Michael Dukakis, the Democratic nominee for President of the United States, was widely ridiculed for looking silly when he was photographed riding in an M1 Abrams tank during the 1988 campaign.
Documentarian Michael Moore is a card-carrying member of the National Rifle Association. He told journalist Tim Russert that he joined so as to be elected its president and then dismantle the organization.
Michael Moore’s breakthrough documentary, Roger and Me, was financed by Moore’s savings and from contributions from individuals and organizations; the single largest contributor (other than perhaps Moore) was extremely liberal actor Ed Asner.
Ed Asner’s Lou Grant is one of the few times a dramatic show was a spinoff from a comedy.
TV presenter and writer Jules Asner divorced her first husband, Ed Asner’s son Matthew, in the mid 1990s and has been married to director Steven Soderbergh for a decade but retains her former married name because it was the name under which she became famous.
Ed Asner played Santa Claus in the Will Ferrell Christmas comedy Elf.
Actor Ed Harris says his most embarrassing moment was modeling tuxedos at the Oklahoma State Fair in 1971.
Tom Cavanagh, who played Ed in Ed, is a Queen’s grad. Cha gheil!
Tom Cruise’s real name is Thomas Cruise Mapother IV.
William Reibert Mapother, Jr. is an American actor and former teacher known for his role as Ethan Rom on the television series* Lost*. He is a first cousin of Tom Cruise.
Ethan Hawke is a first cousin twice removed of Tennessee Williams. Hawke’s great-grandfather and Williams’ father were brothers.
Hennessey Tennessee tootles the flute,
And the music is somethin’ grand;
A credit to old Ireland is McNamara’s band.
The Riders Pep Band is a brass and drum band, made of up of volunteers, who attend Rider games and other events. They once drew a penalty for playing too loudly during the game, making it hard for the opposition to hear the QB signals. We all thought that was the point of fan participation, but the ref disagreed.
For authenticity in the Tom Hanks film Volunteers (1985), set in Thailand, director Nicholas Meyer wanted two elephants to appear in the picture “on the grounds that two elephants look like Thailand while one elephant looks like you can’t afford two elephants.” Mexico played the part of Thailand.
File footage of President John F. Kennedy speaking at Yale University’s June 1962 commencement ceremony appears early in the movie Volunteers.
The Jefferson Airplane’s 5th album, Volunteers was originally going to be titled Volunteers of Amerika. However, the real Volunteers of America, a charitable organization, objected and the title was changed. The albums was also controversial for the use of the words “fuck,” "shit,’ and “motherfuckers,” the first time all three words appeared on an album.
When George Carlin died, all four major TV newscasts played his "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television"with all the words beeped out. I think George would have liked that.
The words are shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits.
Andrew Jackson, a newly-elected Congressman from Tennessee, attended President George Washington’s last address to Congress in December 1796.
The last address of the Prophet Muhammad, more commonly known in English as the Farewell Sermon and directing his followers to spread Islam through the world, was directed at “O People” and “O Man”, not “O Muslims” or “O Believers” as had been his usual practice.
George Washington’s Farewell Address (as distinct from the speech to which I earlier referred) was published in newspapers but not delivered by the President in person.