Arrr, matey, September 19 is “International Talk Like a Pirate Day.” Now I am not one to jump on a trend, but the holiday gives one a good excuse to watch George Harrison talk like a pirate. And to get a free doughnut at Krispy Kreme stores, which are giving a free doughnut to anyone talking like a pirate on September 19, 2012.
I wish George Harrison were still around to get himself one of those doughnuts. As the former Beatle shows in this 1975 Rutland Weekend Television sketch with Eric Idle, the man knows how to talk pirate.
My favorite part is how Harrison works the famous Monty Python “The Pirate Song” into “My Sweet Lord,” starting at around the 30-second mark. Check it out.
May all you landlubbers and sea dogs have a safe and happy Talk Like a Pirate day. What are you doing for Talk Like a Pirate Day? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Finally, the folks at Google have solved a worldwide problem by making it easy to find the “Bacon Number” for any actor, past or present. Google apparently was concerned that people were spending too much time thinking when they played “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” so they added a function where you can find the number easily on Google.
Here is how: (1) In the Google search box, type “Bacon Number,” followed by an actor’s name; (2) Then hit “search.” That’s it. That actor’s “Bacon Number” will come up on the screen, along with an explanation of the steps.
Considering actor’s mentioned in recent Chimesfreedom posts, it is easy to find that Daniel Day-Lewis’s Bacon Number is two. Casey Affleck’s Bacon Number is one because he appeared with Kevin Bacon in Lemon Sky (1988). Bob Dylan’s Bacon Number is two. . .
“Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” was inspired by the play and film, Six Degrees of Separation (1993), which popularized a theory by author Frigyes Karinthy that everyone is on average only six introductions away from any other person on earth. The theory eventually developed into the theory that Kevin Bacon has been in so many films that one may connect him to any actor through six films or less. Up to now, one had to think to figure out the steps, but no longer.
New York Magazine found some flaws with the program. And, since “bacon” made me think of Miss Piggy, I discovered that Google has no Bacon Number for her. But it does have a lot of actors.
So, fire up Google and go at it. The world’s biggest problem is solved. Oh wait, you mean The Oracle of Bacon had already solved the problem (as well as knowing that Miss Piggy’s Bacon Number is two)?
2024 UPDATE: Unfortunately, Google no longer offers the Bacon Number function. Whose Bacon Number did you check? Leave your two cents in the comments.
With Bob Dylan releasing his 35th album recently, we think of the man as a legend, perhaps walking among the gods of ancient Greece or Rome. So, today we look at two clips of Dylan among the classic structures of Rome and Greece.
Well, actually, the Roman architecture in the video below is just a copy because he is in Las Vegas. Check out Pawn Stars‘ Chumlee tracking down Dylan in Vegas for an autograph on one of his classic albums.
The following clip, though, is set in Athens, Greece. Plus, it includes music. Check out Dylan joining another legend, Van Morrison to play Morrison’s “Crazy Love” as they overlook Athens.
What do you think of Bob Dylan and Van Morrison together? Leave your two cents in the comments.
One of the first things I noticed in watching the newly released trailer for Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln is the voice Daniel Day-Lewis gives to the sixteenth president. As discussed in a previous post about The Gettysburg Address, actors often portray Abraham Lincoln with a booming deep voice, and we seem to imagine him that way because of his legendary status in American history. But contemporary reports of his voice discuss a higher-pitched nasally sound coming from The Great Emancipator.
As you can see from the trailer, Spielberg and Lewis are aiming for something close to reality, even in Lincoln’s voice.
The movie that examines the life of Lincoln in his final months before his assassination. I cannot wait to see this film, which is based in part on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. By contrast, Slate gives the trailer a B-.
What do you think of the trailer for Lincoln? Leave your two cents in the comments.
I have so many songs tucked away on my iPod, sometimes while I listen to the songs shuffle in the background as I do my work, I hear a song mixed among the old friends that I don’t remember or one I did not connect to earlier and I have a new discovery. Today, I found a song by an artist who chooses to no longer make music. Today’s new discovery is Sinéad Lohan’s “Whatever It Takes.”
The song came up on my iPod as part of a collection of acoustic songs from various artists. But here is the video for the original version, which is from Lohan’s No Mermaid (1998) album. I love the odd little dancing marionnette that you see around the 1:08 mark.
Lohan is from Cork, Ireland, and in the 1990s was a rising star on both sides of the ocean. After her 1995 debut album, Who Do You Think I Am?, did well in Ireland, she made her second album, No Mermaid — which contains “Whatever It Takes” — in New Orleans. The title track of No Mermaid was used in the film Message in A Bottle, and Joan Baez covered it. Another creative person put Lohan’s No Mermaid song to scenes from The Little Mermaid even though the song was not used in that film.
Lohan also created an excellent cover of Bob Dylan’s “To Ramona.”
Despite plans for a third album, after Lohan had her second child in 2001, she decided to devote herself full time to motherhood. Last reported, she was living with her husband John, an accountant, and their two children near Leap in County Cork. Around 2005, she made a guest appearance with Phil Coulter in the Opera House in Cork. But that’s it. She no longer even has a website devoted to her music.
Wikipedia reports that Lohan in 2004 began working on a new album, and another website claims that new album was completed in 2007. But such an album has yet to be released.
In 2011, her former manager Pat Egan explained to The Irish Timesthat while touring around 2000, Lohan “suddenly decided she didn’t want to do it any more. She never really liked the music business, and wasn’t that great doing interviews.”
Although it is a loss to the music world that Lohan no longer releases new music, we cannot complain that Lohan chose family over creating more music. We know from another Lohan and another Sinead how fame can un-ground a person.
Perhaps the reason the song “Whatever It Takes” resonates so much is its honesty. In the song, Lohan is perhaps telling us what type of life she would like. She sings that she will do what she needs to be fulfilled without worrying about legacy or fans.
Whatever it takes you to believe it, That’s all right with me; Take this morning in my kitchen, Or whatever that helps you to believe; You will find me down by the river, Getting high on my mortality; I’ll be holding hands with nameless beauty, Or whoever wants to stand next to me.
Whether or not the we ever get to hear new music from Lohan, I hope Sinéad Lohan is somewhere singing for her children, high on mortality holding hands with nameless beauty. Thanks for the music.
Arrr, matey, September 19 is “International Talk Like a Pirate Day.” Now I am not one to jump on a trend, but the holiday gives one a good excuse to watch George Harrison talk like a pirate. And to get a free doughnut at Krispy Kreme stores, which are giving a free doughnut to anyone talking like a pirate on September 19, 2012.
