Long Live Mötley Crue

Goodbye to the band I grew up with. We were born the same year (1981) and my earliest memories are watching their music videos on MTV. You guys made me dance, sing along, relate to my moods, you were there when I wanted to bang my head. You made me laugh with your sense of humor, cringe in disgust and respect when reading your book, made me cry with your pain and cheers of joy. I saw you live twice- in 2009 and for the final time in 2015. After 34 years, you made your mark to be unforgettable. Thank you. I will always be loyal, I will always use you in the rotation of listening to music, I will cheer when the one day you'll be inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame and be first in line whenever your autobiographical movie The Dirt comes out. I love you guys- Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, and Mick Mars. Go out big, go out strong, you brought the scars that will forever remain that no concealer could make dissappear. You closed your own door and are opening four new doors of new beginnings and outlook. Look back on Motley Crue with proud, pride, accomplishment and legacy. We will never forget

Respectful Co-Stars

"She was funny. She was amusing. She was genuinely funny and much brighter than most people think."

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"At least Mansfield tried to be a professional. She'd show up and rehearse and work and shoot it. At that, she was good. And she had some humor about her."

-Tony Randall

"Adored her. He talked about this one scene where she was in a bubble bath, and they kept putting bubbles over her to make it appropriate looking. She said -- she was crying. She said people are going to think I'm flat-chested... But he said she was great fun"

-Heather Randall (Tony's widow)

Tony and Jayne worked together twice: movie 'Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?' (1957) and TV show 'The Alfred Hitchcock Hour' episode Hangover (1962)

Richie & Mo

I know Ringo Starr often refers second wife Barbara Bach as the 'love of his life' and right he should be. They have been married for over 30 years and are still going strong. However, I do believe that Ringo has two loves of his life, Barbara and his first wife Maureen Tigrett. Not just because Maureen is the classic 'mother of his children' but it's also because Maureen knew Ringo before he joined the Beatles, she knew Richie Starkey, pre famous when nobody knew his name. Ringo has always counted Maureen as his family, and he was at her bedside when she passed away a little over 20 years ago. The one thing I really don't like is reading certain Beatles/Ringo fans blaming Maureen for the break-down of the marriage after her affair with George Harrison. Yes, it was the last straw. But Maureen isn't 100% of the blame. Ringo wasn't exactly becoming fun to hang around with- it was during the time he was drinking heavily, the break up of the Beatles with depression and feeling at a loss while finding work (film), restarting his career as a soloist musician, his own infidelity. Meanwhile Maureen got married young, had children young, went through several hairstyle changes, probably having an identity crises of who's Maureen that's not Joseph and Florence Cox's daughter, Ringo Starr's wife and mother of 3 (before Isaac and Augusta Tigrett existed)? Not to mention the pressure of living with a rock star with fans coming to their home, mail and reporters/early paparazzi. Perhaps if they had less stress like his drinking problem and infidelity taken out of the equation then their marriage would have lasted longer than it did. However, that being said, both Ringo and Maureen found love in Barbara and Isaac, they all settled on a family vibe. I definitely know that Ringo treats Augusta, Maureen's daughter with Isaac, as part of the family. Peace and love, as Ringo says.

About Jayne From Mariska

“I think she has influenced me in more ways than I know. She was such a pioneer, she was a woman before her time, and she was doing things that nobody else was doing. Being a movie star and having five kids, and sort of living out loud and being fearless and breaking all the rules. She was somebody that beat to her own drum and was such a free spirit and I really admire that. Not to say that it was easy, but she was ambitious and wanted so much of life, and had a huge appetite for it. I think I’m like that a lot. And I think obviously she gave me the idea to be an actor which is a career that I have fallen madly in love with. She had a love for family and a love for children. She was a compassionate woman, an empathetic woman, but again somebody who did it the way she wanted to and by her own design, especially at the beginning. She was somebody who had big dreams and followed them. That’s pretty inspiring to me.”

"By the time she was 34 years old, she had five kids and a successful career. My mom never said no to life- she wanted to experience everything. When she died, she left so much behind"

“Every day I feel closer to her and like I really am her daughter because she made her dream come true, and I am living mine now. She was ahead of her time. I just can't believe this little girl from Texas had five children, dogs, a house, a career, and a husband by the time she was 34. Like, I think I do that a lot?”

“My mother was ahead of her time, a very modern woman in not so modern times. She was the original wonder woman, a role model. She had a career, she had five children. She was sexy, she was musically talented and she had an amazingly high IQ. I am in awe of her for that. She had a zest for life and lived every mintue to the fullest. She did it all.”

“My mom had five kids, worked, had a million dogs and played the violin. I look at my life now and think, I'm on a TV show, I run a foundation, I run a household, I'm a mom, I'm a wife, I'm a lot of things, I realize I'm like that because it's what I know”

“Everybody would say, ‘Oh, you’re so pretty, you look just like your mom,’ They would pinch my cheek. It’s what you do to cute children in Italy.”But it hurt! Those Italians were so strong. I felt like they were pulling my cheek off. ‘Why are they pulling my cheek, Daddy? Daddy, make them stop!’ People would flip when they found out ‘Oh, you’re Jayne Mansfield’s daughter.’ I put two and two together and figured out that she must have been someone.” 

“She’s definitely always with me. I love it when people say, ‘She had such a great laugh, and so do you.’ When I find similarities, it gives me so much peace.”

"My mother was more intelligent than people thought; She just gave the public what they wanted."

"I want to be accepted as myself, not as Jayne Mansfield's daughter."

"I was jealous of all my actress friends who were experimenting with blond hair or acting really sexy. I never felt that I had to permission to do these things, Because my Mom was blond and sexy, and I was rebelling against who she was. I couldn't express myself the way I wanted to, or I'd be compared to her, and I wanted to stand on my own."

"I feel a total kindred spirit with anyone who has lost her mother, especially at a young age. When something like that happens it leaves a hole in your heart that can never be filled. I know I'm not over it. I'll hear women talk about their mothers and how close they are and it's so painful. I had a lovely stepmother but it's not the same as having your own mom. But I do know that hole in my heart pushed me to want to become the best mother I could be. Sometimes it's what you don't have that dictates or guides your life the most."

“I used to say, ‘I wish I knew her more. I was only three.’ And a friend said, ‘All you have to do is look in the mirror.’ It sounds so weird, but there’s a truth in it. And it gave me peace and understanding that we’re half of our parents. It sort of quelled some of my angst, or unrest, or need. So much of who I am is my parents—all three of them. I am grateful for all three. My son always goes, ‘Mama has two mamas.’ He calls Ellen ‘Grandma.’ He calls Jayne ‘Mama’s mama.’ He’s so sweet. He’ll say, ‘You don’t have your mom and dad, but you have me and Daddy.’ And I say, ‘Yes, I know, that’s all I need.’ ”

Fleetwood Mac Memories of George

"When I met George Harrison, it was one of those truly memorable moments. I said, ‘Gee, of all the good work you did with the Beatles, how did you ever come up with that incredible guitar solo on "Taxman"?’ And his face just fell. He said, ‘Oh, Paul did that.’ Grrrrr! I really put my foot in my mouth that time."

-Lindsey Buckingham

"I’ve been thinking about George Harrison more than ever since he died. We were more than just brothers-in-law for a time; he was one of the very best friends I’ve ever had. We both loved Maui and Hawaii equally, because we both understood how special this place is. His song ‘Cloud 9’ really captures how he felt about this place, and I find myself thinking of the line ‘I’ll see you there on cloud nine’ when I think about how much I miss him. George is the reason I’m playing ukulele lately too. He was such a great player, and he was obsessed with it. He used to drive around Maui with literally 20 of the things in his trunk, handing them out to friends, hawking the wares of this local guy who made them"

-Mick Fleetwood

"The photo was taken by my best friend, Mary DeVitto. She had given me a copy of it a long time ago, and I had it made into an 8 x 10 and put in a little frame. When I go on the road it goes right on my makeup mirror, so before I go on stage, whether it's with Fleetwood Mac or me in my solo career, the three of us are looking back at me and that has been my inspiration every single night. There's lots of nights where you kind of go, I wish I didn't have to go on stage tonight, I'm tired, I don't feel like doing it, and I look at George Harrison and look at Longhi and look at me and I go, well, you just have to, because it's important, it's important to make people happy, so get out of your chair, put on your boots and go out there and do your thing. We were writing a sort of parody of 'Here Comes the Sun,' but we were writing 'Here Comes the Moon', Longhi was saying, 'you guys are writing about the moon instead of the sun,' and I said, that's because by then we were all such night birds. I had met George before that at a record party in Mexico in Acapulco for 'Rumours.' Longhi saw George all the time. He drove me and my friend Sara and Mary to George's house in Hana. And we just hung out and wrote and sang and talked. I had been famous for not even quite three years and we were talking with George about being famous and what it meant and what you had to give up."

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"Isn't that wild? That is probably 1977, in Hana on the island of Maui in Hawaii. Me and a couple of my friends had gone over there. I don't-St remember exactly how it happened, but we drove up to Hana, where George lived, and we hung out with him for about three days. We stayed in his guest cottage and we sat around and wrote. I don't think anything really came out of the writing session, but we had a great time, and you can kind of see we were very serious. I took the picture to the studio, so it was on the fireplace for the whole recording of 'Say You Will'. It was very much like he was looking over us the whole time. I liked George very much. He was really a nice man."

-Stevie Nicks

Lifelong Motorcycle Interest

"A mini motorbike Dad had in Weybridge. I’d ride on the front of it and we’d go to visit Ringo, who lived down the road, on it.”
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"I remember Dad riding it in the driveway in Weybridge with me as the passenger...I think I was allowed to sit up front and hold the handlebars but never to actually control it".
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"All I knew was that he was away a lot. When he came home, and we were together, I recall most of all the fun like flying a kite in the garden, or riding on the back of Dad's motorbike down to Ringo's home. The rest of my childhood with dad is a fog."
-Julian Lennon

"He's interested in girls and autobikes now. I'm just sort of a figure in the sky, but he's obliged to communicate with me, even when he probably doesn't want to."
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"I hadn't seen my first son grow up and now there's a 17-year-old man on the phone talking about motorbikes."
-John Lennon

Innocent Until Proven Guilty

Lizzie Borden after she was acquitted in her murder trail of her father and stepmother Andrew and Abby Borden

Since I was about 15 years old (I am in my 30s), I have had an interest in Lizzie Borden- even dressed as her for Halloween. Honestly, I don't know how it happened- it was around the time of O. J. Simpson murder trial and the case was occasionally compared to Lizzie's. Also during that time, A&E and the History channels aired the 1975 TV movie The Legend of Lizzie Borden starring Elizabeth Montgomery who I loved (still) and she died in 1995 during that time too. So needlessly to say, Lizzie's legacy was in my face and being a history buff, I got interested. I read books (this was just before the Internet took over), although I didn't get obsessed about it as I did with The Beatles.

Both The Legend of Lizzie Borden and Lizzie Borden Took an Ax (2014 with Christina Ricci who made a miniseries of fictional life after the trail The Lizzie Borden Chronicles in 2015) had Lizzie killed her father and stepmother, like an 'What If?' scenerio. Many people do believe that Lizzie did the deed- her alibi was shaky and was changed a few times when she was questioned. When her stepmother was being hacked to death, Lizzie claimed to be in the backyard's shed eating pears and looking for sinkers as well as doing some ironing. With her father, I believe she claimed she was resting.
Lizzie certainly did have motive- her father, despite having money, was a cheapskate and refused to get into the modern times of the day of electricity and plumping and she did not get along with her stepmother, calling her Mrs. Borden. Not long after their deaths, Lizzie and her big sister Emma moved to a much bigger house in the neighborhood with its modern devices with the inheritance from their father.

Do I think Lizzie did it? Honestly, I do not know. The evidence was shaky as well as contaminated with countless people coming in and ruining forensics. Not to mention that some other evidence also disintegrated with age and being passed around to anybody who believed to have the answers, which also got lost. Thanks to those problems, now the security to gain evidence is tight and the technology these days can assure that the crime can be solved.
As I said, I don't know if Lizzie killed her father and stepmother herself- Mr. Borden did have some enemies floating around. I do have a theory that Lizzie was involved in some way, like requesting to put a hit out on them. Mrs. Borden had more hacks than Mr. Borden and due to the strain of the relationship between her and her step daughters, it wouldn't surprise me if Lizzie took it upon herself to end Mrs. Borden's life. There's some anger issues going on there. As for her father, I think the only major problem was him being a cheapskate. Other than that, Lizzie was Daddy's little girl- her middle name was Andrew. Perhaps he was the one who was killed by an outside enemy?

There is something else that drives me crazy: there's claims that the Borden house (now a bed & breakfast museum) is haunted; many believe that it's Lizzie but I highly doubt that. I could buy Andrew and Abby Borden, maybe even Mr. Borden's first wife Sarah. But not Lizzie. She hated that house- why would her ghost would want to be there? If there's any ghost hunters reading this and want to find Lizzie's ghost, I would suggest Maplecroft. It is the home Lizzie bought and moved in until she died, the house she lived. Yet, it is a private home so I don't know if the current owner would appreciate the intrusion unless special permission.