Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and Ed McMahon all in one week! RIP

What a tragic week it's been for the entertainment industry! While I was somewhat expecting Farrah Fawcett's death to be imminent, the deaths of Ed McMahon, and especially Michael Jackson, really shocked me. That Fawcett and Jackson died the same day is obviously a coincidence, but still mind-blowing to me. I think I'll say a few words about all three of these people here.

Regarding Ed McMahon: McMahon and Johnny Carson started their incredible 29-year run on The Tonight Show well before I was born, but I remember the latter years (80s onward) of the show very well. McMahon was a perfect straight man for Carson's dry but hilarious wit, and he often allowed himself to become a part of the joke. He always seemed like a "grandfatherly type" to me...very gentle and willing to help others. And his famous "Heeeere's Johnny!" introduction of Carson will always be one of the greatest TV moments for me. Sometimes I'll still dig out old tapes of Carson's Tonight Show or watch clips on YouTube, paying particular attention to McMahon. While he certainly kept himself in the limelight over the years with various commercials and TV shows (not to mention his unfortunate financial woes as of late), I'll always remember him best while sitting on that couch, bantering with Carson or his guests in that deep, booming voice of his.

Regarding Farrah Fawcett: First of all...yes, I did have "the poster." Honestly, what young American male didn't have it? Besides her stunningly beautiful looks, she wasn't a bad actress, either. She wasn't my favorite of Charlie's Angels (that would have been Jaclyn Smith), but I still liked her a lot. After she left the show, several acting roles kept her in the public consciousness, and many of her performances were quite good (I still remember watching her in The Burning Bed when I was a teenager...what a great portrayal!). Although her profile waned a little bit in recent years, I think she did a really great and courageous thing by allowing parts of her battle with cancer to become public. Maybe the way that she seemed to fight the disease--maintaining her humanity by showing some of her fears, but also displaying a sense of humor and optimism--will inspire others to keep going through the difficult struggles that we will all encounter in life. I heard that shortly before she died, Fawcett wanted to see her son who, unbeknownst to her, had been incarcerated. Unfortuntaely her son wasn't able to get to see her in time, but Fawcett still expressed her love for him, just like any good mom should do. It's a shame that her son wasn't able to see his mom one last time, and it's also a shame that Fawcett and Ryan O'Neal did not get a chance to "officially" get married before she died. Still, it was obvious that Fawcett and O'Neal loved each other deeply, and that bond is no less real to me just because it didn't have a marriage license attached to it.

Regarding Michael Jackson: News of his death completely blew me out of the water. While he definitely seemed to have quite a few strange things about him, his talent was undeniable. One of my favorite groups as a kid was the Jackson 5, and so many of their songs still hold up today. Regarding Jackson's solo work, I believe that Off The Wall and Thriller are two of the best albums of all time. And that video for the song "Thriller" is still amazing! I know that he had been in the news in recent years for some really terrible things (and I hope that the biggest thing was not true...you know what I'm talking about). Still, I felt quite a bit of confidence that he would be able to recapture some of his old stardom and "magic" with the 50-concert stand in London that was due to start in just a few weeks. I really think that he would have proven a lot of people wrong who were saying that he was a "has been" and that he should just give it up. Maybe it wouldn't have been like it was in his heyday, but I think it could have been something big. It's a shame that we won't get to find out. I was never the biggest fan of Jackson's, but as I said earlier, there were parts of his career that I enjoyed immensely. His legacy, though, will live on through remembrances of his talent and his humanitarian efforts. His talent, I believe, made him the "Elvis" of my generation. His humanitarian efforts were far-reaching and did much good in the world. For that, Jackson has my respect.

Rest in peace, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. We thank you all for your talents and impact on the world, and you will all be missed.

Time for another post

Hi, everybody. It's been way too long since I've posted here. I will probably post a few more times again within the next week or two. What have I been doing? Well, the biggest and best thing is that my girlfriend came down from Chicago for a few days. I wanted to show her that not all of Texas is as ugly as Dallas, so we went to San Antonio for a few days and then stopped in to see some good friends of mine in Austin on the way back to Dallas. We had a fantastic time! I will try to post some pics here sometime soon (although I'm not very good at it just yet, so forgive me if I'm a little slow in doing so).

Grace (my girlfriend) was very impressed with San Antonio. She loved all of the culture, the diversity, and the sense of history and spirituality there. We are both Catholic, so we decided to go to Mass at San Fernando Cathedral...supposedly it's the oldest cathedral in the United States. That was great from a religious and a historical standpoint, as were our trips to the Alamo (remember that it was a church before it was a military institution) and to one of the other four missions (Mission San Jose) in the city.

In addition to the Alamo and the mission, we spent some time on the Riverwalk...San Antonio's crown jewel, which Grace found to be lovely. She enjoyed having some authentic Tex-Mex, and although she was a bit embarrassed, she also thought it was nice and romantic that I had a mariachi band serenade her (in Spanish, no less) at dinner. They said it was a romantic song (and it sounded like one), but my Spanish is terrible, so for all I know they were telling us to go kill a bunch of people...lol!

Our really big excursion, though, was to Sea World...Grace loves whales and dolphins! Other than it being a bit crowded and becoming very hot as the day wore on, we had a fabulous time. We saw most all of the requisite shows with whales, dolphins, etc. The shows were usually very good, but they would have been better without all the humans and the gay music! The animals were spectacular, though...it still amazes me that they can be trained to do such wondrous things. At Sea World, we were joined by our friend Kim, who drove in from Houston. It was good for us all to get together.

Grace and Kim were having a great time with each other, so they decided to go shopping at the massive outlet malls in San Marcos (about halfway between Austin and San Antonio) before driving to Austin to hang with my friends and I there for a bit.

I miss Grace since she's gone back home, and I wish she was still here. Hopefully I will get to go up to Chicago before too long so we can be together again.

That's all for now. If I post again this week, it'll probably be about other things that have been covered on the news lately, such as the tragic disappearance of Air France 447, and the opening of the ginormous Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. Until next time, stay in trouble! ;)

Forgive me for being a little sick here, but what does this look like to you?

Mark Teixeira of the Yankees being hit by a pitch. The picture just strikes my sick little mind as being quite funny.

$328,000 of our tax dollars at work...to scare the hell out of those in the NYC area.

I'm not sure how much play this got in the mainstream press, but I was absolutely livid when I heard about it. The (now former) White House Military Office director, Louis Caldera (henceforth referred to as "asshat" in this blog post), apparently thought that it would be a good idea to fly Air Force One very low over New York Harbor for a photo op. Thing is that NYC mayor MIchael Bloomberg wasn't notified about it, and he was pissed. Apparently, he thought that flying an airplane low over NYC might cause a little panic on the streets of Manhattan. Think he was right? Hmmm, I wonder.... It seems that asshat kinda forgot about a little incident that happened in September of 2001 which did a lot more than just cause panic.

I can imagine the discussion that went on before the flight was approved..."Hey, I've got this killer idea for a photo op! Why don't we send Air Force One soaring majestically past New York City and the Statue of Liberty to promote the president's ideas of hope, optimism, and change? Wouldn't that be great? We just need to fly it kinda low to get the shot, though." Asshat then thinks about it and approves it, trying (half-heartedly) to let the proper authorities know what was going on.

This little publicity stunt not only scared the hell out of people, but it also cost American taxpayers over $328,000, partially because a fighter plane was trailing the 747 (Air Force One in this case)...to take the picture! Just what we need in these robust economic times we're living in.

I do think it's good that asshat has resigned over this, but what the hell made him (or anyone) think that this was a good idea in the first place? Granted, the photo is spectacular, as you can see in the link posted earlier in this paragraph (go to Page 2 of the story). Still, spectacular photo or not, one must engage their brain when thinking about how something like this would be perceived. Had they thought about the possibility that hundreds of people would be calling police in a panic over this, the photo shoot never would have been approved.

Three words for asshat and the others who thought this was a good idea....idiots, idiots, idiots.

Note to Brett Favre: Retire, already!

Who knows how true this is, but this story on Yahoo suggests that Brett Favre may want to come back yet again...this time to get revenge on the Green Bay Packers because of the way that his tenure there ended (I'm sure you remember...Favre retired from Green Bay, then said he was re-thinking his decision...but by that time the Packers had already settled on Aaron Rodgers as their quarterback. Favre then signed a one year deal with the New York Jets and did reasonably well).

Supposedly, Favre wants to sign with the Minnesota Vikings, who are in the same division as the Packers. This would mean that he'd get to play against his old team twice every year. But at what cost? He's still in reasonably good shape, but even Favre admits that his body is breaking down and that it's becoming more and more difficult to handle the rigors of being a top-tier quarterback in the NFL.

I'm not sure about the authenticity of this story (anytime they write about "a source" who says something, my BS detectors always go up), but if there's any truth to it, I really hope that Favre re-thinks things and stays retired for good this time. There's no denying that he has been a hell of a quarterback throughout his career. Barring any weird scandalous thing that could come to light, he is a lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Even though it turned out to be a reasonably good thing for Favre to play with the Jets last year, everyone has a time to walk away. I think that time for Brett Favre is here. Mr. Favre, retire and enjoy your family, the millions of dollars you have, and what will seemingly be a long life ahead of you. Leave the NFL behind and fondly remember, as all football fans will, the unforgettable times that you displayed true greatness on the football field.

For all the Red Sox fans out there

Reminder: Record Store Day 2009 is this Saturday!

Last week I mentioned that many independent record stores throughout the country are banding together with musicians to celebrate music, and specifically, independent record stores. Record Store Day 2009 is this Saturday, April 18. Check out the link at the end of this post (I'm not sure why it won't embed the link into my normal text. Probably because I'm being forced at the moment to use Internet Explorer rather than Firefox or Opera). Many record stores are going to have items for sale or for giveaway that they would not ordinarily have. In fact, some musicians are releasing certain products for just this one day only. Go out, discover some new music, and support your independent record stores. Happy listening! http://www.recordstoreday.com/Home