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.)
The time has come around again.
January 20th, 2022Important safety tip (#22 in a series)
January 19th, 2022Lawrence 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?)
More firings.
January 19th, 2022Ken Norton Jr. out as defensive coordinator for the Teattle Teahawks…I mean, Seattle Seahawks.
Also out: Andre Curtis, “defensive passing game coordinator”.
Obit watch: January 19, 2022.
January 19th, 2022Other 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.
Firings watch.
January 18th, 2022Mike Mayock out as general manager of the Las Vegas Raiders.
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.
Obit watch: January 17, 2022.
January 17th, 2022Brigadier 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.
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.
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).
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.
Obit watch: January 16, 2022.
January 16th, 2022It has been a bad time for country music and SF writers.
Ralph Emery, noted country music broadcaster.
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”)
Dave Wolverton, who also wrote as “Dave Farland“.
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 watch: January 15, 2022.
January 15th, 2022Eddie 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.
…
…
Saousoalii Siavii Jr., former defensive tackle with the Kansas City Chiefs. This is an odd one: he died in custody at Leavenworth.
Obit watch: January 14, 2022.
January 14th, 2022Terry 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.
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.
Culley-ing the herd.
January 14th, 2022Well. 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:
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…
You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena! (#79 in a series)
January 14th, 2022Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore prosecutor, indicted on federal charges of “perjury and making false statements”.
Additional coverage from the NYT.
What do we always say, folks?
Obit watch: January 12, 2022.
January 12th, 2022Jean Ramirez, catcher for the Tampa Bay Rays. He was 28.
I have no joke here…
January 12th, 2022…I just want to observe that you can get “The Day of the Dolphin” on blu-ray from Amazon at a not unreasonable price (affiliate link).
Firings watch.
January 12th, 2022Sorry for the lack of a clever headline, but the NY Post cut me off at the pass on this one.
Joe Judge out as coach of the New York Football Giants. Two seasons, 10-23 overall.
Obit watch: January 11, 2022.
January 11th, 2022Lawrence sent this over for the “Burning In Hell watch”, but I have to say: I don’t have the strong feelings about Durst that I’ve had about other criminals who I hope are roasting. Durst was almost certainly nuttier than a Stuckey’s pecan log roll, and was probably guilty of the crimes he was convicted of.
Admittedly, I only followed the trials from the fringes, but it did seem to me that there was a lot of…stuff…that made me go “hmmmmmmm”. I wasn’t on any of the juries, I didn’t hear all the evidence, but I’m not sure there was enough there to convince me beyond a reasonable doubt.
At this point, it doesn’t matter: he knows, God knows, and that’s good enough.