Farrah Fawcett: an Angel for the Ages!

Farrah Fawcett was the quintessential model / television star of the 1970s, (she starred in the first season only of CHARLIE'S ANGELS) who later tried to become a serious actress. For a short time she was married to Lee Majors, famous for THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, but that marriage did not last, like so many in Hollywood. Keeping yourself in the picture in Hollywood is half the battle. Unfortunately, doing crappy films like SUNBURN and KILLERFISH, did only little to give Farrah attention as her talents as a dramatic actress turned out to be limited. In the 1990s she once more turned to the printed page (the above picture was a bestselling poster in the late 1970s) for her luck posing for Playboy. She also did a Playboy Special at the time, still looking quite gorgeous. Unfortunately, Farrah Fawcett passed away after a battle with cancer in 2008. And it had to be just her bad luck that it was the very same day Michael Jackson died. So Farrah Fawcett's death was not given the attention she deserved.

But we remember you, Farrah. Always.

Ennio Morricone, European Musical Maestro

The sound of the Western had been determined by American movies for years by composers like Dimitri Tiomkin, Max Steiner and later Elmer Bernstein)when in the late sixties dirctor Sergio Leone asked his old school friend Ennio Morricone to write music before he shot anything on film. The idea was not to have the film influence Morricone's thinking but to have the music influence the actors while shooting. Ennio Morricone revolutionized the music of the western with his iconic score for ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, utilizing the unusual voice of Edda del Orso. He would later even lampoon his own style of western scoring with his music for MY NAME IS NOBODY, in it's own right a musical masterpiece.

The Sound of the Cinema : Jerry Goldsmith

Beauty is not something that is only visual in nature. Like with the music of the earlier mentioned John Williams, one of the greatest composers of the cinema, Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004) was equally adept at creating beauty to support what you saw on the silver screen. But the main difference between the styles of Mr. Williams and Mr. Goldsmith was that Mr. Williams's music follows a more classical style in symphonical works. Jerry Goldsmith could also summon the deepest of feelings for the films he worked on in atonal pieces of music or in quite unharmonious themes such as found in THE OMEN, THE PLANET OF THE APES and THE MEPHISTO WALTZ.

Arguably some of the best music he created was for the STAR TREK genre, as he wrote music for STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE (upon which was based ALL of the music you hear in the first two to three years in STAR THEK THE NEXT GENERATION), STAR TREK V THE FINAL FRONTIER, STAR TREK FIRST CONTACT, STAR TREK INSURRECTION and STAR TREK NEMESIS.

Jerry Goldsmith passed away in 2004 after a lengthy battle with cancer. But as sad as his passing was, he left us with a huge musical legacy. And in his own words: "If it is good, it will be remembered." Well, Mr. Goldsmith, it was very good indeed. Thank you very much !!!

The Greatest of Music in the Movies: John Williams

The music of John Williams has been instrumental in the successes of the films of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. It was John Williams who gave voice to the films of STAR WARS, when Lucas was still an unknown ambitious filmmaker. He also scribbled down some inspiring scores at the same time for another young and upcoming director by the name of Steven Spielberg, for whom he scored JAWS, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and 1941, before John and Steven struck gold with the character of Indiana Jones. One could never imagine those films, now already far in our cinematic past, with music other than by John Williams. Other highlights include ET The Extra-Terrestrial, Superman The Movie, Schindler's List, Munich, Angela's Ashes and War Horse. And recently, when it became known that Lucas sold off his interests in future Star Wars adventures and that the next director would be J.J. Abrams, Mr. Williams did still indicate his interest to revisit those outlandish worlds from outer space. I wonder if J.J. Abrams would reconsider continuing his ongoing relationship with Michael Giacchino for who could imagine STAR WARS without the signature fanfare of John Williams?

A Salute to John Williams, a Musical Giant in his field. Thank you, Mr. Williams, for all the wonderful music.

The Medium of Comics as Art Form

Comics have been around for far longer than I have been. But even before my time there were some that worthwhile. My personal favorites came from MARVEL COMICS (pictures here represented, all rights reserved) but DC COMICS also had some very interesting characters.



VAMPIRELLA was a Warren Publications vampiress (all rights reserved Warren Publications) but DOC SAVAGE (all rights reserved) even came from the times of the pulp magazines before comics became so popular.



So many more examples can be given but let's stick to these for now. Because all of them are a product of their times and reflect those times in all possible aspects.



And where these heroes all go after a while? Only the Shadow knows.....

Photography as a Medium to convey Beauty

Photography is one of the most illustrative arts. It will be my pleasure to include a number of examples of beautiful photography on this blog site. Contributions will also be published. And if models wish to apply, the e-mnil address is Maestro1701E@gmail.com.



These beautiful ladies are fine examples of the most exquisite in photographic art. Unfortunately these pictures go uncredited as I have no idea who shot them and there are no copyright notices.



"But I dare you to tell me I am not beautiful. Don't you want a girl friend as HOT as ME?"

The Future of Mankind?

Leonard Nimoy has been a synbol for what STAR TREK has stood for for more than 40 years. His depiction of SPOCK in the optimistic world view of Gene Roddenberry's outer space saga was instrumental in delivering a message that has often been maligned or mostly been misunderstood as being moronic. STAR TREK, you see, is all about people working together to a better future. So that your children may enjoy longer and healthier lives. So that all problems may be solved instead of fought over in pathetic wars and massacres. Gene Roddenberry had a grand idea for mankind's future. A beautiful one at that. And if you're more the Star Wars type, don't worry. That's cool stuff too. But it is in essence a fairy tale about good versus evil.

Star Trek courtesy Parmount/CBS Star Wars courtesy 20th Century Fox All rights reserved.