Eddie is kaput. The little dog that caused people to think Jack Russel terriers were a good idea is chasing bumpers in heaven.

http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=226276&GT1=7703

Jim Baen
 

Jim Baen was a modern sci-fi publisher who tried to maintain the traditions of the past. Baen Books featured a lot of the hard sci-fi that Hugo Gernsback would have liked.

In an era where a lot of 'intellectual property' companies were aggressively pursuing methods to squeeze profits from legacy content, limit sales to libraries and even went so far as to fine 12-year-old girls in an effort to sow fear among their consumers, Baen Books made it their policy to give away old content for free to build new readership.

This approach showed the kind of innovation that is completely foreign to a large corporation.

RIP Jim, and I hope the ********ers at Sony don't get their hands on your legacy.

Mister Jalopy :(

I've always loved Baen Books for doing what they do. Sorry to hear of Jim's passing.

Shine On....

That sucks. I grew up on Floyd, even though I was after their time.

1967, Apples and Oranges. :(

Red Buttons died today at 87. I really liked his performance in Hatari.

The scene with the rocket powered monkey catching net...

I was a big Red Buttons fan.

Mickey Spillane died today. He was 88. I've never read any of the Mike Hammer novels. I guess I need to go do that.

Bruno Kirby has died. He was 57. Bruno played best friend to Billy Crystal in both "When Harry met Sally" and "City Slickers".

Strange, I was just thinking about Bruno Kirby the other day. We were talking about baby names, and mentioned how some friends named their kid Bruno.

Damn. That's way too young to go.

Sad, but my biggest surprise was finding out that his dad was still alive ...

Glenn Ford has passed on at the age of 90. There are so few of the great screen actors of the 20th Century left by now, and Ford was one of the greatest. He could do it all, and in a believeable, Everyman sort of way, whether he was portraying a hero or an average Joe. He was extremely convincing in military roles, probably because he was, in fact, a military man during WWII, and became a Naval Reserve Captain thereafter.

Ford's greatest performances came in "Gilda" and "Blackboard Jungle", two landmark films of the American cinema, but I will, for some reason, always think of him as a Western star. There never was a better cowboy than Glenn Ford.

Thanks for all the great work, Glenn.

Don't forget The Courtship of Eddie's Father. One of Mrs. Dar's favorites.

I saw Vinnie Paul at Sam's the other day. You don't really know what to say anymore.

He also played Superman's father in the original 1970s TV series.

I loved him in Pocketful of Miracles.

I think he produced that on too, Shawnee. :cool:

He played Pa Kent in the first of the Superman movies with Chris Reeve. Young Clark Kent was portrayed by a local boy, Jeff East, in that film. Saw the kid in a high school play once back in the day.

The original TV series of Superman was in the 50's, starring George Reeves as the super guy.

I loved A.I.C.

I was shattered that he died lonely and alone. The fact that nobody checked up on him was doubly stark and lonely. Seemingly having so much but ultimately when it mattered having nothing at all.

Just mentioning Freddie Mercury again, cause I'm all psyched for his birthday.

What did you get him, Ibram? :eek:

Whoops. Yeah, uh, that's what I meant. :)

's okay. Supe was my favorite superhero as a child, until I discovered Marvel.

Steve Irwin, "Crocodile Hunter" died this morning after being struck in the chest by a Sting Ray's barb.

The animal kingdom has lost its greatest and most enthusiastic conservationist.
Crikey.

1) JFK
2) Pim Fortuyn
3) Jim Clarke

Steve Irwin has flirted with death for years, but I guess he never expected it came from a sting ray.

Yeah. This, even though Steve Irwin died doing what he does best, is a bummer.

This one may not mean much outside of Kansas City, but here...it means a great deal.

Today, one of the greatest promoters of baseball that has ever lived, Buck O'Neill, passed away in a Kansas City hospital at the age of 94. Buck had, in recent years, become a one man machine whose major purpose was to firmly cement the memory of Negro Leagues Baseball in the minds of the American public.

There couldn't have been a better individual than Buck for this job. If you've heard of him, it is probably in connection with him having been rejected for admission to Cooperstown this past Spring by a single vote, and the subsequent public swell of support for reconsideration and a much-deserved spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Buck was a Kansas City treasure, a tangible piece of our history, a link to our past, and a fine example of a human being. We're gonna miss him awful bad.

http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/...10400210062006

I already had no respect for professional baseball. Now, I have even less.

While I'm not so familiar with the KC Negro leagues, I learned much about the Atlanta Negro league team and the injustice after injustice those men suffered.

And now this?

Fuck baseball forever. I mean it.

One of the single worst PR moves MLB has ever made. I believe that Buck will eventually make it to Cooperstown, but he won't be able to attend the ceremony.

Buck is someone who I believe will still be present in Spirit, though. What a guy.

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is here in KC, the cornerstone of a long running revival effort in the historic 18th and Vine Jazz District. Our team was the Monarchs, and the history of this and the other Negro Leagues teams is rich and fascinating.

Isn't the MLB Hall of Fame voting done by sports writers/casters. MLB puts up a list of candidates and then they vote on one or maybe a couple players, and the top so many vote getters are in? Theoretically not voting against anybody, just for somebody else. And beyond the control of MLB, pretty much.

I'd say Buck (with a little help from Burns) did a hell of a promotion job, considering the number of Negro League shirts, hats and paraphernalia, I see.

Of course he couldn't help being an outstanding player, being trained by the Yankees. :cool:

You're correct about the voting procedure, Bruce, but I think there's an ad hoc or at-large (or something like that) selection possibility as well. I could be wrong.

Your right. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basebal...loting%2C_2006

The process is a lot more complicated than I thought, with committees doing several elections in different categories, some on even or odd years.
Typical modern complicating of the simple game Buck O'Neill stood for.:(

What was overlooked, tragically overlooked, was the fact that we had a bona fide, living, breathing legend who, by all accounts, was one of the finest examples of a human being, let alone baseball player, who could have been recognized.

Baseball is about much more than performance. It is the quintessential American game, a part of our culture. Someone like Buck, who spent his last decade as perhaps the finest emmisary the game ever had, deserves enshrinement because he was not only a great player, but a great scout, a great administrator, and - goddamn it - a great person.

In a world of steroidal cheating, salaries that would make a sheikh blush, and an influx of world players bettering us at our own game, Buck was a reminder that baseball *is* just a game. You hit the ball, you throw the ball, you catch the ball...and you run for all you're worth.

Buck understood that. Why doesn't the rest of Baseball?

The owner of his team (Monarchs) made it in. :eyebrow:

Hunter S. Thompson
Spaulding Gray
Ruth Gordon
Warren Zevon
Elliott Smith

Jack Palance Heads for Last Roundup
 

I am a lover of Westerns. When I was a kid, the heyday of the Western was past, but a few classics still rolled out now and then, often starring The Duke. It wasn't until I was older, and made a point of watching older oaters, that I discovered and learned to appreciate Jack Palance.

If ever a man was born to wear a Stetson, it was Jack. Big, strapping, with a face that looked as though it had been extracted from Mount Rushmore, Palance filled a movie screen like few others ever could. His villains were the most menacing, his heroes the most thrilling, and his ladies men the most...unlikely.

Most of our modern generation fell in love with Palance when he starred in "City Slickers", alongside Billy Crystal. Playing Curly, an amalgam of every steely-eyed hardass he'd ever portrayed, Palance turned an otherwise unremarkable fishes out of water story into a genuinely funny, genuinely warm, genuinely surprising romp suitable for the whole family.

Palance won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for that portrayal, delighting audiences and spurring the most hilarious series of adlibbed jokes from presenter Crystal when Palance did a set of one arm pushups on stage while accepting his Oscar. His fame was born anew at the age of 70, and he became a household name once again.

Jack Palance has passed on at the age of 87, possibly the last of great cowboys, headed for his last roundup. Yippie I Oh, Jack.

Well done 'Splode !!!
Written from the heart !!!

I remember him best from the times he hosted Ripley's on television.

Believe it.

Or not.

Robert Altman died on Monday night.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movi....ap/index.html

Aw, shit. Bob Altman was a personal hero of mine. A KC native, and surely one of the most original, independent and revered directors of all time.

Selene and I just watched "A Prairie Home Companion" this past weekend. Damn it. I am going to miss him, for sure.

Unfortunately, I have only seen MASH. I love that movie - it is one of my favorites. (You know, I was talking to someone who didn't know it was a movie BEFORE it was a TV show???)

I never heard of this guy until I read his obituary.

Bummer. I always knew that the movie renditions of X-Men were very, very true to the characters. Now that I know one of the creators thought so, too, I feel even more enthusiastic about this particular adaptation.

For someone like me, who grew up with superheroes, the quality of big screen renditions is a matter of some import, right up there with having a proper James Bond.

One of the few things that I disliked about the LOTR movies is that they changed the character of Faramir. I don't mind some tweaking of a story as long as they are faithful to the characters.

Peter Boyle died today. "ut'n onna itz" will never sound the same.

What the hell is that stuff (other than heart disease) that killed him? Never heard of it.

Multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cell, is an incurable but treatable disease.

I'll never forget watching Young Frankenstein at the drive-in as a kid. My sister and I both got to wear pyjamas, and stay up way past our bedtimes. Every time I'd see Peter Boyle in something after that, I'm reminded of that fun night.

HOLY CRAP!!!

<Feels old.

Momofuku Ando
 

Momofuku Ando

Domo arigato Ando-san.:sniff:

Good long life, and he created a fundamental product. We should all be so fortunate.

Denny Doherty 1/4 of the Mamas & Papas (and the male lead on most of their tunes) has passed away at age 66.

Michelle Phillips must be feeling her own mortality rather keenly at the moment. God, I love that group.

Cass Eliots' death was the only celebrity death that ever made me cry.

John Candy