I'D LIKE TO THANK THE ACADEMY
Congrats to the four people selected to be honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with Governor's Awards. Director Francis Ford Coppola will receive the Irving G. Thalberg award while director Jean-Luc Godard, actor Eli Wallach and film historian Kevin Brownlow will receive honorary Oscars.
BURN BABY BURN!
First off, let me say that I am not in favor of burning ANY book, be it the Quran, the Bible or the upcoming book by George W. Bush. However, I am getting sick and tired of our president and his cronies bending over backwards and kissing every Muslim ass in the world. Why is this group of people so special? For years this country's leadership closed their eyes to the way black people were treated. Same with the gay population. But God forbid we should insult those whacky Muslims. General David Petraeus, commander of both the U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, claimed that burning the Quran would put his troops in danger. What? So the over 4,000 soldiers that have already died weren't in danger? Does he mean that if a convoy of American soldiers is attacked the enemy will say to themselves, "you know, that guy didn't burn the Quran...let's let them go?"
Last year the creators of "South Park" wanted to point out the hysteria surrounding these radical Muslims by actually running an image of the Prophet Mohammed on air. They were forbidden by the powers at Viacom. However, their bosses had no problem with the depiction of Jesus Christ being shit on during the same episode. This year they were once again censored. Yet, nobody had a problem BEFORE September 11, 2001, when Mohammed was portrayed as one of the Super Best Friends (warning, watching this short clip my get you killed):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_E6zoUJzvU
We are going from being the greatest country in the world to being the wimpiest country in the world. If we're going to kiss the Muslims ass then we need to do the same with all of the other groups who feel offended about certain things. We need to destroy all of the prints of "Blazing Saddles" so as not to upset blacks. Every movie before 1997 that portrayed homosexual men as swishy...outlawed. Hell, as a fat guy I'm going to demand that any film or video that depicts fat people as bumbling fools also be forbidden. Except this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaEelhShobo
Fat, jolly bastards!
Album:
The Traveling Wilburys: Volume One - The Traveling WilburysSoundtrack:
Footloose - Original Soundtrack - featuring Kenny Loggins and Bonnie Tyler
Lucky. Lefty. Charlie. Nelson. Otis. You may not know them by their first names but you do by their last: Wilbury.
Conceived almost by accident, the first record by the band sold over 2 million copies in it's first six months of release. Consisting of musical greats Bob Dylan (Lucky), Roy Orbison (Lefty), Tom Petty (Charlie), George Harrison (Nelson) and Jeff Lynne (Otis), the group came together when Harrison, in Los Angeles looking to complete a B side for a European single release. Also in town, Lynne, who was helping produce Roy Orbison's latest album. The three men had dinner and decided to meet the next day to come up with a song for Harrison. Needing a studio, Harrison called Dylan, who had one in his home. He invited the trio over the next morning. Harrison stopped at Petty's house to pick up a guitar to use during the session and invited Petty along. The next day the group came up with "Handle With Care,"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8s9dmuAKvU&ob=av2e
Realizing the song was too good to be a throwaway "B" side, Harrison convinced those assembled that they should write a set of songs for a new album featuring all of them. No stranger to alias' on albums (hello, Sgt Pepper) the group decided that not only would they be known as the Wilburys but that their real names would not appear anywhere on the album. Not even the songwriting credits. Harrison had the group signed to his record company and in October 1988 the album was released. Though "Handle With Care" only reached #45 on the chart (and second single, "End Of The Line" peaked at #63), the album climbed to #3 in the US and stayed on the charts for 53 weeks. Sadly, Orbison died two months later from a heart attack, and was not there when the band won a Grammy award for Best Rock Performance by a duo or group. With Lefty gone, the four remaining Wilburys released "Volume 3" in 1990, which only reached #11 on the charts. Not a typo, by the way. There is no Volume 2!
Following another successful Paramount film that started with an "F" ("Flashdance"), "Footloose" tapped into the teen market that had been neglected for some time by mainstream Hollywood. The story of a young man who moves from Chicago to a small mid-western town that doesn't allow dancing, the film grossed over $80 million. And that's in 1984 dollars. But what fueled the film's popularity (and really the same thing worked for "Flashdance") was the soundtrack, featuring songs co-written by the film's screenwriter, Dean Pitchford, who had co-written several songs, including the Oscar winning title tune, for Alan Parker's "Fame." No less then six songs from the album hit the charts with two of them, "Let's Hear It For The Boy" and the title tune, hitting #1. The album spent two months at number one as well, having the distinction of being the album that knocked last week's album, "Thriller" off of the top of the charts.
Here's a look at the final minutes of the film, which feature the title tune. Isn't it funny how, in a town where no one was allowed to dance, EVERYONE dances better then Kevin Bacon!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUsNpfXwEy0
Well, that's all for now. Have a great week. Don't burn anything I wouldn't. See ya!
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