Sea of Love (1989)

This was the first movie Al Pacino made, after taking a four year break from film after 1985's Revolution. I thought it was very good. I will warn you, though. If you don't like nudity or foul language, this may not be the film for you

Summary

-A detective, who also happens to be an alcoholic, is investigating a series of murders tied to lonely hearts ads in a newspaper. And he falls for a woman who might be the prime suspect

Cast

-Al Pacino: Frank Keller

-John Goodman: Sherman Tuohy

-Ellen Barkin: Helen Cruger

-Michael Rooker: Terry

-William Hickey: Frank Keller Sr

-Richard Jenkins: Gruber

-Paul Calderon: Serafino

-John Spencer: Lieutenant

-Damien Leake: Ernest Guy

-Zachary Michael Simmons: Ernest's Son

-Patricia Barry: Older Woman

Did You Know?

-When Al Pacino's character Frank Keller is trying to court the character played by Ellen Barker, he is rudely bumped into by someone on 5th Avenue. Director Harold Becker stated that this was not in the script. It was completely authentic, caused by a real New York resident. Al Pacino includes this moment into the film and continues on without missing a beat

-The "Meet the Yankees" breakfast that the police use to apprehend criminals was based on a real event

-When this movie is shown on television, Lorraine Bracco was shown as Al Pacino's ex-wife. Her scenes were cut from the final product of the film

-At the time of this film, he was living with his good friend Diane Keaton, She had found the script for this film and convinced him to do it. He was still hurt from doing the 1985 film Revolution and was not sure he wanted to make a return to films. Keaton had informed him that he was not an A-list actor anymore, that offers were not coming in very often, but this was a film he was meant to do. Not only that, he was also going flat broke and going through tax problems stemming from financing a film called The Local Stigmatic with his own money and also not making films for four years. He finally agreed to do this film and it helped him immensely

-Richard Price, who wrote the novel this film is based on, wrote the screenplay with Dustin Hoffman in mind. With him wanting too many re-writes, Al Pacino took over the role instead

-This was Al Pacino's first film after a four year break. His last film before this was 1985's Revolution

-Michael Rooker was cast in this film after his role in the 1986 film Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

-This movie is credited with being the film that pulled Al Pacino out of a bad string of movies he had made during the 1980s

-This film was the fourth out of five films Al Pacino had made with Martin Bregman. They are 1973's Serpico, 1975's Dog Day Afternoon, 1983's Scarface, 1989's Sea of Love, 1993's Carlito's Way

-During the undercover scene where Al Pacino and John Goodman's characters are working, that restaurant, O'Neal's, was a real New York City restaurant, owned by actor Patrick O'Neal. It was located near Lincoln Center and closed in 1993, just a year before Patrick O'Neal's death in 1994

-Both Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin attended the same high school, the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts. This high school was also featured in the TV show and film Fame

-During the scene where Frank Keller is trying to convince his lieutenant to let him do the sting operation without a wire, he says "What is she gonna do, confess? Shoot me? We're in a restaurant!" Ironically, Al Pacino, who played Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, appeared in a scene in the first film, where he shoots a cop in a restaurant, which was also said to be impossible

-In a 2007 interview, Ellen Barkin revealed an unknown secret about her love scenes with Al Pacino in the film. She stated that while he is normally a cocky, outgoing actor, when the cameras started rolling, he became shy and bashful. "We never talk about that scene. Al was very shy. I don't think he's comfortable with those kind of scenes. I am. At the time I was anyway. Now I wouldn't be, but I thought it was a good icebreaker in those days."

-Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin starred in another movie together. Ocean's 13, where he plays Willy Bank and Ellen plays his right-hand woman

-Any interior shots were filmed in Toronto while exterior shots were filmed in New York City, most of them being filmed in the Upper East Side

-It was not a mistake that Frank used an incorrect last name in his newspaper personal ad. A police officer undercover would never use their real last name

-In the fancy restaurant scene, the strolling violinist is playing "Strangers in the Night". This song was also featured in the 1983 film Scarface, during the scene showing the shootout

-This is one of four films written by Richard Price, but starring Samuel L. Jackson. They are 1995's Kiss of Death, 2000's Shaft and 2006's Freedomland

-John Spencer played another police lieutenant in the 1989 film Black Rain

February Birthdays

It's February! Time to say Happy Birthday!

Rod Smallwood

-Birth Name: Roderick Charles Smallwood

-DOB: 2/17/1950

-Where: Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England

-He initially didn't want to manage Iron Maiden, because of a bad previous experience managing a musician. After hearing their music, he changed his mind and offered his services as management

George Russell

-Birth Name: George William Russell

-DOB: 2/15/1998

-Where: King's Lynn, United Kingdom

-He started in competitive go kart racing at age 7

Shakira

-Birth Name: Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoli

-DOB: 2/2/1977

-Where: Barranquilla, Colombia

-She learned how to perform Lebanese-style belly dancing from her grandmother

Tom Wilkinson

-Birth Name: Geoffrey Thomas Wilkinson

-DOB: 2/5/1948

-Where: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England

-DOD: 12/30/2023

-Where: Muswell Hill, London, England

-He was offered a role in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but didn't like the idea of being away from his family for a year

Pierre Gasly

-Birth Name: Pierre Jean-Jacques Gasly

-DOB: 2/7/1996

-Where: Rouen, France

-He started in competitive go kart racing at age 10

Kelly Rowland

-Birth Name: Kelendria Trene Rowland

-DOB: 2/11/1981

-Where: Atlanta, Georgia

-She started out in the late 1990s, early 2000s as a member of the all girl group Destiny's Child

Tony Iommi

-Birth Name: Anthony Frank Iommi

-DOB: 2/19/1948

-Where: Aston, Birmingham, England

-He and future Black Sabbath vocalist Ozzy Osbourne attended the same school. Tony was one year ahead of Ozzy

Christina Ricci

-DOB: 2/12/1980

-Where: Santa Monica, California

-She is good friends with Johnny Depp, with whom she starred in the film Sleepy Hollow

Thomas Jane

-Birth Name: Thomas Elliott

-DOB: 2/22/1969

-Where: Baltimore, Maryland

-He claimed in a 2005 interview that The Punisher was both the most and the most exhausting movie he has ever acted in

Paul Wight

-Birth Name: Paul Donald Wight II

-DOB: 2/8/1972

-Where: Aiken, South Carolina

-He got his nickname "The Giant" from his 7' height

Adrian Smith

-Birth Name: Adrian Frederick Smith

-DOB: 2/27/1957

-Where: Hackney, London, England

-He is good friends with current Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen

Matt Groening

-Birth Name: Matthew Abram Groening

-DOB: 2/15/1954

-Where: Portland, Oregon

-Matt Groening created the character Comic Book Guy as a sort of version of himself

Alice Cooper

-Birth Name: Vincent Damon Furnier

-DOB: 2/4/1948

-Where: Detroit, Michigan

-He's known as the King of Shock Rock because of the many macabre items he has on stage

Alan Rickman

-Birth Name: Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman

-DOB: 2/21/1946

-Where: Hammersmith, London, England

-DOD: 1/14/2016

-Where: London, England

-While filming the scene where his character Hans Gruber falls from the Nakatomi Building in Die Hard, a stuntman dropped him from a 20 foot high model on the count of two instead of three, resulting in the surprised look on his face

Steve Irwin

-Birth Name: Stephen Robert Irwin

-DOB: 2/22/1962

-Where: Upper Ferntree Gully, Australia

-DOD: 9/4/2006

-Where: Batt Reef, Australia

-He was known for his massive enthusiasm for animals

George Harrison

-DOB: 2/25/1943

-Where: Liverpool, England

-DOD: 11/29/2001

-Where: Beverly Hills, California

-He was the youngest member of The Beatles

Rachel Bolan

-Birth Name: James Richard Southworth

-DOB: 2/9/1964

-Where: Point Pleasant, New Jersey

-He is known as the bassist and primary songwriter for metal band Skid Row

Henry Rollins

-Birth Name: Henry Lawrence Garfield

-DOB: 2/13/1961

-Where: Washington, D.C.

-The murder of his friend Joe Cole (son of actor Dennis Cole) was on a 1987 episode of Unsolved Mysteries and remains unsolved to this day

Rickey Medlocke

-DOB: 2/17/1950

-Where: Jacksonville, Florida

-His American Indian tattoos represent his Lakota Sioux and Cherokee heritage and his pride in his heritage

Billie Joe Armstrong

-DOB: 2/17/1972

-Where: Oakland, California

-He wrote "Wake Me Up When September Ends" about his father passing away

Johnny Van Zant

-Birth Name: John Roy Van Zant

-DOB: 2/27/1960

-Where: Jacksonville, Florida

-His brother Donnie Von Zant is the lead singer of fellow Southern rockers .38 Special

Freakazoid (1995-1997)

This cartoon was made by the same people who made the Animaniacs cartoon

Summary

-Dexter Douglas is your typical geeky teenager. Through a computer virus, he is transformed into Washington D.C.'s newest superhero, Freakazoid

Cast

-Paul Rugg: Freakazoid

-Joe Leahy: Narrator

-Tress MacNeille: Debbie Douglas

-Ed Asner: Sgt. Mike Cosgrove

-Jeff Bennett: Cave Guy

-John P. McCann: Douglas Douglas

-Maurice LaMarche: Longhorn

-David Kaufman: Dexter Douglas

-David Warner: The Lobe

-Tracy Rowe: Steff

-Craig Ferguson: Roddy MacStew

-Googy Gress: Duncan Douglas

Did You Know?

-During the initial run of the show, it did very well. Warner Bros tried to sell commercial slots for the show, with the idea that kids would be the main target audience. As it eventually turned out, the people watching it were kids 14 years old or older. It was even considered moving the show to primetime, but it was canceled after only 24 episodes

-The bug infecting Dexter's computer is reminiscent of the FDIV bug that affected the first run of Intel Pentium CPUs in the early part of the 1990s. This made headlines when technical users complained about it, resulting in getting their CPUs put under warranty

-Each member of the Dexter family has a name starting with D: mother Debbie, father Douglas and brother Duncan

-During a 2020 podcast interview for Dread Central at Pensacon 2020, David Warner said one of his favorite acting jobs of all time was playing The Lobe

Did You Ever Notice in the Lack of Rock or Metal Super Bowl Halftime Shows?

I've certainly noticed that, in years past, rock and metal acts have not played the Super Bowl Halftime Shows. Lately, it's been mostly hip hop, rap, R&B. I'm not saying anything is wrong with R&B; in fact, R&B is how music essentially got its start. But, in years past, there were all sorts of rock and metal acts playing the halftime show. Now, it's mostly rap / hip hop, pop or R&B

Now it's Latin music. Which, again, I have no problem with. I do enjoy listening to Latin music. I do, however, have a concern with this year's choice of Bad Bunny having all of these requirements for people to be a part of his show. They have to be between 5'-6', they have to be thin and be able to wear at least 40 lbs of costume of gear. No thin person is going to be able to do that unless they are strong. And even if they are strong, they may not be thin. He also seems to be using this year's show as a platform for his political views. Politics have no place in music

Once upon a time, bands like Aerosmith, U2 and The Rolling Stones have played the Super Bowl Halftime Shows. Their high energy performances made the Super Bowl even better. When The Who played back in 2010, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was only still in high school. This begs the question "What led to rock and metal not being the halftime shows?"

Insiders in the football industry state that there were various factors at play when it comes to choosing the right halftime show act. These factors include international appeal, artistic preferences. The Super Bowl is not just an American thing; it attracts millions of viewers worldwide and, as such, organizers of the event may choose to go with someone who has a broader global appeal

James Hetfield, guitarist and singer for metal band Metallica once said "I can't dance, I can't jump around. I'm not an acrobat, I'm not a variety show, you know? We are artists. We're a band. We love playing songs. We're not gonna fly through the air on a sparkly unicorn."

Dee Snider of metal band Twisted Sister also has something to say, venting his frustration. "Once again the great heavy music that rocks the stadiums week after week, game after game is completely ignored. I guess we don't shake our a-- enough!"

Even the absence of country music in recent years highlights the organizers' goal of having greater international appeal. Despite country music being widely popular in the US, it's been more than two decades since a country artist played the Super Bowl Halftime Show

Who selects the acts?

-It's typically a set of people convened by the NFL. Local representatives from the host city also play part in making the final decision. It can sometimes lead to controversy, as it did with Super Bowl 50. Carlos Santana said "I do feel compelled to point out to you that the halftime show should have included some of the local iconic bands that the world would have loved to see perform. Bands like Metallica, Steve Miller, Journey and yours truly. We would have rocked the halftime show and done the San Francisco Bay Area proud."

I'm Really Excited

The reason for my excitement is that I am in the beginning stages of planning my trip to London!!! A city I've dreamed of seeing since I was 16. I've been reading articles and taking notes on where to stay, what to do, how to stay safe, how to dress and more. I'm still planning everything out, as I stated above I am in the beginning stages of planning. I recently read an article about restaurants worth trying in and around the various boroughs of London. I'll be honest; some of them sound very good. Like, for example, there was one restaurant mentioned on Travel Lemming, which the link is provided below, called Imad's Syrian Kitchen. I've never had Syrian food before, but the woman who wrote the post raves about it. I might need to try it. She described some of the food there and it sounded very good. There are certainly no restaurants such as that around where I live. It's mostly Chinese, Indian, Mexican and fast food. If I am in London, I think I might try Indian food. I've never had it, never gotten a chance too. I feel like trying Indian food while on vacation (holiday) might heighten my memories and experience. And it's probably good. Again, I've never had a chance to try it

As a complete and random side note, I do have to say that I am happy that a lot of places in London do take cards. I will definitely have to let my bank know way ahead of time that I am going out of the country, when I'm leaving, where I'm going and when I'm returning so they know it's legitimately me and not fraudulent activity. Sorry about that. My mom worked in card fraud for 10 years at a local bank. I have heard the horror stories she experienced at work, of people not alerting their bank ahead of time and then calling in angry because she or someone else blocked their card. I am very cautious like that. If I wasn't, my mom would give me a piece of her mind to feast upon!

I'm happy to read that a lot of places do accept cards, and that the only places that typically take cash only are small businesses and some of the smaller markets. That means I won't have to bring as much cash as I thought. That's certainly comforting to know; I'd rather not run into any trouble carrying too much cash on me

I often use my 15 minute breaks at work to read articles about going to the UK and taking notes. It relaxes me and takes my mind off of work for 15 minutes, reducing my stress. I just started reading an article yesterday about 15 foods in England that simply must be tried. They all sounded good. And it even stated where to find them. I've also been reading articles about things like etiquette on The Tube, buses and taxis, which Jack the Ripper tour to take, walking / bus tours that are worthwhile for any interest and more

I'm really excited that Formula 1 gear is considered acceptable wear there! Yay!! I have two Formula 1 jerseys, one for the Aston Martin Aramco team and another for the Mercedes AMG Petronas team because my favorite driver is Sebastian Vettel, who was on the Aston Martin team and George Russell, who is on the Mercedes team. Also, I read that it's also acceptable to wear music t-shirts. As long as there is no offensive imagery or anything offensive on it, you should be fine. If anything, I'll probably get a lot of looks for my music t-shirts, considering they would be for bands I listen to, such as Iron Maiden (have quite a few of those t-shirts), Judas Priest, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Def Leppard, Deep Purple. The only graphic print t-shirt I would wear (and I know that will mark me out as being from the US) is a black t-shirt that has two crossed Gibson Flying V's and two bony hands doing the Metal Horns gesture while saying "Yes I'm a girl and Yes I speak fluent metal". Ironically, the wording is done in the same type as Iron Maiden's logo.

And soccer (football) shirts are acceptable as long as you don't wear them in a rival team's territory (wearing Manchester United gear in Manchester City territory or the other way around. Or wearing Arsenal in Tottenham territory or the other way around). Some pubs have even posted signs saying "No football colors" because of fights breaking out. I would love to see at least one football game. Just to experience the excitement of game day, see everyone excited about the upcoming game

As for clothing for going out in the evening, I read that jeans are acceptable, along with dressy t-shirts, skirts, leather boots, etc. I have nice skirts (which, thankfully come to the knees or about an inch or two above) and leather boots. If I did go out in the evening, I wouldn't go anywhere super fancy; I'm simply not like that. I'm more of a corner pub to eat and watch whatever sport is on TV type of person. Just sitting amongst the locals and seeing what their lives are like, seeing how they go through day to day. 

Of course, if I go during the summer, I will have to try and cover my tattoos. I have nine of them and am contemplating at least three more. I'll have to cover them up so as to avoid offending anyone. I am unsure how people in England would react to seeing tattoos on a young woman. So I feel it would probably be best for all intents and purposes to try and cover them up as much as possible. Luckily sweaters are acceptable all year round, which is good for me, as I have at least two sweaters, both are able to be put on and removed like jackets. I have to wear a sweater at work when I wear a short sleeved / sleeveless shirt because of the aforementioned tattoos, so I can look professional and decent at work

The bottom two links are sites that I found by complete accident and I've been taking extensive notes on. The people who write the articles on those sites seem to really know a lot about traveling. I feel like I can trust their expertise. The bottom two sites seem to have a lot of really incredible information. I've been taking extensive notes because I know for a fact that, even if I dress like the locals, they will know I am from the US the second I open my mouth. I count my blessings that I am street smart. I NEVER wear headphones when out and about in a foreign city or in a big city in general. I like keeping my wits and senses about me. I'm always vigilant about my surroundings

That Travel

Travel Lemming

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015)

This is a sequel to the highly popular film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Summary

-Sonny Kapoor (Dev Patel) dreams of opening a second location for his Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. And not a moment too soon as well. Two fresh arrivals have come, creating a problem for his original hotel, which only has one room vacant

Cast

-Dev Patel: Sonny Kapoor

-Maggie Smith: Muriel Donnelly

-Danny Mahoney: Car Valet

-David Strathairn: Ty Burley

-Judi Dench: Evelyn Greenslade

-Bill Nighy: Douglas Ainslie

-Celia Imrie: Madge Hardcastle

-Ronald Pickup: Norman Cousins

-Diana Hardcastle: Carol Parr

-Fiona Mollison: Susan

-Richard Gere: Guy Chambers

Did You Know?

-The character Ronald Pickup tells a joke revolving around the Archbishop of Canterbury at the expats club. Ironically, he plays the archbishop on The Crown

-Rumor has it that Colin Firth and Helen Mirren were supposed to join the cast

-Douglas Ainslie (Bill Nighy) is seen reading the poem "Ulysses". This is the same poem that Evelyn Greenslade (Dame Judi Dench) was seen reading in the 2012 film Skyfall, where she played M

-Dev Patel is of Indian heritage, but he was born and raised in Britain. His parents are of Indian heritage, but they were born in Kenya

-Evelyn Greenslade (Dame Judi Dench) makes a claim that she is only nineteen days younger than Muriel Donnelly (Dame Maggie Smith). In real life, Maggie Smith, who was born on Dec. 28, 1934, is nineteen days younger than Dame Judi Dench, who was born on Dec. 9, 1934