Popeye the Sailor Man was a squinty-eyed sailor who was the main character of a comic created in the late 1920s by E.C. Segar. Like many beloved characters, he didn’t begin as the star of the story – he was a minor character hired to be apart of a ship’s crew. While he was only meant to be around for a few strips, the Popeye character quickly became very popular and the focus of the strip. Popeye eventually won the heart of the originally unimpressed and at times fickle, Olive Oyl and becomes the adopted father of Swee’Pea, a baby he finds in the mail.
Elzie Segar, the creator of the comic, knew a man in Illinois named Frank “Rocky” Fiegel who inspired the character Popeye. Frank “Rocky” Fiegel was born January 27, 1868 in Poland. He was a retired sailor contracted by Wiebusch’s tavern in the city of Chester, Illinois, to clean and maintain order. He had a reputation to be always involved in fighting, so he had a deformed eye (“Pop-eye”).
He had demonstrated his strength in so many fights that he became a local legend. He always smoked his pipe, so he spoke only with one side of his mouth. Like the character Popeye was similar to “Rocky” in that he smoked a pipe and was toothless, but Segar took a few other liberties. Fiegel was less of a spinach eater and more of a drinker, and instead of a sailor he was actually a bartender.
Like Popeye, Fiegel was said to be very kind to children and loved to be around them. There is no accounting of his imaginary adventures which boasts about the exploits of his physical strength, ensuring he never lost a fight. The author of Popeye, Elzie Crisler Segar, born in Chester, met Frank when where the young man was to listen to their stories and years later honored him with the character Popeye the Sailor Man.
Olive Oil also existed, she was Dora Paskel, owner of a grocery store in Chester. She is also described to dress just like Olive Oil. Segar kept in touch with Frank and had always helped him with money. Frank and Popeye also carried some inherent features like courage, chivalry and virility. Fiegel wasn’t really aware of his role in the creation of Popeye until his final years of life. An engraving of Popeye’s face is on his gravestone. A statue of Popeye was put up in his honor in Chester, Illinois. He died on March 24, 1947.
During the live gaming stream of Bianca Yao who is also known to her followers as Slice of Bian Cake on Twitter, Alden Richards suddenly gave her 143 stars as a sign of support for a fellow gamer like him.
Upon receiving the 143 stars from Alden, Bianca got distracted but she thanked the Kapuso star. She said: “Wala na, nawala na ako sa laro. Hi Alden, thank you for the stars.”
Surprised as she was, she also teased Alden and said: “Sige na nga ‘di na kita bubugbugin, aalagaan na lang kita.”
A day after Alden gave her the stars, Bianca clarified that there is nothing romantic going on between the two of them, and advised everyone not to put any malice in Alden’s effort in giving her 143 stars.
Bianca stated: “Gusto ko lang sabihin na guys, mabait lang talaga ‘yung tao. Nagsu-support siya sa mga gamers in general, hindi lang ako. Huwag natin bigyan ng kahulugan lahat ng bagay, may mga tao talagang masaya lang kapag nakakapag-pasaya ng ibang tao. Gusto ko lang rin sabihin sa mga fans niya na, kung may nasabi man akong hindi maganda, sorry and di ko sinasadya kung ano man yun. Sa naalala ko, wala pa naman. May nakikita akong mga saring-sari comments. Basta mabait talaga yung tao.”
German Moreno—still harboring ill-feelings towards a "son" who did him wrong—said in his speech at SOP's celebration of his birthday last Sunday, that today's stars should work on durability in the business rather than getting the faster, bigger bucks.
Kuya Germs may have been waxing very personal, but today's celebs should take to heart what the Clover Theater Janitor-turned-Master Showman said.
There are stars who, after so many years, managed to stay in show business but lost their brilliance and got content playing supporting roles. This is actually better than those who just faded away and sulked in obscurity, completely forgotten by everyone.
That's why Vilma Santos is unique. She holds the distinction of being the only actress in Philippine showbiz to have gone through four-and-a half decades without being unseated from her throne as one of the most admired and most bankable movie stars in local cinema.
She may have rested in some years during those 45 years to give way to new stars, like Sharon Cuneta, Maricel Soriano, Manilyn Reynes, Claudine Barretto Judy Ann Santos and others. And yet, when a Vilma movie comes out, fans queue the theaters to see her perform. Because of her box-office successes, she was accorded the title—Star for All Seasons.
Early in her career, during her teen years, Vilma Santos proved that she could hold her own against a much popular competition. When critics doubted and belittled her abilities, she pushed herself to prove them wrong and gave out memorable performances.
By going beyond expectations, Vilma showed early signs that she would really make a name and have a long, durable career in show business.
And because of her persistence, determination, talent and of course, beauty, it was inevitable for Vilma to attract the attention and affection of almost every man in showbiz and in other fields of work.
There was a lot of talk about the men linked to Vilma. Some stories said the relationships were not real; these were just rumors that were spread to drum up publicity for her movie with whoever was her screen partner.
Here is PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal)'s probe on the second Vilma urban legend: The Men of Vilma—who's real, who's just plain rumor?
TEEN STAR. From being a child star, Vilma went through her teens without experiencing the usual problem of child stars entering their teens, particularly young girls—that is, lacking roles to play because of their "awkward no longer-a-girl, not-yet-a-woman" stage.
From ages 13 to 15, Vilma essayed roles in movies like the Hollywood film The Longest Hundred Miles (1967), the heavy drama Sino Ang May Karapatan (1968), and the Ferdinand-Imelda Marcos love story Pinagbuklod ng Langit (1969) where Vilma played the role of Imee Marcos.
Lots of universities in the world are believed to have secret tunnels below their campuses. Through the years, students have made up various stories concerning hidden pathways leading to dungeons, ritual rooms and so on.
This legend is again particularly popular in the US. Students from Michigan State University believe that there are creepy dungeons below the university. That is partially true, because there ARE tunnels running under the campus, but they are actually steam tunnels that were built to house campus utilities. No dungeons whatsoever have been found.
Another version of the same belief exists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where some students there believe there is a secret room below the Foreign Language Building and that it holds a supercomputer, which is owned by the government.
They also claim that there are secret tunnels below the buildings on the Quad, whose origin and purpose is unknown.
Many universities around the world have some sort of statues or monuments in front of their main building. It might be a statue of the creator, benefactor, alumnus or an abstract symbol.
A popular myth is that at night those statues come to life and move around the campus. The legend varies from institution to institution, but the pattern is the same. Some colleges might even have monuments of animals or different types of fantastic creatures.
The University of Cincinnati, for example, has stone lions in front of its McMicken Hall, which some students believe they have heard growl at night. Some variations of the legend say that the statues only move when a virgin or a cheater walks past them.
Others go even further and describe paintings and other objects coming to life as well. Students from Michigan State University, for instance, claim that the portrait of Mary Mayo moves its eyes and follows you through the room.
