Who's Next To Croak?

[mogwai]

BBC news:

Glasgow City Council urged people to stay away from the city's George Square after hundreds gathered to mark the death of Baroness Thatcher.

In a statement posted on their website, the council said it was concerned the gathering was intended to be a "party".

The event was organised by posts on social media.

It's believed the gathering took inspiration from the song George Square Thatcher Death Party by the Glasgow group Mogwai.

The council said it had become aware of plans for an event circulating on social media, and about 250 people gathered in the square outside the city chambers by early Monday evening.

The statement said: "Regardless of whether or not it's appropriate to have a party to celebrate someone dying, this event was organised without involvement or consent from the council and we have safety concerns for anyone attending.

"We urge people to stay away."

By around 22:00, the crowd was reported to have dispersed without incident.

One member from Mogwai showed up (John Cummings).

[MacGuffin]

Special F/X Pioneer Ray Harryhausen Dies At 92
Stop-motion effects revolutionized Hollywood creature features
Source: Variety

Special f/x legend and stop-motion animation pioneer Ray Harryhausen died Tuesday morning in London. He was 92.

Best known in the industry for his creature effects, Harryhausen began his work in the mid '30s with  "Cavebear" and various short films featuring dinosaurs. For the next decade, he worked on short films and various ad campaigns for television and films.

In 1949, Harryhausen got his big break with "Mighty Joe Young," a "King Kong"-esque pic that was able to show off the Harryhausen's stop motion f/x bag of tricks on the bigscreen. Once he breathed life into the skyscraper-sized monkey, he began working nonstop as Hollywood's main creature creator.

Harryhausen's best known creature features have included 1955 "It Came from Beyond the Sea," 1958′s "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad," 1959′s "The 3 Worlds of Gulliver," 1963′s "Jason and the Argonauts," 1966′s "One Million Years BC" and 1981′s "Clash of the Titans."

Harryhausen influenced generations of countless filmmakers and f/x artists, including Peter Jackson, Tim Burton, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, George Lucas, makeup maestro Rick Baker and Pixar guru John Lassater, who paid tribute to him in "Monsters, Inc." with an Easter egg shout-out.

"Without Ray Harryhausen, there would likely have been no 'Star Wars'," said George Lucas this morning.

"His patience, his endurance have inspired so many of us," stated Peter Jackson.

"What we do now digitally with computers, Ray Harryhausen did digitally long be4 but without computers. Only with his digits," said Terry Gilliam via Twitter.

His family announced his death in via the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation on their Facebook page.

"Star Wars" f/x guru Phil Tippett, who later mastered and the stop-motion techniques that Harryhausen used in his pictures, told Variety, "He was the guy that everybody was inspired by to do visual effects work. He was the singular creative person, so he inspired a lot of singular artists. It wasn't like the head of a studio turning out stuff. He was a singular craftsman who shaped all the movies he worked on from cradle to grave. He was there on the set making sure everything was shot the right way and finished it all up. He was a total filmmaker that had his hands in everything."

"Nobody else has done anything like that. Or had such an impact."

Helmer Henry Selick, who also was inspired by Harryhausen's work, said, "He studied under Willis O'Brien and went on to take special effects and fantasy films to a level they'd never been  taken to  in the United States before. There was nothing like it. Ray brought an intensity and magic to life that no one else did.

"Ray brought an intensity and magic to life that no one else did."

Selick remembers being frightened as a child by the battling skeletons in "Jason and the Argonauts" but many years later being charmed to find Harryhausen would carry one of them around with him.

"To Ray it was almost like a son, this fairly small skeleton that he'd carry around so lovingly and take out," remembered Selick. "All the menace that had been on screen was gone when you'd see Ray interact with this puppet. He was a very tender guy, very sweet."

Tippett said: "The epitaph I would like to leave for him is: "We should all be so lucky.' He was 93 years old and had a great run. He got do the stuff he imagined as a child all of his life. What's better than that?"

Harryhausen is survived by his wife, Diana, and daughter Vanessa.

[MacGuffin]

RAY MANZAREK, 'Doors' Founding Member, DEAD AT 74

Ray Manzarek -- who co-founded "The Doors" with Jim Morrison in 1965 and played keyboard -- has died, this according to the band's official Facebook page.

Manzarek was 74.

According to the website, Manzarek passed away today at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany after a lengthy battle with bile duct cancer.

At the time of his death, Ray was surrounded by his wife Dorothy and his brothers Rick and James.

Along with Jim ... Ray and The Doors churned out some of the most iconic rock songs in history -- including, "L.A. Woman," "Break On Through to the Other Side," "The End," "Hello, I Love You," and "Light My Fire."

Doors' guitarist Robby Krieger released a statement saying, "I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and bandmate Ray Manzarek."

He added, "I'm just glad to have been able to have played Doors songs with him for the last decade. Ray was a huge part of my life and I will always miss him."

According to the band's official Facebook page ... Ray's family has asked that in lieu of flowers, fans should make an in memoriam donation in Ray's name to Standup2cancer.org.

[03]

i just realized this thread is incredibly depressing.

[Lottery]

It reminds us of our mortality. Also that we should do more with our lives so we get posted in this thread when we kick the the bucket.

[Reel]

just look at it as a leveling of the playing field.

[HeywoodRFloyd]

Guys, James Gandolfini reportedly died of a heart attack in Italy, how horrible, a tremendous actor

http://www.slashfilm.com/james-gandolfini-has-died/

[polkablues]

I was just about to post about how unexpected that is, but then I saw a recent picture of him. RIP, and eat your veggies.

[Reel]

aw man. I thought we were going to be seeing a lot more of him after he popped up in 'Killing Them Softly' and 'Zero Dark Thirty' last year. I was still looking forward to his best performace, but I guess that will always be Tony Soprano. I still haven't seen that series, it should be fun to catch up with all these years later. Well James, you sure played some disgusting individuals onscreen. Thanks for the laughs, Rest In Peace.

[Fernando]

he wasnt that fat, I mean he doesnt look obese, anyway, really sad news and to me unexpected....

[Jeremy Blackman]

Yeah. This is apparently a picture from this month. Not excessively fat, although he looks really tired or something.

[polkablues]

he wasnt that fat, I mean he doesnt look obese, anyway, really sad news and to me unexpected....

Yeah. This is apparently a picture from this month. Not excessively fat, although he looks really tired or something.

Maybe the picture I saw wasn't current. He was like Chris Christie fat in that one.

[Reel]

he looked fit-fat in that picture

[Cloudy]

^Agreed. He looks the most fit I've ever seen him in that pic. This is sad.

[wilder]

'I Am Legend' and 'Twilight Zone' writer Richard Matheson dies at 87