Almanac for January 22nd

Erin O'Riordan's Almanac for January 22nd: https://ko-fi.com/post/January-22-Oh-The-Places-Youll-Go-C0C7197708

And then I made a fan edit with Ghost's "Kiss the Go Goat" as the soundtrack. And then I made another, better one that looks like the goats are at the goat disco.

TRIGGER WARNING FOR FLASHING LIGHTS/IMAGES:

Artist birthday: George Gordon, Lord Byron

Author Julie S. Howlin post of the day: Sir Francis Bacon

Bummer January 22nd

January 22, 1915: More than 600 people die in Guadalajara, Mexico, when a trains derails and plunges into a canyon. The 20 cars of the train are filled with soldiers who had fought for General Victoriano Huerta. When Huerta’s army was overthrown by Venustiano Carranza and Pancho Villa, the revolutionaries ordered Huerta’s troops to be deported from Guadalajara to Colima. The train derails on its way to Colima in one of North America’s worst railroad disasters.

January 22, 1987: R. Budd Dwyer, the treasurer of the state of Pennsylvania, knows he is soon to be arrested on corruption charges, of which he claims to be innocent. At a televised press conference, he passes out a 20-page statement to the reporters in his office. He then pulls out a handgun, places it in his own mouth, and dies by suicide. His death is captured by the traumatized reporters and, as of 2022, could readily be accessed to watch online. 

This event is the inspiration behind the Filter song "Hey Man, Nice Shot."

Filter lead singer Richard Patrick is the brother of actor Robert Patrick, who was in Terminator 2. 

January 22, 1993: Two-year-old Brenda Nole dies of kidney failure in a Seattle hospital after eating food contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, a species of bacteria that creates a toxin that causes hemolytic-uremic syndrome in humans. Hers is the second of four eventual deaths of children traceable to contaminated hamburger meat from the Jack In the Box fast food chain. More than 730 people become sick from eating the same contaminated beef.

January 22, 2008: Actor Heath Ledger dies from an apparently accidental overdose of prescription anti-anxiety and painkiller medications. He’s 28 years old and leaves behind a 2-year-old daughter, Matilda Rose. 

The Inside Story of the Darkest Batman #Nonfiction

Christian Bale: The Inside Story of the Darkest Batman by Harrison Cheung

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Harrison Cheung, a Canadian who loves movies, was Christian Bale's unpaid personal assistant for many years. He does not have a very high opinion of Mr. Bale, whom he characterizes as incredibly self-centered. Disdainful of publicity to an extreme, Bale didn't even attend Heath Ledger's funeral because he didn't want to face the public, even though Bale and Ledger had become friends. (Some people get along with Christian Bale. Heath Ledger was one, and Russell Crowe is another.)

This book is full of short, interesting tidbits, but it also contains some strange errors and omissions. When mentioning Christian's interest in playing Mercutio in the Baz Luhrmann 'Romeo + Juliet' film of the '90s, Cheung and co-author Nicola Pittam mention that Bale lost the role to "an African-American." What an odd, vague way to describe Harold Perrineau, the actor who not only steals the movie with his impassioned portrayal of Romeo's volatile friend but is also well-known to American audiences through the TV shows 'Lost' and, now, 'Claws.' Do the authors really not know who Harold Perrineau is?

Another section refers to Colin Farrell as a British actor. Colin. Farrell. Is. Irish. Irish people are NOT British, and since Cheung lived with a British family (Christian, Louise, and David Bale - brother, sister, and father) for years, shouldn't he know this?

Cheung also has a low opinion of Winona Ryder, a former friend of Bale, his co-star in 'Little Women,' and the one who introduced Bale to his wife, Sandra (Sibi) Blazic. He describes the petite star as foul-mouthed and rude.

The whole narration has to be taken with a small grain of salt because Cheung obviously has a bone to pick with the Bale clan. They owe him thousands of dollars, if he genuinely never received a paycheck for working as Bale's personal and social media assistant from the earliest days of the Internet. Maybe he's exaggerating, or maybe he has cherry-picked the incidents that paint Christian Bale and his semi-con-artist father in the worst possible light. I don't know. It was still an interesting, relatively quick read.

I purchased this book at Barnes and Noble with my own funds as was not obligated in any way to review it.

https://amzn.to/3PfOwbN - this is an affiliate link