Hey, hey, LBJ.

December 28th, 2012

Lyndon Johnson’s birth certificate is on display at his presidential library. Insert your own Barack Obama joke here.

Posted in Museums, Photography | Comments Closed

Obit watch and random notes: December 28, 2012.

December 28th, 2012

For the record, your General Norman Schwarzkopf obits: NYT. LAT. WP.

I saw this a few days ago and intended to make note of it, but the holidays interfered. Donnie Andrews has also died.

Andrews was a legendary Baltimore stick-up man and all-around crook, who reformed later in life. Omar Little (of “The Wire”) was based on Andrews:

Andrews appeared on screen as one of Omar’s crew, and died in a shootout scene in which Omar leaps from a four-story building and escapes. Andrews said that really happened to him — but he had jumped from the sixth story.

The NYT would like for you to be concerned about the poor show ponies, who are frequently drugged to make them easier to handle. What makes this interesting, to me, is that yesterday the NYT ran an article praising Tattler’s Jet and his trainer; Tattler’s Jet was running his 460th and final harness race, in spite of an inflamed hoof. So. Running a horse for 14 years and 460 races, good; sedating show horses, bad.

Posted in Clippings, Heroism, History, Horses, Obits, TV | Comments Closed

Igor, the President speaks!

December 28th, 2012

He’s tanned. He’s rested. He’s ready.

He’s the newly redone animatronic LBJ from the (also recently remodeled) LBJ Presidential Library.

And if you think he looks just a little overly tan, well, you’re not the only one.

Posted in Clippings, Museums, Photography | Comments Closed

You’re not helping. Why is that, Leon?

December 27th, 2012

Nathan Weaver is a student at Clemson University. He decided that he wanted to help turtles cross the road.

Weaver put a realistic rubber turtle in the middle of a lane on a busy road near campus. Then he got out of the way and watched over the next hour as seven drivers swerved and deliberately ran over the animal. Several more apparently tried to hit it but missed.

More:

“They seem so helpless and cute,” [Rob Baldwin, Mr. Weaver’s professor] said. “I want to stop and help them. My kids want to stop and help them. My wife will stop and help turtles no matter how much traffic there is on the road. I can’t understand the idea why you would swerve to hit something so helpless as a turtle.”

Sounds a lot like Weer’d Beard and ducks.

(Even though it turns out this was on FARK, I wanted to post it anyway to provoke an emotional response from my younger brother, who should update his blog, damnit. Seriously. He loves that scene from “Blade Runner”.)

Posted in Clippings | 2 Comments »

There was a rumor, about a tumor…

December 27th, 2012

The Statesman is reporting the death of Houston McCoy.

Mr. McCoy never got the fame he probably deserved, because that’s the way the media works. He was an officer with the Austin Police Department on August 1, 1966. Mr. McCoy and his fellow officer Ramiro Martinez fired the shots that killed Charles Whitman.

There’s always been some controversy over who actually killed Whitman, and that’s touched on briefly in Mr. McCoy’s obit. I expect to see this rehashed some more in the coming days. Gary Lavergne’s A Sniper in the Tower: The Charles Whitman Murders is considered by pretty much every person I know of to be the definitive account of events before, during, and after; he discusses this issue at some length, and I think comes to a wise and fair conclusion, echoed by Mr. McCoy himself:

From his bed in Menard Manor in 2011, McCoy recounted what he remembered: “I got him but it really doesn’t matter whether I got him or Martinez did. Martinez is a good man, and he was the first police officer on the deck to confront the sniper. There were many heroes that day, police officers and civilians.”

Posted in Clippings, Cops, Guns, Law, Obits | Comments Closed

Obit watch: December 27, 2012.

December 27th, 2012

Brad Corbett. (NYT. Fort Worth Startlegram.)

Mr. Corbett founded, and made his money with, a plastic pipe manufacturing company. But he’s noteworthy here because he owned the Texas Rangers from 1974 to 1980, part of the Seasons in Hell era that I’ve written about before. (Yes, Corbett was the owner during 10 Cent Beer Night; he bought the team on May 29, 1974, and that took place June 4th. Heck of an introduction to MLB.)

Corbett, a Fort Worth businessman, might be best remembered for his time with the Rangers for the 1977 season when they had four managers – Frank Lucchesi, Eddie Stanky, Connie Ryan and Billy Hunter.
Lucchesi managed the first 62 games, but his season got off to a rocky start when second baseman Lenny Randle punched him during spring training. Stanky then managed only one game, followed by Ryan, who managed six, before Hunter managed the final 93.

Also:

Throughout Corbett’s tenure, the Rangers traded away three future Hall of Fame pitchers — Ferguson Jenkins, Gaylord Perry and Bert Blyleven — as well as Mike Hargrove, Jeff Burroughs and Toby Harrah.
[Jim] Sundberg, in fact, was the only player to remain with the Rangers throughout Corbett’s time as owner from start to finish.

One story about Corbett, recounted in the obit, involves him making a trade with another owner while they were both standing at the urinal in a Fort Worth restaurant. Corbett is also one of the men who fired Billy Martin.

Posted in Clippings, Obits, Sports | Comments Closed

Random notes: December 26, 2012.

December 26th, 2012

The NYT was running a little behind yesterday, and didn’t post their Charles Durning obit until later in the day. (Also, thanks to Lawrence and Guffaw for their comments yesterday.)

Likewise, the A/V Club is operating on holiday time: they did publish a nice obit for Jack Klugman, but have not gotten around to Charles Durning yet. (Edited to add: the A/V Club’s obit for Durning is up now.)

On the night after Christmas 40 years ago, two buses carved a thin line across the vast blackness of the New Mexico plains. They carried 58 young people and seven chaperones from Woodlawn Baptist Church in South Austin, the passengers still reveling in the merry holiday glow, en route to a religious retreat and skiing in the eastern New Mexico mountains.

19 people were killed when one of the buses crashed. 16 of them were teenagers. This is one of those bits of Austin history that I was previously unaware of; I commend the Statesman story (and the sidebar about how horrible the highway bridge was) to your attention.

Posted in Bridges, Clippings, Movies, Obits, Roads, Safety, TV | Comments Closed

Quote of the day.

December 25th, 2012

Having engaged in the annual Christmas “bringing everybody down” with dead people and concussions, I figure folks could use a chuckle:

(I can honestly say that those words were never said in my house on Christmas. Of course, that’s because my childhood predates cheap R/C helicopters.)

Posted in Christmas | Comments Closed

Norts spews.

December 25th, 2012

Today’s NYT has a nice retrospective article tied to the playoff game between the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs 41 years ago today.

The Dolphins won, 27-24. In double overtime. To this day, that game remains the longest game in NFL history.

“Do you want to talk about my mother’s funeral, too?” [kicker Jan] Stenerud said recently when asked about the defeat. He hung up the phone, ending a brief interview.

Continuing with the “Merry freakin’ Christmas” theme, Ryan Freel has passed away.

Freel, who played second base, third base and all three outfield positions, spent six of his eight big-league seasons with the Cincinnati Reds and finished his career in 2009 with a .268 average and 143 stolen bases.

Freel was apparently a “b—s to the wall” player:

Freel showed no fear as he ran into walls, hurtled into the seats and crashed into other players while trying to make catches. His jarring, diving grabs often made the highlight shows, and he was praised by those he played both with and against for always having a dirt-stained uniform.

And over the course of his career, he suffered an estimated 10 concussions. He missed 30 games in 2007 because of a concussion after he collided with a teammate.

Freel was 36. According to the NYT obit, law enforcement believes he killed himself. I wanted to mention this as a reminder: people have talked a lot about concussions in football, and to a lesser extent in hockey (they’d probably be talking more about hockey if we actually had a hockey season). I think it is worth keeping in mind that those aren’t the only sports worth worrying about.

Posted in Clippings, Neuroscience, NFL, Sports | 1 Comment »

Obit watch: special Merry freakin’ Christmas edition.

December 25th, 2012

Charles Durning, war hero and noted character actor.

He was among the first wave of U.S. soldiers to land at Normandy during the D-Day invasion and the only member of his Army unit to survive. He killed several Germans and was wounded in the leg. Later he was bayoneted by a young German soldier whom he killed with a rock. He was captured in the Battle of the Bulge and survived a massacre of prisoners.

They don’t make them like that anymore.

Jack Klugman. NYT. LAT.

I’m just a little too young to remember “The Odd Couple” well (except for the theme), but “Quincy, M.E.” was right in my wheelhouse for the first several seasons. At some point, I’d like to do a longer post about the “NBC Sunday Mystery Movie” and all the great stuff that came out of it, but for now, let me say that I was an avid Quincy fan when I was a kid; at least, until the series turned into Jack Klugman’s cause of the week.

I did sort of keep up with Klugman after the series went off the air, and was sad when he came down with throat cancer. That’s the sort of thing I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, and I can’t imagine what it was like for an actor. Happily, he was able to do some acting after that. (It brings a smile to my face to see that he did a guest stint on “Crossing Jordan”, the “Quincy” of the 2000 era except that it sucked.)

(And I have, but have not watched, the Criterion “12 Angry Men“. Maybe after folks get back from the holiday.)

You know, they don’t write TV themes like those any more, too.

Posted in Clippings, Heroism, Movies, Obits, TV | 2 Comments »

Paging Doc Daneeka.

December 22nd, 2012

I previously noted the strange case of Carolyn Barnes, the local lawyer who was accused of shooting at a census worker, found incompetent to stand trial, sent to the state hospital in Kerrville, and yet retains her license to practice law and is representing at least one client.

Yes. Well. There’s an update to the story:

A Williamson County judge on Friday refused to prevent an attorney locked up in a state psychiatric facility from continuing to practice law.

The judge’s position actually kind of makes sense to me:

“Ms. Barnes is, as of this moment, a licensed member of the bar,” he said. “It wouldn’t be appropriate of me to unilaterally decide if she’s competent to act as an attorney.”
He added that the State Bar of Texas, which is responsible for licensing attorneys, was conducting its own investigation into Barnes’ capability to practice. The organization has the power to bar an attorney from practicing due to a disability — physical or mental — but rarely does so.

Meanwhile, the whole issue may become moot, as the Statesman also reports Ms. Barnes is moving closer to being declared competent to stand trial.

Posted in Clippings, Law | Comments Closed

The best little obit watch in Texas.

December 21st, 2012

Larry L. King, author of “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”, has passed away at 83.

I was not aware of this, but King is also alleged to have coined the saying, “The only way you can lose this election, Joe, is to get caught in bed with a live man or a dead woman.”

And:

He was often confused with the radio and television talk-show host Larry King, particularly when making dinner reservations. One Washington restaurant settled the problem by asking them, when reserving a table, to identify themselves, as either “Larry King ‘Radio’ ” or “Larry King ‘Whorehouse.’ ”

Posted in Clippings, Obits, Theatre | Comments Closed

Random notes: December 21, 2012.

December 21st, 2012

I have been critical of the HouChron in the past, but I have to give them credit for this headline:

(Click to embiggen.)

If only they’d added “Women, minorities hardest hit” as a subhed, it would have been a classic.

Marijuana has, in many parts of this state, become the equivalent of a beer in a paper bag on the streets of Greenwich Village. It is losing whatever stigma it ever had and still has in many parts of the country, including New York City, where the kind of open marijuana use that is common here would attract the attention of any passing law officer.

Heh. “a beer in a paper bag”. Bunny Colvin, call your office, please.

Black truffles are selling in Paris for around $1,200 a pound.

Black truffles and other types of truffles are becoming scarcer, and some scientists say it is because of the effects of global climate change on the fungus’s Mediterranean habitat. One wholesaler says prices have risen tenfold over the last dozen years.

Posted in Clippings, Food, Law | Comments Closed

Obit roundup: December 20, 2012.

December 20th, 2012

Robert Bork: NYT. LAT. WP.

Posted in Clippings, Law, Obits | Comments Closed

Some people.

December 19th, 2012

Some people are obsessive.
Some people are so obsessive, they start blogs.
Some people are so obsessive, they start blogs devoted to a single subject.
Some people are so obsessive, they start blogs devoted to a single movie.
Some people are so obsessive, they start blogs devoted to a single movie that isn’t f—ing “Star Wars”.
Some people are so obsessive, they start blogs devoted to a single movie that is currently in legal limbo.

Okay. You’re tired of the joke by now, so let me introduce Sorcerer1977, a blog devoted entirely to the 1977 William Friedkin movie “Sorcerer”.

Friedkin did this right after “The Exorcist”; it wasn’t well received at the time, but it seems that over the years, something of a cult has grown around it. Lawrence and I watched it quite a while back (I think it was so long ago we watched it on VHS). I’m a fan of “The Wages of Fear“, which “Sorcerer” is something of a homage to, and I actually think I prefer Friedkin’s version to Clouzot’s.

I’d love to see it again, but the movie is currently tied up in legal limbo which prevents a proper re-release. Both Paramount and Universal say they don’t own the rights to the movie, and have no idea who does, so Friedkin is suing both studios trying to get the ownership issue cleared up.

Anyway, the guy behind this is seriously obsessive and seems to be trying to cover every aspect of the movie – digging out old interviews with Friedkin and other people involved in the production, discussing the Tangerine Dream soundtrack, etc. etc. etc.

My goal for this is to create a makeshift archive — news, interviews, photos, whatever. Kinda like bonus material waiting for a DVD. Or maybe it’s just a digital valentine for a movie I love dearly.

As far as I’m concerned, that’s an awesome goal.

(Hattip: directly, Coudal Partners. Indirectly, Gruber.)

Posted in Geek, Movies | 1 Comment »

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