On A Pale Horse

I wrote this whole beautiful tribute to Robert Altman. As I was about to hit 'publish' Foxfire crashed and I lost everything. I've got a pie baking in the oven...another one to bake. I'll write this again at a later date.

February 20, 1925 - November 20, 2006
RIP

Labels: 1925 births, 2006 November deaths, director, leukemia

As a child I was fat. From the ages of 10 to 15 My parents would send me to summer camp and I'd loose a lot of weight, come back, get complimented on my new size and then proceed to gain all that weight back and then some over the course of the school year. The summer that I turned 16 my parents finally let me stay home, which was great because I had my first REAL boyfriend. But I knew that this particular summer I wouldn't have my opportunity to drop all that weight so I embarked on my own extreme workout plan. I'd do aerobics for an hour, bike ride for close to an hour, push ups, sits up this coupled with my extreme diet made me super skinny. The diet was easy. No meat, no sugar, no meal bigger then the size of a tennis ball and no eating after 6pm. I thought I looked awesome. My collarbone stuck out, my ass was perfect, you could count my ribs and my pelvic bone jutted out, which occasionally caused the boyfriend a bit of discomfort when we were, ummm, fornicating. Eventually I couldn't sustain the workout routine and eating restrictions. I saw some Lifetime Movie of the Week about bulimia and that seemed a bit less restrictive. My new diet plan was harsh, I was cold all of the time, I couldn't do a damn thing with my hair and I was tired all the time. When I puked up blood I got really scared and stopped the whole thing.

Some people get so wrapped up in their weight that don't know when to stop or when they do their body can't handle it. Beauty is often measured by what the scale says. Even though many people decry the whole thing, that people should embrace what they look like rather then aspire to look like the models in the magazines, those that are a size 0 are held up as role models rather then the exception. It is estimated that 1% of the population is anorexic while 4% are bulimic. http://www.anred.com/stats.htm

Ana Carolia Reston was born near Sao Paulo, Brazil. Her modeling career started when she was 13 and won a beauty contest. She wasn't super famous but this 5'8" traveled the world modeling for famous designers as Giorgio Armani. At the time of her death she only weighed 88 pounds.

She passed away from kidney malfunction caused by anorexia and bulimia.

June 4, 1985 - November 14, 2006
RIP

Labels: 1985 births, 2006 November deaths, anorexia, model

I'm not as cool as I think I am. Truth be told, I'm a half hearted nerd - not the kind that ends up building an empire like Microsoft or musically inclined like Wierd Al Yankovic just socially inept. I am, in fact, one of your run of the mill zit faced, pencil chewing, glasses wearing, stringy hair, comic book reading, Star Trek watching, slightly OCD, band geek. If it wasn't for Maybelline, Lasik, hair dye and cigarettes I'd never get a date (well I've had a few in my life - not recently though). I've gotten some pretty strange looks when I open my mouth and talk about things that I'm interested in (case in point - this site). I've been looked at like I have a second head and heard the words 'freak' and 'abnormal' to describe me, whatever. I've always held the stead fast belief that one should stand out, not be classified, be abnormal. In my case that means that I'm pretty proud to be called a nerd.

I wouldn't characterize John Waters as being a nerd. I think he understands the nerd mentality, those that live life outside of the normal accepted pattern of living. I like that. One of my all time favorite movies is "Hairspray" the 1988 classic with Divine, Ricky Lake, Debbie Harry & Shawn Thompson (drool). *Sidenote... I'm not too excited about this remake that's coming out with John Travolta - but that's for another time.* One of the more colorful characters (not trying to make a pun) was Motormouth Maybelle played by one Ruth Brown. I loved her - she was loud - proud - funny - she rhymed (Oh Papa Tooney. We've got a Looney!).

Ruth Browns career took off with Atlantic Records in the 1950's with songs like "So Long" followed by "Tear Drops From Her Eyes". She retired from singing in 1961 after going to another record label and having less then steller sucess with her subsequent releases. In the mid Seventies she experienced a career comeback. She started recording again, staring on Broadway (she won a 1989 Tony for her role in Black & Blue) and then going on to Hollywood to star in television and movies. In 1993 she was inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Ms. Brown passed away in Las Vegas from complications following a heart attack and stroke she suffered after surgery in October 2006

January 30, 1928 - November 16, 2006
RIP

Labels: 1928 births, 2006 November deaths, actor, broadway, deaths, heart attack, singer

I don't know about other states football rivalries but here in Michigan we've got this huge one - The University of Michigan Wolverines versus Ohio State Buckeyes. Whoo hoo. I suppose I care a little more now that I don't have to hide my head in embarrassment. My ex and I would walk into our local watering hole and he would wear his Ohio State shirt among a sea of Blue & Maize. Well this would usually raise a few insults and some back & forth stat throwing generally ending up in someone saying "Well Ohio just sucks" and/or "UofM is just a bunch of spoiled rich kid brats". Good times.

Bo Schembechler is a LEGENDARY football coach. He coached the Wolverines from 1969 through the end of the 1989 season. He won 235 games. He went to 17 bowl games in 21 years, 10 of those games were the Rose Bowl. Even though he was born in Ohio (and earned his Masters Degree at Ohio State), Schembechler became a fixture in Michigan sports. He was the Athletic Director at UofM from 89-90, President of the Detroit Tigers from 90-92 and stayed on as a sports anaylst for the show "The Big Ten Ticket" at Channel 7 - Detroits ABC affiliate.

The UofM & OS game is traditionally the last game of the year for both teams. This year is particularly an important match up because Ohio State is ranked Number 1 while UofM holds on to the Number 2 spot in the Big 10. Schembechler recently stated about this weekends upcoming game that it was "About as big as it gets, I see this game as being a great classic." I'm sure it's going to be although shrouded with this unfortunate tragedy.

Mr. Schembechler collapsed during a broadcast in October. He was hospitalized and device was implanted in his chest to regulate his heart beat. He returned to work shortly after the procedure. He again collapsed again while taping his show and passed away from an apparent heart attack.

April 1, 1929 - November 17, 2006
RIP

Labels: 1929 births, 2006 November deaths, heart attack, Michigan, sports

I've had to take about five or six different economics classes during the course of my academic career. For some reason all the econ teachers were kinda freaky, one was a surfer dude, one reminded me of Dave Foley (looks & humor), still another was really uptight; he pursed his lips when someone didn't answer a question quite the way it should have been. The one class that I remember the best was way (way, waaaaayyyyy) back in high school. The teacher, Mr.D, didn't seem all that interested in teaching the class so we mostly watched videos. He had this one series, purchased from PBS (I'm sure he got a really cool tote bag for it too) called "Economics U$A". Richard T. Gill served as an analyst for the program. Econ was one of those required courses at my high school so Dick Gill became a joke to all of us seniors; something about his style was a bit different. I didn't realize how different though until I started researching this obit. After spending twenty two years as a Professor at Harvard he left his position he launched his second career as an opera singer and then returned to television to write and appear in the 28 episodes of this series. But yet again I'm off the subject. This isn't about Richard Gill this is about a Milton Friedman.

Milton Friedman was born in 1912 to immigrant parents in New York City. When he was a year old the family moved to a small town in New Jersey about 20 miles out of NYC. He graduated high school in 1928, at the age of 16 and then attended Rutgers University on scholarship graduating in 1932 during the Great Depression. After spending some additional time at the University of Chicago and Columbia he went on to work in various positions conducting research on economic trends, consumer budget and professional income. During the course of his career he worked for the US Treasury Department, academic positions and as economic adviser during Barry Goldwater's and Richard Nixon's run for Presidency. He retired from the University of Chicago in 1977 but continued to remain active in research and discussion of the economic field. During his life he won numerous awards, honorary degrees and in 1976 he won the Nobel Prize for Economics. For all of you, eh, cannabis users you might want to recognize his work in researching the economic benefits of legalization of marijuana.

Mr. Friedman passed away from heart failure.


July 31, 1912 - November 16, 2006
RIP

Labels: 1912 births, 2006 November deaths, economics, heart failure, political

I find myself bitching about the dumbest things at time. 'Oh man, I broke a finger nail' or 'Damn I forgot to get that book back to the library' even better 'I can't believe I'm out of Diet Pepsi, my life SUCKS!'. Gawd, no wonder why my liver is shot and my therapist is over paid. I always heard that God doesn't give you more then you can handle which, without going into a whole theological discussion, is true, BUT how will we ever know what the extent of our crap capacity is? I guess I liken it to the amount of weight you can carry...at first it's just a five or ten pound bag but after awhile you start building up your muscles and can handle more. Life doesn't just give you a little bag of crap there's usually about 25, 50, 100 or more pounds that are going to get dumped on you before your time is up. Some people crawl into a bottle or a corner and hope that it just goes away, some people deal others still can take it all on and then some.

I'm sure everyone in the free world by now has watched the movie 'Mask' (if you haven't then get your ass out there and rent it). It's this story about Rocky Dennis (1964-1980) who was afflicted with afflicted with craniodiaphyseal dysplasia. His mother Rusty Dennis (later Tullis) wouldn't listen to what the doctors told her about the short and painful life he would have to endure, failing eyesight, severe headaches, learning difficulties and that he might not have a full productive life. She ignored those who said that her son wouldn't be able to function in a normal school environment, he did, and ended up graduating junior high with honors. She took this whole bag of crap that the 'experts' were giving her about her son and his limitations and threw it back in their faces.

"This was not the PTA mother of the year," Phelan (the Screen Writer for Mask) said of Tullis in a 2001 interview with People. "But she was the perfect mother for Rocky. She never made him feel sorry for himself."

She wasn't the model citizen, she got in trouble with the law a few times, the latest in 2002 when she went to prison for 16 months for admitting she violated her probation on a drug charge.

On October 14th she was seriously hurt in an accident when her three wheel motorcycle hit a utility pole. She never fully recovered and passed away on November 11, 2006 from an infection.

RIP

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-tullis15nov15,1,611912.story?coll=la-news-obituaries&ctrack=1&cset=true

Labels: 2006 November deaths, accident, related to someone famous

I've been trying to think back over my life and find something that I was truly spectacular at...something that would make me stand out among the rest...something that people would be in awe of now AND years from now. I couldn't come up with one damn thing, well there is that one thing but I don't want to brag. Besides I might have to charge a $29.99 monthly fee. I figure all I need is a domain, some good pics, a webmaster (heh heh) probably a couple of hundred dollar investment and then I could post my new site up on the world wide web. Within a year I could easily gross around $250 bucks, right? Right.

But seriously there isn't anything about me that would lend itself to having a fan club. You know the cool kind with membership cards, buttons and newsletters. So I'm just a bit sad when I read about a horse that has a fan club. I love horses. I miss riding. But I don't think I've ever loved a horse enough to dedicate a website for one. But Desert Orchid wasn't any old horse, he was a legend in England. He won the King George VI Chase a record four times and was adored for his racing performances and his incredible jumps. One of his more fascinating wins was in 1989...

A crowd of over 58,000 witnessed Desert Orchid's immense effort to overhaul the mud-loving Yahoo in the final stages of the race. After his one and a half length victory, Desert Orchid's rider, Simon Sherwood said: "I've never known a horse so brave. He hated every step of the way in the ground and dug as deep as he could possibly go". Three cheers were called as Desert Orchid was unsaddled, surrounded bythousands of approving fans. The nation's favourite steeplechaser had not let them down. http://www.famousracehorses.co.uk/dessie/descareer.htm

Retirement, in 1991, couldn't keep the old boy down. He was often seen at charity events and would make special appearances. On Christmas and for his Birthday he would receive cards and treats every year from his legions of adoring fans. His legend and name will live on when on December 27, 2006 the Inaugural Desert Orchid Chase will be run at Kempton Park.

April 11, 1979 - November 13, 2006.

Labels: 1979 births, 2006 November deaths, animal, sports

Doesn't seem to be a good year for the stars of 'City Slickers'. First Bruno Kirby and now Jack Palance. Hopefully Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern & Helen Slater are all still taking their vitamins. When I was a kid I didn't know that Jack Palance was a film star. I just thought he was that creepy guy from 'Ripleys Believe it Or Not'. I used to love watching that show on Sunday nights wasn't too fond of his daughter, Holly, co-hosting but it definitely jumped the shark when she was replaced by Marie Osmond.

He had an incredible striking face, which I just found out, was partially due to his boxing career and from bailing out of a burning B-24 during a training excersize. Even with plastic surgery he was left with distinct features.
His acting career started in 1947 with a stint on Broadway and he moved up to film roles by 1950. In 1991 he played Curly Washburn in the movie City Slickers for which he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. That year the host of the Awards show was Billy Crystal, his co-star in City Slickers. He started out his acceptance speech with "Billy Crystal...I crap bigger then him". He followed it up by doing some one arm pushups.

Mr Palance died at his home in California of natural causes.

February 18, 1919 - November 10, 2006
RIP

Labels: 1919 births, 2006 November deaths, actor, natural causes

No More Nice Girls
I took a personal economics course in high school. The main objective was to teach a person how to balance their check book, invest money and plan for retirement. I kinda blew off that class because my one and only plan for life was that I was going to write the Great American Novel by the time I was 25. Following the publication I was going to travel the world promoting the book and just being a eccentric tourist. But unfortunately on my way back from Great Britain while sitting in first class on the Concorde the plane would suddenly develop engine problems and would crash in the ocean. I along with the other passengers would be lost at sea for eternity. Well by the time I was 23 I hadn't even started the novel. I had changed my major to Accounting with a minor in English in hopes that after I spent the day toiling over debits and credits that I could still work on the great Great American Novel and perhaps some minor short stories, as a start to get in good with a reputable publisher. By the time I was 25 I changed my major again to Finance, no minor. I started working full time, learned how to balance a checkbook and started my own retirement account.
I guess if my life hadn't taken the direction it did I would've still liked to do some writing for a living (and blogging during work doesn't really count). I envy the career that Ellen Willis had. She was a political essayist, journalist, pop music critic and the Director of Cultural Reporting and Criticism graduate program at NYU. I think I liked the most was what I read on Wikipedia...

She is also known for her feminist politics and was a founding member of Redstockings. She was one of the few women working in music criticism during its inaugural years, when it was by and large a male-dominated field. Starting in 1979, Willis wrote a number of essays that were highly critical of anti-pornography feminism, criticizing it for what she saw as its sexual puritanism and moral authoritarianism, as well as its threat to free speech. These essays were among the earliest expressions of feminist opposition to the anti-pornography movement. Her 1981 essay, "Lust Horizons: Is the Women's Movement Pro-Sex?" is the origin of the term, "pro-sex feminism".[1] She was also a strong supporter of women's abortion rights, and in the early 1980s was a founding member of the pro-choice street theater/protest group No More Nice Girls.

I think that just about sums up why I wish I could be like her.

Ms. Willis passed away of cancer

1941 - November 9, 2006
RIP

Labels: 1941 births, 2006 November deaths, author, political, teacher

I wasn’t a huge 60 Minutes fan. Probably because of Andy Rooney or possibly because it was the only thing on Sunday nights that my Grandpa would watch and at the time they only had the one television set and I just didn't care about the news back then. Later on in life I occasionally listened to it…some AM station broadcast it on Sunday nights, and for the life of me I can’t remember why, but I used to drive some insane amount on Sundays, to and from somewhere. Probably for some asshat I was dating at the time that didn’t have a car or who knew that I’d be willing to haul my derrière out to his place at the drop of a hat rather then wasting any of his time because I was just waiting for his call. I seem to attract these guys but that’s probably because of some deep seated attention hungry neurosis that I have from childhood. I’m trying to break this habit but so far I’m doing a piss poor job of it. And NO I’m not taking applications for this position!

ANYWAY

The long & the short of it is that one of the anchors I ending up liking was Ed Bradley. He spent 25 seasons on the long running Sunday news show starting during the 1981 – 1982 season. His career was deep seated at CBS, he started out there in 1976 as a White House correspondent. I supposed one thing that I appreciated was that he was a little different then the rest; I never quite understood the earring but hey I have my one ear pierced 13 times a lot of people don’t seem to understand that either. He did win a bunch of news broadcasting awards including a Peabody Award, three Emmy's, a Lifetime Achievement Emmy, as well as many others. I know that I, along with many others, think that he did an incredible job of interviewing Howard Stern without making Howard seem like a total deranged, perverted loser. That's worth something.

Mr Bradley passed away from complications of leukemia.

June 22, 1941 – November 9, 2006

RIP

Labels: 1941 births, 2006 November deaths, leukemia, news, television

Suicide is a strange thing...sometimes people don't see it coming...they see the person as being successful and happy with many things ahead of them and wonder why the hell a they would want to throw it all away. That's why many people close to Adrienne Shelly were baffled when it was reported that she was found hanging from a bed sheet in her Greenwich Village office, as well they should have been.

Ms.Shelly started her career as an actress first gaining critical acclaim in the films 'The Unbelievable Truth' and 'Trust'. Later her talents turned to writing and directing indie films and won a Film Discovery Jury Award for direction in 2000 at the US Comedy Arts Festival for the film 'I'll Take You There'.

Her death was first reported as an apparent suicide with an asterisk, because police were waiting for results of an autopsy. As it turns out the police hunches were right. On November 6th police arrested 19 year old, illegal immigrant, Diego Pillco on suspicion of murder.

June 16, 1966 - November 1, 2006
RIP

Labels: 1966 births, 2006 November deaths, actor, director, murder

This is a day late but the sentiment is still there...

Revolutionary War - 4,435
War of 1812 - 2,260
World War I - 116,516
World War II - 405,399
Koren War - 36,516
Vietnam - 58,512
Operation Desert Storm/Shield/ Gulf War - 293
Iraqi Conflict - 2,811 (as of 10/28/06)

These are the causalities of war. I hope you remembered that these men & women died fighting for the American way of life (whether or not you agree the war was just...they are still Americans) when you were doing that scan tron voting ballot yesterday.



Stats from:
http://bessel.org/uswars.html
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h2020.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_conflict_in_Iraq_since_2003#Coalition_military_casualties

2-5 p.m. Forest Hill Cemetery Tour.:Every Sunday, October 1-November 12. Ann Arbor's unofficial city historian, Wystan Stevens, has been leading his popular interpretive tour of Ann Arbor's oldest cemetery for over 25 years. Stevens is an enchanting, wryly humorous raconteur, and he says that "the fall is the prettiest time of year for the graveyard." If you haven't been led around Forest Hill by Wystan, you don't really know Ann Arbor! Canceled in case of heavy rain. Meet inside the gate on Observatory, just north of Geddes. $10 (children with adult, free) by advance reservation and at the gate. 662-5438.

I’ve always idolized strong powerful women. I hated that whole damsel in distress scenario…it just pissed me off to think that men were the only one that could save the world – Thbbbt! I think this has something to do with my upbringing. I always watched my mom take care of pretty much everything around the house while my dad sat in the basement and played with his toys and to some extent my Grandma who took care of a house & three kids while, and cooked, and cleaned, and washed my Grandpa’s back. Some people might find those two examples as women being subservient to men but in my little world it just meant that men couldn’t do a damn thing by themselves and women were pretty much in power. So as I wrote earlier…I’m drawn to strong powerful women. My favorite shows when I was a kid were The Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, Nancy Drew, Pinky & Leather Tuscadero…later on I was drawn to Suzi Quatro (who was doing double time I my list), Joan Jett, Lita Ford and obviously the Runaways.

I wasn’t too familiar with Sandy West…I kinda backed into The Runaways. She along with Joan, Lita & Cherie Currie were pioneers of female rock bands. Sandy was only 16 in 1975 when she and Jett formed the The Runaways. After they disbanded Sandy continued to play with her former band mates and also formed her own band The Sandy West Band as well as releasing some of her own materials.

Sandy was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2005 and ultimately passed away on October 21, 2006 at a hospice in San Deimas, CA.

RIP

Labels: 2006 October deaths, cancer, musician

For years the television was my babysitter. Except at my babysitters house, there I just read books by Judy Blume & Daniel Pinkwater. I was occasionally allowed to watch TV when my babysitters daughter wasnÂ’t glued in front of it but even then I was to watch only MTV during their dinner time and let the daughter & mom know when a Journey video came on so they could swoon over Steve Perry.
Oops, I'm off the subject again...stay the course.
Anyway television jaded my perception of reality. All messed up situations could be solved within a half an hour (actually 23 minutes if you deduct commercial time) and there would either be a group hug at the end or if it was one of those 'very special’ episodes everyone would be bummed out until next week. I often worked situations in my life like this but nothing ever works out the way TV says it should.
The television series 'Father Knows Best' played into my distorted sense of reality. During the series' 6 year run Robert Young (aka Father) was able to clear up any overblown tragedy like it was nothing. Jane Wyatt played the 'Mother' and would sometimes lend a helping hand...you know when she wasn't busy cleaning or baking cookies.
Ms. Wyatt was raised in New York City and she attended some pretty prestigious private schools. Two years into her college career at Barnard College, Jane left to start her acting training; she made her Broadway debut only after six months of apprenticeship. She went on to star in her first film role in 1934. Star Trek geeks may remember her apperance in a 1967 episode where she portrayed Spocks mom - a role she reprised in the 1986 movie Star Trek: The Voyage Home. But more then anything she'll be remembered for her role as Margaret Anderson for which she won 3 consecutive Emmy's.
Ms. Wyatt passed away from natural causes in her BelAire, California home.
August 12, 1910 - October 20, 2006
RIP

Labels: 1910 births, 2006 October deaths, actor, natural causes