the budget is in. He helps Dave find 350,000,000 from the current budget to help homeless children.
The movie is a comedy, but there are some heartwarming parts as well!
One of my favorite Alfred Hitchcock movies is Rear Window starring Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly. Jimmy Stewart is in a wheelchair and has nothing to do, so he starts watching people through his window blinds. Stewart is a photographer and finds the people from his apartment complex interesting. That is until he suspects one of the residents of murder. This movie really kept me on the edge of my seat! Stewart’s acting is fantastic and the plot is interesting. Rent or buy this one!
My daughter found an old sticker book for the Star Trek: The Next Generations television series, so I started to think – Whatever happened to my favorite character Data?
Lieutenant Commander Data was played by Brent Spiner. Brent was born February 2, 1949 in Houston, Texas. Spiner started acting in High School and later in college. After a couple of rough starts, Spiner became a stage actor in New York on Broadway and off-Broadway. He landed a bit part in Woody Allen’s play Stardust Memories and later moved to Hollywood to be in the play Little Shop of Horrors.
While in Hollywood, Spiner appeared in a few television series and movies. He landed the role of Data in 1987 on Star Trek: The Next Generation, a spinoff of the original Star Trek television series. Data was a lovable android who sometimes needed a computer memory upgrade!
Spiner stayed with the show for all of its 7 year run and starred in four Star Trek movies. He currently keeps busy with small parts in films and television.
Blackbeard the Pirate was born as Edward Teach in 1680. He was an English pirate that terrorized the seas from 1716 to about 1718. Not much is known about his early years, but he was a privateer before he became a pirate. As a pirate, on his ship Queen Anne’s Revenge, he would mainly target merchant ships and take all their belongings. Although he is often mentioned as a cruel man, it never seemed that he had anyone killed from the merchant ships.
He often resided in the Carolinas and the Bahamas (in fact Beaufort NC real estate offices use his image frequently). He is most famous for his blockade of Charleston, SC in 1718. He plundered merchant ships and held some passengers hostage. They were later released in exchange for medicines.
Later in 1718 Lieutenant Robert Maynard was ordered to hunt down Blackbeard. Blackbeard was finally cornered and was involved in a sword and gunfight with Maynard. Blackbeard wounded Maynard, but was shot by Maynard and later wounded in the face and neck by one of Maynard’s men. He died from blood loss while trying to load his pistol. Maynard cut off Blackbeard’s head and hung it from the bow of the ship. Blackbeard was reported has having been shot more than five times and stabbed more than twenty times before he died. His head was taken to Bath, NC where it was put on a pike, supposedly to scare off any of Blackbeard’s pirate friends!
Blackbeard’s ship was alleged to be found near Beaufort, NC and is a tourist attraction now. Blackbeard never was a rich man. After his death, his belongs were soled for 2,500 pounds which is approximately $5,000 today.
Tom Poston will always be remembered for his comedy, but he actually started out first as a acrobat at age nine and then, after service in World War II, as a dramatic actor in Cyrano de Bergerac. Tom was born October 17, 1921 in Columbus, Ohio. His first appeared in comedy routines on The Steve Allen Show with Don Knotts. He was given the chance to star in his own comedy movies in the 1960s, but few of these are well remembered.
Tom returned to television in such hits at Mork and Mindy (1978) and Newhart (1982). He also continued in musical theater.
Tom has been married three times. First to actress Jean Sullivan with whom he had a daughter, Francesca. He married Kay and had two sons Hudson and Jason. He divorced Kay in 1975, but they later remarried in 1980 and remained together until her death of ALS in 1988. They were often seen together on television talking about her crippling disease.
Tom’s last marriage was to Suzanne Pleshette (they had both worked together on The Bob Newhart Show in 1972). Tom passed away suddenly at age 80 on April 30, 2007. His last appearances were on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody in 2006.
Tom was an amazingly funny guy. His facial expressions always provided a laugh! He will be missed.
Christine at the passionate ailurophile is having a little contest. She wants to buy something for herself, but can’t decide. Here is my post about what she should buy!
You know that I love to find out about things of the past. So I am hoping that Christine will pick The Odd Couple: The Complete First Season as the thing that she wants to buy! I remember watching The Odd Couple as a child and thought it was very funny! Later, when Jack Klugman became the star of Quincy, that became my favorite show.
The Odd Couple series was based on the original The Odd Couple movie (1968) written by Neil Simon and starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. The series was started in 1970 and starred Tony Randall as Felix Unger and Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison. The premise of the show was two friends who decide to room together after Felix’s wife kicks him out of the house. The two characters can’t be more opposite. Felix is clean and anal-retentive and Jack is sloppy and casual.
The series is a comedy, but is heartwarming as well. Felix and Jack learn to care about each other even though their interests are different. A valuable lesson that we haven’t learned today!
Both Tony Randall and Jack Klugman went on to star in other roles after the show was canceled in 1975. Tony died in May 2004 in New York City. He was 84 years old. Jack Klugman is 85 and continues to act even after throat cancer destroyed part of his larynx.
