Here’s the Story of A Not-So-Lovely Girl
October 13, 2008 by Romy
If there’s one thing I love, it’s celebrity tell-all books. Earlier this year, Madonna’s brother released Life with My Sister Madonna the scandalous tell-all that revealed all the nitty-gritty details of life as the less famous Ciccone. Of course, I thought that the title of the book should have been “Madonna, Madonna, Madonna!” said in the same Jan Brady voice when she was whining about her sister Marcia.
Well, speaking of Marcia, Marcia, Marcia - guess who also released a book this month? Yes –You guessed it! Ms. Maureen “Marcia Brady” McCormick and this is one read you do not want to overlook. Although Marcia may have played a good-two-shoes on The Brady Bunch, let me tell you (rather, let Maureen McCormick tell you) she was everything but. In her new book Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice , Marcia, oopsy I mean Maureen, reveals the darker side of this lovely girl. Like what you ask?
Maureen tells stories about drugs, sex and rock and roll. There were the drug binges at the Playboy Mansion or at Sammy Davis Jr.’s house. Trading sex for drugs, becoming addicted to various illicit substances like cocaine and Quaaludes (how very Seventies), unwanted pregnancies, romances with Michael Jackson and Steve Martin, and much, much more!
She’s sober now (and has been since she married in 1985), won VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club challenge in 2007 and had a family negotiation with her brother on national television (thank you Dr. Phil). So, like the Brady Bunch, this story has a fairly happy ending – Maureen McCormick survived life as a child celebrity and lives to tell the tales.
…Oh great, now I have the Brady Bunch theme song stuck in my head…
History Lesson 101: Columbus Day
October 13, 2008 by Bob
If you work for the US Post Office, or a bank, you know that today is Columbus Day because you probably have the day off from work! For the rest of us, Columbus Day is a holiday that shows up on our office calendar, but means not a whole lot else.
Today, I’m putting together a little history lesson to help me (and you?) learn about this holiday that dates all the way back to 1792, 300 years after Christopher Columbus landed on the shores of North America. But did you know that Columbus Day didn’t actually become a federal holiday until 1971?
In Elaine Landau’s book Columbus Day she looks at the history of Christopher Columbus and the “discovery” of the New World, as well as the ways that the holiday is celebrated differently across the country. Or try reading Columbus in the Americas which uses actual logbooks from the first voyages to the Americas to understand the experiences and perspectives of these explorers.
It should also be noted that Columbus Day is most likely one of the most controversial of our holidays. In Howard Zinn’s book A People’s History of the United States, Zinn writes about how we must remember that Christopher Columbus and his explorers killed Native Peoples in order to start the “New World” — a part of history that should not be forgotten. In fact, in South Dakota, the holiday is actually known as “Native American Day.”
Here at Tower.com there are hundreds and hundreds of books on Christopher Columbus and some DVDs too. Check out A&E’s Biography on Christopher Columbus which provides interesting accounts of this explorer’s life and legacy, and The Great Adventurer’s Series Christopher Columbus and The New World. Hmmm… it seems to me there is yet to be a major Hollywood picture depicting Christopher Columbus and his exploration. I can see it now: Colin Farrell playing the role of Columbus…but wait…he already played the role of John Smith in The New World which is the story of the Americas in the 1600s. Anyone have any ideas on who could play Columbus? Maybe Jeremy Piven with longer hair — I imagine Columbus would have run his ship a lot like Ari Gold…
Happy Birthday Paddington Bear!
October 13, 2008 by Danny
Can you believe that one of the world’s cutest bears is turning 50 years old today?
Paddington Bear, the lovable stuffed bear who wears a blue coat and oversized hat was first introduced to on October 13, 1958 by Michael Dore. In celebration of this milestone birthday, a beautiful new hardcover edition of A Bear Called Paddington is being released this month with original artwork by Peggy Fortnum.
Most remarkably, Paddington Bear is a world traveler. In the story, he is from Darkest Peru and is found at Paddington train station in London adorning the sign, “Please take care of this bear. Thank you.” In fact, this sign, Please Take Care of This Bear would later become the title of the Paddington Bear television show which aired in the UK.
Other fun Paddington Bear books include Paddington Here and Now, Paddington Treasury, Paddington Takes to TV and More About Paddington.
Happy Birthday Paddington Bear! We hope to take care of you for another 50 years!
The Kingston Trio Member, Nick Reynolds 1933-2008
October 3, 2008 by Danny
Rocktober has started and with it comes the sad news of Nick Reynolds, famed Kingston Trio member has passed away on October 1, 2008 at his home in San Diego, California of acute respiratory disease.
Reynolds was a Californian through and through and started the Kingston Trio in the 1950s with his friends Dave Guard and Bob Shane. Influenced by the Calypso movement with artists such as Harry Belafonte, but more importantly, the Kingston Trio are believed to have started the 1950s American Folk music revival. In fact, without Reynolds and the Kingston Trio it is questionable whether artists such as Bob Dylan or Joan Baez would have garnered the successes they have.
You may not have head of Nick Reynolds before now, but we owe him a great amount of gratitude for the state of rock n’ roll today.
Screen-Legend Paul Newman, 1925-2008
September 27, 2008 by Bob
It is hard to imagine a world where Paul Newman isn’t busy working on philanthropy. The infamous handsome blue-eyed actor was a respected elder in Hollywood, a feat that should not be overlooked. Mr. Newman passed away yesterday on September 26th at his home in Connecticut at the age of 83.
Paul Newman got his start in showbiz with the now forgotten film, The Silver Chalice in 1956. In 1958, he starred alongside Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and in the American melodrama The Long, Hot Summer. In 1960 he played Ari Ben Cannon, an Israeli freedom fighter in Exodus, the first film to end Hollywood’s blacklist era.
It wasn’t until the 1960s when Mr. Newman was a sure box-office success with films like Hud, The Hustler, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Cool Hand Luke. The Color of Money was the film that finally gave Paul Newman an Oscar for his performance as an aging pool shark — he had been nominated 9 times prior to earning an Academy Award for this film. Later he starred in The Verdict and Road to Perdition.
In later years, Mr. Newman became as well-known for his philanthropy, as his roles in major Hollywood films. With Newman’s Own — a food product line including salad dressings, pasta sauces and wine — Paul Newman donated all proceeds to charity. You can read all about it a book he recently co-wrote entitled, In Pursuit of the Common Good.
Paul Newman was an incredibly talented actor, but more than that, he was a generous man with an inspiring spirit and may we always remember him for those reasons.
