“I had two little daughters – I think they were 7 and 4 at the time — and I said, ‘I’ll write you a story. What do you want it to be about?’ One of them said ‘a princess’ and the other one said ‘a bride.’ I said, ‘That’ll be the title.’” — William Goldman …
In 1930, animator Max Fleischer released the cartoon short Dirty Dishes, featuring a sexy, anthropomorphic French poodle, drawn by staff artist Grim Natwick. The character sang the song “Crazy Town,” which was augmented by a few “boop-boop-a-doo”s. In subsequent cartoons, the character was refined by studio animators Seymour Kneitel and Berny Wolf and soon became …
Korla Pandit was a pioneer in the musical genre known as “exotica.” He played the Hammond organ and grand piano, giving a new, otherworldly life to standard tunes like “Over the Rainbow,” adding rapid runs, unusual breaks, and piano intermezzo. Beginning in 1949, Korla Pandit’s Adventures In Music was featured on Los Angeles’ KTLA. Korla …
With Billie Holiday as an influence, Abbey Lincoln made a career performing standards, as well as her deeply personal original songs in jazz clubs through the country. She sang on her husband Max Roach‘s civil rights-themed album We Insist! in 1960. Her own lyrics were often connected to the civil rights movement. Abbey was cast …
Terry Jones was the heart and soul of the British comedy troupe Monty Python. And he played some pretty funny characters. He passed away in January 2020 from advanced dementia. He was 77. As fellow Python John Cleese said: “Two down, four to go.”
I remember when Kobe Bryant was a phenom at Lower Merion High School, just outside of Philadelphia. There was a lot of controversy and second-guessing when he decided to forgo college and make himself available for the NBA Draft upon his graduation from high school. The rest, as they say, is history. Obviously, he made …
Chicago-born Bee Palmer was a popular dancer in the early part of the 20th century. She toured with some notable jazz musicians, always under the name “Bee Palmer’s New Orleans Rhythm Kings.” The Rhythm Kings, however, were more successful after they parted ways with Bee. In 1910, Bee introduced a new provocative dance, shaking her shoulders …
Just after the conclusion of the Test for Echo tour, the nineteen-year-old daughter of Rush drummer Neil Peart was killed in a car accident. Ten months later, his common-law wife died of cancer. Distraught, Neil told his band mates to consider him retired, He set out on a long and extensive “trip to nowhere” that …
“Technology presumes there’s just one right way to do things and there never is.” — Robert M. Pirsig Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance After 126 rejections, Robert M. Pirsig finally got his 1974 fictionalized autobiographical novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance published. It went on to sell over five million copies worldwide, …
In 1968, seventeen year-old Barbara Hoyt ran away from her Seattle home with her sights set on Los Angeles. Alone in the big city, Barbara was befriended by a man who called himself “Karate Dave.” He took the teen to see some friends who were living at a place called Spahn Ranch, an abandoned movie …
