Todd Rundgren’s back-up band was called Utopia.
The word “Utopia” was coined by Sir Thomas More, who gave that name to an imaginary island in the Americas which had the ideal government and society. “Utopia” is, essentially, Greek for “Nowhereland.”
Costa Gavras’s movie Z is thinly-veiled retelling of the political crimes of the Greek military junta of the 1960s.
The Thai military junta of 1991 held general elections in 1992 in an effort to restore democracy, but had to resume control when the “elected government” chose Narong Wongwan to be Prime Minister and the U.S. government pointed out that Narong, a suspected drug dealer, was ineligible for U.S. visa. The crisis was eventually resolved by the intervention of King Bhumipol the Great, who celebrated the 60th anniversary of his coronation this last Wednesday.
Horror writer S. P. Somtow, author of Vampire Junction and winner of a World Fantasy Award, is also a successful composer of classical music and is distantly related to the Thai royal family. His real name is Somtow P. Sutchurtikul.
Prince Prajadhipok, who reigned as King Rama VII and was an uncle of the current Thai king and a grandson of King Rama IV (the king fictionalized in The King and I) took out a multimillion dollar (in U.S. $) unemployment insurance policy to be paid in the event he was deposed. He was deposed in 1925 and lived in comfort due to the policy, which did pay off.
(Just a note: That’s amazing. It’s not commonly known here. I’d never heard it before, but I did find it here just now.)
Family Guy spoofs the play The King and I when Peter takes over the theater from Lois. In this spoof the twins are played by bikini models, Anna is a cyborg, and the king is portrayed by a dog (Bryan).
Yul Brynner won both the Tony and the Oscar as Best Actor for his performance as the King of Siam in The King and I.
Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen had a bit of an ongoing pissing contest during the filming of The Magnificent Seven. On the one hand, Brynner made sure that he would appear to be taller than his co-star in every shot , to the point of building little mounds of dirt to stand on for still shots.
For his part, McQueen went out of his way to always do *something *to get the viewer’s attention on him whenever they both shared the screen, especially when McQueen’s in the background : whether it’s shaking shotgun shells, or touching his own hat, or fidgeting with his gun belt, McQueen’s always acting up, foiling the more quietly stoic Brynner.
Yul Brynner played a robot gunslinger in the 1973 movie Westworld, written and directed by Michael Crichton. A remake was discussed in Hollywood a few years ago, with Quentin Tarantino to direct, but nothing came of it.
Michael Crighton’s Andromeda Strain, Westworld, Jurassic Park, and Rising Sun all deal with technology going badly wrong; he was also a creator of the TV series ER which was partly inspired by his own experiences as an ER doctor.
The Canadian-American science fiction series Andromeda starred Kevin (Hercules) Sorbo and was based on material developed by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry.
The Canadian-American science fiction series The Starlost starred Kier (2001: A Space Odyssey) Dullea and was based on material developed by Star Trek contributor Harlan Ellison.
Harlan Ellison loudly and repeatedly criticized the producers of Star Trek for their “inept” rewrite of his script for the episode City on the edge of Forever. The original draft featured a drug dealing crewman and the Starship Enterprise becoming a pirate ship.
Harlan Sanders became very well to do as the owner of a motel and highly successful restaurant in his native Kentucky, then lost his fortune when I-75 bypassed his establishment and had to go to work for other people. He started Kentucky Fried Chicken using his chicken recipe from the ‘good ol’ days’ when he was 65 and originally as a franchise to gas stations, rebuilding his fortune.
He died wealthy but nowhere near as rich as he could have been because he insisted on cash payments (around $2 million) when he sold the recipe and franchise rights instead of the stock that the purchasers tried to give him which would have earned him many times that; his secretary, who did take stock, earned more than he did and he earned more as spokesperson than for his chicken recipe. He once launched into a livid foul-mouthed tirade when asked his opinion of Extra Crispy (he hated any deviation from his “Original” recipe but had signed away complete control).
The extra crispy recipe of KFC is made using a garlic marinade and then double dipping the chicken in flour before deep frying it. The ingredients of the recipe itself are kept secret, however, and are only known by two executives at any one time.
Just a note: damn but that sounds like a euphemism.
Dick Orkin is one of the most famous voices in radio advertising, having written and produced commercials since the 1960s. He is best known for his radio comedy serials, Chickenman and The Secret Adventures of the Tooth Fairy.
Stan Freeberg, who started out as a voice actor before becoming a radio star, is best known for his pioneering work in humorous commercials. He won 21 Clio awards over his career in advertising.