Kitty O’Neil, noted stunt woman and holder of the women’s land speed record.
Obit watch: November 7, 2018.
November 7th, 2018Travel day.
November 7th, 2018Going to be on the road for a few days. Blogging will be catch as catch can, though I do intend to get some stuff up.
In the meantime, please enjoy this coded musical interlude. I think I’ve posted these before, but what the heck: they’re still great songs.
Update from the legal beat.
November 6th, 2018I don’t have much to say about this, partly because I’m still busy as all get out, and partly because I don’t know what there is to say.
But: Terry Thompson, the guy who was married to a sheriff’s deputy and choked a man to death outside a Denny’s, was convicted of murder yesterday. (Previously.)
Firings watch.
November 5th, 2018In great haste: last night was busy, and that’s continued well into today.
David Beaty is out as head coach of Kansas at the end of the season.
Please to remember…
November 5th, 2018I don’t have a lot to add to what I’ve said previously, and I’m busier than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest, but:
I wanted to make sure, before it got too late in the day, to wish everyone (especially my peeps in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) a happy Guy Fawkes Day.
Please have fun, and try not to blow yourself up or get burned by flaming barrels of tar.
(I wish I knew somebody in the UK who could place an order from Ottery St. Mary for me. It doesn’t look like they will ship to the US. And it also looks like they don’t have the “You Are Here At Your Own Risk” pins any longer: I wanted to order a bunch of those and give them out as Christmas presents.)
Obit watch: November 3, 2018.
November 3rd, 2018Obit watch: November 2, 2018.
November 2nd, 2018Bernard Bragg, actor.
He graduated from the New York School for the Deaf in 1947 and enrolled at what was then Gallaudet College, studying theater there and acting in school plays. Though he enjoyed performing, there was no obvious career path in show business for a deaf person; instead he took a teaching job at the California School for the Deaf in Berkeley, occasionally performing skits and directing small shows at conventions and clubs for the deaf. Then, in 1956, he made a life-changing trip to see Marceau perform in San Francisco.
Marceau’s ability to hold the crowd’s attention without words so struck Mr. Bragg that he sought Marceau out after the show and, with a note, introduced himself and asked where he could study mime. Marceau asked him to return the next day with a sample of his work, which he did: He performed two original sketches, one in which he played Noah and all the animals on the ark, the other in which he depicted all the instruments of an orchestra. Marceau invited him to study with him in France.
He spent the summer of 1956 doing just that, and when he returned to the United States he began performing in nightclubs, schools and universities in the San Francisco area. His routines were generally a mix of set pieces and improvisation.
He went on to become one of the founders of the National Theater of the Deaf.
Paul “Dr. Z” Zimmerman, SI writer. I really didn’t follow his work for the magazine, but I do have a copy of A Thinking Man’s Guide to Pro Football somewhere. (I’ve heard good things about it.)
Obit watch: November 1, 2018.
November 1st, 2018Firings watch.
November 1st, 2018DJ Durkin, University of Maryland football coach.
This is a long and complicated story that I’ve only been paying a little attention to. The short version is that one of Durkin’s players, Jordan McNair, died of heatstroke during a practice in late May. Durkin was suspended while the university conducted an investigation:
The university initially decided, earlier this week, to retain Durkin. But (as I read the coverage) this decision was made under pressure from alumni and boosters, and prompted a revolt among students and members of the football team.
TMQ Watch: October 30, 2018.
October 31st, 2018
Whitey.
October 31st, 2018If you go back to yesterday’s post, it looks like both the Boston outlets and the NYT did updates (and corrections) in place instead of posting new links. Which saves me some effort…
The big piece of news since the story broke seems to be:
The Patriarca family, maybe? Kind of makes sense…
Howie Carr. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I thought The Brothers Bulger: How They Terrorized and Corrupted Boston for a Quarter Century was a terrific book.
Firings watch.
October 30th, 2018I think this counts.
Izaia Bullock, a linebacker for the Rutgers football team, has been dismissed.
“For violating team rules?” I guess you could say that…
…I do believe most teams have rules against murder plots.
Bullock, 22, “initiated a plot to murder the family members of an acquaintance” earlier in the week, according to a statement from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
Bullock was charged Tuesday with two counts of attempted murder in the first degree and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree.
I wonder if this was one of those situations you see played out so often on the Justice Network: rich child hires patsy to whack his parents while rich kid is off somewhere setting up an alibi…
Obit watch: October 30, 2018.
October 30th, 2018Wow.
My brother and Mike the Musicologist sent this to me literally within seconds of each other, which goes to show you how well they know me:
Details are kind of sketchy right now. Here’s the Boston Herald coverage: apparently he had just been moved to the WV facility from one in Florida.
This is still a developing story, and I’m not finding much coverage outside of the Boston papers: it may be best to wait and post an update tomorrow.
Also among the dead: Victor Marchetti, former CIA agent and author who challenged the agency’s prior approval rule.
Ntozake Shange, noted playwright.
Edited to add: preliminary NYT coverage of Whitey Bulger, which wasn’t up when I posted earlier.
…was found beaten to death on Tuesday in a West Virginia prison. He was 89.
Two Federal Bureau of Prisons employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the information was not yet public, said Mr. Bulger had been beaten unrecognizable by inmates. No other details were immediately available.
Interesting. The anonymous sources are saying he was beaten to death, not stabbed. But…
Ah, Cleveland.
October 29th, 2018Well. Well well well. Well.
The Cleveland Browns just fired head coach Hue Jackson.
(waits for the deafening cries of “What took them so long?” to subside)
Really, what took them so long? The man was 3-36-1 over two and a half seasons.
Also shown the door: offensive coordinator Todd Haley.
(Hattip: Lawrence.)
Loser update with bonus firing: October 29, 2018.
October 29th, 2018NBA teams that still have a chance to go 0-82:
Cleveland
On a totally related note, Cleveland fired head coach Tyronn Lue on Sunday. I believe this is the first firing of the NBA regular season.
He was 128-83 over three years, and had one NBA championship and three finals appearances to his credit. But…the team is 0-6 for the first time since 1995.