Slaughtered
Saturday, October 24th, 2009
The early-1990’s hair metal band Slaughter was sort-of a cousin to Big 7 band KISS. It was out of the ashes of the Vinnie Vincent Invasion (Vinnie Vincent being the last KISS member to introduce a new style of make-up before the band ‘unmasked’) that Slaughter was formed. Mark Slaughter was the lead vocalist for both. Interestingly, he didn’t appear on the first VVI album, although they had selected him from his audition tape. He had forgotten to include his contact info and they couldn’t track him down before their debut album was recorded. And in the final twist of irony, the only time that I actually saw Slaughter perform, they were opening up for KISS in June of 1990. Read the rest of this entry »
Of all of the cool cats in the history of screen cinema, I don’t think there were any much cooler than the character of John Milner in American Graffiti. As Terry the Toad said in the film, “Hey, nobody can beat him, man. He’s got the fastest…” to which Bob Falfa (played by Harrison Ford) coldly replies “I ain’t nobody, dork.” Turns out even the future Indiana Jones couldn’t beat Milner in the final auto race showdown. The actor who brought this cool character to life was Paul Le Mat. 
Amidst the much-touted reunions of the Happy Days and Brady Bunch cast, one other mini-reunion that particularly excited me occurred at the July 18, 2009, Hollywood Show. There quietly nestled in the back of the show, three cast members of The Bob Newhart Show assembled to meet the fans. Bob Newhart himself has always been a personal favorite and I absolutely adore his first classic sitcom that chronicled the deadpan Dr. Robert Hartley and the world of crazies that surrounded him. The show ran for six seasons from 1972-1978 and has become legendary as one of the all-time great sitcoms. 
Ken Lerner has one of those faces that might look maddeningly familiar, but one that you can’t place exactly where you have seen it. His 30-year career as a character actor began in the late 1970’s and continues to the current day. He can be spotted in such sitcoms as Laverne & Shirley, Happy Days, Newhart, Sledge Hammer!, Family Ties, Friends, Scrubs, and Two and a Half Man – just to scratch the surface. 
My incredible California trip was winding down rapidly as I hit the last day of the adventure: Saturday, July 18, 2009. I had stayed the night at David’s house in Burbank after our day in