When I was a kid, my mom introduced me to what would become my life-long appreciation for novelty records. As long as there have been different genres and trends in popular music, there has been someone making fun of it. In my mom’s era, there was Spike Jones. My mom had several of Jones’ 78s …
Lena Zavaroni grew up on the Isle of Bute (a part of Scotland) and began singing at the age of two. At nine, she appeared on the British talent search program, Hughie Green’s Opportunity Knocks and won the show for a record-breaking five consecutive weeks. She released Ma, He’s Making Eyes At Me, a collection …
The Monday Artday challenge word this week is “lucky”. On June 2, 1925, Yankees manager Miller Huggins replaced regular first baseman Wally Pipp in the starting lineup. Pipp was in a slump, so Huggins made the change to boost the team’s overall performance. Huggins started Lou Gehrig instead. He stayed in the lineup for fourteen years. Although he played …
The inspirational word on Inspire Me Thursday is “petals”. Long before Stephen Lynch and Weird Al Yankovic and Allan Sherman, there was Spike Jones. Spike Jones and his City Slickers kept Americans laughing from the early 1940s through the 1960s with his crazy versions of classical and big band standards. In addition to the usual …
Robert Lees began his career as a screenwriter in the middle 1930s. He wrote several screenplays for the “Crime Does Not Pay” short subject series produced by MGM Studios and based on real-life crimes. He graduated to science fiction and ultimately wrote for Abbott and Costello, penning screenplays for five of the comedy team’s films, …
The illustration friday.com challenge word this week is “theater”. After arriving in Hollywood, William Castle worked as an assistant director with Orson Welles. Castle directed his first film at 29 and went on to make a name for himself as the “King of the Gimmicks”. Always thinking of ways to drum up an audience, Castle …
The Monday Artday challenge word this week is “spider”. After finishing 5th in the slalom at the 1968 Winter Olympics, charismatic skier Spider Sabich joined the World Cup circuit for several seasons. He turned professional after the 1970 season. Pro ski racing had just completed its first season, and was conducted in a dual slalom …
The inspirational word on Inspire Me Thursday is “green”. In 1955 for a five-minute puppet show called “Sam and Friends”, Jim Henson created Kermit the Frog from a green ladies’ coat that Henson’s mother had thrown into a waste bin, and two ping pong balls for eyes. From there, he launched a creative empire that stretched …
Three nights ago, the only thing on 22-year old rookie Nick Adenhart’s mind was not giving up any runs to the Oakland A’s starting lineup. Nick scattered seven hits and three walks across six innings, while ringing up five Oakland batters on strikes. Nick was looking great in his 2009 season debut as part of …
Adrienne Shelly began her career with starring roles in independent filmmaker Hal Hartley’s The Unbelievable Truth in 1989 and Trust in 1990. She followed those roles with parts in Law & Order, Oz, and Homicide: Life on the Street and two dozen off-Broadway plays. She stepped behind the camera as writer and director four times …
