Life is what happens when you are making other plans~ John Lennon
An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind~Gandhi
The time is always right to do what is right~ Martin Luther King Jr.


Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Rami Malek wins SAG Award

For those unfamiliar with the name, Rami Malek is the actor who played Freddie Mercury in the recent biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, about the band Queen. He has won an award for his stellar performance as the iconic Queen frontman.

At the annual Screen Actors Guild awards (SAG), the recent Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody was racking up awards left, right and center. This film not only won two Golden Globes, but Rami Malek, who plays the iconic Queen front man Freddie Mercury, won a Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.

When he accepted his award, he said: "I thank Queen and Freddie Mercury. I get some power from him that is about stepping up and living your best life and being exactly who you want to be and accomplishing everything you so desire. I feel that, and he allows us all to feel that. So this is again for him." The movie was up for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, but lost out to Black Panther.

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

The Iron Maidens

The title might catch some attention. No, this is not about the REAL Iron Maiden. No, this is about a really cool band. This band is the world's only all-female tribute to Iron Maiden. I had seen them just this past Saturday with my sister at a local event venue here in Cincinnati called Bogart's. It's in the neighborhood of Clifton, which is dominated by two of Cincinnati's biggest universities-University of Cincinnati and Xavier University. This venue is a good go-to place for locals. Me and my sister had seen The Iron Maidens and they blew me away. When their singer Kirsten Rosenberg hit those high notes, I had chills. I was blown away!! Now it's going to be interesting to see the REAL Iron Maiden and Bruce Dickinson still trying to hit those high notes on songs like "Run to the Hills", "Aces High", etc.
Anyway, the band is five women from LA who have a wide variety of talent in a wide variety of music, ranging from rock to orchestral to blues to metal and more. They each took the name of a member of Iron Maiden and switched it to a female version

Members
Nikki Stringfield
-Guitars, backing vocals
-"Davina Murray"
 
Linda McDonald
-Drums, backing vocals
-"Nikki McBurrain"
Kirsten Rosenberg
-Vocalist
-"Bruce Chikinson"
Wanda Ortiz
-Bass, backing vocals
-"Stephanie Harris"
Courtnex Cox
-Guitars, backing vocals
-"Adriana Smith"
History
-The band formed in 2001
-The band is rapidly becoming popular worldwide as well as in the US
-In addition to being the world's only all female tribute to Iron Maiden, they are perfect examples of beauty and talent. They are able to take the high energy, theatricality and excellent stage shows of Iron Maiden and adapt them to an all female band
-The cool thing about this band is that they do not cover just one era of the band-they cover all the songs, both fan favorites and classics. They cover all the songs from the beginning of Maiden's career all the way up to modern day. So it's a good guarantee that you're probably going to hear your favorites from the Bruce Dickinson eras, Blaze Bayley era and Paul Di'Anno era.


Friday, January 4, 2019

In the Heat of the Night (TV Series)

I had forgotten how good this show was. I had watched this series growing up because my mom was, and still is, a huge fan of the show.
Summary
-Bill Gillespie was once a police chief but is now sheriff of the small town of Sparta, Mississippi. He investigates crimes relating to racial tension, which seems to be a frequent theme in the small, sleepy Southern town, along with cases involving politics. He is aided by investigator Virgil Tibbs, "Bubba" Skinner and the other members of the Sparta Police Department. Bill's personal life is also shown on the show.







Cast
-Carroll O'Connor: Chief William O 'Bill' Gillespie
-Alan Autry: Capt. V.L. 'Bubba' Skinner
-David Hart: Officer Parker Williams
-Hugh O'Connor: Lt. Lonnie Jamison
-Howard E. Rollins Jr.: Chief of Detectives Virgil Tibbs
-Anne-Marie Johnson: Althea Tibbs
-Geoffrey Thorne: Sgt. Wilson Sweet
-Crystal R. Fox: Officer Luann Corbin
-C.C. Taylor: Officer Charlie Peake
-Dee Shaw: Cpl. Dee Shepard
-Randall Franks: Officer Randy Goode
-Denise Nicholas: Harriet DeLong

Did You Know?
-Actor Carroll O'Connor, who plays Sheriff Gillespie, wrote scripts under the pseudonym Matt Harris. He feared that if he used his real name, it would not be taken seriously by television critics
-Whenever Gillespie's office is shown, there is a photo behind his desk. It is of Rod Steiger, who played Police Chief Bill Gillespie in the film In the Heat of the Night
-The small white house that Gillespie lived in was an actual residence in Covington, GA. It sat empty for years until someone bought it and refurbished it
-When the series ended. the house where Virgil Tibbs lived was bought and divided up for use as office space
-When the outside of the Sparta Police Department was shown, it was actually the Newton County Library, which was formerly the Porter Memorial Library, in Covington, GA.
-The season after Howard E. Rollins, who played Virgil Tibbs, left the cast, he did do several guest appearances. Anne-Marie Johnson, who played Tibbs' wife Althea, had left to join the cast of In Living Color. Her absence was suggested as being due to the stress of being married to a police officer and emotional problems stemming from her rape, that caused her and Virgil to separate
-There was a time when Howard E. Rollins was in rehab for a personal problem. His absence was explained as Virgil was in Jackson, MS finishing his law school studies. Carroll O'Connor was having heart surgery at the time and his absence was explained as being him attending a police convention
-When Carroll O'Connor was having heart surgery, he was replaced, on a temporary basis, by Joe Don Baker, who played Acting Chief Tom Dugan. Carroll wanted his heart surgery figured into the show, but NBC denied it
-Hammond, Louisiana is where the first season was filmed. Then after season one, filming moved to Conyers, Georgia and finally Covington, Georgia
-Despite the fact that Virgil was often referred to as "Detective", his actual rank was Captain
-Dan Biggers, who plays Dr. Frank Robb on the show, had a great grandfather who was the sheriff of Newton County, GA, the actual county where the show was filmed
-Some of the exterior shots were other buildings in real life. The Mason-Dixon Line bar was actually a beauty parlor. The police department was actually a library.

In the Heat of the Night (1968)

This is the movie that most likely inspired the television series of the same name.
Summary
-A Philadelphia homicide detective named Virgil Tibbs is asked to work alongside Chief William 'Bill' Gillespie in the sleepy, but racially hostile southern town of Sparta, Mississippi to investigate the murder of a prominent businessman







Cast
-Sidney Poitier: Virgil Tibbs
-Rod Steiger: Bill Gillespie
-Warren Oates: Sam Wood
-Lee Grant: Mrs. Colbert
-Larry Gates: Endicott
-James Patterson: Mr. Purdy
-William Schallert: Mayor Schubert
-Beah Richards: Mama Caleba
-Kermit Murdock: Henderson
-Quentin Dean: Delores

Did You Know?
-During filming, Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte were nearly killed by Ku Klux Klansmen during a visit to Mississippi. After that, they insisted the movie be filmed in the north. That gave way to the town of Sparta, Illinois. There were scenes that were filmed in Tennessee, such as exterior shots of cotton plantations because Illinois did not have them. Sidney Poitier slept with a gun under his pillow and received threats from local racist thugs. Production was shut down and moved to Illinois from that point on
-Despite the fact that the movie is set during summer in Mississippi, it was filmed during autumn in Illinois. The cast members chewed chips of ice but were asked to spit them out before filming began so their breath wouldn't be caught on film during the night scenes
-This is frequently cited as one of Sidney Poitier's top favorite film that he's done
-Because of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. getting killed on April 4, 1968, the presentation for Best Picture Oscar for the film was postponed until April 10, 1968. It was originally supposed to be on April 8, 1968
-From what Sidney Poitier says, the scene where his character, Virgil Tibbs, slaps Endicott (Larry Gates), was not in the original script or even the novel it's based on. It was completely improvised and Poitier insisted that the scene be in the movie.
-Beah Richards, who played an abortionist named Mama Caleba, appeared with Sidney Poitier in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. She played his mother in the film
-Despite the fact that Warren Oates and Lee Grant were among the top of the list for actors and actresses who play racist roles, they are very upfront about their support of the civil rights movement
-The N-word is used seven times, all directed toward Virgil Tibbs

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

January Birthdays

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

Janick Gers
-Birth name: Janick Robert Gers
-DOB: 1/27/1957
-Where: Hartlepool, England
-His father was a member of the Polish Navy while his mother was from England
Ian Hill
-Birth name: Ian Frank Hill
-DOB: 1/20/1951
-Where: West Bromwich, England
-He was married to Sue Halford, who told Ian to check out her brother Rob as a prospective singer for Judas Priest
Richie Faulkner
-Birth name: Richard Ian Faulkner
-DOB: 1/1/1980
-Where: London, England
-Played guitar for Lauren Harris before joining Judas Priest
Paul Stanley
-Birth name: Stanley Bert Eisen
-DOB: 1/20/1952
-Where: Manhattan, New York
-Was born with a rare condition called microtia. It is a condition affecting the development of the ears. He was born with a severe case of it, leaving him with virtually no right ear. Surgery in the mid to late 1980s corrected this
Rod Stewart
-Birth name: Sir Roderick David Stewart
-DOB: 1/10/1945
-Where: London, England
-He is known for his raspy voice
Jimmy Page
-Birth name: James Patrick Page
-DOB: 1/9/1944
-Where: Heston, Hounslow, England
-Was in the Yardbirds briefly before leaving and forming a new band, The New Yardbirds, which would soon change their name to Led Zeppelin
David Bowie
-Birth name: David Robert Jones
-DOB: 1/8/1947
-Where: London, England
-DOD: 1/10/2016
-Where: Manhattan, New York (cancer)
-During his "Ziggy Stardust" phase, many members of his backing band thought he was crazy. They didn't know that he had a massive drug problem
James May
-Birth name: James Daniel May
-DOB: 1/16/1963
-Where: Bristol, England
-Known as "Captain Slow" on Top Gear because of his cautious driving style
Georgia May Jagger
-Birth name: Georgia May Ayeesha Jagger
-DOB: 1/12/1992
-Where: London, England
-Followed her mother, Jerry Hall, in the world of modelling
Rowan Atkinson
-Birth name: Rowan Sebastian Atkinson
-DOB: 1/6/1955
-Where: Consett, England
-Known best for his roles as Mr. Bean, Blackadder
Kate Middleton
-DOB: 1/9/1982
-Where: Reading, England
-Is considered, by some, to be a more classy and elegant duchess than the current one, Meghan Markle
Malcolm Young
-Birth name: Malcolm Mitchell Young
-DOB: 1/6/1953
-Where: Glasgow, Scotland
-DOD: 11/18/2017
-Where: Elizabeth Bay, Australia (dementia)
-One of the co-founders for the band AC/DC
Phil Collins
-Birth name: Philip David Charles Collins
-DOB: 1/30/1951
-Where: Chiswick, Middlesex, England
-Was the drummer for Genesis before being promoted to frontman after Peter Gabriel's departure