Tom Savini and Tony Todd, Discussion about Robert Rodriguez 10-21-18

Tom Savini and Tony Todd, Discussion about Robert Rodriguez 10-21-18

Tom Savini, acclaimed director, actor, and makeup artist, talks about his experiences working with Robert Rodriguez at a local comic book convention event. 

Tom Savini directed the 1990 re-make of George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. He appeared as the character Sex Machine in From Dusk Till Dawn, written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Robert Rodriguez.

He also appeared in 2007’s Planet Terror, written by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, and directed by Robert Rodriguez. Planet Terror was part of a suite of movies known collectively as Grindhouse. In this particular movie, Mr. Savini played Deputy Tolo. 

Working frequently with Robert Rodriguez, Mr. Savini also appeared in Rodriguez’s  Machete (2010) as Osiris Amanpour, a hit man who was hired to kill the main character, played by Danny Trejo. Not coincidentally, the full movie of Machete was based on a mock trailer of a then-fictional film called Machete that appeared as part of the aforementioned 2007 Grindhouse suite. 

You can read more about Tom Savini in his Wikipedia entry here.

At the beginning of this video, Mr. Savini is joined by fellow actor Tony Todd, who played the part of Ben in Mr. Savini’s re-make of Night of the Living Dead. Mr. Todd is best known for playing the titular character in 1992’s Candyman, directed by Bernard Rose.

Former Journey singer Steve Perry's return to music

Former Journey Singer Steve Perry's Return to Music

In October of 2018, completely by surprise, former Journey frontman and vocalist Steve Perry released his first album of original material since 1994! Nobody saw it coming, not even me! I was totally  convinced we were never going to hear Steve Perry sing, again. 

I've been a fan of Journey since I was little kid. My mom had Journey's "Departure" album on cassette tape, back in the early '80's, and she used to listen to "Walks Like a Lady" over and over again. She wore the tape out so much, that it pretty much became unplayable, squeaking and screeching like a dying rodent, whenever we played it.  I think I still have my mom's "Departure" cassette, somewhere. 

This video is about the release of Steve Perry's 2018 release "Traces", a collection of 10 very personal songs dealing with the death of his love,  Dr. Kellie Nash, who passed away of breast cancer in December of 2012. This album features a very different Steve Perry from the Steve we once knew and loved. This Steve Perry has had to deal with loss, grief, pain, and sadness, and it shows in the music. His singing is as expressive, lyrical, and melodic as ever. Even in 2022 (the date of this text update), I still have the songs from this album flowing through my head. 

One of these days, I'll tell the story of how I tried and tried to meet Steve Perry in person, back in the mid-90's. I failed in my pursuit, unfortunately, but I learned a great deal about the man behind the music, in the process. During that time, I met and spoke with quite a few people who had prior experiences with Steve, including at least one close family member of his, who just happened to live in the same town I lived in.......but that is another Hero's Tale for another time......

Steve Perry - Most Of All