LikeTelevision Blog

Friday, May 25, 2007

Marion's Memorial Day Musings




Happy Birthday to Marion.... i mean John Wayne, also known by his moniker - The Duke! On May 26, 1907 - John Wayne (Marion Michael Morrison), was born in Winterset, Iowa. So... pilgrim, John Wayne's 100th year birthday bash begins this weekend! Though loved by millions of fans for his straight forward honesty and no nonsense nature, the critics were not that friendly. He was too gruff, and bull headed. etc etc... a man's man - not the sensitive mamby pamby type of guy Hollywood critics embrace. But - cut the man some slack - that is just how he was. He would go on to win just one Oscar in 1970 for Best Actor in True Grit, as the one eyed tough guy - Rooster Cogburn.

LikeTelevision features a really fun John Wayne movie called McLintock - where politically incorrect testosterone grit - just shines. The movie even features a scene where he spanks his estranged wife, played beautifully by a wonderful actress named Maureen O'Hara. (go to the McLintock page to see an enhanced frame of the spanking, in all its glory). Even more fun - is the incredibly funny home grown funny trailer, made by LikeTelevision's witty virtuso Frank Random. The trailer was made shortly after 09/11/2001... and it remains a great peice of biting acerbic satire today. (The Duke's name in the film is George W. McLintock... and the trailer makes an implied reference to George W, aka Dubya the younger.... and offers a terrific suggestion for this holiday weekend - "let's not let an old Indian raid ruin a good Barbeque - Meat's ON!). Anyway... in honor of John Wayne, and the upcoming long Memorial Day Weekend - we thought the trailer was worth highlighting.

Also of note - it's Tonto's birthday (05/26/12 - Born in Ontario, Canada)... aka the very cool actor named Jay Silverheels, who played Tonto on the Lone Ranger. And also Robert Morley has a birthday today (b. May 26, 1908 in Semley, Wiltshire, England, UK) - he was a wonderful British actor who you'd probably recognize - but couldn't remember his name. While most might remember him in John Huston's classic - Beat the Devil (written by Truman Capote) with Humphrey Bogart, Gini Lolabrigida, and Peter Lorre... and the stunning Jennifer Jones, who was married to Hollywood heavyweight producer, David O. Selznick. (she was awesome in The Man with the Grey Flannel Suit and A Farewell to Arms with Gary Cooper - but i digress). Let's get back to Robert Morley - if you wanna have some fun - by all means check out Theater of Blood (starring Vincent Price, Diana Rigg, and Robert Morley). Morley plays a harsh critic of washed up Shakespearean actor Edward Lionheart (Uncle Vinny)... In Theater of Blood, Morley plays an effeminate (perhaps gay, who knows... ) critic who just loves his 2 little toy poodles. Anyway... Vincent Price exacts revenge on all these critics by acting out some horror from a Shakepeare play.... in Morley's case, the play is TITUS ANDRONICUS... where the character ends up eating his own children baked in a pie. Since Morley has no kids ... Uncle Vinny decides to serve him the little poodles baked in a pie. It is one of the most wonderful scenes.. you probably never even heard about. As chilling as anything Quentin Tarantino ever served up. And in case you missed it... or don't have time to watch it... by all means check out the trailer, again - pure genius by LikeTelevision's own Frank Random.. and read the commentary, which features all kinds of wonderful references to Shakespeare, and the fate met by the critics.

TITUS ANDRONICUS:

Why, there they are both, baked in that pie;
Whereof their mother daintily hath fed,
Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred.
'Tis true, 'tis true; witness my knife's sharp point.


Friday, May 11, 2007

John, Mother's Day and Flash

John Huston was an interesting guy - a great film director who loved to go over budget, to live full throttle, to bag big game in Africa, and of course, he's Dad to Angelica Huston. Clearly, he was very passionate in all that he did. His films include African Queen, The Maltese Falcon, Beat the Devil, and a very compelling Marilyn Monroe documentary. They were friends too and did a few movies together.

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mom's out there. Your contribution is beyond measure and I am so grateful for all you do, both individually and collectively. Happy Mother's Day. Here's some Flowers. Search for Mother - and find an interesting video related to dear old mom.

Been working like a dog - converting over 10,000 video files to fill up the new flash library. After conversion, the flv files are injected with metadata to enhance playback. The servers needed to play all these flash files had to be created and custom tweaked. And a slew of little applications working together create the random ad inserts in the playlist. (just refresh the page and replay the video) - you'll get a new playlist in ads and station ids. Want more flash movies, tv shows, cartoons etc etc...a mountain of flash video files to watchhere's a link.

Watch The Wild Ride, an old bad boy film with funky fast cars, cops riding killer vintage Harley Davidsons and of course, Jack Nicholson.


Monday, May 7, 2007

An Aqualad on the Food Channel Tonight



Our good buddy Jimmy King of the Aqualads will be featured tonight on the Food Channel at 10 PM EST. (Some show called, Diners, Drive-in and Dives - or something like that). Jimmy's mondo restaurant is called The Penguin, and it is really an historic site, going back to 1944. Very cool place to get a deep fried pickel, the burgers are amazing, and the ambiance is a real throwback in time.

Here's a cool vintage clip of the Aqualads.


Gotta get back to work. more Aqualads here.