George Carlin Passes Away

The first comedian that was actually talking to ME. To my generation. He was part of the soundtrack of my life in the 60s and 70s -- Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, the Stones, George Carlin.

"George Carlin, the acerbic, Grammy-winning comedian whose career spanned more than 50 years, died of heart failure Sunday evening after being admitted to the hospital complaining of chest pains, his spokesman said. He was 71." [MORE...]

"When I die, I don’t want to be buried, but I don’t want to be cremated either. I want to be blown up."

In your honor, George, the Seven Words -- shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits.

The Golden Suicides
by Vanity Fair

When Theresa Duncan, 40, took her own life on July 10, followed a week later by her boyfriend, Jeremy Blake, 35, their friends were stunned and the press was fascinated: what had destroyed this glamorous couple, stars of New York’s multi-media art world, still madly in love after 12 years?

Lovely Theresa Duncan liked to go for drives along the Pacific Coast Highway in her butter-colored Alfa Romeo Spider, listening to Steely Dan. She liked the band for the stories they told about hard-luck characters. Some of their lyrics were read at her funeral, on July 21, in Lapeer, Michigan, her hometown.

When she moved to Los Angeles, Duncan had a two-picture deal with Fox Searchlight and had written and directed a pilot for Oxygen Media. She had "my boyfriend Jeremy Blake"—she was always bringing him up—literally the poster boy of the 2001 "BitStreams" exhibition of digital art at the Whitney Museum. That same year, Blake had been tapped by director Paul Thomas Anderson to create a hallucinogenic dream sequence for Punch Drunk Love, and singer-songwriter Beck had asked him to do a series of covers and a video for his album Sea Change (both released in 2002).

And then, something began to go very wrong. Read More...

Photograph by Bret Haller

Lucky Dube, South African Reggae Star, is Killed in Carjacking

Lucky Dube (born: Ermelo Dube) (pronounced: Doo bay) was one of South Africa's best selling artists and one of its most outspoken performers. He was named Lucky because he was born in poor health, and the doctors thought he would die but he survived.

JOHANNESBURG: A team of gunmen shot and killed Lucky Dube, an international reggae star and one of South Africa's best-known musicians, in an apparent carjacking attempt late Thursday that underscored the continuing peril of violent crime here.

Dube, 43, what shot by three hijackers in Rosettenville, just south of downtown Johannesburg, as he dropped off his teenage son at his brother's house. Another child, a 16-year-old daughter, was in the car at the time, the police said.

The hijackers fled after Dube crashed his car into a tree. He died at the scene.

link

Tiffa Novoa 1975-2007 Costume Designer, Performance Artist.

Tiffa was not just a fashion designer, she invented an entire aesthetic style. She was not just one of the founding members of a notorious performance troupe, she helped to create an entire subculture.

She wasn’t just a visionary artist, she was a force of nature whose ripple effects inspired, and will continue to inspire, her closest friends and countless, thousands, of people who are likely not even aware that this is the woman responsible for their inspiration.

El Circo [is credited] with creating the postapocalyptic fashions that many now associate with Burning Man. Most of the original El Circo fashions, which convey both tribalism and a sense of whimsy, were designed by member Tiffa Novoa, who has since hit it big with her Onda Designs.

Tiffa Novoa, the legendary Bali based mind behind fine and exotic couture was teamed up with Evan Sugarman to form the now infamous fashion system, ERNTE Fashion Systems.

via

An Example of Her Work

I miss Meg. I've been thinking of Michelle Goodrich, aka Mandarin Meg, lately. I think of her most every single day. She died in June of last year.

She gave me a real gift when she taught me some web design tricks and tweaks a few years ago. This box I'm typing in, how to color this box or give it a dotted border. When you want your image to be on the left or right (like her picture up there) with text wrapping around it, or make images transparent, or make the large drop cap letter "I" up there. All learned from Mandarin Meg.

Meg was one of those people with a website where everyone that visited that site ends up connecting with all the other visitors. She taught us so much which only began a beautiful friendship that escalated over 4 or 5 years until we suddenly lost her last year.

Her Mandarin Design website is still up. I like that.

Shirl posted about her this week and Frank left a nice post about her.

Lynn Rockwell has just passed away from lung cancer. Lynn was a photographer and lived in Halifax, NS.

This is Lynn on the left, with her daughter.

We will all miss her madly.

*UPDATE: Obituary
ROCKWELL, Eleanor Lynn - 53, Halifax, passed away February 3, 2007. Lynn is survived by her mother, Eleanor; daughters, Jennifer Lynn, Lindsay Sara; and her grandson, Noah David. She was predeceased by her father, David. A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Saturday, February 24, in J.A. Snow Funeral Home, 2666 Windsor St., Halifax. In lieu of flowers, donations may be to the Lung Association of Nova Scotia or Canadian Cancer Society.
E-mail condolences to: snowfh@alderwoods.com

Molly Ivins, Columnist, Dies at 62

Molly Ivins, the liberal newspaper columnist who delighted in skewering politicians and interpreting, and mocking, her Texas culture, died yesterday in Austin. She was 62.

Ms. Ivins waged a public battle against breast cancer after her diagnosis in 1999. Betsy Moon, her personal assistant, confirmed her death last night. Ms. Ivins died at her home surrounded by family and friends. link

We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we're for them and trying to get them out of there. Hit the streets to protest Bush's proposed surge. If you can, go to the peace march in Washington on January 27. We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, "Stop it, now!" link

One hellraising writer and feminist is gone far too soon and I already miss her.

James Brown dead at 73

My memory of James Brown comes from a 1969 concert in a small southern town high school gym with my friend Debbie and being the only white people in the audience.

We all knew he was a great singer and dancer, but being such a showman made seeing him live so special. When calling out "Maseo, come blow your horn" and "Watch me while I do the James Brown" while he did his signature slide dance with those little feet moving like lightning. He came to the stage with his cape on and someone takes it off. By the end, it's draped on his shoulders again, he's drenched in sweat and he's ushered off stage only to return for an encore as he throws the cape to the floor.

His singles played at every party in the mid 60s. His "Live At The Apollo" was my favorite album and it may still be here someplace. I know we still have some old 45s of his around here.

link

Richard Brautigan's Please Plant This Book (1968) is a sweet little book with 8 poems inside 8 packets of garden seeds. I don't think you can buy it anyplace unless it's from a private collector now.

Although he died in 1984, he is still very much a celebrated cult figure today. Sure would be nice to find one in decent condition.

link

In her new book, A Photographer's Life, Annie Leibovitz, our most famous photographer, places celebs side by side with surprisingly personal images of love and loss. An exclusive.

Sitting in her Greenwich Village office, wearing jeans and sneakers, Leibovitz explains how Sontag's death in December 2004—followed only weeks later by the death of Leibovitz's father—propelled her to make this book. "It totally came out of a moment," she says. "I had already done some looking at photographs of Susan—that was very hard—for a little memorial book. I had never taken the time to see what I had, really." She would weep and pin the pictures up on the long walls of an old barn at her country place in upstate New York. "And then, I got very excited, trying to look from 1990 to 2005, as if Susan was standing behind me." Leibovitz tears up and reaches for a box of tissues.

Photographer Annie Liebovitz does Newsweek, and shoots her own cover. What may be the most controversial aspect of Leibovitz's book is the intimate pictures from her relationship with Susan Sontag, and particularly the painful images of the writer when she was seriously ill with cancer. Don't miss the photos, especially the one she took the day after Sontag died. Just a very tender and beautiful piece.

link

Ten Reasons We Already Miss Ann Richards

Ann Richards, the famously silver-tongued and silver-haired former governor of Texas, died Wednesday from complications of esophageal cancer. She was 73. Here's just some of what we'll remember and miss about her:

1. Richards used her wit not only to disarm her political opponents but to encourage other women to get into politics: "Let me tell you, sisters, seeing dried egg on a plate in the morning is a lot dirtier than anything I've had to deal with in politics," she said.

2. As a homemaker raising four kids, Richards became politically involved by volunteering on campaigns, including helping elect Sarah Weddington, the 25-year-old lawyer who had successfully argued Roe v. Wade before the Supreme Court, to the Texas House. Richards called Weddington the first "out-and-out feminist activist" she'd ever met, according to the Washington Post.

3. Two years after undergoing rehab for alcoholism in 1982, Richards was elected state treasurer, making her the first woman elected to a statewide post in Texas in 50 years. Of her return from addiction, she said: "I believe in recovery, and I believe that as a role model I have the responsibility to let young people know that you can make a mistake and come back from it."

4. When Richards gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 1988 -- where she zinged the elder George Bush -- "Poor George. He can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth" -- she also reminded the audience that she was only the second woman to give the keynote address at the convention in 160 years. The first was Barbara Jordan.

Continued in the Comments.

S o long, sweet Meg.

It saddens me to learn that our good friend, Michelle Goodrich, (Meg to the online community) passed away this weekend. I learned a lot from her web expertise and unbounded patience. Many of us bloggers did.

She ran the Mandarin Design site and lived in West Sacramento, CA. She was a sweet gentle spirit that I will miss deeply.

I'll continue to honor her with the CSS/HTML she taught me. And how to make boxes, padding, shadows, borders. How to make a picture opaque, add letters to the opacity, make the letter "S" in the beginning of this post, aka Drop Caps, and numerous other tweaks.

She just always took the time. Rest peacefully, dear one.

Stew Albert 1939 - 2006

Berkley 1968 - Portland 2002
Stew Albert a prominent anti-Vietnam war activist, an early supporter of the Black Panthers and a founder of the Yippie radical protest group, died Monday at age 66 in Portland, Oregon.

Initially diagnosed with Hepatitis C, he spent a whole year enduring grueling chemotherapy. He spoke openly about it on his website, documenting each day and each weekly shot. He was finally declared free of the disease only to be diagnosed with liver cancer this past December. The ultimate Fuck You. (My sister passed away this past Thanksgiving also from liver cancer from Hep C.) We spoke thru email about Hep C, how it sucked and how the treatment felt worse than the disease. I was always inspired by his spirit. From 1968 in Chicago throughout his life. People with true 60s ideals are a rare breed. Tom Robbins said, Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business. Stew certainly believed in magic.

On his website...from Judy
"Stew will be buried tomorrow (Wednesday) in Jones Pioneer Cemetery in Portland. He will be wrapped in a tallis (Jewish prayer shaw), holding a stuffed flower from the Haight and wearing his kick-ass Frye boots and our wedding ring."

There are beautiful sentiments expressed on his website, Bay Area Indymedia, Infoshop News, SFGate, and on Counterpunch.


More On Hepatitis C
Allen Ginsberg died from complications of it. Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead, and David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, & Nash, both had liver transplants and still suffer from it. Ken Kesey, author of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, suffered from it and died of liver cancer in 2001. Penny Arcade, the 55-year-old performance artist for the East Village avant-garde art scene since Andy Warhol roamed the city, also suffers from it.

Miles Keaton Andrew, a 52-year-old author who contracted it when he experimented with intravenous drugs as a teenager, has kept a blog, www.mkandrew.com, since 2001 about his experiences battling H.C.V. His blog has received a million hits in the past year. “I understand the whole stigma thing,” he told The Villager. "There are a lot of people like me who might have experimented with drugs. Some of us got sick from it and it isn’t anything to be ashamed about."

Hep C Life After Interferon is another blogger who documents his experience with it.

Sad News
From Gary Rhine's Website...

It is with great sorrow that we inform the readers of Rhino's Blog that Gary Rhine has passed away. Gary died while doing something he loved - flying a small plane. The plane crashed in Lancaster, California, on January 9th at 1:40 p.m.

The funeral will be in San Francisco
on Sunday the 15th of January:
Congregation Beth-Israel-Judea
625 Brotherhood Way
San Francisco, Ca. 94132
Services will begin at 1:30.

A memorial will be held in Los Angeles at a later date. That information will also be posted here when we know more.

If you would like to contact Gary's family, then you can e-mail his wife, Irene Romero, at: imromero@kifaru.com

The family thanks you for your concern. In lieu of flowers, you may choose to honor Gary by sending a contribution to one of the following two charitable organizations that Gary cared deeply about:

The Friendship House
56 Julian Street
San Francisco, Ca. 94103

Plenty USA
PO Box 394
Summertown
Tennessee, 38483
(on the memo line, please indicate that the funds should be directed to the Rhino/Katrina Building Fund)

Rhino's Blog : Political activism, commentary & satire from a 5th generation San Franciscan, filmmaker, father, paramedic, and Indigenous rights activist. Rhino's Blog

Synthesiser pioneer Dr Robert Moog has died at his North Carolina home aged 71, four months after being diagnosed with brain cancer.

MEMORIAL CELEBRATION: August 24, 12 NOON
The Orange Peel, Social Aid & Pleasure Club
101Biltmore Ave
Asheville, NC
828 225-5851
www.theorangepeel.net

Link
Memorial
Aug 18 post

The day Chet Helms died was the day they brought old San Francisco down.

Several years ago somebody wrote the SF Chronicle saying Chet Helms had died. So Chet decided to have a wake and a resurrection. He hired a hearse and a coffin and invited 200 people. He was driven up to the Gold Coast Restaurant in the hearse and the pall bearers were Terance Hallinan, Richard Hongisto and Wavy Gravy. The Coffin rolled into the restaurant and was opened. Chet lay there with flowers and a cellular phone on his chest. The phone rang and he rose to answer it and walked thru the toasting crowd and camera people.

The day Chet Helms died, goes the old eulogy, Owsley returned and gave out real LSD and everyone remembered their last ecstatic romance at the Avalon and began to dance that perfect trance dance that merged them with the divine.

But this past weekend, Chet Helms really did pass away. He died from complications of a stroke in San Francisco surrounded by family and friends; he was 62.

[Extensive info and obituary @ sfbg]

Great Gonzo Fires His Last Shot
Hunter S. Thompson, legendary author, political commentator and "gonzo" journalist, died Sunday night after shooting himself in the head with a handgun at his home in Woody Creek.

"The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."
-Hunter S. Thompson 1937-2005

I suppose we should be glad he stayed around for his 67 years. Although I never expected him to go gently into the good night, I had hoped to read much more from him before he passed. Thanks for the ride. more...

* Jim Capaldi, founder member of psychedelic rock group Traffic, has died, it was announced earlier today. The award-winning songwriter and performer had been suffering from cancer of the stomach. He was 60. Traffic was extremely popular in my household growing up. I probably still have some of their vinyl at my Mother's house. Link

* New details have emerged about Robert Plant's upcoming solo album. The 12-track CD will be titled Mighty Rearranger, not Another Tribe as originally reported, and will be released in the United Kingdom on April 25. The disc's first single, "Shine It All Around," will be available a week earlier in the U.K. No word yet on when the album -- which Plant recorded with his backing band, the Strange Sensation -- will come out in the United States. Billboard.com


* Ashley Judd is blogging her trip to Africa as YouthAIDS Global Ambassador. She brought much needed mosquito nets, medicine, and more. She talks about her visit to the slums and the brothels and the effect it had on her emotionally.

Have envelope; Will push.

Two notable men both born on the same day in 1915. Alan Watts was born on Jan 6, 1915, in Chiselhurst, England. The original California guru, polymath, liberationist. He become widely recognized for his Zen writings and for The Book On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are. He died in 1973 at his home in California, and is survived by his second wife and seven children. {Deoxy Link}
~ ~ ~
And John Lilly who was born on Jan. 6, 1915, in St Paul, MN. A physician and psychoanalyst specializing in biophysics, neurophysiology, electronics, computer theory, and neuroanatomy. Inventor of The Isolation Tank Method of exploring consciousness. Which led to research projects between man and dolphin. Specifically a research program dedicated to interfacing dolphins and whales through music, art, and ceremony: Interspecies Communication.

Dead Poet's Insobriety - Charles Bukowski died 10 years ago, at 73, but it's been hard to miss him, because he hasn't really gone away. A movie by John Dullaghan, Bukowski: Born Into This just opened Friday. Link

Daughter and Dharma - "But Daddy, she's my age!" Paul Krassner's daughter exclaims. Nice read from his weekly column, Link

My Life, by Bill Clinton - Supposed to have much policy included, and detailed US & Presidential history, but he's such an amazing storyteller I'm looking forward to the June 22nd release.


Haiku grand-prize winner:
A frog in water
doesn't feel it boil in time.
Dude, we are that frog.
Link

saturday morning me//
sipping hot coffee/
munching honeynut cheerios/
early fumblefuck foghead/
grey flannel pjs/bedhead/
sneaking up on the mirror/
Listening: Satisfied Mind - Jeff Buckley/
so how about you?/