16 Details from Mafia Movies You May Not Have Known

It seems like everyone likes mob movies. Maybe it's the glamourous life the guys seemingly lead, with money, power and more. Maybe it's the dark, seedy deals that go down, who knows. But when it comes to those ever famous mob movies, sometimes there are details you may or may not know

1. The actor who portrayed Luca Brasi in The Godfather was, in real life, a Mafia bodyguard

-Lenny Montana, who played the ill-fated bodyguard Luca Brasi in the film adaptation of Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather was a real life Mafia bodyguard. Actual mob members were on set to help make it accurate and oversee filming. When Francis Ford Coppola hired him, Montana was so nervous and kept forgetting his lines because he was acting with Marlon Brando. The director made Montana's forgetting of lines a part of his character

2. The cat Vito Corleone has was a stray off the street

-Francis Ford Coppola brought in a cat off the street to improvise with Marlon Brando. The cat loved Brando so much it would sit on his lap for the entire day

3. In the film Goodfellas, director Martin Scorsese's mother Catherine plays Joe Pesci's mother

-It's true. In the film Goodfellas, Catherine Scorsese plays the mother of Tommy De Vito, Joe Pesci's character. She also appears in Casino, playing the mother of character Artie Piscano

4. In the film Goodfellas, real life mobster Henry Hill's real federal prosecutor appears

-Famed New York mobster-turned-federal informant Henry Hill's federal prosecutor appears in this movie. Edward McDonald is the prosecutor who worked on the case of getting Henry Hill in to witness protection after he was arrested for drug trafficking

5. The Departed predicts a character's death with an X

-In any scene where a character dies, there is an X somewhere that is visible

6. To accurately portray Al Capone in The Untouchables, Robert De Niro tracked down Al Capone's tailor

-Robert De Niro is known for accurately portraying historical characters. And Chicago mob boss Al Capone is no different. He put on the weight himself and even tracked down Al Capone's tailor to make suits for him. New York tailor Henry Stewart mentioned around the time of the film's release that he was angered by all the fuss Giorgio Armani was getting for his role in production while it was Stewart who had more to do with De Niro's wardrobe.

7. Real-life Mafia hit man Frank Cullotta appears in Casino as, surprise surprise, a hitman

-In the 1995 film Casino, the older gentleman wearing a hat and glasses is a real life, former mob hit man named Frank Cullotta. He was a close friend of Tony Spilotro, the person Joe Pesci's character Nicky Santoro is based on

8. The horse head used in The Godfather is real

-The horse head used in the iconic scene was taken from a dog food factory because the mockup looked too fake

9. Tony Montana eats a lemon from a hand-washing bowl in Scarface

-In the iconic 1983 film, Al Pacino plays a Cuban refugee-turned-drug lord Tony Montana. In one scene, he can be seen eating a lemon from a bowl of water normally used to clean your hands. This indicates he had no exposure to upper class society

10. Marlon Brando hid weights on his stretcher as a prank in The Godfather

-In The Godfather, when Don Vito Corleone returns home from the hospital, he is carried upstairs on a stretcher. As a prank, he placed weights underneath

11. In The Godfather, Pt. II, young Vito Corleone is marked as "mentally deficient"

-When young Vito arrives at Ellis Island, an X is placed on his jacket. When immigrants would arrive at Ellis Island, those marked with X's were believed by the inspectors to suffer from mental deficiencies

12. At least 27 actors who appeared in Goodfellas also appeared in The Sopranos

-Out of the entire cast of Goodfellas, at least 27 of the actors or actresses who appear in this movie appeared in one capacity or another as a character on The Sopranos, whether it be full time roles or guest roles. A few examples include: Michael Imperioli. He played Spider in Goodfellas and Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos. Frank Vincent, who played Billy Batts in Goodfellas but Phil Leotardo on The Sopranos. Lorraine Bracco, who played Karen Hill in Goodfellas but Dr. Jennifer Melfi on The Sopranos. Tony Sirico, who played flashy mobster Tony Stacks in Goodfellas but old-school mobster Paule "Walnuts" Gualtieri on The Sopranos

13. In the film Goodfellas, no one dies at the hands of Henry Hill

-Henry Hill insists he was not a murderer, so that's why no one is seen dying at Henry's hands in the film

14. In the film The Irishman, Frank Sheeran's rumored Kangaroo Fight is referenced

-In the background of Frank Sheeran's (Robert De Niro) office, there is a photograph showing him with a kangaroo. Regina Graves, who was the set decorator, heard that real life legend Frank Sheeran boxed a kangaroo when he got out of the army so she made a reference to it

15. In The Irishman, Robert De Niro wore lifts

-In this film, Robert De Niro wore lifts to appear taller as his character Frank Sheeran was much taller than Jimmy Hoffa

16. In Goodfellas, real money was used

-Robert De Niro didn't like the way the fake money looked, so he insisted on real money. The prop director withdrew money from his own bank account for the film and forced everyone to count the money after each scene was filmed before any one left to ensure it was all there, that none was missing

21 Awe-inspiring facts about Princess Diana

Princess Diana was a beautiful woman who was kind, loving, highly intelligent and just so happened to be thrust in to the world of the royals. Instead of flaunting her status as a royal, she did everything in her power to bring attention to various causes. Of course, she suffered from depression, which was caused by her failing marriage and her strong disapproval of the Royal Family. Probably to this day, the royal family still disapproves of her simply because she refused to follow tradition. It's a shame that people in the royal family should think so low of her

1. She worked hard to remove the stigma of AIDS

-Despite being a royal, she worked tirelessly to try and remove the nasty stigma AIDS seems to carry. She was a proud supporter of AIDS-related charities and made visits to patients in hospitals all over England. The thought that touching someone with AIDS was highly risky was removed when she asked that media capture her embracing patients in hugs. She was quoted as saying "HIV does not make people dangerous to know. You can shake their hands and give them a hug. Heaven knows they need it."

2. She brought leprosy to the world's attention

-Very similar to the stigma of HIV/AIDS, she worked hard to get the taboo of leprosy changed. Diana supported those who were afflicted with the disease, despite Queen Elizabeth II reportedly asking Diana to support a "much more pleasant" cause instead. Diana supported these people despite what the Royal Family did or said

3. She was against landmines

-In 1997, she travelled to Angola to bring awareness to landmines being used there in the various civil wars being committed. She was photographed walking through a former minefield and brought awareness to the lack of prosthetics. Because of her International Campaign to Ban Landmines, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously, a few months after she died

4. She supported homeless youth

-A cause you normally hear about too often on the news, Diana supported these young souls as well. Centrepoint, a charity helping homeless youth, was her main choice of support for this topic. 1992 saw her becoming a patron of this charity and was quoted as saying "We, as a part of society, must ensure that young people - who are our future - are given the chance they deserve."

5. She sold her clothing to raise money for charity

-While some celebrities would rather chew off their own body parts than part with their luxurious clothing, Diana was the opposite. She sold 79 of her world-famous dresses to raise money for AIDS/breast cancer research. This was suggested by her then 15 year old son, Prince William, at the time

6. She stood up to the Royal Family

-Not an easy task, you would think. Standing up to a small yet mighty woman who controls what happens sounds as easy as defusing a bomb with a hyperactive kid banging cymbals behind you. But Diana was able to stand up to the deeply rooted traditions of the British Royal Family. She did this in small ways that did not go unnoticed by the people of England. Out of all the royals, she was the only one to work with AIDS charities. She chose to raise her sons herself instead of hiring nannies. On her many visits outside to hospitals to speak with patients, she never wore loud, lavish hats or gloves because she found it disrespectful to the patients. She also was the first royal to have a "common" engagement ring picked out of a catalogue, like what most if not all normal people do when getting engaged. This ring is now worn by Duchess Kate Middleton

7. She initiated an "equal" wedding tradition

-Tradition in the Royal Family says the wife obeys the husband. At her wedding to Prince Charles, she not only broke this tradition: she shattered it. This small act stirred up high levels of controversy and was considered unheard of at the time. Since Diana considered herself a free spirit and a strong supporter of equality, she made sure to lead by example. This still rings three decades later, as Prince William and Duchess Kate did the same thing and even Prince Harry and Megan Markle did too

8. She was a women's advocate

-She had a genuine care and love for women and girls. She advocated for these ladies and girls. Rather than just show up to be just a "gracious royal", she would visit homeless youth centers, sipping coffee as they did and just talk with these people, getting to know them as people. When she visited hospitals, nurses would speak highly of her, saying that she was "never patronizing or detached". She truly cared for people and wanted them to become highly successful, highly independent strong women themselves

9. "Royal wife" are two terms not to describe this woman

-She did everything she could to defy the terms of an expected "royal wife". Despite the fact she helped everyone, she still did have a personality all her own. Her husband Prince Charles invited her to "sit and watch him work", but she would bluntly decline and spend time with the public instead. She also acknowledged her husband's infidelity publicly in a BBC interview in 1995. This interview sparked the now phrase "three is a crowd"

10. She was the first to admit her flaws

-Everyone has flaws. Some are loath to admit it; others will make it the first thing they say. Diana was the first to admit she was not perfect. She was a royal, yes, but she had flaws too; she's human like the rest of us. During her marriage to Prince Charles, she dealt with nearly crushing loneliness because of his affair with Camilla Parker. She began seeking the company of others. She came clean about the affair she had had in a BBC interview prior to her divorce. While there is nothing admirable about engaging in an affair, Diana had the guts and bravery required to admit this on camera. Even though it would taint her reputation, this is proof that she is human

11. She raised her sons without the Royal customs

-She raised her sons as any normal mother would do. She believed in a firm "hands-on" approach to parenting, like any non-royal parent would do with kids. She got up and took them to school herself, take them to McDonalds occasionally and theme parks occasionally. She even attended school events like all mothers. She also taught her sons to homeless shelters, AIDS clinics to help develop empathy for others. "I want my boys to have an understanding of people's emotions, their insecurities, people's distress, and their hopes and dreams," she said in an interview

12. She sent "thank you" notes

-What royal does this? I know. Princess Diana. Every little detail mattered to this beautiful soul. She sent thank you notes for even the smallest deed and instilled this in her sons, Harry and William. Prince William continues this habit to this day. A good example is a chauffeur showing William a fun video one day and William giving him a thank you note

13. She openly admitted her struggle with depression

-With the media being the harassing vultures they are, always looking for dirt on the latest celeb, instead of highlighting the good, the disapproval of the royal family, her marriage falling to bits, it's no wonder Diana began to suffer from depression. She wrote an autobiography and it detailed her suffering from post-partum depression after having her son William. Compounding her depression was the fact her husband Charles was never around and the royal family all but turning their backs on her. She went public with her depression diagnosis in the hopes that more time would be spent researching mental health to be understood better

14. She publicly acknowledged self-harm and bulimia

-This was at a time when mental health and other disorders were barely known. She brought awareness to them by going public and shedding light on them. During a BBC interview, she came clean about a battle with bulimia that began the moment Charles called her "chubby" the week of their engagement. She spoke of multiple suicide attempts as well as self harm that came because of the mounting pressures surrounding her. Her openness about mental health gave the desperately needed hope to thousands of women and girls suffering the same thing.

15. She shared a connection with Mother Teresa

-She had formed a very strong connection with Mother Teresa. In 1992, Diana had visited Mother Teresa's hospice in Kolkata, India and met every single patient on the verge of death there. The two women would meet three more times before Diana's death to discuss their idea for the betterment of humanity. Five days after Diana's fateful car crash, Mother Teresa herself had passed

16. The UK's first AIDS hospital ward opens thanks to Diana

-1987 saw the opening of the first AIDS hospital ward in the UK. She wanted the public opinion of HIV/AIDS changed and it was thanks to Princess Diana that it did change. While on one hand she considered it important to change the public's view of a disease associated with homosexuals, she would often visit the patients after hours to spend time with them, giving her time to them and making it special

17. She was a patron of the arts

-In her youth, being a ballerina was what Diana wanted to become. But her height exceeded the standards for this career and was forced to change that. She still pursued her love of the arts in any way possible. She made an appearance as a ballerina at the Royal Opera House in 1985 as a surprise for then husband Prince Charles. With marriage into the royal family and other duties, she supported her passion any way she could. She became a patron of the Royal Ballet, a patron of the Natural History Museum and acted as president of the Royal Academy of Music

18.She was a highly talented pianist

-No one would suspect this highly intelligent, kind-hearted woman could tickle the ivories so beautifully. She is and was a classically trained pianist. Her favorite song was Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem and she would play it to the delight of hospital patients to distract them from their woes and to entertain children

19. She loved being around children

-Prior to the birth of her two sons, Diana loved being around children and showing them as much love and affection as possible. When she left school, she took on low-paying, but highly fulfilling jobs as a nanny, youth dance instructor and kindergarten teacher. When she entered the royal family, she spent a lot of time visiting orphanages and children's hospitals. She was a loving, devoted godmother to her friend's daughter who had been born with Down Syndrome. In an interview, her friend mentioned that Diana was "a huge encouragement" and told her to "Believe in her daughter, love her and I'll be there every step of the way."

20.She was an animal rights activist

-One of the many causes she fought for was animal rights. She believed in protecting the animals. She was strongly against the hunting traditions that had been a part of the royal family for generations. Her activism of animal rights stayed with her sons, who are against the ivory trade and the killing of endangered species. Prince William banned all ivory items from the royal palaces to support the efforts of preventing ivory poaching

21. She followed her heart

-You can say whatever you want about Diana, but one thing is true-she followed her heart no matter what. She took a genuine and sincere interest in people. It was just that-genuine and sincere, not that plastered on kindness celebs do. She never sought publicity and if publicity did follow, it caught her doing something good-showing what a kind person she was. Her sons follow in her footsteps of doing what's right for others. In a 1995 interview with Martin Bashir, Diana revealed she never contemplated becoming queen and she'd rather be "queen of people's hearts". She also suspected that the royal family would not want her to become queen because she "leads from the heart and not the head". But Diana has no regrets about anything she did and that she felt it was her duty or calling to "go out into the world and love people."

Replay by Amy Daws

 This is a recent book written by American author Amy Daws, known for her London Lovers series and her other successful series The Harris Brothers. This book focuses on the Bethnal Green FC team lawyer and all around janitor of all things media blitzed and legal, Santino Rossi

Santino Rossi is a British-Italian lawyer for Bethnal Green FC. Managed by former legendary Manchester United player Vaughn Harris, this whole team is his life. Santino Rossi is known by the Bethnal Green team as the "two month chump", because of his inability to maintain a relationship for longer than two months. There is one woman he wants, but they parted on bad terms. They both have demons from their past the other doesn't know about.

Tilly Logan is the younger sister of Bethnal Green player Maclay "Mac" Logan, a hot-tempered, red-headed Scottish spitfire who requested a short term transfer to the Glasgow Rangers when his father was sick as a dying request. Now that he's back in London on Bethnal Green and expecting his first child with his wife Freya, Tilly offered to move in to help with the baby. She didn't think she would run into Santino as often as she does.

Once they start to get to know one another, everything comes out, including the dark secrets they kept from each other. Santino tells her that he is the product of a rape his mother experienced in Italy before moving to the UK. Her family moved to the UK to try and get her a fresh start. His mother told him and pushed him to be successful so he could be better than the man who helped conceive him. Tilly tells him that when she first moved to London because of her brother, she and her work friends had gone out drinking and one friend had given her a pill that knocked her out. When she came to, she was in a strange place with a strange man on top of her, raping her. She then became pregnant with this stranger's baby. She also battled with alcoholism as well. As they begin getting to know each other again, they start falling back in love and before long, they're engaged. Of course, Santino tells his story to Mac and he now understands his sister's boyfriend and also respects him more

Elsewhere, Vaughn Harris hands Santino a contract for a new player Bethnal Green is trying to obtain, an American player named Zander Williams. This player had asked to negotiate housing into his contract. While working late one night working on the contract, Santino receives a call from Jane Williams, Zander's mother. She gives him the truth about Zander-he is, in fact, Vaughn Harris' own son. She had a drunken fling with him after his first wife, Vilma died. She became pregnant and moved to the US, not telling Vaughn about the baby. She tells Santino that they had both gotten drunk one night and it, more or less, just happened. They had a fling. Ever since he received the news, Santino debates on whether or not to tell Vaughn that the player he is so bent on trying to obtain is his own son. Not believing one word, he goes to the apartment (flat in British English) that Zander is living at to have him sign the contract and become an official green and white-wearing Bethnal Green player. The mention of who this player's father is still runs in his head as he waits for the door to open. When it does, he sees the young man and reality hits Santino like a ton of bricks-this young man looks extremely and dangerously close to former Manchester United player Gareth Harris and also...Vaughn Harris.

Law and Order: SVU

 One of my favorite shows. I love watching shows about criminal justice. It's one of my biggest interests.

Summary

-This show follows the work of the Special Victims Unit, whose detectives are trained in the work of sexual crimes

Cast

-Mariska Hargitay: Olivia Benson

-Christopher Meloni: Elliott Stabler

-Ice-T: Odafin "Fin" Tutuola

-Richard Belzer: John Munch

-B.D. Wong: Dr. George Huang

-Tamara Tunie: Dr. Melinda Warner

-Dann Florek: Capt. Donald Cragen

-Kelli Giddish: Amanda Rollins

-Raul Esparza: Rafael Barba

-Diane Neal: Casey Novak

-Stephanie March: Alexander Cabot

-Danny Pino: Nick Amaro

Did You Know?

-Mariska Hargitay, who plays Det. Olivia Benson, is a fully trained rape crisis counselor when she's not acting

-In 2004, Mariska Hargitay created a foundation called The Joyful Heart Foundation. This organization is dedicated to help heal survivors of sexual crimes and start testing the overwhelming amount of untested rape kits and processing the overwhelming amount of unprocessed rape cases

-In an article in TV Guide, many survivors of sexual assault/abuse have approached cast members to personally thank them for showing their stories correctly on TV

-Richard Belzer, who played Det. John Munch, has carried his character over from Homicide: Life on the Street, from 1993, the 2000-era film called Homicide: The Movie and on Law & Order, where he played Det. John Munch. He had several crossover appearances as this character, ranging from an episode of The X-Files to an episode of The Beat, to an episode of Law & Order: Trial by Jury to the season three finale of Arrested Development and an episode of The Wire.

-Originally contracted to only appear in four episodes, Ice-T enjoyed appearing on the show so much he asked to become a permanent member of the cast

-Mariska Hargitay's real life husband, Peter Hermann, who plays Defense Attorney Trevor Langan, appeared in 33 episodes

-On Mariska Hargitay's desk is a photo of her real life mother, Jayne Mansfield

-Prior to landing her role as Det. Amanda Rollins, Kelli Giddish appeared as a rape victim named Kara Bawson in the 2007 season 8, episode 12 "Outsider"

-Det. Fin Tutuola's last name means "the gentle one" in Yoruba

-Two years prior to appearing as Casey Novak, actress Diane Neal appeared on the show in an episode as a woman accused of raping a male stripper

-Out of all the assistant district attorneys the show has had, which were all female, Raul Esparza, who plays Rafael Barba, is the first male assistant district attorney

-Season nine was said to have the largest number of main cast members in the show's entire history. The cast consisted of Mariska Hargitay, Christopher Meloni, Richard Belzer, Diane Neal, Ice-T, Adam Beach, B.D. Wong, Dann Florek, Tamara Tunie

-This show is the longest running spinoff of the original 1990 Law & Order series. Other shows in this large group include Law & Order (1990), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001), Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005), Law & Order: UK (2009), Law & Order: LA (20107), Law & Order: True Crime (2017)

-Olivia and Elliott were named after producer Dick Wolf's children

-From season one to season twelve, episode four "Merchandise", the precinct scenes were filmed in North Bergen, New Jersey. After this episode aired, the precinct scenes started getting filmed to the Chelsea Piers section of Manhattan, which was where the precinct scenes for the original Law & Order were filmed

-Several of the main characters had served in the military at one point or another. Dr. Warner (Tamara Tunie) had been in the Air Force, Det. Stabler (Christopher Meloni) was in the Marines, Captain Cragen was in the Green Berets, which was mentioned on an episode of Law & Order and Det. Tutuola was an Army Ranger

-Gary Sinise was the first choice to play Det. Elliott Stabler. But Christopher Meloni accepted, freeing Sinise to later appear as New York City crime scene investigator Det. Mac Taylor on CSI: NY and later as Senior FBI Supervisory Special Agent Jack Garrett on Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders

-In season fourteen, Det. Olivia Benson is seen wearing a necklace that looks a little like a small dogtag of a design seen earlier in the show. She received it from her psychiatrist after she was kidnapped and tortured, where the original model had been kept in evidence

-Longtime viewers often wondered about the sexuality of the show's resident psychologist, Dr. George Huang (B.D. Wong). His homosexuality was not confirmed until the episode "Hardwired", from season eleven, episode five.

-In real life, New York City does have a Special Victims Unit, but it's called Special Victims Division

-The show bases many episodes on real life events. One episode, "Glasgowman's Wrath", was based on the 2014 case "The Slenderman Stabbing" in Wisconsin. The show also brings awareness to concepts such as fat shaming, anti-vaccine people, cyberbullying, teen pregnancy pacts, human trafficking.

-Jeremy Irons started appearing as Dr. Captain "Cap" Jackson, a self-proclaimed sex addict who was changing his ways and tried and later succeeded in earning trust from Benson and Stabler. He helped them in a child molestation/murder case. The character admitted he slept with his lesbian daughter's object of affection, who came with them on a summer vacation. This similar situation also happened in the 1990s film Lolita, where he played a character named Humbert. He was a well-educated man with a strong, uncontrollable lust for his teenaged stepdaughter

-Many times during the trial, the person on the stand is asked if they recognize the person they're there on behalf of. The ADA will then say "Let the record reflect the witness has identified the defendant." In real life trials, the person testifying is asked to identify where the defendant is sitting and what they're wearing to provide accurate information

At the End of the Day: The Story of the Blaze Bayley Band

 I just officially finished reading this book via e-book version. At first, I was hesitant to read it; I didn't know if I would like it. I didn't want to be like those Iron Maiden fans that only read this to see what the days of Blaze were like in Maiden. I'm thankful that I am genuinely curious about his solo career. But so far, this book is great. It has funny moments and sad moments. It's written by the band's second drummer, Lawrence Paterson. The book is written in two styles-the first half of the book covers Blaze's early life, with bands Wolfsbane and Iron Maiden and the second half covers the first incarnations of the Blaze Bayley band and random thoughts by various band members who have passed through the various lineups. All in all, a good book

-Born Bayley Alexander Cooke on 5/29/1963 in Birmingham, England, Blaze went through what he would call "a family that is not complete". In other words, his parents divorced. Divorce is a word he doesn't like to use; most likely because he might find it odd or disrespectful or such. He went to live with his father, a burgeoning actor, when he was 16. Of course, being in the performing arts, it was only natural that, in some way, this would rub off on the young Bayley Cooke

-Young Blaze and his friends would create stupid nicknames for each other since it was the waning era of glam rock when he and his friends got into music. Someone suggested Blaze and it stuck. There were times in the band Wolfsbane when one of the band members would need a guardian, of a sort, to look after them and they ended up pointing to Blaze, most likely since he was probably the oldest. Which is strange because he was 5'5'' and the rest of the band members were over 6'. He joined Wolfsbane in 1984 and stayed with them until it seemed like they had reached their limits. In the 1990s, Iron Maiden was on the hunt for a new vocalist, as Bruce Dickinson had left to pursue a solo career. But, Bruce would have the last word over the split from Maiden. He had started mouthing off about Steve and the rest of Maiden in the media. When Blaze did leave Maiden, he promised that he would not do what the other guy did and that's mouth off about Maiden. He left on a good note and to this day, Blaze and the rest of Maiden are still the best of friends

-Some of the funny moments from the book include Blaze going to Steve Harris' house in Essex and being greeted by Steve's massive Great Danes. To get to the audition, he borrowed his girlfriend's Ford Fiesta. Upon reaching his house, he didn't realize that after he got out, Steve's dogs relieved themselves near Blaze's car. He stepped in their mess and unbeknownst to him, he tracked that mess through Steve's house. Blaze laughs at the thought and he thought "That's it; I'm bloody fired!" Steve and Blaze spent the first hour of their new writing session cleaning dog mess out of the carpets

-Another hysterical moment came when he had formed the Blaze Bayley band and they had gone to rural England to record one of their albums. The house, which was owned by one of the band members, had a roving army of chickens out front that could only be pacified with food. One of the band members, Dave Bermudez, who's from Columbia, forgot about pacifying the chickens with peanuts and was forced to flee the hungry poultry invaders. Another hysterical moment is when the band went to South America and they were offered a barbecue on the beach. They were starving and joking about which band member they would eat. All eyes went to Blaze because as one band member put it, "He had more rations and we would become more famous".

-More hysterical moments come from various band members describing the tales of a working metal band, travelling via the various airlines. Apparently, the thorn in the side of the Blaze Bayley Band as far as airlines goes is Ryan Air, out of Ireland. One band member called them Leprechaun Airways and described the stewardesses with descriptions that were crazy-person-laughing worthy. This band member described one stewardess as yelling everything as if in a crisis. He said "I would love to have seen her in a real emergency". He also describes the process of getting your luggage through customs, calling some of the airlines who charge for luggage Luggage Nazis.

-In addition to the woes of the various airlines and luggage-weighing patrols at the airport just waiting to tack on additional charges for luggage, various band members describe the venues they played. At one concert in Russia, the band's dressing room was a tent set up over waist high grass. They could catch frogs if they wanted to in their dressing room. Or how some places didn't have working toilets. This would backfire as an unnamed band member had a sudden gastrointestinal attack and needed the solace of white porcelain. Another moment describes the band going out for a curry somewhere in England and hitting up Burger King later. Apparently food poisoning was the order of the day; the King had his revenge and he chose Blaze as the primary recipient. Blaze was sick almost as soon as he left the stage

-Something I didn't know was that Blaze was married. He had married a woman named Debbie, who he known for a long time. Debbie had convinced Blaze to go back into music after leaving Iron Maiden. He was working a dead end job just to make ends meet and he was suffering from clinical depression. She did, however, laugh at the fact he was arrested for assaulting someone in a hardware store, where he was working at the time. He had encountered a customer who proceeded to call him fat, ugly, among other names. Blaze leaped over the counter to start assaulting the guy and, of course, the cops were called. He told the police "Don't let me see him. If I see him, I'm just going to go after him again". He said that she had helped him out of a dark time in his life and it sounds like she was not only his wife and manager, but best friend.

-Debbie ended up becoming manager of the now known Blaze Bayley Band. She would act as manager for them and one day, after a gig, she complained of a headache. She was taken to hospital and put in a medically induced coma. The cause was said to be a massive aneurysm. All of the band members were worried about her, Blaze more than anyone. Especially considering she was his wife. After a few weeks, she seemed to turn for the better, making progress and was even doing physiotherapy. Whenever Blaze could, he visited her in the hospital and played music for her on headphones. The Blaze Bayley song "When You Were Gone" is about her. It's said to be one of the more popular songs from this band. But then, she took a turn for the worse and ended up succumbing to her brain aneurysm, which caused subdural bleeding, which couldn't be stopped. When she died, everyone was stricken with grief. They had lost not only their manager, best friend who made them laugh until they cry and whipped them into shape as a band, but their own singer's wife. At the funeral, Steve Harris had flown in to pay his respects to Debbie and be there for Blaze. A lot of people, including Blaze's band members and even Blaze himself, thought that was incredibly sweet. But Steve is as nice a person as ever. He wanted to be there for his friend during his time of need.

-After Debbie passed, the band needed new management and was able to get a new manager. But this lady would last as long as she could without enduring the stress of managing a band. She said that it all became too much for her, even though all the guys were decent, down to earth people.