Music & More

Photo courtesy of themeparkreview on Twitter As a former card carrying member of American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE), I have spent a great deal of time considering the quality of roller coaster rides. I won't claim to having ridden them all, or even making a dent in the list of American coasters. That said, I've ridden quite a few.  As a youth, I cut my teeth on the coasters at Willow Grove Park (WGP), just north of Philadelphia. Where now stands a mall of the same name, there was once an amusement park, one that was built in 1896 by a trolley company to give people a reason to ride to the end of the line. In its early days, it was known for band concerts led by John Philip Sousa. Over time, iconic amusement rides were added such as a ferris wheel, the tunnel of love, a fun house, a classic carousel and the like, and ultimately four roller coasters. One was The Wild Mouse, a factory made early metal coaster that was duplicated in many parks. The other three were classic wood...

Bowfinger is an excellent movie that seems to fly under the radar when it comes to film comedy, perhaps because the name is not easy to remember. Bowfinger features the comic actors Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy leading a cast that are all perfectly chosen for their roles, what's more, Murphy plays two different characters as he is wont to do. In addition to starring in the movie, Martin also wrote the script. Frank Oz directed; you might know him as Yoda, Grover, Miss Piggy or many of the other Muppet characters that he helped Jim Henson develop on the way to becoming a film director. Steven Martin plays Bobby Bowfinger, a down on his luck movie director in Hollywood. In a wonderful opening sequence, Martin's performance synchronizes with the song "There Is Always One More Time" by Johnny Adams (see below). The actor and the song combine to lay out the premise for the movie. Bowfinger is pinning his hopes on his next movie, which he has little money to make. S...