This article suggests that the Summer of Death™ is essentially a Boomer meditation on mortality, but we shouldn't let that contention obscure the most important part of the story: The Summer of Death™ IS MINE, BITCHES! Where is my goddamn credit?
In other news, autumn officially starts on the 22nd, so there are only five days left for the Reaper to pad his total. Yesterday he added actor/comedian Henry Gibson, whose performance in Nashville really should be up on YouTube.
Those kind of articles are some lazy, lazy stuff. Unless you're the first, of course. Then it's brillant.
Dude, don;t go Google Newsing the term as you'll be tres unhappy about its robust history. Also, an I think I've mentioned this before, with the explosion of Hollywood film and TV celebrity in the 60s and 70s, we should be ready for every single season to be the season of dead celebrities.
When all these "famous for being famous" reality stars start to croak, then watch out. I imagine, when I myself will be old and grey watching PSAs about how more celebrities die every year than the entire body count of Vietnam.
The flip side is thanks to technological advances in medicines, Willard Scott's Smuckers 100 year old people segment on Today will be extended to a full hour.
Hollyweird socialists and east-coast elitists are simply contributing to lowering the projected costs of Obama's proposed health care reform.
You have great confidence that Señor Reaper will honor the arbitrary boundaries between seasons, yes?
If you are mistaken, I officially lay claim to Autumn of Anguishâ„¢. People may not die, our economy might survive to see the the coming Winter of Woe (also, â„¢), but hope? Hope will be the first "patient" of our new Death Panels. Prognosis? Abgefuckt.
The Indian Summer of Death was SO 19th Century.
By using the word 'Anguish,' you introduce judgment and emotion into the description. "Summer of Death" is purely descriptive - stark and direct, like death itself.
I hereby claim the Decade of Dead Celebrities(â„¢)
Not to speak ill of the dead, but I would note that many of these individual's careers were deceased long before they followed suit.
kacktoberfest(â„¢)
And Keith Floyd! Don't forget about Keith Floyd!
And the Toys 'R Us giraffe. :-(
I've been charging my glass and having my own personal tribute to Keith Floyd every night this week!
I genuinely thought Henry Gibson was already dead--
AND Mary from Peter Paul and Mary!!!
The carp!
and the adorable fire-fighter-hand-holding bushfire koala, who died of chlamydia!
I just thank God every day that Ryan Reynolds is safe (Green Lantern is filming in Australia and it's winter there)
I just thank god every day Ryan Reynolds has a penchant for having himself photographed sans shirt.
I don't buy the argument that it's only the summer of death because more people are famous. I mean, yes, that's also happening (DJ AM is a prime example), but enough of these deaths were legitimately significant people that the season stands without the padding of the Billy Mays and the Taco Bell dogs. Walter Cronkite, Ted Kennedy, Michael Jackson, Robert Novak, Les Paul, Frank McCourt, Eunice Kennedy Shriver -- that's TWO Kennedys. Summer of Death is real.
Ted Hughes said:
Death and death and death.
Also:
Death only wants to be life. It cannot quite manage.
Someone (maybe Lucretius): Don't worry about death. You don't live to regret it. (Just paraphrasing, Lucky!)