Used Cars

This movie is hysterical. It's definitely not for kids, though.

Summary
-Rudy Russo is a used car salesman who wants to run for State Senate. He comes to his boss Luke and asks him to front $10,000 to secure a spot. But problems come up as Luke's brother Roy, who runs a rival car lot across the street, wants the spot because a new highway intersection is due to be developed there. To make problems worse, Luke's long lost daughter shows up amidst the war between the two rival car lots

 



Cast
-Kurt Russell: Rudy Russo
-Gerrit Graham: Jeff
-Jack Warden: Roy L. Fuchs/Luke Fuchs
-Frank McRae: Jim the Mechanic
-Deborah Harmon: Barbara Fuchs
-Joe Flaherty: Sam Slaton
-David L. Lander: Freddie Paris
-Michael McKean: Eddie Winslow
-Alfonso Arau: Manuel

Did You Know?
-Initially, Jack Warden, who plays Roy Fuchs, didn't want the role. But Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis told him that actors love roles where they can act drunk, play dead or do multiple roles. Gale and Zemeckis told him he could also play the role of Roy's brother Luke and he accepted. So it's the same actor playing Roy and Luke

-At the time of this film's release, Laverne & Shirley was still in production, which explains why Michael McKean and David L. Lander are in this movie. They are both best known for their roles as Lenny & Squiggy on the show
-When the judge is in court, a small gallows can be seen. There is a tiny doll attached to it that, when he hits the button, the floor drops out. The doll is of Han Solo from Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
-Filming was near impossible because the car lot was built across an actual section of Arizona highway
-Two of the cars that Rudy Russo passes off are a white Ford Thunderbird convertible and a black Mercury with flames. Both were featured in the film Grease; the T-Birds owning the Thunderbird and the Scorpions owning the Mercury
-In the scene where Rudy (Kurt Russell) and Jeff (Gerritt Graham) are shoveling dirt over Luke's burial spot, Gerritt Graham had no lines. Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale had no lines for him and Graham kept annoying them for lines. It was finally decided Graham would repeat anything Russell said. Warden didn't know about this and when he said "What're you? A f---in' parrot?" The annoyance in his voice was real

-The film was made at Columbia Pictures because the head of the studio once sold cars, so he could understand it immediately

 

 

-When Jeff was shooting Roy's cars, there was real ammunition in the guns he used to shoot the windshields and headlights

20 facts you may or may not have known about Black Sabbath

The band who is officially known as the "Godfathers of British Heavy Metal", seem to be in every book about hard rock or heavy metal. Even if you think you know EVERYTHING about Ozzy, Geezer, Tony and Bill, there's bound to be something you may or may not know about Black Sabbath.

1

-Black Sabbath broke up before they even got out of the starting gate. Tony Iommi left to join Jethro Tull for a short time. It didn't work out

Tony is the one in the hat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

-It's been suggested that Black Sabbath got their name from an old horror movie starring Boris Karloff. But an American psych band called Coven boasts credit for having a song called "Black Sabbath" and a bassist named Oz Osborne

3

-The whereabouts of the mysterious witch-like figure from the band's 1969 debut album are unknown to this day

4

-Over the years, the artwork for 1970's Paranoid has confused fans. The blurry shield and sword-holding fighter was supposed to depict the original name of the album-War Pigs. But with the Vietnam War still going on, Warner Brothers, who released the album, felt uncomfortable with such a lurid, political title

5
-The song "Fairies Wear Boots", from the band's 1970 album Paranoid, was inspired by a dangerous encounter with combat boot-wearing skinheads during one of the band's earliest concerts

6

-Despite Bill Ward's tendency to smash his drums with John Bonham-like ferocity, his major influences were legendary big band names like Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich

7

-Yes keyboard player Rick Wakeman played keyboards on the band's 1973 album Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

8

-Legendary graphic designers Hipgnosis was brought in to design the cover for the band's 1976 album Technical Ecstasy, but Ozzy referred to it as "two robots screwing on an elevator"

9
-Despite the fact that Ozzy left the band in 1979, he actually quit the group in late 1977, forcing the band to bring in Dave Walker, former member of Savoy Brown, for a performance on TV the band was scheduled to do

10

-When Ozzy was fired in the late 1970s, the person who replaced him was Ronnie James Dio, who was recommended by none other than Sharon Arden, daughter of Black Sabbath manager Don Arden and later on to become Sharon Osbourne

11

-Since 1979, Geoff Nicholls has provided his talents on keyboards. He has also backed up Ozzy's concert vocals and also the iconic bass lines on 1980's "Heaven and Hell". This is said to be reminiscent of "Mainline Riders", a song by Quartz, the band Nicholls was previously with

12

-In 1983, Ian Gillan joined the band and made Born Again. There were plans to start a new band. Not only that, but the album that would become Seventh Star was supposed to be a Tony Iommi solo album, but because of the record label releasing the album, they insisted on having the name "Black Sabbath" on it

 

13

-The only lineup of Black Sabbath that is hardly ever mentioned or even celebrated is the 1986 Seventh Star lineup. It included former Deep Purple bassist Glenn Hughes on vocals, future Kiss drummer Eric Singer and bassist Dave "The Beast" Spitz, brother of Dan Spitz of Anthrax fame

14

-Ray Gillen, formerly of the band Badlands, recorded all the vocals for the 1987 album The Eternal Idol. But when he left, Tony Martin's vocals replaced them

15

-At one time, Tony Iommi and Lita Ford were engaged to be married. She broke it off after the album she was working on and he was producing was shelved. But she went on to sing a duet with Ozzy called "Close My Eyes Forever"

16

-Brian May, guitarist for Queen, plays on "When Death Calls" from 1989's Headless Cross

17
-When Sabbath was due to open for Ozzy during his solo tour, Ronnie James Dio, who had recently returned to Sabbath, refused, saying he would not open for a clown. Instead, they got another metal singer in place-Rob Halford, who luckily was playing with Priest at the same festival where Sabbath was playing
18
-Actor Tom Hanks is a strong supporter of Aston Villa football club, just like Sabbath bassist Terence "Geezer" Butler, who happens to be one of his best friends. Both Hanks and Butler can often be seen together at Aston Villa matches
19
-The four original members of Black Sabbath almost recorded a reunion album in 2001 had it not been for problems with Ozzy recording his reality TV show
20
-Tony Iommi wrote a song for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest, which was played by an Armenian band called Dorians

How sad is this?

I'm going to combine two posts in one!

Asia co-founder/King Crimson veteran John Wetton has passed

-John Wetton joined King Crimson in 1972. Some of the albums he made with the band include Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black and Red. He also had short stints with Roxy Music, Uriah Heep and co-founding the band U.K. with Bill Bruford. He then went on to form the band Asia, consisting of him on vocals, ex-Emerson, Lake & Palmer drummer Carl Palmer, ex-Yes members Steve Howe and Geoff Downes. Asia was scheduled to tour with Journey, but he had to pull out due to undergoing chemotherapy

Black Sabbath keyboard player Geoff Nicholls has passed

-Geoff Nicholls, who has played keyboards with Sabbath from 1979-2004, has lost his battle with lung cancer. Tony Iommi posted something on his Facebook page about it. "I’m so saddened to hear the loss of one of my dearest and closest friends Geoff Nicholls,” he wrote. “He’s been suffering for a while now with lung cancer and he lost his battle this morning. Geoff and I have always been very close and he has been a real true friend to me and supported me all the way for nearly 40 years. I will miss him dearly and he will live in my heart until we meet again. Rest In Peace my dear friend"

-Geezer Butler also shares his thoughts. "Very sad to hear of old friend and Sabbath keyboard player Geoff Nicholls passing. RIP Geoff". What some may not know is that during the mid to late 1970s, when Sabbath was going through trouble, Ozzy getting fired and Geezer quitting, Nicholls stepped in on bass, being an accomplished bass player. When Butler returned, Nicholls went back to keyboards.

February Birthdays

Since it's February, time to say Happy Birthday

Alice Cooper

-Birth name: Vincent Damon Furnier

-DOB: 2/4/1948

-Where: Detroit, Michigan

-Going to be: 69

-He appeared in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare as Freddy's stepfather

Joe Pesci

-Birth name: Joseph Frank Pesci

-DOB: 2/9/1943

-Where: Newark, New Jersey

-Going to be: 74

-Known for his use of excessive profanity in some movies

Alan Rickman

-Birth name: Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman

-DOB: 2/21/1946

-Where: Hammersmith, London, England

-DOD: 1/14/2016

-Where: London, England (pancreatic cancer)

-Was 69 at time of death

-His best known role was playing Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series

Steve Irwin

-Birth name: Stephen Robert Irwin

-DOB: 2/22/1962

-Where: Essendon, Australia

-DOD: 9/4/2006

-Where: Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia (stingray attack)

-Was 44 at time of death

-Was known for his strong Australian accent and his strong love of animals

Tony Iommi

-Birth name: Anthony Frank Iommi

-DOB: 2/19/1948

-Where: Aston, Birmingham, England

-Going to be: 69

-Lost the tips of his fingers in an industrial accident in his late teens

Adrian Smith

-Birth name: Adrian Frederick Smith

-DOB: 2/27/1957

-Where: London, England

-Going to be: 60

-Was previously in a band called Urchin, which also, at one time, featured his good friend Dave Murray

Matt Groening

-Birth name: Matthew Abram Groneing

-DOB: 2/15/1954

-Where: Portland, Oregon

-Going to be: 63

-Creator of The Simpsons

Day 30 - Your favorite book of all time

I have to say this is, without a doubt, my all time favorite book