…so that when I die, it can be in the obit headline, as in Holy Cow: Phil Rizzuto dead at 89. Really, that’s kind of tacky. What happens when Downtown Julie Brown dies? Is the headline going to read "Wubba-wubba-wubba: Julie Brown dead at 89"? Will we someday see the headline "AAAAaaaaaay!: Henry Winkler dead at 89"? Still, I better … Read More
Lady Bird
I don’t have much to say about her passing. I didn’t really know much about her from an historical perspective, and I always thought that whole family was kind of silly. But I will give her mad props for this: As first lady, she was perhaps best known as the determined environmentalist who wanted roadside billboards and junkyards replaced with … Read More
Hank Madress Sleeps Tonight
The guy who sang the most popular version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is dead.
The Long Weekend & Charles Nelson Reilly
Well, obviously no blogging for a few days there. I had pretty productive weekend. Managed to clean the pool and fill it — almost ready for use! Did some major yardwork. A couple of Full Monty rehearsals. Played an $11-entry-fee online poker tournament and walked away with $2,450.00. Couldn’t get my new kitchen faucet installed. I tried — I’m just … Read More
Falwell’s The Ends Well
The post-mortem deification begins. So, in the interest of equal time, let’s also remember some of Falwell’s greatest hits, courtesy of the Carpetbagger: March 1980: Falwell tells an Anchorage rally about a conversation with President Carter at the White House. Commenting on a January breakfast meeting, Falwell claimed to have asked Carter why he had “practicing homosexuals” on the senior … Read More
Tammy Faye Death Watch
Jerry, then Tammy. These things happen in threes, right? Don’t know who’s the third.
David Halberstam, R.I.P.
The man who first recognized Vietnam as a "quagmire" — years ahead of his fellow journalists and the rest of the country — was killed in a car accident yesterday. A prescient, smart man — he is a voice that should always have been listened to. Here, for example, are his comments just 3 days after 9/11: We are in … Read More
Sanjaya Lives; Vonnegut Dies. There Is No God.
In memory of Kurt’s passing: Many years ago, I was so innocent I still considered it possible that we could become the humane and reasonable America so many members of my generation used to dream of. We dreamed of such an America during the Great Depression, when there were no jobs. And then we fought and often died for that … Read More
Death Of Woody Harrelson’s Dad
Normally, this is a news story that I would have ignored, save for the fact that Woody Harrelson’s father may have some connection to the JFK assassination. Below is a picture of the "three tramps" taken into custody in Dallas on that fateful day. They were supposedly vagrants hanging around the railyards near Dealey Plaza, yet many have noted their … Read More
More Than A Feeling
Lead singer for Boston, Brad Delp, dead. As a tribute, here’s a little Delp and Boston trivia. He bought his first guitar after seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. Since 1994, he’s been in a Beatles tribute band named Beatlejuice. Before he joined the band, Delp was manufacturing heating coils in a Mr. Coffee plant. Boston’s debut album … Read More
Art Buchwald, R.I.P.
Not long ago, Buchwald was diagnosed with cancer. He retired his column, and checked into a hospice for his final days. There, according to reports, he lived life to the fullest — partying with old freinds and colleagues. And apparently, by doing so and not dying, he eventually left (or, as some say, was asked to leave). Art Buchwald, humorist … Read More