Just some news to pass along if you missed it... From the AP news story. Note that even he said "whoosh" to the opening credits, just like the rest of us!
"Star Trek" theme composer Alexander Courage dies
By ROBERT JABLON – 14 hours ago
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Alexander "Sandy" Courage, an Emmy-winning and Academy Award-nominated arranger, orchestrator and composer who created the otherworldly theme for the classic "Star Trek" TV show, has died. He was 88.
Courage died May 15 at the Sunrise assisted-living facility in Pacific Palisades, his stepdaughter Renata Pompelli of Los Angeles, said Thursday. He had been in poor health for three years.
Over a decades-long career, Courage collaborated on dozens of movies and orchestrated some of the greatest musicals of the 1950s and 1960s, including "My Fair Lady," "Hello, Dolly!" "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," "Gigi," "Porgy and Bess" and "Fiddler on the Roof."
But his most famous work is undoubtedly the "Star Trek" theme, which he composed, arranged and conducted in a week in 1965.
"I have to confess to the world that I am not a science fiction fan," Courage said in an interview for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation's Archive of American Television in 2000. "Never have been. I think it's just marvelous malarkey. ... So you write some, you hope, marvelous malarkey music that goes with it."
Courage said the tune, with its ringing fanfare, eerie soprano part and swooping orchestration, was inspired by an arrangement of the song "Beyond the Blue Horizon" he heard as a youngster.
"Little did I know when I wrote that first A-flat for the flute that it was going to go down in history, somehow," Courage said. "It's a very strange feeling."
Courage said he also mouthed the "whooshing" sound heard as the starship Enterprise zooms through the opening credits of the TV show.
"Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry later wrote lyrics to the tune, which were never sung on the show but entitled him to half the royalties, Courage said.
Among the many other projects Courage worked on was the 1987 TV special "Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas," for which he won an Emmy for musical direction.
He and Lionel Newman shared Academy Award nominations for their adapted scores for 1964's "The Pleasure Seekers" and 1967's "Doctor Dolittle."
A friend and colleague of movie composers John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith, he also provided the orchestration for such movies as "The Poseidon Adventure," "Jurassic Park," "Basic Instinct" and "The Mummy" and supplied arrangements for the Boston Pops while Williams was conductor in the 1980s and early 1990s.
For "Star Trek" he composed music for only a few episodes, in addition to the theme and the music for the pilot. But that theme was reprised in the TV sequel "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and in the "Star Trek" movies.
Courage was born Dec. 10, 1919, in Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey. After graduation from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., in 1941, Courage enlisted in the Army Air Corps.
After the war, he became a composer for CBS radio shows and then became an orchestrator and arranger at MGM.
Beginning in the 1960s he composed music for TV shows, including "The Waltons," "Lost in Space" and "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," although the only themes he created were for "Star Trek" and "Judd For the Defense."
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Finally I am over that fear....
Yesterday was an interesting day. I travelled with my son's 8th grade trip to Six Flags north of Chicago. Plans were to go and enjoy the day at Six Flags and Hurricane Harbor. Well, weather being what it is in Illinois, we were looking at a high of 57 degrees and a closed waterpark. And that was not good news for me. I really like water parks and was looking forward to spending most of my time there. Instead I was going to spend all of my say at Six Flags. Not especially good news. I am not a fan of ride attraction theme parks and I have never been a fan of roller coasters and the like as I have been known to get motion sick on rides like this. Mind, you I have never gotten sick on a roller coaster, but more like rides that have repetitive motions like the Tilt-A-Whirl and things like that. But I avoided roller coasters in the past and was thinking that I would be doing the same this day too. WRONG! I was traveling with a fellow parent and friend (Ed) and he enjoys rollercoasters, at least to an extent. I knew that eventually I would have to face the inevitable question of "What ride do you want to go on first?" Responding with "None of them." was not going to be an option. So while looking all of them over very carefully, I agreed to go on the Superman ride, which to my inexperienced eye, looked fairly tame. So, I found my self in line with fellow parent and a couple of other students and prepared myself for something I have not done since I was like 18 years old. I kept telling myself that this will only last about a minute and if I get sick, well, then I would deal with that later. Ed, kept giving me a bit of a rubbing about trying to get me to scream like a girl before the end of the day, so I said we could avoid all this waiting in line and stuff, cause I could scream like a girl right here on the ground. All I needed to know was how loud and how long. (that idea did not work) I must add, I am not afraid of heights, nor am afraid of getting trashed around on things. It is the fear of getting motion sick that bothers me, as when i get motion sick, it really sticks with me for a long time and can make a long day even longer. I was most concerned with getting motion sick and having to sit around the rest of the day, looking green, and feeling like crap. But there I was in the SuperMan ride line and after about 30 minutes of standing in line, I was next in line to get on the damned thing, and realized that I was not nervous anymore. So I sat down, strapped in, and got ready for a ride. 40 seconds later, I returned to my feet, still alive and not feeling sick. And you know what, it was not that bad, as a matter of fact it was actually quite fun for someone who doesn't do that sort of thing and I even managed to go on a few more that day without any ill effects. It was quite nice getting that fear over and done with. I don't have to worry about that anymore. I can join others on rides like this instead of standing around waiting. I still will not be able to do the spinning and twisting rides, nor can I ride in a car backseat for very long without getting sick, but at least I don't have to bypass roller coaster rides anymore. Now, if I can just convince my son that they won't kill him, maybe he can get over his fear too.
Later!
Later!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Not even a Ninja (wannabe) can stop a dog!
More proof of the superior quality of dogs! To quote Frederick the Great of Prussia: "The more I see of men, the better I like my dog."
http://www.buffalonews.com/258/story/351106.html
Full Story:
Pit bull saves owner from Samurai-sword-wielding boyfriend
Updated: 05/20/08 8:45 AM
A domestic dispute that included the use of a Samurai sword and a pit bull led a Jamestown man to jump out a second-floor window Monday night, before he was apprehended hiding between some mattresses on a nearby porch, Jamestown police said.
The incident began at about 8:10 p.m., when a concerned neighbor called 911 to report a loud domestic dispute on West 10th Street. Police later learned that a 27-year-old man had punched his girlfriend in the head and put the sword to her throat, before her pit bull bit him several times, police said.
As officers were interviewing the 28-year-old woman, a neighbor told police that the man had jumped out the bedroom window. Wearing only jeans and socks, he was tracked down by the Jamestown police K-9 Unit and found lying between several mattresses stacked vertically on a West 10th Street back porch.
Officers charged Nicholas Clark of North Main Street with assault, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon.
http://www.buffalonews.com/258/story/351106.html
Full Story:
Pit bull saves owner from Samurai-sword-wielding boyfriend
Updated: 05/20/08 8:45 AM
A domestic dispute that included the use of a Samurai sword and a pit bull led a Jamestown man to jump out a second-floor window Monday night, before he was apprehended hiding between some mattresses on a nearby porch, Jamestown police said.
The incident began at about 8:10 p.m., when a concerned neighbor called 911 to report a loud domestic dispute on West 10th Street. Police later learned that a 27-year-old man had punched his girlfriend in the head and put the sword to her throat, before her pit bull bit him several times, police said.
As officers were interviewing the 28-year-old woman, a neighbor told police that the man had jumped out the bedroom window. Wearing only jeans and socks, he was tracked down by the Jamestown police K-9 Unit and found lying between several mattresses stacked vertically on a West 10th Street back porch.
Officers charged Nicholas Clark of North Main Street with assault, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Another Video Game turned film... in this case... COOL!!
For most of you who do not have an XBOX 360 or have ever played this game, this will pretty much fall flat, but for those of you who do, it will make you pretty excited to hear this... BIOSHOCK the video game, is coming to the big screen. I have been playing this game for the last few months now and it is a very well done game, winning all kinds of awards and lots of praise from gamers everywhere. The game is hard to describe but basically you are a normal dude that by chance ends up in an art deco underwater environment that was supposed to be a free will sort of place but ended up going really bad... and to survive you are forced, for the most part, to decide whether or not you enhance yourself physically to make youself stronger and able to use special powers and you have a number of moral decisions, like helping or hurting little "sisters" in order to get further in the game. It is a very deep game and very nerve wracking and often, quite creepy. Anyway, it is a big seller and the guy who made "Pirates" is picking it up. I copied the story from Yahoo and posted it below. This could be a really cool movie, especially when fans are involved in the making.
Later!
Fri May 9, 2:51 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Take-Two Interactive Software Inc said on Friday that "Pirates of the Caribbean" director Gore Verbinski will make a movie version of "BioShock," its hit video game about an underwater utopia gone disastrously wrong.
The movie will be made by Universal Pictures, a unit of NBC Universal owned by General Electric Co, and John Logan, the screenwriter behind "Gladiator" and "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," was in talks to pen the script, Take-Two said.
"Gore is an avid video gamer and true fan of 'BioShock'. That was extremely important to us in deciding to move forward with this project," Christoph Hartmann, president of Take-Two's 2K Games label, said in a statement.
Take-Two did not disclose financial terms of the deal or other details, such as when the film would be released. The company is the target of a $2 billion takeover bid by rival game publisher Electronic Arts Inc.
Released last August for Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360 game console, "BioShock" won praise for its complex story, haunting art deco atmosphere and creepy characters such as Big Daddies and Little Sisters.
"BioShock" has sold more than 2 million copies and Take-Two is working on a sequel.
The "BioShock" movie deal is the latest sign of the growing importance of video games in popular culture.
Earlier this week, Take-Two said its "Grand Theft Auto 4" criminal action game racked up more than $500 million in global sales in its first week.
That handily topped Hollywood's biggest film debut, Verbinski's "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," which pulled in $406 million in global box office receipts in its first six days.
Microsoft made headlines when it signed "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson to produce a movie adaptation of its hit "Halo" video game, but the project was put on hold in 2006 when financial backers Universal and 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp pulled out of the deal.
Reuters/Nielsen
Later!
Fri May 9, 2:51 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Take-Two Interactive Software Inc said on Friday that "Pirates of the Caribbean" director Gore Verbinski will make a movie version of "BioShock," its hit video game about an underwater utopia gone disastrously wrong.
The movie will be made by Universal Pictures, a unit of NBC Universal owned by General Electric Co, and John Logan, the screenwriter behind "Gladiator" and "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," was in talks to pen the script, Take-Two said.
"Gore is an avid video gamer and true fan of 'BioShock'. That was extremely important to us in deciding to move forward with this project," Christoph Hartmann, president of Take-Two's 2K Games label, said in a statement.
Take-Two did not disclose financial terms of the deal or other details, such as when the film would be released. The company is the target of a $2 billion takeover bid by rival game publisher Electronic Arts Inc.
Released last August for Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360 game console, "BioShock" won praise for its complex story, haunting art deco atmosphere and creepy characters such as Big Daddies and Little Sisters.
"BioShock" has sold more than 2 million copies and Take-Two is working on a sequel.
The "BioShock" movie deal is the latest sign of the growing importance of video games in popular culture.
Earlier this week, Take-Two said its "Grand Theft Auto 4" criminal action game racked up more than $500 million in global sales in its first week.
That handily topped Hollywood's biggest film debut, Verbinski's "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," which pulled in $406 million in global box office receipts in its first six days.
Microsoft made headlines when it signed "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson to produce a movie adaptation of its hit "Halo" video game, but the project was put on hold in 2006 when financial backers Universal and 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp pulled out of the deal.
Reuters/Nielsen
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Things you learn as a cook and event planner
Greetings! I am sorry I have not updated my blog in a while. I have been neck deep in a huge fundraiser for my office and it has taken most of my time and the blog was the last thing I could think about. But today is a bit smoother and I decided to put down some observations about planning a large meal, cooking that meal and cleaning up that meal.
The meal was for the Mother/Daughter/Friend banquet at my church. Last year the men stepped up to cook a meal for the banquet as catering it was getting too pricey and most of the ladies didn't think we could do it. Well, we did and we did it well. This year it was kind of expected that we would do it again, and we agreed. My buddy Dave and I were pretty much in charge of last year's meal and we got the nod to go ahead and do it again this year. This year we decided to go with Tomato Basil and Lemon Pepper pork loins with italian seasoned asparagus, with wild rice and balsamic vingrete and honey grilled peaches. Desert was to be ice cream with little sugar snacky things flavored with strawberry. The menu was tried out on a small group and knew it was good, but that was with 10 people and not 100! Anyway, we did the meal on the 6th and it turned out well and everyone was happy. But in the course of doing this, I observed and learned a few things about preparing a meal for 100 plus people.
- Church kitchens are set up for serving guests, not cooking for them
- If you stir rice too much, you get wallpaper paste. (I know this, but was unable to stop it from happening)
- There really is such a thing as too many cooks in the kitchen.
- There is no substitute for a real fire grill when it comes to making grilled food. It just can't be done properly.
- There is no such thing as a fresh peach in the month of May. (at least on in Illinois!)
- NO cooking banquet event will be a success without a good working crew. (of that, we were in abundance of!!!)
- When clearing the food plates, and if you are the cook/planner, do not be the one that scrapes the plates... every plate you find with food on it you will take as a personal insult because they did not finish their food.
- No matter what you prepare, SOMEONE will ask for Ketchup!!
- Leaving them with a tasty dessert can fix main meal problems.
- And I know now why cooks/foody types drink after preparing meals... they need to!
All in all, the banquet was a great success and it was fun! It is however, a fairly involved activity and you alway want to please or at least satisfy them all. I think we did it last night at the banquet.. or maybe they were just being nice.
That is all for now! Take it for what it's worth!
Later!
The meal was for the Mother/Daughter/Friend banquet at my church. Last year the men stepped up to cook a meal for the banquet as catering it was getting too pricey and most of the ladies didn't think we could do it. Well, we did and we did it well. This year it was kind of expected that we would do it again, and we agreed. My buddy Dave and I were pretty much in charge of last year's meal and we got the nod to go ahead and do it again this year. This year we decided to go with Tomato Basil and Lemon Pepper pork loins with italian seasoned asparagus, with wild rice and balsamic vingrete and honey grilled peaches. Desert was to be ice cream with little sugar snacky things flavored with strawberry. The menu was tried out on a small group and knew it was good, but that was with 10 people and not 100! Anyway, we did the meal on the 6th and it turned out well and everyone was happy. But in the course of doing this, I observed and learned a few things about preparing a meal for 100 plus people.
- Church kitchens are set up for serving guests, not cooking for them
- If you stir rice too much, you get wallpaper paste. (I know this, but was unable to stop it from happening)
- There really is such a thing as too many cooks in the kitchen.
- There is no substitute for a real fire grill when it comes to making grilled food. It just can't be done properly.
- There is no such thing as a fresh peach in the month of May. (at least on in Illinois!)
- NO cooking banquet event will be a success without a good working crew. (of that, we were in abundance of!!!)
- When clearing the food plates, and if you are the cook/planner, do not be the one that scrapes the plates... every plate you find with food on it you will take as a personal insult because they did not finish their food.
- No matter what you prepare, SOMEONE will ask for Ketchup!!
- Leaving them with a tasty dessert can fix main meal problems.
- And I know now why cooks/foody types drink after preparing meals... they need to!
All in all, the banquet was a great success and it was fun! It is however, a fairly involved activity and you alway want to please or at least satisfy them all. I think we did it last night at the banquet.. or maybe they were just being nice.
That is all for now! Take it for what it's worth!
Later!
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