“I was always in trouble from an early age. I had a fraught relationship with my parents, who were very traditional. Doing plays at school was a joyous release.”–Naveen Andrews
[Image courtesy FanPop.com]
Naveen William Sidney Andrews was born on this day in London, England in 1969. He is 43 years old.
Andrews was raised in the Wandsworth neighborhood of South London in a conservative parents, both of whom are first generation immigrants from Kerala, India. He attended London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
He broke into film with the role of Bike in London Kills Me (1991).
In 1996 he played Kip, a British sapper, in The English Patient. Kip’s relationship with Hana is a gentle, romantic shadow of the sensual, adulterous relationship between Almasy and Katharine Clifton. Here he is defusing a bomb…
He was clearly having a good time with his role of Bairaj (Bingley) in Bollywood’s Bride and Prejudice. Bonus: we get to see him dance and sing.
He played a considerably darker character on Lost for 116 episodes. Sayid Jarrah is a former member of Iraqi’s Special Republican Guard. His character is equally well versed in mechanical and radio engineering and in torture. On an Island where nothing is as simple as it appears, and all the heroes come with a big helping of “anti-” … Sayid isn’t a bad person to have on your team.
“To stand up on a stage alone with an acoustic guitar requires bravery bordering on heroism. Bordering on insanity.”–Richard Thompson
[Image courtesy Helpless Dancer]
Richard John Thompson was born on this day in Notting Hill, London, England in 1949. He is 64 years old.
Thompson was born into a musical family. His father was an amateur guitarist and other family members played music professionally. His first band, which he started in school, was called Emil and the Detectives. Thompson embraced rock and roll, jazz and traditional Scottish music influences as he kerned his skills.
In his four years with the group, they released a half a dozen albums that married electric rock with acoustic folk, changing the musical landscape in Britain… [NPR.org]
His strong guitar playing helped the band gain traction both in the UK and in the States. Thompson also wrote most of Convention’s songs like “Meet on the Ledge” .
Thompson left Fairport Convention in 1971 and struck out on his own. His first solo album, Henry the Human Fly failed to impress critics and the record buying public, but it did yield an important professional and personal connection — Thompson worked with Linda Peters on the project. Peters and Thompson fell in love and married in October of 1972.
The duo hit their professional stride with the well received album Shoot Out the Lights. Unfortunately their personal life together had begun to unravel. After touring to support the album the couple divorced in 1982.
Here’s Wall of Death from Shoot Out the Lights…
From 1983 on Thompson was a solo act — kind of — he found a myriad of other performers who mixed well with his vocal, guitar and folk/rock style.
No artist to emerge in the second half of the ’60s has gone on to have a more productive and vital career than Richard Thompson. The England-born, L.A.-based artist has amassed an astounding body of work comprising more than 40 albums, containing artfully shaped material that seamlessly and expressively integrates traditional and contemporary modes. And Thompson is among the most distinctive of guitar virtuosos, capable of breathtaking drama and sublime delicacy, prompting Rolling Stone to hail him as “a perennial dark-horse contender for the title of greatest living rock guitarist.” [Amazon.com — Richard Thompson Biography]
Richard Thompson at Cambridge Folk Festival (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Here’s 1952 Vincent Black Lightning a beautiful exhibition of his storytelling and musical skills.
The Thompson’s son Teddy began singing professionally with his father in the 1990’s. The two performed a duet, Persausion, for Action Packed, Richard Thompson’s 1999 best-of record.
That same year Thompson was asked for a list of the most popular music of the previous millennium for Playboy Magazine. Thompson knew they were only looking for a pop look at the past 20 years or so, but he took the task to heart and researched songs stretching back 1068. He started with Sumer is Icumen In and ended with his own take on Oops! I Did It Again. Thompson decided to record the songs (he did 23 in all).
To get a comprehensive taste of Thompson music you can listen to this NPR concert:
Michael Luther King, Jr. was born on this day in Atlanta, Georgia, USA in 1929. Today is the 84th anniversary of his birth.
Born to into a “preaching” family. Both his father and grandfather were Baptist ministers. His maternal grandfather, A.D. Williams took over the Ebenezer Baptist church in Atlanta when its congregation numbered only 13. Under his leadership that quickly changed. King’s father married Alberta Williams (A.D.’s only surviving child) in 1926.
Michael King Sr. stepped in as pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church upon the death of his father-in-law in 1931. He too became a successful minister, and adopted the name Martin Luther King Sr. in honor of the German Protestant religious leader Martin Luther. In due time, Michael Jr. would follow his father’s lead and adopt the name himself. [Biography]
Martin was the middle of three children in the King household. He grew up in Atlanta attending Booker T. Washington High School. He entered Morehouse College at age fifteen. He graduated from Morehouse in 1948 and went on to get his Bachelor of Divinity degree at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, PA. and his Doctor of Philosophy from Boston University.
He emerged as a Civil Rights leader with the Montgomery Bus Boycott in December of 1955. In 1957 he worked with Ralph Abernathy and other ministers to create …
the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to harness the moral authority and organizing power of black churches. They would help conduct non-violent protests to promote civil rights reform. [Ibid]
The SCLC organize voter registration drives in the South. In 1959 King traveled to India
The trip affected him in a deeply profound way, increasing his commitment to America’s civil rights struggle. African-American civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who had studied Gandhi’s teachings, became one of King’s associates and counseled him to dedicate himself to the principles of non-violence. [Ibid]
The “Sit-In” movement began in 1960. By summer 27 sit-ins had successfully ended lunch counter segregation. King joined an Atlanta lunch-counter sit in and was arrested with 36 others.
King was arrested again in 1963 after he organized a demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama. The demonstration, which included families, ended when the
City police turned dogs and fire hoses on demonstrators. Martin Luther King was jailed along with large numbers of his supporters, but the event drew nationwide attention. …However, King was personally criticized by black and white clergy alike for taking risks and endangering the children who attended the demonstration. From the jail in Birmingham, King eloquently spelled out his theory of non-violence: “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community, which has constantly refused to negotiate, is forced to confront the issue.”[Ibid]
On August 28, 1963 King and his supporters marched peacefully to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC and he gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.
The Civil Rights Act passed 1964. The same year King received the Nobel Peace Prize. King continued to advocate for civil rights. He saw the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 and worked to bring the Civil Rights Movement to larger cities.
President Lyndon B. Johnson and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. meet at the White House, 1966 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
He also added his voice to the chorus of protesters against the Vietnam War.
He felt that America’s involvement in Vietnam was politically untenable and the government’s conduct of the war discriminatory to the poor…[Ibid]
In the spring of 1968 King went to Memphis, Tennessee to support sanitation workers who were on strike.
On April 3, in what proved to be an eerily prophetic speech, he told supporters, “I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.” The next day, while standing on a balcony outside his room at the Lorraine Motel, Martin Luther King Jr. was struck by a sniper’s bullet. [Ibid]
“I like playing somebody who has to apologize to their kid, all the time, for screwing up. That seems really real.” —Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Elaine Benes (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus was born on this day in New York, New York, USA in 1961. She is 52 years old.
Louis-Dreyfus was born into a wealthy family. Her father, Gerard Louis-Dreyfus, is a billionaire and the chairman of Louis Dreyfus Energy Services. Her mother is a writer. They divorced with Louis-Dreyfus was a baby and she went with her mother to live in Washington DC. She studied acting at Northwestern University.
English: “The Golden 50th Anniversary Jubilee” cast photo: Brad Hall, Gary Kroeger, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Paul Barrosse (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
She worked with Chicago’s Second City comedy group before moving to New York and joining the cast of Saturday Night Livefor a three-year stint from 1982 to 1985. She left the show to do movies — landing supporting roles in Hannah and Her Sisters, Soul Man, and North among others, and to do prime time TV. She co-starred in Day by Dayfor that show’s two season run, and did a number of guest spots.
The Seinfeld gang. (Image courtesy NBC.)
But Louis-Dreyfus really broke through with her role as Elaine Benes on the Seinfeld show. She
proved that she could hold her own as the sole female member of Seinfeld’s do-nothing quartet of neurotic New Yorkers. With her “big wall of hair,” signature shoes and penchant for over-enthusiastic exclamations, Louis-Dreyfus’ Elaine was no mere foil, but rather a full participant in the show’s increasingly popular, irony-laden comic shenanigans. [Star Pulse.com]
She won her first Emmy award for the role in 1996. The show ran for nine seasons.
After Seinfeld she starred in the short-lived comedy Watching Ellie with fellow Second City alum Steve Carell. She had recurring rolls on high profiles shows like Arrested Development, The Simpsons and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
The New Adventures of Old Christine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy cover art (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Written by: Douglas Adams
Date of Publication: The BBC Radio 4 series started running in 1978; The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy(book) was published in 1979. Ford has appeared in all the subsequent Hitchhiker books. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (1980), Life, the Universe and Everything (1982), So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (1984) Mostly Harmless (1992) and And Another Thing…(2009) [The last book was written by Eoin Colfer of Artemis Fowl fame.]
Why: Ford is cool. He’s a good friend to have around when needing a lift from a flying saucer, or, in general, when exploring space for the first time. Ford Prefect is a roving researcher for “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” After a decade and a half research period (he was stranded on Earth for 15 years) he succeeded in expanding the Guide’s entry for Earth form “Harmless” to “Mostly harmless.”
He was not conspicuously tall, his features were striking but not conspicuously
handsome. His hair was wiry and gingerish and brushed backwards
from the temples. His skin seemed to be pulled backwards from the nose.
There was something very slightly odd about him, but it was dicult to say
what it was. Perhaps it was that his eyes didn’t blink often enough and
when you talked to him for any length of time your eyes began involuntarily
to water on his behalf. Perhaps it was that he smiled slightly too broadly
and gave people the unnerving impression that he was about to go for their
neck. [Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams, Ballantine Books, pg 10]
Pros: He’s persuasive, friendly, he’s always prepared with his copy of the guide and a bath towel. He’s quick thinking
Mos Def played Ford in the 2005 movie version of the novel.
Ford is a great foil to Arthur Dent’s very human character. Where Arthur freaks out (justifiably) Ford calmly goes with the flow — for the most part. So those moments when Ford fails to follow the Guide’s first rule (“Don’t Panic”) it’s all the more fun for the reader.
In the unlikely happenstance that you have not read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy here it is as a pdf… h2g2
Clicking HERE will take you to the Amazon page where you can get a Kindle version for $7.99, or various print and audio versions.
Oil on canvas portrait of Alexander Hamilton by John Trumbull (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Alexander Hamilton was born on this day in Charlestown, Nevis, British West Indies in 1755 (or 1757). It is the 258th (255th) anniversary of his birth.
Hamilton was born to humble beginnings. He was conceived during an extramarital affair between Rachel Fawcett Lavine and James Hamilton. When Lavine’s husband threw mother and son out of the house she moved in with James Hamilton. But he abandoned the little family to return to Scotland for financial reasons. Lavine relied on the kindness of family members and friends to help raise the boy.
Because he was illegitimate he was not allowed to enroll at the Church of England school, however he was given some tutoring and private lessons, and had the family library at his disposal to read both Greek and Latin.
Around the age of ten the family moved to the nearby island of St. Croix where his mother died soon after. Friends and relatives took an interest in the future of the young Hamilton by encouraging him to work as a mercantile clerk and to read and write, activities at which he excelled despite his lack of proper schooling. [Brandywide Battlefield Historic Site — Alexander Hamilton]
He wrote an essay about a hurricane that had hit the island in the summer 1772 for the local paper. Influential readers of the paper were so impressed with the essay that the started a fund to send Hamilton to America for formal education. By late 1773 he was enrolled in King’s College (now Columbia) in New York City. While at King’s College he wrote his first political essays.
With war pending, Hamilton immersed himself in the study of artillery tactics and military maneuvers. In March of 1776, he joined the New York Artillery, and was recommended for an officer’s commission by General Alexander McDougall. He was thereby given the title “Captain of the Provincial Company of Artillery.” [Ibid]
He proved “a conscientious and business-like leader.” After distinguishing himself at the Battle of Trenton Hamilton was appointed as an aide to George Washington. He was a close advisor to the general for the rest of the war.
He wrote Washington’s critical letters, and composed numerous reports on the strategic reform and restructuring of the Continental Army….While serving as an adviser for George Washington, Hamilton had come to realize Congress’ weaknesses, including jealousy and resentment between states, which, Hamilton believed, stemmed from the Articles of Confederation. … Hamilton left his adviser post in 1782, convinced that establishing a strong central government was the key to achieving America’s independence… [Biography.com]
English: US Postage stamp: Alexander Hamilton, issue of 1956, $5, black (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Hamilton worked as part of the New York delegation to fix the Articles of Confederation. Among other things, he was a strong advocate for a central source of revenue. Although he didn’t help write the Constitution he did help get it ratified. He wrote 51 of the 85 Federalist Paper.
He was appointed Secretary of the Treasury when George Washington was elected President. Hamilton served in that post from 1789-1795.
Hamilton was fatally wounded in a duel with Aaron Burr on July 11, 1804. He died the next day in New York City.
An artistic rendering of the July 11, 1804 duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton by J. Mund. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“I’m a rock star because I couldn’t be a soccer star.” — Rod Stewart
Camouflage (Rod Stewart album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Roderick David “Rod” Stewart was born on this day in Highgate, North London, England in 1945. He is 68 years old.
With apologies to Stewart fans, the appeal of “Rod the Mod” has always eluded me. I’m more of a David Bowie fan. Heck, I’m more of a Jon Stewart fan. But it IS Rod’s birthday, and I do like a few songs so here goes…
For those of you living in the Chicago area …Tonight’s THE Night! You can wish Rod a big Happy Birthday by attending his concert at the United Center tonight (Tickets range from $39.50 to $650.00 — but if you go for the extra cash, you get limited edition tour lithograph, so it’s totally worth it.)
Staunton, an only child, lived with her mum and dad over her mother’s hair dressing salon. Her mother was also a gifted natural musician who could pick up songs by ear (but couldn’t read music.) She passed on her love of music to Staunton who attended La Sainte Union Convent Catholic school. After graduation she attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Staunton wasted no time launching her career following graduation, becoming associated with such prestigious venues as The Old Vic and the National Theatre. [Moviefone: Imelda Staunton Biography.]
Musical theatre and Shakespeare fill her Stage CV. She won the prestigious Olivier Award twice.
On film she landed a role in the ensemble movie Peter’s Friends with Kenneth Branagh, Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson and Hugh Laurie. She worked with Branagh and Thompson again in Much Ado About Nothing. Then paired up with Laurie as Mr. and Mrs. Jennings in Thompson’s wonderful adaption of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility in 1995. (Thompson both wrote the screen play and starred in the film). She was Maria in Twelfth Night and the nurse inShakespeare in Love.
As Staunton’s numerous stage roles continued to earn her critical success, frequent television and film roles made her a familiar and endearing face to the general public. [Ibid]
She stepped away from the crowd with a starring dramatic role in Vera Drake.
Her undeniably affecting portrayal of the title role — a selfless housewife and cleaning woman who makes a name for herself performing illegal abortions — earned her near-universal praise. After earning accolades from both The Venice Film Festival and The New York Film Festival as well as the Los Angeles and Chicago film critic associations, Staunton had undeniably arrived when the role earned her a Best Actress nomination for the 77th Annual Academy Awards. [Ibid]
She took home a BAFTA for Vera.
Français : Avant-Première Mondiale d’Harry Potter et les Reliques de la Mort, à Londres, le 7 Juillet 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In 2007 she, like many other classically trained British actors, found a new audience when she took a role in a Harry Potter film. Staunton played the nasty Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor in a fluffy pink cardigan, Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Some Ministry officials in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, from left to right: John Dawlish, auror; Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister; Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic; and Kingsley Shacklebolt, auror. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
She laced up a corset again for her supporting role as Miss Octavia Pole in the BBC’s delightful adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford (and again for Return to Cranford).
Julia Mackenzie and Imelda Staunton (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Staunton has lent her voice to a number of acting projects including and animated version of the Wind in the Willows, The Adventures of Mole, The Adventures of Toad, The Ugly Duckling, and Chicken Run. She’s even did a turn as the voice of Interface on Dr. Who.
I’m an instant star. just add water and stir.” —David Bowie
[Image courtesy Fashion Office Buzz)
David Robert Jones was born on this day in Brixton, London, England in 1947. He is 66 years old.
He attended local schools in Brixton and Bromley. He took choir– his voice was given a grade of average. — and learned to play the recorder. At home his father bought a stack of American 45s and introduced young David to Rock and Roll. Inspired by Little Richard and Elvis Presley he amped up his music cred by adding ukulele and tea-chest bass to the mix.
At age thirteen, inspired by the jazz of the London West End, he picked up the saxophone and called up Ronnie Ross for lessons. Early bands he played with – The Kon-Rads, The King Bees, the Mannish Boys and the Lower Third –provided him with an introduction into the showy world of pop and mod, and by 1966 he was David Bowie, with long hair and aspirations of stardom rustling about his head. [David Bowie.com]
His self titled, and bizarrely campy, debut album came out in 1967. [It’s pretty hard to listen to any of the songs now, but if you must experience it try The Laughing Gnome Song — http://youtu.be/mWoT9elA-oY complete with squeaky gnome co-star.]
Bowie’s professional career took off with the 1969 release of his Space Oddity album. The record reach #5 in England. Space Oddity (aka “Major Tom”) was the break out single, and it remains both a Bowie classic and a pop anthem.
But the longer, more complex, and beautiful Cygnet Committee shouldn’t be overlooked.
His third album, The Man Who Sold the World took on a harder rock feel, and introduced us to the Spiders from Mars.
Here’s the title track:
And another favorite — All the Madmen:
Album #4 was Hunky Dory released in 1971. So it’s time for a little ch-ch- Changes
And Life On Mars…
[I’m limiting myself to just two clips per album… grrr. But you could go pull the YouTube version of Oh! You Pretty Things too.]
Next up it was a full concept album with The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Here’s Starman..
and Ummmmmm Yeah…… Ziggy Stardust…
1973 brought Aladdin Sane and Pin Ups, followed the next year with Diamond Dogs featuring Rebel, Rebel…
Young Americans came out in 1975. The title song reached #28 on the Billboard Charts…
Here he is grooving another hit from the album, Fame, … Station to Station introduced Bowie’s Thin White Duke character while continuing the funk and soul sound of Young Americans. Here’s Golden Years.
Low began Bowie his Berlin Trilogy. It is one of his best. [I also love Sound and Vision and Breaking Glass] Here’s Always Crashing The Same Car...
Part two of the Berlin Trilogy was Heroes which came out in 1977. I’ve got to go with the title track on this one…
His thirteenth album, and the last in the Berlin Trilogy, was Lodger. Here’s Look Back in Anger.
..
The Berlin Trilogy was a critical and artistic success, but not immediately financial success.
Both came with Bowie’s 14th Album Scary Monsters(And Super Creeps) which hit #1 in the UK and did well in the US.
Bowie went pop and super dance-y with Let’s Dance. Singles China Girl, Modern Love and Let’s Dance all did well. Let’s Dance sold 6 million records.
After Let’s DanceBowie kind of fell of my RADAR, frankly. But he continued to write and sing and put out albums for another two decades:
Tonight (84)
Never Let Me Down (87)
Black Tie White Noise (93)
Buddha of Suburbia (93)
Outside (95)
Earthling (97)
Hours (99)
Heathen (02)
Reality (03)
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, but he didn’t attend the ceremony or the concert.
After The release of Reality and its related A Reality Tour Bowie went into the woodwork.
Apart from the odd rare sighting at a charity function and one or two snatched paparazzi shots, David has kept an extremely low profile [David Bowie.com]
But now it appears he is back. Today he release a new single, Where Are We Now, and he is promising a new album, his 30th, in March!
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