Blood Stained Glasses

Look, I know the whole spiel, "people kill people - guns don't kill people", blah, blah, blah.  But does Yoko Ono really have to show us her husband's blood-stained glasses to let us know that "Over 1,057,000 people have been killed by guns in the U.S.A. since John Lennon was shot and killed on December 8, 1980."

The answer is yes, and I'm glad she did.

Yoko Ono recently tweeted this Image

Next Monday Dallas Will Change Forever!

"Next Monday, Dallas will change forever" is how the TV spot for TNT's Dallas begins.

I know, I know, you're probably thinking Ryan and I are the geekiest of all geeks, but we grew to love J.R. Ewing.  After watching 15 seasons of DALLAS together, we are going to cry our eyes out next week.

"All his schemes - all his double-crossing - all his deceptions - lead to the moment - you can't miss,"  then the phone goes dead.  And just like that our hearts stop.  "DAD!"  John Ross cries out on the other end.  "The end of J.R. Ewing"  and a soft-spoken "Dad" is how the ad ends.

It's amazing how good this show has been.  Ryan and I have watched every episode and each one leaves you with the iconic cliff-hangers Dallas was made popular for.  We are truly going to miss Larry Hagman, the actor.  He survived so much and died playing the character he loved most. Rest in peace, J.R..

Quoted - Dolly Parton Upon Hearing The News of Whitney Houston's Death

"Mine is only one of the millions of hearts broken over the death of Whitney Houston. I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song ["I Will Always Love You"], and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, 'Whitney, I will always love you. You will be missed.' "

- The lovely Dolly Parton Upon Hearing The News of Whitney Houston's Death

Whitney Houston Is Looking To You

Earlier this evening, Ryan and I took a nap, and when we woke up our Facebook was flooded with the news that Whitney Houston had died.  We both looked at each other and said, "WTF!  How can this possibly happen?"

I grew up at the height of Whitney's career.  The 1980's were hers and no matter who got in her way, ie. Madonna, Cindy Lauper, Taylor Dayne, Jodi Watley, Vanessa Williams - she pushed them aside with the sole power of her voice.  I honestly believe that if she had not married that loser Bobby Brown, she would still be with us tonight.  Her career went downhill after that.

So many people today were inspired by this woman, we can only imagine how much she meant to the one who will be taking every Grammy on earth tomorrow, Adele.  I mean, every artist can, and will say that Whitney touched their lives in some way or another.  Hell, she touched mine more than she could possibly know.  I used to sit and listen to her when my relationships went sour, I used to listen to her when I wanted something uplifting to make my day.  She was the epitome of musical genius in my eyes, and to millions more around the world.  You will truly be missed Whitney, you will truly be missed - 'I Will Always Love You'

The last time I wrote a I blog on Whitney Houston was on September 11, 2009 on my old MySpace blog, and as a tribute to her, I will re-post it as I had back then.

The following week after posting this blog, Whitney's newest album, "I Look To You" hit #1 on Billboard's U.S. Chart.

You can see the blog I posted on 09/18/2009 after the jump...

Crimes of the Century - No. 10 - The Tate-Labianca Murders

THE TATE-LABIANCA MURDERS, 1969

On Aug. 9 and 10, 1969, two sets of grisly murders took place in Los Angeles. On the 9th, a gang of four people brutally killed the actress Sharon Tate, who was married to director Roman Polanski and eight and a half months pregnant, four of Tate's friends and the son of her gardener. Tate begged for the life of her unborn child but was told by one of the female assailants, "Look bitch, I don't care about you. I don't care if you are having a baby. You are going to die and I don't feel a thing about it." Tate's blood was used to write the word PIG on the home's front door. 

The next day supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife were killed in a similar fashion, a fork used to carve the word WAR on his belly left sticking out of his corpse. This time, the leader of the gang took part in the slaughter.

Authorities would take nearly five months to track down Charles Manson and his so-called Family. And when they did, America discovered a terrifying mix of a libertine counter-culture and stupefying mind-control. Manson sent out his mostly female agents like the Furies of Greek mythology, to take down those whom he saw as his enemies. His trial ended in 1971 with a death sentence which was vacated by the U.S. Supreme Court's declaration of the penalty's unconstitutionality. He is up for parole this year but is unlikely to receive it.

TIME Magazine posted this article online several years ago, along with a list of 24 additional notorious crimes. I will be posting these crimes every Saturday on my blog, hope you enjoy.

Go back and read the previous 9 crimes here.

Celebrity Pallbearers

I thought this infographic was pretty darn cool.  For those who have no idea what a pallbearer is, the definition is underneath the title.  

It took me a few seconds, but I was able to find out which celebrities carried Natalie Wood's casket.  Some celebrities only had one fellow celebrity carry their casket, but in the case of Natalie, she had Fred Astaire, Laurence Olivier, David Niven, Frank Sinatra and Gregory Peck, all of which have died since then.  It's pretty fascinating - click on the pic to see the full chart, or go to mysendoff.com.

Documentaries To Watch: Dreams of a Life

Imagine yourself wrapping Christmas presents as you sit on your couch watching your favorite show.  Now imagine having stayed there for 3 years and no one ever stopping by to see if you were alive or okay?  This actually happened to Joyce Carol Vincent in 2003.

A film which was released at the BFI London Film Festival last month chronicles the life and mysterious death of Joyce Vincent, a beautiful singer who was found slumped on her sofa with Christmas presents she had been wrapping, all around her.

What's mysterious and strange about the whole scenario, is that she wasn't found until 3 years after her death.  How someone never managed to get a hold of her, look for her, or realize she wasn't around is beyond me.  This is a woman, who in her short life met Nelson Mandela, Ben E. King, Gil Scott-Heron, and Betty Wright; and had also been to dinner with Stevie Wonder. [source] That is insane!  I, for one, want to see this film. Watch the trailer, and tell me what you think of this bizarre story.

Little Munchkin Passes Away

Slover seen on right

Who doesn't know of The Wizard of Oz ?  It's impossible not to know about it.  We watched it as children, and as adults.  Hell, Ryan even got me the 70th Anniversary Blu-ray gift box for Christmas last year.

Well, unbeknownst to me, Karl Slover, one of only four surviving little people who played the Munchkins in the movie died this past Tuesday. :-(  He was 93.

The four-foot-five Slover, one of the shortest men in the movie, portrayed not only the lead trumpeter in the Munchkins band, but also a townsman and a soldier. The little guy was born Karl Kosiczky in what is now the Czech Republic, the only dwarf-sized child in the family. According to The Washington Post, his father inflicted inhumane treatments to make him taller, burying him in the backyard, immersing him in heated oil until his skin blistered, and attaching him to a stretching machine at a hospital. Eventually, at the age of nine, his father sold him to a traveling freak show. In his 20s, Slover moved to the States and joined a vaudeville troupe called the Singer Midgets, its 30 members becoming the core group of movie Munchkins. Slover was paid $50 a week, a salary lower than Toto’s. 

Later in life, he appeared around the country at festivals and events related to the movie, and was one of seven Munchkins representing all the little people of Oz at the 2007 unveiling of a star dedicated to them on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “He has a genuine immortality,” said 100 Years of Oz author, John Fricke. “Of the 124 little people, he’s one of the handful who got to enjoy this latter-day fame, to have people know who he was and be able to pick him out of the crowd in the movie.”

Quoted: Steve Jobs

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart...

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true." 
                                        - Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple Computer and
                                          of Pixar Animation Studios, in a June 12, 
                                          2005 commencement address to Stanford 
                                          University.

"My first computer was an apple.  It had a huge ass keyboard, and used those huge 5 inch floppy disks.  It had a black screen and the letters were all in green - very matrix. LOL.  In either case, it truly is a sad day to know that Steve Jobs has passed away, but his legacy will live in the hearts and souls of many for thousands of years.  He was the Einstein of our generation, and I can't name one person in this era who has done more to change the world, than he.  R.I.P. Steve."                    - Blade 7184 aka Peter

What a Hot Mess: Another Informercial Star Dead

Geez what is it with these infomercial stars dying all of a sudden?  Remember Bill Mays?  I think everyone can relate to these sales pitches on television in one way or the other.  Either your parents have bought into some of them, or you were hoping to become rich by buying into some ridiculous program that would bring you riches beyond your wildest dreams.

Well, Don Lapre, the star of those "tiny classified ads" committed suicide inside an Arizona jail cell this past Sunday.  According to TMZ, he accomplished this task by "self-mutilation" and when the officers found him, there was a "large amount of blood" in his cell.  

Lapre was recently charged with conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud in his latest "Greatest Vitamin in The World" snake oil scam.  He walked off with $52 million buckaroos and screwing thousands of consumers. 

What a shame and yes,  What a Hot Mess!

R.I.P. Spartacus

I've talked about Spartacus several times since I started my blog, and nothing saddens me more than to learn that he has died.  While the character has not deceased, the actor who played him, has.  

Andy Whitfield, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma about a year and a half ago died over the weekend.  He was only 39 years old.  R.I.P. Andy a.k.a. Spartacus

“The Welsh-born actor who moved to Australia was diagnosed with the disease about a year and a half ago, and bowed out of filming the second season of the Starz show after the cancer was discovered.” - LA Times

Quoted - Adele on Amy Winehouse

May She Rest in Peace

"Not many people have it in them to do something they love, simply because they love it. with no fuss and no compromise. but she knew what she was capable of and didn’t even need to try. if she wanted to do something she would and if she didn’t she’d say fuck off. it came easy to her and that’s why we all loved her so much. we believed every word she wrote, and it would sink in deep when she sang them. Amy paved the way for artists like me and made people excited about british music again whilst being fearlessly hilarious and blase about the whole thing. i don’t think she ever realised just how brilliant she was and how important she is, but that just makes her even more charming. although im incredibly sad about Amy passing im also reminded of how immensely proud of her i am as well. and grateful to be inspired by her. Amy flies in paradise xx"

- Adele

on the recent death of Amy Winehouse

A Small Tribute to Elizabeth Taylor that Includes Lucy

As everyone already knows, the beautiful Elizabeth Taylor passed away on Wednesday morning and was laid to rest Thursday afternoon.  She went out of this life in pretty much the same way she lived it, with Grace, Style and Tastefulness.

While most of us look to older people as our driving force to life, Elizabeth Taylor was one our parents constantly warned us about, especially if you lived in a Christian home; they didn't want us to look up to her.  She was married countless times, had several affairs, became a drinker, a smoker, a party girl, and her life was filled with drama.

But I look past all that, we are human, we all make many mistakes in our life, we learn from them and move on.  Who's to say she wasn't one with God and asked for forgiveness long ago?  We don't know, but He is the one who will decide her fate when the time comes.  Until then, we should all live our lives as we see fit, and if this includes God, or not, that is up to you.

In a tribute to the iconic legend, I came across a video this morning that brought me so much laughter, and thought I would share. The clip is from "Here's Lucy," and pretty much what happens... Lucy gets Liz's ring stuck on her finger.  Richard Burton tries to have it removed, and when he can't, he drags Lucy along with him.  He takes her to a reception that Liz has to show up to later that evening, and everyone is expecting to see the famous ring...