Who's Next To Croak?

[ono]

Re: Ryan Dunn - http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/21/us-rogerebert-idUSTRE75K71H20110621

I don't know what I'm more disturbed by.  That, or what's happened to Ebert.  Wiki paints a quite bleak picture of his prognosis, too.  

[ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ]

I certainly hope I'm missing something in this story.  Ryan Dunn, a member of a group of people who hurt themselves for fun and profit gets drunk at a bar, drives his Porsche 130 miles per hour in a 55 mile an hour zone.  Should we mourn his death simultaneously being grateful that no one else besides them in the car were hurt?

[Reel]

Should we mourn his death simultaneously being grateful that no one else besides them in the car were hurt?

YES!

[Jeremy Blackman]

This is good:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/browbeat/archive/2011/06/22/defending-roger-ebert.aspx

[cronopio 2]

allow me to summarize that article, and this entire situation:

"don't drink and drive."

[Pozer]

how ridiculous is his friend Bam sobbing out like that to news peoples? what a media whore. and did he ring them up to meet him there? it's not like the media just hangs around the scene long after the incident.

whatever. so who's next to croak?

[Stefen]

how ridiculous is his friend Bam sobbing out like that to news peoples? what a media whore. and did he ring them up to meet him there? it's not like the media just hangs around the scene long after the incident.

haha yeah Bam is pretty much the worst.

I remember a long time ago while he was first becoming popular, a sex tape that he made with some girl got out and when they asked him about it he said he made it because he wanted to prove to people that he wasn't gay! haha, this blew my mind. So some people are calling you gay so the way you combat this is by releasing a video on the internet of you having sex with a girl? Yeah, I guess it puts the question to rest, but is it really worth it?

[pete]

I think people were mad at ebert (for the record I am not, and I really like what Slate said about America's entitlement to Weiner's tweets) not because he was wrong; but because they knew he was right. I think it's painfully obvious in this case and every case that lives lost to drunk driving were wasted and regrettable, with emphasis on the "painful".

I had a cop friend in Florida who wrote a letter to the son of a cop-killer (who was either killed or arrested for his crime), telling the kid how awful his father was for shooting an innocent cop. It was sensitively written, for his dark, anguished intent anyways; but it was still a bitter letter that was probably inappropriate and distasteful.

Ebert did, in my opinion, something similarly distasteful, but much more slight. He published something with no consideration for the loved ones of the dead, though he was well within his rights to do so. I just can't imagine anyone actually needing to be reminded that drunk driving is wrong when virtually everyone would arrive at the same conclusion, gleaning from the facts; Ebert taught no lesson.

[Sleepless]

Writing personal injury blogs is part of my day job, so I play this balancing at every day.

[ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ]

Have any of your entries made Bam Margera cry?

[Stefen]

If there's a camera nearby, probably.

[matt35mm]

 

Peter Falk, TV's rumpled Columbo, has died

LOS ANGELES – Peter Falk, the stage and movie actor who became identified as the squinty, rumpled detective in "Columbo," which spanned 30 years in primetime television and established one of the most iconic characters in police work, has died. He was 83.

Falk died Thursday in his Beverly Hills home, according to a statement released Friday by family friend Larry Larson.

In a court document filed in December 2008, Falk's daughter Catherine Falk said he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

"Columbo" began its history in 1971 as part of the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie series, appearing every third week. The show became by far the most popular of the three mysteries, the others being "McCloud" and "McMillan and Wife."

Falk was reportedly paid $250,000 a movie and could have made much more if he had accepted an offer to convert "Columbo" into a weekly series. He declined, reasoning that carrying a weekly detective series would be too great a burden.

Columbo — he never had a first name — presented a contrast to other TV detectives. "He looks like a flood victim," Falk once said. "You feel sorry for him. He appears to be seeing nothing, but he's seeing everything. Underneath his dishevelment, a good mind is at work."

NBC canceled the three series in 1977. In 1989 ABC offered "Columbo" in a two-hour format usually appearing once or twice a season. The movies continued into the 21st century. "Columbo" appeared in 26 foreign countries and was a particular favorite in France and Iran.

Columbo's trademark was an ancient raincoat Falk had once bought for himself. After 25 years on television, the coat became so tattered it had to be replaced.

Peter Michael Falk was born Sept. 16, 1927, in New York City and grew up in Ossining, N.Y., where his parents ran a clothing store. At 3 he had one eye removed because of cancer. "When something like that happens early," he said in a 1963 Associated Press interview, "you learn to live with it. It became the joke of the neighborhood. If the umpire ruled me out on a bad call, I'd take the fake eye out and hand it to him."

When Falk was starting as an actor in New York, an agent told him, "Of course, you won't be able to work in movies or TV because of your eye." Falk would later win two Oscar nominations ("Murder, Inc.," 1960; "Pocketful of Miracles," 1961) and collect five Emmys.

After serving as a cook in the merchant marine and receiving a master's degree in public administration from Syracuse University, he worked as an efficiency expert for the budget bureau of the state of Connecticut. He also acted in amateur theater and was encouraged to become a professional by actress-teacher Eva La Gallienne.

An appearance in "The Iceman Cometh" off-Broadway led to other classical parts, notably as Joseph Stalin in "The Passion of Joseph D." In 1971 Falk scored a hit in Neil Simon's "The Prisoner of Second Avenue."

Falk made his film debut in 1958 with "Wind Across the Everglades" and established himself as a talented character actor with his performance as the vicious killer Abe Reles in "Murder, Inc." Among his other movies: "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," "Robin and the Seven Hoods," "The Great Race," "Luv," "Castle Keep," "The Cheap Detective," "The Brinks Job," "The In-Laws," "The Princess Bride."

Falk also appeared in a number of art house favorites, including the semi-improvisational films "Husbands" and "A Woman Under the Influence," directed by his friend John Cassavetes, and Wim Wenders' "Wings of Desire," in which he played himself. Falk became prominent in television movies, beginning with his first Emmy for "The Price of Tomatoes" in 1961. His four other Emmys were for "Columbo."

He was married to pianist Alyce Mayo in 1960; they had two daughters, Jackie and Catherine, and divorced in 1976. The following year he married actress Shera Danese. They filed for divorce twice and reconciled each time.

When not working, Falk spent time in the garage of his Beverly Hills home. He had converted it into a studio where he created charcoal drawings. He took up art in New York when he was in the Simon play and one day happened into the Art Students League.

He recalled: "I opened a door and there she was, a nude model, shoulders back, a light from above, buck-ass naked. The female body is awesome. Believe me, I signed up right away."

Falk is survived by his wife Shera and his two daughters.

[squints]

This is sad.

I just watched A Woman Under the Influence like three days ago for the fifth time. Such a great movie.

Think I should watch Wings of Desire now.

[polkablues]

Damn it, I had Peter O'Toole in my death pool. Oh well. Let it ride!

As far as Peter Falk goes, he will be missed. After Princess Bride, he's the only guy who could drink out of a World's Greatest Grandpa mug and nobody could challenge his right to the title.

[Pozer]

; (