Having just lost Ed  a few days ago, this answered many people’s “bad news comes in threes” beliefs.

I am not one of them, mind you.

But the two who died today were both very important cultural icons, and they bear some manner of tribute.

First, Farrah.

You can her in depth biographical data here.  As one of Charlie’s Angels, she become a sexy TV heartthrob for the guys, reinforced with ”the poster”, which must be the most recognizable pinup shot of our generation. 

To the ladies, she was a role model of femininity and beauty, inspiring a still lingering feathered hair style (the “Farrah Do”).  Her early roles may have been weak, but her later works showed a serious actress, notably the morally complex Extremities, and the similarly stunning abuse anthem, The Burning Bed.

For the guys of my generation, she may not have been the prettiest or the sexiest, but she definitely one of the most memorable.

She died of cancer.

Next, a slightly harder bit to write:

Michael Jackson.  While I am not quite willing to say good riddance, I am unable to really feel saddened.

http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=415668&GT1=28103

As much as Johnny was the center of the Tonight Chow, Ed was only slightly less important.  It was as much their chemistry that made that show such a vibrant and wonderful institution.

Another great one has gone.   He will be missed.

Updated below:

I think he did a much more credible job of showing his remorse.  I will add only one slight caveat, that he missed one aspect of it completely.  I’ll get back to that.

Here is the text as transcribed by TV Week,  with my comments to follow:

The summary of this is that former VP nominee Gov Sarah Palin was in New York with her family and Letterman couldn’t resist the chance to poke at her a bit in his top ten:

Letterman Top Ten: Palin has a “slutty flight attendant look” 

I bet Ashley Herzog’s bummed he didn’t pull this a day earlier, huh? It would have made a sweet addition to her latest column. The best part: Letterman wondering why Slutty Flight Attendant didn’t stop by the show.

I guess if you can’t make ‘em laugh anymore, you might as well make ‘em wince. You missed your calling as a writer for Playboy, Dave.

Good point actually.  Coming on the heels of the hate f*ck column at Playboy, this is another indication of the lack of respect offered to conservative women.

And exactly why does he make a connection to “flight attendant” and “slutty”?  I have a friend who is an FA and she is hardly slutty, and from recent flights, I cannot recall seeing any that were dressed thus.  I wonder where the FA unions are in this?

I don’t always post tributes to Hollywood stars but this is a sad exception.

Dom DeLuise passed away at the age of 75.

Dom had a long career, and many amazing roles, but likely many will remember his mild mannered Victor Prinzim whose heroic alter ego was Captain Chaos “…Him…”, in Cannonball Run.

Dom was more than just this single role, he was a fearless comedian and character actor.  Perhaps he was most well known more for his work on Mel Brooks movies or his sidekick roles with Burt Reynolds

Reading his movie credits on his Wiki Page is like reading a list of movie favorites, both live action and voice over. 

He was also married for an incredible 44 years, and a father of three talented sons and several grand daughters.

And on a side note, he was a child of immigrants, something fairly relevant to these days.

And he was an avid passionate cook.

I will never forget Dom and how he never ceased to make me laugh till I cried.

One of the side effects of the Post Obama era is that now people finally care.  On the radio today many liberals finally feel patriotic, and are willing to wave flags.

And finally, public service is not just a good idea it is a great idea.

And I am not even suggesting it is a bad thing.  I am only pointing out that a) every politician and administration has pretty much suggested the need for more public and community service and b) for some reason only now is it considered widely popular and obtainable. 

And I wonder why.  Public service is nothing new.  Community efforts are nothing new.  They have existed as long as we have had history.

And if anything, this is a repudiation of Obama’s earlier suggestions that only the Government can fix these problems.

Problems with the poor, with hunger,  with housing, with schools…all can be solved by the community, something many people have advocated for decades.

Yet suddenly in our post Obama era, it is a new great and wondrous idea.

I rarely go  to theaters.  It’s not the prices necessarily, though 5 bucks for popcorn is still shocking.  It is more that I enjoy being comfortable at home watching it.  So usually when a big hit comes out, my particular take on it is about six months late when the DVD releases.

And occasionally the movie in question has generated a stir of complaints and controversies that I hear about in depth before I even have a chance to see for myself what the fuss was all about.

Such was the case with Disney/Pixar’s Wall*E.

I heard in nauseating detail about the leftist indoctrinations, the insults and insensitivity to the obese and a few other complaints.

I was prepared to not like it, as I tend to dislike paying money to be preached at.

I was wrong.  I loved it.

First, the actual story.  The setting:  Earth in the 29th century.  The world has become overtaken by a global corporation (BnL or Buy n Large) and for 700 years has been completely depopulated.  The world has become a scrap heap of trash, with only clean up robots left to perform a seemingly endless task of providing trash compacted order out of chaos.  Life is apparently limited to a bug, who is our hero’s pet. 

A great actor, a passionate activist and reportedly a really nice guy to boot, Charlton Heston has passed away.

He was best known as Moses in the Ten Commandment, and second best known from other movies like Ben Hur or Planet of the apes, but also well know in the political circles for his unwavering stance on gun rights as head of the NRA for many years.

His words are still grossly misquoted and mischaracterized by liberals such as Michael Moore.

There will never be another like him.

RIP.

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One persistent argument that surfaces frequently revolves around the people who are openly anti war but who claim to support the troops.

So are clearly phony and easily caught by their anti Military prejudices, but others I have long maintained are sincere.

The problem is that most of their support revolves around ending the war.  By bringing them home they figure they have shown the ultimate support.  By impeaching Bush and Cheney, those they claim lied us into war they feel they are supporting the troops.

I don’t particularly want to devolve into semantics here, but I tend to disagree.  The overwhelming majority of the troops volunteered to serve and most have at least reenlisted if not outright enlisted since the war began, so they have effectively voted for the war with their oaths.

Supporting them is a matter of encouragement, faith, allegiance and love.  The anti war nuts too often degrade to discouragement, disrespect and derision.  Not always.  But often enough to be the norm. 

I sat up with my kids tonight, waiting for the glory and spectacle of the fire works show in Seattle, what we fondly call “blowing up the Space Needle.”

It started on time, then abruptly quit.  “We’re sorry, we seem to be having technical difficulties…”

Oops.  Seattle ended the year on a disappointing fizzle.  As my Daughter noted “..and they had Star Wars music playing, too!”

Undeterred we set off a few dozen of the little confetti poppers and the kids went their merry way with their faux champagne (Sparkling cider).

The old year was nice, Bizarre, even.  I reflected to myself, and had no less then several dozen weird and amazing events.  Too many to detail, maybe another day.

But looking ahead…ah…I see great things happening.  A presidential election that so far promises to break all the molds.  I seriously cannot wait to blog it. 

Likewise, I look forward to my continued efforts, futile as they seems sometimes, to thwart the Global Warming lies by posting all the truth and science I can.