On A Pale Horse

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

Labels: 1958 births, 2005 November deaths, activist, actor, cancer

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

Labels: 1932 births, 2005 November deaths, actor, natural causes

In 1991 my Grandpa M. passed away which gave way to the second inheritance that I blew through like a whore on Michigan Avenue. I dropped coin on some of the dumbest things ever: comic books, aquarium supplies, feeder fish (what fun), Tyco racetrack sets, velvet Bruce Springsteen paintings, endless hours of playing Street Fighter II and, the point of this rant, tickets to WWF matches. And yes, they were WWF matches, not this WWE shit. I'm talking about the early 90's here when wrestling was going through a major wane, when you could get up front and personal with the wrestlers because there wasn't a damn soul in the Palace of Auburn Hills, when I was dating Booby. Aw god was it great.

I never saw Eddie Guerrero wrestle. I don't give a rat's tushy about wrestling anymore - it's just another thing that I make fun of my husband for watching.

On November 13th Guerrero was found dead in his hotel room in Minnesota at the Marriott City Center Hotel. The autopsy concluded that he passed away from heart failure from an undiagnosed heart disease possibly brought on by his past troubles with alcohol and drug abuse.

October 9, 1968 - November 13, 2005
RIP

Labels: 1968 births, 2005 November deaths, heart failure, sports