Quote of the Day/Week- August Wilson

Today, we quote one of our favorite playwrights August Wilson (1945-2005) in honor of Black History Month. A production of his 2004 play "Gem of the Ocean," which is set in 1904, will take place in Wilson's hometown of Pittsburgh.

The performance will be from the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre at the August Wilson Center from June 2-10.

Ironically, we quoted another local hero former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw, who is originally from Louisiana, on our other blog "The Daily Vampire" yesterday.

Here is Wilson's quip:

"Blacks in America want to forget about slavery_ the stigma, the shame. That's the wrong move. If you can't be who you are, who can you be? How can you know what to do?
We have our history. We have our book, which is the blues. And we forget it all."

SIDEBAR: We learned this interesting trivial bit last week upon learning that it was the 41st birthday of actor Michael C. Hall, who plays Dexter on "Dexter," the Showtime series about a serial killer who kills people he believes to be serial killers. In the first season of the show, which recently finished season six, Dexter and his female companion Rita are watching "Terms of Endearment" (1984), which won the Best Picture Oscar that year.

Well, in season four, John Lithgow, now age 66, who had a supporting role in that film, made a 12-episode run as Dexter's nemesis Arthur Mitchell, otherwise known as 'The Trinity Killer.'

Quote of the Day/Week- Sidney Poitier

Since we just got back from The Bahamas and today is the start of Black History Month, we thought it would be nifty to quote Sidney Poitier, 84, who won an Oscar for "Lilies of the Field" (1963), the first African-American to win a Best Actor Oscar. More recently, in 2009, Poitier also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama.

Though Poitier has lived in the United for a long time, he is a Bahamas-native and maintains dual citizenship. In fact, in 1997, Poitier was the Bahamian ambassador to Japan. We also learned that he is fluent in Russian.

Here is his quote: "History passes final judgment."

SIDEBAR ONE: The underground cult classic "Pretty Poison" (1968) with Tuesday Weld and the late Anthony Perkins, who was best-known for playing Norman Bates in "Psycho" begins a week-long run at the Film Forum in New York starting on Friday. We finally saw the film two years ago. And, for those of you in the Big Apple or even New Jersey, we highly recommend it.

SIDEBAR TWO: We would personally love to see actor Michael C. Hall, who plays Dexter on "Dexter," a Showtime series about a serial killer who kills off people whom he believes have killed people, say: "I am not a serial killer, but I play one on tv." Today, Hall turns 41, the same age as me. He is originally from Raleigh, NC. Happy Birthday, Dexter.