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  8. Dean Wormer dies

    in Miscellaneous - Non-Political

    Posted

    They say these things come in threes ... Schmeling, Davis and now this!

    'Animal House' dean Wormer dies at 72

    Los Angeles, CA, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Film and television actor John Vernon, who played the sinister Dean Wormer in the 1978 classic "Animal House," has died in California. He was 72.

    Canadian-born Vernon, who recently suffered a heart attack, died Tuesday in his sleep at his Van Nuys home, family members told the Los Angeles Times.

    In "Animal House," Vernon did his best to expel the Delta House fraternity -- the beer-swilling gang of college misfits led by an uncouth John Belushi as John "Bluto" Blutarsky.

    Vernon, known for his deep, resonant voice and villainous face, amassed more than 200 film and TV credits including a bounty hunter stalking Clint Eastwood in "The Outlaw Josey Wales," the mayor of San Francisco in "Dirty Harry" and a vulnerable bad guy in "Point Blank," starring Lee Marvin.

    "Animal House" director John Landis said he originally wanted "Dragnet" star Jack Webb to play Wormer but after meeting with the long-haired, bearded Landis, the conservative Webb "was absolutely horrified at the suggestion," the Times reported.

  12. Max Schmeling is dead

    in Miscellaneous - Non-Political

    Posted

    I thought he had died a while ago ...

    German boxing legend Max Schmeling dies at 99

    February 4, 2005

    BY ROY KAMMERER ASSOCIATED PRESS

    BERLIN-- German boxing legend Max Schmeling, one of the greatest heavyweight fighters of all time, has died at age 99.

    The former world champion, one of Germany's biggest sports idols, died Wednesday at his home in Hollenstedt, according to his foundation in Hamburg. No cause of death was given.

    Schmeling's extraordinary career will be remembered for his two legendary fights with American great Joe Louis, which produced a lasting bond between the two boxers despite the politically charged atmosphere surrounding the bouts.

    Born Sept. 28, 1905, of humble origins in a small town in the state of Brandenburg, Schmeling first got interested in boxing after seeing a film about the sport.

    He became the first German-- and European-- heavyweight world champion when he beat Jack Sharkey in New York on June 12, 1930, after the American was disqualified for a fourth-round low blow.

    But it was his fights against Louis that set off a propaganda war between the Nazi regime and the United States on the eve of World War II.

    Schmeling lost his title to Sharkey two years later on a disputed decision, but came back to knock out the previously unbeaten Louis in the 12th round on June 19, 1936, which the Nazi regime trumpeted as a sign of "Aryan supremacy."

    Schmeling came into the fight as a 10-1 underdog, and his victory is considered one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.

    But, in a rematch at Yankee Stadium on June 22, 1938, Louis knocked Schmeling out in the first round to retain the world title.

    Schmeling, originally popular in the United States, was viewed as a symbol of the Nazis and the growing antipathy between the countries when the rematch took place.

    The fight was portrayed as the battle of evil against good, with the Nazis looking to project Schmeling as an Aryan Superman.

    President Franklin D. Roosevelt invited Louis to the White House to exhort the black boxer to beat Schmeling.

    Louis, then the champion, sent the German challenger to the canvas four times and knocked him out in 2 minutes, 4 seconds.

    "Looking back, I'm almost happy I lost that fight," Schmeling said in 1975. "Just imagine if I would have come back to Germany with a victory. I had nothing to do with the Nazis, but they would have given me a medal. After the war I might have been considered a war criminal."

    After the loss, the Nazis distanced themselves from Schmeling. In 1940, he was drafted into the military as a parachutist. A year later, he was severely injured and hospitalized for months.

    Despite the portrayal of him in the United States as a tool of the Nazis, Schmeling had run-ins with the regime even before the first fight with Louis.

    Although he had lunched with Hitler and had long discussions with his propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, Schmeling angered the Nazi bosses in 1935 by refusing to join the Nazi party, fire his Jewish American manager, Joe Jacobs, and divorce his Czech-born wife, Anny Ondra, a film star.

    During the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Schmeling extracted a promise from Hitler that all U.S. athletes would be protected.

    He hid two Jewish boys in his Berlin apartment during Pogrom Night in 1938, when the Nazis burned books in a central square and rampaged through the city, setting synagogues on fire.

    Reportedly, Schmeling also used his influence to save Jewish friends from concentration camps.

    After the war, Schmeling was nearly destitute and fought five more times for the money. He retired after a 10-round loss to Walter Neusel in 1948 at age 43 with a record of 56-10-4 with 39 knockouts.

    Schmeling used the money from the bouts to buy the license to the Coca-Cola franchise in Germany and grew wealthy in the postwar era. He also marketed his name, retaining his huge popularity with his countrymen despite his problems with the Nazis.

    Schmeling remained married to Anny Ondra for 54 years until she died in 1987. The two, who met on the set of a film Schmeling appeared in, married in 1932.

    "I had a happy marriage and a nice wife. I accomplished everything you can. What more can you want?" Schmeling said in 1985.

    Over the years, Schmeling treasured his friendship with Louis and quietly gave the down-and-out American gifts of money. He also paid for Louis' funeral in 1981.

    In his final years, Schmeling spent three or four hours a day watching television in his home. He attributed his long life to his happy marriage. The couple had no children.

  15. What does everybody collect besides music?

    in Miscellaneous - Non-Political

    Posted

    Along with my daughters, apparently I collect My Little Ponies and Barbies.

    My oldest is only 5 and I kid you not we have 30+ Barbies. I didn't think the Barbie stage came until later. If this isn't the Barbie stage yet, we're gonna be in trouble when it gets here.

    you gotta love SPARKLEWORKS!

    My young girls (3 and 5) are way into the ponies ... especially those with the magnets implanted in their hooves ... my daughters stick them all over the fridge!

  18. What have you done for a living?

    in Miscellaneous - Non-Political

    Posted

    *industrial design and toy development for #2 largest toy company. (really miss those day long meetings)

    *16 years of self-employed board work for toy, premium and consumer products. (at least no one tells me to turn down that racket my ears are sandwiched between)

    Every have to go to Toy Fair in NY? :tup I had to go a couple of times for one of my past jobs ... which include:

    orderly in downtown Detroit ER (part of my father's campaign to make sure I didn't take life in the suburbs for granted)

    "assistant" at med school dog labs (ditto)

    assistant manager for bookstore

    "writer" for Who's Who in America

    writer/editor for a line of doll-collecting magazines ... everything from Barbies to one-of-a-kind artist dolls

  19. Benny Green?

    in Artists

    Posted

    Any opinions on pianist Benny Green? I've got a couple of his discs (These are Soulful Days, Naturally, Jazz at the Bistro) and generally them, but he doesn't really "grab" me ... on the other hand, I just read a review of one of his shows saying he has been "compared to Bud Powell" (in a positive way).

    Am I missing something?

  20. Moan tones

    in Miscellaneous - Non-Political

    Posted

    Porn star hawks mobile 'moan tones'

    Wednesday, January 26, 2005 Posted: 5:25 PM EST (2225 GMT)

    NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Porn star Jenna Jameson is now hawking "moan tones." For $2.50 mobile phone users can choose from a variety of moans, and sexual noises all recorded by the blond bombshell.

    If that's not enough, Jameson will talk dirty to you when your phones rings, in English or Spanish.

    Jameson, who recently wrote a best-selling memoir, has launched the venture with Wicked Wireless, a mobile music and entertainment company.

    Also available are color pictures of the porn star posing naked that can be displayed on your phone for $2.99.

    "Rock stars make music tones, porn stars make moan tones," said Dennis Adamo, head of Wicked Wireless. "We thought it would be an interesting novel approach of introducing new content to the mobile users."

    Jameson's charms are already being downloaded in Argentina, Ecuador, Venezuela, and in a couple of weeks will be available from Mexico to Uruguay.

    Latin American users can download a moan or a picture for $1.00 each, while U.S. customers will pay $2.50 for a moan and $2.99 for a wallpaper once the service is launched.

    Some people were shocked, but others said they wanted more from the product.

    "If you can get her to say my name then I would buy it. I need that kind of personal attention," said New Yorker Julian McCullough.

    U.S. users will have to wait to get Jameson on their phones as no mobile carriers in the United States have expressed any interest in carrying the service.

  25. It's a bird, it's plane, it's ... Super Ringo!

    in Miscellaneous - Non-Political

    Posted

    The Adventures of Super Ringo

    by Joal Ryan

    Jan 26, 2005, 5:20 PM PT

    You look at Ringo Starr, and see an ex-Beatle. You are not Stan Lee.

    "We were talking and kidding around and I said [to Starr], 'You're known all over the world, and you've got the most distinctive way of talking, and I think if we did a cartoon of you it would be fantastic," the comic-book legend said. "Wouldn't it be cool if we could make you a superhero?"

    Starr agreed that, yes, it would be cool. And, thus, another origin story was born.

    Lee's POW! Entertainment announced plans Wednesday for an animated series to feature the dulcet Liverpudlian tones, music and crime-fighting tactics of the rock idol.

    The show doesn't have a name yet. Neither does the character, really. ("At the moment, it's just Ringo," Lee said. "The name Ringo is magic.") A DVD, likely to feature three episodes of the drummer's exploits, will debut either late this year or early next.

    Also to be determined: Starr's superpowers. Will he be able to leap the Capitol Records Building in a single bound? Will he turn into a form of expensive bottled water? Will he fly?

    "Flying high as a superhero shouldn't be much of a stretch for Ringo," Chris Mason, cofounder of Superherohype.com, said in a tongue-in-cheek email Wednesday. "We can't wait to see Ringo drum evil into submission!"

    Neither can Lee.

    The 82-year-old impresario, who sicced Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk and the X-Men on the underworld during his iconic reign at Marvel Comics, said he's just starting to write the Starr series. But in a way, he's been waiting decades to help the Fab Four make like the Fantastic Four.

    "The funny thing is I had met Paul McCartney years ago, and at that time I thought, 'Gee, it would be great to make [the Beatles] superheroes, with all four of them, but nothing came of it," Lee said. "So this is the realization of a dream right now."

    Today, Starr and McCartney are the only surviving Beatles. There are no plans for McCartney to ride in Starr's sidecar.

    "Right now, it's just Ringo and me," Lee said.

    Being the star of the show, Starr had a request regarding his animated alter-ego, Lee said: He wants to be a "reluctant superhero," just your average, world-famous musician who gets dragged into saving the world between sets.

    Fortunately for Starr, reluctant superheroes happen to be a specialty of Lee, a man who endowed Spider-Man with enough insecurities to keep the therapy profession humming along nicely, thankyouverymuch. Accordingly, Super Ringo, or whatever he's to be called, will follow in the tradition of angsty Lee characters, "but he's going to be funnier," the creator promised.

    Although Starr has been shrinky-dinked before in the name of cartoon fun--chiefly, the 1960s Beatles animated series and the 1968 feature Yellow Submarine--he's never before supplied his own speaking voice. (Those were fake Beatles--or actors, as they're officially known--heard making puns in both projects.)

    In a statement, Starr joked that his new superhero venture was going to be "one of the most exciting adventures I've had all day."

    In truth, Starr has been logging adventures since making Pete Best's life one, long nightmare by supplanting him in the Beatles in 1962. The onetime symbol of the youth-culture explosion is 64 going on 65.

    Will Super Ringo be a sexagenarian?

    Said Lee, ever the showman: "Ringo is ageless."

    Then Lee, ever the storyteller, added: "No, he won't be in his 60s."

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