Archive for January, 2022

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Obit watch: January 21, 2022.

Friday, January 21st, 2022

Marvin Lee Aday, also known as “Meat Loaf”. THR. NYPost. IMDB.

(I can’t confirm it now, but I remember a legend that the NYT did a story about Meat Loaf…and, as is their custom on second and subsequent reference, referred to him as “Mr. Loaf”.)

Edited to add 1/22: Since I posted this obit, the NYT has added a note to their coverage discussing the “Mr. Loaf” story. They assert it is not true. And apparently he preferred to be called “Meat”:

In 1971, Meat Loaf was cast in the Los Angeles production of the musical “Hair.” He later joined the original LA Roxy cast of “The Rocky Horror Show” in 1973, playing the parts of Eddie and Dr. Everett Scott. After the success of the musical, Meat Loaf was asked to reprise his role as Eddie in the 1975 film adaptation, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” which became one of the most beloved cult films of all time.

Later, Mr. Steinman was trying to write a post-apocalyptic musical based on “Peter Pan,” but, unable to secure the rights for the tale, he turned the work into “Bat Out of Hell,” bringing in Meat Loaf to give the songs the style and energy that made them hits. The title track alone is a mini-opera in itself, clocking in at nearly 10 minutes and featuring numerous musical breakdowns. The album’s seven tracks also included the songs “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” and “Paradise by the Dashboard Light.”

In 2013, he told The Guardian that he was definitely retiring from music after another farewell tour. “I’ve had 18 concussions,” he said. “My balance is off. I’ve had a knee replacement. I’ve got to have the other one replaced.” He wanted to “concentrate more on acting,” he added, since “that’s where I started and that’s where I’ll finish.”

…

According to his autobiography, Meat Loaf was born on Sep. 27, 1947, but news reports of his age varied over the years. In 2003, he showed a reporter from The Guardian newspaper a passport featuring a birth date of 1951 and later said about the discrepancy, “I just continually lie.”

Posted in Movies, Music, Obits, Theatre | 2 Comments »

Sort of a firings watch.

Thursday, January 20th, 2022

I covered the firing of Kevin Ollie as men’s basketball coach at the University of Connecticut when it happened.

Now…

An independent arbitrator has ruled that UConn improperly fired former men’s basketball coach Kevin Ollie and must pay him more than $11 million, Ollie’s lawyer said Thursday.

…

Irvings ruled that Ollie is due $11,157,032.95 within next 10 business days, Parenteau said.

Interestingly, though, those recruiting violations did pan out:

UConn was placed on probation for two years and Ollie was sanctioned individually for those violations, which occurred between 2013 and 2018.

…

Parenteau and co-counsel William Madsen had argued that UConn failed to meet its burden under an agreement between the school and the American Association of University Professors, of which Ollie is a member. That agreement required a showing of serious misconduct in order to fire an employee for “just cause” and also affords Ollie other union protections.
The school had argued that Ollie’s transgressions were serious and that his individual contract superseded those union protections.

Posted in Obits, Sports | Comments Closed

Obit watch: January 20, 2022.

Thursday, January 20th, 2022

Hardy Kruger (also billed as Hardy Krüger). Sloppy obit from THR.

His character in “The Flight of the Phoenix” was not a German solider or a Nazi baddie, and that movie came out in 1965, not 1975. But he was excellent in it. (Noted: Criterion is releasing it on blu-ray in March. Affiliate link.)

Edited to add: THR corrected their obit shortly after I posted this. It no longer refers to Kruger’s character in “Phoenix” as a German solider, and has the correct date for the movie.

Edited to add 2: NYT obit, which was not up when I first posted.

He was also good in “Barry Lyndon”. I’ve seen “The Wild Geese”, but cut up for TV a long time ago, and I’d like to watch it again.

Carol Speed. Credits include “The Mack” and “Disco Godfather”.

Ron Franklin, fomer ESPN announcer.

Franklin worked at ESPN from 1987 through 2011. He was fired after reportedly saying, off-air, to sideline reporter Jeanine Edwards, “Listen to me, sweet baby, let me tell you something …” When she told him not to talk to her like that, he responded, “Okay, then listen to me asshole.”

Posted in Movies, Obits | Comments Closed

The time has come around again.

Thursday, January 20th, 2022

Namely: Happy National Buy an AK Day!

Classic Firearms appears to have a few AK pattern rifles in 7.62×39 in stock, if you’re looking. (I don’t get any kickback from those people.)

Posted in Guns | Comments Closed

Important safety tip (#22 in a series)

Wednesday, January 19th, 2022

Lawrence brought up an important safety tip the other night, based on two documentaries the Saturday Movie Group has watched. (“Barry Lyndon” and “Gone With the Wind”.)

Don’t buy a horse for your child.

It never ends well.

(Did you know IMDB has a “riding accident” keyword?)

Posted in Horses, Safety, Sarcasm | Comments Closed

More firings.

Wednesday, January 19th, 2022

Ken Norton Jr. out as defensive coordinator for the Teattle Teahawks…I mean, Seattle Seahawks.

Also out: Andre Curtis, “defensive passing game coordinator”.

Posted in Firings, NFL, Sports | Comments Closed

Obit watch: January 19, 2022.

Wednesday, January 19th, 2022

Yvette Mimieux. THR.

Other than “Weena” in the 1960 “The Time Machine” and “Where the Boys Are”, credits include “Jackson County Jail”, “The Black Hole”, “Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell”, “Diamond Head” (opposite Cheston!) and a “doomed surfer” in “Dr. Kildare”.

Gaspard Ulliel. He was the young Hannibal in “Hannibal Rising”, and is in the coming Marvel series “Moon Knight”. He was only 37, and died as a result of a skiing accident.

Posted in Movies, Obits, TV | 1 Comment »

Firings watch.

Tuesday, January 18th, 2022

Mike Mayock out as general manager of the Las Vegas Raiders.

In Mayock’s three seasons with the Raiders, the club’s record improved each season, culminating this year with a 10-7 regular-season mark and just their second playoff appearance in 18 seasons. The Raiders’ record under Mayock was 25-24.

The biggest issue seems to be that Mayock was closely tied with Jon Gruden (I’ve seen him described as “Gruden’s hand-picked choice for GM”) who, as you may recall, got fired in October.

Posted in Firings, NFL, Sports | Comments Closed

Obit watch: January 17, 2022.

Monday, January 17th, 2022

Brigadier General Charles E. McGee (USAF – ret) has passed away at the age of 102.

Gen. McGee was one of the Tuskegee Airman. He was promoted to brigadier general by President Trump in 2020.

Captain McGee flew more than 130 combat missions in World War II, and returned to the United States in December 1944 to become an instructor for another unit of Tuskegee Airmen, the 477th Bomb Group, flying B-25 Mitchell bombers out of stateside bases. That group never got into the war. Mr. McGee served at Tuskegee Field until 1946, when the base was closed.

He remained in the military after the war and served with the Air Force flying P-51s in Korea (100 combat missions) and “172 combat missions in McDonnell RF-4 photo-reconnaissance aircraft” over Vietnam.

After other postings in the United States, Italy and Germany, he was promoted to full colonel and retired on Jan. 31, 1973, ending his career with 6,308 flying hours and 409 combat missions, among the most in service history. That three-war total was exceeded only by Col. Harold Snow, who flew 666 missions in those wars, and Col. Ralph Parr Jr., who flew 641, according to Air Force records. Colonel Snow died in 2016 at 93, and Colonel Parr died in 2012 at 88.

I am having trouble determining how many of the airmen are left. The NYT obit says there were nine living (counting Gen. McGee) as of February of 2020. Wikipedia states there were 11 living as of 2019, but does not mention any deaths since then.

John Connolly, “investigative journalist”. He wrote some for “Spy” and various other magazines. He also wrote a book (“with James Patterson”), Filthy Rich: The Shocking True Story of Jeffrey Epstein – The Billionaire’s Sex Scandal (affiliate link).

As an author, Connolly had been working on a new book on infamous LA private eye Anthony Pellicano to be called “The Sin Eater.”

I hope this is completed, as I’d actually like to read that book.

NYT obits for Ralph Emery and Dallas Frazier.

Tributes to Ron Goulart: “Great But Forgotten” on “The Morning Chex Press”, and Michael Swanwick on meeting Ron Goulart’s college roommate.

Posted in Books, History, Obits | Comments Closed

Obit watch: January 16, 2022.

Sunday, January 16th, 2022

It has been a bad time for country music and SF writers.

Ralph Emery, noted country music broadcaster.

Beginning his career at small radio stations and then moving into television as well, Emery was probably best known for his work on the Nashville Network cable channel. From 1983 to 1993, he was host of the channel’s live talk-variety show Nashville Now, earning the title “the Johnny Carson of cable television” for his interviewing style. From 2007 to 2015, Emery hosted a weekly program on RFD-TV, a satellite and cable TV channel.

By way of Lawrence: Ron Goulart, SF and mystery writer.

Dallas Frazier. Among other credits, he wrote “Elvira” (“…previously recorded by Rodney Crowell before it became a smash hit for the Oak Ridge Boys in 1981”)

Frazier also found success co-writing songs with A.L. “Doodle” Owens, including Charley Pride‘s first No. 1 Billboard Hot Country Songs hit, 1969’s “All I Have to Offer You (Is Me).” Pride also had No. 1 country hits with the Frazier/Owens collaborations “(I’m So) Afraid of Losing You Again,” “I Can’t Believe That You’ve Stopped Loving Me” and “Then Who Am I.”

Dave Wolverton, who also wrote as “Dave Farland“.

Wolverton worked as an English professor of creative writing at Brigham Young University, and held writing workshops for aspiring and established writers. He taught writers Brandon Sanderson, Brandon Mull, Jessica Day George, Eric Flint, James Dashner, as well as others.

NYT obit for Andrew Vachss, including quotes from Joe R. Landsdale. According to the paper of record, he passed on November 23rd, but “his death had not been widely reported previously”.

Obit from “The Rap Sheet” for Mr. Vachss and for J.J. Lamb.

Posted in Books, Music, TV | Comments Closed

Obit watch: January 15, 2022.

Saturday, January 15th, 2022

Eddie Basinski has passed away at the age of 99. He was the second oldest former major league baseball player.

Interestingly, Mr. Basinski was also a trained classical violin player.

Basinski, who had taken classical violin lessons since childhood, played with the University of Buffalo’s symphony orchestra before embarking on his major league career in 1944, a time when baseball rosters had lost many players to service in World War II. (He was deferred from military service because he had poor eyesight.) He played in 39 games for the Dodgers in his rookie season, mostly at second base, and in 108 more games in 1945, filling in at shortstop for the future Hall of Famer Pee Wee Reese, who was in the Navy.

…

Basinski had a .244 career major league batting average.

…

Basinski told The Times that there was a relationship between playing the violin and fielding ground balls. “I had great quickness because of the bowing and the fingering, which just has to be lightning quick,” he said. “There is a great correlation.”

NYT obit for Terry Teachout.

Saousoalii Siavii Jr., former defensive tackle with the Kansas City Chiefs. This is an odd one: he died in custody at Leavenworth.

In August 2019, Siavii was arrested and later charged with being an unlawful drug user in possession of firearms after suburban Kansas City police say he was spotted exiting a vehicle reported stolen and fighting with officers, who used a stun gun on him twice during the arrest. Prosecutors alleged Siavii possessed a gun, ammunition, methamphetamine and marijuana.

Posted in Art, NFL, Obits, Sports | 1 Comment »

Obit watch: January 14, 2022.

Friday, January 14th, 2022

Terry Teachout, critic, blogger, playwright, cultural commentator, and biographer, passed away yesterday.

“About Last Night” blog. WSJ (through archive.is). National Review.

I wrote briefly about him and his blog when his wife died. I was still an irregular follower – I tried to check in once a week – but I knew he had found a new love and was excited about that. This seems especially unfair.

On Twitter, he described himself as a “critic, biographer, playwright, director, unabashed Steely Dan fan, ardent philosemite.”

Though he led a sophisticated life of culture in New York, Mr. Teachout retained some of his small-town earnestness. “I still wear plaid shirts and think in Central Standard Time,” he wrote in his memoir. “I still eat tuna casserole with potato chips on top and worry about whether the farmers back home will get enough rain this year.”

I never met Mr. Teachout, though I would have liked to. He seems like one of those good decent people whose passing leaves a void in the world.

Edited to add: tribute from Rod Dreher.

Posted in Art, Books, Media, Music, Obits, Theatre | Comments Closed

Culley-ing the herd.

Friday, January 14th, 2022

Well. Well well well. Well.

David Culley out as head coach of the Houston Texans after a single season. Battle Red Blog.

The Texans were 4-13 and, quite frankly, stank. But:

Culley’s Texans were objectively horrendous in 2021 and Culley certainly looked over his skis as a head coach at various times, but we should not ignore how dreadful the talent on the roster was. In other words, I don’t think many coaches could have coaxed more than four wins out of this squad.

Also out: offensive coordinator Tim Kelly.

Battle Red also reports that, while Culley had a five-year contract, only the first two years were guaranteed. So he’ll get paid a mere $4 million instead of $12 million to $14 million if all five years had been guaranteed…

Posted in Firings, NFL, Sports | Comments Closed

You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena! (#79 in a series)

Friday, January 14th, 2022

Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore prosecutor, indicted on federal charges of “perjury and making false statements”.

Mosby, 41, is charged with falsely claiming to suffer financial hardship from the coronavirus to obtain an early withdrawal from her retirement savings to purchase the homes. In addition, federal prosecutors allege she lied on a mortgage loan application by hiding an outstanding federal tax debt. And they accuse her of entering into an agreement to rent out a home she bought in Kissimmee, near Disney World, while at the same time promising not to rent the property — all to obtain a lower interest rate.

Additional coverage from the NYT.

What do we always say, folks?

Posted in Law, Politics | Comments Closed

Obit watch: January 12, 2022.

Wednesday, January 12th, 2022

Jean Ramirez, catcher for the Tampa Bay Rays. He was 28.

Ronnie Spector.

Posted in Music, Obits, Sports | Comments Closed

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »