Literotica Cemetary

[linuxgeek]

The damn dirty apes finally got him

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBIT_HESTON?SITE=NCAGW&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
http://hosted.ap.org/photos/9/997f298c-5d2a-4e1a-b5d5-ab9bbf5ca743-small.jpg

Charlton Heston dead at 84
2008-04-06

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Charlton Heston, who won the 1959 best actor Oscar as the chariot-racing "Ben-Hur" and portrayed Moses, Michelangelo, El Cid and other heroic figures in movie epics of the '50s and '60s, has died. He was 84.

The actor died Saturday night at his home in Beverly Hills with his wife Lydia at his side, family spokesman Bill Powers said.

Powers declined to comment on the cause of death or provide further details.

Heston revealed in 2002 that he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease, saying, "I must reconcile courage and surrender in equal measure."

With his large, muscular build, well-boned face and sonorous voice, Heston proved the ideal star during the period when Hollywood was filling movie screens with panoramas depicting the religious and historical past. "I have a face that belongs in another century," he often remarked.

The actor assumed the role of leader offscreen as well. He served as president of the Screen Actors Guild and chairman of the American Film Institute and marched in the civil rights movement of the 1950s. With age, he grew more conservative and campaigned for conservative candidates.

In June 1998, Heston was elected president of the National Rifle Association, for which he had posed for ads holding a rifle. He delivered a jab at then-President Clinton, saying, "America doesn't trust you with our 21-year-old daughters, and we sure, Lord, don't trust you with our guns."

Heston stepped down as NRA president in April 2003, telling members his five years in office were "quite a ride. ... I loved every minute of it."

That same year, Heston was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. "The largeness of character that comes across the screen has also been seen throughout his life," President Bush said at the time.

He engaged in a lengthy feud with liberal Ed Asner during the latter's tenure as president of the Screen Actors Guild. His latter-day activism almost overshadowed his achievements as an actor, which were considerable.

 

[KindaKinky]

I guess they finally pried that gun from his cold dead hands.

 

[pipercatt]

I guess they finally pried that gun from his cold dead hands.

You knew someone *had* to say it.

 

[linuxgeek]

John A. Wheeler

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-obit-wheeler,0,733962.story

Physicist John A. Wheeler Dies at 96
April 14, 2008


HIGHTSTOWN, N.J. - Physicist John A. Wheeler, who had a key role in the development of the atom bomb and later gave the space phenomenon black holes their name, has died at 96.

Wheeler, for many years a professor at Princeton University, died of pneumonia Sunday at his home in Hightstown, said his daughter, Alison Wheeler Lahnston.

Wheeler rubbed elbows with colossal figures in science such as Albert Einstein and Danish scientist Niels Bohr, with whom Wheeler worked in the 1930s and '40s.

"For me, he was the last Titan, the only physics superhero still standing," Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientist Max Tegmark told The New York Times.

President Bush and first lady Laura Bush released a statement mourning "one of America's greatest physicists," particularly noting Wheeler's role as an educator.

"As a professor at Princeton University and the University of Texas-Austin, Dr. Wheeler inspired generations of students ... to transform their curiosity into scientific discoveries," they said.

Born in 1911, Wheeler was 21 when he earned his doctorate in physics from Johns Hopkins University. In the mid-1930s, he traveled to Denmark to study for a year with Bohr, who won a Nobel Prize for his work describing the nature of the atom.

In early 1939, with war looming in Europe, Bohr arrived in the United States with the news that German scientists had split uranium atoms. Working at Princeton, Bohr and Wheeler sketched out a theory of how nuclear fission worked.

During World War II, Wheeler was part of the Manhattan Project, the scientists charged with using nuclear fission to create an atomic bomb for the United States.

Unlike some colleagues who regretted their roles after bombs were dropped on Japan, Wheeler regretted that the bomb had not been made ready in time to hasten the end of the war in Europe. His brother, Joe, had been killed in combat in Italy in 1944.

Wheeler later helped Edward Teller develop the even more powerful hydrogen bomb.

The name "black hole" -- for a collapsed star so dense that even light could not escape -- came out of a conference in 1967. Wheeler made the name stick after someone else had suggested it as a replacement for the cumbersome "gravitationally completely collapsed star," he recalled.

"After you get around to saying that about 10 times, you look desperately for something better," he told the Times.

In his 1998 autobiography, "Geons, Black Holes & Quantum Foam: A Life in Physics," he wrote that the black hole "teaches us that space can be crumpled like a piece of paper into an infinitesimal dot, that time can be extinguished like a blown-out flame, and that the laws of physics that we regard as 'sacred,' as immutable, are anything but."

Among Wheeler's students in the early 1940s was the future Nobel Prize-winner Richard Feynman.

While he spent most of his academic career at Princeton, Wheeler moved to the University of Texas in 1976 because Princeton's retirement age was looming.

His wife of more than 70 years, Janette, died in October. He is survived by three children and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

 

[phrodeau]

Edward Lorenz, father of chaos theory, dead at 90
Wed Apr 16, 2008 6:46pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Edward Lorenz, the father of chaos theory, who showed how small actions could lead to major changes in what became known as the "butterfly effect," died of cancer on Wednesday at the age of 90, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said.

Lorenz, a meteorologist, figured out in the 1960s that small differences in a dynamic system such as the atmosphere could set off enormous changes. In 1972 he presented a study entitled "Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?"

Born in 1917 in West Hartford, Connecticut, Lorenz earned degrees in mathematics from Dartmouth College in 1938, from Harvard University in 1940, and degrees in meteorology from MIT in 1943 and 1948.

While serving as a weather forecaster for the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War Two, he decided to study meteorology.

"As a boy I was always interested in doing things with numbers, and was also fascinated by changes in the weather," Lorenz wrote in an autobiography.

"By showing that certain deterministic systems have formal predictability limits, Lorenz put the last nail in the coffin of the Cartesian universe and fomented what some have called the third scientific revolution of the 20th century, following on the heels of relativity and quantum physics," said Kerry Emanuel, professor of atmospheric science at MIT.

"He was also a perfect gentleman, and through his intelligence, integrity and humility set a very high standard for his and succeeding generations," Emanuel added in a statement.

In 1991, Lorenz won the Kyoto Prize for basic sciences in the field of earth and planetary sciences.

The prize committee said Lorenz "made his boldest scientific achievement in discovering 'deterministic chaos,' a principle which has profoundly influenced a wide range of basic sciences and brought about one of the most dramatic changes in mankind's view of nature since Sir Isaac Newton."

Lorenz, who enjoyed hiking and cross-country skiing, stayed active until two weeks before his death at home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, his family said. He is survived by three children and four grandchildren.

(Reporting by Maggie Fox; Editing by Eric Walsh)

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1632944820080416

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Nugent's former drummer Clifford Davies found dead

DALLAS, Ga. - Police are investigating the apparent suicide of a former
drummer for Michigan rocker Ted Nugent.

Corporal Brandon Gurley with the Paulding County Sheriff's department says
59-year-old Clifford Davies was found dead from a gunshot wound in his
suburban Atlanta home Sunday.

Gurley says authorities are awaiting the results of an autopsy.

A woman who answered the phone at Davies' home said she wanted to check with her family before commenting.

Reed Beaver, who owns Equametric Studio in Marietta where Davies was a chief engineer, confirmed Davies was a drummer for Nugent and played on his trademark recording "Cat Scratch Fever."

Beaver says Davies called him Saturday "extremely distraught" over medical
bills.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Last of Walt Disney's 'Nine Old Men' dies

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The last of Walt Disney's original team of animators, known as the Nine Old Men, has died at the age of 95, a Walt Disney Co spokesman said Tuesday.

Ollie Johnston worked for Disney for 43 years, drawing characters for animated Mickey Mouse short films before contributing to such classics such as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Pinocchio", "Peter Pan" and "The Jungle Book."

Johnston died of natural causes in a long-term care facility in Sequim, Washington Monday.

Born in Palo Alto, California in 1912, Johnston showed early artistic promise and attended Chouinart Art Institute in Los Angeles. During his final year of college in 1935, Disney approached Johnston to join his fledgling animation studio.

Starting with "Song of the South" in 1946, Johnston became directing animator and served in that capacity in nearly every subsequent film. He retired in 1978 after completing some work on his final film, "The Fox and the Hound."

Johnston devoted his retirement to writing, lecturing and consulting and to model trains, of which he was considered one of the world's foremost experts.

In 2005, he became the first animator awarded a National Medal of the Arts, and he and his lifelong friend and fellow Disney animator, Frank Thomas, were profiled in the 1995 documentary "Frank and Ollie."

Disney Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter, who pioneered computer animated films such as "Toy Story" and "Cars," considered Johnston and Thomas as mentors.

"He taught me to always be aware of what a character is thinking, and we continue to make sure that every character we create at Pixar and Disney has a thought process and emotion that makes them come alive," Lasseter said in a statement.

Johnston is survived by two sons.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Scream Queen Hazel Court Dies at 82

LOS ANGELES (April 17) - Hazel Court, an English actress who co-starred with the likes of Boris Karloff and Vincent Price in popular horror movies of the 1950s and '60s, has died. She was 82.

Court died early Tuesday of a heart attack at her home near Lake Tahoe, daughter Sally Walsh said Wednesday.

While she had a substantial acting career both in England and on American TV, Court was perhaps best known for her work in such films as 1963's "The Raven." She co-starred with Price, Karloff and Peter Lorre in director Roger Corman's take on the classic Edgar Allan Poe poem.

Corman directed her in five movies. Like other "scream queens" of the era, Court often relied on her cleavage and her ability to shriek in fear and die horrible deaths for her roles.

"The Premature Burial," "The Masque of the Red Death," "The Curse of Frankenstein" and "Devil Girl from Mars" helped propel her to cult status and brought her fan mail even in her later years.

"She'd probably get over 100 pieces of fan mail a month and she would reply to every single one," her daughter said.

Court had finished an autobiography, "Hazel Court - Horror Queen," which will be published in Britain, Walsh said.

The daughter of a professional cricket player, Court was born Feb. 10, 1926, in the English town of Sutton Coldfield. As a teenager, she was appearing in stage productions when she was spotted and signed by the J. Arthur Rank Organisation, which owned movie studios and theaters.

She got her first movie bit part by the time she was 18 and went on to become a popular actress and pinup girl, her daughter said.

"She was one of the great beauties of all time," Walsh said. "She was a redhead with really green eyes and almost ... the perfect face. She was on the cover of almost every magazine."

Court co-starred with Patrick O'Neal in the 1957 British TV comedy series "Dick and the Duchess." In the late 1950s, she came to the United States to work on the TV show "Alfred Hitchcock Presents."

Besides acting, Court was a commissioned sculptor and painter whose works appeared in public galleries.

Court is survived by daughters Walsh and Courtney Taylor, son Jonathan Taylor and stepdaughters Anne Taylor Fleming and Avery Taylor.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Danny Federici, longtime keyboardist for Springsteen's E Street Band, dies at 58

NEW YORK (AP) - Danny Federici, the longtime keyboard player for Bruce Springsteen whose stylish work helped define the E Street Band's sound on hits from "Hungry Heart" through "The Rising," died Thursday. He was 58.

Federici, who had battled melanoma for three years, died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. News of his death was posted late Thursday on Springsteen's official Web site.

He last performed with Springsteen and the band last month, appearing during portions of a March 20 show in Indianapolis.

"Danny and I worked together for 40 years - he was the most wonderfully fluid keyboard player and a pure natural musician. I loved him very much ... we grew up together," Springsteen said in a statement posted on his Web site.

Springsteen concerts scheduled for Friday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Saturday in Orlando were postponed.

Federici was born in Flemington, New Jersey, a long car ride from the Jersey shore haunts where he first met kindred musical spirit Springsteen in the late 1960s. The pair often jammed at the Upstage Club in Asbury Park, New Jersey, a now-defunct after-hours club that hosted the best musicians in the state.

It was Federici, along with original E Street Band drummer Vini Lopez, who first invited Springsteen to join their band.

By 1969, the self-effacing Federici - often introduced in concert by Springsteen as "Phantom Dan" - was playing with the Boss in a band called Child. Over the years, Federici joined his friend in acclaimed shore bands Steel Mill, Dr. Zoom and the Sonic Boom and the Bruce Springsteen Band.

Federici became a stalwart in the E Street Band as Springsteen rocketed from the boardwalk to international stardom. Springsteen split from the E Streeters in the late '80s, but they reunited for a hugely successful tour in 1999.

"Bruce has been supportive throughout my life," Federici said in a recent interview with Backstreets magazine. "I've had my ups and downs, and I've certainly given him a run for his money, and he's always been there for me."

Federici played accordion on the wistful "4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" from Springsteen's second album, and his organ solo was a highlight of Springsteen's first top 10 hit, "Hungry Heart." His organ coda on the 9/11-inspired Springsteen song "You're Missing" provided one of the more heart-wrenching moments on "The Rising" in 2002.

In a band with larger-than-life characters such as saxophonist Clarence Clemons and bandana-wrapped guitarist "Little" Steven Van Zandt, Federici was content to play in his familiar position to the side of the stage. But his playing was as vital to Springsteen's live show as any instrument in the band.

Federici released a pair of solo albums that veered from the E Street sound and into soft jazz. Bandmates Nils Lofgren on guitar and Garry Tallent on bass joined Federici on his 1997 debut, "Flemington." In 2005, Federici released its follow-up, "Out of a Dream."

Federici had taken a leave of absence during the band's tour in November 2007 to pursue treatment for melanoma, and was temporarily replaced by veteran musician Charles Giordano.

At the time, Springsteen described Federici as "one of the pillars of our sound and has played beside me as a great friend for more than 40 years. We all eagerly await his healthy and speedy return."

Besides his work with Springsteen, Federici played on albums by an impressive roster of other artists: Van Zandt, Joan Armatrading, Graham Parker, Gary U.S. Bonds and Garland Jeffreys.

 

[Tati]

'Show and Tell' Singer Al Wilson Dies

http://news.aol.com/entertainment/m...ger-al-wilson-dies-at-68/20080422064509990001

LOS ANGELES (April 22) - Soul singer Al Wilson, who topped the U.S. pop singles chart in 1974 with "Show and Tell," died Monday, local media reported.
Wilson succumbed to kidney failure in a hospital in Fontana, a city about 50 miles east of Los Angeles, said the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. He was 68.

The Mississippi native issued his first single "The Snake," in 1968. "Show and Tell" spent one week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hit 100 singles chart in January 1974. The romantic ballad was written and produced by prolific songwriter Jerry Fuller, and first recorded by Johnny Mathis.

 

[KindaKinky]

As in "Show and tell, just a game I play when I want to say 'I love you'…" ?

Damn.

 

[Tati]

Soft Rock Singer Paul Davis Dies at 60

JACKSON, Mississippi (April 23) - Singer-songwriter Paul Davis, who had a hit with the soft rock hit "I Go Crazy," has died.

Davis died today at a hospital in Meridian, Mississippi, the city where he grew up. He died of a heart attack, according to his cousin, James Edwards. Davis was 60.

"I Go Crazy" peaked at number seven in 1977 eight months after its release. It then stayed in the Top 100 for 40 more weeks, according to Billboard.

Davis also had hits with "65 Love Affair," and "You're Still New To Me," a country duet with Marie Osmond.

Edwards says Davis came back to Mississippi after living in New York and Nashville so he could retire. He says Davis "was living life at the slow pace that suited him."

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Neil Aspinall, 'the fifth Beatle', dies aged 66

Neil Aspinall, who has died aged 66, was the Beatles' original road manager and went on to run the group's business empire for 40 years; he became their chief confidant and, although not the only contender for the title of the fifth Beatle, perhaps deserved the accolade more than most.

For some 20 years following the break-up of the group in 1970, Aspinall applied his astute business acumen to fighting lawsuits on their behalf and unravelling the tangled skein of their financial affairs. His flair for figures helped to transform them into the wealthiest entertainers in the world, with a estimated combined fortune of £2 billion.

A notoriously reclusive accountant, Aspinall made a rare public appearance last year in the course of a lengthy legal dispute involving Apple Corps, the Beatles' business organisation, which he joined during its chaotic launch in the late 1960s.

But a matter of weeks after settling the row with the Apple computer firm over the use of a trademark, Aspinall abruptly resigned as chief executive, reportedly frustrated that the band's musical legacy was being compromised in the quest for profits.

Aspinall's involvement with the Beatles dated from 1960 when the group's original drummer, Pete Best, asked him to become their driver.

Although he protested when Best (his best friend) was replaced by Ringo Starr, he remained with the band, and when a brawny Cavern Club bouncer called Mal Evans was taken on in 1963 to hump their instruments in and out of their battered Commer van, Aspinall found himself in the role of personal assistant.

As such, he became the Beatles' gatekeeper, guardian of their privacy, security, secrets, and eventually the group's fortunes, over which, as managing director of Apple from January 1968, he exercised a shrewd stewardship. A quietly-spoken but tough negotiator, he was credited with having - single-handedly - turned the Beatles into the world's highest-earning band and, by extension, one of its biggest brands.

In the mid-1960s, at the height of Beatlemania, Aspinall's responsibilities as the group's road manager extended far beyond checking their equipment, stage costumes, meals, venues and accommodation: with Mal Evans, he judiciously vetted the groupies, and saw to the day-to-day needs of the Beatles themselves as they were shuttled from plane to limousine to hotel. "It was an unattractive life," he admitted, "and it went on for years. But at least I could go out. They were trapped." He even stood in for George Harrison, when the guitarist was ill, at a camera rehearsal for the band's first appearance on American television.

Aspinall's role changed dramatically with the death of the Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, in August 1967, and he effectively took the group over, although he apparently turned down a formal offer of the job from John Lennon. According to one account, the Beatles' musical guru George Martin was unhappy at the idea of Aspinall replacing the public-school-educated Epstein because he lacked the social qualifications needed to speak to the executives at their recording company EMI.

As the group disintegrated, and the members eventually went their separate ways, Aspinall remained a trusted father figure to the famous foursome. Even when they were not speaking to each other he - as the honest broker - remained on good terms with all four.

His role post-Beatles became increasingly entrepreneurial: in 1995 he persuaded Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr to collaborate on three Anthology albums and the accompanying television documentary, which took him five years to compile. It was Aspinall's concept that led to the release in 2000 of the Beatles' greatest hits album, Beatles 1, which has since sold 30 million copies.

Neil Stanley Aspinall was born on October 10 1941 at Prestatyn, the seaside town in north Wales to which his mother had been evacuated at the height of the Liverpool Blitz during the Second World War.

Aspinall came up with the notion of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for their 1967 album, and tracked down the photographs of the Beatles' heroes that were used in Peter Blake's album sleeve.

Neil Aspinall married, in 1968, Suzy Ornstein, daughter of a United Artists executive who oversaw the Beatles' feature films A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Help! (1965).

She and their five children survive him.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Lawrence Welk tenor Joe Feeney dies at 76

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Joe Feeney, a Nebraska-born tenor who crooned "Danny Boy" and other standards for 25 years on "The Lawrence Welk Show," has died. He was 76.

Feeney died of emphysema on April 16 at a hospice in Carlsbad, Calif., son Tim Feeney said. The elder Feeney lived in San Marcos in San Diego County,

"He never smoked a day in his life" and the family believes he may have contracted the illness from decades of performing in smoky casinos and nightclubs, his son said.

From 1957 to 1982, Feeney was the featured tenor on the Welk show, which offered easy-listening "champagne music" and clean-cut, family oriented songs. The shows are still broadcast on public television stations.

Feeney also had a rich career away from the show. He sang for five presidents at the White House and for Pope Paul VI in 1975 at the Vatican, according to his Web site.

He performed at venues ranging from Carnegie Hall to Disneyland, in part to support a big family.

"When you have 10 kids, even in those days, things were expensive," said another son, Sean Feeney of La Costa.

His last performance was in Syracuse, N.Y., in December.

A tape of his singing was sent to Welk in 1956, resulting in a guest spot on the Los Angeles-based show.

"From then on, he became a regular," Sean Feeney said.

When he wasn't singing, Feeney loved to fish and golf. He also kept a garden and at one time raised horses on a ranch in Simi Valley, Tim Feeney said.

In addition to his two sons, Feeney is survived by sons Joe Jr., of Escondido; George Patrick, of Las Vegas; Chris, of Los Angeles, and Matt, of San Diego; daughters Kathy Feeney of Glendale, Ariz. and Georgia Feeney of San Marcos, and nine grandchildren. Two other children died.

 

[Sean]

RIP Humph.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44601000/jpg/_44601186_humphr2bbc_226index.jpg

Jazz legend Lyttelton dies at 86

Humphrey Lyttelton ended his Radio 2 show The Best of Jazz last month



Veteran jazz musician and radio host Humphrey Lyttelton has died aged 86.

The chairman of BBC Radio 4's comedy panel show I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue recently had surgery in an attempt to repair an aortic aneurysm.

The latest series of the quiz programme was cancelled after Lyttelton was admitted to Barnet Hospital in north London on 16 April.

BBC Director General Mark Thompson described "Humph" as "a unique, irreplaceable talent".

'Towering figure'

Lyttelton retired from hosting Radio 2's The Best of Jazz last month after more than 40 years presenting the show.

He hosted I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue - the self-styled "antidote to panel games" - since 1972, appearing alongside regulars Graeme Garden, Barry Cryer and Tim Brooke-Taylor.
Like his many fans, we owe him an enormous debt of gratitude. Like them, all of us at the BBC feel a tremendous sense of loss
Mark Thompson
BBC Director General

Tributes to 'immense talent'
Life in pictures


In 1993, he received a Sony Gold Award for services to broadcasting.

Lyttelton began playing the trumpet in 1936 and was still touring with his band up until his admission to hospital.

Best known for the song Bad Penny Blues, they became the first British jazz act to enter the top 20 in 1956.

He was honoured with a lifetime achievement award at both the Post Office British Jazz Awards in 2000 and at the first BBC Jazz Awards in 2001.



A look back at Humphrey Lyttelton's career

The BBC's Mark Thompson said Lyttelton would leave an "enormous gap" in British cultural life as a whole and in the lives of many millions of listeners.

"One of the towering figures of British jazz, he excelled too as a writer, cartoonist, humorist and of course as a broadcaster on television and radio," he said.

"On I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue all of his gifts were on show, his warmth and conviviality, his wit, his mischievousness.

"He was a unique, irreplaceable talent. Like his many fans, we owe him an enormous debt of gratitude. Like them, all of us at the BBC feel a tremendous sense of loss."



The controller of Radio Four, Mark Damazer, said Lyttelton encompassed "so many" of the virtues people wanted from Radio Four comedy.

"He's just a colossally good broadcaster and possessed of this fantastic sense of timing," he said.

"It's a very, very sad day but we should celebrate and be very grateful for how much he did for Radio Four because he really was one of the giants over the last 40 years, really terrific."

Jenny Abramsky, BBC Director of Audio and Music, said he had been "one of the wonders of radio broadcasting for years".

Jazz trumpeter Digby Fairweather said that Lyttelton "was, in the best possible way, a jazz machine".

"We will probably never have another Humphrey Lyttelton, which is terribly sad really," he added.

"But we can always play his records."

 

[Faneros]

nobody knows who he is Sean. Friggen Brits, think they're the center of the universe

 

[Maid of Marvels]

It's never too late to expand your horizons, folks. Humph was brilliant. You can probably catch some repeats and/or specials on Radio 4 (BBC) which is easy enough to pick up on your computer. Take the half hour and give a listen.

I'm gonna miss him.

 

[MNGuy]

Howard Stern regular Kenneth Keith Kallenbach dies at 39

Kenneth Keith Kallenbach, an actor, comedian and long-running member of Howard Stern's "Wack Pack," has died in custody. He was 39.

Kallenbach, who was arrested in March for allegedly trying to lure an underage girl into his car, contracted pneumonia at a prison outside Philadelphia and died Thursday morning at a suburban hospital, his mother, Fay Kallenbach, said Friday.

Stern first reported the news on his Sirius Satellite Radio show Thursday.

The long-haired Kallenbach, whose goofball antics included attempting to blow smoke from his eyes, made dozens of appearances on Stern's show beginning in 1990. Stern once likened him to MTV's Beavis and Butt-head and wrote in his 1993 book "Private Parts" that Kallenbach was the "ultimate airhead."

More recently, Kallenbach, of Boothwyn, Pa., starred in commercials for ESPN's "Monday Night Football" and Stride chewing gum. He also appeared on Jay Leno's "Tonight" show on NBC and had uncredited parts in HBO's "Sex and the City" and the Tom Cruise film "Jerry Maguire."

Kallenbach was arrested in Upper Chichester Township, Pa., in mid-March on a charge of attempted child abduction. He had denied any wrongdoing.

His mother accused the Delaware County Prison of failing to provide adequate medical care, saying her son, who had cystic fibrosis, called her a few days before his death and begged her to intervene.

"They weren't treating him properly for his disease and this is how he contracted pneumonia," Fay Kallenbach said.

Pneumonia is a complication of cystic fibrosis.

Pablo Paez, spokesman for OBITGEO Group Inc., the Florida-based company that runs the prison, declined to respond to Fay Kallenbach's allegation, citing privacy laws.

He said Kallenbach had been housed at the prison since March 27, and was taken to Riddle Memorial Hospital near Media, Pa., on Monday.

"We provide appropriate care for all the inmates at the facility," Paez said.

 

[phrodeau]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/apr/30/chemistry.drugs

'Father of LSD' dies aged 102
David Batty
guardian.co.uk,
Wednesday April 30 2008

Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who discovered the hallucinogenic drug LSD, has died aged 102.

Hofmann, known as the father of LSD, died yesterday at his home in Burg im Leimental, Basle, Switzerland.

His death was confirmed by Doris Stuker, a municipal clerk in the village where Hofmann lived following his retirement in 1971.

The California-based Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (Maps), which republished Hofman's book on LSD, said on its website that he had died from a heart attack.

Dieter A Hagenbach, a friend of 40 years, last spoke to Hofmann on Saturday. "He was in good spirits and enjoying the springtime," said Hagenbach.

Born on January 11 1906, Hofmann discovered LSD - lysergic acid diethylamide, which later became the favoured drug of the 1960s counterculture - when a tiny quantity leaked on to his hand during a laboratory experiment in 1943.

He noted a "remarkable restlessness, combined with slight dizziness" that made him stop his work. "At home I lay down and sank into a not unpleasant intoxication-like condition, characterised by an extremely stimulated imagination," Hofmann wrote in his book LSD: My Problem Child.

"In a dreamlike state, with eyes closed (I found the daylight too unpleasantly glaring), I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colours. After some two hours this condition faded away."

A few days later, Hofmann intentionally took a dose of LSD and experienced the world's first "bad trip".

"On the way home, my condition began to assume threatening forms. Everything in my field of vision wavered and was distorted as if seen in a curved mirror," he said.

"My surroundings had now transformed themselves in more terrifying ways. A demon had invaded me, had taken possession of my body, mind, and soul. I jumped up and screamed, trying to free myself from him, but then sank down again and lay helpless on the sofa. The substance, with which I had wanted to experiment, had vanquished me."

The former Harvard lecturer Timothy Leary popularised LSD with his "turn on, tune in, drop out" advice in the 1960s. But Hofmann believed the substance was hijacked and abused by the hippy movement, while he maintained that he produced it as a medicine.

Hofmann and his scientific colleagues hoped LSD would make an important contribution to psychiatric research. The drug exaggerated inner problems and conflicts and it was hoped it might be used to treat mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.

For a time, the laboratory where he worked, Sandoz, sold LSD 25 under the name Delysid, encouraging doctors to try it themselves. It was one of the strongest drugs in medicine, with just one gram enough to drug an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 people for 12 hours.

The US government banned LSD in 1966, following stories of heavy users suffering permanent psychological damage, and other countries followed suit.

The president of Maps, Rick Doblin, said he had spoken to Hofmann on the phone recently "and he was happy and fulfilled. He'd seen the renewal of LSD psychotherapy research with his own eyes."

Hofmann is survived by a son and daughter. His wife and their other two children died before him.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Country musician Jim Hager dies at 66

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Jim Hager, who gained fame performing with his twin, Jon, on the nationally syndicated comedy and music television show "Hee Haw," has died of a heart attack, a friend said.

Hager, 66, slumped over on Thursday in the parking lot of a coffee house, according to family friend Adam Dread. He was pronounced dead at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Hager and his brother, natives of Chicago, won a management contract after performing at Disneyland in California. In 1969 they moved to "Hee Haw" in Nashville, where they became regulars on the show.

The duo also charted five country singles on Capitol Records.

"Hee Haw," which ended in the 1990s, featured music and comedy skits performed by celebrities and country stars including Buck Owens and Roy Clark.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Co-founder of Baskin-Robbins chain dies

LOS ANGELES - Irvine Robbins, who as co-founder of Baskin-Robbins brought Rocky Road, Pralines n Cream and other exotic ice cream concoctions to every corner of America, has died at age 90.

Robbins had been ill for some time and died Monday at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., said his daughter Marsha Veit.

While the company advertised that it offered 31 flavors, in fact it has created more than 1,000 flavors, according to its Web site.

"Frankly, I never met a flavor I didn't like," Robbins told The New York Times in 1973.

Robbins opened his first ice cream store in Glendale, Calif., in December 1945, following his discharge from the Army. He used $6,000 from a cashed-in insurance policy his father had given him for his bar mitzvah.

Robbins offered 21 flavors at the store.

"In light of what Baskin-Robbins was to become, that first store was incredibly amateurish," according to a biography by his daughter Veit. "It was called Snowbird' because Robbins couldn't think of anything else. The opening was delayed for a day because the paint on the floor hadn't dried."

His cousin Sybil Hartfield bought $39 of the first day's sales of $53, according to the biography.

His brother-in-law, the late Burton Baskin, opened his own ice cream store in neighboring Pasadena a year later. By the end of the 1940s, they had joined forces to create Baskin-Robbins. Robbins recalled they used a flip of the coin to decide which name came first.

They also decided to sell their stores to managers, pioneering the franchise concept for ice cream stores.

As corporate policy, employees were allowed to eat all the ice cream they wanted, because, Robbins said, "I don't want my employees stealing."

Robbins was dedicated to upholding the quality of his ice cream regardless of the cost, his daughter said.

"Everybody has a proprietary interest in ice cream," Robbins told the Times for the 1973 story. "All you have to do is mention ice cream and everybody has a flavor."

Baskin-Robbins was sold to United Fruit Co. in 1967, but Robbins continued to work for the company until retiring in the 1970s.

Today, Baskin-Robbins is part of Dunkin' Brands Inc. and has more than 5,800 franchises worldwide.

In addition to his daughter, survivors include his wife, Irma; another daughter, Erin Robbins; a son, John Robbins; and sisters Shirley Familian and Elka Weiner. His son is a noted author ("Diet for a New America") and advocate of vegetarianism and natural foods.

 

[BgMma]

I am sure I will not be the only one who points this out, but just to be a butthole....

cemetery....

 

[HB1965]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/apr/30/chemistry.drugs

'Father of LSD' dies aged 102
David Batty
guardian.co.uk,
Wednesday April 30 2008

Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who discovered the hallucinogenic drug LSD, has died aged 102.

I wonder if he was related to Abbie Hoffman

 

[BgMma]

I wonder if he was related to Abbie Hoffman

Now there's a name you can't forget!
but 102...that's one hell of a life.

 

[HB1965]

Now there's a name you can't forget!
but 102...that's one hell of a life.

LOL he had the first recorded "bad trip"