Slap & Tickle

RIP

Christopher Bowman
I saw the headline "Skating Star Dies" and thought "Rudy Galindo passed away." Morbid thought, I know. Then I read the article about "Bowman the Showman" and none of it rang a bell. I was a good gay in the 80's and 90's and I followed skating pretty closely (they all had those firm, "up" butts that I just wanted to... er, touch). None of the pictures made me go "ah-ha!"

And then I saw this one:


"Ah-HA!

Poor guy, only 40... he was quite a cutie back in the day. He won the U.S. Men's figure skating championship in both '89 and '92. He also competed in two Olympic games (sadly, he did not medal in either).

He had troubles with bipolar issues and drugs. It is believed that drugs may have played a part in his death.

Edmund Hillary

Edmund Hillary who, with Tenzing Norgay, was the first to climb to the top of Mt. Everest has died. After descending his monumental climb he said simply, "We knocked the bastard off." An Adventurer, Conservationist, and Humanitarian, he was a great man.

He spent much of his later years trying to get word out about the condition of Everest and the people who live there. He raised around $250,000 a year for Nepalese children to build schools and provide scholarships.

What amazes me most about the man, is that he climbed Everest before there was the amazing amount of technical gear we have today. Gortex and the like were not around back in the 50's. He was the last of the great adventurers.

I'm off to Mexico for a cruise for a week... my first toast will be to Edmund.