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| Hello gang! Some news and notes, a few birthday wishes, TV's best cartoon characters and another sign the apocalypse is upon us. Shall we begin? |
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Frontpage La Floridiana Matt's Rail Digital Divide Movie Review Mike's homepage PCR Archives 2002 2001 2000 Crazed Fanboy home PCR 2002 Home | |
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Birthday wishes to two of the younger members of the PCR family, Matt's nephew Daniel turns 27 (August 1st) and my brother, Barry is an old man at 34 (August 4th).
THANKS, WILL
For mentioning The HATS and Blade in your rundown on local bands. If I ever get enough time, I'll go through the HATS and Blade tapes I have and make a compilation CD. Maybe by then I'll have a copy of the "World of Nolan" episode my voice appeared on!
I AM MICKEY MANTLE'S HEIR
In a sad twist in the Ted Williams case, his blood sucker son, John Henry, has produced a piece of paper that purportedly shows that Ted Williams wanted to be frozen after death. The paper is old, wrinkled and has oil stains on it. On it is scribbled a note basically stating that John Henry and the old man have decided they want to be frozen at death and it is signed by both men. The funny thing is that John Henry's signature is really small, the same size as the lettering of the note, while Ted's is huge! My opinion: the kid found a piece of paper his dad had autographed and then wrote the note above it. Asked why this important document was in such bad shape, John Henry replied that he had kept it in the trunk of his car! Which, of course, is where I keep all of my important papers. Many years ago I got Mickey Mantle to sign a ball at a show in Tampa. I'm thinking I'm going to write, "I leave all of my money to Michael Smith" above the Mick's signature and see if I can make a few bucks.
ANOTHER LIST
In TV Guide's continuing 50th Anniversary celebration, they have ranked the top 50 cartoon characters (not shows) of all time. The top 10:
Among my faves that made the list: Bart and Lisa Simpson (11), Fat Albert (12), Top Cat (18) and Speed Racer (49). Some surprising omissions: Magilla Gorilla, Johnny Quest and Elmer Fudd. I mean, come on, no Elmer J. Fudd. After all, he's a millionaire. He owns a mansion and a yacht.
PASSING ON
Record producer Gus Dudgeon, who guided Elton John through most of the 70's, has died at age 59 from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Dudgeon produced many of Sir Elton's earliest hits, including Rocket Man, Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road, Your Song and Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me. He also produced David Bowie's "Space Oddity." He and Elton parted ways in the mid 70s, and he went on to produce the hit "Fool If You Think It's Over" by Chris Rea. Originally hired as a runner for Olympic Studios, he joined Decca in the mid 60s. He engineered the song "She's Not There" for the Zombies and supervised the groundbreaking "Blues Breakers" album by John Mayall with Eric Clapton. In 1969, he was asked to produce unknown singer/songwriter Elton John's 2nd Album and a career was launched.
WHAT THE FUCK?
People Magazine has published it's list of the 100 Greatest Movie Stars OF ALL TIME!!!! Among the screen immortals: Ben Affleck, Halle Berry, Pierce Brosnan, Josh Hartnet, Jennifer Lopez, Demi Moore, Reese Witherspoon and Catherine Zeta-Jones. OF ALL TIME????? Hell, some of these don't even merit being named the greatest movie stars of 2002. I mean, with the exception of Jennifer Lopez and Demi Moore, who I just can't stand, I like all of the other's named. But come on.......MOVIE STARS. I didn't go see "Pearl Harbor" because Affleck and Hartnet were in it. I went to see that bomb drop right down to the deck of that battleship. Among the hacks left off of the list of GREATEST STARS OF ALL TIME are such little known performers as Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart, Gregory Peck, Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, George C. Scott, Roy Scheider (personal fave), and LAURENCE FUCKING OLIVIER!!!! They even left Elizabeth Taylor off. Elizabeth Taylor!! Hell, if not for Liz (and Richard Burton, who they also left off) there probably wouldn't even be a People magazine.
Well, that's it for this week. I'll be coming at you from Cleveland next week, where my son, Phillip, and I will be enjoying a much-needed break before he heads to college. See ya!