Posts Tagged ‘People’

« Older Entries

Lesbians I have known …

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

Over the years I’ve known my fair share of lesbians.

Call it a function of that wide circle on which I once made the rounds through frequently. Nowadays my card is comparatively empty and exceedingly more straight laced … if you will.

I used to go to a little dyke bar called ‘The Fortress’ on Two Notch Road and play pool with a cigar smoking tee shirt and blue jeans wearing blonde butch bruiser named ‘Cooter’. She won every game, too.

I think it was because she intimidated me, being quite a bit more physically formidable in appearance than I. She was friendly and funny and I enjoyed her company immensely … plus I was one of only two dudes in the joint. Eldon and I laughed and carried on into the wee hours of the morning on each visit.

Then there was my good friend Shirley who was simply one of the nicest people you’ll ever know in your life. She was artistically talented, manufacturing her own inspection sticker (back when autos here had to have one) that was a ‘dead ringer’ at a distance. She was personable and regular to a tee.

There was the other end of the spectrum as well. The game playing Margaret who had two daughters and lived on Bagnal in a fantasy world where nothing was entirely as it seemed.

The performers are my favorites however. Today, the charming, beautiful, and quite gay Lily Tomlin is having a birthday. She has dominated that sphere of my existence known as entertainment from time to time because not only is she hilarious … but a master thespian who portrays dramatic roles with presence and projection … as though they aren’t going to make any more.

Lily Tomlin
September 1, 1939

aka Mary Jean Tomlin
aka Ernestine
aka Edith Ann
aka Tasteful Lady
aka Susie the Sorority Girl
aka Tommy Velour and Rick
aka Pervis Hawkins
aka Dr. Selma Dritz

American actress, comedian, writer and producer. To each of these roles she brings exceptional talent and has won multiple awards from many genres, including Tonys, Emmy, a Grammy — not to mention nomination for an Oscar.

She is one of my favorite actresses, comediennes, and of course lesbians I have known.

Happy Birthday to You !

Tags: , ,
Posted in Birthdays, People, Television | No Comments »

The Legacy of Katrina

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

Hurricane Katrina devastated much of the U.S. Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.

The storm killed in excess of 1,836 citizens and caused over 80 billion dollars in damage.

Disaster preparedness was inadequate.

Both local and federal response were incompetent.

Too many suffered.

Too many more died.

  • no power
  • no water
  • no food
  • no medical supplies
  • no sanitation
  • no public order
  • no law enforcement
  • crime
  • gang violence
  • immense suffering & death

The consequences of this sorry episode in the history of the United States continue. We could have and should have done better for those who followed the instructions of their local government and went to those appointed places to find nothing. What were we thinking? Whom did we entrust with the welfare of our citizens in this hour of profound desperation?

On this day please remember those innumerable stranded evacuees who suffered and watched their loved ones die on sidewalks and in wheelchairs at both the Superdome and Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and elsewhere.

They deserved better than the relief they received from the devastation of this killer storm.

Tags: ,
Posted in People, Places | No Comments »

Remembering Nancy Kulp

Saturday, August 28th, 2010

One of those television pillars of my childhood was The Beverly Hillbillies. I was enthralled with the antics of Jed, Granny, Jethro, Ellie Mae, Pearl Bodine, Mr. and Mrs. Drysdale, and of course, Miss Jane Hathaway — probably the single most significant supporting actress in the series.

“Miss Jane” was a Vassar graduate who appeared in 246 episodes. She was the loyal assistant to Mr. Drysdale and assumed all sorts of duties above and beyond those a normal secretarial type administrative assistant might encounter.

Frequently performing tirelessly without so much as a ‘thank you’ from the boss she tolerates with a good will well beyond that which he ever deserves, she is the consummate professional and handles anything and everything with tact and poise as well as the utmost in articulate presentation … for a sitcom.

Nancy Jane Kulp
August 28, 1921 – February 3, 1991

American Character Actress best known for her portrayal of Miss Jane Hathaway on the Beverly Hillbillies.

She was the only child of Robert and Marjorie Kulp born in Harrisburg, PA and a journalist by training.

She was a decorated Naval veteran attaining the rank of Lieutennant (Junior Grade) and left the service in 1946.

Toward the end of her life she intimated in a rather circuitous fashion that she was gay in a 1989 interview by Boze Hadley.

Gee … I might never had guessed !

Her sexuality certainly never having been an issue, the characters she portrayed endeared her to me early on and that fierce loyalty you only cultivate for beloved childhood people, places, and things has never left me to this day.

She was diagnosed with cancer in 1990 and suffered weakness as the result of chemotherapy. Her disease went metastatic and she died in Palm Desert, California. She is buried in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Birthdays, Nostalgia, People, Television | No Comments »

Apology Not Accepted !

Friday, August 27th, 2010

More Political Whining about Alan Simpson

Two democrats and various women’s advocate whiner groups are calling on the President to dismiss former Senator Alan Simpson from the federal debt commission board he co chairs … claiming sexually charged language in an email where he compared Social Security to a “milk cow with 310 million tits” proves he is some sexist.

I told you the word was ‘teat’.

These individuals are the ones making the allegations appear sexually charged when in fact it was more of a barnyard comparison … Representative Raul Grijalva who is a democrat (of course) from Arizona — quick somebody check his papers — and four womens groups taking the notion upon themselves in a conference call today.

“This issue is not only about his sexist comments towards me.”

Ashley Carson
Executive Director,
National Older Womens League

That’s right it’s all about you. You’re the one comparing yourself to a cow.

Mr. Simpson was comparing Social Security to one. This is a prime example of the manipulative political interaction special interest groups put into the mix. Say one thing … it’s turned into something that suits that personal political undercurrent.

While his statement certainly didn’t say much for cows I don’t see where it exhibited a negative attitude towards women nor seniors.

Mr. Simpson himself is 78 or so …

Everybody has to place some formerly nonexistent spin on comments made by someone else to suit their underlying agenda.

If it’s not some democrat it’s some special interest group like the old biddies at OWL … who obviously can’t discern a sexist remark from a barnyard metaphor.

Oh, I’m offended. Doesn’t Alan Simpson know he can’t state his opinion if it offends me?

All I can say is “Moo” and shut up.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Good Grief, People, Politics | No Comments »

Christine Chubbuck Could Have Been 66 Today

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Sarasota Broadcast Newscaster Christine Chubbuck August 24, 1944 – July 15, 1974 took her own life in 1971 on a live television news segment; apparently the culmination of depressive aspects she construed were encroaching on her existence without semblance of optimism or hope.

She had related a lengthy struggle with depression which included suicidal ideation in the presence of various family members who failed to recognize the significance of those thoughts in the absence of a specified intent …

Relationships were said to be a driving element in this depression within the context of a love interest in her coworker whom she found to be previously involved with another.

Just before pulling out the pistol then firing it into her own head, she reported several news stories including a local restaurant shooting. The station tried to show footage from the restaurant story, but experienced technical difficulties and then …

“In keeping with Channel 40′s policy of bringing you the latest in blood and guts, and in living color, you are going to see another first—attempted suicide.”

Christine Chubbuck
Final Statement, Live Television

whereby she shot herself behind the ear with a .38 caliber revolver.

The station ran Gentle Ben reruns in place of her program for a while afterward.

The “collective current” of French Sociologist Emile Durkheim gave indications that the social pressures of living in society will suppress the will of an individual to commit suicide in the presence of “larger social forces” which may overcome those psychological variables such as depression that may predispose one toward that inclination.

The moral of the tragedy of Christine Chubbuck is the actions by her significant others were inadequate to help her. Even worse, the imbalance imparted by social integration and moral regulation reek havoc on a person already the picture of human misery. Unfortunately all too many tragedies of human existence culminating in the will to end it all occur in a time and place where there is supposedly both someone for everybody and a solution for all problems.

Christine Chubbuck did not feel that she fit into that scheme to which her life had evolved. It wasn’t that she didn’t reach out for help. The help was merely inadequate, misinterpreted, or otherwise preoccupied with other matters of reality to enable adequate intervention. Too many of us end up this way. Sometimes despite our best efforts and intentions we simply cannot provide what is needed or endure the continuing consequences of who and what we have become.

Rest in peace Christine Chubbuck. I was once in that awful place where you stood — but things turned out quite differently.

Tags: ,
Posted in Good Grief, People | No Comments »

First Siting of the Loch Ness Monster

Sunday, August 22nd, 2010

In Ireland there were twelve monks known for introducing Christianity into the region when it was largely a collection of pagans rites and rituals.

Known as the Twelve Apostles of Ireland, these included Saint Columba who is known for miracles, prophecies, and the establishment of monasteries in the region.

His life is chronicled in a work known as The vita of Columba and contains a story that has been interpreted as the first recorded reference to an encounter with the Loch Ness Monster which happened this date in 565 AD.

According to Adomnán, Columba came across a group of Picts who were burying a “wretched fellow” who had been killed by the monster in the River Ness — which flows into the loch.

He also saved a swimmer with the sign of the Cross and the command “You will go no further,” at which the monster fled in terror. This amazed those Picts present who glorified Columba’s God.

Saint Columba
December 7, 521 AD – June 9 597

aka Colum Cille (Irish for “Dove of the Church”)
aka Calum Cille (Scottish Gaelic)
aka Kolban (Old Norse for “Black Bear”)

Gaelic Irish missionary monk who propagated Christianity among the Picts during the Early Medieval Period. He was one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.

His parents were Fedhlimidh and Eithne of the Ui Neill clan in Gartan (aka Donegal).

Columba was an outstanding figure among the Gaelic missionary monks and is said to have introduced Christianity to the Kingdom of the Picts during the early medieval period.

Tags: , ,
Posted in People, Places, Religion | No Comments »

Ninoy Aquino Day

Saturday, August 21st, 2010

Sunday morning, August 21, 1983. I was catching the morning news programs on the television when the discussion turned to the Phillipines and Benigno Aquino who was arriving home by plane after a period of exile.

I saw live footage of him rising, exiting the plane …

Then he was struck down by assassins who lay in wait on the tarmac with rifles. They killed another man there — claiming he had fired the shots and murdered Mr. Aquino. This accusation was later disproved after investigation. Thus began the end of the abusive regime of Ferdinand Marcos, who looted the country and was then allowed to move to Hawaii with all the booty and misgotten gains he could tote.

My thoughts at the time were ones of shock and disbelief. Someone who I had just witnessed speaking to the press lay dead of gunshot wounds scant minutes later. This was the height of impunity. This was that ability to be above the law.

This was a travesty which should have been preventable. The consequences of dying for one’s country were obviously worth the risk to Mr. Aquino. There comes a time when the abuses of government reach a critical mass beyond which no more can be tolerated. One of the results of his sacrifice was the declaration of

Ninoy Aquino Day

National non-working holiday in the Philippines. Observed on this date and commemorates the anniversary of the 1983 assassination of former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr., husband of Corazon Aquino, who was later to become Philippine President replacing the 20-year Marcos regime.

Regarded as a hero of democracy in the Phillipines, his assassination led to the downfall of Ferdinand Marcos on February 25, 1986, through the People Power Revolution.

In 2004, the commemoration ceremony for the holiday was held and events were attended by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Fidel V. Ramos.

Benigno Simeon “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr.
November 27, 1932 – August 21, 1983

Philippine Senator, Governor of Tarlac, and an opposition leader against President Ferdinand Marcos.

He was assassinated at the Manila International Airport — which was later renamed in his honor — upon returning home from exile in the United States.

Tags: , ,
Posted in People, Places, Politics | No Comments »

« Older Entries