Oh, Wendell.
He was charged with “simple battery” and released on bond.
(Subject line explained, for non “Wire” fans.)
Archive for the ‘Clippings’ Category
The Bunk is strictly a Clinton motherf—er.
Monday, May 16th, 2016Poor, poor, pitiful Maywood (take 2).
Friday, May 13th, 2016You remember Maywood, don’t you? The city that was so pathetic, they turned over their day-to-day operations to Bell? Which started the chain of events that ended up bringing down the kleptocracy of Bell?
Guess what?
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Some in Maywood look with sadness at the spectacle and what it says about the city’s leadership. Neighboring cities such as Bell, Vernon and Cudahy have had to enact reforms in the face of criminal investigations, recalls and threats of disincorporation from the state Legislature, but Maywood has not faced a similar reckoning.
“The reality is Maywood has always been forgotten,” said City Clerk Gerardo Mayagoitia. “No one ever wants to look at Maywood because we’re such a small community, and yet there’s so much corruption here that never stops. No one puts a stop to it.”
Obit watch: April 22, 2016.
Friday, April 22nd, 2016Your Prince obit round-up: NYT. Star-Tribune. LAT coverage. WP.
“Poor Lonely Computer: Prince’s Misunderstood Relationship With The Internet” from NPR.
I feel much the same way about Prince as I did about Bowie. I wouldn’t call myself a fan, I never saw him live, but thinking back on it, he turned out a lot of music I like. “1999”. “Little Red Corvette”. “When Doves Cry”. “Let’s Go Crazy”. And every now and then, I’ve been known to spontaneously start singing “She wore a raspberry beret, the kind you find in a second-hand store…” much to the annoyance of my cow-orkers.
And I didn’t realize it until yesterday, but he actually wrote “Manic Monday”.
Also among the dead, according to the A/V Club: Richard Lyons, co-founder of Negativland.
Art, damn it, art! watch (#51 in a series)
Thursday, April 21st, 2016And speaking of Damien Hirst:
In other words, some people are concerned that a tank full of formaldehyde with a dead shark in it may be leaking formaldehyde fumes. Shocked, shocked I am.
Obit watch: April 5, 2016.
Tuesday, April 5th, 2016Winston Moseley is burning in hell.
If that name doesn’t ring a bell with you, and you think I’m being harsh: Moseley is the man who killed Kitty Genovese.
I apologize for quoting at length from the NYT obit, but there are some interesting things in it that deserve to be called out. For example:
While there was no question that the attack occurred, and that some neighbors ignored cries for help, the portrayal of 38 witnesses as fully aware and unresponsive was erroneous. The article grossly exaggerated the number of witnesses and what they had perceived. None saw the attack in its entirety. Only a few had glimpsed parts of it, or recognized the cries for help. Many thought they had heard lovers or drunks quarreling. There were two attacks, not three. And afterward, two people did call the police. A 70-year-old woman ventured out and cradled the dying victim in her arms until they arrived. Ms. Genovese died on the way to a hospital.
But the account of 38 witnesses heartlessly ignoring a murderous attack was widely disseminated and took on a life of its own, shocking the national conscience and starting an avalanche of academic studies, investigations, films, books, even a theatrical production and a musical. The soul-searching went on for decades, long after the original errors were debunked, evolving into more parable than fact but continuing to reinforce images of urban Americans as too callous or fearful to call for help, even with a life at stake.
Captured five days later during a burglary, Mr. Moseley confessed to the murders of Ms. Genovese and two other Queens residents: Annie Mae Johnson, 24, who had been shot and burned to death in her South Ozone Park apartment in February, and Barbara Kralik, 15, who had been stabbed in her parents’ Springfield Gardens home the previous July. Both women had been sexually assaulted.
Mr. Moseley was never tried for murdering Ms. Johnson or Ms. Kralik, though he recited details only the killer could have known, the police said. He testified at the trial of Alvin Mitchell, who had already been charged in Ms. Kralik’s murder. The conflicting accounts left a hung jury. Mr. Mitchell was convicted in a second trial.
Well. I wonder what happened to Mr. Mitchell. (I tried a Google search, but “Alvin Mitchell” is too common a name.)
That’s something I didn’t know. (It is perhaps worth noting that Moseley was originally sentenced to death for the Genovese murder, but had his sentence reduced to life imprisonment on appeal.)
Also among the dead, and one I’ve been meaning to note: Adrienne Corri, actress, perhaps most famous for her role in “A Clockwork Orange”.
Things: April 1, 2016.
Friday, April 1st, 2016You know something? I still don’t like bullies.
Obit watch: Bill Green. Mr. Green worked as a newspaper editor, public affairs officer for NASA, and university professor at Duke.
He also worked for the Washington Post as their ombudsman from late 1980 to 1981. If you’re thinking, “Hey, that period sounds historically significant.”: yes, yes it was. “Jimmy’s World” was published shortly after Mr. Green became ombudsman, and he conducted the paper’s investigation when it fell apart.
Since it fell off the front page, I wanted to also note here that I updated the “Use of force” post: now with pyramids!
What is the name of this play?
Tuesday, March 29th, 2016Awful damn lot of dust in the air this morning…
Friday, March 25th, 2016Depression lied to my sister, told her that she was worthless. A burden. Unlovable. Undeserving of life. I imagine these lies were like a kind of permanent white noise in her life — a running narration of how unworthy she was. After years of the lies and the torment, my sister believed that depression told her the truth. In the notes she left for my parents and me, Aletha wrote, “don’t feel sad, I’m not worth it.”
She was so wrong. Depression lies. I have to tell the truth.
The number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255 (TALK).
Obit followup.
Thursday, March 24th, 2016Lawrence forwarded an obit for Rob Ford from National Review.
I think it’s worth reading, though I may be showing my bias here.
More obit watch.
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2016Rob Ford, controversial former mayor of Toronto.
I think there are a lot of jokes that people will be making in the coming days, but this actually kind of saddens me. 46 is too young for anyone to die. And he had his share of problems – whether they were his own or invented by Gawker – but I hope he finds the peace in death that seemingly eluded him in life.
Obit watch: March 22, 2016.
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2016There’s a nice tribute in today’s WP to Bob Ebeling, who died on Monday. You may not recognize the name:
For the historical record: Andrew S. Grove.
A couple of random notes: March 16, 2016.
Wednesday, March 16th, 2016How did I not have a “Lovecraft” category before now? Fixed.
What brought this to mind? Anther AP story, this one about the relationship between H.P. Lovecraft and Providence.
When I visited Swan Point on one of my trips, I was told Lovecraft’s grave was the most visited one in the cemetery. This struck me as interesting, because Sullivan Ballou, aka “the guy who wrote the letter from the Ken Burns series that everyone but me loves” is also buried in Swan Point. My recollection is that this was near the peak of “Civil War” mania, but I guess Lovecraftian horror beats banjos and sentiment at least five out of seven days of the week.
Tam has a very nice obit up for Todd Louis Green, noted pistol trainer, class act, and “Archer” fan.
I never got to take a class with him, and I wish I had: I think I would have enjoyed both learning from him, and finding out if he hates Bionic Barry as much as I do.
Imagine a rotting Elvis shopping for fresh fruit…
Tuesday, March 15th, 2016Today’s Statesman ran an AP article on the decline of Elvis mania in Las Vegas. I think this is the original.
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I have no joke here, I just like saying “oversaturated by Elvis impersonators”.
First Liberace, now Elvis. Is there no sense of history in Vegas?
Memos from the sports desk.
Monday, March 14th, 2016Trent Johnson out as men’s basketball coach for Texas Christian University. Story with official announcement from the horribly designed Dallas Morning News site. ESPN.
Hattip on this to Lawrence. And speaking of Lawrence, once again I have taken Gonzaga against the field for $5 with Lawrence.
I know that Gonzaga struggled to get a tournament bid this year, but it seems like they are on a hot streak. I think they might at least be able to surprise Seton Hall…
Obit watch: March 13, 2016.
Sunday, March 13th, 2016I actually didn’t find out Keith Emerson was dead until I sat down to dinner last night and started browsing while I waited for Lawrence. A/V Club. Lawrence. NYT.
Sunny Balzano, owner and bartender of Sunny’s Bar in Red Hook, Brooklyn, died Thursday night. I mention this here, not because of Mr. Balzano’s prominence, but because this is a really, really good obituary for a neighborhood “character” (for want of a better word): it is the kind of thing that the paper of record, when it does it, does it well.