[turtle]

I'm really sorry to hear about your Dad passing Chinney. I'm so glad you were able to be there for him though. Mrs T and I will be praying for your family.

[psmith2.0]

I'm sorry for your loss. Wishing you and your family well during this time.

[Chinney]

Thank you so much for your kind thoughts.

[murbot]

Oh no Chinney, I'm really sorry to hear about your dad. My condolences.

[Kickaha]

Oh man, that sucks. I'm sorry to hear it, Chinney.

[psmith2.0]

RIP George Kennedy. He was so good in Cool Hand Luke.

If the name isn't familiar, I promise you the face is. Probably best known to younger folks for being in those silly Naked Gun movies with Leslie Nielsen.

Man, 2016 is being quite the bastard...

[kscherer]

George Kennedy is the only Hollywood actor/tress I've ever met in person. And not just met, but interacted with. Years ago, when I was managing the dining room at the Arid Club in Boise, some history museum from northern Idaho showed up and wanted to know if they could film a presentation in front of our fireplace (a huge, two-sided, rock thing in the center of the club popular amongst members as a place to enjoy a drink prior to dinner). The speaker would be Mr. George Kennedy and oh by the way do you know who that is?

With the approval of the Board, we offered our space. A few days later George showed up to do the bit. The crew spent I forget how many hours getting their shot lined up and decorating George's face for the camera. I hung around the area just to watch and be a part of it all for what must have been two hours. These guys were running around messing with cables, adjusting the chair so it was just so in front of the fire, painting his face, messing with the shades, adjusting the chair some more. Then they got down to business. The narration was 30 minutes long. They called "quiet on the set" and George Kennedy starts reading the teleprompter. 30 minutes later, George spits out the final line and says (I kid you not) "How was that?" All these guys looked around at each other and said that was great. "Do we need another take?" asks George. "No, that was perfect," they said.

30 minutes of nonstop reading in one take and it was perfect.

Then, when I went to work for MacLife, old George was already a well established customer. He would show up about once every six months with some email or interwebs issue he needed looking at. As he got older, he had to start parking at the curb and hobbling his way in, but he was always in good spirits. I would carry in his computer, say hello, he would shake my hand and say blahblahblah. About two years ago he brought in his iMac G5 and complained that it was time for a new one and what?-that's-too-damned-expensive bicker for ten minutes or so until he found a new 21" iMac to replace the old thing.

So, if George's iMac winds up in a museum one day, know that I sold it to him, and was proud to do so!

Oh, and I like him most in the Airport movies. A lot of airplanes crashed around that guy! And Naked Gun, what a gas.

[curiousuburb]

Condolences on the loss of your Dad, Chinney.

Thinking of you, Ed and your family.

You know you've always got family here.

[kscherer]

The world needs more of this kind of news.

[turtle]

That is a great story and we do need more news stories like that!

[kscherer]

When I was a kid, we played a similar game to this one. It was called "Cowboys and Indians" and we used imaginary guns and arrows, not real ones.

[turtle]

Quick, outlaw all bows and arrows! They must be removed from this country due to their only purpose.....

Never mind. I shouldn't go there.

It is a stupid death though. At 15, he knew what game he was playing though.

I liked your earlier story better.

[Brad]

Too soon to call for a Darwin award?

[psmith2.0]

Not at all. If there's anyone deserving it, it would be that kid. Sorry, 15 isn't a "kid". That's just Jackass-inspired idiocy and teenage lunkheadery.

"Dodge the arrow", huh? Even the damn name is a giant clue that you might want to think twice. Someone willfully doing this was probably gonna die young of something stupid anyway.

Chug Rat Poison
Stick a Fork in the Outlet
Kiss a Rattlesnake

etc.

[kieran]

A 17 year old was shot and killed after robbing a home in Florida.

His relatives had a very good point on why he was in the house:

“You have to look at it from every child’s point of view that was raised in the hood. You have to understand, how he gonna get his money to have clothes to go to school? You have to look at it from his point of view,”

[psmith2.0]

I saw that the other day.

Let me guess...he was a "good boy", dividing his time between Sunday school, teaching autistic puppies and preparing for his entry into graduate school come fall?

"How he gonna get his money...?"



Gosh, if there was only a system/structure that existed where - stay with me - you show up and perform tasks/duties for others (or a company) in exchange for monetary compensation and various other benefits! How cool would that be? Maybe someday they'll invent it...

[Brad]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 I saw that the other day. Let me guess...he was a "good boy", dividing his time between Sunday school, teaching autistic puppies and preparing for his entry into graduate school come fall? "How he gonna get his money...?"

Somehow Comedy Central has damn near purged every decent copy of video from the web, but I give you a shitty re-recording of "the bank job":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGfyEff263A

[Ryan]

"How he gonna get his money?"

It wasn't his fucking money, shithead.

[kscherer]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 I saw that the other day. Let me guess...he was a "good boy", dividing his time between Sunday school, teaching autistic puppies and preparing for his entry into graduate school come fall? "How he gonna get his money...?" Gosh, if there was only a system/structure that existed where - stay with me - you show up and perform tasks/duties for others (or a company) in exchange for monetary compensation and various other benefits! How cool would that be? Maybe someday they'll invent it...

[turtle]

What? No more "9 you're fine, 10 you're mine" in NC?

Someone in NC have any news on this? Granted I'm near the border which is why this was sent to me but I'm just curious what's being said about it in your state.

[Dr. Bobsky]

The error on these devices is not zero, and the calibration needs to be well maintained, so any case of speeding less than 0-10 mph that gets challenged will likely put the kabash on the end of this rule...

[Dr. Bobsky]

Originally Posted by kieran A 17 year old was shot and killed after robbing a home in Florida. His relatives had a very good point on why he was in the house:

Aside from the odd moral framework the sister espouses (and it was only his sister who was interviewed), the homicide doesn't appear justified by any means. Even stand your own ground laws don't really apply -- the owner rushed home after seeing the teen via security cameras. He was killed after he had exited the house. In most states, this would preclude even self-protection defences. Of course, this is Florida so the closer the behaviors and justifications are to the wild west, the better (for both the sister and the shooter).

[Elysium]

Originally Posted by Dr. Bobsky Aside from the odd moral framework the sister espouses (and it was only his sister who was interviewed), the homicide doesn't appear justified by any means. Even stand your own ground laws don't really apply -- the owner rushed home after seeing the teen via security cameras. He was killed after he had exited the house. In most states, this would preclude even self-protection defences. Of course, this is Florida so the closer the behaviors and justifications are to the wild west, the better (for both the sister and the shooter).

I was thinking the same thing as I read the story.

[psmith2.0]

World's most oblivious singer dies after king cobra(!) she was performing with(!!) onstage decided he'd had enough of her nonsense and, being a snake and all, bit her.



In a staggering display of "the show must go on!" moxie, she refused antivenin treatment/medical attention and continued to perform for an additional 45 minutes (Van Halen wouldn't do that) until she vomited, went into seizures, collapsed and died.

There's "stupid", and then there's "no, seriously...are you kidding me?!"

So I guess there was some sort of mix up on whether or not the snake had been defanged. Is that really the sort of dice you want to roll, or leave up to others to handle (and trust that they did)?



Somewhere Darwin is cackling his ass off.

[kscherer]

Eliminated from the gene pool.

Darwin Award coming.

[Dr. Bobsky]

She had time to take the antidote, her refusal makes this a suicide, perhaps even planned...

[psmith2.0]

2016 continues its quest to be the shittiest year for high-profile celebrity deaths.

Prince has died at 57.

Talented guy, no doubt.

Appearing on multiple sites, so I don't think it's one of those "celebrity death hoax" things.

[addison]

Wow. Way too young. I think he had to make a emergency landing for health reasons the other week. I believe the flu was mentioned.

[Brave Ulysses]

When asked what it feels like to be the best guitarist alive, Eric Clapton said, "I don't know. Ask Prince."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SFNW5F8K9Y


Solo beginning at 3:27 is amazing

[psmith2.0]

My favorite part of that clip isn't even his playing, but the looks on the faces of Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Dhani Harrison throughout.

Also, where, exactly, did his guitar go at the end? He just threw it up in the air (and never showed any signs of worrying that it might come back down and hit him or someone else). I never saw it come down.

And that's his old Hohner Telecaster knock-off, which he's played forever (back before sporting all those funky-shaped guitars), so I doubt he'd just fling it around without a care. Maybe he worked something out with a stagehand up in the lighting truss ahead of time ("I'm gonna throw this thing up when I'm done...please catch it!"

It was just an extra ounce of cool (magic?) from the guy.

Like "hero", the word "genius" gets tossed around way too carelessly and way too often (to the point of pretty much being meaningless anymore, at least in the pop culture realm). But he seemed closer than most, simply on creativity, output, always doing something different, not seeming too concerned about sales or critical reception, sheer playing ability, etc. So many bands/artists will get a couple of hits early on and spend the next several decades going back to that well, over and over. Becoming their own tribute band, basically.

Whatever your thoughts on the man, you can't say that he was lazy, unadventurous or "stuck in a rut". The instruments he played, the way he put a record together, his control over all of it, the various bands he put behind him over the years, etc.

The guy was a musician. And a gifted performer. Take away all the showmanship/image/quirky persona and he still earns a spot among the usual names that get mentioned.

57 is entirely too young, and he strikes me as the type who would've been creating and recording - even just for his own satisfaction/jollies - well into old age. The fact that he died there in his studio complex kinda says a lot. He probably had a guitar strapped on. He was exactly where a person like that would be expected. He wasn't on a golf course, drug den, 5-star hotel or some trendy L.A. or Miami club. He was in a music studio, being Prince. It would've been weird if that wasn't where he died.