On this day in movie history - Wolf Creek (2005)

Wolf Creek

directed and written by Greg McLean,

was released in Australia on July 23, 2005.

Inspired by the true Australian cases of Ivan Milat (1996) and Bradley Murdoch (2001).

Music by Frank Tétaz. 

Cast:

John Jarratt, Cassandra Magrath, Kestie Morassi, Nathan Phillips, Gordon Poole, Guy O’Donnell, Phil Stevenson, Geoff Revell, Andy McPhee, Aaron Sterns, Michael Moody, Andrew Reimer, Vicki Reimer, Isabella Reimer, David Rock, Jenny Starvall, Guy Petersen, Paul Curran, Christian McMillan, Sean Gannon, Aaron J. March, Eddie White, Geoffrey Yu, Amy Schapel, Teresa Palmer, Bow Vayne, Renee Chomel, Noni Dunstone, John Henry Duncan, Chloe Gardner, Greg Sara, Renee Luna, Michael Soang, Niesha de Jong, Leesa Millhouse, Alex De Rosa, Darren Humphreys, Peter Alchin, Rory Walker, Jon Blaikie, Greg McLean, Jacob Francis Worrall.

On this day in movie history - Fear and Loathing in Aspen (2021)

Fear and Loathing in Aspen

directed and written by Bobby Kennedy III,

was released in the United States on July 23, 2021.

Music by Wayne Kramer.

 

Cast:

Jay Bulger, Cheryl Hines, Laird Macintosh, Amaryllis Fox, Maxwell Loeb, Emily Garnet, Lincoln Nemeth, Paul Morgan, James Chambers, Henry Dills, Mac Hedges, Dabbs Anderson, Danny Power, Bobby Kennedy III, Weston Cage Coppola, Blair Carlyle, Carlo Lombardi, Kick Kennedy, Alexis Kelley, Charlie Oldman, Peyton Morse, Uma von Wittkamp, Maggie Nixon, Tage Plantell, Maya Ferrario, Micah Flamm, John Harper, Blake Lindsley, Damian Lund.

Recommended reading: The Answer Is . . . Reflections on My Life by Alex Trebek (2020)

The Answer Is . . . Reflections on My Life

by Alex Trebek.
 
Published by Simon & Schuster.
Hardcover.
 
ISBN-10: 1982157992
ISBN-13: 978-1982157999
 
Description:
 
Longtime Jeopardy! host and television icon Alex Trebek reflects on his life and career.

Since debuting as the host of Jeopardy! in 1984, Alex Trebek has been something like a family member to millions of television viewers, bringing entertainment and education into their homes five nights a week. In 2019, he made the stunning announcement that he had been diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer. What followed was an incredible outpouring of love and kindness. Social media was flooded with messages of support, and the Jeopardy! studio received boxes of cards and letters offering guidance, encouragement, and prayers.

For more than three decades, Trebek had resisted countless appeals to write a book about his life. Yet he was moved so much by all the goodwill, he felt compelled to finally share his story. “I want people to know a little more about the person they have been cheering on for the past year,” he writes.

 

This book combines illuminating personal anecdotes with Trebek’s thoughts on a range of topics, including marriage, parenthood, education, success, spirituality, and philanthropy. Trebek also addresses the questions he gets asked most often by Jeopardy! fans, such as what prompted him to shave his signature mustache, his insights on legendary players like Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer, and his opinion of Will Ferrell’s Saturday Night Live impersonation. The book uses a novel structure inspired by Jeopardy! and features dozens of never-before-seen photos that candidly capture Trebek over the years.

This wise, charming, and inspiring book is further evidence of why Trebek has long been considered one of the most beloved and respected figures in entertainment.

Born on this day – Alex Trebek:

Alex Trebek

Game show host

Television personality

July 22, 1940 – November 8, 2020

Credits:

Book:

The Answer Is . . . Reflections on My Life (2020).

Movies and television:

101 Most Unforgettable SNL Moments (2004); 20/20 (2020); 2009 Game Show Awards (2009); 60 Minutes / Segment: Jeopardy! (2003); 68th Annual Hollywood Christmas Parade (1999); A Conversation with Alex Trebek (2019); A Conversation with Dinah (1989–1991); A Salute to America's Pets (1991); Aaron Rodgers: Enigma (2024); Access Hollywood (2011–2020); AFI Life Achievement Award (2015); All-Star Party for 'Dutch' Reagan (1985); An Evening of Stars: 25th Anniversary Tribute to Lou Rawls (2004); AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast (2020); Arthur (2000–2002); Barris & Company (1968); Baywatch (1989); Beastie Boys Story (2020); Before They Were Stars (1996); Being Canadian (2015); Betty White: First Lady of Television (2018); Beverly Hills, 90210 (1995); Big Fan (2017); Biography (1999); Blacklight Dreams: The 25 Years of the Famous People Players (2000); Blossom (1995); Canada for Haiti (2010); Canada's Next Great Prime Minister (2007–2009); Card Sharks (1980); CBS Mornings (2012); CBS News Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley (2012–2020); Celebrating Greatness: A Canada's Walk of Fame Special (2020); Celebrity Bowling (1976); Celebrity Jeopardy! (2025); Celebrity Page (2020); Celebrity Poker Showdown (2005); Celebrity Sweepstakes (1976); Charlie's Angels (2000); Cheers (1990); Chelsea (2016); Chelsea Lately (2012); Circus of the Stars #14 (1989); Classic Concentration (1987–1991); Conan (2014); Countdown 100: Greatest Achievements of the 20th Century (1999); CTV National News (2019); Dave's World (1995); Dinah! (1975–1978); Dinah's Place (1973); Dish Nation (2020); Donahue (1989); Double Dare (1976–1977); Dying Young (1991); E! Behind the Scenes (1993); Ellen (1995); Ellen's Energy Adventure (1996); Entertainment Tonight (2007–2022); Entertainment Tonight Canada (2020); Extra (2019–2021); Eyes of Faith (2018); Family Feud (1985); Family Guy (2006); FCU: Fact Checkers Unit (2010); Finding Forrester (2000); For All Mankind (2022); Free Guy (2021); Game Changers (2018); Game Show Countdown: Top 10 Hosts (2007); Game Show Moments Gone Bananas (2005); Gone South: How Canada Invented Hollywood (2014); Good Morning America (2019–2020); GSN Live (2009); Heart of Courage (1992); High Rollers (1975); Hot in Cleveland (2014); How I Met Your Mother (2010–2013); Hulk Hogan: The Ultimate Anthology (2006); I Get That a Lot (2015); Inside Edition (2014–2023); Inside Jeopardy! (2023–2024); Intimate Portrait (2000); Jeopardy! (1984–2025); Jeopardy! 25th Aniversary (2008); Jeopardy! 2nd Edition (2000); Jeopardy! An Inside Look at America's Favorite Quiz Show (2005); Jeopardy! DVD Game (2007); Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time (2020); Jep! (1998–2000); Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon (1999–2004); Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2008–2011); Ladies Man (2000–2001); Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2020); Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1999–2006); Late Night with David Letterman (1990); Late Night with Seth Meyers (2021); Late Show with David Letterman (1994); Let's Make a Deal (2020); Lifestyle Magazine (2012); Light Magic at Disneyland: A Spectacular Journey (1997); Little Manhattan (2005); Live from the Hollywood Bowl (1997); Live from the Red Carpet: The 36th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards (2009); Live with Kelly and Mark (1990–2019); Lord Stanley's Cup: Hockey's Ultimate Prize (2000); Lost: The Final Season - Beginning of the End (2010); Lou Rawls Parade of Stars (1985–1990); Mad About You (1999); Mafia! (1998); Malcolm (1983); M'ama non m'ama (1984); Mama's Family (1988); Married to the Kellys (2004); Maury (1999); Men Behaving Badly (1997); Mike & Mike (2016); Milk (2019); Morning Express with Robin Meade (2014); MrBeast (2021); Murder101 (2014); Music Hop (1963-1967); National Geographic Bee (2009–2012); Ned and Stacey (1997–2017); NHL Awards (2019); Nicki Swift (2020); Nightlife (1987); Nova (2011); Objectified (2018); Orange Is the New Black (2018); Outside/Inside (1972–1973); Pacific Station (1991); Pearl Jam Twenty (2011); Pepper Ann (2000); Phil (2019); Pick and Choose (1971); Pitfall (1981–1982); Public Speaking (2010); Q with Jian Ghomeshi (2008); Ragtime: The American Premiere (1997); Random Hearts (1999); Reach for the Top (1965); Reflections on 'the X-Files' (2004); Robert Osborne's 20th Anniversary Tribute (2015); Rome Is Burning (2009); Rugrats (1993); RuPaul's Drag Race (2018); Saturday Night Live (2002); Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? (2020); Scott the Woz (2020); Seinfeld (1996); Sesame Street (2006); Short Cuts (1993); Sports Jeopardy! (2014); Spy Hard (1996); Starcade (1982–1984); Stars on Ice (1976); Strategy (1969); Super Bloopers and Practical Jokes (1991); Super Jeopardy! (1990); T.G.I.F. (1973–1974); Tattletales (1977); TCM Guest Programmer (2008); TCM Remembers 2020 (2020); Teens Wanna Know (2014); Television (1988); The $128,000 Question (1976–1978); The 17th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards (1990); The 1986 Jewish National Funds Annual Tree of Life Awards (1986); The 19th Annual Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame (2010); The 2011 Independent Spirit Awards (2011); The 21st Annual People's Choice Awards (1995); The 25th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards (1998); The 25th Annual People's Choice Awards (1999); The 27th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards (2000); The 29th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards (2002); The 30th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards (2003); The 32nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards (2005); The 33rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards (2006); The 34th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards (2007); The 35th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1983); The 36th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards (2009); The 37th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards (2010); The 38th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards (2011); The 42nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards (2015); The 46th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards (2019); The 47th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards (2020); The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards (2021); The Alan Hamel Show (1977); The Alan Thicke Show (1980–1981); The Amazing Race Canada (2015); The American Memory Test (1991); The Arsenio Hall Show (1989); The Bigger Bubble (2025); The Bucket List (2007); The CBS Evening News (2020); The Charlie Horse Music Pizza (1998); The Colbert Report (2014); The Daily Show (1999); The Earth Day Special (1990); The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2005–2008); The Five (2014); The Game Show Show (2023); The Golden Girls (1992); The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (1974–1978); The Hour (2008); The Jim Nabors Show (1978); The Larry Sanders Show (1993); The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2005); The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2020); The Magic School Bus (1996); The Magnificent Marble Machine (1975); The Magnificent Mile Lights Festival (2014–2019); The Male Swagger (1999); The Naked Truth (1997); The Nanny (1995); The New Battlestars (1981–1983); The New High Rollers (1974–1980); The Open Grave (1964); The Queen Latifah Show (2013); The Reichen Show (2006); The Royal Canadian Geographical Society Fellows Show (2020); The Search for Canada's Game Shows (2020); The Simpsons (1997–2012); The Simpsons (2020); The Talk (2011–2015); The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (2015); The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1989); The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (2009); The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1994); The Weather Underground (2002); The Weird Al Show (1997); The Wizard of Odds (1973–1974); The X-Files (1996); The Year: 2020 (2020); This Hour Has 22 Minutes (2002–2017); This Is Jeopardy! The Story of America's Favorite Quiz Show (2023); TMZ Live (2023); To Say the Least (1978); To Tell the Truth (1990–2018); Today (2016 / 2020); Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan (2018); Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race (2009); Try Not to Smile or Laugh (2016–2017); Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story (2010); Vacation Time (1962–1968); Vega$ (1978); Veil (2019); W5 (2019); Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009); Watch & Make Money with Alex Trebek (1998); We Love Soaps TV (2013); West Wing Week (2012); What Is Jeopardy!?: Alex Trebek and America's Most Popular Quiz Show (2020); What's Alan Watching? (1989); Wheel of Fortune (1997–2020); White Men Can't Jump (1992); Who framed Wrangler (2017–2019); Who Is Arthur Chu? (2017); WrestleMania VII (1991); WWE WrestleMania: The Complete Anthology, Vol. 2 (2005); Zany Zingers and Bonked-out Blunders (2010).

I must admit that I wasn't a consistent viewer of Jeopardy when Alex was host, but I did have the opportunity to meet him in the 80s after a celebrity hockey game and found him exactly as he appears - affable, respectful, humble, and very professional. Great host and an even better man. 

Recommended reading - The Backyard Beekeeper's Honey Handbook: A Guide to Creating, Harvesting, and Cooking with Natural Honeys (2009)

 

The Backyard Beekeeper's Honey Handbook:
A Guide to Creating, Harvesting, and Cooking with Natural Honeys

by Kim Flottum.

Quarry Books.

Paperback.

 

ISBN-10: 1592534740
ISBN-13: 978-1592534746
 
Description:
 

In The Backyard Beekeeper’s Honey Handbook, hive hints and honey-harvesting tutorials abound, all-delivered with the sound, practical, and common-sense perspective of a seasoned expert. Also, an illustrated guide to honey plants explores their regional bloom dates and honey flows in unprecedented detail. A wide array of honey-handling equipment is illustrated, explained, and reviewed. With this book at your side, you will be the sweetest, savviest, beekeeper in the neighborhood.

Lush, full-color photographs take you from flower bud to beehive, then onward through the mechanics and choreography of the honey harvest.

Expert instructions and insight on cultivating varietal honeys show you how to tap into honey’s time-tested health benefits.

More than 50 delicious, healthy recipes for both sweet and savory dishes featuring honey.

Born on this day – Tom Robbins:

Tom Robbins

Writer

Actor

July 22, 1932 – February 9, 2025

Credits:

 
Books:

Another Roadside Attraction (1973); B is for Beer (2009); Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1976); Even Cowgirls Get the Blues / Jitterbug Perfume / Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas (2002); Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates (2000); Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas (1994); Jitterbug Perfume (1984); Mob Boss (2013); Skinny Legs and All (1990); Still Life with Woodpecker (1980); The Best American Short Stories 1977 (1977); Tibetan Peach Pie (2014); Villa Incognito (2003); Wild Ducks Flying Backward (2005).

 

Movies and television:

1 Giant Leap (2002); A Not So Still Life (2010); American Playhouse (1986); Anthem (1997); Arthur Janov's Primal Therapy (2018); Breakfast of Champions (1999); Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993); La grande librairie (2010); Made in Heaven (1987); Maybe Logic: The Lives and Ideas of Robert Anton Wilson (2003); Modern Tribalism (2002); Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994); One Giant Leap 2: What About Me? (2008); Stevie D (2016); Surrealism (1993); The Itsy Bitsy Spider (1994).

J. A. Jance, on writing:

 

When you have an important story to tell, the words you need seem to come of their own accord.

- J. A. Jance.