July Birthdays

Since it's July, it's time to say Happy Birthday!

Triple H

-Birth name: Paul Michael Levesque

-DOB: 07/27/1969

-Where: Nashua, New Hampshire

-He shaved his head in 2012 to have a more professional look while working in the office

Kevin Nash

-Birth name: Kevin Scott Nash

-DOB: 7/9/1959

-Where: Detroit, Michigan

-He had his hair cut short for his role as the Russian in the 2004 film The Punisher. During the scene where he and Thomas Jane are fighting, Jane accidentally stabbed him with a knife and Nash didn't know he was really bleeding until someone told him

Bret Hart

-Birth name: Bret Sergeant Hart

-DOB: 7/2/1957

-Where: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

-To this day, he is still deeply affected by the death of his brother Owen Hart

Mick Jagger

-Birth name: Michael  Phillip Jagger

-DOB: 7/26/1943

-Where: Dartford, Kent, England

-Is half Australian from his mother's side and half English from his father's side

Sylvester Stallone

-Birth name: Sylvester Enzio Stallone

-DOB: 7/6/1946

-Where: New York City, New York

-When he was 15, his classmates voted him "most likely to end up in the electric chair"

Lauren Harris

-DOB: 7/6/1984

-Where: Essex, England

-The oldest child to current Iron Maiden bassist/founding member/primary songwriter Steve Harris

Geezer Butler

-Birth name: Terence Michael Butler

-DOB: 7/17/1949

-Where: Birmingham, England

-He earned the nickname "Geezer", which is British slang for "guy", "dude", because he had a habit of calling everyone a "geezer"

Ringo Starr

-Birth name: Richard Starkey

-DOB: 7/7/1940

-Where: Liverpool, England

-He wrote the song "Octopus's Garden" after conversing with a chef about octopi on vacation

Ronnie James Dio

-Birth name: Ronald James Padavona

-DOB: 7/10/1942

-Where: Portsmouth, New Hampshire

-DOD: 5/16/2010

-Where: Los Angeles, California (stomach cancer)

-Prior to music, Dio attended the University of Buffalo in New York in 1960-1961. He was studying to become a pharmacist

Eric Carr

-Birth name: Paul Charles Caravello

-DOB: 7/12/1950

-Where: Brooklyn, New York

-DOD: 11/24/1991

-Where: New York City, New York (cancer)

-The Kiss album Revenge is dedicated to him

Daniel Radcliffe

-Birth name: Daniel Jacob Radcliffe

-DOB: 7/23/1998

-Where: Fulham, London, England

-Out of all the Harry Potter books, he says his favorite is the third book, Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkban

Helen Mirren

-Birth name: Helen Lydia Mironoff

-DOB: 7/26/1945

-Where: Hammersmith, London, England

-She has a tattoo of a star on her left hand, which she had gotten at an American Indian reservation in Minnesota

Brian May

-Birth name: Brian Harold May

-DOB: 7/19/1947

-Where: Hampton, Middlesex, England

-His trademark "Red Special" guitar was assembled from various pieces of junk, including motorcycle valve springs, a knitting needle, mother-of-pearl buttons, a discarded fireplace mantle.

Roger Taylor

-Birth name: Roger Meddows Taylor

-DOB: 7/26/1949

-Where: Kings Lynn, Norfolk, England

-He's multi-talented. He can not only play drums, but he can play bass, guitar, keyboards

Ian Anthony Dale

-DOB: 7/3/1978

-Where: St. Paul, Minnesota

-He's of Japanese, French and English descent

Rowdy by Ariel Toombs and Colt Toombs

This book, originally started by "Rowdy" Roddy Piper himself and finished by his kids after his death in July 2015 from a heart attack in his sleep, tells the story of the man we all know and love (and hate, according to some) in the world of professional wrestling. It's cobbled together from what Roddy wrote during a trip through Canada and North America to find out who he really is, stories from people who worked with him both in wrestling and acting and what his kids knew of him

Summary

-Roderick George Toombs was born and raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. His father, Stanley Toombs and mother Eileen Toombs, raised their kids in the strictly Victorian style, which meant that you, more or less, knew your place and worked hard not to stray from it. Roddy was hyperactive and would have an active imagination. His father, Stanley, was a CN Rail Officer. Essentially he was a police officer. He was very strict and had no qualms about physically punishing his kids for the most minor infractions

-As he got older, he and his father started butting heads. Roddy would only take so much of his father's abuse before things got out of hand. To relieve the tension he felt at home, Roddy joined a local bagpipe group, to learn how to play this instrument. It certainly made his mother happy, which is something that was important to Roddy. She was flattered that he was learning an instrument from both her heritage and now his. He joined the group at 13, making him the youngest in the group amongst men

-School was a horrible experience for him. He didn't often pay attention and raised the tempers of most of his teachers. He learned a trick for getting class cancelled. He would stick a toothpick into the lock and break it off. When the teacher would stick the key in, it would push the toothpick farther in. By the time the janitor arrived to unlock the door, half the class was over and it would be cancelled. Soon the teachers were getting suspicious. They started comparing students and found they had one in common-Roderick George Toombs. They accused his friend Cam, but he never told them it was Roddy

-One day things got so bad between him and his father that he ran away. He took what few possessions he had, including his most prized possession-his bagpipes-and ran away at age 13. He slept in homeless shelters and when those were full, he slept on the street. He constantly had to be on guard as older adults would try and physically and sexually abuse him. He got into boxing as a way of learning to defend himself. While in the gym, he befriended a guy named Cam, who was playing for the junior league of the NHL's Winnipeg Jets. On days when Roddy didn't feel like going home, he slept on the floor of the gym. His friend Cam also helped get him into high school with a slight fib. His friend told the principal he had only 6 months to live. Unfortunately, this didn't curb his criminal activity. He was engaging in minor petty crime as a way of feeding himself. He says he was not proud of it, but he had to survive. He once robbed a gas station for money. Or he would shoot out windows of homes with a BB gun. One time, the owner of the home he shot BBs at got a hold of him and made him pay back the cost of the window repair

-Boxing would eventually lead to wrestling. He had joined low level wrestling leagues and was now working his way up the ladder. He worked his way throughout most of Canada and into the northern states of the US. One particularly rough time for him was in Fresno, California. He was supposed to wrestle a bear (yes, you read it right, a bear). It didn't end well for him. Someone had put honey on Roddy's hand unknowingly and the bear was on his case all night. As the fight finished, the bear managed to pull down Roddy's trunks and was licking what nature was supposed to leave alone. Roddy screamed in agony. As he got out of there, he tripped and fell on the concrete, all the while trying to pull his trunks up and regain some of his dignity at being seen completely naked

-One thing that rubbed Roddy the wrong way about some of the older wrestlers is that they would try and do highly disturbing, almost sexual things to Roddy because of his young age. If he were talking to someone, one of the wrestlers would come up and put their groin on his hand. Or they would tease him mercilessly, or "rib him" in wrestling terminology. One day, while out and about in Portland, Oregon, he met a woman named Kitty, who would later become his wife. He had lost touch with her for a while. He had regained contact with her and they started dating and eventually fell in love. They would go on to have four kids-2 daughters named Anastasia and Ariel and 2 sons named Colt and Fallon. One thing he could publicly admit and not care about the results of was his strong dislike for Mr. T. He thought Mr. T was making a mockery of wrestling and he didn't care for him much.

Colt Toombs and Ariel Toombs. They finished what their father started

Roddy and wife Kitty

-While out wrestling, he met one person he would consider a true friend until his dying day. A young, just-starting-out fellow Canadian named Bret Hart. He was then part of a tag team with former NFL player Jim Neidhart called The Hart Foundation. Roddy found the young Bret Hart to be a kind, sweet kid and from then on, they remained friends. When they talked, they found they had a lot in common. Like both came from Canada, Bret from Calgary and Roddy from Saskatchewan. Roddy was also familiar with Bret's dad, Stu Hart. He knew that Stu Hart ran one of the biggest wrestling leagues in Canada, Stampede Wrestling.

-As time went on, he and Bret Hart would become close friends. He even gave some thought about acting. Of course, his most famed acting role to this day is the 1980s-era John Carpenter film They Live. This film is about a futuristic society in which subliminal messages are hidden in plain sight. A drifter comes upon a pair of glasses that allows him to see these subliminal messages. As the movie goes on, he finds out a radio tower is the source of energy keeping the messages hidden. He manages to destroy that and suddenly all the people, who were really bug eyed aliens disguised as people and all the subliminal messages, are now clear and visible

-He retired from wrestling because his body simply could take anymore. With so much down time, someone suggested he take up stand up comedy because he has so many great stories. And he did. He took up stand up comedy to make people laugh. As his kids got older, they all followed their own paths. His daughter Ariel pursued acting and of course, he was there to protect his daughter from those with bad intentions. Another night with his daughter ended up with TMZ catching sight of Ariel and Roddy arguing. By this point, Roddy had a small issue with addiction to alcohol and had gone into rehab. He was resistant at first, but learned to conform to the rules of the place he was at and was thankful and grateful for the help in beating his alcoholism

-His son Colt would follow, somewhat, in his father's footsteps. He would pursue MMA (mixed martial arts) and of course, his own father would be standing ringside. Roddy would be very angry when the ring announcers wouldn't say "Colt Toombs", they'd announce him as the son of "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Later on, he would give UFC fighter Ronda Rousey his blessing to use the nickname "Rowdy" because he is her favorite wrestler. Before every fight, she would say something to the effect of "I'm going to do you proud, Roddy"

Ronda Rousey, whose nickname is now "Rowdy" in honor of her favorite wrestler

-As time went on, Roddy Piper and Bret Hart stayed extremely close. Bret Hart said in his autobiography Hitman that Roddy was the only wrestler to visit him in the hospital after his 2002 stroke. While Roddy was in the hospital for shoulder surgery, Bret repaid the favor and visited him. Roddy joked that they could be distant cousins because part of Bret Hart's family was related, in some way, to Roddy's family

-July 31, 2015 is a sad day for the Toombs family. Roddy died peacefully in his sleep from a heart attack related to a pulmonary embolism. His wife Kitty said on one hand she was relieved he passed at home with her instead of being out and dying alone. His kids would find out, one by one, that their father had passed. Of course, the wrestling world would find out too and started doing memorials to honor his life.

13 actors who could play Lemmy Kilmister

 It's actually surprising to some that there isn't some biopic out there about Motorhead. According to the good people at Loudwire, here are 13 actors they believe would be perfect to portray the band's legendary founding member, vocalist and bassist, "Lemmy" Kilmister

In early 2021, production is set to start on a new biopic about the legendary Motorhead front man, taking viewers on the journey from Lemmy's life in Stoke-on-Trent through working as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix to working with Hawkwind to current day

Christian Bale

-This Oscar-winning actor is known for his chameleon-like ability to change roles and accents at the drop of a hat. Considering he already has an accent, Welsh instead of English, but with him having English parents, he could easily pull off the accent. He has a lot of positives for him if he is chosen to play Lemmy. He has the same brown hair, can grow a similar beard, has a deep voice from his days working as Batman and can pull off an English accent easily

Orlando Bloom

-This one is a little more surprising. Being a far cry from the peroxide blonde hair and piercing blue eyes of Legolas from The Lord of the Rings series, Orlando Bloom could easily pull off the iconic metal frontman. With him having natural dark hair and a beard, it wouldn't be hard for him to simply change his beard from that to the iconic muttonchop look Lemmy was known for. And another thing working to his advantage is that he has a natural English accent. The only obstacle would be his voice, which is not rough and weathered like Lemmy

Russell Brand

-You'll notice there's an almost theme here. Comedian Russell Brand could also be a good choice. He's played a rock star named Aldous Snow in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek. With his fun-loving, goofy personality and also, dark features, this would work in his favor of showing the world the fun-loving personality Lemmy had. He could potentially play Lemmy from start to finish with the right help from the crew because of his age range

Russell Crowe

-The first non-English actor mentioned, he could pull it off. He's one of those actors where any accent comes naturally to him. With him coming from Australia, it might be surprising to some that he can pull off any accent he wants. With him playing music on the side, he might be able to portray Lemmy in his later years. So being a rock star wouldn't be foreign territory for Crowe

Billy Crudup

-It's been some time since this actor played Russell Hammond, guitarist of Stillwater in Almost Famous, but he could pull off the look of younger Lemmy. He would most likely play middle age to older Lemmy

Johnny Depp

-This actor is American-born, yes, born and raised in Owensboro, Kentucky, but he has an uncanny ability to perfectly speak in any accent he desires. For proof of his incredibly accurate English accent, watch The Pirates of the Caribbean series, where he portrays a drunken pirate named Capt. Jack Sparrow. Johnny could definitely rock the role of Lemmy. He's already highly experienced in playing music. He's got the reputation as being a rebel. He can speak in the English accent required of him. And he has the same dark features. All he would need to do is simply grow his hair long and learn to play the bass. That would be easy for him

Robert Downey Jr.

-This one is definitely surprising to see on here. First things first, he can successfully pull off an English accent. Need proof? Check out the two Sherlock Holmes films he acted in beside Jude Law, who is actually English and you'll have all the proof you need that Robert Downey Jr. can speak with an English accent. It's not hard at all to imagine Robert Downey Jr. taking on this larger than life man. His quick wit would be a perfect mirror to Lemmy's right-to-the-point wit. He would simply need to learn to play the bass and I think he could do it

Jared Leto

-Fronting the band Thirty Seconds to Mars, he has no problem playing a musician. All he would have to do is grow his hair a little long, trim the beard into Lemmy's famous mutton chops and learn to speak with an English accent and Jared Leto could probably play Lemmy from different eras

Daniel Day Lewis

-It wouldn't be unheard of for him to play Lemmy. He already has the accent and all he would have to do is grow his hair and grow a set of mutton chop sideburns and you have Lemmy. This actor can slip into and out of roles like a chameleon and something like this would be interesting to see

Matthew McConaughey

-Simply put, it would be hard to see him as Lemmy Kilmister, no matter the age. He would need to lay off that Southern drawl he's fond of. If he can do it, go for it, more power to him. But it would be hard to see it

Edward Norton

-He'd be interesting to see in this type of role. While he has those clean-cut, almost boy-next-door looks, he also has an edge to him that works in his favor. The makeup department would have their hands full with this one

Mickey Rourke

-This choice, however, would more likely. Mickey Rourke has always been a sort of rebel in the eyes of Hollywood, always playing some sort of baddie. He could play the later years of Lemmy

Billy Bob Thornton

-With his background in music, deep voice, he could easily pull off the later years of Lemmy. But makeup would have to do some work with him as he would need to have his hair long, have mutton chop sideburns and also an English accent

Top 8 Songs NOT WRITTEN by Steve Harris

 It might be hard to believe, but some of the songs Iron Maiden had written over the years were NOT WRITTEN by primary songwriter/founding member/bassist Steve Harris.

Charlotte the Harlot

-Album: Iron Maiden (1980)

-Written by: Dave Murray

-This was penned by Dave Murray on their debut album. As Steve says "This is really Dave's song. I would have been proud to say that I'd written it. I like playing it live because it was something different than what I would write."

Be Quick or Be Dead

-Album Fear of the Dark (1992)

-Written by: Bruce Dickinson/Janick Gers

-It's not often that you get a song as heavy as this throwing social commentary to the audience. But this song just so happened to be one of the more successful tracks, one that Bruce and Janick had written during Bruce's first outing as a solo artist prior to the creation of Fear of the Dark

Revelations

-Album: Piece of Mind (1983)

-Written by: Bruce Dickinson

-This was one of the first official songs written by Bruce Dickinson, despite him being in the band since 1982. This song shows a fascination with occultist Aleister Crowley.

Powerslave

-Album: Powerslave (1984)

-Written by: Bruce Dickinson

-The title track to Iron Maiden's 1984 album, this epic tells the story of those who suffer from God complexes, about the people being slaves to the higher powers. It was written during one of Iron Maiden's most exhausting tours ever, the 1984 World Slavery tour. The band was so physically burnt out most were thinking about quitting music right then and there

Wasted Years

-Album: Somewhere in Time (1986)

-Written by: Adrian Smith

-It's unusual to hear Adrian Smith writing a song. But it's not as unusual as you would think. When he was the singer and guitarist in his teenaged band Urchin, he wrote most of the music. So something like this would be simple for him. Adrian Smith was actually reluctant to tell Steve Harris about this because he felt like it might have been too mainstream for Iron Maiden, like it was something more suited to radio that Iron Maiden. Adrian Smith said in an interview "I was messing around with a little four-track and I'd just put that riff down for "Wasted Years". I was playing Steve some other stuff and I played it to him by accident and he said "What's that?" I said "You probably won't like this as it's so commercial" but he really liked it and insisted we do it. So something you'd think he wouldn't want to do, he does".

Stranger in a Strange Land

-Album: Somewhere in Time (1986)

-Written by: Adrian Smith

-Adrian Smith, once again, gets credit for writing this spacey, Hendrix-y type song that sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. Smith said at the time this song was written, he had complete creative control and he just ran with it. It might not seem "typical" Iron Maiden, but that is what makes it unique. The synths blend in perfectly while Dickinson's smooth vocals fit into the song perfectly as well. Not to mention, it also shows the band has book smarts; they took the name of this song from the book of the same name

Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter

-Album: No Prayer for the Dying (1990)

-Written by: Bruce Dickinson

-This was intended for use on the soundtrack for the film Nightmare on Elm St 5: The Dream Child. At this point, Iron Maiden was starting to lose some of its steam. Fans were scratching their heads at this one, wondering "what is this?" This song brought fans back in droves, because of its aggressive, nasty vibe that seemed to be in tune with the new legion of street-heavy metal bands emerging on the market, like Sepultura, Megadeth, Metallica, Fear Factory, Type O Negative and more. When Steve heard Bruce wrote the song, he liked it so much that he insisted Iron Maiden do it. Bruce's original version of this song is on one of his solo albums, specifically The Best of Bruce Dickinson

Empire of the Clouds

-Album: The Book of Souls (2015)

-Written by: Bruce Dickinson

-This is certainly one of Iron Maiden's LONGEST songs ever. Clocking in at 18:01, its first ten minutes are a beautifully played piano intro. It tells the story of the British-made R101, the largest airship in the 1930s. In an interview, Bruce made strong mention of Nicko McBrain's important role in the song. The song is arranged in such a way to tell the story from the beginning to its tragic end. "He really bought into the story. I told him I wanted all this dissonant stuff for the airship plummeting to Earth. I wanted that in the percussion. I said I wanted twisting metal, and he said "Oh, you want a bowed gong." I said "What the f--- is that?" "He has this big orchestral gong at the back of his kit. You take a violin bow, scrape it against the edge of the gong, and it just resonates. I said "That's the sound of the airship dying!" "So quick, back to the piano, diddle-de-diddle-de bang, bang! Brilliant, that's it. That's the slow-mo shot in the movie, when suddenly you see everything blowing up and the music stops. That was the moment I had in my head. And then you get the line "We're down, lads". That's the pilot's voice - the last thing the survivors heard as they jumped from the back of the airship, from the rear power car, into the dark."