Legendary Composer John Barry, Dead at 77

Musical Composer John Barry, who wrote the scores for more than a dozen James Bond Films and won 5 Oscars, has died. He was 77.

Although his work on the Bond Films is his most famous work, the English-born composer wrote a long list of movie scores, including for “Midnight Cowboy,” “Dances with Wolves,” Cotton Club,” “Peggy Sue Got Married,” and “Body Heat.” Barry was proud of his diversity in both action blockbusters, and the smaller, independent films.

He won two Oscars for “Born Free” in 1966, for best score and best song. He also earned statuettes for the scores to “The Lion in Winter” (1968), “Out of Africa” (1985) and “Dances with Wolves” (1990).

My all-time favorite however is not one of his most famous works, but I will admit to having it in my ‘classical’ playlist at home, from the film “Somewhere in Time.” (Yes, even this little rocker loves her classical music!) It is an elegant masterpiece that completely captured the emotions in this terrific movie.

[wpaudio url=”http://www.yakkityyaks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/01-Somewhere-In-Time.mp3″ text=”John Barry – Somewhere In Time” dl=”0″ autoplay=”1″]

If you have not yet seen this little gem of a film, definitely do so. It’s an amazing piece of work, from the film to the music.

The Bond Films his most notable, he wrote music for “Goldfinger,” “From Russia with Love,” “Thunderball,” “You Only Live Twice,” “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” “Diamonds are Forever,” “The Man with the Golden Gun,” “Moonraker,” “Octopussy,” “A View to a Kill” and “The Living Daylights.”

Other films included “Robin and Marian,” “Somewhere in Time,” “The Cotton Club,” “Howard the Duck,” “Mary, Queen of Scots” and “Chaplin” in 1992.

Barry trained as a pianist, studied counterpoint with York cathedral organist Francis Jackson, and later took up the trumpet. He founded a jazz group, the John Barry Seven, in 1957.

The group teamed with singer Adam Faith, scoring hits with “What Do You Want?” and “Poor Me,” and Barry moved into film work when Faith was tapped to star in “Beat Girl” (titled “Living for Kicks” in the United States).

“The James Bond movies came because we were successful in the pop music world, with a couple of big instrumental hits. They thought I knew how to write instrumental hit music,” Barry said in an interview with The Associated Press in 1991.

In an interview in 2008 with The Irish Times, Barry said his success “was not that difficult.”

“If you hit the right formula, if you have an instinct for music, if you apply it, if you have the good fortune to meet with certain people who teach you well … I didn’t find it all that difficult,” he said.

R.I.P. John Barry. You were magical. I myself am looking forward to the Oscars paying tribute to this great man and his music.

He is survived by his wife Laurie, his four children and five grandchildren. A private funeral was planned, the family said.

Streamers and Instant Watchers Unite!

With the interest in streaming TV Shows and Movies picking up, and Televisions, boxes and gaming systems joining the wifi train, I thought it a good idea to post the “what’s new” and “Coming soons” in Instant TV. Here at YakkityYaks, you will find the coming soon to Netflix (with the dates) and any big news in the instant streaming world, I will also let you know.

I joined the masses not all that long ago, and told my cable company to come pick up their equipment, leaving me with a Tivo and Netflix. Sure, I still have to pay the cable bill, but not nearly the amount they are used to getting out of me each month. Each “DVR” box of theirs costs close to $20 (the box, the remote, and the “dvr service”) and the movie channels between $10-$15 each. Canceling those has since saved me $67! (I had two of those DVRs and two movie channels.) I am paying for the Tivo service, and Netflix however, which adds up to about $20 per month, so add that, and I saved close to $50. Now, eventually, I am planning on doing away with cable all together and just going back to antenna, AND porting over my home phone to Google (for a one time $20 fee) but that’s a whole different story… we will save that experience for a later date.

There are so many ways now that you can get the stream to your television, you probably already own something that will do it for you. The cable companies are definitely falling behind in this arena. It seems to me that they really need to just give in to this new revolution, and provide this access themselves. Instead, they are fighting it more and more each day. This is precisely why you hear and read about cable companies trying to charge you for bandwidth use. They want to have the ability to raise your rates if you are a streamer, hoping people will drop it. With 3g, 4g and fios entering the markets soon, it is just another mistake the cable companies will make.

The news coming from the cable heads are downplaying just how many are leaving as of late, but the numbers are high. It has been reported that people that have dropped cable have not picked up elsewhere. The growth in Satellite has not kept up with the numbers cable have lost. The News and the big television providers have said it was “because of the recession.” Yes, I do believe that may be a piece in the puzzle. People just can’t afford nor justify the high rise in television costs, while most of us remember it being free. People are irritated with channels going black in negotiations when if they were attached to an antenna on the roof, it would still be on, and free. People are sick and tired of the infomercials that show ALL NIGHT. People are getting tired of the rhetoric provided on the cable “news” shows, which have become, not news at all, but all commentary shows. People are tired of the quality of programming put on by the bigger cable channels. (Think MTV Skins.) The list goes on. People are leaving the TV providers in droves, and the providers keep telling themselves it’s the recession.

Well, keep telling yourselves that guys, while I watch the newest releases on Netflix.

Stay tuned to YakkityYaks where will begin providing a calender for new Netflix Instant Watch Releases, plus any news in the Instant Watch arena.

Anything else you would like to see? Please let us know below or in the forum HERE!

Flashback Friday: Space Shuttle Challenger Explodes

I was 10 years old and in the fifth grade. We were in our classroom, waiting for the teacher to come in. She did eventually come in, crying; and that’s when a TV was brought into each classroom where we saw the aftermath of the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion. It was January 28th, 1986 and sadly, is our topic for today’s Flashback Friday.

The actual explosion occurred 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven crew members aboard. The shuttle virtually disintegrated into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of central Florida at approximately 11:39 a.m. EST. It was later found that an O-ring seal in the right solid rocket booster failed at liftoff. This failure breached the joint it sealed, which allowed pressurized hot gas from the motor of the solid rocket to get to the outside and infringed on the functioning of other parts. Then there was a structural failure of that external tank which led to the explosion itself. It was later discovered that several crew members actually survived the initial breakup of the shuttle, but did not survive the impact of the crew compartment slamming into the ocean.

This disaster halted the space program for 32 months, and also prompted President Reagan to form what was called the Rogers Commission to investigate the tragedy. This commission later found that key elements of  the decision making process and organizational “culture” that led to the explosion. Apparently NASA managers knew that the solid rocket booster designs had a potentially fatal flaw in the O-rings for at least 9 years prior to the explosion but didn’t address it properly. Another shocking discovery was that crew escape wasn’t possible either, at least during a powered flight. NASA had considered launch escape systems but decided that the shuttle’s expected high reliability didn’t necessitate one.

Many people actually saw the lift-off and tragedy itself due to the inclusion of teacher Christa McAuliffe in the crew, who would’ve been the first teacher in space. The other crew members who lost their lives that day were: Commander Francis (Dick) Scobee, 46,  who was married with two children. Pilot Michael J. Smith, 40, was on what would have been his first space flight. Mission Specialist Judith A. Resnik, 35, had previously become the second American woman in orbit during the maiden Discovery flight. Mission specialist Ronald A. McNair was 35 at the time of his death, and was married with two children. He became the second Black American in space back in 1984 during a previous Challenger mission. Ellison S. Onizuka was the third mission specialist, he was 39 years old, married with two children. Payload specialist Gregory B. Jarvis was not an official federal employee, but rather employed by Aircraft Corp.’s Space and Communications Group in Los Angeles, California, who made it possible for him to be on the Challenger flight.

The final crew member on the flight was Sharon Crista McAuliffe, the first teacher to fly in space. She was selected from an applicant pool of around 11,000 education specialists. McAuliffe was 37 at the time of her death, married to her longtime boyfriend Steven. NASA’s intent of having her on board was to have a gifted teaching professional who could communicate with students from space.

Do you remember this event? Tell us about it in our forums here .

Random Thought Thursday! Here We Go Again…

Well, welcome to another edition of Random Thought Thursday. I will be your host today. Yep, the host I am. I will admit to you now that I *may* have had a bit too much coffee this morning, so I thought well, this would be the perfect time to write this, as my thoughts are bouncing off the walls.

Speaking of walls (actually, this has absolutely nothing to do with a wall), the American Idol Auditions in Milwaukee were last night. Did you watch? I did, course, not at the right time. I had to wait for awhile, let my Tivo pick it up, then watch it before I went to sleep. I’m not really interested in commercials, unless they are funny. Hey, by the way, if you have seen any really weird or funny commercials, submit them to us, or you can post them in our commercial forum HERE. There is one weird one out there now by Cisco, where some kids are on a computer, and this little weird monster shows up… I have yet to figure that commercial out. What were they looking for to begin with? Maybe I just don’t get it. I will put the commercial at the bottom of this post so you can explain it to me. Otherwise, it will end up being one of those things that just goes unexplained in my life, and that’s just not acceptable.

Wait, what was I talking about? Oh yes, walls. Wait, no, American Idol. Yes, American Idol… What was with that toothbrush guy? I’m guessing he was trying to be the next “Pants on the Ground” guy, teaching us a lesson about brushing our teeth. They didn’t give him much time, but who here thinks that we may see him again on the finale? You know, the part where they bring back all the weird ones? I’m guessing we may see the Bieber opera singer as well. Really? Bieber opera? …And for that matter, why is Bieber on absolutely everything these days? Is there no escape? As long as I don’t have to see Kara Dioguardi stripping down to a bikini, well, I will put up with toothbrush guy and Bieber opera. Yes, I will gladly make that trade.

Speaking of trading, actually, no, this has nothing to do with trading… The last guy on Idol last night… Chris Medina… Apparently fans are letting others know what they thought about this story… Some are expressing major support for him, while others are thinking his motives and actions were exploitive, bringing his brain damaged fiance to the auditions. Either way you feel, I will admit that it made me cry. How horrible for the both of them, and what an outstanding man he is. Now I just hope that if he happens to win American Idol this year, that he keeps on with her, and the fame, and groupies don’t get in the way of that.

Speaking of fame getting in the way… what’s with that Glee Producer (Ryan Murphy) telling bands that say no to “F*%k off”? I mean really, can his ego get any bigger? I expect to hear “You will never work in this town again!” come out of his mouth pretty soon. If a band or artist doesn’t want to do it, then they don’t want to! Get over it and move the heck on dude! Bieber will do it. Go ask him. Also, you cannot state that artists or bands who say no to you are ignorant and their careers are over in the same diatribe about Kings of Leon. Their careers, I believe, are far from over. This Producer is also now running his mouth over at Perez Hilton, telling everyone he thinks Kings of Leon are homophobic. Dude, please, get some help! Personally, after seeing how this guy reacts to rejection, and what he does and says about those that say no, I would hope there are a line of artists ready with that same answer soon.

Alright, I’m done. My random thoughts, or at least the ones I can say out loud, are out there for all to see. Here are my favorite random thoughts today from the web:

From Joy @ FB: “let me be patient and let me be kind….”

From Angelique @ FB: “Thong underwear…why???”

Susan @ FB says “Live Laugh & Love Often…”

tatoomom69 @ Twitter: “my feet are starting to look like my mom’s, gross, need to fix that”

From King_Dunn @ Twitter: “what part of the chicken does the chicken nugget come from??”

From murielvega @ Twitter: “My roommate just called me to tell me that she stole a pumpkin for me. Today just went from shitty to really great.”

From Kaseyville @ FB: “I wish I had a different flavored chapstick!”

From Teresa @ FB “Why did I move here?”

From Joanne @ FB: “Look, a CAT!”

Want yours included? Well, too bad, too late. Now you will have to wait another whole week until the Yak asks again for your most random thoughts. You could however post them below… Let’s see just how random your brain is today!

Seriously… did they discover Pokemon really do exist or something? I don’t get it.

Charlie Sheen Rushed to Hospital

Charlie Sheen was rushed to Cedar Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills early Thursday for stomach pains. His condition is still unknown at this time. Reportedly, paramedics were called to Sheen’s address at 6:35 a.m. after a 911 call.

According to TMZ, Sheen was apparently partying all night with 5 women, one of them porn star Kacey Jordan.

This is just the latest in Charlie Sheen’s troubles. We here at the Yak hope he can recover from his current crisis, get himself some help, and get back to work.

Tech Tuesday! Totes, Candy, Worms and Coinage!

Welcome to another edition of Tech Tuesday! Here is your recap of all the tech stories of the last week that could be affecting you now, or tomorrow, or soon. Yes, we try to keep you as informed as we can!

Amazon is Doing What?

Are you just sick and tired of the constant running back and forth to the grocery store? Well, Amazon hopes you are!

Called “AmazonTote”, which is currently only available for internal testing in the Seattle area, Amazon is about to roll out it’s own grocery delivery service. As of now, the service offers fresh produce, meats, dry goods, pet supplies, beauty products, and Amazon products delivered weekly to your home in re-usable tote bags, all shipping free of charge.

Yes, the convenience is a bit pricey, like $2.50 for one piece of fruit, but who knows, for many, the time and energy saved may be worth it.

Amazon has been known to put pressure on other companies, such as Barnes and Noble, so what will this do to our local markets and big grocery stores? Well, maybe we will see more home delivery available from our stores, including Walmart and Target. Maybe prices will lower. All in all, it seems like a win-win for us consumers.

Nobody Likes Me, Everybody Hates Me, Think I’ll Eat Some…

Twitter Worms!  Yep, apparantely there is another Twitter Worm on the loose! Actually, this is the same worm that plagued Twitter Users early last month, but has been unleashed yet again. Basically, if you click on a shortened URL “Goo.Gl” (similar to Google) you will be taken to a malicious site that will download a virus (malware) and then ask you for money to remove it. Aren’t they original?

Twitter recommends if you see the goo.Gl link to change your password immediately, although I can’t imagine just seeing the link in your feed would be cause for alarm. It’s if you click on it, or you see that YOU have been sending out messages. If either of those are the case, then yes, you have some cleaning up to do.

Sean Parker Calls ‘The Social Network’ a work of “Fiction”

Sean Parker apparently did not think the way he was portrayed in the movie, by actor Justin Timberlake, accurate.

He said that “the part of the movie that frustrated me is actually the scene at the end where the character basically writes a check to Eduardo, and throws it in his face and has security escort him out of the building. And I mean, that’s just rude. This guy in the movie is a morally reprehensible human being.”

He also states that there are no “Victoria Secret” models in Silicon Valley, calling that another inaccuracy.

Well, I’m not too sure I believe him… I think he may be trying to save his image a bit here. I mean come on, THE guy who developed Napster, young kid from Los Angeles, throwing money around, can’t get a hot girl? I think he’s pushing it.

Here is the video: (To hear him speak about the movie, you have to move up to about the 5:00 minute mark.)

Wanna Port Your Number to Google Voice?

Another hit to phone industry, Google Voice now has number portability. For a mere $20 (with no phone fees thereafter) you can port your number over to Google.

For current Google Voice users, this means you’ll no longer have to remember and use two separate numbers. It will still include all of GV features, such as visual voicemail, conference calling, call screening and more.

Last week, number porting was announced as “coming soon” and it was giving only a limited number away in beta. This week, it is available to all current Google Voice users. Will you port over? Maybe this will help curb the rising costs in the phone industry.

The process of porting is kind of a pain in the behind, which takes 3 days and you may miss a few texts or messages, but the money saved could be worth it. Port your home number that you rarely use anymore, and have it ring to your cell, if you want that is.

I have included a quick video from Google on how the porting process will work. Check it out!

‘Daily Candy for Indie Music’

That is what new start-up MySpoonful is aiming for. They will send you a newsletter, 3 times a week, with a highlighted new artist or band, a bio, and a free MP3 to download.

Sounds like a great way to stay up on new and upcoming artists! Definitely a place to check out.

Facebook to Roll Out Yet MORE Ads

Now, you too can purchase that ‘what.ever.it.is’ your friend was interested in! Called “Sponsored Stories” Facebook will turn your friends actions on the site into promoted content streaming down the right side of your News Feed.

Facebook is really turning into something it wasn’t supposed to be, and eventually, users will get fed up. Today doesn’t appear to be that day however. Privacy concerns, Ads… What’s next?

Facebook Makes Credits Mandatory for all Games

That’s what’s next. Facebook ‘virtual currency’, Facebook Credits, will become the official coinage beginning July 1, 2011. All Social game developers, starting on that day, will be required to process all payments through Facebook Credits. Basically, in order to purchase anything in any of the games you play, you will now have to go through Facebook.

Mind you, many of the games have already made the switch. In fact, 22 of the top 25 games played on Facebook already have converted.

Financially, this is a great decision for FB. The company already takes a 30% cut from all revenue. Basically, if you wanted to buy that special item in Farmville for $2.00, Facebook gets $.60 of your money. Credits are already on sale at the big box stores, like Target, Walmart and Best Buy, who I’m sure also gets a cut.

So you ask, what happened to the old days of free games? What happened to old days of a free social network? Oh that’s right… it’s still here, at YakkityYaks! *evil grin*

DO NOT TRACK ME!

Google and Mozilla (Chrome and Firefox) have announced that they will add the ability to opt out of having users activities tracked online, partially in response to the “Do Not Track” lists proposed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Both companies plan to tackle this feat in two very different ways.

With Firefox, it was announced that it will be added in future versions of the browser. There will be an icon or “tool” to turn on the feature located in the header of webpage. They believe this is the better way to do this, because it is a cleaner and more universal approach, rather than cookies or blacklists.

Chrome on the other hand has already released a new extension called “Keep My Opt-Outs.” The extension describes itself as a way to “permanently opt your browser out of online ad personalization via cookies. The extension works with ads from companies that have signed up with AboutAds, and with Google served ads.

The Internet is Running Out of Space!

Oh no! What will we do! Run to the market (or AmazonTote) and stock up on those canned goods! Ok… not really. Basically on February 2nd, around 4am or so, the internet will run out of it’s current version of IP addresses, at least that is the prediction by one internet provider, basing it on a rate of about 1 million addresses every 4 hours.

Fortunately for us, there were some awesome geeks out there that saw this coming. They invented what is called IPv6 which is basically a system that uses letters and numbers. This new system will be able to handle 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 addresses. Got that number?

The doomsday campaign, launched by Hurricane Electric (and even has Twitter and Facebook accounts the count down to what they call the “IPcalypse” encourage other ISPs to transition into the new system.

Twitter Trends!

Last but certainly not least, for our Twitter Fans, a recap of the top Twitter trends in the last week. What were the most tweeted about this last week?

1. Golden Globe Awards. Top mentions, Johnny Depp and Jim Parsons. Ricky Gervais, who received a lot of press, really wasn’t tweeted about too much.

2. Martin Luther King Jr. – It was his birthday last week after all.

3. NFL – Well duh. Top mentions were Bart Scott and Joe Buck.

4. Justin Bieber. Apparently, fans of the Jonas Brothers renamed him to Justina Bieber, and fans of his retaliated by calling the Jonas Brothers the Jonas Sisters. Wow… such drama online!

5. Soccer/Football. Top mentions were Darren Brent, Jamie Carragher and Eric Cantona.

6. LMAOTwitpics. Tons of retweets scattered the Twitter landscape. Top honors went to photos of a Justin Bieber tattoo and a shirtless Lil’ Wayne.

7. Astrology. Yep, that 13th zodiac sign really had Twitter users up in arms.

8. Jonas Brothers. See number 4.

9. Justin Bieber Hoax. Yep, another death hoax. Tweeted, retweeted, and retweeted some more. Sigh.

10. Batman: Dark Night Rises. With the addition of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, Batman was tweeted a lot.

And there you have it, another edition of Tech Tuesday in the can. What do you think about these stories? Will you buy from Amazon Tote? Will you sign on to get some new Indie Music? Is Facebook the evil overlord, or is Justin Bieber going to take over the world? Let us know below or in the FORUM! We have been waiting for you forever! Ok well, maybe not forever, but you know what I mean. Join us today! It’s free, and we promise not to take over anything, at least for the next two weeks.

Bret Michaels Scheduled For Heart Surgery

Bret Michaels is scheduled to have surgery on Monday, to repair a hole in his heart. The procedure will be done at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix by a team of surgeons.

In April of 2010, Michaels was treated for a brain hemorrhage, and it was at this time that the hole in his heart was discovered. This was highly publicized due to the obvious social status, but also because of his appearance and later win on Celebrity Apprentice, as well as his surprise appearance on last year’s American Idol finale. He will have a cardiac catheterization during this procedure, where doctors insert a catheter into a vein in his groin along with guide wires and a closing device directly into his heart. Cameras will assist the doctors as they repair the hole. The closing device will stay permanently in his heart in order to stop abnormal blood flow between the two chambers, the very thing thought to have caused the warning stroke he’d previously suffered. Without this, doctors say Michaels could develop further clots and possible further strokes.

Join us in wishing Michaels well, in our forums here!

Fitness Guru Jack LaLanne, Dead at 96

MORRO BAY — Fitness guru Jack LaLanne who inspired television viewers to trim down and pump iron decades before exercise became a national obsession, has died at age 96.

His agent Rick Hersh says LaLanne died of respiratory failure due to pneumonia Sunday afternoon at his home in Morro Bay on California’s central coast.

Hersh says Lalanne ate healthy and exercised every day of his life up until the end.

LaLanne credited fitness with transforming his life as a teen, and he worked over the next eight decades to transform others’ lives, too.

He said, “The only way you can hurt the body is not use it.” LaLanne’s workout show was a television staple from the 1950s to ’70s. He maintained a youthful physique into his 80s.

MSNBC’s Olbermann to Work With ‘Network’s’ Sorkin?

After the internet world erupted with the sudden departure of Keith Olbermann from MSNBC, rumors and speculation began to emerge as to what’s next for the ex-MSNBC commentator. Could Olbermann be setting his sights on a Hollywood gig? Recent reports have him considering a role with Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, The Social Network). A source close to Sorkin’s latest project says the duo could be soon joining forces. Sorkin has had a pilot script in the works about a cable news show and now it seems that Olbermann could be tapped to contribute rants. While penning the script for his latest behind-the-scenes show, Sorkin spent a considerable amount of time on the set of Olbermann’s show. Sorkin recently told BBC that he also spent time with Chris Matthews and Fox News, while juggling The Social Network and a possible unconfirmed HBO gig. What do you all think? Should the genius behind the Social Network‘s screenplay be brought back to network television with this idea? If so, should Olbermann get on the train? Let us know below or in our FORUMS!

Keith Olbermann Leaves MSNBC

Keith Olbermann tells us this is his last show tonight on MSNBC, marking an abrupt end, and departure from MSNBC.

Olbermann, the very successful, albeit controversial, broadcaster of the show ‘Countdown’ did not address the why’s on his exit, just that he is leaving. According to NBC, his contract expired, which was not set to expire until two years from now. The network and the host were in re-negotiations, but that should not have any bearing on the current contract. All we are left to do is speculate.

Some sources say the merger of NBC and Comcast had something to do with it, but Comcast denies any such notion.

The only real quote we got from the network was “”MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC’s success and we wish him well in his future endeavors.”

His program on MSNBC was their top rated program, what will they do now? His leaving was so abrupt that MSNBC still has him in their “Lean Forward” ads. To end his show, like he has every Friday night, he read a James Thurber short story, this one titled “Scottie Who Knew Too Much” published in 1940.
The story’s final line: “It is better to ask some of the questions than to know all of the answers.”

After thanking a few people, like the late Tim Russert (but not any brass from NBC) he said his good night and good luck.

…and with that, the show ended, and Countdown was over.

MSNBC announced that Lawrence O’Donnell, who substituted for Keith on many occasions will take over Olbermann’s time slot beginning this Monday.

No one knows yet what Olbermann plans to do. Will he go to CNN? Will he go anywhere or does the buyout of his contract forbid him at this time? My guess is we will find out more sooner than later. Keep an eye on Keith’s twitter! I’m sure it will start sending messages soon.

Did you watch Olbermann? What are your feelings on him leaving? Will you follow him to another network if he so chooses to go there?