Entertainment

Charlton Heston Dies at 84

rmiles7721April 6, 20087Entertainment



Rest in Peace, Charlton Heston

The larger than life legend and actor Charlton Heston, who has been suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease for several year has passed away at his home.

“
“
Heston, known for portrayals of larger than life figure including Moses and Ben Hur, was suffering the late stages of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Heston’s wife of 64 years, Lydia, was by his side at the time of his death, according to the family statement.

Heston is survived by a son, a daughter and three grandchildren.

“We knew him as an adoring husband, a kind and devoted father, and a gentle grandfather, with an infectious sense of humor,” the family said. “He served these far greater roles with tremendous faith, courage and dignity. He loved deeply, and he was deeply loved.”

While no funeral plans have been announced, the family said it would hold a private memorial service.

According to IMDB, Heston has been in at least 126 TV and movie roles over the years although the last few years he has really been more interested in promoting American values, and gun owner rights. He was also very heavily involved in civil rights early on, before it became fashionable for stars to do so, having been a supporter of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a man of his convictions, much like many of the roles he played in the movies.

“
“

Heston was born John Charles Carter on October 4th 1924 in Evanston, Illinois, and made his feature film debut as the lead character in a 16mm production of Peer Gynt (1941), based on the Henrik Ibsen play. Shortly thereafter, he played ‘Marc Antony’ in Julius Caesar (1950), however Heston firmly stamped himself as genuine leading man material with his performance as circus manager ‘Brad Braden’ in the Cecil B. DeMille spectacular The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), also starring James Stewart and Cornel Wilde. The now very popular actor remained perpetually busy during the 1950s, both on TV and on the silver screen with audience pleasing performances in the steamy thriller The Naked Jungle (1954), as a treasure hunter in Secret of the Incas (1954) and another barn storming performance for Cecil B. DeMille as “Moses” in the blockbuster The Ten Commandments (1956). Heston delivered further dynamic performances in the oily film noir thriller Touch of Evil (1958), and then alongside Gregory Peck in the western The Big Country (1958) before scoring the role for which he is arguably best known, that of the wronged Jewish prince who seeks his freedom and revenge in the William Wyler directed Ben-Hur (1959). This mammoth Biblical epic running in excess of three and a half hours became the standard by which other large scale productions would be judged, and it’s superb cast also including Stephen Boyd as the villainous “Massala”, English actor Jack Hawkins as the Roman officer “Quintus Arrius”, and Australian actor Frank Thring as “Pontius Pilate”, all contributed wonderful performances.


Linkfest Haven, the Blogger's Oasis

Trackposted to Rosemary’s Thoughts, WayWard Fundamentalist Christian, 123beta, Maggie’s Notebook, Right Truth, Leaning Straight Up, Cao’s Blog, Conservative Cat, Pursuing Holiness, D equals S, Chuck’s Place, McCain Blogs, Pirate’s Cove, Oblogatory Anecdotes – Photoshop Montage/Open Trackbacks, The Pink Flamingo, A Newt One- Don’t miss this show!, Dumb Ox Daily News, Rant it Up, Tilting At Windmill Farms, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Cher at Caesar’s Palace

rmiles7721April 1, 2008Entertainment

It’s kind of funny that I came across this a little while ago since I was writing about Vegas and getting kicked OUT OF Caesar’s Palace in 1987. The thing is, although I was 18 (almost 19), I had no valid ID. Heck, I didn’t even bother getting a driver’s license until I was 20 and almost married. I didn’t have a car, what did I need a license for. It’s not like it is today. Back in the eighties I opened my first checking account so I could deposit my paychecks, without identification. Today you can barely buy bottled water without ID.

Anyhow, while I have never been a huge fan of Cher, some of her stuff is pretty memorable and I can certainly see the value she has added to the music genre, particularly the dance scene, over the last forty years. Holy cow, has it been 40 years? Cher has been performing for over 40 years actually and has released something like 25 different albums during that time, selling over 200 million records, not including the stuff she did with Sonny Bono while they were together.

I had thought Cher was finished with liver performances after her farewell tour that lasted from 2002 until 2005, but apparently not. She is going to be performing at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Her show is called, aptly enough, Cher at the Colosseum and debuts early next month (May 6th). It’s going to have something like 18 dancers, flying acrobats and (of course) tons of costumes. She is rotating out with Bette Midler and Elton John, who also do shows at the Colosseum. I would be interested in checking out the show just to see what kind of effects she is able to add in with her music. From what I was reading, she is replacing Celine Dion, so that will certainly be a big improvement. They are also already selling Cher tickets at Caesar’s Palace Las Vegas if you are interested.

Custom Photo Cards

rmiles7721March 19, 2008Entertainment

I am pretty awful about sending cards when it’s time for people’s birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, etc…I am much better at sending emails and thank you notes that way. I don’t think it’s the cards that I have a hard time sending, it’s just about anything in an envelope for some reason. I pay 99% of my bills online and the other one or two on the phone before I will mail them. That doesn’t mean that I think cards are bogus though. Just look at the custom Photo Greeting Cards that CardsDirect has for instance.

I really like the photo cards. If the picture is well done then sending out photo cards during the holidays is a really cool idea. CardsDirect.com has over 70 different designs of greeting cards to choose from and some of them have really nice designs. I prefer the full color photo without any borders or doo-dads myself.

You can get a box of 100 for a little over $100 and while that may sound like a lot, think about it. When is the last time you printed out $100 photos on your inkjet printer and how many photo cartridges did it take? Not only that but it’s not just the photo, it’s the whole card, inside and out. The time and money I would save by ordering from CardsDirect make it worth the small expense. Heck, I might even get them in the mail rather than just sitting in a box in the top of my closet like the last Christmas Cards I bought.

Check Out New ‘Indiana Jones’ Trailer

rmiles7721March 6, 20082Entertainment

I love the Indiana Jones movies and although Harrison Ford is getting pretty long in the tooth I’ve been looking forward to the new Indiana Jones movie due out in May of this year. If you haven’t seen any of the previews yet, this might interest you.


I’m looking forward to the movie. This may be one of the only ones that I will actually go to the theater to see. I much prefer to wait for DVDs so as to avoid the cost and the crowds but if this is any good it will be well worth it.

Writers

rmiles7721March 1, 20082Blogging, Entertainment, Fiction

I enjoy what I do on the web but make no mistake about it. I don’t consider myself a serious writer. I suppose if I were to take the time to reteach myself the rules of grammar and then find something that would catch the audience’s (YOUR!) attention, then I might be able to write something a bit worthwhile. There are a few bloggers that are actually worth reading though. I have links for two of them here.

One is Eric. If you haven’t been to Straight White Guy and read a few of posts then go check it out. Definitely worth the time spent and you may even get caught up reading and wonder where the time has gone. Apparently he’s had a piece published in A Southern Journal. That was a story I had not heard yet so it was fresh for the mind when I came across it last night.

Earlier this week my brother sent me a link and I have been remiss in posting it here. If you haven’t read his book, Republic, you are missing something. He is in the midst of writing the sequel and the first three chapters are online. Bear in mind that they are a work in progress, and as so some of the details may change and they still have to be edited for grammar and spelling. He also sent me a couple of links to the podcasts as well.

You can check it out at YouTube or subscribe through iTunes.

Podcasts are OK but I much prefer reading for myself and so spent the other evening reading all three chapters when I should have been writing about them instead 🙂

The Last Sitting

rmiles7721February 22, 20083Entertainment


As much as I’ve been reading and hearing about Lindsay Lohan’s now famous photo shoot with Bert Stern (the photographer that did Marylin’s last photo shoot) you would have thought she hosted Jesus at the last supper. And why? It’s a poor imitation of an extremely sensual set of photos.

You can check out Lohan’s photos over at New York Magazine. Have you ever seen the ones of Marylin Monroe. Lohan is missing something vital in the photos. Marylin Monroe looks sensual, naughty, like she was having fun. Lindsay Lohan just looks like she’s trying to be something she’s not. A very poor imitation.

I Don’t Want To Grow Up!

rmiles7721February 20, 2008Entertainment

Something Eric posted while I was out of town got me to thinking. That’s a pretty mean feat in itself, but I digress.

I’m not sure what it is about Atlanta but Heavy Metal acts have just never done very well here in the ATL. Huge bands that sell out two and three shows in NYC, Miami, LA and other cities barely fill the arena here. Hell, some of them just skip us altogether. They will play in podunk, Missouri and buttfuck, Alabama but just scoot on past Atlanta.

When I went to shows more often back in my teens, up until I hit about thirty, quite often a band would tour and I just wouldn’t get to see them. The first big tour that Metallica did in the southeast was opening for Ozzy Osbourne. I caught that show in Knoxville, TN. I think I’ve even posted about meeting the band and road tripping to that show.

So what is it that Eric said that caught my eye? Other than the fact that I enjoy Tom Waits quite a bit more now than I did when I was sixteen? I saw John Waite’s (obviously no relation) solo tour after leaving The Babys in the early eighties and the first of two opening bands for a particular act. He sucked. The second opening act was Steve Marriott and Humble Pie (exactly how it was being billed). Now don’t get me wrong. I like Humble Pie. A lot. As a teenager in 1983 I wasn’t particularly excited about seeing them though.

Imagine if you can, the lobby area at the civic center filled with the screaming hordes of fans (sort of like chipmunks in effect) of pop has-been John Waite, All of the stoners and other hippies going to see Humble Pie. Sort of an age difference for one thing but then you add in the fans for the man they were going to see and there is what makes it so utterly fucking ridiculous.

Ronnie James Dio on his first solo tour after leaving Black Sabbath.

I guess the promoters thought that Dio was going to be doing stuff from his days with Elf and Rainbow and didn’t bother listening to any Sabbath, much less any of his solo album. That or they weren’t thinking at all. Rainbow in the dark indeed.

Waite, Humble Pie, Dio? Not exactly a match made in heaven. Almost as ridiculous as Tom Waits opening for Buffalo Bob, which is what prompted me to write this. It actually started out as a comment to Eric’s post but obviously ran a bit long.

Willie Nelson’s Gravedigger

rmiles7721February 12, 2008Entertainment

Part of this video is Willie Nelson’s new single Gravedigger. He does a passable job with the Dave Matthews cover. Boy is Willie starting to look old or what?


HTPC Equipment

rmiles7721February 11, 2008Entertainment

I’ve been looking at home theater equipment again in preparation for setting my HTPC back up. I had to put it off right before Christmas so we could pay for the Marine to come home for the holidays. There always seems to be something else that needs to be paid for. I already have most of what I need anyway. I have the TV tuners, one of those HDMI switches and most of the PC components to go inside the PC case as well. I may even use the Marine’s old computer instead of picking up a new barebones setup, although I sort of wanted something newer. As long as it’s going to be a dedicated media box I can probably get away with using his old one though.

Beyond the Realms of Death…

rmiles7721January 27, 200818Entertainment

Denny surprisingly posted an entry entitled Sunday Metal today and of course the band of choice is Priest. I don’t know why it surprised me because these guys are truly good musicians and it takes one to really appreciate another.

I have probably even posted this video before and maybe the mp3 as well, but this has to be one of my all-time favorite Judas Priest songs. I have seen them in concert several times over the years and for some reason this just never got played until the late nineties on the painkiller tour. Not that they don’t play it live in concert, it just wasn’t part of the set list any of the times that I went to the darned show.

Beyond the Realms of Death is off of an album called Stained Class which in my opinion is one of their top three albums which include Sin After Sin and Sad Wings of Destiny.

This one was recorded a couple of years ago and although they are getting older, they still rock. Halford can’t hit some of those higher notes anymore but rather than sounding crappy trying to hit them he’s toned it down on the scale a bit.