Sole Focus

News, Views, Rantings & Ramblings by Carey Parrish

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Location: Georgia, United States

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Saturday's Author

When it comes to true originals, Victor J. Banis stands proudly among the lot. This is a man who has been writing his own brand of fiction for more years than some folks have been around. He's attracted a massive following and his readers always clamor for each new title as soon as it is released. Victor makes the imagination of his audience his playground when he writes. There is little to compare to a real author at work and Victor proves this in infinite detail.

Having interviewed him, he always catches the interest of his subject because his is an enigmatic personality.  Having overcome so many obstacles in his career, not the least of which being a potential jail sentence in the early sixties for writing a homosexual novel, Victor is considered a hero of the equal rights movement to a great many people. By refusing to be branded or labeled by society, he stood up for himself and set an example that so many others are now celebrating.

With titles like Neighbors, Tell Them Katy Did, and The Princess of the Andes in his library, Victor keeps turning out one crowd pleaser after another, as is evidenced by his latest book The Final Curtain. Victor is someone for the ages; a true artist.



Great Diana Ross Web Site

If you're a Diana Ross fan and you're looking for a great web site devoted to her, then go here: http://raketler.angelfire.com/

I love this site. Love it!

Check it out.

Superb Saturday


The Grinch is one of the most popular draws at Christmas every year. This unsavory character, with his desire to squash the joy of all the Who’s in Whoville, has been entertaining audiences for more than thirty years. I remember watching him when I was kid and thoroughly enjoying every minute every year. His evil deeds may have been comically portrayed but it is his change of heart at the end of the show that always melts hearts, even his.

I wasn’t a big fan of the Jim Carrey remake of this classic. I think Dr. Seuss rolled over in his grave when this film came out, and in no way did Carrey’s Grinch come close to emulating the original animated cat. There are some things that shouldn’t be tinkered with and this is one of them.

The Grinch’s Theme is as popular this time of year as anything out there. I love this song and I love the video that goes along with it. It’s one of those tunes that you can’t forget and you’ll be humming it when you’re ninety. He may be a black banana with a greasy black heel but he’s beloved the world over… and this is why.

This Day in History

1783 - Gen. George Washington said farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York.

1791 - Britain's Observer newspaper was first published.

1812 - Peter Gaillard patented the power mower.

1867 - The National Grange of Husbandry was founded.

1875 - William Marcy Tweed, the "Boss" of New York City's Tammany Hall political organization, escaped from jail and fled from the U.S.

1918 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson set sail for France to attend the Versailles Peace Conference. Wilson became the first chief executive to travel to Europe while in office.

1942 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the dismantling of the Works Progress Administration. The program had been created in order to provide jobs during the Great Depression.

1942 - U.S. bombers attacked the Italian mainland for the first time during World War II.

1943 - Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis announced that any club was free to employ black players.

1945 - The U.S. Senate approved American participation in the United Nations.

1965 - The U.S. launched Gemini 7 with Air Force Lt. Col. Frank Borman and Navy Comdr. James A. Lovell on board.

1973 - Pioneer 10 reached Jupiter.

1978 - Dianne Feinstein became San Francisco's first woman mayor when she was named to replace George Moscone, who had been murdered.

1979 - For the second time, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to urge Iran to free American hostages that had been taken on November 4.

1980 - The bodies of four American nuns slain in El Salvador two days earlier were unearthed. Five national guardsmen were later convicted of the murders.

1983 - U.S. jet fighters struck Syrian anti-aircraft positions in Lebanon in retaliation for attacks directed at American reconnaissance planes. Navy Lt. Robert O. Goodman Jr. was shot down and captured by Syria.

1984 - A five-day hijack drama began as four men seized a Kuwaiti airliner en route to Pakistan and forced it to land in Tehran. Two American passengers were killed by the hijackers.

1986 - Both U.S. houses of Congress moved to establish special committees to conduct their own investigations of the Iran-Contra affair.

1987 - Cuban inmates at a federal prison in Atlanta freed their 89 hostages, peacefully ending an 11-day uprising.

1990 - Iraq promised to release 3,300 Soviet citizens it was holding.

1991 - Associated Press correspondent Terry Anderson was released after nearly seven years in captivity in Lebanon.

1991 - Pan American World Airways ceased operations.

1992 - U.S. President George H.W. Bush ordered American troops to lead a mercy mission to Somalia.

1993 - The Angolan government and its UNITA guerrilla foes formally adopted terms for a truce. The conflict was killing an estimated 1,000 people per day.

1994 - Bosnian Serbs released 53 out of about 400 UN peacekeepers they were holding as insurance against further NATO airstrikes.

1997 - The play revival "The Diary of Anne Frank" opened.

1997 - The National Basketball Association (NBA) suspended Latrell Sprewell of the Golden State Warriors for one year for choking and threatening to kill his coach, P.J. Carlesimo.

2000 - O.J. Simpson was involved in an incident with another motorist in Miami, FL. Simpson was accused of scratching the other motorists face while pulling off the man's glasses.

2001 - O.J. Simpson's home in Florida was raided by the FBI in an ongoing two year international investigation into drug trafficking, satellite service pilfering and money laundering. Some satellite equipment was taken from Simpson's home and no drugs were found.

Saturday's Flashback


One of the biggest British acts of the 80’s, Duran Duran made its name with slick pop hits like Rio and the theme from the James Bond film A View To A Kill. They went on to rack up an enviable string of top ten hits that shimmered like gold during the decade. Wild Boys was one of their biggest numbers and fans still clamor for it whenever the song plays.

Simon Le Bon was the voice behind Duran Duran. He could take a song and make it a statement all his own. Wild Boys displays this ability Simon possesses with pure style. The video perfectly captures the essence that the group wanted to project with this number. I still love this song and find myself singing along to it without thinking. The chorus just gets in your head and stays there.

Maybe I’m on an 80’s kick lately but if I am, so what? Some of the best pop music ever produced came out of the 80’s and Duran Duran with Wild Boys is proof positive of why songs like this will always remain in demand.

Thought for Today

“Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.” -- Will Rogers