Friday, December 23, 2005

Friday, December 16, 2005

Darrell Russell, 29


I've been depressed pretty much as long as I can remember. I've tried drugs and loved them and want to do more but have been so cheap that I wasn't willing to dole out the cash, mainly because I loved having heat and food more. Call me crazy.

It always pains me to see people that have a huge opportunity that whittle away this chance because of drugs.

Darrell Russell was drafted out of USC in 1997 to the Oakland Raiders and was a two time Pro-Bowl player. In 2001 he was tested and ultimately banned from the NFL for a banned substance. He returned in 2003 by playing eight games with the Redskins; he last played with the Tampa Bay Bucceneers testing positive again.

He was killed December 15th in a car crash with fellow USC player Michael Bastianelli.

May 27, 1976 - December 15, 2005
RIP

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Monday, December 12, 2005

Richard Pryor, 65


As a kid I watched a lot of Richard Pryor movies on channel 50, either Saturday or Sundays. To me, Richard Pryor didn't make funny movies, he made movies that were bleeped and that were a little choppy. It wasn't until the advent of cable television and Movieland stores that I understood why my mom was getting so upset every time she saw that I was watching one of his films.

It would be pretty crazy for me to go over the rise of this great American comedian so I'm just going to direct you to his website.

He had a pretty prolific career, starring in numberous movies, doing countless dates of stand-up, winning an Emmy, five Grammys, getting married seven times to five women and having seven children.

He was also involved in trying to get one of my favorite movies to the big screen, Blazing Saddles. But after being turned down, specifically because of Richard Pryor being attached to the project, he handed it over to someone else.

Mr. Pryor passed away on December 10th after a cardiac arrest.

December 1, 1940 - December 10, 2005
RIP

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Eugene McCarthy, 89


One of my favorite shows is Sliders. It's a show about 4 normal people being sucked through a worm hole of alternate realities caused by an historical event happening or not happening. Long before this show came on I used to think about odd stuff like if JFK hadn't been assassinated - would I have been born. Pretty heavy stuff for a fifth grader but I spent a lot of time alone so I had an immense amount of time to free flow thoughts.

So what if Eugene McCarthy been nominated to the Democratic Presidential Ticket instead of Hubert Humphrey, could he have won against Nixon? Would Vietnam gone as long as it did? There might not have been a Watergate and then subsequent scandels would have to have a different ending then 'gate'. McCarthy wouldn't have left his wife, wouldn't have wrote any books. My parents might not have met, I might not have been languising away in my dull little life. You know stuff like that.

Eugene McCarthy spent a good 20 years in the Senate and made a respective five time bid for the White House under different party affiliations. Seems like a pretty interesting guy.

Mr. McCarthy passed away from complications of Parkinsons Disease.

March 29, 1916 - December 10, 2005
RIP

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Thursday, December 08, 2005

Fredrick Ashworth, 93


A few years ago when I was finishing up my worthless Bacholors Degree at Walsh College I had a finance teacher who was, at the very least, interesting. He had been a business man for many years, part of that time working in the oil fields of Saudi Arabia and had plenty of stories that he was willing to share. Part of his required reading included George Orwells 1984 and Balint Vazsonyi's Americans 30 Year War. The book written by a Hungarian immigrant and paralled some of the things that have been happening in America to the things he witnessed in Eastern Europe before his immigration. Interesting book, I highly recommend it to anyone that I get into a political conversation with, especially these days.

Vice Admiral Fredrick "Dick" Ashworth was a weaponer aboard the bomber that dropped the a nuclear bomb over Nagasaki August 9, 1945. The bomb devastated the area and is the cause of an estimated 60,000 to 80,000 deaths. It was a horrible, horrible event in WW2 but was one of many reasons that the War was quickly brought to an end.

War stinks no matter what you say. Dropping bombs on innocent people is horrible way to show power. But to forget about this event such as this would be sickening. On May 18, 1998 the Enola Gay exhibit, the first plane to drop a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, was discontinued at the Smithsonian Institute. The cancellation was brought on by a number of reasons (googling picked up plenty) that pretty much boiled down to being 'politically incorrect'. Thankfully the exhibit and the plane was moved to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center and will hopfully be up for a long time to come. It's been often said that to forget the past is to repeat it. It seems like a lot of information is lost now a days thanks to commercial media. If we can keep events like this in mind we can overcome and surpass our predecessors.

Ashworth was born in Beverly, Mass., and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1933. He passed away on December 6th while undergoing heart surgery.

1912 - December 3, 2005
RIP

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Wendie Jo Sperber, 47


I have a thing for transvestites. Transvestites, sweaty men, and leather, great combination, huh? I think that the first vanilla transvestite that I and most of the Mid-West suburban Gen-X'ers knew of was Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari on "Bosom Buddies". I had such a mad crush on Hildegarde, and I know he/she was pretty matronly but there was something about him/her. The one thing I loved about that show was Amy, she was such a good friend to those two dorks. My love of Amy spilled over the 30 minutest that the show was on and I learned her name and subsequently since 1980 have screamed "WENDIE JO SPERBER" any time she was on TV to delight (ha) of boyfriends, friends and family. The woman was in a lot of things, especially 1941, Used Cars, Moving Violations, The Bachlor Party, and most recently guest starring on Will & Grace and 8 Simple Rules.

In 1997 she was diagnosed with breast cancer. By 2002 the cancer had spread through her body, she reached out to the breast cancer community and found the group weSPARK.
On November 29th she lost her battle with cancer and passed away.

September 15, 1958 - November 29, 2005

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Pat Morita, 73


A little known wired fact about Happy Days is that the character played by Al Molinaro 'Alfred 'Al' Delvecchio' was named after Red Wing great Alex Delvecchio. I can't remember where I heard that from, it just seems to be one of those useless knowledge items that I can't seem to drop out of my head. I always thought that Arnolds was named after Al, it wasn't until I looked it up on imdb that I saw Matsuo 'Arnold' Takahashi character came first. I guess that's why I would bomb the '70's sitcom' portion of Jeopardy.

Mr. Morita's had a pretty crappy start in life. He was diagnosed with spinal tuberculosis that left him in body casts and immobile until he was 11, at which time he had to learn how to walk all over again. Shortly after he got back on his feet World War 2 started and he was shipped off to a Japanese interment camp for the duration of the war.

He started his acting career by becoming a stand up comedian and working with the LA Group the Groundlings.

I'm not a huge Miyagi fan - I liked Mr. Morita more as Captian Sam Pak, but I guess that just a personal thing.

Mr. Morita passed away on Thanksgiving Day from natural causes, surrounded by his wife, ex-wife and his children.

June 28, 1932 - November 24, 2005
RIP

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