Herman Melville’s first two novels, Typee (1846) and Omoo (1847), were both popular and successful books, but his career declined after the 1851 publication of Moby-Dick, which was misunderstood and poorly reviewed. In 1876 his books went out of print. Interest in his work was revived generations later with the 1924 printing of his unfinished novel Billy Budd and a biography; this led to a reevaluation of his body of work which saw Moby-Dick acclaimed as one of the greatest American novels.
Billy Budd, Op. 50, is an opera by Benjamin Britten to a libretto by the English novelist E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier, based on the short novel Billy Budd by Herman Melville. Originally in four acts, it was first performed at the Royal Opera House, London, on 1 December 1951; it was later revised as a two-act opera with a prologue and an epilogue.
The Starlight Express is a children’s play by Violet Pearn, based on the imaginative novel A Prisoner in Fairyland by Algernon Blackwood, with songs and incidental music written by the English composer Sir Edward Elgar in 1915. Andrew Lloyd Webber was no doubt familiar with the musical when he took the title for his musical about trains.
NYU Violets is the nickname of the sports teams and other competitive teams at New York University. The school colors are purple and white. Although officially known as the Violets, the school mascot is a bobcat.
The Violets made Time’s list of 10 Worst Team Names, also including UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs, The University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, The MIT Engineers, Pace (University) Setters. St. Louis College of Pharmacy Eutectics, The Long Beach State Dirtbags, The University of Evansville Purple Aces, Evergreen State College Geoducks, and Grays Harbor College Chokers.
Gray’s Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in England, the governing bodies for barristers. All four inns date back to the 14th century at least. Gray’s Inn took its name from the fact that it was originally owned by Baron Gray as his London accommodation. There is a tradition that the Comedy of Errors was first performed as an entertainment at Gray’s Inn.
The 1968 state high school girls’ basketball trophy in Iowa was won by Everly High School. Its team name was the Cattlefeederettes.
The Everly Brothers had 35 Billboard Top-100 singles, 26 in the top 40. They hold the record for the most Top-100 singles by any duo.
The 80’s new-wave / pop band Thompson Twins contained between 3 and 6 members at various times, none of who were named Thompson or related to any of the others. The band was named after the two bumbling detectives Thomson and Thompson in Hergé’s comic strip The Adventures of Tintin.
The Lloyd Webber Brothers (Andrew & Julian) are huge fans of the Everly Brothers (Don & Phil), who recorded Cold from Andrew & Jim Steinman’s musical Whistle Down the Wind. And Click Here for a photo to prove it.
Julian the Apostate was the last pagan Roman Emperor, who tried to turn the tide of Christianity within the Empire. He died in battle after a short reign. His last words are said to have been “You have won, Galilean.”
The Lennon/McCartney song “Hey Jude”, actually written by Paul McCartney solo, was originally “Hey Jules”, kindly trying to comfort John Lennon’s son Julian during his Yoko-driven divorce from his mother Cynthia.
In 1968, R&B singer Wilson Pickett released a cover o Hey, Jude with guitar from a young Duane Allman, who recommended the choice to Pickett. Eric Clapton commented, “I remember hearing [it] and calling either Ahmet Ertegun or Tom Dowd and saying, ‘Who’s that guitar player?’…To this day, I’ve never heard better rock guitar playing on an R&B record. It’s the best.” Pickett commented on the outro that “people were going crazy” and session musician Jimmy Johnson said that the Allman’s solo “created Southern rock”.
And, for my money, Pickett owns that song.
English actor Jude Law has been cast as a young Albus Dumbledore in the four planned sequels to the J.K. Rowling-penned movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Johnny Depp will return as his friend, possible lover and eventual Dark Magic foe Gellert Grindelwald.
Scottish actress Phyllida Law is known for her film roles and numerous television roles; she was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2014 for services to drama and for charitable services. She was married to English actor Eric Thompson from 1957 until his death in 1982. Their daughters, Emma and Sophie Thompson, are both actresses.
German nonsense poet Christian Morgenstern’s poem The Seagulls, with the thought:
Die Möwen sehen alle aus,
als ob sie Emma hiessen.
Sie tragen einen weissen Flaus
und sind mit Schrot zu schießen.
and an English translation:
The seagulls by their looks suggest
that Emma is their name;
they wear a white and fluffy vest
and are the hunter’s game
Emma Thompson won an Academy Award for Best Actress for Howard’s End and an Academy Award for Best Screenplay for Sense and Sensibility.
On June 22, 2017 it was announced that Ron Howard will take over directing duties on the Untitled film based on Han Solo in his younger years. Howard replaces directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller who were let go from their position a two days earlier, reportedly due to their refusal to compromise with Lucasfilm over the direction of the film and going off script, trying to make the film more of a comedy. The film was nearly completed with three and a half weeks left before it wrapped and another five weeks of reshoots scheduled. Howard posted on Twitter his response to taking over directing duties on the film saying “I’m beyond grateful to add my voice to the Star Wars Universe after being a fan since 5/25/77. I hope to honor the great work already done & help deliver on the promise of a Han Solo film.” The film is due for release on May 25, 2018
Toby Keith’s song “Red Solo Cup” is about the Solo Cup Company’s red style of plastic cups, and their common usage at parties, among other occasions. The music video includes cameos from Jeff Dunham (and his character Bubba J), Carrot Top, Ted Nugent, Sammy Hagar, Craig Ferguson, Geoff Peterson, Roger Clemens, Eric Church, Joe Nichols, Lance Burton, and Larry Bird among others.
English law lord, Lord Keith of Kinkel, inevitably got nicknamed “Kinky Keith” by irreverent law students.
Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones has a collection of approximately 3,000 guitars. The guitar he plays most frequently is a 1953 Fender Telecaster acquired in 1971 and nicknamed “Micawber”, after a character in Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield.