“Wildfire” by Michael Murphy
Midday Music Day 36. Wildfire by Michael Murphy.
Tenth grade year and girls loved this song so guys liked it too.
“Better Call Saul” Superfans Easter Egg Advice
Fans of Better Call Saul will want to check out Better Call Saul Superfans Easter Egg Advice posted at The Hollywood Reporter.
“Year of the Cat” by Al Stewart
Midday Music Day 35. Year of the Cat by Al Stewart.
I saw Al Stewart perform in concert my junior year of high school. Year of the Cat was a hit and he was part of a concert at Memorial Stadium that also featured the band Orleans [and other groups].
MegaCon 2015 Report
Yesterday was a good day. I spent it hanging out at MegaCon with my best bud, John Beatty. That’s John in the photo above trying out some Star Man shades.
MegaCon started out as a comic book convention but has morphed into a comic book / celebrity / cosplay convention that gets bigger and bigger with each new year. Reportedly 30,000 people came through the doors yesterday.
My goals for the show were to get Darwyn Cooke to sign two Parker novels, pick up Chuck Dixon’s Winter World novel, try to get sketches from a few artists, meet Lee Weeks and hang out with Big Beatty. I had Friday and Saturday budgeted to get everything done.
The drive to Orlando went smoothly. Big J and I loaded up and headed to the convention. We had a couple of hours before the show opened which gave us additional time to catch up. I walked the convention floor (which was HUGE) to get the lay of the land.
Justin Orr was there, but hadn’t brought sketchbooks — he’s doing a Kickstarter for a new huge sketchbook later this year — and he wasn’t able to take sketch requests. Jason Walker was just getting to his table. I set up a sketch with Elliott Fernandez. I got to speak with Gene Gonzales, Joe Pekar and Frank aka The Voice of MegaCon briefly. Mitch Hyman gave me a couple DVDs (one for Beatty) of his movie, Bubba the Redneck Werewolf. I got Darwyn Cooke to sign my two Stark novels and picked up Chuck Dixon’s Winter World novel. Everything I planned to do over the course of two days was done in one!
I then spent the rest of the day hanging with Big John and Lee Weeks (who is such an amazing talent and cool guy who even does magic tricks). John Higashi invited Beatty and I to join him, Jason Walker and James Howell for dinner at Logan Steak House after the show and we did. It was a great meal with friends I don’t get to see near enough.
I drove Beatty back to his motel and decided to avoid the morning traffic and head home. MegaCon 2015 goes into the books as the year I was able to get everything done in one good day.
“Please Come to Boston” by Dave Loggins
Midday Music Day 34. Please Come to Boston by Dave Loggins.
Please Come to Boston was popular the summer after my ninth grade year. I was back in Terre Haute alternating staying with my dad and my grandparents. The previous summer we [mom, my brother and sisters] had moved to Daytona Beach. It was strange visiting my old friends/home town after a year away.
I didn’t get a haircut all summer. It was funny seeing the reaction of my friends when I returned to Daytona. When I went to our first football practice, my coach took to calling me “Chief” until I got my hair cut.
A Few More Things About Abraham Lincoln
Eddie Deezen at Neatorama posts A Few More Things About Abraham Lincoln. Here are three of my favorites…
- When Lincoln was nine, a horse kicked him in the forehead while he was in the middle of a sentence. He fell unconscious for several hours and when he awoke, his first words were the completion of the sentence he had been saying when the horse kicked him.
- The tall, black stovepipe hat that Lincoln used to wear was more than just a hat. Lincoln used it as a portable filing cabinet and kept notes, money and letters in it.
- Lincoln once left the stage during a political rally because he spotted one of his supporters being beaten. He picked up the assailant by his trousers and physically hurled him twelve feet away.
“Operator” by the Jim Croce
Midday Music Day 33. Operator by the Jim Croce.
Jim Croce is another talent that left us waaay to early. This is probably my favorite Jim Croce song, but he had so many great ones, it’s sometimes hard to say for sure.
15 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About “Predator”
Sean Hutchinson at Mental_Floss is back with 15 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Predator. Here are three of my favorites…
2. THE PITCH FOR THE MOVIE NAME-DROPPED SOME RECOGNIZABLE MOVIE HITS.
The screenwriters pitched Predator to studios as “Rocky meets Alien.”4. SHANE BLACK WAS CAST FOR HIS SCRIPT EXPERTISE, NOT HIS ACTING CHOPS.
Black, who plays Hawkins, had previously written the screenplay for Lethal Weapon; he was covertly cast in the film so that he would be available to make on-the-fly and uncredited script changes while on set. Most famously, Black would later write and direct Iron Man 3.6. THE LOOK OF THE COMMANDOS WAS BASED ON THE SGT. ROCK COMICS.
Hawkins can be seen reading a Sgt. Rock comic in the end credits.
“Mr. Bojangles” by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Midday Music Day 32. Mr. Bojangles by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
I’ve always loved this song. There’s a happy – sadness to it. The line that always gets me is…
“He spoke through tears of 15 years, how his dog and him traveled about.
The dog up and died. He upped and died. After 20 years he still grieves.”
This song reminds me of the end of elementary school and the start of junior high, my paper route and of course fun times.
15 Things You Didn’t Know About “The Godfather”
Sean Hutchinson at Mental_Floss presents 15 Things You Didn’t Know About The Godfather. My three favorites are…
9. HE [Coppola] ALSO TOOK ADVANTAGE OF MISTAKES.
Lenny Montana, who played Luca Brasi, was a professional wrestler before becoming an actor. He was so nervous delivering his lines to a legend like Brando during the scene in the Godfather’s study that he didn’t give one good take during an entire day’s shoot. Because he didn’t have time to reshoot the scene, Coppola added a new scene of Luca Brasi rehearsing his lines before seeing the Godfather to make Montana’s bad takes seem like Brasi was simply nervous to talk to the Godfather.14. THE “TAKE THE CANNOLI” LINE WAS IMPROVISED.
The line in the script only had actor Richard Castellano as Clemenza say “Leave the gun” after the hit on the mobster who ratted on the Corleones. He was inspired to make the sweet addition after Coppola inserted a line in which the character’s wife asks him to buy cannoli for dessert.1. COPPOLA WAS AT RISK OF BEING FIRED DURING PRODUCTION.
Coppola (who got the job because of his previous movie, The Rain People) wasn’t the first director Paramount Pictures had in mind for The Godfather (Elia Kazan, Arthur Penn, Richard Brooks, and Costa-Gavras all turned the job down), and after filming began, executives didn’t like the brooding, talky drama that Coppola was shooting.The studio wanted a more salacious gangster movie, so it constantly threatened to fire Coppola (even going so far as to have stand-in directors waiting on set). Coppola was reportedly getting the ax until he shot the scene where Michael kills Solozzo and McCluskey, which the executives saw and loved.
“The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot.
Midday Music Day 31. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot.
This takes me back to early fall of my senior year. Homecoming and a friend of my mom loaned me his Mustang [I didn’t have mine yet] for the dance. It was an interesting evening and for some reason this song brings back that memory.
10 Practical Tips for Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse
Lauren Davis at i09 presents 10 Practical Tips for Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse. The three best tips, in my opinion are…
4. Zombies Are the Least of Your Worries
It’s bad enough that you have to deal with the zombified masses, who are tireless, feel no pain, and greatly outnumber healthy human beings. But perhaps even more deadly are the humans who simply can’t cope with the new world order. It’s best if you keep a psychologist on hand who can identify and subdue such persons before they embark on a murderous rampage that makes the zombies look as ferocious as fluffy kittens.10. Suit Up
Perhaps the best way to prepare for the day the dead rise from their graves is to assemble the perfect zombie-fighting attire. Avoid brain spray-back by wearing goggles and covering your face with a non-porous material. Use plate mail or leather to create a bite-proof body suit. Kevlar gloves (provided to some food industry workers) can be worn as is or refashioned into impenetrable sleeves, allowing you to fend off zombie bites by holding up your forearms. Riot shields also add an extra layer of protection and make the zombie head squishing that much easier.1. Clear the Room.
There’s nothing worse than stepping into a room only to be set upon by a horde of brain-hungry zombies. A team of four armed shooters can easily clear a room if they all stand against the nearest wall: one body in each corner and two in the middle. This position proves optimal for quickly dispatching of a room full of the reanimated.
“One Tin Soldier” by The Original Caste
Midday Music Day 30. One Tin Soldier by The Original Caste.
I always thought that this song had a very cool twist ending. Also the fact that it was played at the end of Billy Jack didn’t hurt.
“The Last Ship” Season Two Poster and Trailer
The Last Ship season two poster and trailer.
If the second season matches the first, we’re in for a fun ride!
“Indian Reservation” by Paul Revere and the Raiders.
Midday Music Day 29. Indian Reservation by Paul Revere and the Raiders.
We’ve moved from songs about breaking up to songs about a lover dying to today’s song about the Indian Nation dying… and these are the songs we loved!
