The Rat Pack were a group of popular entertainers originally centered on Humphrey Bogart. In the mid-1960s it was the name used by the press and the general public to refer to a group that called itself “the summit” or “the clan,” featuring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop, who appeared together on stage and in films in the early-1960s, including the movie Ocean’s Eleven. Despite its reputation as a masculine group, the Rat Pack did have female participants, including movie icons Shirley MacLaine, Lauren Bacall, Angie Dickinson, Marilyn Monroe, and Judy Garland.
McLaren have been given a suspended three-race ban for misleading stewards at the Australian Grand Prix by motor sport’s governing body, the FIA. The British team admitted five charges of breaching Formula One rules at a special inquiry on Wednesday in Paris. The penalty will only be enforced upon Lewis Hamilton’s team if “further facts emerge” about this incident or if there is a “further breach” of the rules. McLaren described the World Motor Sport Council hearing as “very fair”. The FIA said the approach of McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh in dealing with the incident once the full details had emerged, helped in earning them a suspension to the penalty they have received. “Having regard to the open and honest way in which McLaren team principal, Mr Martin Whitmarsh, addressed the WMSC and the change in culture which he made clear has taken place in his organisation, the WMSC decided to suspend the application of the penalty it deems appropriate,” read a World Motor Sport Council statement.
“This will only be applied if further facts emerge regarding the case or if, in the next 12 months, there is a further breach by the team of article 151 c of the International Sporting Code.”
Speaking after the hearing, FIA president Max Mosley said the WMSC’s decision was “entirely fair.”
He added: “McLaren have demonstrated there is a complete culture change, that it’s all different to what it was.
“In those circumstances it looks better to put the whole thing behind us, so unless there is something similar in the future, that is the end of the matter.”
F1 commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone told BBC Sport that he felt McLaren may have escaped a harsher punishment.
“It was good. Fair and honest and straightforward verdict. I thought Martin was happy with that. They knew they did something wrong so they got a slap.”
When asked if they got off lightly, he added: “Probably, yes.”
The incident occurred towards the end of the season-opening race in Melbourne where world champion Hamilton finished fourth behind Jarno Trulli’s Toyota.
Following the race, McLaren accused the Italian of breaking F1 rules by overtaking while the field was under the control of the safety car.
The Blues Brothers are a Grammy Award-nominated American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on Saturday Night Live. Belushi and Aykroyd, respectively in character as lead vocalist “Joliet” Jake Blues and harpist/vocalist Elwood Blues, fronted the band, which was composed of well-known and respected musicians. The band made its debut as the musical guest on the April 22, 1978, episode of Saturday Night Live.
The band then began to take on a life beyond the confines of the television screen, releasing an album, Briefcase Full of Blues, in 1978, and then having a Hollywood film, The Blues Brothers, created around its characters in 1980.
After the death of Belushi in 1982, the Blues Brothers have continued to perform with a rotation of guest singers and other band members. The original band reformed in 1988 for a world tour and again in 1998 for a sequel to the film, Blues Brothers 2000. They make regular appearances at musical festivals worldwide.
Off topic and a bit random. Modern Canvas Art is on holiday at the moment in Budapest. Here is a video put together by the little people in the Modern Canvas Art family:
The Rat Pack were a group of popular entertainers originally centered on Humphrey Bogart. In the mid-1960s it was the name used by the press and the general public to refer to a group that called itself “the summit” or “the clan,” featuring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop, who appeared together on stage and in films in the early-1960s, including the movie Ocean’s Eleven. Despite its reputation as a masculine group, the Rat Pack did have female participants, including movie icons Shirley MacLaine, Lauren Bacall, Angie Dickinson, Marilyn Monroe, and Judy Garland.
