Oooooh - PSYCHOLOGICAL thrillers! SHADOW OF A DOUBT is a GREAT Alfred Hitchcock movie starring Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotton. She's a young girl in a small town, and he's her favorite uncle, who comes to visit. Turns out Uncle Charlie may not be so nice after all... THE SILENT PARTNER is a way-cool crime/thriller … Read more

Patsy Cline had THE VOICE. Dolly Parton is VERY underrated as a songwriter; she's written some brilliant songs. Loretta Lynn is pretty amazing, too; VAN LEAR ROSE, her album with Jack White of the White Stripes a couple of years ago, was a knock-out. I don't know if you're including alt-country, but the first name … Read more

It only aired one summer, but it was the TV series that pretty much rocked my world: THE PRISONER, the cryptic story of Number Six and his efforts to escape The Village, where he is being held against his will. Created by and starred Patrick MacGoohan. It was the LOST of its day!

"Hound Dog" was written by the great songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who also wrote "Smokey Joe's Cafe," "I'm a Woman" and loads of classic songs from the 1950s and 1960s. "Hound Dog" was originally performed by a blue singer named Big Mama Thornton. Her version inspired Rufus Thomas to record a virtually identical … Read more

I'm not sure I put "guitar" in with the easiest instrument. You have to be very precise with your fingering, whether you're playing lead or rhythm. For my money, the easiest would be the triangle. It only has one "note," so it's just a matter of when to hit it or not. (You could say … Read more

Ask 10 people this question, and you're likely to get 10 (or more!) responses. My favorite acts in the genres you mention are Bright Eyes (CASSADAGA is terrific), the Decemberists (ditto THE CRANE WIFE), and Arcade Fire (ditto ditto NEON BIBLE). Hope this helps!

'Julia' was a groundbreaking sitcom. It was the first TV series to feature an African-American woman as the protagonist. It was a pretty modest series (compared to the really daring shows like 'All in the family' or 'Maude'), but it's significant for its depiction of a black household. The show starred the lovely Diahann Carroll … Read more

I believe the format for the screenplay of an animated movie is virtually identical to a screenplay for a live action movie. You need to break down the story into scenes, and the scenes into suggested shots (close-ups, establishing shots, point-of-view, etc.). Then you have to have the dialogue for each character, as well as … Read more

To expand just a bit on what Epictetus wrote: Willy Loman has bought into the idea of an American Dream. He thinks that if you're well-liked and respected by others, everything good will come to you. He's also been seduced by the memory of his late brother Ben who had tales of being an adventurer … Read more

The name of the song is "Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)" It was written by Bart Howard. When it was introduced, it was called "In Other Words," but the title was later officially changed because everyone knew it as "Fly Me to the Moon." The song was originally recorded as "In Other … Read more

The theme of Midsummer Night's Dream and, indeed, the theme of almost ALL his comedies and even many of his tragedies, is summed up in the line "the course of true love did never run smooth." That theme is illustrated in not only the confusions of the four lovers, but also the relationship between Oberon … Read more

To expand just a bit on what Vicky wrote: Dickens had an extremely difficult childhood. When he was 12, his father was sent to debtors' prison. Dickens went to work 10 hours a day in a bootblacking, pasting labels on to jars of polish. Even after his family got a bit of money from his … Read more

A mathematical average (also known as the "mean") is found by finding the sum of a list of numbers and dividing by the number of items on that list. For example, if you have 5 scores (97, 96, 100, 88, and 95), you would add them up. The total is 476. You then divide that … Read more

The "Hallelujah" chorus was composed by George F. Handel as part of his 1741 oratorio, "Messiah." The oratorio was intended as a piece of music to be played at Easter, but it has now become a staple around the Advent season leading up to Christmas. As for why "Hallelujah" (the word "chorus" technically isn't part … Read more

Jeffrey Hunter played Jesus in 'King of King.' Max Von Sydow played the part in the star-studded production, 'The Greatest Story Ever Told', (to give you an idea of how star-studded that film was, John Wayne has a two-minute part as the centurion who asks Jesus to heal his daughter.) Most recently, Jim Caviezel starred … Read more

Shakespeare has inspired numerous musical works. Several of his tragedies and a few comedies, including ROMEO AND JULIET and OTHELLO have been turned into operas and ballets. For example, Verdi wrote OTELLO. and FALSTAFF, You probably know Tchaivovsky's theme for the ballet ROMEO AND JULIET. Felix Mendelssohn composed incidental music for A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, … Read more

Hands down: When the lovely Debbie Lockwood became my wife. Others: Being hugged by Ray Bradbury after I told him that he's the man who made me want to be a writer. The surprise 18th birthday party thrown by my high school class. Seeing my oldest niece and my two nephews get married. (Soon to … Read more

ANGELS IN AMERICA is a sprawling play that encompasses Mormonism, AIDS, and the McCarthyite attorney Roy Cohn. The central characters are Prior Walter, who has contracted AIDS; his lover Louis Ironson; a closeted gay Mormon named Joe Pitt; Pitt's wife Harper, and Cohn. The story incorporates a number of non-realistic details, including several ghosts (including … Read more

In the metric system, one decimeter equals 10 centimeters. The metric system is based on multiples of 10. A meter consists of 100 centimeters. (If it helps, remember that a century is 100 years and 100 cents make up a dollar. So 100 centimeters make up a meter.) A meter also consists of 10 decimeters. … Read more

With one play and a couple of hundred newspaper/magazine articles to my credit, here's one answer.

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