Now in our sixth calendar year
PCR #254. (Vol. 6, No. 5) This edition is for the week of January 31--February 6, 2005.
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THE RONDO GOES GLOBAL
The Rondo Awards I have been trumpeting has had an amazing outpouring of support from all over the planet. Thus far, votes have been received from India, Ireland, England, Wales, Argentina, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Moscow.
Heck, even Lori Nelson submitted her ballot. And if you don't know who she is, then you are no Monster Kid! Shame on you. And no. I won't tell you. You'll just have to Google it as your penance.
And wait till I tell the Gillman.
MASTERS OF HORROR UPDATE
Have added some new goodies to Horrorhead Fred's Fiendish Fun, as well as a Jack Pierce tribute (which is VERY photo intensive) to The Vault.
Also want to mention that Nolan has received fan mail via my site! James Gregory wrote in to say how much he liked Nolan's personal retrospective on Bela Lugosi, found in The Vault. I'm sure Nol' is red-faced with humbleness. (What's this? What's this? A FAN LETTER? FOR ME?!?! You're darn right I'm red-faced with humbleness; I hardly know what to say! Mr. Gregory, thank you very much for the support, I'm glad you liked my Lugosi tribute on The Masters Of Horror website. Letters like yours are what keep us going! Keep in touch and thanks for writing. Yours in fandom -- Nolan B. Canova)
SUPER BOWL
Having had at least one week to slide on giving my prediction, which afforded me more opportunity to listen to sound bites, and tune in on particular matchups, I believe I've reached the point of comfort with my Super Bowl prediction.
As you may know, the contest pits the New England Patriots, last year's winner (whom I picked I might add) against the Philadelphia Eagles, who finally appear in the big game after missing out three years in a row losing the Conference showdown. Philly appears to be getting back the services of wide receiver Terrell Owens who has been cleared to play, and truthfully the Eagles have been pretty dominant without him, although he clearly is a stud.
Still, it comes down to the team, and concept of team. That is just something that I don't beleive can be beaten by any group of football players, however well assembled. The Patriots are the tightest nucleus of same-minded players I have ever witnessed in sport. That includes some great teams of the past, I can assure you. There just is no singular entity on the team. Even their starting QB Tom Brady, who is today a mega-star in the NFL, winning 2 Super Bowls and their MVPs, deflects any credit given to him by pointing only to those around him and how they have excelled which makes his job easy. To a man this team is like this.
As for the Eagles, they are a very talented team, and have one of the greats at QB in Donovan McNabb, whose numbers didn't suffer the loss of Owens when he originally went down. Truly, they are no slouch as a team and fully derserve to be in this game.
Unfortunately for Philly, they come to this game facing possibly one of the greatest teams in the history of sport. Thus....
IN MEMORIAM
Don't know how in the world I missed this, what with TV, Radio, and the Internet to keep me well informed, but one of my personal favorite musicians passed away a few weeks ago.
Singer/Songwriter James (Jimmy) Griffin passed away on January 11th from problems complicated by cancer.
For those of you too young to know better, Griffin was at one time part of one of the hottest, and greatest, IMO, soft rock bands of the '70s in Bread. Known mostly for their mellow love ballads such as "If", "Diary", and "Baby I'm-a Want You", Bread featured David Gates, who penned the just-mentioned songs, and Jimmy Griffin as the main frontmen ahead of Mike Botts and Larry Knecktel. Griffin, more blues-influenced than Gates, was the harder edge to Bread, penning hits like "Truckin"', "Down on my Knees", and "She's the Only One".
Griffin's greatest hit was possibly one he never did, and that was "For All We Know", on which Jimmy collaborated with Robb Royer and Fred Karlin in 1970. The song became the main theme for the film Lovers and Other Strangers and earned Griffin, Royer and Karlin an Academy Award for Song of the Year. It also turned into a mega-hit for The Carpenters, hitting No.3 on Billboards Hot 100.
I was suprised to learn that Bread reunited in 1997 for a North American Tour. It's impossible to describe how I regret not knowing that and missing a lone opportunity to experience them live. Being a songwriter birthed mostly in mellow tunes of the '60s and '70s, it's not a stretch to say my personal music is heavily influenced by Gates and Griffin. Possibly Bread and the Bee Gees; and no...not the falsetto Bee Gees, the-broken-heart-that-will-never-heal-Bee Gees of the late '60s/early '70s...are the ones that have been THE greatest influences on me in that regard. Some like Nolan and Mike, who have heard some of my music, would probably completely agree with that. (Yep...agreed. --Nolan)
How sad that another icon from my past is now regrettably truly in the past. Even more so, knowing the pain of cancer, the pain his family must be going thru now. Is it impolite to ask you to say a prayer for them?
Jimmy is survived by his wife, Marti, and three children.
Till next time, take care and God bless,
Matthew
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"Matt's Rail" is ©2005 by Matthew Drinnenberg. Webpage design and all graphics herein are creations of Nolan B. Canova. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2005 by Nolan B. Canova.
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