R.I.P. Patrick Swayze

Roadhouse. You will be missed.

Marilyn Chambers Dies

Tragically at only 56 years old, Marilyn Chambers, known as one of the first "cross-over" actresses for going from slinging Ivory Snow to mainstream pornography, was found dead by her 17 year old daughter.

She will be missed.

And I now have a valid reason for downloading classic porn to my computer. Yay history!

T-Shirt Hell Shutting Down

I've been a fan of T-Shirt Hell for many years now and am sad to see they are closing their doors.

We're sorry to bring the news that T-Shirt Hell will be closing its doors on Tuesday, Feb 10, 2009. Everything is now on sale during our final days.

For a message from the creator of TSH, Sunshine Megatron, go here. To view our final new shirts, plus 14 shirts we are bringing back as a thank you to everyone (including some of the best of our old Worse Than Hell section), go here.

It's been a deliciously wicked ride. Devilspeed to all who supported us.

(Customer service on all orders will continue for 60 days beyond our close date.)

Visit. Purchase. Weep.

And, hey, my birthday's coming up. My fav?



(and the obligatory social marketing one as well)

XL on black ;)

T-Shirt Hell, you will be missed. Never forget. :'(

Isaac Hayes - Chef - 1942-2008

The man, the Shaft man, the Chef man, is gone. He was 65. Our penises and women weep. Should the former continue, we will see a doctor.

Amen.

George Carlin, 1937 - 2008

I've been listening for over 20 years. He influenced my sense of humor, my religious views, and gave me vision to see the absurd every single day.

George: we love you and will miss you dearly.

Tim Russert Dies at 58

Tim Russert, NBC News’ Washington bureau chief and the moderator of “Meet the Press,” died Friday after being stricken at the bureau, NBC News said Friday. He was 58.

He will be missed.

LifeGem: I Always Said Grandma Was a Gem

Caught this over at Angry Ballerina's Place, and according to the LifeGem website, those beauties you see above were once people.

The LifeGem® is a certified, high-quality diamond created from the carbon of your loved one as a memorial to their unique life.

Love. Life’s single greatest risk. Life’s single greatest reward. Love captures your heart in a second and holds it for eternity.

You have experienced a love without equal. You have had someone truly special in your life and mere words simply will not do.

Yes, you can send them your loved one's ashes and they'll make it into a diamond. Ooh, and not to leave out the buried folks, they also accept human hair. So technically you can grow out your own hair, have a diamond made of you and wear it yourself. I guess if you put it that way, it's kind of hot.

As far as the dead bodies into gems, I think it's kind of sad (read the testimonials). When we lose loved ones, it is the memories, the stories that carry on their legacy long after they're dead; to turn loss into a "thing" - in my opinion - is to miss the point, to covet the uncovetable, and hopelessly grasp at the intangible through a false attempt at manifestation.

Now the LifeGem for pets -- no, that's.... I'm going to crawl up in a corner for a while.

Arthur C. Clarke: 1917-2008

Sadly, as much of a Sci-Fi geek as I am, I only read Childhood's End in college and then 2001 only 3 years ago (way better than even Kubrick could've done).

A reminder that I have catching up to do.

He will be missed.

National Post has wonderful links.

Madeline L'Engle 1918 - 2007

Who taught you to ask the big questions? Who showed you that there was fantasy within your reality and to cherish it? For me, that was Madeline L'Engle.

Somewhere in second or third grade, as religion began it's slow collapse around my questioning mind, I found an unexpected joy and solace in the stories of Meg Murry, Charles Wallace, and the twins. True, it was escapism in fiction, but was more speculative fiction - a base in the real world - than it was science fiction or fantasy. Madeline L'Engle played with time, manipulated science, and wrote about multiple dimensions long before I ever heard about string theory (still don't have a firm grasp on that one). I began questioning my world, my universe, in a creative and imaginative way, and I'll never forget all the time I spent attempting to visualize a tesseract.

I owe a lot of my own imaginative process and the very seedling of my writing to Madeline L'Engle. She will be missed.

Gary Oldman: Beethoven Bitten by Dracula, Cures Acting Bug?

I was going to go to bed, but got an email from a fellow Oldmanophile.

From cinematical:

In what I hope is fleeting, Luc Besson-sort of earnestness, Gary Oldman seems to be fed up with acting. Although he's had some super-successful mainstream stints recently in the Harry Potter and Batman franchises, the spark appears to have dimmed for the actor. He says: "I've had a great career, and I'm very lucky to do what I do. But I've been doing it a long time, and you can get tired. You might say I want to change careers or to do something else." He's tempted to return to the stage, but he fears that it's not just a movie-related disinterest: "I get misty-eyed about it, yeah. And I get offers. My love for acting... It's withered."

It has been 21 years since Oldman had his breakout role as Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy. While two decades is a decent chunk of time, is it really enough for him to say adios? Since starring as the troubled music icon, he's made a great career, morphing into a myriad of roles -- one of the few chameleons that we actually have in the movie biz. He played Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK, vamped out for Dracula, took on dreadlocks for True Romance, became the maestro for Immortal Beloved, modernized as Zorg in The Fifth Element, played a Russian terrorist in Air Force One, tried a stint as Pontius Pilate on television, played a little person named Rolfe in Tiptoes and of course, he also plays a great Sirius Black and James Gordon. I really can't imagine a movie world without him, although it would be nice to see him in the meaty, gritty films of his past. While shining a bat signal or helping Harry Potter is fun, perhaps he'd feel better about his career if he could sink his teeth into another Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, or Leon.

As an actor, I am saddened by this news, as Gary Oldman is one of the idols that I have held in what is the magic of Range. And I have craved his appearance in any film I have seen.

I was going to add some research on contacting Gary, but I think if he thinks it's done, it's done. If the acting has soured for him, it has soured. And there's no fan-pining we can heap on the man that will change anything. I respect his decision and only pray he can again find joy in the art that I can't even find the time to practice.

Or maybe that's a wakeup to me to stop living vicariously through amazing actors and pining - myself - for things that I could make happen, and making the time for it if I truly wanted to.

But we should weep.

"What's a Drexel?" indeed.

Mr. Wizard, 1917-2007

Don Herbert, better known as Mr. Wizard, has passed away. I don't know what to say. Heard this from Phil Plait over at Bad Astronomy, Yahoo obit via BA. He popularized science in the 50's and 60's, but I was a child of the 80's and Mr. Wizard's World on Nickelodeon was my bread and butter. It was directly responsible for my love of all things science. If Mr. Wizard had been my college chem teacher, I may have stuck around to become a biochemist.

Mr. Wizard, you will be missed.

I didn't know an 80's television show intro could make me weep:



And yes, you can get it on DVD now. Here's the promo:



Mr. Wizard on (old) Late Night with David Letterman:



...and one more. Mr. Wizard's 1988 Energy Facts PSA:



You can see his official website at http://www.mrwizardstudios.com/.