NYT obit for Eric Brown, legendary British pilot.
I linked to Borepatch’s post about him yesterday, but thought I would include the NYT obit just for the historical record.
Obit watch: February 23, 2016.
February 23rd, 2016Random notes: February 22, 2016.
February 22nd, 2016Two from the NYT:
Save the endangered Long Island skeet!
Harper Lee was a big fan of Opus. Yes, the penguin, from “Bloom County”.
Borepatch left a most gracious note on the last obit watch, which was much appreciated. I’ve been feeling like all I do is write obit watches these days. It also feels kind of lazy sometimes; but I like to think that there’s some historical value, if not now perhaps in the next few years, in noting these deaths and how they were covered.
And every once in a while you find an obit for someone who didn’t get the attention that Harper Lee or Scalia got, but deserves some attention. Speaking of that…
And speaking of lazy, I do have some longer pieces I want to write. Some of them are still in draft status, waiting for things to come together. Then there are some things that I expected to be able to write longer form entries about that just haven’t materialized yet.
I’d love to be able to write about my ongoing experiences with the Austin Police Department Citizen’s Police Academy, for example. But we’re only two sessions in and the first one was mostly back-patting. I’m hoping that there will be things that are worth writing about (and that I can write about without breaking any rules) soon. (If you’re really interested in the actual police academy and the training process, there’s a set of videos up on YouTube.)
Quick movie note: Lawrence and I went to see “Hail, Caesar!” yesterday. Lawrence liked it more than I did. I don’t think it is a bad movie, but it seemed slight and insubstantial.
We watched “Burn After Reading” a few weeks ago, and I liked that a little more: it may have something to do with almost everyone in “Burn” being utterly insane. (Especially John Malkovich’s character; but then, Malkovich adds that extra special touch to everything he’s in. I’m still not going to see “Zoolander 2”, though.)
TL,DR: wait for “Hail, Ceaser!” on streaming.
Obit watch: February 20, 2016.
February 20th, 2016I wonder what’s going to happen to that. Did he leave it to some institution, or is there going to be a massive auction?
Short shameful confession: For reasons I don’t recall, I saw (and liked!) the film version of “The Name of the Rose”, but I haven’t gotten around to reading the book, or any other Eco. I keep meaning to fix that…
Obit watch: February 19, 2016.
February 19th, 2016Obit watch, part 2.
February 16th, 2016Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former secretary general of the UN.
Obit watch: February 16, 2016.
February 16th, 2016The A/V Club is reporting the death of Denise Matthews. Ms. Matthews was also known as Vanity, Prince’s protege in the early 1980s. (Edited to add: NYT. LAT.)
I’m just going to throw this one out here for all my conspiracy buff friends:
Random notes: February 15, 2016.
February 15th, 2016It was a busy weekend; by the time I found out about Scalia, I was out and around and unable to blog. Now it feels like we’ve reached Scalia saturation, and I’m not sure I have anything to say. Except: I would have liked to have met the man. Lawrence has some links up over at his site.
Something that mildly amused me, and that I also didn’t have a chance to blog over the weekend: remember the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, Anthem of the Seas? The one that sailed into a storm?
Well, it turns out there was a NYT reporter on board. Not that they were expecting a storm: the reporter was apparently on board to cover the first voyage of Royal Caribbean’s brand new super ship. Instead…
Not exactly the kind of thing your company wants to read in the paper of record.
2016, ladies and gentlemen. Speaking of 2016…
“Who dies at sea anymore?” That was just stupid. Setting aside for the moment the immigrants who die at sea (while their deaths are tragic, and I don’t mean to diminish them, I’m sure the NYT author would argue that’s not the kind of “death at sea” he’s thinking about), ever hear of the Costa Concordia? Where are the paper’s editors?
One more thing that tickled my funny bone: a vaunted feature of the Anthem of the Seas is something called the “Bionic Bar”: “Attended by two robotic arms that mix cocktails amid an array of flashing lights and thumping techno music, patrons sit a few feet away from the bar and order from a menu of available drinks, many of them coming in bright neon colors that evoked thoughts of nuclear waste, on a tablet computer.”
How’s that working for them?
You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena! (#26 in a series)
February 11th, 2016I haven’t been paying as much attention to the LA County jail scandal as I used to: things sort of got away from me.
But this is stunning and noteworthy: the former LA County sheriff, Lee Baca, has pled guilty to lying to the feds.
In a plea agreement filed in federal court Wednesday morning, Baca admitted that he lied when he told federal authorities that he was unaware that his subordinates planned to approach the FBI agent leading the jail investigation at her home.
Baca agreed not to contest other allegations leveled by federal prosecutors, including that he directed subordinates to approach the agent, stating that they should “do everything but put handcuffs” on her, the agreement said.
I believe this is the incident in question.
Baca’s plea deal apparently includes a provision that he won’t serve more than six months, and it seems possible that he could get probation. His #2 man, Paul Tanaka, is going to go on trial in March; the plea deal also apparently does not require Baca to testify against Tanaka.
Edited to add: longer article from the LAT about Baca’s plea.
A Bridge Too Far.
February 11th, 2016Obit watch: February 10, 2016.
February 10th, 2016For the record: NYT obit for David Hartwell.
This has a February 3rd dateline on it, but I did not see it on the NYT website until today.
TMQ Watch: February 9, 2016.
February 9th, 2016And so we come to the end of Gregg Easterbrook’s first season writing TMQ for the New York Times. What does he have in store for us this week? Would you believe neuroscience and the evils of the NFL? Well, yes, you probably would believe that.
After the jump, this week’s ultimate TMQ…
Quick Superb Owl reaction.
February 8th, 2016TMQ is going to be particularly insufferable this week.
Obit watch: February 6, 2016.
February 6th, 2016I thought I’d do this one separately, since it didn’t fit in tone with the previous entry:
Edgar D. Mitchell, Apollo 14 astronaut and the sixth man to walk on the moon.
Random notes: February 6, 2016.
February 6th, 2016Good news, everyone! Our long national nightmare is just beginning!
“Cop Rock” is coming out on DVD.
I never saw an episode of “Cop Rock”, but I am assured it is horrible: therefore, I have to get the DVDs.
I went back and forth about noting this obit yesterday, but in the end, this paragraph pushed me over the edge:
“Girl Gun Runners of Saigon”, one of the greatest titles ever. Right up there with “Weasels Ripped My Flesh” and “Coffin’s Got the Dead Guy On the Inside”.
Obit watch: February 5, 2016.
February 5th, 2016Maurice White, founding member of Earth, Wind, and Fire. NYT. A/V Club.
Dave Mirra, prominent BMX racer.
The number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-TALK (8255).