Dropping Like Flies

[amnesiac]

From  Pitchfork:
 
  R.L. Burnside Dead at 78
 
  James Gregory reports :
 Celebrated blues singer-guitarist R.L. Burnside died at St. Francis hospital in Memphis, Tennessee Thursday morning, following an almost 3 week stay. While no official cause of death has been announced, a representative from Burnside's label, Fat Possum Records, explained that he had suffered a heart attack the previous year, and "never fully recovered." Burnside was 78 years old, and is survived by his widow Alice Mae, twelve children, and multiple grandchildren.
 
 Born in Harmontown, Mississippi, Burnside was primarily a farmer and fisherman for much of his life, performing intermittently from the 1960s onward. While known regionally for his live shows, he gained mainstream exposure after becoming the first artist signed to Fat Possum in 1991. Burnside would go on to release ten critically-hailed albums for the label between 1992 and 2004, with his last studio LP A Bothered Mind issued in August of last year.
 
 His eclectic blues shuffle and openness to experimentation (via indie and hip hop flourishes) attracted the attention of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, who backed Burnside on 1996's A Ass Pocket of Whiskey. His 2001 album Burnside on Burnside received a Grammy nomination for best Traditional Blues Album, and his music has been featured in numerous films and television shows, including HBO's �??The Sopranos�?�.
 
 A post on the Fat Possum website notes that memorial donations for Burnside�??s family are currently being accepted, and can be sent to the following address:
 
 Freeland & Freeland Trust Account
 Burnside Memorial
 P.O. Box 269
 Oxford, MS 38655

[Jaguär]

Ol' Westy, Julias Westheimer, died either yesterday or the day before. Sorry, too lazy to search for an obit.

[Jaguär]

Chief Justice Rehnquist Dies at Home
 
 17 minutes ago
 
 Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died Saturday evening at his home in suburban Virginia, said Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg.
 
 A statement from the spokeswoman said he was surrounded by his three children when he died in Arlington.
 
 "The Chief Justice battled thyroid cancer since being diagnosed last October and continued to perform his dues on the court until a precipitous decline in his health the last couple of days," she said.
 
 Rehnquist was appointed to the Supreme Court as an associate justice in 1971 by President Nixon and took his seat on Jan. 7, 1982. He was elevated to chief justice by President Reagan in 1986.

Mary J.Bilge

[Frank Gallagher]

Originally posted by clouds R²:
  A national day of mourning will be observed on Tuesday, September the 6th.  Flags will be held at half staff.  Hurricane relief efforts will be suspended on that day to honor the late Justice Rhenquist.

Shame there's nothing left in DC to name after him!!  :roll:

[Bags]

Two Bush Supreme Court appointees...my greatest fears realized.    

[vansmack]

Armstrong, Crow announce engagement
 Associated Press
 
 
 AUSTIN, Texas -- Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong and rock star Sheryl Crow are engaged.
 
 The cyclist announced the engagement in a statement and said he asked Crow on Wednesday while they were in Sun Valley, Idaho.
 
 No wedding date has been set, although it could be a spring wedding, Armstrong spokesman Mark Higgins said Monday night.
 
 Armstrong retired in July after winning his seventh straight Tour de France.
 
 The marriage will be the second for Armstrong, who has three children with ex-wife Kristin. It will be the first for Crow.

[Bags]

Originally posted by vansmack:
  Armstrong, Crow announce engagement
 Associated Press

You dawg you, in the "dropping like flies" thread.  What a stitch!!  

[vansmack]

Originally posted by Bags:
 You dawg you, in the "dropping like flies" thread.  What a stitch!!      

It's like I told Samckette.  I said Baby, if I ever get ball cancer and recover and you stick with me, then I win 7 Tour de France�??s, I won�??t leave you for some over aged washed up rocker.  
 
 But no promises on Avril Lavigne.

[HoyaSaxa03]

Originally posted by Bags:
  Two Bush Supreme Court appointees...my greatest fears realized.      

but they're both replacing republican-appointed justices ... could be much much worse

[Jaguär]

Our little buddy and favorite beatnik....      
 
 Bob Denver, TV's Gilligan, Dead at 70
 
 2 minutes ago
 
 Bob Denver, whose portrayal of goofy first mate Gilligan on the 1960s television show "Gilligan's Island," made him an iconic figure to generations of TV viewers, has died, his agent confirmed Tuesday. He was 70.
 
 Denver died Friday at Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital in North Carolina of complications from treatment he was receiving for cancer, his agent, Mike Eisenstadt, told The Associated Press. Denver's death was first reported by "Entertainment Tonight."
 
 Denver had also undergone quadruple heart bypass surgery earlier this year.
 
 Denver's wife, Dreama, and his children Patrick, Megan, Emily and Colin were with him when he died.
 
 "He was my everything and I will love him forever," Dreama Denver said in a statement.
 
 Denver's signature role was Gilligan. But he was already known to TV audiences for another iconic character, that of Maynard G. Krebs, the bearded beatnik friend of Dwayne Hickman's Dobie in the "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," which aired from 1959 to 1963.
 
 "Gilligan's Island" lasted on CBS from 1964 to 1967, and it was revived in later seasons with three high-rated TV movies. It was a Robinson Crusoe story about seven disparate travelers who are marooned on a deserted Pacific Island after their small boat was wrecked in a storm.
 
 The cast: Alan Hale Jr., as Skipper Jonas Grumby; Bob Denver, as his klutzy assistant Gilligan; Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer, as rich snobs Thurston and Lovey Howell; Tina Louise, as bosomy movie star Ginger Grant; Russell Johnson, as egghead science professor Roy Hinkley Jr.; and Dawn Wells, as sweet-natured farm girl Mary Ann Summers.
 
 TV critics hooted at "Gilligan's Island" as gag-ridden corn. Audiences adored its far-out comedy. Writer-creator Sherwood Schwartz insisted that the show had social meaning along with the laughs: "I knew that by assembling seven different people and forcing them to live together, the show would have great philosophical implications."

Mary J.Bilge

[Bags]

Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
   

Originally posted by Bags:
  Two Bush Supreme Court appointees...my greatest fears realized.        

but they're both replacing republican-appointed justices ... could be much much worse [/b]

I know, could be.  And the hope is that, like many previous justices, their decisions are less predictable than expected, based on what their appointing Commander-in-Chief might plan for...I'm just crying like a baby 'cuz I can.    

[sonickteam2]

Originally posted by clouds R²:
  Hurricane relief efforts will be suspended on that day to honor the late Justice Rhenquist.

its what Justice Rhenquist would've wanted....

[amnesiac]

Originally posted by palahniukkubrick:
  Even more flies: Hunter S. Thompson shot himself:
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40737-2005Feb20.html

Hunter S. Thompson's  suicide note:
 
  No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun -- for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax -- This won't hurt.