Baker was an absolute drumming god. Time to see whether Beware of Mr. Baker is still available on Netflix.
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Originally Posted by JoeP
I didn't know he played with Atomic Rooster
As did Carl Palmer.
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"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis D. Brandeis
"Psychos do not explode when sunlight hits them, I don't give a fuck how crazy they are." ~ S. Gecko
News of Taylor's death was announced by his publicist, Harlan Boll, who said he died Sunday in Beverly Hills, Calif., per The Hollywood Reporter. Born Charles Elmer Taylor Jr. on Jan. 13, 1935, and spent his early years working as a congressional page. After enlisting in the Army, he would entertain the troops throughout the Korean War, and began to focus on entertainment after returning to civilian life.
He made his mark with his flamboyant, over-the-top delivery, often tossing a handful of confetti into the air, earning him his nickname. Thanks to his quick wit and memorable persona, he became a staple in ensemble game shows of the '70s and '80s like Match Game and The Hollywood Squares.
Aside from his career as a shtick-happy comic, he had a number of noteworthy genre roles, particularly in animation, where his unique vocal delivery got to breathe real life into his cartoon counterparts.
I didn't know he played with Atomic Rooster and Hawkwind!
Yep, Hawkwind's 1980 album, Levitation. Also at least a portion of the subsequent tour; you can hear him live on This Is Hawkwind, Do Not Panic. He quit Hawkwind after saying, "I'm the most famous player in this band, so now I'm the leader," and Dave Brock saying, "Not how it works, mate ..."
Not the nicest guy in the world, as he himself had no problem admitting. But sweet motherfucking Christmas could he play.
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"Her eyes in certain light were violet, and all her teeth were even. That's a rare, fair feature: even teeth. She smiled to excess, but she chewed with real distinction." - Eleanor of Aquitaine
R.I.P. to prolific character actor Robert Forster (Jackie Brown, Mulholland Dr., Twin Peaks, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, Medium Cool, etc.). He was 78.
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Cēterum cēnseō factiōnem Rēpūblicānam dēlendam esse īgnī ferrōque.
“All for ourselves, and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind.” -Adam Smith
Elijah E. Cummings, a Democratic congressman from Maryland who gained national attention for his principled stands on politically charged issues in the House, his calming effect on anti-police riots in Baltimore, and his forceful opposition to the presidency of Donald Trump, died early Thursday morning at Johns Hopkins Hospital, the Associated Press reported. He was 68.
After undergoing an unspecified medical procedure, the Democratic leader did not return to his office this week, the Baltimore Sun reported. A statement from his office said that he had passed away due to “complications concerning longstanding health challenges.”
Born to a family of Southern sharecroppers and Baptist preachers, Mr. Cummings grew up in the racially fractured Baltimore of the 1950s and 1960s. At 11, he helped integrate a local swimming pool while being attacked with bottles and rocks. “Perry Mason,” the popular TV series about a fictional defense lawyer, inspired him to enter the legal profession.
“Many young men in my neighborhood were going to reform school,” he told the East Texas Review. “Though I didn’t completely know what reform school was, I knew that Perry Mason won a lot of cases. I also thought that these young men probably needed lawyers.”
In the Maryland House of Delegates, he became the youngest chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus and the first African American to serve as speaker pro tempore, the member who presides in the speaker’s absence.
In 1996, he won the seat in the U.S. House of Representatives that Kweisi Mfume (D) vacated to become NAACP president. Mr. Cummings eventually served as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and as ranking Democrat and then chairman of what became the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
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Cēterum cēnseō factiōnem Rēpūblicānam dēlendam esse īgnī ferrōque.
“All for ourselves, and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind.” -Adam Smith
Long-serving Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) died yesterday at the age of 90. Conyers was a trailblazer in a number of ways, co-founding the Congressional Black Caucus; compiling a long legacy of civil rights activism and advocacy for the poor; and ending up the sixth-longest serving member of Congress. However, he also resigned in disgrace in 2018, after 53 years in office, when a history of sexual harassment and verbal abuse of subordinates, alongside misuse of taxpayer funds to cover those up, came to light.
As is commonly the case when someone with a mixed history like his dies, I've got mixed emotions over his death. Regardless, his legacy was probably far more good than bad. R.I.P.
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Cēterum cēnseō factiōnem Rēpūblicānam dēlendam esse īgnī ferrōque.
“All for ourselves, and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind.” -Adam Smith
I had a couple of conversations with him over a breakfast table. I remember he was charming, but I recall nothing of the conversations. I was young, and what do you say to someone who has endured and survived the KGB?
“Last year, I worked 46 weeks of the year doing stand up. Forty-six.”
This was John Witherspoon, speaking on Netflix’s podcast “Strong Black Legends,” in an episode released in April. At first listen, touring almost 90 percent of the year seems like too much for a man in his mid-70s, a man whose fame spans decades and touches multiple generations, and a man with catchphrases that have cemented themselves firmly within black comedic lore.
But when you think about who “Pops” is, and what his legacy will be, you realize John Witherspoon, who died Tuesday at the age of 77, was a working actor in the most triumphant connotation of the title...
Taking a trip through his filmography, there are some truths about his career, ones he’s acknowledged. For starters, acting meant money, and John Witherspoon loved getting that paper. So, was every movie and television show a classic? Absolutely not. Some were outright bad. But his presence in any project ensured a moment so memorable and singular, it routinely became “That movie with John Witherspoon.” There are films that feature him in a small role that, in my mind, he was a star of — because his parts were the only ones I remembered. And there are episodes of television in which he’d cameo, and the only way to describe that episode going forward was “The John Witherspoon episode.”
This man was responsible for untold numbers of awkward, anxious Canadian teens being dragged into the dance circle of the popular kids and actually having a good time at a school dance. Thank you, Mr. Mann. https://t.co/ez453qUqOd
It's totally unfair that my main memory of him is of watching one of his cooking programmes many years ago, where he had various elements on the go, some frying some roasting - he finished one part and said "Now let's have a look at my onions" - and promptly cracked up - "I don't know why I said that".
I always used to confuse him with Clive Anderson even though Anderson is about fifteen years younger and not Australian.
I read his book, Unreliable Memoirs, thirty-odd years ago: I still have it, somewhere. I remember it was a pretty good read, but I've never read his other books - maybe I will now.
StarTrek.com is deeply saddened to report the passing of Dorothy Catherine “D.C.” Fontana, the legendary writer who brought many of Star Trek's greatest episodes to life. Fontana passed away peacefully at age 80 on the evening of December 2nd, following a short illness.
As a writer, Fontana is credited with many episodes focusing on Vulcan culture and helped blaze a trail for female writers in sci-fi television. She is the mind behind The Original Series and The Animated Series episodes like “Yesteryear” and “Journey to Babel,” which introduced Spock’s father Sarek and mother Amanda. She co-wrote the Hugo Award nominated The Next Generation episode “Encounter at Farpoint” with Gene Rodenberry, and she continued to write for TNG and Deep Space Nine. Her last produced credit was an episode of webseries Star Trek: New Voyages, starring Walter Koenig.
More info and excellent videos about Ms. Fontana's life and accomplishments here as well.
I have a better question -- why isn't Gowron letting his bodyguards kill Worf? I'll tell you why -- Klingon honor, a concept you should be very familiar with.
My people, on the other hand, don't care about honor. How did you put it? "There will be no honorable combat, no formal challenges"? Hardly the words of a Klingon! Tell me, "General," did Gowron destroy the polaron emitters, or did you?
~ Odo
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"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis D. Brandeis
"Psychos do not explode when sunlight hits them, I don't give a fuck how crazy they are." ~ S. Gecko
Re: BREAKING: Sometimes Famous People Die
As did Carl Palmer.
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