Hal Blaine's distinctive sound could be heard on thousands of recordings from the late 1950s and on for 25 years. He played on the hit records, Be My Baby by The Ronettes, Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys, I Got You Babe, by Sony & Cher, Mr Tambourine Man, by The Byrds, Monday, Monday by the Mamas and the Papas, Strangers in the Night by Frank Sinatra, and many many more. Last year Blaine was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Epidemiologist and one of the world's leading experts on Alzheimer's disease, David Snowdon. In 1986 he began what he calls the "Nun Study," following a group of aging nuns to better understand why some of the sisters were able to age gracefully, retaining their mental faculties, and others were not. He studied 678 nuns who belonged to The School Sisters of Notre Dame. His study was published in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
No one in jazz was as far out and far in as tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler. Far out in terms of how he improvised. Far in, in terms of the songs he wrote to improvise on. They sounded like a jumble of bugle calls, national anthems, nursery rhymes and drinking songs. Music ran in the family. As a boy, Ayler had studied music and listened to jazz with his father, and they also played saxophone duets in church. As a memento, Albert later recorded an album of spirituals called Goin' Home.
Actor Colin Firth. Up until now, he was probably best known for his role as Mr Darcy in the BBC/A&E production of Pride & Prejudice. The film turned him into a heart-throb. He stars in the new film Bridget Jones's Diary based on the book of the same name which borrows from the storyline of Pride & Prejudice. He plays hate/love-interest Mark Darcy. His other films include Valmont, Another Country, The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love, and Fever Pitch. Firth shows off his writing in the new book edited by Nick Hornby, Speaking with the Angel. (Riverhead Books).
She was nominated for an Academy Award this year for best actress in the film You Can Count on Me. Shes currently starring in Further Tales of the City, the third installment of Armistead Maupins saga of San Francisco life in the 1980s. Linney also starred in the previous Tales of the City and More Tales of the City. Her other films include The House of Mirth and The Truman Show. Linney got her start in the theatre when she was 12 years old.
Iranian filmmaker Bahman Farmanara. He began making films 30 years ago in his native country. Recently he returned to Iran after many years living in Canada, running a film festival and teaching. He's also returned to filmmaking. His new film Smell of Camphor, Fragrance of Jasmine is his first in 20 years. He also stars in the film about a fictional film director making a film about his own death.
Journalist Mark Bowden's new book is called Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the Worlds Greatest Outlaw (Atlantic Monthly Press.) Its an investigation into the US government's role in bringing down Colombian cocaine kingpin and terrorist Pablo Escobar. BOWDEN will talk about Escobar, the world of drug trafficking and US/Colombia relations. MARK BOWDEN is a reporter with the Philadelphia Inquirer. His previous book was the award winning bestseller Black Hawk Down. A film adaptation is in the works.
Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Womens Tales from the New Mexico WPA" (Arte Publico Press) a collection of interviews with rural Hispanic women conducted as part of the Federal Writers Project during the Depression and published here for the first time.
Writer Michael Chabon (SHAY-bon). Chabon won a year 2001 Pulitzer prize for his novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (Random House). His other books include The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, and a collection of stories called Werewolves in Their Youth. Last year his book Wonder Boys was adapted into a film starring Michael Douglas. He has also written for many publications including The New Yorker, Harper's, and Esquire.
Paul McCartney has written some of the most famous song lyrics in pop history, including those for "When I'm 64," "Yesterday," "Fool on the Hill," "Paperback Writer" and many more. They're collected, along with his poems, in a new volume titled Blackbird Singing: Poems and Lyrics 1965-1999. The Beatles broke up about 30 years ago, but its members still influence bands of every generation. The group recently returned to the top of the charts with an anthology of its No.
Paul Robeson Jr. has just written a new memoir called The Undiscovered Paul Robeson, the first of a two part series on his father, the famed actor, singer and athlete. He talks about his fathers rise in show business and what it was like growing up as the son of an icon. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Mexican Filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's debut film "Amores Perros" has just been released in the US to critical acclaim. The film follows the lives of three groups of people whose human relationships parallel the relationships they have with their dogs. Released in Los Angeles theaters in April, the movie was nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best Foreign Language Film. Other awards include the Canal Award at Cannes 2000, Grand Prix for Best Film and Best Director at the Tokyo International Film Festival and New Director's Award at Edinburgh.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead continues with part three of his Avant-Garde Made Easy series. This time he considers composer, improviser and saxophonist Anthony Braxton.
