Important safety tip (#21 in a series)
July 20th, 2018Obit watch: July 20, 2018.
July 20th, 2018Adrian Cronauer, the inspiration for “Good Morning, Vietnam”.
Mr. Cronauer, who in reality was not quite the wild man the film suggested — later in life he worked for Republican causes and became a lawyer — admitted to some unease when he first saw the screen portrayal. But he got over it.
“Finally I said: ‘Wait a minute. It was never intended to be a biography. It’s a piece of entertainment. Sit back, relax and enjoy it,’ ” he said. “And that’s what I did.”
Annabelle Neilson. I can’t stand celebrity for celebrity’s sake, and I don’t worship celebrities in general. But there’s something about this story I find touching.
She eventually got over her heroin problem, became a model, and was introduced to fashion designer Alexander McQueen. She went on to become his model, muse, and girlfriend until his death in 2010.
She also wrote children’s books. Ms. Neilson was 49 when she died.
Dumb de dumb dumb.
July 19th, 2018Dumb de dumb dumb…
The stories I am about to link to are true. I haven’t changed any names, because none of these people are innocent.
Dumb: threatening a judge.
Dumber: threatening two judges.
Dumbest: threatening two judges, one of whom was already shot and wounded by another idiot three years ago.
“I have every right to hang your (expletive),” Holgate said in a message according to the affidavit. “You have every goddamn right to be afraid of me. I am the law and you shouldn’t have crossed me.”
In another message, Holgate threatened to kill one of the judges, according to the document.
“I have the right to (expletive) kill you. You understand that?” He said. “…But we will see if we can resolve it. I don’t think we can, I think we are just going to hang your (expletive).”
And by the way…
Meanwhile, over in Williamson County, the relatively new sheriff and prolific tweeter Robert Chody is in a micturition contest with one of the county commissioners, Dan Gattis.
Sheriff Chody has opinions about how county government is run, especially when it comes to sewage leaks, and does not hesitate to share them. This, in turn, seems to upset Judge Gattis:
This little spat wouldn’t be noteworthy to me, except for what happened next:
Yes, you read that correctly: the WillCo DA filed criminal charges against a county commissioner (who, by the way, is not running for re-election this year) because he shot his mouth off.
Personally, I think they’re all idiots: the sheriff’s office and the DA for filing charges over a political disagreement, and Judge Gattis for making empty threats. (“I’m going zero his budget out”. Yeah, Judge, you’re going to zero out the sheriff’s department budget. Call me when the pigs start flying.)
Obit watch: July 18, 2018.
July 18th, 2018John A. Stormer, author of None Dare Call It Treason.
Mr. Stormer’s book, published by his own Liberty Bell Press, tapped into a vein of conservative alarm that was still very much present in the early 1960s, even though the Red-baiting era of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy had faded in the 1950s.
…
Communists, Mr. Stormer wrote, were bent on infiltrating the American government and had largely succeeded, as evidenced by American and United Nations economic support for Communist countries.
“The Communists have sworn to bury us,” Mr. Stormer wrote. “We are digging our own graves.”
…
…
Though the accuracy of “None Dare Call It Treason” was often disputed, Mr. Stormer was confident he was right, so much so that in the book’s final chapter, “What Can You Do?,” he urged his readers to scrutinize him.“First, you must educate yourself,” he wrote. “Determine that the facts in this book are true.”
Among his other advice was that people read two newspapers a day of opposite editorial viewpoints. He also urged his readers to make God a meaningful force in their lives and to be politically active.
You know, all of that is pretty good advice. But good luck finding “two newspapers a day of opposite editorial viewpoints” in this day and age.
Obit watch: July 16, 2018.
July 16th, 2018Nancy Barbato Sinatra, Frank Sinatra’s first wife and mother of Nancy, Frank Jr., and Christina.
This is a fascinating and kind of sad obituary. They were married from 1939 until 1951, when Frank finally left her (after years of philandering) to chase Ava Gardner. In spite of that, they remained extremely close after the divorce until Frank’s death.
Pat Swindall, former congressman convicted of perjury, and who ended up losing his seat to Ben “Cooter” Jones.
Alan Johnson, choreographer. He did a lot of work for Mel Brooks, including choreographing numbers in “Blazing Saddles”, “Young Frankenstein”, and “Springtime for Hitler” in “The Producers”. (I would embed that here, but it’s already in the NYT obit.)
More quaint and curious volumes of forgotten lore.
July 16th, 2018Half-Price Books had another coupon sale this week, and I picked up a few things that I feel like documenting here.
I picked up a lot of “popular culture”…stuff, I’d say, though other people might call it “crap”. Specifically, I got:
- Volumes four, five and eight of Mannix, which puts me halfway towards having a complete run. We watched “A Ticket to the Eclipse” Saturday night, and Darren McGavin is quite creepy in it, even if he can’t decide what his accent should be. And speaking of Darren…
- Finally found a copy of Kolchak: The Night Stalker the series for 50% off with coupon. We’re still watching the midnight showings on MeTV (Hi, Pat!) but this will let me catch up: for example, I’ve managed to miss “They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be…” in the last two cycles. Now all I need is the two TV movies, though I plan to wait for the rumored 4K Blu-Ray remasters that are supposedly coming from Kino Lorber.
- Mister Roberts. I have actually never seen this, but I have been known to use the “I just threw your stinking palm tree overboard” line on managers.
- Hellfighters. John Wayne! Jim Hutton! On Blu-Ray, for $5 with the 50$ off coupon.
- Tony Rome. Found cheap plus coupon, and I actually added this to the list a few weeks ago. Frank Sinatra PI film: the late Deanna Lund supposedly plays a “redheaded lesbian stripper”, though she’s not credited anywhere on the jacket copy.
Of course, I wouldn’t be me if I hadn’t picked up some gun books, too…
I have to do this.
July 15th, 2018I’m sorry.
More seriously, there seems to be a long recent string of judges deciding that they can just disregard the Supreme Court and order newspapers to do whatever the judge wants. Just once before I die, I would love to see an editor or publisher say to one of those judges:
“Your order is illegal and unconstitutional, and we believe that you are fully aware of these facts. We will not obey your order. We will also not initiate violence. But if this court attempts to enforce its illegal order, we will treat that as the initiation of violence against our staff, and we will defend ourselves with whatever level of force is necessary to stop said violent acts.”
Edited to add 7/16: Ken White over at Popehat:
Headline of the day
July 14th, 2018Kicking, screaming, biting Kansas councilwoman finally taken down with Taser, arrested, police say
It’s not quite “You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena!” but it’s close enough for government work.
Bonus points:
A few days later, on July 2, Fowler refused to cooperate with jail workers as they tried to complete the booking process.
When officers were forced to remove jewelry and personal items from her, Fowler bit one of them on the thumb hard enough to break the bone.
The original charges against her were failure to appear on a public drunkeness and interferring with law enforcement charge from last year. Now she’s managed to escalate that into at least two, probably three counts of battery on a law enforcement officer. Plus interference with a law enforcement officer times two. Plus the drunkenness charge.
I wouldn’t expect her at a council meeting in the near or far future.
Let’s go!
July 13th, 2018More car related updates and thoughts.
First of all, RoadRich left an excellent and thoughtful comment on the last post which you should go read.
Headline of the day.
July 12th, 2018A quick skim of the article does not reveal that they picked the best Austin bar for “I think Myers-Briggs personality types are a bunch of f—ing bull—t.” My personal favorite in that regard was the original Horseshoe Lounge: where they checked you for weapons at the door, and if you didn’t have any, they loaned you one.
Real estate watch.
July 11th, 2018Do you have a spare $1.7 million lying around? Or can you get a mortgage for that amount? Zillow says the payments would be around $6,900 a month (20% down, 30 year fixed).
What are you getting for that amount?
Welcome to the Terrazzo dell’Infinito!
Or, in other words, the Infinity Terrace.
Take a step into this Tuscan sanctuary and be whisked off to the Old World.
It’s not just an infinite terrace, it’s a sanctuary. From what, I’m not clear. Certainly not the cares of the world, if you have to come up with $7,000 a month for 30 years to pay for it.
Enjoy the stylish Italian warmth with hints of royalty.
“hints of royalty”. I think you can get that in spray bottles; a spritz here, a spritz there, and pretty soon your home smells like Henry VIII.
The attention to detail was paramount during this design.
But apparently not in the writing of this blurb.
Relish in the tranquility of the grounds that provide multiple seating areas and a pool flanked by statues and lush foliage.
I don’t much like relish myself, but I guess if that’s your thing, “multiple seating areas” (as opposed to just dragging a lawn chair over), a pool, and lush foliage might make the relish taste better. Nothing like throwing some dogs on the grill next to your $1.7 million home.
This property is truly captivating, unmatched by its beauty.
Meh.
This isn’t simply a home-it’s a lifestyle.
Specifically, a criminal lifestyle. You see, this isn’t just any old Tuscan-style home: this is former Democratic state Senator and now convicted felon Carlos Uresti’s house.
Kermit.
July 10th, 2018I was 12 years old in 1977. I wasn’t an NBA fan at the time (and I’m still not one) but I remember the punch. It was all over the news.
I thought then that Kermit Washington should have been banned from the NBA for life and faced criminal charges.
Some years later, I read John Feinstein’s The Punch: One Night, Two Lives, and the Fight That Changed Basketball Forever. There’s some chilling stuff in there. (Rudy Tomjanovich tells a story about lying on a stretcher and asking the doctor why he had a bitter taste in his mouth. The doctor told him, “That’s your spinal fluid. It’s leaking out of your skull.”)
Feinstein’s book also, oddly enough, made me feel a little more compassion for Washington. When I was 12, I was convinced that the punch was a deliberate and malicious act, and that Washington planted his feet and braced himself before he struck Tomjanovich. After reading the book, I was at least willing to accept the possibility that I was wrong, and that Washington, while he intended to strike Tomjanovich, didn’t intend to do the level of damage that he ended up doing. It seemed as if Washington had been struggling for most of his life not to be defined by that one moment: and who among us wants to be defined by the worst moment of our lives?
Of course, it’s worth pointing out that Rudy Tomjanovich never completely got over being punched in the face and nearly killed. The whole story is like a giant pile of sad. Especially now.
Somehow, I missed the fact that he was facing criminal charges, but he pled guilty last year to “making a false statement in a tax return” and “aggravated identity theft”. He’s also expected to pay $970,000 in restitution.
Obit watch: July 9, 2018.
July 9th, 2018Tab Hunter, noted actor and Hollywood idol.
Obit watch: July 7, 2018.
July 7th, 2018For the record: Steve Ditko. WP “Comic Riffs” (which quotes Neil Gaiman at length).
Obit watch: July 6, 2018.
July 6th, 2018Claude Lanzmann, noted film director (“Shoah”).
Saman Gunan, former Thai Navy SEAL. He volunteered as part of the rescue mission for the trapped soccer team, and apparently ran out of air while delivering fresh air tanks to the cave.
Shoko Asahara is burning in Hell, along with six of his followers.
I’m not very well read in Haruki Murakami, but Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche impressed me, and I commend it to your attention.