Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Santa Fe Springs? Earthquake ~ March 16, 2010

Hey! The danged (4.4 mag at about 4:04 a.m. PDT) thing seems to have epicentered pretty much here at the Burrow ('bout a block from the crossing of the 605/San Gabriel River Freeway and the 5/Santa Ana Freeway), from the vague and differing fearmonger TV newsies.  They're calling it 'the Pico Rivera Earthquake', while giving specs that suggest it's more in SFS, although the latest sounds like they were about zeroing in on the Rose Hills sign.  For you foreigners, that's a big but not- (unlike the HOLLYWOOD sign) tasteless sign on a high point of the original - now vastly expanded - Rose Hills Cemetery north of Whittier at the western terminus of the Puente Hills, the letters internally lit at night with a rosy glow, easily seen for many miles along the San Gabriel and Rio Hondo rivers region to the sign's south and west.  The LS of the sign can be seen from the bottom of a cliff along the trail in Sycamore Canyon, a shear-off unsuspected by those who have only seen the smooth green cemetery side of the hill; curious about erosion there, and the 'cliff dwellers' along the canyon with their half-stilt million+$ big houses.

At any rate, just a damageless rumble here; not so much as a knick-knack knocked.  Kitties but little disturbed.  No yelling, barking, howling, sqwacking, car alarms, cracks, smells, etc.  When I went out to sniff the gas meter, I was the only one outside.

HALLELUJAH...& mayhap no aftershocks - or, please God! it's not a foreshock of something larger.

An old earthquake hand (though thankful to never having suffered significant harm), I was awakened from my traditional pre-quake, doesn't-occur-at-other-times Huge FN Spaceship Invasion Dream.  I used to be able to predict quakes and even feel little ones as much as 200 miles away.  But it meant being a nervous nelly.  I desensitized by the Grace of God, and now just they're Just Another C&@##y Thing.  Let's try:     
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/   

Monday, March 8, 2010

The GET REAL Oscar obits

Here are a few folks the (otherwise unexpectedly classy) 2010 Academy Awards telecast remenbered, and a bushel they forgot... Although I may have missed some they included.  The camera pulled back at times and one couldn't tell who was onscreen by face or printed name, and the time given each seemed to range between the time it takes to say 'blink' twice, and 'blink' five times.  Fie!  And more shame that it was followed by a long, meaningless sequence of synchronized modern dance, which I think was a sub for presenting nominated music, but I'm not sure, because I stepped out for a while, disgruntled.  Others I asked didn't remember 'the songs' either.  Perhaps they were presented but unmemorable, or other witnesses were stunned into snooze mode by the dance, or distracted by the question, Who-all did they leave out?  I know there was a bunch!  This may provide some answers and compensation:

(Also note my earlier memorial to the great EDWARD WOODWARD.) 

January 13 – Patrick McGoohan, American-born British actor (born 1928)


January 14 – Ricardo Montalbán, Mexican-born American actor (born 1920)

February 6 – James Whitmore, American actor (born 1921)

March 15 – Ron Silver, American actor and political activist (born 1946)

March 18 – Natasha Richardson, English actress (born 1963) (they did get her... )

March 29 – Maurice Jarre, French composer and conductor (born 1924)

April 22 – Ken Annakin, English film director (born 1914)

April 22 – Jack Cardiff, English cinematographer (born 1914)

April 25 – Beatrice Arthur, American actress (born 1922)

May 4 – Dom DeLuise, American actor and comedian (born 1933)

June 3 – David Carradine, American actor (born 1936)  (got)

June 25 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress (born 1947)

June 25 – Michael Jackson, American performer and recording artist (born 1958)  (got)

July 1 – Karl Malden, American actor (born 1912)

August 5 – Budd Schulberg, American screenwriter (born 1914)

August 6 – John Hughes, American film director and writer (born 1950) (got a featured memorial)

September 14 – Patrick Swayze, American actor and dancer (born 1952) (got--?)

October 13 – Al Martino, American singer and actor (born 1927)

October 19 – Joseph Wiseman, Canadian actor (born 1918)

December 3 – Richard Todd, Irish-born British actor (born 1919)

December 9 – Gene Barry, American actor (born 1919)

December 16 – Roy E. Disney, American businessman (born 1930)  (got)

December 17 – Jennifer Jones, American actress (born 1919)  (got)

December 20 – Brittany Murphy, American actress (born 1977)  (got)

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2010~

January 11 – Éric Rohmer, French film director (born 1920)

January 17 – Erich Segal, American author, screenwriter, and educator (born 1937)

January 22 – Jean Simmons, British actress (born 1929)  (got)

January 27 – Zelda Rubinstein, American actress and human rights activist (born 1933)

February 17 – Kathryn Grayson, American singer (born 1922)  (got)

The above from Wikipedia, years 2009 & 2010 to this date: March 8, 2010 (day after Academy Awards show.  Too many hyperlinks to reconstitute, here or below ).

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Click here: Obituaries - Britmovie - British Film Forum ~Some particularly noticeable to us: Simone Simon. Lionel Jeffries. 'Marie Glory 1905-2009 ...  Apparently this ancient French actress died on January 24 aged 103. ...'

Glad another centenarian, Luise Rainer, is still alive and getting some 'due', since it's come to be 'blink blink' at the Oscars at best!

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Click here: 2009 Legacies: Search Notable Deaths, Featured Obituaries & Editorial Tributes
Legacy.com

(Ken Annakin already noted.)
Archerd, Army
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Army Archerd, whose breezy column for the entertainment trade publication Daily Variety kept tabs on various Hollywood doings for more than a half-century, has died. He was 87. ... Read Obituary for Army Archerd  (got)

Full Profile Guest Book

Arthur, Bea

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Beatrice Arthur, the tall, deep-voiced actress whose razor-sharp delivery of comedy lines made her a TV star in the hit shows "Maude" and "The Golden Girls" and who won a Tony... Read Obituary for Bea Arthur

Blair, Betsy

Academy Award-nominated actress Betsy Blair died on March 13, 2009 at her home in London after a long illness. She was 85. Blair began on Broadway and later starred in several films, including... Read Obituary for Betsy Blair  (got)

Carey, Phil

NEW YORK (AP) - Phil Carey, best known for his role as business tycoon Asa Buchanan in the ABC soap opera "One Life to Live," has died. He was 83. Carey died at his New York City home Friday... Read Obituary for Phil Carey '

(David Carradine already noted)

Chaplin, Sydney

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sydney Chaplin, second son of Charlie Chaplin and himself a Tony-winning actor who starred on Broadway opposite Judy Holliday in "Bells Are Ringing" and Barbra Streisand in "Funny... Read Obituary for Sydney Chaplin

(Dom deLuise & Roy Disney already noted)

Dunne, Dominick

NEW YORK (AP) - Author Dominick Dunne, who told stories of shocking crimes among the rich and famous through his magazine articles and best-selling novels such as "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles," died... Read Obituary for Dominick Dunne

(Farrah Fawcett already noted)

Foote, Horton

NEW YORK (AP) — Playwright and screenwriter Horton Foote, who movingly portrayed the broken dreams of common people in "The Trip to Bountiful," ''Tender Mercies" and his Oscar-winning screen... Read Obituary for Horton Foote

Gelbart, Larry

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Larry Gelbart, the award-winning writer whose sly, sardonic wit helped create such hits as Broadway's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," the films "Tootsie" and "Oh,... Read Obituary for Larry Gelbart  (got)

Gibson, Henry

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Henry Gibson, the veteran comic character actor best known for his role reciting offbeat poetry on "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In," died Monday. He was 73. Gibson's son, James,... Read Obituary for Henry Gibson

Gordon, Lucy

PARIS (AP) — French police say British actress Lucy Gordon, who appeared in "Spider-Man 3," was found dead in her Paris apartment after apparently committing suicide. An official with the Paris... Read Obituary for Lucy Gordon

Hingle, Pat

CAROLINA BEACH, N.C. Pat Hingle, a veteran actor whose career included a recurring role as Commissioner Gordon in several Batman movies in the 1990s, has died after battling blood cancer. ... Read Obituary for Pat Hingle

(John Hughes, Michael Jackson, Marice Jarre, Jennifer Jones, Karl Malden, Al Martino, Patrick McGoohan, Ricardo Montalban & Brittany Murphy already noted)

Reed-Amini, Alaina

LOS ANGELES – Alaina Reed-Amini, the Broadway star and TV actress best known for her long-running roles on "Sesame Street" and "227," has died. She was 63. Reed-Amini died Dec. 17 at St. John's... Read Obituary for Alaina Reed-Amini

Richard, Wendy

LONDON (AP) - British actress Wendy Richard, whose four-decade television career included roles as a sexy sitcom shop assistant and a working class matriarch on the soap opera "EastEnders," died... Read Obituary for Wendy Richard

(Natasha Richardson, Budd Schuberg & Ron Silver already noted)

Stang, Arnold

STANG, Arnold Beloved husband, father and grandfather died on December 20th, 2009 of Needham at the age of 91. His career as an actor in film, radio, television and the theater endeared him to a... Read Obituary for Arnold Stang

(Patrick Swayze already noted)

Westlake, Donald

NEW YORK (AP) - Donald Westlake, a prolific author considered one of the most successful and versatile mystery writers in the United States, has died. He was 75. Westlake collapsed from an... Read Obituary for Donald Westlake (Also:)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Westlake - has large bit of Westlake re films.

(James Whitmore already noted).

...

And, perhaps most recently,

Click here: Nan Martin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia .

Thursday, March 4, 2010

LiveAid > Live Ammo, Dead Bodies

HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF 'LIVE AID' DOLLARS intended for starving innocents in Ethiopia were taken by rebels, disguised as merchants (middlemen?  Apparently.  Oh yeah, right, like that's gonna work!!), who then used the money to buy the technology of destruction, dismenberment, death, and the other dastardly Ds damned deviltry dotes on.  It's an old story, whether the 'charitable organizations' were fakes from the beginning, or whether they were 'real', but got duped or stolen from.  Perhaps you were one of those dear little tykes given, what was in your hearts (and for the better training of your superegos), the desire to eschew candy to request money on Hallowe'en for UNICEF... Only to be told, by some of the more informed, thus solicited, that (No, I'm sorry, honey, but) UNICEF money  and food largely gets into the hands of ruthless killers whose fights and bullying caused the conditions that led to the childrens' horrid miseries in the first place. 'The UN is just not careful enough, and some of the countries in it want the UNICEF money to be stolen by the dictators or rebels, and the blue helmet UN Forces much more often attract fire to the refugees they're supposed to help, rather than protect them.  Sorry to have to tell you this, kids.  You're very good to want to help people, but you have to be very careful:  Not all so-called charities are good or wise'.   
http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/live-aid-famine-cash-bought-guns-not-grain/19381649