Summer of Death, June 21-September 22 @12:40 PM
There are about five hours left until the end of the Summer of Death (TM symbol goes here!), so this may be my last chance to fulminate about how Big Media continues its campaign to deny me credit for coining the phrase. READ MORE 28
New York Times Examines Summer Of Death @12:00 PM
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. 22
Marvel and NyQuil: Everything is Bad, Go to Sleep @3:10 PM
In the wake of the Summer of Death and the colossally major news that Disney bought Marvel for $4 billion (a number that means "death" in Cantonese and is therefore avoided at all costs-not in enumerations of 4, obvs-in addresses, car license plates, cell phone numbers, etc., and, cue ominous, chongy music) and because Mr. Nasir "Nas" Jones says that sleep is the cousin of death, we must report the (in some circles, equally) important news that the soporific in Nyquil (doxylamine succinate) is found in much higher doses elsewhere. Namely Unisom (25 mg per pill vs. 6.25 mg in a 15 ml dose). READ MORE 20
DJ AM Dead At 36 @7:36 PM
According to TMZ and NBC New York, Adam Goldstein, known as "DJ AM," and described by NBC as a "celebrity disk-jockey," was found dead in his New York City apartment. And now back to your regularly-scheduled summer of death. 7
My Summer Of Death @11:40 AM
I have held my tongue thus far, but a man can only stand silent for so long while others pillage the fruits of his labor for their own ends without offering proper testament to his genius. It was I, Alex Balk, who first used the term "Summer of Death" to refer to this tragic season. It happened right here, at the beginning of July, and in the weeks that followed I have been forced to endure the agony of seeing my creation tossed willy-nilly about the Internet without a nod in the direction of my brilliance. (Those stealy bastards at New York actually suggested that they had trademarked the thing.) It may seem a small point, a minor question of phrasing so obvious in and of itself that it had already been used in another context, but no: "Summer of Death," when uttered to encompass the spate of celebrity passings that marked the grim dog days of 2009, is utterly an invention of MINE, and I demand to be festooned with all the accolades such virtuosity merits. Preferably in book deal form. Thank you. 35
Les Paul: June 9, 1915 – August 13, 2009 @1:09 PM
Is anyone not going to die this summer? (That joke, I guess, is still kicking. Barely.) Les Paul—a virtuoso jazz guitarist who pioneered the practice of multitrack recording and invented what is still the most beautiful electric guitar ever made, the Gibson Les Paul—died of pneumonia today in White Plains, New York. He was 94. He was great and very, very important. Above, a video for "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise," the 1951 hit he recorded with his wife, Mary Ford. 5
RIP Rashied Ali, Coltrane's Free-Jazz Rhythmic Conspirator @11:40 AM
So according to Rashied Ali's website, the legendary free-jazz drummer is dead. He was 74. There are no details regarding the cause just yet, but a French-language site seems to date Ali's death as occurring on Wednesday, July 12. (Either that, or the 12th is when they learned about it.) His passing will probably only rate a footnote—at most—in this, our star-studded Summer Of Death, but you know what? Ali was a titan. And at least one album that features his skittering, complex drumming will prove to be immortal: John Coltrane's Interstellar Space. You can listen to "Venus," from that record, on the YouTubes. The Amazon mp3 download is here. (And why not shell out for quality?) READ MORE 6
Hank the Crocosaurus Dead at 47 @12:20 PM
The Summer of Death is a heartless season. On Saturday, staff at the Miami tourist attraction Jungle Island found the two-ton, 20-foot-long, crocodile known as Hank the Crocosaurus dead at the bottom of his pool. As reported in the Miami Herald, Hank died a bachelor; his only companion was a five-pound turtle named Frank. READ MORE 12
Summer Of Death Pads Roster: Walter Cronkite, Frank McCourt @12:53 PM
I grew up in an NBC household; I have vague memories of John Chancellor reading the news and stronger memories of Tom Brokaw doing the same. Walter Cronkite never really meant a lot to me as an anchor; I think I sometimes used to get him confused with Captain Kangaroo. As for Frank McCourt, plenty people tell me that Angela's Ashes was great, but the last thing I ever want to read is another Irishman recounting poverty and his father's alcoholism (or another Jew on the Holocaust, another Italian about petty crime, etc.), so I've never read it. I'm aware that both of these men made Important Contributions In Their Field and I am not at all attempting to diminish that; I just don't really have anything to say about them. But don't let that stop you if you do! 22
