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If one daydreams about what film, music, Hollywood, London and all ports in between felt like in the ’60s and ’70s, writer-director Andrew Birkin’s new memoir, “Pov: A Life in Pictures,” is a dreamscape of glorious days and nights and legendary personalities. Starring Birkin’s famous model-actress-singer sister, Jane Birkin, along with her famous husbands, plus filmmakers from Walt Disney to Stanley Kubrick (for whom he worked for two years) and festooned with pop stars such as the Beatles and Slade as well as Hitler’s architect Albert Speer thrown in for good measure, the tome is a swirling kaleidoscope that Birkin paints with vivid colors. Here are a few edited entries that should give the reader a feel for what the era hath wrought, courtesy of Birkin’s sharp eye on the swinging times all those years ago.

What follows are some excerpted scenes from the book.

By...

By Lee Pfeiffer 

It's a little late in the day to extol the virtues of the Papermill Playhouse's production of "Hunchback of Notre Dame" which has its last performance on April 5, but since the show is being groomed for Broadway, it's relevant to point out that the production is simply magnificent. (The play premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego last fall before moving here.) Upon entering the Papermill, we took our seats in front row, center....generally the best in the house. However, there was concern because the entire stage now had a massive new floor temporarily built on top of it. The result of this was the "new" stage not only extending practically into our seats but also having the effect of "elevator shoes"....it was a good foot above where the normal stage rose. My concern was that everyone would have to crane their necks...

The Awesomes

Hulu has ordered a second, ten-episode season of its exclusive animated superhero comedy series "The Awesomes".

Created by Seth Meyers and Mike Shoemaker, the series premiered in early August and is regularly one of the top 10 most watched shows on the streaming service. [Source: THR]

Johnny Carson

NBC is planning a miniseries based on the life of legendary late night talk show host Johnny Carson. The project will be based on Bill Zehme's upcoming biography "Carson the Magnificent".

The book covers Carson's three decade career on "The Tonight Show," his childhood in Nebraska, and his often secluded off-camera life and friendships. [Source: USA Today]

Esmerelda

ABC has begun development of "Esmeralda," a limited event series re-imagining of Victor Hugo's classic tale "The Hunchback Of Notre Dame".

"Snow White And The Huntsman" scribe Evan Daugherty is penning the period drama which shifts the protagonist's perspective from Quasimodo to that of the object...

From Lovejoy to Deadwood, Ian McShane has made a career out of playing rogues. He tells us about his drink- and drug-fuelled past, and how he's given it all up to make blockbusters for his grandchildren

On a breezy spring afternoon in Santa Monica, Ian McShane and I are hauling furniture around a hotel room. The suite has been used recently for a photo shoot, and McShane has decided he wants everything back the way it was. I pull one of the sofas towards the fireplace, dragging the rug with it. He manoeuvres the other with surprising ease: he's a small but compact man, around 5ft 7in, sinewy, with a light mahogany tan; and although there is some grey amid the glossy black curls, it's very easy to forget that he is 70. "Seventy years old!" he rages in his distinctive Lancastrian burr, like syrup on sandpaper. "How did that happen?...

TLC’s My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding’s season premiere delivered an average 1.7 million viewers last week. And if you were one of them, you may still be wrapping your head around the fact that this all goes down on American soil. Well, the series is just getting started. Exclusive Video: 'Long Island Medium' Finale: Drag Queens Raise Theresa's Spirits A Gypsy girl dreams of her over-the-top wedding, but first she has to find the guy. That’s what 14-year-old Priscilla and her family are hoping to do with a lavish Halloween party on Sunday’s episode.

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Originally posted on indiereader.com

Vampires--the always young, never dying creatures of the night--have a long and colorful history in our culture. From characters in books (indie and traditional), movies and television--even a former President has been suspected of hunting them!--the legend of the vampire is so persistent that it's hard to believe there isn't at least a little truth to their existence.

In fact, the history of vampires in literature can be traced to the 1720s, but stories and warnings of vampiric creatures go back much further. Some even claim that vampires were featured in the Bible, citing either Lazarus (raised from the dead by Jesus) or Cain (condemned by God to forever to wander the Earth).

This vampire reference, dated 1797, is from The Bride of Corinth by Goethe.

From my grave to wander I am forced

Still to seek the God's long sever'd link,

Still to love the bridegroom I have lost,...

The worst thing anyone's said to me? 'Your father has died'

Hayley Mills, 63, was born in London, the daughter of the actor John Mills and the writer Mary Hayley Bell. She began her acting career at the age of 12, when she was cast alongside her father in the 1959 movie Tiger Bay, a performance for which she won a Bafta. She later signed to Walt Disney, for whom starred in Pollyanna and The Parent Trap, and her other film credits include Whistle Down The Wind and Sky West And Crooked. Since 2007, she has been appearing in the ITV series Wild At Heart. She has two sons and divides her time between London and New York, where she lives with her partner.

When were you happiest?

Now. This is the best time of my life.

What is your greatest fear?

I have a horror of being in confined spaces. Potholing is my idea of hell.