In only six steps I can link Krysten Ritter (above), one of the hottest
and hippest young actresses in the business today, to Jimmy Durante,
the comedic actor of the early and mid 20th century. Don't think
I can do it? I got 50 large that says I can. Wanna bet, yo?
STEP 1
On my series Breaking Bad, Krysten Ritter plays my girlfriend Jane Margolis.
Krysten also stars in her own series Marvel's Jessica Jones (below).
STEP 2
Mike Colter stars as superhero Luke Cage on
Krysten Ritter's series Jessica Jones.
Colter also had the recurring role of wealthy drug dealer
Lemond Bishop on The Good Wife.
STEP 3
Christine Baranski had a main role on The Good Wife
playing law firm senior partner Diane Lockhart.
Christine played Cybill Shepherd's best friend
Maryanne Thorpe on the television sitcom Cybill.
STEP 4
Cybill Shepherd had the prominent role of
Jacy Farrow in the film The Last Picture Show.
Ben Johnson played Sam the Lion in the
Cybill Shepherd movie The Last Picture Show.
STEP 5
Ben Johnson co-starred as Gregg opposite
Terry Moore in Mighty Joe Young.
In that 1949 film Terry Moore played Jill Young,
a sweet country girl with a giant ape as a pet.
STEP 6
Terry Moore co-starred as Rosalinda Amendola
in The Great Rupert starring Jimmy Durante.
In that 1950 comedy film the animal hero,
Rupert, was an animated squirrel.
IN YOUR FACE, YO!
I DID IT - PAY UP!
Before I go, Shady Del Knight says he wants
to play a song for me. Okay, do it, Mr. Knight.
"Jessie's Girl" - Rick Springfield cover by John S. Kihm
YO, DRAC - BITE ME, BITCH!
(On second thought... don't.)
I'm Jesse Pinkman, and I don't mean no disrespect, pops, but Mr. Knight and I are partners, see, and we got this. We're running the show and we don't need any help from the likes of you, so flap your wings and take off!
Now here's Mr. Knight to introduce this super cool band!
Thanks, Jesse. This is a coming of age
story about The Cristeas - five young
siblings, three brothers & two sisters,
who live in the Los Angeles area.
Like the Partridge Family, Cowsills,
Donny and Marie and The Osmond
Brothers, the Cristeas are a musical
family. The sibs are members of a
rock band that 's riding a tidal wave
of popularity across the country.
Their father manages the band
and produces their recordings.
We begin our journey with a video from April 2013. The children
were all in their places with sun-shiny faces, looking very much
like they were posing for a family portrait. Sweetness and
innocence were the order of the day as they performed
a cover of "Stay," an international hit by
Rihanna feat. Mikky Ekko.
"Stay" - Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko cover by The Cristeas (April 2013)
Fast forward to December 2014. The Cristeas still looked and sounded
squeaky clean as they sent us a Christmas greeting in the form of a
song entitled "Ho Hey," a cover of the 2012 worldwide hit by
the American folk rock band The Lumineers.
"Ho Hey" - The Lumineers cover by The Cristeas (Dec. 2014)
L I L I A C
With the passing of time comes change. It is now September 2015.
The band of brothers and sisters has a new name, Liliac, and a new look,
sound and attitude. A metamorphosis is underway. Clearly the cute kids
are becoming real rockers as they do the Troggs' monster "Wild Thing."
"Wild Thing" - The Troggs cover by The Cristeas/Liliac (September 2015)
Pair-mit me to interrupt you, Mr. Knight.
You have conveniently
left out one very
important part of
the story, one very
interesting fact.
You failed to mention
that the Cristea family
has its roots in the
old country!
HEY...
DON'T EVEN
GO THERE, BRO!
I told you before,
Grandpa Munster,
Mr. Knight and I are
handling this post.
We don't need you chimin' in every two seconds.
So why don't you just dry up and blow away?
ARE YA FEELIN'
ME, BITCH?
It's okay, Jesse. Calm down. Now that
Dracula has let the bat out of the bag,
so to speak, it's time for readers to know
the whole story. Liliac, the Cristea kids,
these adorable poppers turned rockers,
are the children of Florin Cristea, who
grew up in Transylvania, Romania, not
far from Castle Dracula. Florin came to
America where he met and married Nineta,
also born in Romania. The couple settled
in Southern California to raise a family.
The rest, as you are seeing and hearing
in this post, is rock history. Now let's
continue to follow the timeline.
Two more years pass. It is December 2017, and the Transylvanian transformation is
complete. Now one of the great up-and-coming bands in rock, Liliac erases all doubts
about their cred with a cover of Metallica's classic "Enter Sandman." Keep your eyes
and ears on the act's hottest attractions, the three oldest children, all in their teens.
Watch and listen as Samuel shreds on lead guitar, Aby kicks butt on drums and
younger sister Melody, absolutely KILLS on lead vocals and bass guitar.
Melody says she was first influenced to sing rock by one of my favorites,
Ronnie James Dio, the late, great frontman of Elf, Rainbow, Sabbath, Dio,
and Heaven & Hell. As you are about to hear, Melody does a superb job of
channeling Dio and other legendary masters of metal including, in this
performance, Metallica's James Hetfield. I have to be honest. When I
watched this video for the first time, I thought that I was listening
to the Metallica recording with the Cristea kids doing a fantastic
lip sync. Imagine how astonished I was to realize that this
amazing sound was actually produced by the Liliac band.
Behold the rock resurrection, the rock reincarnation.
They are fierce. They are bold. They are mighty.
They are... Liliac!
"Enter Sandman" - Metallica cover by Liliac (Dec. 2017)
Few groups can match the musicianship, spirit and grandeur of an act like Iron Maiden,
one of the pioneer bands of the so-called New Wave of British Heavy Metal in the 70s
and 80s. Liliac proves their metal mettle in a video that dropped two weeks ago.
As you will see the two youngest members of the band, Ethan on rhythm guitar
and Justin on keyboards, are now coming into their own as rock showmen.
Witness another spectacular performance by a band that's for real,
a band that is making believers out of hardcore metal heads
and, week by week, winning new fans all over the world.
Feel the unbridled excitement as Liliac performs
Iron Maiden's "The Trooper."
"The Trooper" - Iron Maiden cover by Liliac (Sept. 2018)
