We remember Sean Connery (1930-2020)

We remember Sean Connery who was born on this day in 1930 and died in 2020.  This is from the BBC obituary:

Thomas Sean Connery was born in the Fountainbridge area of Edinburgh on 25 August 1930, the son of a Catholic factory worker and a Protestant domestic cleaner.

His father’s family had emigrated from Ireland in the 19th Century; his mother traced her line back to Gaelic speakers from the Isle of Skye.

The area had been in decline for years. Young Tommy Connery was brought up in one room of a tenement with a shared toilet and no hot water.

He left school at 13 with no qualifications and delivered milk, polished coffins and laid bricks, before joining the Royal Navy. Three years later, he was invalided out of the service with stomach ulcers. His arms by now had tattoos which proclaimed his passions: “Scotland forever” and “Mum & Dad”.

In Edinburgh, he gained a reputation as “hard man” when six gang members tried to steal from his coat. When he stopped them, he was followed. Connery launched a one-man assault which the future Bond won hands down.

He scraped a living any way he could. He drove trucks, worked as a lifeguard and posed as a model at the Edinburgh College of Art. He spent his spare time bodybuilding.

I guess that bodybuilding probably boosted his chances to play James Bond.  His first movie was in 1963, and you know the rest of the story.

Yes, he was my favorite James Bond, but it was the movie Hunt for Red October that always comes to mind when I think of Connery.  I’m sure you remember the story of the Soviet submarine captain trying to defect to the West.  It was a great book and fabulous movie.

I remember this movie so well because I watched it one Sunday night, loved it, went to bed, and then woke up with the story of the coup and arrest of Gorbachev in the USSR.  Watching those Soviet Politburo members explaining the coup reminded me too much of the movie, especially when the official at the Kremlin got the news that the submarine was defecting.

RIP, Sean Connery.  Loved you as Bond but will forever remember you as Soviet naval officer Marko Ramius!

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August 1967: Dean Chance pitched his second no-hitter of the month

Back in 1967, Dean Chance pitched 2 no-hitters in one month.   The first one was a rain shortened 5-inning game and the second was a 2-1 victory over Cleveland.

Chance broke with the Angels in 1964:   20-9, a 1.69 ERA, 11 shutouts and 15 complete games.   Later, he was traded to the Twins and had a great 1967 season:  20-14 and 2.73 ERA.     

My biggest memory of Chance was pitching for the Twins, specially when Boston and Minnesota played for the AL pennant in the last day of the 1967 season.

Overall, he won 128 games with a 2.92 ERA!    

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August 1914: The Panama Canal opened for traffic

A little history today.   The Panama Canal  has another birthday this month.   The engineers selected the location in 1906 and construction began in 1909.  As we understand, they moved 240 million cubic yards of earth and spent more than US$ 400 million.  It was finally opened for traffic on this day in 1914.

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August 25, 1968: "Hey Jude" was released in the US

How likely is it that a 7-minute song would end up as one of the biggest hits of the 1960's or released on a 45 rpm vinyl disc?  Not likely unless you are The Beatles.

"Hey Jude" was the first Apple single and released this week in 1968.  The B-side was "Revolution", a song that also got lots of airplay.  In fact, I remember a DJ saying that the B-side was often doing better than the A-side.

The song was a very nice ballad for about 4 minutes.  The second half of the song went on and on with McCartney "screaming" between Lennon & Harrison singing the chorus.

It was very different and became a rock classic.   It was the quintessential single of the age of "45's and singles".  In fact, the song was not released in an album until 2 years later.  A clean digital version was included in the CD "Past Masters".

Wonder how many people saved their copy of the "Hey Jude" single?  I did not and that's a shame.

Click for "Hey Jude" and "Revolution", both sides of a classic 45!

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1939: "The Wizard of Oz" makes its debut

On this day in 1939, "The Wizard of Oz" opened in theaters around the US.  The movie was based on the 1900 novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum (1856-1919).   It turned into one of the most popular movies of the century.  

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