Human Nature

And it cuts like a knife
She's out of my life

I found out this week that an old friend who I had not seen in years had committed suicide. I was surprised at the sense of loss that I felt for someone I knew only through other friends and I’d not seen in several years. She had a great husband, a beautiful daughter and a thriving business. I wondered how her family could recover from their grief.

I've got to get stronger
And I won't give up the fight

When I heard the news about Farrah Fawcett’s death yesterday after her extensive—and quite public—battle with cancer, my thoughts on my friend’s death turned from sadness to anger. How could she throw away her life when there were so many people out there fighting tooth and nail just to survive?

It's Too High To Get Over
Too Low To Get Under
You're Stuck In The Middle
And The Pain Is Thunder

I can’t imagine how dark it must have been for her that she couldn’t see light. What a horrible and lonely place that must have been. To be in that kind of pain where she could not see her husband and daughter’s love is unimaginable. I feel guilty for being angry with her when she was in so much pain. I find myself waffling between anger, empathy, and sorrow for her that I wonder if I will ever be able to think of her without a broken heart.

Every day create your history
Every path you take you're leaving your legacy
Every soldier dies in his glory
Every legend tells of conquest and liberty

My feelings for Michael Jackson have never really waffled. I enjoyed his music when I was younger, but—truth be told—in the battle of the family bands of the 70’s, I preferred the clean-cut but soulless Osmonds over the urban and funkified Jacksons. I enjoyed the Jackson’s music—but I had a crush on Donny.

I loved Off The Wall, but never bought it. I finally bought Thriller after the fourth number one was released. I became a big fan of Michael’s music, but I was never really a fan of Michael Jackson the person as he never rang true for me. Dating Brooke Shields while carrying Bubbles the Chimp caused warning bells to go off in my head while the rest of the world tried to Moondance. His behavior became more erratic and Michael became less about the music and more about being a bizarre spectacle. Whenever there was a discussion of his behavior, we had to be reminded he was talented.

Beat me
Hate me
You could never
Break me
Will me
Thrill me
You could never
Kill me
Do me
Sue me
Everybody
Do me
Kick me
Hike me
Don't you
Black or white me

When I heard he was ill yesterday, my first thought was Michael was trying to get out of his tour in the most spectacular fashion he could devise. I was as shocked as the rest of the world about his passing. I was less a fan than ever, but he just seemed too famous to die. At least too famous to share his passing with another pop-culture celebrity.

I wondered to myself if I could ever hear his music and not think of the tragedy that was his life and early death. As I walked to the train station I turned on my iPod and searched for a Michael Jackson song, to my surprise there were four of his tunes. As the drums pumped through my earbuds at the opening of The Way You Make Me Feel, I immediately burst into a smile and started to tear up. In an instant it was just about the music and nothing else—everything else faded away.

Just promise baby, you'll love me forevermore
I swear I'm keepin' you satisfied
'Cause you're the one for me

Michael, Farrah and my friend are gone. Three lives ending far too soon. All that’s left are the memories and how they effected the lives of so many. I guess we each have to decide how we’re going to remember them. The good, the bad, or some mix of each. I’ve decided to remember them and smile.


Help me sing it, ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa


Lyrics by Michael Jackson:
She's Out of My Life
Scream
Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
HIStory
They Don’t Care About Us
The Way You Make Me Feel
Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’

Ed McMahon: First Rate Second Banana

Ed McMahon passed away at the age of 86 [obit]—he had been ill as of late. It’s another bit of my childhood that’s gone away. His infamous “Now he-------re’s Johnny!” takes me back to when I would covertly stay up late to watch The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. I would try SO hard not to laugh out loud and alert my parents to my presence. Rest in Peace, Ed.

Losing Ed makes me wonder “who’s next?” Now in the old days, I would say that Delores Hope would be out in the Rolls trying to knock off other celebs to keep Bob Hope alive… someone told me that they don’t get the joy out of celebrity deaths since he died. Does that make them an asshole or me for making fun of it so much?

I’m going to say “me” because since celebrities die in threes, my first instinct is start a list of potential candidates. In no particular order, they are:

Walter Cronkite – 93 and apparently rather ill.
Annette Funicello – she got MS in the 90’s and has been blind for the last few years… I had to Google her to see if she was still alive.
Elizabeth Taylor – Dear Lord, she’s looking like those shrunken apple heads from the 70’s…
Karl Malden – Jeezo, he’s freakin’ 97!
Patrick Swayze – I’ve seen the cover of US Weekly, he should be lucky to make it through this post.
Kirk Douglas – I know what you’re thinking, “He’s still alive?” He’s in his 90’s…
Ernest Borgnine – I’ve been waiting for him to die ever since I heard that he died in the arms of an underage hooker back in the 90’s.
Nancy Reagan – 80 something… She was at the White House recently. Looked like a twig
Mickey Rooney – 105 (I’m guessing, but I can’t be that far off), Again: “still alive? Really…?”
Delores Hope – 100 (Seriously... she's 100!), At this point it is just a matter of time.

Farrah Fawcet – Thanks to Cav for reminding me... after her TV special, how could I forget?

"Sounds like steam escaping..."

RIP Dom DeLuise

Dom DeLuise, who appeared in several of my all-time favorite movies (Blazing Saddles, The Twelve Chairs, The Muppet Movie, History of the World Part I, Cannonball Run [guilty pleasure]) as well as a voice in countless animated TV shows and films, passed away at the age of 75. He'll be missed.

Since he was Burt Reynolds good friend--and I'm a shallow person--I'm putting up a picture of Burt when he was hot. Dom would have wanted it that way (okay, maybe not, but I'm not posting a semi-nude pic of Dom!).

Okay... okay! Here's a picture of Dom (back in the day):

RIP Bea Arthur

For those of you who don't know Bea Arthur from anything other than The Golden Girls, here's a little something to remind you that Bea was a much deserved Emmy and Tony award winner with impeccable comedic timing:

Andrew Wyeth, 1917-2009

Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Christina's World

Weather Side

Winter 1946

Wind from the Sea

"Khan!"

I'm sad to report that Mr. Roarke's fantasy of living forever has ended... Ricardo Montalban has passed away at the age of 88. For some of you, he was Mr. Roarke on Fantasy Island, for others, the genetically enhanced superhuman Khan Noonien Singh from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

I'll always remember him for his Chrysler commercials and how I still get a boner when I hear the words "rich, Corinthian leather..." [Ooooh... that's the stuff!]

He was always the superior being...

In Memorium

Eartha Kitt (1927-2008)

RIP: Estelle Reiner

I’m totally stealing this from D-Listed.



Estelle Reiner, mother of Rob and husband of Carl, has passed away at the age of 94. Talk about a long-happy life! She accomplished a lot in 94 years, including jazz singer, painter, married to a comic genius, mother to a wonderful director, and was immortalized into cinema history by dead-panning said, “I’ll have what she’s having”.

I never knew she was the inspiration for Laura Petrie, but that makes her all the more special. She may not have had a direct impact on us, but her presence was definitely felt. Thank you, Estelle.

RIP Don LaFontaine

Rest Peacefully, George Carlin

image copyright New York Times

Comic George Carlin passed away this weekend at the age of 71. I think he was one of those few comics that appealed to both parents and their teenagers in the 70’s. His obituary is here.

Below is part of his classic bit on “The Seven Words You Can’t Say on Television.” The first time I heard it I laughed so hard I almost peed in my pants.

I love words. I thank you for hearing my words.

I want to tell you something about words that I think is important. They're my work, they're my play, they're my passion. Words are all we have, really. We have thoughts but thoughts are fluid. Then we assign a word to a thought and we're stuck with that word for that thought, so be careful with words. I like to think that the same words that hurt can heal. It is a matter of how you pick them.

There are some people that are not into all the words.

There are some that would have you not use certain words.

There are 400,000 words in the English language and there are 7of them you can't say on television. What a ratio that is. 399,993 to 7. They must really be bad. They'd have to be outrageous to be separated from a group that large. All of you over here, you 7 Bad Words. That's what they told us they were, remember?

"That's a bad word!" No bad words, bad thoughts, bad intentions, and words. You know the 7—don't you?—that you can't say on television?

"Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker, and Tits"

Those are the heavy seven. Those are the ones that'll infect your soul, curve your spine, and keep the country from winning the war. "Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker, and Tits" Wow!

...and Tits doesn't even belong on the list. That is such a friendly sounding word. It sounds like a nickname, right? "Hey, Tits, come here, man. Hey Tits, meet Toots. Toots, Tits. Tits, Toots." It sounds like a snack, doesn't it? Yes, I know, it is a snack. I don't mean your sexist snack. I mean New Nabisco Tits!, and new Cheese Tits, Corn Tits, Pizza Tits, Sesame Tits, Onion Tits, Tater Tits. "Betcha Can't Eat Just One." That's true. I usually switch off. But I mean, that word does not belong on the list.

Actually none of the words belong on the list, but you can understand why some of them are there. I'm not completely insensitive to people's feelings. I can understand why some of those words got on the list, like Cocksucker and Motherfucker. Those are heavyweight words. There is a lot going on there. Besides the literal translation and the emotional feeling. I mean, they're just busy words. There's a lot of syllables to contend with. And those Ks, those are aggressive sounds. They just jump out at you like "coCKsuCKer, motherfuCKer. coCKsuCKer, motherfuCKer."

It's like an assault on you. We mentioned Shit earlier, and 2 of the other 4-letter Anglo-Saxon words are Piss and Cunt, which go together of course. A little accidental humor there. The reason that Piss and Cunt are on the list is because a long time ago, there were certain ladies that said "Those are the 2 I am not going to say. I don't mind Fuck and Shit but 'P' and 'C' are out.", which led to such stupid sentences as "Okay you fuckers, I'm going to tinckle now."

And, of course, the word Fuck. I don't really, well that's more accidental humor, I don't wanna get into that now because I think it takes to long. But I do mean that. I think the word Fuck is a very important word. It is the beginning of life, yet it is a word we use to hurt one another quite often. People much wiser than I am said, "I'd rather have my son watch a film with 2 people making love than 2 people trying to kill one another. I, of course, can agree. It is a great sentence. I wish I knew who said it first. I agree with that but I like to take it a step further. I'd like to substitute the word Fuck for the word Kill in all of those movie clichés we grew up with. "Okay, Sherriff, we're gonna Fuck you now, but we're gonna Fuck you slow."

Bye, Chuck

I’m sure by now you’ve heard of the passing of Charlton Heston at the ripe old age of 84.* Say what you will about the man’s politics—remember his classic speech at the NRA: “From my cold, dead hands…!”—the man could act. His distinctive voice and classic looks made him a star in the 1950’s and he remained a distinct presence in the American film industry ever since.

Here is Mr. Heston in one of his most enduring roles in the best surprise ending in filmmaking… ever.





*Funny thing… as I get older, 84 doesn’t seem quite as old as it was when I was in my 20's…

Gone, Baby, Gone

Joey Bishop, the last surviving member of the infamous Rat Pack passed away yesterday. He was 89. Joey was proceeded by Peter Lawford (1984), Sammy Davis Jr. (1990), Dean Martin (1995), and The Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra (1998). You just know they are having one hell of a show in Heaven.*

Rest in peace, Joey.

*Yeah, I know... I know...