My 5 Favorite Action/Adventure Orchestral Film Soundtrack

As a frequent moviegoer, I believe that between two movies which both have a great story/plot, memorable acting from their casts, excellent film editing and visual effects, it is their individual film soundtrack that will determine which one is very good and which one is great. The soundtrack set the mood of the movie right from the beginning and highlight the important scenes by providing a touch of realism. It sometimes helps in making a movie achieve an iconic stature by providing an “element of recall” thru subliminal means to the moviegoers who have seen that movie (after watching movie with a good theme music, you will often hear some people, mostly kids and kids-at-heart, whistling/humming the film’s theme music).

A movie’s film score is the music composed or used in a film (usually orchestral in nature), whether it was originally composed for the film or used in another context previously. It’s a common misconception to synonymously associate a movie’s theme song with its film score. The film score, the theme song and the other theme music used in the film are generally contained in the film’s soundtrack album.

When I watch a movie, I give an effort to notice and to appreciate that movie’s soundtrack. As an avid movie collector and home theater buff, one of my criteria in selecting a movie DVD from the store shelf is that movie’s particular sound effects and/or soundtrack. When I watch a movie in the comfort of The Sanctuary (the name that I gave to my small home theater room in the house), I want to maximize the capability of my home theater system and enjoy a total movie experience.

But before I go on with my top five, I want to make clear that I only considered action/adventure films because I’ve noticed that movies from this type of film genre provide a wide range of orchestral theme music – slow, fast, from slow to fast, from fast to slow, and romantic instrumentals at times. (Next time’ I’ll be listing down my five favorite romantic themes/theme songs.)

5> Superman March

The Superman March, also known as The Superman Main Theme, was composed by John Williams for the movie Superman (1978). Since then, his composition was adapted and subsequently used in the other Superman films that followed, including in the latest movie from the franchise, Superman Returns. The score for this release was composed by John Ottman using some of Williams' compositions.

The sound clip below is the concert version of the original release. Right around the middle of the theme, you will hear a little portion of the love theme from the movie, Can You Read My Mind.

[More Trivia] Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators of Superman, got the hero’s alter ego Clark Kent from the first names name of two actors, Clark Gable and Kent Taylor. Metropolis, Supes' home city was from Fritz Lang’s movie of the same title.

In 1966, a Broadway play based on Superman was produced. The title of the play was It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman!, with Bob Holiday playing as Superman/Clark Kent.

4>The Pink Panther Theme

The Pink Panther Theme was composed by Henry Mancini for the movie The Pink Panther (1963). What I like about this theme is its jazzy arrangement. If you like saxophone jazz, you should definitely listen to the many different variations of this theme using a very good pair of headphones. You might find them rather relaxing.

[More Trivia] A lot of you probably know this by now, but for those who do not, well, The Pink Panther being referred to by the title of the movie is actually the gem stone in the movie plot and not the Pink Panther cartoon character.

The femme fatale in this movie was played by Capucine. Her name is pronounced "Kap-oo-seen"-- is French for the Nasturtium flower.

3>Raider’s March

The musical score for the movie Indiana Jones and the Raider’s of the Lost Ark (1981) was composed by John Williams. I think that this is one of the greatest musical themes ever produced. All I can say is that the moment you hear William’s composition, you can only think of two words – BIG ADVENTURE. It makes excited that you would want to go with Indy on his adventures.

[More Trivia] The film Indiana Jones and the Raider’s of the Lost Ark (1981) was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1999.

2>Batman Theme

Yeah, I know that The Raider’s March should be higher than this theme in the listing, but hey, I’m a Batman fan so I’m putting this as my number 2.

The theme for the movie Batman (1989) was composed by Danny Elfman. His work added a dim tone to the already dark and gothic visual style of Tim Burton. As a Batman fan, when I hear the theme, I can visualize Batman riding inside the Keaton Batmobile (the newest one is called The Tumbler) and then springing out in action, climbing the walls of an old Gotham city building, and eventually striking his famous pose on top of that building’s gargoyle statue, watching over his beloved city during the night, with the moon shining and the Bat-Signal illuminating behind him.

[More Trivia] The movie Batman Returns (1992), whose theme was again composed by Elfman (a variation of his first one), was the first film to use Dolby Digital technology when it premiered in theaters in 1992.

1>Star Wars Themes

I may be a big Batman fan but I know how to appreciate a great musical theme when I hear one. For me, John Williams’ Star Wars soundtrack is the best one out there. I agree with the people who say that what George Lucas created is a movie saga, a mythos, the Star Wars Universe. And Star Wars achieved its iconic status with much help from Williams’ compositions in the two trilogies. His compositions, starting from the Phantom Menace up to the Return of the Jedi, tell the whole story of the mythos.

If you notice, I used the word "themes" above. This is because in reality, there are lots the Star Wars Themes; each is very good in its own right. When you group them together, you have one great big movie soundtrack. The usual one is the Star Wars Main Theme, sometimes known as Luke’s Theme, and is considered to be the anthem of the saga, often associated with bravery and adventure. Other notable themes/scores from the trilogies include The Imperial March aka Darth’s Vader Theme, the Force Theme, Duel of the Fates, the Throne Room, and Battle of the Heroes. The saga even has a romantic theme for Anakin and Padme, Love Across the Stars.

Below, I have a chosen the Track 16 of the Revenge of the Sith soundtrack. This score contains parts of most of the important scores form the whole saga (except maybe the Darth Vader theme).

[More Trivia] THX stand for Tomlinson Holman’s eXperiment. It was developed in Lucasfilm by Tomlinson Holman for use in the soundtrack of Lucas’ Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983).

Best of the Rest

The following themes are still some my favorites; they’re not on the same level as my top five but they’re still very good.

James Bond theme

“Dum di-di dum dum” - this signature theme of every James Bond movie is a famous one. Used in every official James Bond film produced, the theme and its variations found in the movies are played during many different types of scenes, most memorably in the famous gun-barrel sequence. Monty Norman is credited for writing this theme while John Barry is credited for the 'definitive' orchestration of the theme, starting with Dr. No (1962).

Among the many musical themes/scores associated with the James Bond franchise, my favorite score is the instrumental We Have All the Time in the World, from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). It’s very romantic and sentimental, rightfully, as this is the only movie where James Bond fell in love and was married. At the end of this orchestral track, you can hear the famous James Bond Theme.

Jack Sparrow Theme

I just like the Jack Sparrow theme from Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). It is officially credited to Klaus Badelt. When you listen to it, you can just imagine Captain Jack and his crew battling Capt. Hector Barbossa and his cursed henchmen in classic swashbuckling-style, aboard the sailing Black Pearl.

Spiderman Theme

Actually, the Spiderman theme that I like is not the official movie theme. Rather, this is the Spiderman cartoons theme which the first sequel adapted to its soundtrack. It’s actually sort of a secondary theme song. I liked it because it was performed by Michael Buble, giving it a classic and jazzy feel.

This is all for now. Next time, I'll be listing my top five movie love themes.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/

http://www.imdb.com

http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/features/functions.asp


For comments, suggestions and requests, you can contact me at Eyes.X.Only@gmail.com

[Trivia] “Here’s looking at you, kid” - 5 Famous Photos

The other week, as I was looking for a good classic movie to watch and at the same time reading a bit about Marilyn Monroe, I came across the famous classic shot of Marilyn with her dress blowing up around her legs as she stands over a subway grating. And I thought, “Now, here’s a picture I’ve seen a couple of times but what do I know about it? I only know that it’s Marilyn with her dress blowing up. Why is it famous?” Being a trivia buff that I am, I looked for some details about that famous pic and while researching in the net, I found a lot more other famous photos. Each of these photos, some of which I am happy share to you now, have its own little story or trivia to tell.

Before I list down the five ones I’ve chosen, I want to make clear the sole criterion I used in choosing them – I want the readers to have a light, casual and relaxed reading experience. I intentionally did not choose any violence- or war-related photographs as I might offend some people. But for those who are interested in these (including myself), I’ve listed some sources below for them to explore later.

The Blue Marble

Figure 1 The Blue Marble (from http://www.ehartwell.com/Apollo17/)

Yes, the picture of the Earth that we’ve seen a lot times has a name. The Blue Marble is the famous photograph of the Earth taken by the crew of Apollo 17 spacecraft and was the first clear image of an illuminated face of Earth. This photo was taken on December 7, 1072 and is officially credited to the whole Apollo 17 crew, namely Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans and Jack Schmitt. This famous photograph’s official name is AS17-148-22727 and was originally taken upside but was rotated before it was distributed.

In 2005, NASA released a new version of the spectacular image collection called Blue Marble: Next Generation. It provides a full year’s worth of monthly observations with twice the level of detail as the original.

[More Trivia] The original caption: "View of the Earth as seen by the Apollo 17 crew traveling toward the moon. This translunar coast photograph extends from the Mediterranean Sea area to the Antarctica south polar ice cap. This is the first time the Apollo trajectory made it possible to photograph the south polar ice cap. Note the heavy cloud cover in the Southern Hemisphere. Almost the entire coastline of Africa is clearly visible. The Arabian Peninsula can be seen at the northeastern edge of Africa. The large island off the coast of Africa is Madagascar. The Asian mainland is on the horizon toward the northeast."

Guerrillero Heroico

Figure 2 Guerrillero Heroico - Che's famous shot by Alberto Korda (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guevara_(photo))

Figure 3 The original 1968 stylized image created by Jim Fitzpatrick. (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guevara_(photo))

Guerrillero Heroico is the title of Ernesto "Che" Guevara’s famous photo. Translated, this means “Heroic Guerilla”. The picture was taken by Alberto Korda on March 5, 1960 at the memorial service for the victims of the explosin of the Belgian arms transport "La Coubre".

However, it was Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick’s stylized 1968 image, adapted from Korda’s original, which paved the way for Che’s iconic status in art and pop culture.

[More Trivia] In 1968, Gerard Malanga painted tiled variation of the Fitzpatrick stylized image sold it to a gallery in Rome. It was initially attributed to Andy Warhol, a central figure in pop art movement.

Maryland Institute College of Art called Guerrillero Heroico "the most famous photograph in the world and a symbol of the 20th century”.

Albert Einstein Sticking Out His Tongue

Figure 4 The famous Einstein photo showing him sticking his tongue out (from http://www.worldsfamousphotos.com/albert-einstein-1951.html)

This picture was taken on Einstein’s 72nd birthday in Princeton on March 14, 1951 by a press photographer, Arthur Sasse. According to stories, Einstein and some friends were returning from an event when reporters and photographers followed them to the car, trying to get shots of Einstein. Though already sitting in the car, he was still bullied by the press and eventually got annoyed at their persistence. He stuck out his tongue in response for more requests to pose and smile and Arthur Sasse pressed the button of his camera in just this moment.

The original picture shows Einstein sitting on the backseat of a car between Dr Frank Aydelotte, the former head of the Institute for Advanced Study, and his wife. Einstein liked the picture very much that he cut it into shape so only he can still be seen. He had made several copies of it and sent the edited picture as a greeting card to friends later on.

[More Trivia] Though Einstein is known for his work on the Theory of Relativity, he won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.


Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

Figure 5 Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima (from http://www.worldsfamousphotos.com/us-marines-raising-the-flag-on-iwo-jima-1945.html)

The famous picture Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima was taken by AP photographer Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945. It shows six US soldiers raising the American flag on top of Mt. Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima (lit. sulfur island) during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima was of strategic importance to the Allies campaign in the Pacific during WW II. This photograph won the Pulitzer Prize for Photography in the same year as its publication, the only picture to do so.

[More Trivia] The picture of Rosenthal was actually the second flag-raising. The first one was captured by Staff Sergeant Louis R. Lowery. It was decided to raise a second flag after the first one was determined to be small. Incidentally, the two flags are both 48-starred flags and are currently stored in the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

Also, more than a quarter of all the Medals of Honor given to Marines in World War II were for the Battle of Iwo Jima.

The Famous Scene from the The Seven Year Itch (1955)

Figure 6 The Famous Scene from the The Seven Year Itch by Sam Shaw’s (from http://www.takegreatpictures.com/HOME/Columns/TGP_Choice/Details/Marilyn_Monroe.fci)

This classic and famous shot from the classic scene of the movie The Seven Year Itch (1955) was taken from late Sept 14 to early morning of Sept 15, 1954. The place was Manhattan's Lexington Avenue at 52nd Street close to the Trans-Lux theatre. This famous shot actually has a lot of variations as a lot of press photographers were present at the publicity stunt organized by director Billy Wilder and team to promote the said movie. The movie starred Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell. The event was the filming of the sidewalk scene of Marilyn’s character enjoying the breeze coming up from the subway grating on a hot New York evening.

Of the many pictures taken at that famous event, one pictures that attained iconic status was that of Sam Shaw. Shaw was hired by the studio to shoot the film's poster. His pictures became one of the most reproduced photos over the last 50 years.

[More Trivia] Marilyn’s character name in the movie is The Girl. In the said scene, the type of full skirt she is seen wearing was first introduced by Christian Dior in 1948, the Carolle Line (from French corolla, roughly “petal”. This style was christened the New Look by American Journalists, the term being coined by Carmel Snow, the editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar).

Marilyn was also the very first Playboy playmate, gracing the cover and the centerfold of the mag’s very first issue on December 1953.

Shortly before her death, Marilyn had a photo shoot with photographer Bert Stern. This photo shoot was commissioned by Vogue magazine in late June 1962. It was later published as a book and photo shoot entitled The Last Sitting. (In 2008, Stern shot recreations of the images used by Vogue with actress Lindsay Lohan as the model this time. It came out on the February 25, 2008 issue of New York.)

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/

http://www.imdb.com

http://www.ehartwell.com/Apollo17/

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/

http://www.famouspictures.org/

http://www.cameranaked.com/

http://www.worldsfamousphotos.com/

http://www.einstein-website.de/z_information/variousthings.html#tongue

http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0309/lm_index.html

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2276305/The-Subway-Grate-Scene-in-The-Seven-Year-Itch-The-Staging-of-an-AppearanceAsDisappearance

http://www.takegreatpictures.com/HOME/Columns/TGP_Choice/Details/Marilyn_Monroe.fci

http://jabberclarks.blogspot.com/2007/02/test-pattern.html

http://www.breakingnewsbook.com/

This sight contains recreations of famous ad memorable photograph scenes using Lego - http://www.flickr.com/photos/balakov/sets/72157602602191858

For comments, suggestions and requests, you can contact me at Eyes.X.Only@gmail.com

[Trivia] Indiana Jones and the Diamond Skull

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull opened worldwide last week. It had its premiere on the Cannes Film Festival. It grossed $25 million its opening day and an estimated $101 million in 4,260 theaters in the United States and Canada on its opening weekend. Within its first five days of release, it grossed $311 million worldwide. Its total of $151 million gross in the US ranked it as the second biggest Memorial Day weekend release, behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. And just on its first week, it already received much criticism. Russia's Communist Party has called for a nationwide boycott of the said movie objecting with the movie’s depiction of Soviet troops invading top-secret American installations, killing guards and wreaking havoc.

Spielberg, Lucas and company filled the movie with a lot of references to mysterious places and magical artifacts. I expected them to come out strong considering that the last movie from the celebrated franchise was released almost two decades ago but I didn’t expect them to integrate a lot of this mythical stuff. Let’s see how many you noticed in the movie. Let’s begin with the mysterious places.

First, there’s the military base Hangar 51 in the Nevada desert. It’s a reference to the famous Area 51 (also in Nevada) of the United States Air Force. It’s primary purpose is to support development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems though conspiracy buffs say that this is a haven for aliens (remember Roswell and X-files).

Next, there are the Nazca Lines. These are a geolyphs (drawings on the ground) located in the Pampa region of Peru. The Lines were first spotted when commercial airlines began flying across the Peruvian desert in the 1920's. They are believed to have been created by the Nazca culture between 200 BC and AD 700. A leading theory is that the Nazca people's motivations were religious, that the images were constructed so that only gods in the sky could see them.

Some of the most famous Nasca geoglyphs include:
The Spider (approximately 46m long)
The Monkey (55m long)
The Guanay (guano bird - 280m long)
The Lizzard (180m)
The Hummingbird (50m long)
The Killer Whale (65m long)
The Pelican - the largest of them all (at 285m)

Figure 1. The Nazca Hummingbird (from http://www.world-mysteries.com/)

Figure 2. The Nazca Monkey (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_Lines)

Then, there’s El Dorado. In the movie, they refer to it as Akator. According to several legends, El Dorado is a “city of gold” and it is located in South America. Enticed by these legends, European empires sent a lot of expeditions to search for this mythical place, the most famous of them being that of Francisco de Orellana and Gonzalo Pizarro in 1541. This historic expedition was heavily intertwined with the movie’s plot. Curiously, this was also the case in the film National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007).

Now let’s go to the objects. First, there was the alien body that the Russians wanted to retrieve from the military base. As described above, Area 51 (where Hangar 51 is most probably based) is believed to be where the US government conducts testing of experimental weapons and, according to conspiracy theorists, where they keep closely guarded secrets about alien-related stuff. Area 51 sometimes serves as a secret government warehouse - a place where the government stores various items whose existence the government wants the general populace to remain ignorant. If you noticed in one scene, The Ark of Covenant (which Indy was able to get in the first movie) can be seen in a box that was broken open in the hangar. (As described in the Bible, The Ark of Covenant is a sacred container where the original Stone Tablets containing The Ten Commandments (given by God to Moses in Mt. Sinai), together with Aaron’s staff and manna. This sacred container was last seen in Solomon’s Temple and was believed to have been lost when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem.)

And then there are the crystal skulls. The crystal skulls are a number of human skull models fashioned from blocks of clear or milky quartz crystal rock. These crystal skulls are apparently of ancient origin were found in parts of Mexico, Central America and South America. Many indigenous people speak of their remarkable magical and healing properties though recent studies concluded that the skulls were crafted in the 19th century in Germany. Of these so-called crystal skulls, the famous of them are the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull, The British Crystal Skull and The Paris Crystal Skull.

Figure3. The Anna Mitchell-Hedges Skull (from http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_6_1.htm)

And speaking of crystals and skulls, sculptor Damien Hirst recently held his Beyond Belief exhibit in White Cube Hoxton Square and White Cube Mason’s Yard. One of his work was For the Love of God. This is a platinum cast of a human skull encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds, weighing in total 1,106.18 carats. The centerpiece of this creation is a pear-shaped pink diamond located in the forehead of the skull. The artwork costs £14 million to produce. The skull was bought from a shop in Islington, North London, and is thought to belong to a 35-year-old European who lived between 1720 and 1810.

It is believed that title was supposedly inspired by his mother, who once asked, “For the love of God, what are you going to do next?”

Figure 4. Damien Hirst's For the Love of God (2007) (from http://www.frieze.com/issue/review/damien_hirst1/)

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/

http://www.imdb.com

http://www.world-mysteries.com/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6712015.stm

http://www.whitecube.com/exhibitions/beyond_belief/

http://www.frieze.com/issue/review/damien_hirst1/


For comments, suggestions and requests, you can contact me at Eyes.X.Only@gmail.com

[Trivia] Take 5: Indiana Jones

Harrison Ford’s back as Dr. Henry Jones, Jr. in the fourth movie of the Indiana Jones franchise. The film will hit Philippines cinemas on the 22nd of this month (that’s on Thursday!) But before you watch Indy’s fourth widescreen adventure, I’ve listed down several tidbits about our favorite archaeologist.

Indy’s real name is Col. Henry Walton Jones, Jr., PhD. When not in an adventure seeking lost relics, he’s an archaeologist at Marshall College. His parents are Henry Jones, Sr. and Anna Jones. The nickname Indiana was taken from the name of his childhood dog, Indiana, often shortened to Indy. In reality, George Lucas, the franchise creator, owned a dog named "Indiana".

Much like James Bond, a number of costumes and equipment are associated with Indiana. They are: (1) the fedora (2) the leather jacket (3) the bag (4) the whip (5) the pistol and (6) the shoes. (More details on these can be found on the wikipedia page)

Several origins of Indiana’s character were explained in the third movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). This movie showed his preference for the whip, where he got the scar in his chin, and why he had a fear on snakes. This movie also explained how he got his trademark fedora.
In the Indiana Jones Trilogy, it is important to note that the events of the second movie, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), happened first before the events of the first movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and that of the third movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), came after the first one.

In the previous three films, Indy’s adventures involved three great religions:

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – Judaism: Indy has to prevent the Nazis from getting the Ark of Covenant, which will make their army so powerful and turn the tides of war;

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) – Hinduism: Indy has been asked by an Indian village to retrieve a sacred stone, the Sankara Stone or Shiva lingam stone, as well as the community's kidnapped children, from the Thuggee evil cult;

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) – Christianity: Indy has to find the mythical Holy Grail in exchange for his father’s life, who was captured by the Nazis. In this movie, Indy has to overcome three tests before he can get the Holy Grail. The three tests were The Breath of God, The Word of God and The Path of God. Special note: The plots of the first and third movie are based on Hitler’s interests and obsession in the occult during Germany’s Nazi regime.


Sources:

http://indianajones.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_aliases_and_nicknames_of_Indiana_Jones

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_jones

http://www.imdb.com

http://www.theraider.net/

For comments, suggestions and requests, you can contact me at Eyes.X.Only@gmail.com

[Trivia] “Show me the money!” - The Forbes Fictional 15

Here's a good trivia - do you know who the richest man in the world is?

Warren Buffett has recently overtaken Bill Gates as the richest man on the planet. Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, has seen his fortune swell to an estimated $62 billion, up $10 billion from a year ago. Bill Gates was the richest man in the world for 13 straight years.

Now, here’s an even better trivia – who’s the richest fictional character in the world/solar system?

Once in a while, Forbes comes up with a list of the 15 richest people in the realm of fiction. The members are characters from movies, books, cartoons and television.

According to Forbes.com, to qualify for the Fictional 15, they require that candidates “be an authored fictional creation, a rule that excludes mythological and folkloric characters. They must star in a specific narrative work or series of works. And they must be known, both within their fictional universe and by their audience, for being rich. Net worth estimates are based on an analysis of the fictional character's source material, and are valued against known real-world commodity and share price movements. In the case of privately held fictional concerns, we sought to identify comparable fictional public companies.” All prices are as of market close, Dec. 10, 2007.

Before we start the list, comparing the Forbes’ current list from their previous ones (2002 and 2005), Santa Claus is notably absent for the first time. He topped the previous two listings. Forbes stated, "We still estimate Claus's net worth as infinite, but we excluded him from this year's rankings after being bombarded by letters from outraged children insisting that Claus is "real."

Now, on to the list!

#15 Princess Peach

Net Worth: $1.3 billion
Source: Inheritance, Commodities
Age: 23 Marital
Status: Divorced
Hometown: Mushroom Kingdom
Education: Toad's Finishing School for Girls

Princess Peach is a video game character in Nintendo's Mario video games series. She usually plays the "damsel in distress" role in the adventure series. Peach is the human princess of the fictitious Mushroom Kingdom. She was known as Princess Toadstool in the West until late 1996, when she added the name "Peach" to her signature in the opening scene of Super Mario 64.


[More Trivia] - Shigeru Miyamoto is the creator of the Super Mario Bros. games series. As of 2008, Super Mario Bros. is the best selling video game of all time.

#14 Malfoy, Lucius

Net Worth: $1.6 billion
Source: Inheritance
Age: 51
Marital Status: Married
Hometown: Wiltshire, England
Education: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry


In the Harry Potter book series, Lucius Malfoy is one of main antagonists. He is a Death Eater and head of a pure-blood wizarding family; he lives with his wife Narcissa Malfoy and their son Draco at the Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire.

#13 Wonka, Willy


Net Worth: $1.9 billion
Source: Candy, Aerospace
Age: 57
Marital Status: Single
Hometown: Kent , England
Education: Academie d'Art Culinaire, Le Cordon Bleu, Paris

Willy Wonka is a character in the classic Roald Dahl children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and its sequel Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. He is the founder of the Wonka Candy Company and the inventor of candies such as Wonka Bars and Everlasting Gobstoppers.


[More Trivia] - Roald Dahl also wrote the stories Matilda and James and the Giant Peach, both made into films.


#12 Addams, Gomez


Net Worth: $2.0 billion
Source: Inheritance, Investing
Age: 51
Marital Status: Married
Hometown: Westfield, N.J.
Education: Astin School of Law, J.D.

Gomez Addams is the fictional patriarch of The Addams Family, created by cartoonist Charles Addams for The New Yorker magazine in the 1930s. Gomez was played by Raúl Juliá in The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993).


[More Trivia] – The Addams Family members are: Morticia (Gomez’ wife), Grandma Addams (mother of Gomez), Uncle Fester (Gomez’ brother), Wednesday, Pugsley and Pubert (children), Grandpa Addams, Lurch (butler) and Cousin Itt.

#11 Jobs, Fake Steve

Net Worth: $5.7 billion
Source: Walt Disney Co., Technology
Age: 52 1/2
Marital Status: Married, 3 children
Hometown: Palo Alto, Calif.
Education: Reed College, dropout

Fake Steve Jobs is the pseudonym of the high-profile blogger behind The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, a popular blog and parody of Apple CEO Steve Jobs. It was later revealed that the real person behind those blogs was David Lyons, a writer and a senior editor at Forbes magazine.


[More Trivia] - In October 2007, he released the book Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs, a Parody, under the pseudonym "Fake Steve Jobs".


#10 Stark, Tony

Net Worth : $6.0 billion
Source: Defense
Age: 35
Marital Status: Single
Hometown: New York, N.Y.
Education: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, B.S.

Tony Stark is the real identity of Iron Man, the superhero of the hour. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, Iron Man first appeared in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963). Tony Stark, after suffering a severe heart injury and being kidnapped, was forced to build a devastating weapon. He created a suit of power armor to save his life and help protect the world as Iron Man. In the 2008 movie, Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) is shown wearing just three armors - Mark I, Mark II and Mark III.


[More Trivia] - Business Week has also ranked Iron Man as one of the top ten most intelligent fictional characters in American comics. Mr. Fantastic Reed Richards topped the list.

#9 Howell III, Thurston

Net Worth: $6.3 billion
Source: Howell Industries
Age: 60
Marital Status: Married, no children
Hometown: Private Island, South Pacific
Education: Harvard University , B.A.

Thurston J. Howell, III is a character on the CBS television sitcom Gilligan's Island, which was in first-run from 1964 to 1967. When asked what happened to him during the Great Depression, his wife says that he lost most of his money and "became just a millionaire." Among his assets were a diamond mine, a coconut plantation, a railroad, an oil well, and 40 acres in Colorado—which included all of downtown Denver—that he bequeathed to his fellow castaways in his will.

#8 Wayne, Bruce

Net Worth: $7.0 billion
Source: Inheritance, Defense
Age: 32
Marital Status: Single, one son
Hometown: Gotham City , U.S.A.

Batman's secret identity is Bruce Wayne, a wealthy industrialist, playboy, and philanthropist. This character was co-created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger and published by DC Comics. The character made his first appearance in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939).

[More Trivia] – His parents were Thomas and Martha Wayne. He was also named by Business Week as one of the top ten most intelligent fictional characters in American comics, second to Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four.

#7 Pewterschmidt, Carter

Net Worth: $7.2 billion
Source: Inheritance, Media, Steel
Age: 70
Marital Status: Married, three children
Hometown: Newport, R.I.
Education: Yale University, B.A.

Carter is the patriarch of the Pewterschmidts, a fictional family on the animated television series Family Guy. They are very rich and were among the first families to colonize America from England, settling in Newport, Rhode Island.

#6 Burns, C. Montgomery

Net Worth: $8.4 billion
Source: Energy
Age: 104
Marital Status: Single, one bastard child
Hometown: Springfield, U.S.A.
Education: Yale University, B.S.

Charles Montgomery Burns, normally referred to as Mr. Burns or "Monty" Burns is a recurring fictional character and antagonist in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is the owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and Homer Simpson's boss (and often his arch-nemesis). He is attended to at almost all times by Waylon Smithers, his loyal and sycophantic aide, advisor, confidant and secret admirer. Mr. Burns is Springfield's richest and most powerful citizen.


[More Trivia] - The Simpson family first appeared as shorts in The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. Groening named the characters after members of his own family, substituting Bart for his own name.

#5 Clampett, Jed

Net Worth: $11.0 billion
Source: Oil & Gas, Banking
Age: 51
Marital Status: Widowed, one child
Hometown: Beverly Hills, Calif.
Education: Ozark Elementary, dropout

Jed "J.D." Clampett is the widowed patriarch of a hillbilly family transplanted to Beverly Hills, California after finding oil on their land in the American television series The Beverly Hillbillies.

#4 Mom

Net Worth: $15.7 billion
Source: Technology, Conglomerates
Age: 158
Marital Status: Single
Hometown: New New York City
Education: Mars University

Mom is a fictional character and recurring antagonist on the animated series Futurama. She is the bitter, ruthless, and 99.7% (the remaining 0.3% equally divided amongst her three sons) shareholder & CEO of Momcorp, the largest industrial conglomerate known to man, with subsidiaries ranging from Mom's Friendly Robot Company to Mom's Old-Fashioned Video Surveillance Unit. She is the richest person on Earth and maintains a public image of being a sweet, matronly figure through use of a fatsuit, a heart-shaped hairdo and talented acting, when in fact she is extremely thin, foul-mouthed, and malevolent.


[More Trivia] - Futurama is created by Matt Groening of The Simpsons fame. The name "Futurama" comes from a pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Designed by Norman Bel Geddes, the Futurama pavilion depicted what he imagined the world to look like in 1959.


#3 Rich, Richie

Net Worth: $16.1 billion
Source: Inheritance, Conglomerates
Age: 10 Marital Status: Single
Hometown: Richville , U.S.A.
Education: Richville Elementary

Richard "Richie" Rich, Jr. is a fictional character that debuted in Harvey Comics' Little Dot #1, cover-dated September 1953. Richie is the only child of fantastically wealthy parents and is the world's richest kid. He lives and works in an expensive mansion and owns at least two of everything money could buy.

[More Trivia] – The name of the Rich’s butler is Cadbury; Richie’s dog is Dollar; and Richie’s maid/bodyguard robot is named Irona. And yes, Richie’s girlfriend is Gloria Glad.


#2 Merciless, Ming The

Net worth: $20.9 billion
Source: Slavery, Technology
Age: 74
Marital Status: Widower
Hometown: Mingo City, Planet Mongo
Education: Private imperial tutors\

Ming the Merciless is a fictional character who first appeared in the Flash Gordon comic strip in 1934. He has since been the main villain of the strip and its related movie serial, TV shows and movie. He rules the planet Mongo, whose capital is named Mingo City.

[More Trivia] – The science fiction comic strip Flash Gordon was originally drawn by Alex Raymond.

#1 McDuck, Scrooge

Net Worth: $28.8 billion
Source: Mining, Treasure Hunting
Age: 80 Marital Status: Single
Hometown: Duckburg, U.S.A.
Education: Cluck U., dropout

Scrooge McDuck or Uncle Scrooge is a fictional Scottish Glaswegian anthropomorphic duck created by Carl Barks that first appeared in Four Color Comics #178, Christmas on Bear Mountain, published by Dell Comics in December, 1947. Scrooge's name is based on the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, a character from Charles Dickens' 1843 novel A Christmas Carol. It is also theorized that Scottish industrialist Andrew Carnegie. in 2007, Glasgow City Council added Scrooge to its list of "Famous Glaswegians", alongside the likes of Billy Connolly, Sir Alex Ferguson and Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

[More Trivia] – Scrooge’s famous nephew is Donald Duck. Donald's full name is Donald Fauntleroy Duck. Donald's birthday is officially recognized as June 9, 1934, the day his debut film, The Wise Little Hen, was released. Donald Duck is the only popular film and television cartoon character to appear as a mascot for a major American university: a licensing agreement between Disney and the University of Oregon allows the school's sports teams to use Donald's image as its "Fighting Duck" mascot. In 1984 Donald Duck was named an honorary alumnus of the University of Oregon during his 50th birthday celebration.


Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

www.forbes.com

www.businessweek.com


For comments, suggestions and requests, you can contact me at Eyes.X.Only@gmail.com

[Trivia] Mariah Carey - Her Mass and Energy…and yes, she wants you to touch her body

Mariah Carey recently released her 11th studio album entitled E=MC². The title means Emancipation (E) equals (=) Mariah Carey (MC) to the second power (2) and is a play on Einstein's famous mass–energy equivalence formula. This album is the follow-up to her Grammy-winning disc in 2005, The Emancipation of Mimi. The first single from her latest album is Touch My Body. This song marks her 18th chart topper, surpassing Elvis Presley for the most No. 1 singles on the Billboard singles chart, and is now second only to the Beatles. The Fab Four from Liverpool have 20.

By the way, Einstein first derived his famous mass–energy equivalence formula in in 1905 in the paper "Does the inertia of a body depend upon its energy-content?", one of his Annus Mirabilis ("Wonderful Year") Papers.

And for those who are wondering, the letter c used in Einstein’s equation, which is denotes the speed of light in vacuum, means celeritas. It was Wilhelm Eduard Weber and Rudolf Kohlrausch who first used the letter c to indicate the speed of light. For them, c means constant. It was science fiction and popular science author Isaac Asimov who, in 1959, used c to mean celeritas, though he cited no evidence to support this.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2008-04-02-carey_N.htm

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23918924/

For comments, suggestions and requests, you can contact me at Eyes.X.Only@gmail.com

[Review] Not Just Your Ordinary Bat Babes – The Birds of Prey

Being a Batman fan – (I haven’t read any Batman comics, but I have watched all the movies, followed the old TV series and have read a lot about him) one question that has intrigued me for sometime now is “Who is Batman’s one true love?”. Behind that famous and heroic mask of a vigilante, there’s a man with a great heart. And with great heart comes true love…

A lot of ladies were romantically linked to Batman/Bruce Wayne and as far as I can remember, the more familiar names in the long list include Vicki Vale*^, Catwoman*^, Dr. Chase Meridian*, Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy*^, Julie Madison*, Rachel Dawes*, Andrea Beaumont^, Wonder Woman^, Barbara Gordon/Batgirl^, Zatanna^, Kathy Duquesne^, Dana Tan^ and Lois Lane^ (yes, you read it right…the Man of Steel’s lady love). From the comics, there’s also this storyline that Batman became involved with Talia al Ghul, daughter of Batman’s enemy, the super villain Ra’s al Ghul. She later bore him his son, Damian. Though Batman tries very hard to project a very different image than that of Bruce Wayne’s in order to protect his true identity, it seems that Batman somehow displayed Bruce Wayne’s playboy side.

Of all these women, it is has been said that it is only with Catwoman (aka Selina Kyle) that the Dark Knight became passionately involved and really in love with. He sees himself in her – another creature with a dark past, prowling the roofs of Gotham City in the night. This relationship has been “documented” in the comics, cartoons, and in the movies.

The Birds of Prey is loosely based on DC Comics series of the same title. The Joker is long acknowledged to be Batman’s greatest nemesis. For years, a “secret” war has been waged every night in Gotham/ New Gotham City between the Dark Knight and the Clown Prince of Crime. On the fateful night of their final battle, the Dark Knight emerged victorious. Joker took revenge on Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman) and one of Batman’s protégé’, Barbara Gordon (aka Batgirl). The Joker ordered the killing of Selina Kyle. He also shot Barbara Gordon on the head, paralyzing her waist down, thus forcing her to give up her Batgirl persona. These events affected Batman deeply, especially the death of his one true love - Selina Kyle. Bruce Wayne gave up the mantle of the Bat and went into seclusion, never knowing that his passion with Selina resulted in a metahuman (superhuman) daughter, Helena Kyle. He eventually made her the heir to the vast Wayne riches, which she rejects thinking that her father left her and her mother when she was young.

The series/story starts with Barbara teaming up with the Helena fighting crime and injustice to help the innocent and the helpless. Barbara is now known as Oracle and Helena goes by the name Huntress. A third member soon joined them, Dinah Lance.

Dina Meyer plays Oracle. She is a school teacher by day and is the leader of the group. A master (cyber) hacker with access to almost anything and everything in New Gotham City, she usually calls the shots, sitting on her hi-tech wheel chair from the group’s secret lair, the New Gotham Clock Tower. She is depicted as very intelligent and methodical just like Batman. Ashley Scott portrays Huntress. A half-metahuman, Helena does all the dirty work of crime fighting. She’s is shown to be hard-headed and adventurous, just like when Batman was starting as a young nameless vigilante. Rachel Skarsten is Dinah Lance. She is the runaway metahuman daughter of the legendary Black Canary. She has psycho kinesis abilities and is understandably immature and inexperienced. Barbara and Helena take her in to train and develop her powers. Mia Sara plays Dr. Harleen Quinzel (aka Harley Quinn). She is The Joker’s one-time lover and protégé. She plans to avenge The Joker’s loss and takeover New Gotham City for herself. And of course, there’s the ever lovable, loyal and witty Alfred Pennyworth, played here by Ian Abercrombie. He’s still the butler of the Wayne family, and in Bruce Wayne’s absence he transfers his services to all three heroines.

The series offers several interesting sub-plots. Two key sub-plots are the romance between Huntress and a detective with a dark past like her, and that of between Barbara and a fellow teacher. Another important sub-plot is concept of metahumans - individuals born with powers that cannot be explained. The show introduces several of these characters. No two metahumans have the same specific ability (or set of abilities) and there exists a whole sub culture of metahuman society that the outside world knows nothing about.

But more importantly, the series is able to show the difficult problems and choices each heroine must face in fighting crime and how they help each other in dealing with those problems. The series is successful in showing the human side of a hero. Sadly, the series was cancelled after only one season (13 episodes) despite having a big fan base.

Lastly, if you’re a Batman fan like me, you might be disappointed with Batman’s small appearance(s) in this series. You’ll only see him during his limited action sequence in the pilot episode and during the brief intro of each episode. However, there are other interesting highlights to watch out for in the series. First, the way Helena “appear” (and “disappear”) will certainly remind you of his father’s stealth abilities. Next, you’ll like the “new Bat Computer”, here called Delphi. Then, you’ll also see Barbara Gordon donning the Batgirl costume and fight in the same way as her mentor. Lastly, you’ll enjoy the way the three heroines fight the bad guys in the season finale. With the way Barbara and Dinah smashing into the Clock Tower (which was captured by Harley Quinn and her goons) clinging to a rope, this will certainly remind you of good old Batman and Robin. Watch out also for the song playing in the background during the fight sequence that followed. It’s cool!

So, did the series answer the question above? We’ll, yes it did…from to the intro “Legend tells of a caped crusader - Batman, guardian of New Gotham, and his one true love – Catwoman…”


However, the sad part is…
“In all my years serving Master Bruce, do you know what he told me was his biggest regret? That he never found someone with whom he could share his life…” - Alfred Pennyworth, talking to Barbara Gordon, Ep12

For legal and practical reasons (they’re big), I can’t post the episodes here. (But I can send you torrent file that I used to download them. =) )


* - movies
^ - cartoons
*^ - movies and cartoons

Sources:

http://www.gothamclocktower.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

http://www.imdb.com/

http://www.dccomics.com/