Browsing: Arts & Entertainment

A Brief History On December 25, 1977, English acting legend Charlie Chaplin died of a stroke at the age of 88.  His 75 year career was most notable for his silent movie contributions, although he suffered from criticism for his increasingly strident political leanings in later years.  He was also criticized for his penchant for the ladies, especially younger women, some of whom he married, with his 4th and final wife being only 18 years old to his 54 years when they married in 1943.  Chaplin died on Christmas Day in 1977, a day that popular culture has recognized as…

A Brief History On December 23, 1997, the Seinfeld television comedy show introduced us to a new, secular holiday to be celebrated during the winter season, avoiding the religious friction of Hanukkah vs. Christmas vs. Saturnalia vs. Winter Solstice and the racially charged Kwanzaa.  (Note: Kwanzaa was invented by a creep that was convicted of kidnapping and torturing 2 African American women.)  December 23 is the day designated for the celebration of Festivus (For The Rest of Us!!!) Digging Deeper The brainchild of Seinfeld writer Dan O’Keefe, the idea of Festivus is to provide a “holiday” without any pressures to…

A Brief History This article presents a list of floating islands in various types of fiction. Digging Deeper Literature The first floating island encountered in literature is the home of the four winds, Aiolia, as recounted in Homer’s Odyssey: Odysseus: We came to the Aiolian island (nesos Aiolios); here lived Aiolos, son of Hippotas; the deathless gods counted him their friend. His island is a floating one; all round it there is a wall of bronze, unbreakable, and rock rises sheer above it. — The Odyssey, 10.11 According to Pliny the Elder in his Natural History, c. 77–79 AD, there were floating islands on the Vadimonian Lake.2 Some other mythological…

A Brief History On December 21, 2017, the American public awaits another hard to define movie when Downsizing opens across the country tomorrow.   Called a science fiction-comedy-drama, to properly describe the film you would have to include the term “romance,” even if the plot takes a while to get there.  This Paramount Pictures release starring Matt Damon has already been named by the National Board of Review as one of the Top 10 Films of 2017. Digging Deeper Along with the star power of Matt Damon, Downsizing also features actors you know such as Christoph Waltz and Kristen Wiig, as…

A Brief History On December 20, 2009, actress and lovely young woman Brittany Murphy died from pneumonia.  Although she had various prescription medicines in her system, it was definitely not the drugs that killed her.  Could the cause of death have been the growth of mold in an improperly built home?  Could death have been caused by murder?  Today, we discuss 5 young women that died well before their time, and how such tragedies can happen. Digging Deeper 1. Brittany Murphy, actress, 2009. At the time of her death (at age 32), rumors circulated that Murphy had died from complications of…