You'd be forgiven for thinking that the iconic American folk song The Wabash Cannonball was written as a tribute to an actual train, but in fact, in an interesting case of life-imitates-art, the actual train name was inspired by the song. The Lake Erie, Wabash, and St. Louis Railroad Company was formed in 1852, but there was no train called the “Cannonball” when the song was first sung late in the 19th century. There have been many, many, many wonderful versions through the years, but I think Roy Acuff pretty much owns it, wouldn't you say? [NOTE: See hoverovers for link descriptions] [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jun 7, 2008 - 20 comments

The Magic Hour: The Roy Sterling Story.
posted by bunnytricks on Apr 21, 2008 - 8 comments

Ingmar Bergman once said that Roy Andersson "makes the best commercials in the world." The 64 year old Swedish director has also made a couple of striking feature films, including the 2000 Cannes Jury Prize winner Songs from the Second Floor (excerpt / reviews) and this year's still unreleased You, the Living (excerpt / review).
posted by billysumday on Aug 8, 2007 - 5 comments

Meet Roy L. Pearson, Jr.. He's suing a small mom-and-pop dry cleaning business for damages regarding the loss of his prized pantaloons. Nice trousers, to be sure, but are they worth $67 million? Apparently, Mr. Pearson has a history of litigious lunacy (txt file). For more on frivolous lawsuits, check out these articles written by America's sweetheart Seanbaby!
posted by aftermarketradio on May 2, 2007 - 30 comments

Thomas Kinkade, Painter of LightTM, seeks to "to touch people of all faiths, to bring peace, and joy into their lives through the images he creates." Not all of his side ventures have been considered successful. But now the Christian-themed artist is accused of ruthless business tactics and seamy personal conduct, including drunkenly heckling Siegfried & Roy and, um, wantonly marking his territory. Perhaps Kinkade hopes to follow in the footsteps of Jack the Dripper?
posted by maryh on Mar 6, 2006 - 110 comments

Arundhati Roy's call for action, on accepting the Sydney Peace Prize. (That's action from us specifically). I often find Roy's speeches overblown, overcooked and one-sided, and if that kind of rhetoric bothers you then you might want to skip this link. But she does speak lyrically, and I find it hard to argue against what she says this time.
posted by iffley on Nov 10, 2004 - 7 comments

Captain of Irish World Cup squad Keane sent home
This is big news here in Ireland. He's our best player - he keeps the team together on the pitch. But after some incidents in the past couple of days, and some prima donna style behaviour (something he's always been known for), he's been told to feck off. I think the manager did the right thing, but I can't help thinking that our chances of getting out of our group have been diminished...
posted by tomcosgrave on May 23, 2002 - 27 comments