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.


Saturday, May 30, 2026

May Birthdays

It's May! Time to say Happy Birthday!

Blaze Bayley

-Birth Name: Bayley Alexander Cooke

-DOB: 5/29/1963

-Where: Birmingham, England

-He has the dates of birth and death of his wife Deborah tattooed on his arm

Yuki Tsunoda

-DOB: 5/11/2000

-Where: Samigahara, Kanagawa, Japan

-He was a reserve driver for Red Bull Racing

Tim McGraw

-Birth Name: Samuel Timothy McGraw

-DOB: 5/1/1967

-Where: Delhi, Louisiana

-"Live Like You Were Dying" was written about his father, baseball player Tug McGraw, who passed away on Jan. 5, 2004

Zhou Guanyu

-DOB: 5/30/1999

-Where: Shanghai, China

-He is considered to be the only Chinese driver competing in Formula 1

Chow Yun-fat

-DOB: 5/18/1955

-Where: Lamma Island, Hong Kong, China

-The role that was considered his "breakout" was in the 1986 film A Better Tomorrow because director John Woo said he didn't look like an action star

Mike Myers

-Birth Name: Michael John Myers

-DOB: 5/25/1963

-Where: Scarborough, Ontario, Canada

-The day he graduated from high school was the same day he was hired for the Second City comedy club. He had his last exam at 9am, his audition at noon and was hired at 3pm

Cher

-Birth Name: Cheryl Sarkisian

-DOB: 5/20/1946

-Where: El Centro, California

-Her role as Loretta in the 1987 film Moonstruck was offered to actress Sally Field originally, but she turned it down

Eric Singer

-Birth Name: Eric Doyle Mensinger

-DOB: 5/12/1958

-Where: Cleveland, Ohio

-He has played drums for many musicians, including Black Sabbath, Lita Ford and Alice Cooper

Phil Campbell

-Birth Name: Philip Anthony Campbell

-DOB: 5/7/1961

-Where: Pontypridd, Wales, United Kingdom

-DOD: 3/13/2026

-Where: Pontypridd, Wales, United Kingdom

-He played guitar with Motorhead from 1984 until 2015, when bassist / vocalist Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister passed away

Mike Dirnt

-Birth Name: Michael Ryan Pritchard

-DOB: 5/4/1972

-Where: Berkeley, California

-He's the co-founder, bassist, backing / occasional lead vocalist of punk rock band Green Day

Pierce Brosnan

-Birth Name: Pierce Brendan Brosnan

-DOB: 5/16/1953

-Where: Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland

-He has a scar on the right side of his face, above his top lip. He got it from getting hit by a stunt man on the set of 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies

Adele

-Birth Name: Adele Laurie Blue Adkins

-DOB: 5/5/1988

-Where: Tottenham, London, England

-Her song "Skyfall" was sung in a deeper voice because of her being pregnant at the time. Her hormones made her voice deeper

Billy Joel

-Birth Name: William Martin Joel

-DOB: 5/9/1949

-Where: The Bronx, New York

-His nickname is "The Piano Man"

Rami Malek

-Birth Name: Rami Said Malek

-DOB: 5/12/1981

-Where: Los Angeles, California

-He is the only the second American-born actor to play a villain in a James Bond film after Robert Davi, who starred in the 1989 film License to Kill

Clint Eastwood

-Birth Name: Clinton Eastwood Jr

-DOB: 5/31/1930

-Where: San Francisco, California

-He was offered the role of James Bond for the 1973 film Live and Let Die. He was flattered by it, but felt that the role should go to an English actor. It did. It went to Roger Moore

George Clooney

-Birth Name: George Timothy Clooney

-DOB: 5/6/1961

-Where: Lexington, Kentucky

-His mother Nina was a beauty pageant queen while his father Nick was a news anchorman and television host, also brother of legendary singer Rosemary Clooney

Jamie Lynn Sigler

-DOB: 5/15/1981

-Where: Jericho, Long Island, New York

-She suffered from an eating disorder while filming The Sopranos

Pete Townshend

-Birth Name: Peter Dennis Blanford Townshend

-DOB: 5/19/1945

-Where: Chiswick, London, England

-He suffers from partial deafness

Drew Carey

-DOB: 5/23/1958

-Where: Cleveland, Ohio

-Prior to becoming a comedian, he worked as a bank teller and a waiter

Paul Bettany

-DOB: 5/27/1971

-Where: Harlesdon, London, England

-For his role in The Da Vinci Code, he had to wear a wig because when his natural hair was bleached, it left bleeding holes in his head

Friday, May 15, 2026

Diagnosis Murder (1993-2001)

This detective show involves a doctor working as a consultant for the police, including his detective son

Summary

-Dr. Mark Sloane (Dick Van Dyke) is a doctor at Community General Hospital who helps his detective son solve crimes






Cast

-Dick Van Dyke: Dr. Mark Slone

-Barry Van Dyke: Steve Sloane

-Victoria Rowell: Amanda Bentley-Livingston

-Charlie Schlatter: Dr. Jesse Travis

-Michael Tucci: Norman Briggs

-Scott Baio: Dr. Jack Stewart

-Delores Hall: Delores Mitchell

-Shane Van Dyke: Alex Smith

-Kim Little: Nurse Susan Hilliard

Did You Know?

-The series was only renewed a few episodes at a time, according to Dick Van Dyke

-There was one episode that required a motorcycle stunt. Since the production team didn't have enough money in the budget to perform it, Dick Van Dyke used LightWave 3-D software on his home computer to create the visual effects, since he is a computer animation enthusiast. They were used on the show and he was paid $200 for creating this sequence

-Some were concerned that Dick Van Dyke was considered too old to play a still-working doctor when the series began

-When the series started, Dick Van Dyke was already 67 years old

-Dick Van Dyke decided to retire from the role, so the series only lasted 8 seasons

-When Victoria Rowell was pregnant, between seasons 2 and 3, her pregnancy was written into the role. It was said Amanda was married to a serviceman never seen on the program

-When Scott Baio left the show, it was explained that his character, Dr. Jack Stewart, had left Community General Hospital to start his own practice in Colorado

-To prepare for their roles, Dick Van Duke, Victoria Powell, Scott Baio and Charlie Schlatter all had to use medical dictionaries to pronounce the medical terminology

-In the episode "Gangland", it was said that Amanda was a foster child. In real life, Victoria Rowell, who played Amanda, was a foster child

-Victoria Rowell is a second cousin of singer / actress Beyonce Knowles-Carter

-Prior to becoming Chief of Internal Medicine and doing consulting work with the police, Dr. Mark Sloan was a doctor who worked with the MASH Unit

-This show helped launch the careers of Barry Van Dyke, Dick's son and Charlie Schlatter

-Dr. Mark Sloan served in the US Army, in a medical unit during the Korean War. Dick Van Dyke spent his time in the US Army Air Force during WWII in real life

Friday, May 8, 2026

Bands I Would Like to See in Concert

Everyone has that one band or two or more they would love to see in concert. I have quite a few bands I listen to, but have never seen live, that I would love to see in concert

Black Veil Brides
Asking Alexandria
Ghost
As Lions
The Raven Age
Five Finger Death Punch
Disturbed
Dokken
Magnum
Girlschool
Godsmack







There are also some bands I would have loved to have seen live, but I either discovered their music too late, they lost a key member, they didn't come anywhere near me or if they did come to a city near me, I had no one to go with

The Rolling Stones
Motorhead
Deep Purple
Saw them 2x. I would have loved to seen them with Ritchie Blackmore
Queen
Led Zeppelin
David Bowie

Wednesday, May 6, 2026

13 Going on 30 (2004)

This is one of my favorite movies

Summary

-Geeky, unpopular girl Jenna Rink makes an unusual wish on her 13th birthday. It comes true when she wakes up to be a 30 year old woman working for a successful fashion magazine








Cast

-Jennifer Garner: Jenna Rink

-Mark Ruffalo: Marty Flamhaff

-Judy Greer: Lucy Wyman

-Andy Serkis: Richard Kneeland

-Kathy Baker: Bev Rink

-Phil Reeves: Wayne

-Sam Ball: Alex Carlson

-Joe Grifasi: Mr. Flamhaff

-Mary Pat Gleason: Mrs. Flamhaff

-Lynn Collins: Wendy

Did You Know?

-The first scene Mark Ruffalo did was the "Thriller" dance. He was terrified of doing the dance, but Jennifer Garner had "infectious" enthusiasm, so he went through with it. Andy Serkis was in London at the time and had to do the scene separately

-Christa B. Allen was chosen to play the 13 year old Jenna Rink. Jennifer Garner was happy because she felt that Allen really symbolized Garner at that age. Later on, Allen would appear in the 2009 film Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, playing a younger version of Jennifer Garner's character

-When Jenna Rink, at 13 goes into the closet for "seven minutes of heaven", there are actual photos of Jennifer Garner in her younger years on the back of the door

-As Jenna Rink softened and came closer to her true self, her clothing colors became warmer thanks to production adjusting her wardrobe. While Lucy Wyman (Judy Greer) gets more ruthless, her fashion style becomes more aggressive

-A lot of the child-like observations Jenna Rink had were completely improvised by Jennifer Garner. For example, when Alex Carlson (Sam Bell) wanted to play sexual games with Jenna, she suggests Battleship instead

-There is a photo of Madonna on Jenna's vanity table on the day of her 13th birthday. When she is 30 years old, she has that same photo, only now it's signed in her work office

-When Jenna Rink's secretary answers the phone, there is a man on the other end saying "Put that little b---- on the phone. Tell her to call Todd." This is director Gary Winick's voice

-Sean Marquette, who played young Matt, wore a fat suit for the movie

-At the time of filming, Jennifer Garner was 31 years old. She spent time with teenagers to remember how to behave as one

-The celebrities on Poise's Wall of Shame are real celebrities