In Memoriam-Gone by not forgotten 2

[Reply #440 on:]

By percentage or biomass?

[Reply #441 on:]

If I ever get famous, I'm going to have to upgrade my death plans from being tossed out the window to being cremated then flushed down the toilet.

Ahem...And so we say goodbye to our beloved PEELer, Scrappylive, who's gone to a place where I too hope one day to go: the toilet.

Really, though: I've gone back and forth on this, but I do think I'd probably like to be cremated when the inexplicable luck that has enabled me to make it this far in life eventually runs out. The question of what to do with the ashes, though, remains a toughie. Maybe they could be divvied up into a series of hourglasses and given to my loved ones so they might be constantly and irritatingly reminded of their limited time on earth.

Or, yeah, flushing 'em sounds okay too.

[Reply #442 on:]

Hourglasses sound pretty cool, Gorky!  My cremation has already been fully paid for, along with a pretty urn.  As with you, I've really no idea what to do with the ashes, though.

[Reply #443 on:]

I'm a fan of the Fargo method myself.

[Reply #444 on:]

Yes, I quite like the hourglass idea, as well. It would actually make for a rather poignant art exhibit. The Passage of Time.

[Reply #445 on:]

Awww, crap!

Tom Petty

And the following is not meant to be humorous in the least, but rather an expression of appreciation for the guy...

[Reply #446 on:]

I've never been a fan of classic rock, but Tom Petty seemed pretty universally loved.

A great musician and a great guy.

Rest In Peace

[Reply #447 on:]

Higgy baby, no!

My most memorable clip to prominently feature John Hillerman.

[Reply #448 on:]

I'm going to watch Sealab 2021.

[Reply #449 on:]

A few artsy-type folks passed away recently: sci fi writer Ursula K. Le Guin and cartoonist Mort Walker.

I've read very little of Le Guin's writing, but I've only heard good things and hopefully some time soon I'll find time to check it out; more to the point, she just seemed like an all-around awesome lady, and her work as an advocate for the primacy of art and literature in modern society does my wannabe-writer heart good.

As for Mr. Walker: I have an abiding love for newspaper comics, and though his particular strips were never much to my taste, Walker did play a significant role in the establishment of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library at Ohio State University, which is a pretty wonderful place that I've had the pleasure of visiting several times.

They both lived long, successful lives, and while it's pretty much a bummer any time someone dies, at least they've left behind some impressive legacies. We should all be so lucky, you know?

[Reply #450 on:]

RIP Ursula Le Guin.

Back in the late 80s & early 90s when I was seriously into reading sci-fi I was aware that she was an influential/important figure in the sci-fi scene even I hadn't read any of her stuff (that I am aware of).

[Reply #451 on:]

Over the years I've read quite a bit of sci-fi. At the moment, there are... <checks book DB on phone>, 716 books in my library tagged as sci-fi/fantasy. But for sure, many of those were read so long ago that I'd be hard-pressed to recall even a skeleton of a plot for most of them.

And I *thought* that I had two books by Ms. Le Guin, but there's only one listed. Either I missed it when inventorying my books a few years ago, or it's one of the few books I sent off to my ex the year we were divorced. She didn't ask for any of our books or music, but I sent her all the CDs that were basically hers, along with some of her favorite books.

Regarding Mr. Walker, I can recall first reading his strip ages ago. And do remember a few times he waded into the water a bit and used his cartoon as a platform for some personal views on the military and politics, but for the most part he was just sharing stories of ordinary GIs.

It's easy to look at the very long lives these people experienced and think "they made it into their 90s, so they should consider themselves lucky". And of course they were lucky, in that specific sense. Unless you're suffering, though, death flat-out sucks balls no matter if you're 30 or 90.

[Reply #452 on:]

Unless you're suffering, though, death flat-out sucks balls no matter if you're 30 or 90.

Speaking as someone whose number-one fear in life is death, I agree with this wholeheartedly. My comment was meant more to distinguish between death-as-tragedy and death-as-unfortunate-but-inevitable-capper-to-a-life-well-lived.

Like, the deaths of two well-respected, highly successful individuals who lived well past the average life expectancy are not "tragic." The losses are traumatic, to some degree, to the people who knew and loved Le Guin and Walker, but it's not one of those taken-too-soon (whatever that means: "too soon" feels like a relative measurement to me) situations.

This is veering into off-topic territory, but I have problems with the ways we talk about death in society generally, and the ways in which we are now obliged (whether this is a real or just an imagined pressure) to publicly acknowledge those losses. Without getting too far into the weeds of my own personal crap here, I will say that every death of a loved one I've thus far experienced has felt fundamentally different to me both in-the-moment and days/weeks/months/years after the fact. Some of this has to do with my relationship to the deceased, some has to do with the circumstances surrounding their death, and some of it has to do with my own personal constitution.

Death is a universal experience, but there is no one, universal, standardized way to react to death. Those social scripts we've developed in response to death just rub me the wrong way.[/rant]

[Reply #453 on:]

Death doesn't bother me all that much.  

[Reply #454 on:]

OK, I had a couple of things on my mind, so I searched through Peel threads for a topic dealing directly with death, without success.

[Reply #455 on:]

Might this thread suffice? I'd be curious to know what things are on your mind, sir!

[Reply #456 on:]

That's perfect, Gorks! I spent probably a couple of minutes looking. I'll post something there in a while. I just had some hazy thoughts, nothing specific.

[Reply #457 on:]

R.I.P. to John Mahoney, who the world knows best as Marty Crane from Frasier but who for me will always be the dad from Say Anything who has a nervous breakdown in a bathtub--because, really, aren't we all just one setback away from a bathtub nervous breakdown?

[Reply #458 on:]

Rest In Peace, Stephen Hawking! What a bummer.



His appearances in Futurama always made me laugh so much. "Toss it in the garbage" kills me every time.

I suppose now would be a good time to read my copy of A Brief History of Time that I've had lying around for 4 years.

[Reply #459 on:]

What a bummer indeed.
It was a good opportunity to talk about him with my kids, though.

[Reply #460 on:]

So, smack my ass and colour me jaded, but I never truly got the enormity of the Hawking hype. Sure, he was a seemingly jocular grad student and an OK guy, and obviously gained insights into physics and cosmology which have helped those fields progress. Specifically, the concept that black holes may effectively radiate their mass, though only over stupefyingly long intervals of time.

But I don't really get the huge cult of personality surrounding him. His most incredible feat, in my mind, is that for the past 40 years or so, he kept himself alive through sheer force of will. That's a staggering accomplishment, for sure. I just never really cared that much for him.

[Reply #461 on:]

I think it's that sort of Neil deGrasse Tyson (or, to a lesser extent, Bill Nye) phenomenon: Hawking was an exceptionally brilliant guy who found a way to make science seem fun and (to varying degrees) accessible to the masses--and, through some combination of charisma and cunning, rose to the status of Celebrity Scientist. His personal narrative, living with ALS for so long, certainly adds to his broad appeal; we as a nation get real big boners for inspiration porn of the type Hawking (through no fault of his own) embodied.

But there's another component to this all, I think. I would argue that the general smartening-up of TV writers' rooms (where everyone seems to hold a PhD from one Ivy League school or another) in the 1990s--and those writers' injection of their own erudite or otherwise esoteric reference points into the shows they worked on--is what gave Hawking second life as a Hollywood-type celebrity. I definitely only know of the guy from his appearances on The Simpsons and Futurama--seeming so hip to the pop cultural preferences of the youths must've contributed to the guy's likability (and visibility).

None of which is meant as a value judgment on the poor chap, mind you: I think the world is better for Hawking having been in it, and I hope he has a blast playing Dungeons and Dragons for the next quadrillion years.

[Reply #462 on:]

It's an interesting coincidence that you happened to pick Tyson and Nye as examples, as I really like the former and cannot stand the latter

Hawking's A Brief History of Time is a worthwhile read, but if I'm recalling the book accurately I think it's probably a bit on the light side for most Peelers I know.

Anyway, thanks for your thoughtful comments and insight into the Hollywood aspect of the Hawking phenomenon.

[Reply #463 on:]

Rest In Peace, Stephen Hawking! What a bummer.



His appearances in Futurama always made me laugh so much. "Toss it in the garbage" kills me every time.

I suppose now would be a good time to read my copy of A Brief History of Time that I've had lying around for 4 years.

On the plus side, he outlived his original prognosis by several decades. Besides his brilliance as a theoretical physicist, it is truly amazing that he lived to be an old man. In some ways his determination was almost as admirable as his intelligence. A lot of people would have given up, but even after he lost the use of his hand he used his cheek muscles to type out messages. What an amazing man.

[Reply #464 on:]

So impressed by some of the things I have learnt about him this week. His sense of humour, that he wrote the brief history of time book to ensure his family would never have to pay for his healthcare, and that he has an ongoing court case to sue the British government over their attempts to privatise UK healthcare.

What a guy!

[Reply #465 on:]

Wow, I'd nearly forgotten! I saw Hawking in Seattle, like, idk, 15 years ago? However, he suffered a (minor? recurring?) heart attack the day before his flight up from California! And it was too short-notice to inform more than a tiny fraction of the ticketholders.

I'd been invited to go by an elderly friend so of course neither she nor I had heard anything about a disruption in the program. And a staff member came out on stage and explained what happened, and that they were trying to set up a teleconference, on the theater's big screen, and it was rocky, but they got it going.

An interesting evening.

[Reply #466 on:]

RIP Isao Takahata

He may not have been a prolific director but his films were something special; no other film has made me cry as much as Grave of the Fireflies.

[Reply #467 on:]

Didn't he draw Grave of the Fireflies?  That's a pretty good cartoon.

[Reply #468 on:]

I have that sitting in my queue. One of these days...

[Reply #469 on:]

RIP R Lee Ermey

[Reply #470 on:]

This guy was all over the air throughout the Midwest  from the early to mid 90s https://www.cbsnews.com/news/menards-guy-ray-szmanda-dead-at-91/

[Reply #471 on:]

I can't believe that it's been an entire year. Sometimes it seems like just yesterday, and sometimes like a lifetime ago. Inevitably, each of us shall go The Way Of All Things, but we will continue to live on, in the memories of the people whose lives we've touched during our ephemeral wanderings on this stunningly beautiful blue jewel of a planet.

"We'll squeeze the blood out of life
And say goodnight--to the silver of old
And even when wrong, we're right
Far beyond the world, of diamonds and gold"
- Chris Cornell

<3

(caution: it's a bit loud)

[Reply #472 on:]

Fair winds and following seas, sir!

Not many of the Old (space) Guard left

Alan Bean, Apollo 12 Astronaut Who Walked On The Moon, Dies At 86

[Reply #473 on:]

Speaking of fair winds and following seas...

The last U-boat captain has died at 105 - The Charlotte Observer

I had no idea that he had still been alive after all these years! A fearless submarine skipper, who by accounts both hated nazis and poured his heart into fighting for his country while sometimes taking great risks to provide aid to survivors in lifeboats (as contrasted with at least one occasion during which the British threatened to machinegun lifeboats if the Germans attempted to scuttle their ship, leaving the sailors to drown in the open sea) and radioed neutral merchant ships to aid survivors at great danger to himself and his crew. And of course there were times where the Americans did machinegun lifeboats, methodically cruising the area where they had torpedoed a ship, opening fire on every lifeboat they saw.

Farewell, Korvettenkapitän Reinhard Hardegen.

One of my most prized possessions, a copy of a book signed by a group of German submariners who managed to survive World War 2 (most did not). The top signature being Mr. Hardegen's, skipper of the Unterseeboot U-123. And I didn't realize until I took the photo just now that they stamped it with the seal of the local chapter of the submarine veterans association.

[Reply #474 on:]

Seriously bummed about the passing of Spider-Man and Dr Strange co-creator Steve Ditko

[Reply #475 on:]

Yeah, that one took me by surprise, too. I actually thought he had already died--maybe because he was a bit of a recluse for the last 40-odd years of his life--but it was definitely a bummer to hear the news.

I've never been a big reader of comic books, but I'm mildly obsessed with the history of the form--particularly its visuals--so I found this write-up of some of Ditko's stylistic flourishes rather interesting (if not a bit grating, in terms of the writer's voice). Might be of interest to you, too, tyraniak.

[Reply #476 on:]

Seriously bummed about the passing of Spider-Man and Dr Strange co-creator Steve Ditko

It's disappointing that a lot of people in Marvel's early days are overshadowed by Stan Lee

[Reply #477 on:]

Not gonna lie, I cried when I heard Koko had passed.  I actually wanted to meet her so I was learning sign language slowly.

[Reply #478 on:]

Not surprising, but super sad about the passing of Stan Lee

[Reply #479 on:]

Yup. At least he really lived a full life, and just long enough to see so many of his characters come to life on the big screen.