Our Daily Dead

Today we could speak of painters, actors, or pet detectives who have departed the orb; however, we ODDly chose Wesley Hill, age 76, who died of “natural causes,” after spending a lifetime saving or recovering those who were tempting death from “unnatural causes.” “Unnatural causes” we believe is a fitting term for someone who exits life trying to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Hill was a rescuer of all things stupid, and over the course of his career fishing people from the Niagara River, he also pulled 350-400 bodies from the river, for which he received $50-$75 from undertakers. Hill’s own brother was killed in the ‘50’s in front of 200,000 people when he failed to survive an attempt to go over The Falls in a barrel cushioned by inner tubes. (Add this to the list of life-changing consequences of broken latex.)

A couple of ODDfacts to leave you with: 6 million cubic feet of water goes over the lip of The Falls every minute. This equates to 3,300 backyard swimming pools or 500,000 cases of beer. 24 million men would have to get up in the middle of the night to produce an equivalent amount of kidney sweat. (And, they would probably still forget to put up the toilet seat.) Captain Matthew Webb was the first person to successfully swim the English Channel. He survived that, but drowned trying to swim the Niagara River below The Falls. Oh yes, re. today’s ODDtitle, here’s the solution.

~~The ODDones for OurDailyDead.com

Technorati tags: pet detectives, Wesley Hill, Niagara Falls, Captain Matthew Webb

Luis Jimenez, controversial Hispanic sculptor is dead at age 65 years. The Hondo, New Mexico sheriff described his death as due to an “industrial accident.” Well, we find this an ODD way to characterize the consequences of having a 32-foot-high sculpture of a mustang horse fall on and kill someone. We ODDones wonder if the sheriff would describe a drug overdose as an “adverse drug reaction?” Jimenez’s colorful fiberglass sculpture of Southwestern and Mexican themes include “Man on Fire,” which is displayed at the Smithsonian Institution. “Death by sculpture” is close to an ODDexit.

Speaking of exits, we suspect the audiences will be heading early and/or grumbling for the exits after viewing “The Lake House” with that powerhouse acting duo of Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. This may well qualify as a cinemographic experience that makes you wish you were dead. Seriously, it will make you appreciate the depth and passion of the music of Toby Keith.

And, we ODDfellows leave you with our play on the immortal words of said Toby Keith, We aren’t good as we once were, but were as good once as we ever were.

~~The ODDones for OurDailyDead.com

Technorati tags: Luis Jimenez, Smithsonian Institution, The Lake House, Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves, Toby Keith

Three dead today, all very different, but all dead from heart disease. Heart disease is still the number one killer of men and women. Exercise, keep your weight down, don’t smoke, and choose your parents wisely.

Robert Donner, dead at 75 was a gifted improv comedian and character actor. Some of you ODDfans may remember him as the Prophet Exidor of the Friends of Venus in “Mork and Mindy.” (We ODDones favor the prophet Exlax of the Friends of Uranus.) Donnor also played Yancy Tucker on “The Waltons.” (“Good night Bob-Boy”)

Kenneth Thompson, formally age 82 years, was the richest man in Canada ($19.6 billion with a “b”). He made his money in newspapers. Described as an “astute businessman,” this raises the question as to whether in the death you’d rather be remembered as “astute” or “a very funny person.”

Finally, the last known survivor of a Southern lynching, James Cameron, has died at age 92. From his jail cell, he watched two of his friends lynched after being accused of killing a man and raping his girl friend. Cameron was dragged from the cell, and the rope was placed around his neck; however, through what he described as “divine intervention” the rope was removed, and he was spared. Cameron went on to found several chapters of the NAACP and Milwaukee’s “Black Holocaust Museum.”

Eat your oatmeal.

~~The ODDones for OurDailyDead.com

Technorati tags: Robert Donner, Mork and Mindy, The Waltons, Kenneth Thompson, lynching, James Cameron, Black Holocaust Museum