We’ll hire a dog to burn down a hospital
San Fran now in the rearview, we spent some time in the fabled home of the NFL-worst Oakland Raiders. There was eating, dancing, drinking and kettle corn before departing for LA and it’s wizbang shops, restaurants and theaters.
The trip is winding down, but there’s still one day left for all manner of debauchery.
I bade a fond farewell to San Fran today, leaving behind the Rice-a-Roniriffic cable cars and homeless men for the scenic views of Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito and the Muir National Monument/forest before heading into Oakland for some beverages.
We spent today circumnavigating Fisherman’s Wharf and downtown San Francisco, and encountered seals, a guy in a kilt, a guy in crazy pants, Chinese dogs, innumerable hills, two cable cars, and some more hills. Nary a box of Rice-a-Roni to be found, I’m afraid.
Tomorrow, it’s off to hike a mountain across the bay before moving on to Oakland.
I’m updating from the road thanks to the awesome might of the hotel Interwebz! I’ll hold off doing an in-depth report until I get back to the east coast, instead posting an image or two of note from the day’s events.
So, without further adieu:
I’m having a great time thus far. Until tomorrow…
Just got back from an eventful….weekend with the bros. from Tau Delta Kappa whilst attending the wedding of Matt and Julie. Everybody had a lotta fun, particularly the 8-year old who made about four trips to the keg and the bartender who liked to dance for nickels. Throw in eight dirty old men, an elderly woman dancing on the bar, two roast pigs, and a technically-challenged DJ and you’ve got a recipe for nonstop fun and hilarity. Congratulations to Matt and Julie!
Click the image below to take a look.
Just in case you thought I was laying around doing nothing, there are scads of updates coming soon.
March of the Penguins (DVD) | A, The Sentinel | C, Apocalypto | A-, Once Upon a Time in the West | A, Hannibal Rising | C+, For Your Consideration | C, Never turn your back on one…, Breach | B+, Sawyer’s Unique Vocabulary, Letters From Iwo Jima | B+, Flags of our Fathers | C+, Syriana | A, Ocean’s 13 | B+, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer | B-, Things I No Longer Want to See…, Virginia 2007 Trip Report, Reviewpalooza, The Illusionist | B-, Children of Men | A, work history, Quicksand/A Kiss to Send Us Off, The Top Five Pies of All-Time, My Top Five TV Shows of 2006, My Top Five Albums of 2006, My Top Five Movies of 2006, My Top Five Songs of 2006, The Kids Don’t Get It, A History of Violence | B-, Hellboy | B, Constantine | B-, The Aristocrats | B, Quotable Ramblings
Stay tuned. Here’s a sweet picture to tide you over:
I’m fresh back from a wedding extravaganza in Virginia and will have a full trip report and image gallery up shortly, as soon as my Gallery software starts behaving normally.
EDIT: Virginia 2007 gallery now up.
And some high-quality video:
Ross reports from the heart of the storm
Ross explains the finer points of home refrigeration
| Hey there, little lovers why we fightin’ with each other? ain’t no use in cryin’ like the others we’re fools in need fools to believe we’re all fools in need too foolish to believe I’m gonna..somebody Children, don’t ya please I’m fightin’ just to breathe as i get back on my knees I’m fightin’ just to breathe as i get back on my knees She said, Hey there, little lovers I’m fightin’ just to breathe as i get back on my knees She said, |
 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Baby 81 Release: 2007 Lyrics: BRMC Music: BRMC |
Welcome to the all-new BillyDeeWilliams.com, the site dedicated to being the definitive resource for all things Billy Dee!
Billy Dee Williams (born William December Williams Jr. on April 6, 1937 in New York City) is an American actor who for a period in the 1970s rivaled Sidney Poitier as the most popular African-American actor in American film. Williams graduated from Manhattan’s School of Performing Arts.
His first big break was in the acclaimed television movie, Brian’s Song in which he played Gale Sayers. His next hit came in 1972 when he played Billie Holliday’s husband Louis McKay in Motown Productions’ Holliday biopic Lady Sings the Blues. Diana Ross starred in Lady Sings the Blues opposite Williams; Motown paired the two of them again three years later in Mahogany.
Arguably, his most famous role is Lando Calrissian, which he played in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Williams had originally auditioned for the role of Han Solo during the casting of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. He later reprised this role, when he lent his voice for the character in the 2002 video game Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, as well as the audio dramatization of Dark Empire.
Williams appeared in numerous other films, most recently lending his voice to Oedipus (2004). One of his most notable roles was in 1989’s Batman as district attorney Harvey Dent. Williams originally took the role believing that it would land him in a sequel playing the supervillain Two-Face, but the studio did not use him when the time came for the third installment, Batman Forever. Instead, the part of Harvey Dent/Two-Face went to Tommy Lee Jones.
William’s television work included a recurring guest-starring role on the short-lived show Gideon’s Crossing. He has had a brief cameo in the hit TV show Scrubs season 5, where he plays the godfather of Julie. He is also well-known for his appearance in advertisements for Colt 45, a low-cost brand of malt liquor, for which he received much criticism. Williams responded indifferently to the criticism of his appearances in the liquor commercials. When questioned about his appearances he was quoted as saying, “I drink, you drink. Hell, if marijuana was legal, I’d appear in a commercial for it.”
He also plays a live action character, GDI Director Redmond Boyle, in the video game Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, making him the second former Star Wars actor to appear in a Command and Conquer game.
Billy Dee Williams also portrayed Pastor Dan in an episode of “That 70’s Show.” In this episode entitled “Baby Don’t You Do It”(2004) his character is obsessed with “Star Wars”, and uses this to help counsel Eric and Donna about their premarital relationship.
Williams made a cameo appearance as himself on the TV series Lost in the episode “Exposé”.
Filmography
* The Last Angry Man (1959)
* Black Brigade (1970)
* The Out-of-Towners (1970)
* Brian’s Song (1971)
* The Final Comedown (1972)
* Lady Sings the Blues (1972)
* Hit! (1973)
* The Take (1974)
* Mahogany (1975)
* The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976)
* Scott Joplin (1977) as Scott Joplin
* Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) as Lando Calrissian
* Nighthawks (1981)
* Chiefs (1983) (TV miniseries)
* Marvin and Tige (1983)
* Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) as Lando Calrissian
* Fear City (1984)
* Number One with a Bullet (1987)
* Deadly Illusion (1987)
* Batman (1989) as Harvey Dent
* Secret Agent OO Soul (1990)
* Driving Me Crazy (1991)
* Giant Steps (1992)
* Martin (TV series) (1992)
* Alien Intruder (1993)
* Steel Sharks (1996)
* The Prince (1996)
* Moving Target (1996)
* Mask of Death (1996)
* The Contract (1998)
* Woo (1998) (cameo)
* The Visit (2000)
* The Ladies Man (2000)
* 18 Wheels of Justice (2000) (TV series)
* Very Heavy Love (2001)
* Good Neighbor (2001)
* The Last Place on Earth (2002)
* Undercover Brother (2002)
* Oedipus (2004) (short subject) (voice)
* That 70’s Show (2004) (TV Series) (one time appearance) as Pastor Dan
* Scrubs (2004) (cameo)
* Hood of Horror (2006)
* Constellation (2007)
* Lost as Himself
Peyton Manning, he of the famous “Peyton Manning face,” finally found the validation he so desperately wanted by winning a Super Bowl. His Hall of Fame legacy now cemented, he can ride off into the sunset to do 68 more commercials about cutting meat and cheering on his accountant while wearing fake porn mustaches and drinking Gatorade.
