Today's Tune: "Murders In The Rue Morgue"By Iron Maiden

American writer Edgar Allan Poe (Born January 19, 1809 – Died October 7, 1849) died on this day in 1849, at the age of 40 years old. His styles and genres of writing included poetry, mysteries, horror and detective stories (Invented ?). Poe is best known for his dark scary tales and poems, many of which have been adapted into horror films, such as "The Masque Of The Red Death" , "The Pit And The Pendulum" and "The Raven" . All types of his works have been an influence on some of the great writers since his time, but he lived in modest means during his short lifetime.

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but lived in many different places. Most of those areas have some sort of museum or landmark in his honor, and several held special events on this, the 40th anniversary of his death.

In Baltimore, MD, where he died after a long period of very poor health and is buried, they finally gave him a "proper funeral". For a fiver, you got to visit his very small former home (museum now) and pay your respects while viewing his "body" (manikin). I imagine it would be about as disappointing an experience for me as when I visited the Sherlock Holmes house in London, England many years ago. I didn't go thousands of miles just for that, but there are people who spanned the globe just to visit Poe House today. Most will probably enjoy it. To see a local news report, click here.

In remembrance of Mr. Poe, I picked a song for the 'Today's Tune' that carries a title similar to his famous story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" . Released in 1981, here's Iron Maiden with "Murders In The Rue Morgue".

Iron Maiden - "Murders In The Rue Morgue"

Today's Tune: "The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent" By UFO

Happy Birthday Ian McShane. McShane was born on September 29, 1942 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England to his mother Irene (Maiden name - Cowley) and father Harry McShane. Harry McShane was a Scottish born professional footballer (soccer player) with Manchester United and Hamilton Academical. Ian grew up in Urmston, Manchester, England.

Actor Ian McShane has conquered films, stage and television. He is most well known to American public television viewers for the comedy/mystery television series Lovejoy, which takes place in rural East Anglia. He played the lead character by the same name, who was an antiques dealer who solved mysteries, whilst also being a bit of a lad. It's one of my favorite shows, and was based on the novels by John Grant (under the pen name Jonathan Gash). McShane's other works include films 'Ordeal By Innocence', 'Too Scared To Scream' and 'Shrek The Third'. Space: 1999, Trust and Deadwood are among his other TV appearances.

McShane's first film was the British romantic drama film 'The Wild And The Willing'. This 1962 movie started Ian well on his way to being a heartthrob and a fine actor. A very young Jeremy Brett ('War And Peace', Rebecca, Sherlock Holmes) and John Hurt ('A Man For All Seasons', The Sweeney, 'Alien')were introduced as well. Life at University, romance, lust, racism, the class system and youthful exploits feature in this film. Currently, you can watch it in it's entirety on YouTube. With a similar title, the song "The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent" by UFO is our 'Today's Tune'.

UFO - "The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent"

Today's Tune: "Lady Come Down" By Colin Firth And Rupert Everett

Rupert Everett and Colin Firth in 'The Importance Of Being Earnest' (2002).

Happy Birthday to Colin Firth. English film, television and stage actor Firth was born in Grayshott, Hampshire, England on September 10, 1960. He lived in Nigeria during his early childhood because his parents worked there as lecturers abroad. Their parents had been missionaries. Firth even spent some time living in St. Louis, Missouri in the USA, before returning to the Hampshire area of England for his schooling. He then attended the Drama Centre London to train as an actor.

Colin performed mostly on stage and in TV movies early on in his professional career. As a matter of fact, it was his portrayal of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy in a television mini-series adaption of Jane Austen's brilliant novel 'Pride And Prejudice' that really made him a star. His theatre film career includes roles in movies such as 'Bridget Jones's Diary', 'Love Actually' and 'The Accidental Husband'. Colin Firth has acted many times alongside English actor Rupert Everett ('Shakespeare In Love', Sherlock Holmes, 'Shrek 2', 'Shrek The Third'). The two have also sang a couple songs in the films they've appeared in, including 'Today's Tune' - "Lady Come Down", in 'The Importance Of Being Earnest'.

Colin Firth and Rupert Everett - "Lady Come Down"