William Saroyan in "The Bucket List"

Yes, this is one of my "Armenian pride" posts, you know the kind: you hear an Armenian name mentioned in a movie, an Armenian name in its credits, or anything Armenian in the most unexpected of places. Well, in watching the new film The Bucket List, which I would wholeheartedly recommend to everyone, there is just such a mention!

You see, the movie is about two unlikely pals who are terminally ill but decide to live life to the fullest anyway. In this setting, William Saroyan's play,The Time of Your Life, is briefly mentioned. It turns out parts of the play were also used in Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End!

How great is that?

Alvin and the Armenian Chipmunks

Click to enlarge.

You must be thinking that I've lost my mind, right? Well, not quite! If you watched Alvin and the Chipmunks growing up, then maybe you realized one of the names in the closing credits as being distinctly Armenian: Ross Bagdasarian. Well, as it turns out, Ross was the cousin of William Saroyan and his stage name was David Seville! David Seville, if you recall, was the man who took care of the Chipmunks in the shows!

Well, all of this is great, but I really wrote this entry to announce that there will be a Chipmunks movie this Christmas produced by none other than Ross Bagdasarian, Junior, the son of the late Ross Bagdasarian.

Don't miss it!

Picture: Saroyan & Saryan

Here's a neat picture I found online: on the left is the writer William Saroyan and on the right the master artist Martiros Saryan. Talk about a meeting of geniuses, huh?