October 10

I'm fitting a twofer in today's entry. First, Happy Birthday to the oldest Oscar winner on the planet, Robert F Boyle.As an art director or production designer, he has been responsible for giving shape to the worlds of Fiddler on the Roof, North By Northwest, The Birds, and over 70 other films. Nominated four times, he accepted a Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 2008, at the age of 98. If you're looking for a movie to watch tonight, a list of his films is here. Here's a 2000 documentary about Mr Boyle, "The Man on Lincoln's Nose":


I also want to send out a Happy Birthday to my friend Jason Schumaker. I first met him in 1997, when he was chief instigator of The Militant Fags, a shock rock band that became an urban legend in the Illinois suburbs of St Louis, Missouri. After finishing high school, he dived into new musical ventures with extreme ravenousness: one year, it's metal (Spire); the next, it's prog-rock (Dangerfield); and the next, it's emo (Shut-In.) His 'pop-art/rock" band Snaggle contributed "The Veil Awaits" to the soundtrack of the 2004 thriller "Dark Garden".
In his career, he's had three strikes working against him: 1) He lives in St Louis (and is not trying to be a rap artist); 2) He has spent a lot of years and energy wresting his addiction of certain people, places, and things; 3) He is an Internet Luddite.
He recently set up two MySpace sites: one for his older compositions, and one site for his newest endeavor, Later That Day. He just posted demos for Later That Day earlier this week, and his songwriting powers are as strong as ever. Stop by his page, and let him know what you think, before he takes his songs on the road...