RIP 2012
 

Movie Sword-Fight Master, Bob Anderson, Who Wielded Darth Vader's Lightsaber Dies at 89

So long 2012!

Oh, and RIP Bob Anderson.

<insert lightsaber sound effect here>

Richard Alf - co-founder of San Diego Comic-Con

:( "At Last" was the song for our first dance at our wedding.

She was a very talented lady.

Half the people in my Celebrity Death Pool had her on their lists. I don't know if I'd ever heard of her (I'm sure I had, but not in a way that ever stuck) before seeing that.

Pisser

Booo... I just love that I've never heard ANYONE sing that song as well as Etta. Ever. Especially not that Beyonce rendition at the inaugural ball (was that when that took place?). And yet, it seems to be the more requested songs I've heard going to various karaoke parties and bars. There's always one that thinks she can do it... ugh...

RIP Etta. The world is a little pitchier without you.

Sounds like Joe Paterno has passed

Depends on who you want to believe. Most sites are just reporting that he is in serious condition in the hospital.

His family seems pretty upset.

Yup, guess it was just rumor

Well, now he's dead.

They never learn. It's not the crime. It's the coverup.

My favorite Merlin ever, Nicol Williamson, is dead. Sounds like he was no walk in the park to work with. But, to have had Helen Mirren as an ex means one has lived! Pardon me a moment. (*sigh* Helen Mirren *sigh*)

I loved WBK, back in the day. Thanks for the laughs and RIP Robert.

My friend, Ian Abercrombie. :(

Hmm, Ian's link isn't working. Here's a new one.

I wonder if Miss Benes has gone to work for the Hollywood Reporter?

I am sorry about your friend. It sounds like he was a very talented man.

My husband's Grandma Ellie died yesterday. She was a nice woman and she will be missed by many people.

I am sorry for your loss.

Betty, peace and love be with your family as you celebrate Grandma Ellie's life.

And peace, love, and soul to the family of Soul Train's Don Cornelius.

Don Cornelius, Creator of "Soul Train' - from an apparent suicide

Artist Mike Kelly

Also of apparent suicide

Artist Al Rio

Yet another apparent suicide :(

Wow, they got that "three" over with pretty quickly, didn't they...

Dorthea Tanning - Surrealist painter and wife of Max Ernst.

Sorry, that one was my fault. I mentioned him earlier today in talking about the film Saint Jack and when doing so said "is he still alive, I'm not sure?"

:( always liked him, even when he was playing a bad guy

Uh, oh. There's a headline about Zsa Zsa Gabor. That must mean . . .

Nope, never mind.

Is it just me, or does she look like she is laying in a casket in this photo:

Bill Hinzman - Graveyard Zombie (or Zombie #1) - RIP

It's been a really sad day for 'Night of the Living Dead' fans - Josephine Streiner RIP :(

When people like that pass away, I start to get really nervous. Silly, isn't it?

Nello Ferrara, creator of the Atomic Fireball and Lemonheads

The news just said Whitney Houston has passed away

Nice tribute to whitney here: http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/stop-th...034610653.html

I forsee a movie in the future:

"I will Always Love You: The Whitney Houston Story"

That is, if a movie hasn't already been made with that title.

Gary Carter

Truth to tell, he always annoyed me a little.

But . . .

back in October 1986 when I was sitting in my apartment with a transistor radio pasted to my ear, sick to my stomach, with two outs in the bottom of the Ninth of game six, and he got the hit that started it all.

Well.

Classic MAD & Western artist John Severin RIP
http://www.tcj.com/john-powers-severin-1921-2012/
This link has some amazing artwork for the curious.

Ernie McLean - guitarist extraordinaire, who was hired by Walt Disney.

^ That one hit me pretty hard this morning. I absolutely adored his playing and always tried to take some time to listen whenever the opportunity arose.

Waaa, always enjoyed Ernie - he simply MADE New Orleans Square, and I remember him since circa 1970 when I first started visiting the Park.

Heheh, Rod - the long-time Coke Corner pianist whose replacements never held a candle to - used to joke that he'd been hired by Walt since no one had been around longer than him to dispute that. But Ernie really was hired by Walt. What a sad loss.

Jan Berenstain, co-creator of the Barenstain Bears.

I loved those books!

Davy Jones

The guy from the Monkees? I think he just recently played one of the casinos around here.
I grew up on the Monkees, how sad.

I really only know him as an individual (I am of course aware of the band) because of his guest spot on The Brady Bunch. My 10 year old self may be sad.

My 11 year old self with the really harsh crush on Davy Jones is sad.

I didn't know you had a 10 year old self.

I did at the time.

Whatever happened to him?

The earth continued rotating.

I will ride pirates and pay homage to his locker

Now Marcia Brady will NEVER be able to get married... :(

..I am also sad.

Drudge protogee and professional asshole Andrew Breitbard.

It is interesting watching the various lefty groups and commentators twist themselves trying to say something nice about him (in a couple hours I'm sure most will stop trying).

"We always respected his dedication to his beliefs" and such nonsense.

I have never had any problem with his beliefs (though I disagreed with pretty much all of them) or his level of dedication. It is the manner in which he exhibited his dedicated pursuit of his beliefs that made him a reprehensible person.

I'm not glad he's dead. I wouldn't have wished him dead. It is a horrible thing for his his friends and family.

But I am glad for the side effect that he will no longer be part of the conversation because he did his very best to taint that conversation through his simple participation.

It will be interesting to see what level of conspiracy talk there is. After all, if Putin's loudest internet critic, 43-year-old and not obviously unhealthy, suddenly died in the lead up to an election we'd all assume a reasonably good chance he'd been taken out.

Drudge currently has this up on the site (bolding added):

Is there some meaning of "flash each other" I am unaware of?

I'm going to hope "a smile" was supposed to be part of that sentence.

Yeah, but even if that, it seems a really weird thing to put in by a man who had battled suggestions he's gay for pretty much his entire public life. Not that a regular flashing habit with a male employee would make you gay. And I don't care if he's gay. And if he isn't gay he shouldn't let the rumors limit him.

But still seems weird unless there is some meaning to it I'm missing.

? I believe the sentence was supposed to be "flash each other a smile".

Oh, I see. Misread you, I thought you said you thought a smiley was supposed to be a part of that sentence.

Yeah, that would explain it.

Huh. According to this, flash is the term that Drudge and Breitbart used for talking to each other over instant messenger. I wonder if that is unique to them as I've never heard it.

Ralph McQuarrie: Original concept designer for Star Wars

http://www.rebelscum.com/story/front...012_144070.asp

Guitarist Ronnie Montrose

Pisser

Hearing word Robert Sherman may have passed away. Have not found an article to back that up yet.

His son, Jeffrey Sherman, posted the news on his Facebook wall. Hasn't hit the media just yet.

Ralph McQuarrie, concept drawing artist for Star Wars and many other Lucas and Spielberg projects.

Covered a few posts up

Jean Giraud aka Moebius. He is a famous comic book illustrator as well as film conceptual artist who worked on films like The Fifth Element, Willow, The Abyss, Alien and Tron.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/54197

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/moeb...sses-away.html

God must have something seriously cool in pre-production, he's really gathering up some heavy duty concept artists.

While working for Humanoids I did the translation for one of the INCAL books (Un-credited, of course). Moebius' work was visually stunning to where you din't need to read the words on the page but just enjoy the art; each dot and line. A real loss but very thankful he came into being.

Google his name and be amazed.

Ian Turpie - He was the host of Australia's version of The Price Is Right.

Josie DeCarlo RIP
Wife of Josie and the Pussycats creator Dan DeCarlo and inspiration for the character.

http://www.newsfromme.com/2012/03/14...decarlo-r-i-p/

Dr. Leila Denmark

The world's oldest practicing physician when she retired at age 103, died Sunday in Athens, her family members said. She was 114.

What's weird about that is her age. 114. During the 20th century life expectancy nearly doubled. The number of people living past 100 has skyrocketed but the total number of people living past 114 has stayed the same. . There are very few documented cases of people living past 115.

I'm on course to live to be 116; I'll let you know how it goes.

Didn't I read something about many of those centenarians in Japan not being quite so alive as the neighbors thought?

zombies?

So twenty years later, these people are still claiming to be just 114? That's vanity for you.

It's built-in obsolecence. The human body expires at 115.

RIP Jim Marshall - Founder of Marshall Amplification

Then how do you explain Jeanne Calment?

And if you want to look up all the exceptions to the rule, here's a list.

Though the bible tells me that Noah lived to be 950 years old so I don't have to hear any more of your science crap.

VAM!

Statistical outlier.

Thomas Kinkade

From the L.A. Times, 2006
It's impossible for me to look at any of his images and not see that signature golden shower of light as anything other than piss. "Painter of Light" indeed.

Is it terrible of me that my first thought on reading this was "Thank God, no more hideous paintings!"?

A: Not terrible at all.
B: Sadly, his existing hideous paintings will be around for years.

Probably.

Dark.

(that's how to do it, right?) ;)

Cirrhosis of the liver is considered a natural cause of death?

Mike Wallace

Of being 93.

Extended warranty

RIP Jack Tramiel, founder of Commodore Business Machines, makers of one of the most popular computers ever.

Melancholy toot.

Dick Clark

:(

Then 2012 was indeed The Final Countdown!

Ryan Seacrest is still here, something's wrong.

Anybody want to buy his house?

If it hasn't already sold (that link was last updated March 7), I wonder if the price will go up?

New years eve will never be the same again, my cheese is sad :(

Reports that Jonanthan Frid of Dark Shadows passed away a few days ago. RIP Jonathan, long live the original Barnabas Collins. :(

On Friday the 13th no less.

Greg Ham from "Men At Work" passed away, too.

Perhaps one too many vegemite sandwiches?

My brain first read that as "John Hamm from Mad Men passed away, too."

I literally gasped. Out-loud. Then I read it again.

<Phew!>

Sorry - Vegemite prolongs life - in fact it gives immortality and cures all ailments. it even freshens your breath. I don't know how the majority of HugeManatee lives without it.

It's true! Do the maths!

That means he can roll over in his grave upon seeing the Dark Shadows film.

I like the prevailing wisdom on the internet - that he saw the trailer and it killed him.

My brother, Tim.

He passed away this morning after having minor surgery on Saturday, but was HIV positive (for over 20 years) and had been on a slow painful downhill slide the last few years. He was amazed to see his 50th birthday this passed November, he never thought he would.

He was a drummer, started with the Velvet Knights in the Drum and Bugle Corps. Then he was in a few local bands including the blues rock band "Tweed Sneekers", and a couple of tribute bands including "Wrathchild".

He's in a better place now.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Very sorry to hear about your brother.

My condolences.

I'm so sorry :(

Sorry to hear about your brother :(

Sorry to hear about your brother. :(

Condolences to you and your entire family on your loss.

Sorry for your loss, RStar.

Condolences to you and your family, RStar

My condolences on your loss RStar.

Joel Goldsmith :(

Bob, I'm so sorry for your loss. May he rest in peace.

My condolences.

Thank you all.

It's been a rough day, but your good wishes helped.

Wow, rstar, I'm sorry to hear it.

Sorry for your loss RStar!

So sorry for your loss RStar, but glad your brother got to beat the expectations.

Rstar, I'm so very sorry for your loss.

I am so sorry for your loss Star.

Junior Seau (San Diego football star), possible suicide

I just saw that; how sad.

My condolences, RStar.

RStar, I am sorry to hear about your loss. My thoughts and condolences.

What a sad day for music.

I've got Licensed to Ill playing in my office. So sad!

My condolences on your loss RStar. :(

RIP

What losses this week.

George Lindsey, known as Goober Pyle, dies

Thank you all for your kind words!

You are all the best! :snap:

Maurice Sendak. Gone to the Night Kitchen.

I hated Maurice Sendak.

Back when I was a library page in high school the worst assignment was reading the shelves in the children's section, which are always a mess and all the books are only a few milimeters thick. And parents were always hidingWhere the Wild Things Are so that they could fin it when their kid wanted it. This was very annoying.

Personally, since my memory doesn't really kick in until age 11 or so, I don't have any memory of the phase in my life when I would have been reading his books.

I had forgotten that book. One of my favorites from when the kids were little.

Chicken Soup with Rice

Chicken Soup with Rice died?

This was my favorite alsong with Where the Wild Things Are. What a terrific human being Sendak was.

Debbie Baboon and Pat Baboon are in mourning.

A lot of the geometric cuts we still use today were developed by him- he put the 'style' into hairstyling. Many barbers were at a loss as to how to do these cuts, and styling salons owe a great deal to him as a result. We learned all the great Sassoon cuts in school, and I still use many of them, or elements of them, in my salon today. RIP, Vidal. :(

Carroll Shelby - Automotive Legend. :(

My cheese is very sad today. :(

Oh man, I had not heard that. Very sad to lose such a wonderful legend.

Donald 'Duck' Dunn - Legendary session bass guitar player, also featured on the original Blues Brothers

Duck was a legend and a tremendous bass player. A sad loss.

I was never more than a casual fan of Donna Summer's. But sometime in the mid-'90's, a friend gave me a pair of tickets to a concert of hers at the (then-)Universal Amphitheater. She was OMG fantastic.

And I was, as I often am with these kind of greatest hits performances, amazed at how many of her songs had gotten into my consciousness though pop culture zeitgeit. I was always more impressed with her after that, and more openly loving of her music. RIP.

Robin Gibb

Bad week for 70s music.

Gumby is dead :(

Speedy Alka Seltzer, too.

^ He was also "Davey" of Davey and Goliath fame.

To me he will always be Newkirk - the world needs more situation comedies about Nazis

That was a great show.

Absolutely. They provide great roles for Jewish actors.

Edward Khil - "Mr. Trololo" :(

Reportedly - Ray Bradbury

This NSFW video from 2010 will be getting a bump from today's sad news.

:(
while Im far from well read, his stories were always some of my favorites and amongst the few I read quite a bit in my youth.

It's on his official website now. Terribly sad day.

:(

sad, sad day. I loved his books growing up and realized that it's been far too long since I revisted them.

Farenheit 451 is also one of my favorite films. Bradbury, Bernard Hermann score and Oskar Werner looking much like and inspiration to € in a photo we're all abundantly familiar with.

Attachment 1683

I remember reading Fahrenheit 451 as a teenager and thinking its predictions were a bit farfetched. Turns out all I had to do was wait 25 or 30 years.

A sad day, indeed.

Unfortunately a bad experience in high school English involving Dandelion Wine left me with such a bad taste that I've avoided Bradbury since. 451 is the only other work of his I've read. I loved it, but I still didn't branch out.

He came to our elementary school, I still remember his visit. He will be missed.

He told a great story about writting the script to Moby Dick
The Martian Chronicles was my gateway book to sci-fi
Lisa & I first met at a screening of Something Wicked this way Comes

A sad day for cheese
:(

A true Master gone. RiP. Glad I met him at the Festival of Books a few years ago. He canceled the forum so I didn't get to hear him speak. Saw him at Comic-con a few times dressed in a nice button up shirt and shorts.

Is it me or shooting yourself in the chest suddenly a very popular form of suicide?

I can't believe that, as an A's fan, you didn't go "Holy sh*t" when you saw that post.

While I'm aware of Bob Welch, he's before my time as an A's fan (which dates to '98 when I moved here; I'm a firm believer in being a fan of the team I can watch easily; if I moved to Dallas I'd become a Rangers fan; I'm safe from Dodger/Angels fandom by me living in LA being a sign that I'm dead because no way in hell I'd ever agree to that).

That was quite amusing!

Sad about Mr. Bradbury. I hope they continue with his Halloween Tree at DL.

Mr. Drucker from Green Acres. Susanville native.

I loved that one.

He lived here in Oregon, who knew. I loved that show when I was a kid, RIP Mr Drucker.

That pretty much takes us down to Eb and Ralph Monroe. (Alf Monroe died late last year.)

Rodney King

Found dead in bottom of pool.

Too soon:

VKBM!

(no, not too soon)

Very Kool Bowel Movement?

*Kevy, I'm on a roll!

Susan Tyrell :(

The 6th Dimension will never be the same again.

How in the hell did I miss that. :(

LeRoy Neiman

As a kid, I found him a little weird, but he was pretty cool.

yeah, same here. I remember his artwork being touted during one of the olympics and I recall thinking how really strange this fellow with the amazing mustache looked, and how weird his art seemed compared to anything I'd seen before.

back then, I'd always pictured artists doing paintings with these little tiny brushes and were always so delicate with their art, then this odd fellow whips out the same paint brushes my dad would paint the garage with and starts splattering them all over the place then slowly this image would come together and I would just stare at them thinking 'how the (*&#% did he do that?'

I learned to love his work after that.
rest in peace Mr Neiman. thanks for expanding my view of 'art' when you did.

Composer, lyricist Richard Adler (90)

Co-wrote the songs for the musicals "The Pajama Game" and "Damn Yankees". He also staged the birthday celebration for JFK which featured Marilyn Monroe singing "Happy Birthday".

Very sad cheese.:(

Very folksy sad cheese for Andy Griffith.

My dad and I used to watch a lot of The Andy Griffith Show and The Rifleman, and he always said he wished he could be the kind of father that Andy Taylor and Lucas McCain were.

Widowered.

But seriously, I can still watch The Andy Griffith show for hours at a time. It's a sad day.

Another TV icon gone:(

His memory lives on in reruns of Arrested Development.

I can't recommend highly enough Andy Griffith's performance in "A Face In The Crowd," in which he plays a reactionary "everyman" media figure, kind of a prototype Bill O'Reilly. It's an amazing, obnoxious performance.

Back in the 70s, it felt like Ernest Borgnine was everywhere. The Poseidon Adventure and Willard were the two that made the biggest impression on my little brain.

Sadly, this is how we learn that masturbating can't save you forever.

That doesn't mean we can't try. Maybe he wasn't doing it correctly.

Ernest Borgnine's performance in The Poseidon Adventure epitomizes cinema in the '70s, the decade of men yelling.

Where's our update?

At the time of his death, Ernest Borgnine (95 years, 6 months, 14 days) was the 3rd oldest living Adacemy Award winning actor, behind Luise Rainer (102 years, 4 months, 26 days) and Olivia de Havilland (96 years, 7 days). He was the oldest living male winning actor.

With his death, Shirley Jones (78 years, 3 months, 8 days) moves into the top 25 living winning actors. George Kennedy (87 years, 4 months, 20 days) is now the oldest living male winner.

At the time of his death, he was the 4th oldest living acting nominee behind Luise Rainer, Olivia de Havilland, and Kirk Douglas (95 years, 6 months, 29 days).

With his death, Angela Lansbury (86 years, 8 months, 14 days) moves into the top 25 oldest living acting nominees.

Ernest Borgnine achieved what is the currently the 16th oldest age for any nominee (living or dead), though Celeste Holm (95 years, 2 months, 9 days) will pass him shortly. He achieved the 8th greatest age of any acting winner (with Holm right behind him in this category as well).

With the sketchier data on all nominees (not all birthdates are available and some for whom no death information is available are presumably dead) he is approximately 87th.

Also, he missed by 18 days passing Jimmy Stewart and entering the top ten for longest life lived after first winning an acting Academy Award (56 years, 108 days for Borgnine; 56 years 124 days for Stewart).

I am very sad that he has passed. He used to show up here in Oregon most summers. he was a favorite at a small bar up here, funny man!!

ok, I had to send that to quotes, as its....just so true
:snap: :snap:

Celeste Holm (95)

****. I killed Celeste Holm.

At the time of her death, Celeste Holm (95 years, 2 months, 16 days) was the 3rd oldest living Adacemy Award winning actor, behind Luise Rainer (102 years, 5 months, 3 days) and Olivia de Havilland (96 years, 14 days).

With her death, Shirley MacLaine (78 years, 2 months, 21 days) moves into the top 25 living winning actors.

At the time of her death, she was the 4th oldest living acting nominee behind Luise Rainer, Olivia de Havilland, and Kirk Douglas (95 years, 8 months, 6 days).

With her death, Julie Harris (86 years, 8 months, 13 days) moves into the top 25 oldest living acting nominees.

My quest to track the inanely irrelevant continues.

I assume she was ahead of Borgnine and Jimmy Stewart on length of life after her award. And I assume Luise Rainer heads that list. Of course, I could be wrong.

It was a little weird that when I heard the news of Celeste Holm's passing, I immediately thought of Alex.

I thought I was the only one.

Tom Davis, probably most famous as a long-time writer for SNL and former comedy partner of Al Franken.

Ain't It Cool has some great clips of his material compiled.

Aw, sad. I loved their writing and when they would appear as Fraken and Davis. Funny and good writer!

Alexander Cockburn (71)

Actor, Clown and Seattle Icon JP Patches.

NPR just announced Sally Ride is RIP

Ginny Tyler, Disney Legend

:(

:(

two amazingly talented women in their respective fields. bravo to you both and may you rest in peace

Well, here goes my Sherman Hemsley story.

A law office I used to work for represented him. During that representation, we moved from the ground floor to - yep - the Penthouse. And the first time Sherman came up to our Penthouse office, the minute he walked in the door - 3 people on the staff spontaneously burst into the "Movin' On Up" song and, within seconds, everyone else in the office joined in. Sherman laughed his head off. One of my favorite memories. RIP Mr. Hemsley. :cheers:

Chad Everett was one of the great handsome actors of the '70s. Too bad.

And I always got a kick out of Sherman Hemsley. As a kid, I even found him a little scary when he was on All in the Family. Must have been something about my Queens upbringing in the late '60s and '70s.

It's not been a good day for musical theater fans
Composer Marvin Hamlisch (68)
"Hairspray" (the musical) co-creator Mark O'Donnell (58)

Film critic Judith Crist.

True story: As a Jewish kid in New York in the '60s, I had heard of Judith Crist before I heard of Jesus Christ, so when I heard about the latter, I though there must be some mistake.

Nope, not anyone famous. Also not anyone known to any of my LoT friends. But, I'm sad, lost a good friend today. He was a sweet, sweet man. Loved magic (he was a very good magician) and loved Buster Keaton, silent films and liked me even though I was a Valentino fan. ;)

Tim had a severe stroke last year and overcame so much disability and recovered so well he was mobile, able to do a little magic and got to make it down to San Francisco to realize his dream of seeing the restoration of Napoleon in March. He was thrilled, he looked good, we got to hug a lot and he gave Kevin Brownlow a bottle of really good scotch for Napoleon. He was about to get his driver's license back and move back into his apartment and get his beloved kitties back. He'd been to the doctor last week and all his tests were good regarding the likihood of another stroke. He went to sleep sometime today and did not wake up. It's a good way to go, but damnation, I'm sorry I won't see him or talk to him again. Feh. :(

Attachment 1709

I'm so sorry, Snowflake.

Sorry for your loss Snow!

Snow I'm sorry for your loss. Sounds like a wonderful man.

Sounds like he would have been wonderful to know, Snow. Hugs.

I am sorry for your loss of a good friend Snow.

Sorry to hear about your friend, Snowflake- I actually had heard his name, from a Buster Keaton fan group; he seems to have made quite a good impression on many around him, and it's always tough to lose somebody like that.

David Rakoff Regular contributor to This American Life and other things NPR.

Saw that. That makes me sad.

His piece recently about dancing was all kinds of powerful.

Comic Book artist and Legend Joe Kubert.

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/joe-...sses-away.html

He was famous for Sgt. Rock and Hawkman. He also started the Joe Kubert School of Art.

Long-time Cosmo Editor and naughty book author, Helen Gurley Brown

I think it's safe to say she made a significant difference in all of our lives. Why just her "Things to do with your man and a shoelace" article alone is worthy of a shrine in her honor.

*Raises hand excitedly in the air* Ohh! Ohh!

Ron Pilillo AKA "Horshack"

Mr Kotter, Mr Kotter!!

I really liked that show, Travolta not so much. RIP Ron

Director Tony Scott

Phyllis Diller :(

RIP Scott McKenzie

:( not a very funny day today. RIP

I'm seriously close to tears.

Jerry Nelson, Muppeteer.

RIP to the Count, the Amazing Mumford, Herry Monster, Camilla Chicken, Robin the Frog, Floyd Pepper, Dr. Strangepork, Uncle Deadly.....

Neil Armstrong.

Holy crap.

:(

I watched him walk on the moon on a game room TV in a Florida hotel when I was seven. It was amazing.

What amazes me even more in retrospect was how we could go to the moon in 1969 when you still had to screw with the vertical hold on your TV at home to watch coverage of the Apollo missions.

RIP.

I was six. We watched at the home of some family friends. I could not figure out why I couldn't see the astronauts on the moon with my naked eye. I mean, I should have been able to see little specks or something!

Lani's version is she had to watch it because her parents made her but she found it all boring.

My version is she's old since she has a version.

I was seven. We had a huge crowd at our house; all stuffed into our family room. We kids were all on the floor.

Between Jerry Nelson and Neil Armstrong I am seriously sad.

One taught me to count (and gave me memories with my daddy who, can "talk like The Count") and one made me fall in love with space, and in a round about way, SciFi

[can of worms] That's because it was faked for TV. [/can of worms]

What's weird, though, is that it was real on radio.

Hmm, real audio, but the landscape is not what we've been taught to believe. Sounds plausible.

Jersey Shore
WooHoo!


yes, I know there's still one season to go, but at lest we know it's ending

Thank God, I've missed it all!

Seven seasons too many

I've only seen it in The Three Stooges, and that was too much.

composer and frequent Burt Bacharach collaborator, Hal David at 91

You may not know his name, but you probably know at least some of his songs:

• Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head
• (They Long to Be) Close to You
• That's What Friends Are For
• Walk On By
• I Say a Little Prayer
• Do You Know the Way to San Jose
• Always Something There to Remind Me
• What's New, Pussycat
• Moonraker (the James Bond film title song)
• To All the Girls I've Loved Before

charismatic nutbag Sun Myung Moon (92)

RIP Bear. Armageddon was my favorite, but most people loved The Green Mile.


And another loss from the music industry: Mark Abrahamian, lead guitarist for Starship

Bob Denver - aka Gilligan

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/923008...nver-dies-age/

Um, Betty- that happened in 2005.

It's still sad, though.

Wonder if the confusion was started by the death of the Steve Franken over the weekend, who was also on Dobie Gillis.

I thought it sounded familiar. ha ha ha. I wonder where I got that from.

He's dead though. You should be sad.

This completely bummed me out! He was a very talented man and I loved his voice. I guess the heart attack explains why his show was cancelled. My cheese is sad:(

The show was canceled before his heart attack. It had bad ratings.

Disney digital pioneer Bob Lambert

I suppose how you feel about the push to digital CGI type films will determine how sad your cheese is about this one.

Digital was inevitable. I truly hope that there will always be hand-drawn animated films. (Even those are technically digital these days.) It's all about the storytelling. I remember a time, just after Disney bought Pixar, when some were hoping that Pixar would be the CGI brand and Walt Disney Animation would be the traditional brand. It hasn't worked out that way, but at least with Tangled, Disney achieved excellence worthy of comparison with the 90s renaissance classics.

And I don't much mourn the passing of old-school film projection. That art has fallen into such hideous disrepair, at least in the chain cinemas, that I'm happy to get a sharp, bright, reliable digital picture any day. (I do love a good repertory house when they have pristine prints and a projectionist who knows how to do it. That would be the rarest of rarities if you don't live in a major city, alas.)

So, I applaud those who helped shepherd the Disney company into continued relevance. (I just wish the partnership with Ghibli yielded more influence on Disney's domestic output. The artistic hands behind Ghibli films can make me cry before the story even gets started.)

Space Spiral - 1965-2012

My Mom will be so upset. She was supposed to see his show last Christmas but he canceled.

Herbert Lom, Frustrated Boss of Inspector Clouseau, Dies at 95

I wonder if his eye twitched right before he passed.

My Grandmother, Margaret Barker 1922-2012

She started going to Disneyland since the first week and constantly until her birthday in 2010. Some of you met her in passing at the park I believe. She adored everything to do with the park. Loved the Main Street Electrical Parade and Prince John.

If Walt has created a park in heaven, I"m sure it was the first place she went.

Mark I'm so sorry for your loss. Your Grandmother sounds like an amazing woman.

Mark, so sorry for you and your family. She had to have been wonderful and you have so many wonderful memories. Condolences.

I am sorry for your loss.

I love the picture with Prince John. And it's so great to know that the park Walt built gave her a lifetime of memories. My heartfelt condolences.

Sorry for your loss, Mark. What a lovely inspiration for your love of Disneyland.

So sorry for your loss, glad you can honor her memory with each trip to the park we all love.

I'm so sorry for your loss Mark

I'm sorry for your loss. You're lucky to have had such a neat lady in your life for so long.

sorry to hear it. condolences

Mark, there is nothing I can say which will lessen your pain, though I wish there were. I hope you can celebrate her life and all it gave to you rather than dwell on the loss.

I am sorry for your loss.

Wow, I never connected that Mongo was George Papadopoulos.

George Papadopoulos only pawn in game of life.

Candygram for George Papadopoulos. (walks away with fingers in ears to tune of "Merry Go Round Broke Down")

Very sad about Alex Karras, though.

Oh my god,I never connected them either

Gary Collins (74)

Very sad. She was a pretty lady.

Wow, I had no idea how complex his positions were. Not a simple party-line guy, and you have to respect that, even when he parts ways with my own point of view. Does anyone like this exist anymore?

Actor and activist Russell Means is dead at 72. Much too soon.

Twinkies & Ding Dongs

I haven't eaten any in decades, but it's sad part of my childhood going away.

Although, I'd be surprised if the name and recipes didn't get bought up the way Mother's cookies were.

Another handsome actor from the '60s gone. Sad.

And let's not forget Hector "Macho" Camacho. With Vernon Forrest, Corrie Sanders and now Camacho, a bad mini-trend of boxers getting shot to death. Also a mini-trend of untimely deaths of people with "macho" in their nickname.

Jazz legend Dave Brubeck

Another music legend gone. Ravi Shankar is playing a West Coast raga with Brubeck.

Shankar's work here was done - talk about influential.

I saw Shankar perform twice and both times were just amazing.

OMG! Roger Broggie, Jr.

Other than having heard the name I have no idea who Ravi Shankar is. Same with Roger Broggie Jr. Both equally famous to me.

Ravi Shankar invented the Internet with Al Gore. Roger Broggie Jr. was the last remaining signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Children
Charlotte Bacon, 6
Daniel Barden, 7
Olivia Engel, 6
Josephine Gay, 7
Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 6
Dylan Hockley, 6
Madeleine F. Hsu, 6
Catherine V. Hubbard, 6
Chase Kowalski, 7
Jesse Lewis, 6
James Mattioli, 6
Grace McDonnell, 7
Emilie Parker, 6
Jack Pinto, 6
Noah Pozner, 6
Caroline Previdi, 6
Jessica Rekos, 6
Aveille Richman, 6
Benjamin Wheeler, 6
Allison N. Wyatt, 6

Adults:
Dawn Hochsprung, 47
Rachel Davino, 29
Anne Marie Murphy, 52
Lauren Rousseau, 30
Mary Sherlach, 56
Victoria Soto, 27

Offered without comment...

A tragedy beyond fathom.

Jack Klugman (90), famous for being Oscar Madison, Quincy, and Mr. Brett Somers.

RIP Mr Klugman.

Looks like another great actor has died, Charles During has passed also. he was in so many movies I can't even think of anything except Mel Brooks movies.

It's sad when the old greats go.

We watched "Home for the Holidays" last night because it seemed apt (though we did not go home for the holidays). I remarked to myself how amazing it was that Charles Durning was still alive given how heavy he was in 1995. Shouldn't have done that I guess.

Klugman and Durning were two solid screen presences whose appearance always made me happy. A sad time.

I'm sure my dad is happy, he can finally have his nickname back.

Looks like everyone else managed to hang on long enough to reach the new year, well done and best wishes for next year.

Slackers