Goldfinger finally got what he wanted. Mr. Bond, Sean Connery, has passed at age 90.
Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor and producer. He was best known as the first actor to portray the character James Bond in film, starring in seven Bond films (every film from Dr. No to You Only Live Twice, plus Diamonds Are Forever and Never Say Never Again) between 1962 and 1983.
Posted in Because I Can, Events, Literary, News, The Big Screen, The Little Screen (Television)
BLAINE – After weeks of trapping and searching, Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) entomologists have located an Asian giant hornet nest on a property in Blaine – the first ever such nest found in the U.S.
The agency plans to attempt an eradication of the nest on Saturday, Oct. 24. Initial plans to eliminate the nest today have been tabled due to the inclement weather.
The successful detection of a nest comes after a WSDA trapper collected two live Asian giant hornets on Oct. 21, caught in a new type of trap the agency had placed in the area. Two more hornets, also living, were found in another trap the morning of Oct. 22 when WSDA staff arrived in the area to tag the previously trapped hornets with radio trackers and follow one back to its nest.
Read the rest at the source.
Rock legend Eddie Van Halen didn’t set out to change the way the guitar was played. But, as he explained to a standing-room-only crowd at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, music shaped his life—and his life shaped his music—in unexpected ways from his very first performances. – link
Thank you, Eddie for your music. The great big band in the sky just added a kick-ass guitarist. What a jam session there will be tonight.
Eddie Van Halen, founding member of Van Halen, and guitar virtuoso extraordinaire, died today at age 65.
Article about Eddie at the Oral Cancer Foundation here
We came here with approximately $50 and a piano, and we didn’t speak the language, he said. Now look where we are. “If that’s not the American dream, what is?” he said.
Posted in Because I Can, Music, News
Mac Davis has died at age 78 from complications from heart surgery. Davis was an American country music singer and songwriter originally from Lubbock, Texas.
He is credited as writing “Memories”, “In the Ghetto”, “Don’t Cry Daddy”, and “A Little Less Converstation” for Elvis Presley, and a career in the 70s produced hits such as “Baby, Don’t Get Hooked on Me” and “Hard to Be Humble.”
He starred in his own variety TV show, a Broadway musical, and did TV and film as well.
Posted in Because I Can, Music, News
The final Qantas 747 departure from Australia left Sydney Wednesday afternoon for Los Angeles. Before heading across the Pacific, VH-OEJ took to the sky over Sydney to leave a special message. Today’s departure marks the end of the Qantas 747 fleet’s 49 years of service.
Over the past week, Qantas operated three “Farewell Jumbo Joy Flights” touring Sydney, Brisbane, and Canberra with passengers on board for the final time. Today’s flight is taking the aircraft from Sydney to Los Angeles, where it will clear customs before continuing on to its final resting place in the California desert.
After making a scenic departure over Sydney and a low pass over the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) in Wollongong, which hosts a retired Qantas 747, QF7474 turned east over the Tasman Sea to draw Qantas’ iconic kangaroo.
Qantas Final 747 Flight
Measuring 275 kilometers east-west and 250 km north-south, the kangaroo took slightly less than 90 minutes to complete. When finished, VH-OEJ climbed to cruising altitude for the last time and headed out over the Pacific Ocean towards Los Angeles. After resting at LAX for a day, the very last takeoff by a Qantas 747 will send VH-OEJ to Mojave where it will join its fleet mates in retirement.
Posted in News, Planes Trains and Automobiles
Charles Edward Daniels was an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist known for his contributions to Southern rock, country, and bluegrass music. He was best known for his number-one country hit “The Devil Went Down to Georgia“. Daniels was active as a singer and musician since the 1950s. He was inducted into the Cheyenne Frontier Days Hall of Fame in 2002, the Grand Ole Opry in 2008, the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2009, and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2016.
Daniels died on July 6, 2020, of a hemorrhagic stroke at the age of 83.
Harold Reid, a member of the legendary country group The Statler Brothers, died Friday (April 24) following a long battle with kidney failure. He was 80.
Posted in Because I Can, Music, News
Read the rest here on Kotaku!
Posted in Because I Can, Gaming, News
Valerie Harper was an American actress. She began her career as a dancer on Broadway, making her debut in the musical Take Me Along in 1959. Harper is best remembered for her role as Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–77) and its spin-off Rhoda (1974–78). For her work on Mary Tyler Moore, she thrice received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and later received the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on Rhoda.
Posted in Events, News, The Little Screen (Television)
No more “Brain Salad Surgery”. 🙁
Malcolm John Rebennack (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music combined blues, pop, jazz, boogie-woogie and rock and roll.
Excerpt from the New York Times obituary:
Onstage as Dr. John, he adorned himself with snakeskin, beads and brightly colored feathers, and his shows blended Mardi Gras bonhomie with voodoo mystery.
He recorded more than 30 albums, including jazz projects (“Bluesiana Triangle,” 1990, with the drummer Art Blakey and the saxophonist David Newman), solo piano records (“Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack,” 1981) and his version of Afropop (“Locked Down,” 2012). His 1989 album of standards, “In a Sentimental Mood,” earned him the first of six Grammy Awards, for his duet with Rickie Lee Jones on “Makin’ Whoopee!”
His only Top 40 single, “Right Place Wrong Time,” reached No. 9 on the Billboard chart in 1973. In 2011, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and animal welfare activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, “Sentimental Journey” and “My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time” with Les Brown & His Band of Renown. She left Brown to embark on a solo career and recorded more than 650 songs from 1947 to 1967. She was 97.
I knew her from Que Sera, Sera. Farewell.
Posted in Because I Can, Music, News
At the ripe old age of 85, our beloved Tim Conway has finally gotten promoted. Thank you for years of entertainment in every way possible.
And, of course, “Snorkie!”:
Posted in Because I Can, Humor, News
A commercial truck carrying chemicals used as fertilizer exploded Wednesday on a highway in Arkansas, killing its driver. And while authorities are still investigating the situation, people are already calling the man a hero. At the time of his death, 63-year-old Randall McDougal was trying to extinguish the flame after refusing to abandon the vehicle and taking it away from populated areas.
Please read the rest of the story over on Bored Panda!
Posted in Because I Can, News
Jan-Michael Vincent was an American screen actor. He is best known for having played an attack helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke on the television series Airwolf (1984–86).
Posted in Because I Can, News, The Little Screen (Television)
