Very sad news. Love him or hate him, you had to admire his originality as a filmmaker. An openly gay man known for his pencil-thin mustache . . . wait, what?! John Hughes died? Oh, he was TERR-ible! Ferris Bueller’s Day Off — worst movie I ever saw! For a moment there I thought you said John Waters had died . . . Read more →
EppsNet Archive: Death
Twitter: 2009-07-23
RT @KathySierra: Don't learn PPT/Keynote, learn how the brain works. Learn storytelling. Study filmmaking. Apply learning theory. Inspire. # RT @OCWeekly: A very special OC Weekly farewell to Gidget the Taco Bell chihuahua http://tinyurl.com/n6k4mq # Thank God it's Friday! Wait — what? # Read more →
Eating Buffalo Wings in Buffalo
Our flight out of Buffalo was delayed by gusty winds so we ducked into Anchor Bar at the airport for an order of buffalo wings. The Anchor Bar wings come with five sauce options: mild, medium, hot, spicy bar-b-que or suicidal. I asked the waitress, “The ‘suicidal’ wings — who’s responsible if they result in my actual death?” “Oh they’re not like that,” she said. “There’s other places in Buffalo that serve wings a lot hotter. Oh my gosh, if you actually died?” “You could use that in your advertising: ‘A guy actually died eating these wings!’” “I’ll keep the defibrillator handy.” We gave the suicidal wings their day in court. We liked them. Like the waitress said, they actually weren’t as hot as the wings I’ve had at some other places, despite the small kernels of red and black pepper that are actually in the sauce and on the… Read more →
Dying at the Right Time
So much depends on dying at the right time. Michael Jackson had long since gone from the King of Pop to Wacko Jacko, but by dying now, he was reborn as the King of Pop and all the weird stuff became mostly background noise. If he’d died as an old man, he would have been remembered as a creepy dude who at one time made some pretty good music . . . Read more →
The Life of a Soybean
Here’s one of my colleagues in the break room, making a sandwich and pouring a small carton of something down the sink . . . “What are you pouring out?” I ask. “Soy milk,” she says. “I didn’t drink it soon enough. I’m wasting the life of a soybean.” “Wow . . . when you put it that way, it sounds pretty upsetting.” “It is!” she says. “I’m distraught! That’s why I’m eating.” Read more →
Hot Dog Diplomacy
Iranian envoys hoping to get a piece of American pie, or at least a hot dog, will have to wait. The invitations extended last month to Iranian officials to attend Fourth of July celebrations at American embassies have been rescinded, reports The Times’s Mark Landler. — NYTimes.com Credit: misscharo I hope that’s because they continue to murder their own citizens in the streets and not just because they failed to RSVP in a timely manner. I stand side by side with President Obama in my support for human rights and opposition to totalitarian autocracy! NO IRANIAN DIPLOMATS WILL BE ALLOWED AT MY HOUSE FOR JULY 4 FESTIVITIES! Oh yeah, we’re playing hardball now . . . Read more →
Wanna Be Starting Something
Seen on Facebook: Original Poster: RIP Michael Jacokson! Commenter: Michael Jacokson died on the same day as Michael Jackson? How bizarre is that? Original Poster: OMFG really!! I think the death of Michael JACKSON is more important than a freakin typo! Commenter: So Michael Jacokson is still alive? THANK GOD! Read more →
Icons Are Falling Like Dominoes
More People I’m Sick Unto Death Of
Adventurers Jonny Copp, a well-known mountain climber and adventurer who grew up in Fullerton, has been found dead on the side of Mount Edgar, China, the apparent victim of an avalanche, according to a variety of websites, including his own. — Orange County Register Three words that come to mind when I hear someone introduced as an “adventurer”: Die, die, die . . . Read more →
David Carradine, 1936–2009
Alas, poor Carradine! I knew him, Horatio. A couple of years ago I was walking through the international terminal at LAX, picking up my family on a flight from Bangkok, when I heard a voice behind me: “This is David Carradine.” I turned and it was Carradine, talking on a cell phone! A fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy! The rest is silence . . . Read more →
Nightmares
I’ve been having nightmares the last week or so. Last night I was stabbed to death by a maniac on a motorcycle. The night before I was a zombie terrorizing an Old West elementary school . . . Read more →
Yet Another Reason I Like to Just Stay Home
More People I’m Sick Unto Death Of
As some day it may happen that a victim must be found, I’ve got a little list–I’ve got a little list Of society offenders who might well be underground, And who never would be missed–who never would be missed! — W.S. Gilbert, The Mikado People who use the word “bandwidth” to mean “time,” as in “I’ll see if Sally has the bandwidth to handle that.” Analog signals have bandwidth, communication channels have bandwidth . . . people don’t have bandwidth. Read more →
Another Reason I Prefer to Just Drink at Home
TIJUANA, Mexico — The bodies of four U.S. citizens were found strangled, beaten and stabbed in a van in this border city, two days after they reportedly left their Southern California homes for a night at the Mexican clubs, U.S. officials said Thursday. — Associated Press Read more →
Microblog: 2009-04-15
Chivalry is dead — literally: http://twurl.nl/xctutr # Read more →
Chivalry is Dead
A man has died after catching his girlfriend as she jumped from the seventh floor of an apartment block in China. The young Chinese man, identified only by the surname Wang, held out his arms to break the woman’s fall as she plummeted from their apartment in Quanzhou in south-eastern China. Mr Wang was killed by the impact of his girlfriend landing on top of him, while the woman suffered bone fractures and other serious injuries but was not in critical condition. — PerthNow Read more →
Microblog: 2009-04-14
Two iconic figures from my youth have died: Marilyn Chambers and Mark Fidrych. # Read more →
You Had a Bad Day
Nick Adenhart pitched six scoreless innings for the Angels last night but took a no-decision as the bullpen came in and blew the lead. A few hours later, Adenhart was killed in a car smash in Fullerton by some drunken idiot who ran a red light. He was 22 years old . . . P.S. My son says Adenhart’s dad had flown out from Baltimore and saw his son pitch a great game, that Adenhart was “buzzing” in the locker room after the game, despite the loss, so maybe it wasn’t a bad day. Except for the dying part. P.P.S. The Angels postponed their game the following night, April 9. The local Angels TV station instead replayed the April 8 game — the Adenhart game. It was sad watching him walk off the field, not knowing it was the last time . . . Read more →
Suicide Bombers Have a Union?
Good News
My wife runs an insurance agency. She handles all the customer service calls herself and as a result, a) she gets to know her customers very well; and b) she hears a lot of bad news. Today she sent me this email: One of my best clients just passed away yesterday. He is 65 years old and had a heart attack. One of these days I’d like to hear good news sometimes. You and Casey are my good news. Probably I don’t say enough good things about her . . . Read more →