R.I.P

This is for all non-EC or peripheral-EC topics. We all know how much we love talking about 'The Man' but sometimes we have other interests.
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bambooneedle
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R.I.P

Post by bambooneedle »

I made this thread to provide something of a buffer to the unexpected shock of the sad news of someone's passing - at least you will be a bit readier for it. All posters are welcome to place other obituaries and thoughts of grief and so on here.

- - - - -

Ray Manzarek has passed away.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wire ... r=homepage
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Otis Westinghouse
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Re: R.I.P

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

Respect to Ray. He was always great in interviews. I remember one along the lines of 'Jim projected himself as part of one great big astral body, maaan!' Heard He'd died getting out the car on Monday, after a band rehearsal where we'd joked about a keyboard sound being just right for Riders on the Storm. Immortal!

Hugely saddened to hear a second Spider From Mars has departed the planet:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22619872

His bass playing on the song Ziggy Stardust and many others of the era was superb.

I guess Brian Greenhoff's name won't mean much to many here, but for me he was part of the line-up of Manchester United at a time when I was a fanatical teen:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22631540
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verbal gymnastics
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Re: R.I.P

Post by verbal gymnastics »

I remember Brian and Jimmy Greenhoff.

A friend of mine lost a baby at 32 weeks this week. Among the many many sad things was that her 5 year old was so excited about wanting a baby brother (although my friends did not now what sex the baby would be). I'm not sure if this counts for the purpose of this thread but I've hardly stopped thinking about this.
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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Re: R.I.P

Post by Jack of All Parades »

verbal gymnastics wrote:I remember Brian and Jimmy Greenhoff.

A friend of mine lost a baby at 32 weeks this week. Among the many many sad things was that her 5 year old was so excited about wanting a baby brother (although my friends did not now what sex the baby would be). I'm not sure if this counts for the purpose of this thread but I've hardly stopped thinking about this.
Very much belongs here as the former Dean of St Paul's reminds us:

John Donne
Meditation 17
Devotions upon Emergent Occasions

"No man is an iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee...."
Otis Westinghouse wrote:Respect to Ray. He was always great in interviews. I remember one along the lines of 'Jim projected himself as part of one great big astral body, maaan!' Heard He'd died getting out the car on Monday, after a band rehearsal where we'd joked about a keyboard sound being just right for Riders on the Storm. Immortal!
I saw him perform with the band in April of 1970 in Boston- I remember Morrison was so drunk- the other three, especially Ray, did yeoman's work that show to cover up for him. A solid musician and by all the accounts I have read a most decent and honorable man.
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
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Re: R.I.P

Post by bambooneedle »

I'm reminded of Ray in the LA Woman documentary, right at the end he says that the Egyptians believe that if you say a dead man's name out loud, he isn't dead... and he says Jim Morrison's name. So now i say 'Ray Manzarek' out loud, before i play some Doors. RIP.
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Re: R.I.P

Post by invisible Pole »

Sad news : James Gandolfini, the unforgettable Tony Soprano, has died at the age of 51.
RIP

http://www.hitfix.com/news/sopranos-sta ... dead-at-51
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Re: R.I.P

Post by Jack of All Parades »

One knows he made a lasting impression through his most famous role when your daughter calls you to tell you of his passing and you can hear in her voice how upset she is at the news. My favorite performance of his, however, was in a movie where he played a sadistic warden-"The Last Castle".
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
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Re: R.I.P

Post by Poor Deportee »

The Sopranos was a brilliant, massively enjoyable and thought-provoking show, and its success hinged on the superb work of Gandolfini. One of the great sustained acting performances - possibly the greatest - in the history of the medium. Such a shame to lose this terrific talent so early.
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Re: R.I.P

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Then you don't know what you've missed
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Re: R.I.P

Post by Jack of All Parades »

A balanced assessment of Mr. Gandolfini's legacy from today's New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/arts/ ... l?ref=arts
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
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Re: R.I.P

Post by Jack of All Parades »

Lost a wonderful neighbor- will miss her quiet, dignified presence in my town:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/12/arts/ ... obituaries
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
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Re: R.I.P

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

The grim reaper's scythe cast a shadow over my week with news that an old friend in Madrid died of cancer aged 54. Co-runner with his wife of Madrid's and probably Spain's only specialist cinema bookshop, a quite fabulous emporium. Also published film scripts. Hadn't been in touch of late and had no idea he was ill. The Facebook pigeon delivered the news. Sad as hell.

DEP Jesús.
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Re: R.I.P

Post by Jack of All Parades »

"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
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Re: R.I.P

Post by Jack of All Parades »

News of the passing of Karen Black- I fondly remember her turns in films like "Easy Rider" and "Five Easy Pieces" or "Nashville".
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
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Re: R.I.P

Post by migdd »

Ms. Black's performance in Day of The Locust was absolutely devastating, as well. I will miss her.
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Re: R.I.P

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

As a Lloyd Cole devotee, my key association with her is that she wrote the lovely song Memphis, originally for Nashville and covered by Cole on his etc. album:

https://soundcloud.com/lloydcole/lloyd-cole-memphis
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Re: R.I.P

Post by Jack of All Parades »

Saddened by the news of Cedar Walton's passing earlier this morning while listening to WBGO. One of the last of the hard bop pianists and a skilled and adventurous composer on his own. "Ugetsu" comes readily to mind. People may know him best as the pianist for Art Blakey's Messengers in the early sixties. My father in law liked him. A bit of a gourmet I understand, too.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... mg&cad=rja
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
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Re: R.I.P

Post by Jack of All Parades »

News of the passing of Elmore Leonard- looking forward to the addition of his works to the Library of America canon:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/21/books ... 87.html?hp

I admire his 10 rules of writing:

1. Never open a book with weather.

2. Avoid prologues.

3. Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.

4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said."

5. Keep your exclamation points under control.

6. Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose."

7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.

8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.

9. Don't go into great detail describing places and things.

10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
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Re: R.I.P

Post by ice nine »

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think that you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt
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Re: R.I.P

Post by Jack of All Parades »

News today of the near demise of an old friend- WBAI. This radio station was a late night haven for my wife and I as we grew up as young adults. Sad news.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/21/busin ... l?ref=arts
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
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Re: R.I.P

Post by Jack of All Parades »

This one has hit me hard- I met this great poet once and he could not have been more gracious and giving of his time to a young poetry lover. Seamus Heaney is dead- I did not think I would write those words for some time:

http://ideas.time.com/2013/08/30/seamus ... topstories

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/31/arts/ ... 74.html?hp

This is a solid assessment of him and his career from The New Yorker today:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/b ... -2013.html

Listen to him read his poem "Scaffolding" and you will have a clear sense of what made him so special as a poet, a teacher, and a man:

http://youtu.be/fNYBwF7lKLA

and finally this from a few years back on PBS as he talks about his past:

http://youtu.be/D6xVTN_5OSU
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
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Re: R.I.P

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

Where and how did you meet him? I went to a talk of his here at the university in the 90s. Was great. Wonderful warm humour and lovely voice to read his own poetry. Few poets are so steeped in the roots of the land where they grew up. Great that he got the Nobel. 74 too young, RIP indeed.
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Re: R.I.P

Post by Jack of All Parades »

Otis, my wife's best girlfriend, while she was in Performing Arts High School in NYC, later married a young man whose father turned out to be Bernard McCabe. Mr. McCabe was a great friend of Mr. Heaney's when they both taught at Harvard in the eighties and nineties. The photo that I have placed on this site previously of my wife alone at a table all dressed to the nines was that very wedding as she was the maid of honor for her friend. Mr. Heaney even wrote a private poem for their son, Daniel, on his birth. Cutting to the chase-my wife's friend was kind enough to arrange for me to meet with the great man one afternoon for about forty five minutes in his offices at Harvard knowing what a fan I was. I did not take it as a chance to have him autograph a book although I think he would have if I had asked but instead he graciously gave of his time one fall afternoon to a stranger to talk about Dante and Larkin and Hardy. To this day I cannot remember exactly our exchange. It is a blur now but one that is infused with his warmth, humor, goodwill, erudition and a mutual love of poetry.

http://books.google.com/books?id=hqK1rE ... CE4Q6AEwBg

This poem "The Birch Grove"-from District and Circle is about his friendship with Mr. McCabe and his wife:


The Birch Grove by Seamus Heaney


At the back of a garden, in earshot of river water,

In a corner walled off like the baths or bake-house

Of an unroofed abbey or broken-floored Roman villa,

They have planted their birch grove. Planted it recently only,

But already each morning it puts forth in the sun

Like their own long grown-up selves, the white of the bark

As suffused and cool as the white of the satin nightdress

She bends and straightens up in, pouring tea,

Sitting across from where he dandles a sandal

On his big time-keeping foot, as bare as an abbot's.

Red brick and slate, plum tree and apple retain

Their credibility, a CD of Bach is making the rounds

Of the common or garden air. Above them a jet trail

Tapers and waves like a willow wand or a taper.

"If art teaches us anything," he says, trumping life

With a quote, "it's that the human condition is private."
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
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Re: R.I.P

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

Excellent story and a great poem to boot. I love the fact that his voice is so distinctive that after decades of hearing it on radios (mainly), I can hear it as I read his lines. I have a nice boxed set of his first four volumes, inc North, but know little of his later work. District & Circle sounds interesting. He was a great interviewee too, so the volume of them cited there would be a great read. Younger than Pynchon, April '39. Lost too soon.
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Re: R.I.P

Post by Jack of All Parades »

Otis- a personal favorite of mine as it catches all his qualities- his humor, his erudition, his sensitivity to the natural world and his ability to charge language to its utmost: From Field Work

Oysters

Our shells clacked on the plates.
My tongue was a filling estuary,
My palate hung with starlight:
As I tasted the salty Pleiades
Orion dipped his foot into the water.

Alive and violated
They lay on their beds of ice:
Bivalves: the split bulb
And philandering sigh of ocean.
Millions of them ripped and shucked and scattered.

We had driven to the coast
Through flowers and limestone
And there we were, toasting friendship,
Laying down a perfect memory
In the cool thatch and crockery.

Over the Alps, packed deep in hay and snow,
The Romans hauled their oysters south to Rome:
I saw damp panniers disgorge
The frond-lipped, brine-stung
Glut of privilege

And was angry that my trust could not repose
In the clear light, like poetry or freedom
Leaning in from the sea. I ate the day
Deliberately, that its tang
Might quicken me all into verb, pure verb.
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
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