C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley continued receiving mail and speaking offers (and probably solicitations for articles and the like) for years after their deaths as both had many ardent fans who did not even realize when the two men died. This was because both died on November 22, 1963, and the assassination of JFK (followed by Oswald’s) caused the Lewis & Huxley obits to get sent to the back in some magazines/papers and left out altogether of others.
There is a play about the three men in the anteroom of the afterlife entitled Between Heaven and Hell by Peter Kreeft. (I’ve never read it or seen it but it seems to get a lot of “excellent premise/terrible execution” [no pun intended] reviews.)
The British rock group, Scaffold, had a minor hit in the US with “Thank U Very Much” and a fairly successful career in the UK.
The group was fronted by Mike McGear, who was Paul McCartney’s brother (he used the stage name “McGear” to avoid charges that he only succeeded because of his brother).
It’s also the only rock group whose lyrics appeared in The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry. Roger McGough, a member of the group, but also a very successful poet on his own, used his poem “Goodbat Nighman” (which appeared in the anthology) as song lyrics.
Speaking of McCartney, I seem to remember that his song Mull of Kintyre (one of my favorites) was his biggest solo hit ever [up to that point] in the UK, and his biggest flop ever to be released as a single in the U.S…
Something extremely trivial I found interesting nonetheless: there’s a practical reason why the GEICO gecko has a British accent: it’s a scab- sort of.
He was originally to be voiced by Kelsey Grammer, but the SAG went on strike when the ads were to be dubbed. The CGI however was finished and could be used regardless of the actors strike, and an English voice over actor named John Wood (a resident of London and thus not a member of SAG) did a voice over dubbed onto the commercial.
I don’t know if there are any other Clean House fans on here (the home makeover show hosted by Niecy Nash), but if so-
-the studly Matt who assists with the makeover and yard sales had an odd career path. He was a licensed physician who quit practicing medicine in his early 30s to become a standup comedian.
Imagine trying to tell that decision to your mom and dad (his dad’s also a Dr.). I’m guessing a variation on the Claire Huxtable to Sondra “I WANT MY MONEY!” scene ensued.
I have a copy of this on VHS. My brother and sister and I used to watch it when I was a kid, over and over–we were totally weirded out by some elements and I was never really sure what to make of it, though I loved Twain’s books. I haven’t thought about this movie for probably ten years.
I once read that the record company did some kind of promotion where the one-millionth single pressed contained a certificate to meet Paul McCartney. As luck would have it, the person who purchased that copy of the single was actor Dan Ackroyd.
Albert Einstein, after his second wife died and well into his 50s, began a relationship with a Russian woman. Around this time (right after WWII) he was under fire from the FBI for allegedly being a communist sympathizer, despite having been consistently outspoken against fascist Russia. However, unbeknownst to both him and the FBI, his Russian girlfriend was actually a soviet spy and was constantly trying to get him to travel to Moscow. Once he emigrated to the US in the 1930s though, he never left the country for the rest of his life.
Remember the 1960’s TV series Lost in Space? Bill Mumy played the part of whiz kid Will Robinson. He was always taking apart the robot.
Bill Mumy later became a member of the musical duo Barnes and Barnes. Their most famous song was Fish Heads. Fish heads, fish heads, rolly polly fish heads. Fish heads, fish heads, eat them up Yumm!
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I’d always wondered why people were making such a big deal about Bill Mumy playing Lennier on B5. He seemed a decent enough actor, and did well with the role, but it wasn’t a role with all that much meat on it that I recall. And so I never understood the excitement people had for his presence.
:smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack:
from t_bonham who quoted me that I had read a book in the early '70’s that stated
“Gene Roddenberry had studied history & was appreciative of the role the Scots had had in naval history (ship development, etc), & so wanted a Scottish engineer. (This is where “Scotty” came from).”
Quote t_bonham:
I don’t think this is accurate.
I remember reading a biography by either Scotty or Bones that talked about this, and said that the original idea had been a Germanic engineer (based on the stereotype of Germans as good engineers & strict disciplinarians). It was only changed to a Scottish character rather late in the process. (I don’t remember what reason was given for the change.)
I can only cite as my source one of those “quick-this-subject-is-hot-publish-a-paperback-with-lots-of-pictures” books; in this case, the subject was Star Trek. I agree with t-_bonham that the source of Montgomery Scott was not Gene Roddenberry’s imagination, but please consider this source: http://youtube.com/watch?v=a2uyIKCV3PM This is a segment of the Tomorrow Show w/ Tom Snyder. His guest stars are DeForest Kelley, Walter Koenig, & James Doohan. During this episode, James Doohan (about 4 min 43 sec into it) describes why his character is Scottish & why the character’s an engineer.
Inner_Stickler, I’ve been an office worker since the early 1970’s. Mrs Nesmith’s product will ever make us love her & allow us to overlook her son’s mistakes (not the least of which is Elephant Parts.
