12.27.07
Jeanne Carmen
1) Jeanne Laverne Carmen was born on August 4, 1930 in Paragould, Arkansas. She died on December 20, 2007.
2) She has often been called the “little country girl” who ran away from home when she was 13 to pursue stardom in New York.
3) Her start on Broadway came in 1948 as part of the chorus line of Bert Lahr’s “Burlesque”.
4) Carmen is said to have picked up skills as a trick golfer from trick shot master Jack Redmond and claims she used her golfing skills to hustle pro golfers with Las Vegas mobster Johnny Roselli.
5) Her platinum blonde hair and hourglass 36-26-36 measurements gained her entry into photo shoots for then-risqué girlie magazines. These led to roles in low-budget flicks. She has been given the title of “Queen of the B Movies.”
6) Her son Brandon James wrote her biography, Jeanne Carmen: MY WILD, WILD LIFE as a New York Pin Up Queen. A movie is reportedly in the works, with starlets such as Scarlett Johansson and Kate Bosworth rumored to be in line to play the lead role.
12.26.07
About the Islamic Religion
1) Islam is a one deity religion based upon the teachings the 7th century Arab religious and political leader Muhammad. It is the second-largest religion in the world with an estimated 1.4 billion followers. The followers are known as Muslims. Only about 20% reside in the Arab countries. 69% of the Muslims reside in Asia, and less than 1% in North America.
2) It is the Muslim belief that the God Allah gave the Qur’an to his final Prophet, Muhammad. They believe that the Qur’an was revealed by the Angel Gabriel. The Islamic text show that Judaism and Christianity are prophetic successor in the teachings of Abraham.
3) Muslims believe that the Virgin Mary (Miriam) gave a miraculous birth to Jesus and he is one of God’s prophets. There is even a chapter in the Qur’an named for Mary.
4) The Muslims follow the Five Pillars of Islam. The first pillar, Shahadah, says “I testify that there is none more worthy of worship except God and I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God.” The second pillar, Salat requires them to pray at fixed times five times a day facing toward Mecca. The third, Zakat, is charity giving to the poor based upon the wealth one has accumulated. The fourth, Sawm is that during the month of Ramadan they are to abstain from food, drink and sexual intercourse from dawn to dusk. The fifth, Hajj is the pilgrimage during the month of Dhu al-Hijah in Mecca. Each Muslim who can afford it is obliged to make the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime.
5) There are a number of Islamic religious denomination. The major schools of Sunni and Shi’a. The Sunni is the largest with present estimates of approximately 85%. The Shi’a with approximately 15% differ from the Sunni in that they reject the authority of the first three caliphs, Islamic leaders, and feels that only descendants of Muhammad should be given this right.
6) The act of terrorism cannot be justified under any valid interpretation of the Qur’an. It speaks a message of hope, faith and peace through the faith in God. Only by using snippets of verses used out of context can those using the Qur’an to justify their actions.
12.25.07
Good Four Letter Words
1) Love – a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
2) Life – the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, reproduction, and the power of adaptation to environment through changes originating internally.
3) Work – exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something
4) Play – exercise or activity for amusement or recreation.
5) Fate – the universal principle or ultimate agency by which the order of things is presumably prescribed.
6) Nice – pleasing; agreeable; delightful.
Note: definitions from dictionary.com
12.24.07
Musical Artist of the Decade
1) 1930’s – Bing Crosby with the 1940’s – Frank Sinatra. Many could be of the opinion that Bing Crosby could be the artist of the 30’s and 40’s with Sinatra reaching the top in the later 40’s and into the early 50’s
2) 1950’s – Elvis Presley. He’s not called the King for nothing
3) 1960’s – The Beatles. They began in 1962 as a top British act before reaching the US in 1964.
4) 1970’s – Elton John. He was the first artist to debut at Number 1 on the album chart and didn’t miss a year without a top selling song.
5) 1980’s – Michael Jackson. Just one word, Thriller. Although there is an argument for Madonna.
6) 1990’s – Garth Brooks. Whether you liked him or not, he sold a bunch of CD’s.
12.22.07
Be An Expert
1) An expert is someone that is recognized as being a reliable source of knowledge.
2) Everyone is an expert on something. You are the expert at doing your job. If nothing else you are the expert on you.
3) The best way to become an expert is to have experience. Something is learned everyday.
4) There are 3 kinds of experts. Book Learning expert, a Practical Experience expert or one that has both.
5) It’s not always fun being an expert witness in a court case. One set of lawyers are presenting you as an expert and will bring you up, while the other set of lawyers will be trying to prove you aren’t.
6) The more that you learn about a subject more you become an expert on that subject. It doesn’t matter how you learn the information, just as long as the information is true and accurate.
12.21.07
Holiday Shopping Safety Tips
These are tips that Police Departments are publishing:
1) Lock your doors even after you get in the car.
2) When traveling with young children, everyone should enter on one side of the vehicle.
3) Park in a well-lit area.
4) Remember where you park.
5) Secure valuables and shopping bags inside your trunk.
6) Never carry a lot of cash, and don’t show all of your cash when making a purchase.
Hope that everyone has a Very Merry Christmas.
12.20.07
About working sick
1) It’s estimated that it costs US businesses 180 billion a year in lost productivity.
2) Productivity is lower because coming to work sick prolongs illness and has the potential of spreading illness to colleagues and customers.
3) Many times it’s the company who encourages employees to come to work sick, by giving bonuses for attendance.
4) As much as 47% of the US workforce doesn’t have paid sick leave. Those who do have paid sick leave often use it for care of elderly relatives. Some will even save paid sick days to use when well.
5) The most common reason for people to go to work sick is their belief there is too much work to be done, or if they aren’t there, the work won’t be completed in a timely fashion, or that they are essential to the organization.
6) Graveyards are full of essential employees.
12.19.07
Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’
1) A Christmas Carol by English novelist Charles Dickens was first published on December 19, 1843. It had illustrations by John Leech.
2) The story is divided into Staves and not chapters. A stave, which is similar to a stanza, is found in music as a recurring pattern of meter and rhyme. Dickens felt this added humor as it relates to the title.
3) When Scrooge is visited on Christmas Eve by the ghost of his old partner and friend Jacob Marley, Marley’s ghost informs “Expect the first tomorrow, when the bell tolls one. … Expect the second on the next night at the same hour. The Third, upon the next night when the last stroke of Twelve has cease to vibrate.” In the end the three spirits visited him on one night.
4) A Christmas Carol has been adapted for nearly every form of entertainment including theatre, opera, film, radio and television. The first film version was made in 1901 called Scrooge. In 1908 Thomas Edison also produced a film version of the story.
5) Lionel Barrymore’s radio production of him playing Scrooge was so popular that plans were made for him to do a film version. However, before it was filmed he was confined to a wheelchair with crippling arthritis and the role was played by Reginald Owen.
6) One of the best acclaimed film version of A Christmas Carol starred Alastair Sim as Ebeneser Scrooge. The English produced film was released with the title Scrooge in England and A Christmas Carol in the United States. It however did not attain its stature until the 1970’s when it turned up each year on US TV. Prior to this the most popular version of the filmed story in the US was the 1938 version with Reginald Owen.
12.18.07
The Temptations
1) The Temptations was one of the most successful vocal groups that came out of Motown, the record company founded in Detroit, Michigan by Berry Gordy. The original members of the group were Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, Al Bryant, Eddie Kendricks, and Paul Williams forming under the name The Elgins. Otis Williams and Al Bryant came from a group called The Distants, while Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams came from the Primes.
2) In 1963, Al Bryant, who prefered his day job over performing, left the group and David Ruffin, cousin of Lamont Dozier of the song writing team of Holland, Dozier, Holland, joined the group. David Ruffin’s brother Jimmy had been considered, but David had better performance skills.
3) Ruffin, with his more Southern “gospel shouter” style, emerged as a third lead singer along with Kendrick’s smoother falsetto “romantic lead” and Paul William’s power baritone style. With this they could perform nearly any style that the producers of Motown desired. Most of the Singles released by the Temptations before 1968 had Ruffin singing lead.
4) 1968 saw a major change for the Temptations. David Ruffin left the group for a solo career and was replaced by Dennis Edwards. At the same time Norman Whitfield, who had been producing the group for a couple of years created a new pyschedelic sound for them. Cloud Nine was the debut of this new sound and they moved away from the Ruffin style ballards to a funkier beat.
5) Two years later saw the departure of Eddie Kendrick and Paul Williams. Paul Williams health was on the decline and he was even replaced on stage a few times by Richard Street. Kendricks didn’t like the sound that the group was taking and regularity had fights with Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin over who was the leader of the group. However before they left recorded the lead vocals for Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me).
6) Otis Williams is the only original member still with the group. Of the original five he is also the only one still alive. Paul Williams died as a result of suicide in 1973. Al Bryant died in 1975 of cirrhosis of the liver. Eddie Kendrick died in 1992 of lung cancer. Melvin Franklin died in 1995. He was the only other original member to not leave the group.
12.17.07
Directors of Silent Films
1) Erich Von Stroheim
Stronheim was an Austrian who had a long career in Silent Films in Hollywood beginning in 1915. His most famous work as a director is Greed, a detailed filming of the novel McTeague by Frank Norris. Stroheim originally edited a nine-hour version of the story, shot mostly at the locations as described in the book, San Francisco and Death Valley. He did cut it to less than three hours but it still was rejected by MGM which cut the film to a little over two hours. Stroheim destroyed the excess footage.
2) F.W. Murnau
Murnau was one of the greats of the Germanic Silent directors. His most famous film was the unauthorized version of Dracula, which he called Nosferatu. Even though he lost the lawsuit brought against him by Stoker’s estate which ruled that all copies of the film was to be destroyed, prints had been saved and now it has been fully restored.
3) King Vidor
Vidor might be best remembered as being a non-credited director of The Wizard of Oz, but he is also in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest career as a film director. His first in 1913 with Hurricane in Galveston and ending in 1980 with a short documentary on painting entitled The Metaphor. In 1928, Vidor received his first Oscar nomination, for The Crowd. In the same year, he made the classic Show People, the last silent film of Marion Davies, a comedy about the film industry.
4) John Ford
Ford may be best remembered for his westerns starring John Wayne, but came to Hollywood in the 1910’s following his brother and began work as a director in the early 1920’s. Many of his silent films, both as an actor and as a director have been lost.
5) Alfred Hitchcock
Hitchcock like Ford will be remember for the films he made after sound was put on film, but he began as a director of silent films in England in the mid 1920’s. His first ‘talkie’ Blackmail, his tenth film, was released a month before his final silent film, The Manxman.
6) Cecil B. DeMille
The great filmmaker Cecil B. Demille began in the early days of film. He directed Paramount first film The Squaw Man in 1915. A few of his silent films such as The Ten Commandments he was a able to remake in the sound era.
