Our Daily Dead

There are things to do in Denver when you aren’t dead. Check into the new Tribal Paths: Colorado’s American Indians, 1500 to Today exhibit for example.

Or if you find yourself in Philly, then head into the Philadelphia Museum of Art to see Thomas Eakins’ The Gross Clinic exhibit. The museum PR says “The Gross Clinic, acclaimed as the greatest American painting of the nineteenth century, has been an icon of Philadelphia since it was painted in 1875.”

Omaha? You’re in Omaha? Well, try the Omaha Old Market then. Pick us up some steaks too while your there will you?

What about spending time in Fargo? Try visiting the Trollwood Park at Broadway/37th Ave. N. Our birthday(s) are due soon so get us a bangle or two will you?

There you stood
on the edge of your feather,
Expecting to fly.
While I laughed,
I wondered whether
I could wave goodbye,
Knowin’ that you’d gone.

~~The ODDones for OurDailyDead.com

Technorati tags: Denver, Tribal Paths, Colorado, Thomas Eakins, Gross Clinic, Philadelphia, Omaha, steaks, Fargo, Trollwood Park, Expecting to fly

From the NY Times….Ron Carey, comic actor, dies at 71. He died of a stroke at a hospital near his home, a nephew, Michael Ciccolini, said.

“Ron Carey was the pint-sized, round-faced comic best known as the unjustifiably cocky Police Officer Carl Levitt on the long-running television situation comedy ‘Barney Miller’.”

“At 5-foot-4 and with traces of an inner-city New Joisey accent, Mr. Carey played a plainclothes cop constantly seeking a promotion by currying favor with his superiors. “

“‘Barney Miller,’ which ran from 1976 to 1982, starred Hal Linden as the captain of a New York City police precinct whose officers dealt with the zany characters who came, not always by choice, into the station house. Mr. Carey, as Officer Levitt, would inject unsolicited opinions on how to handle whoever was in the holding cell. Besides playing roles in other less successful sitcoms, Mr. Carey appeared in 15 movies, including ‘High Anxiety’ in 1977 and ‘History of the World: Part I’ in 1981, both with Mel Brooks.”

Ah yes, Barney Miller. Take us back a year or two to perhaps 1977-8 or so and the happy little burg of McKinleyville, CA. One of us ODDfellows shared a house in that fine burg with a couple other mates. Seems the house was backed up to the freeway thus we had the logging trucks for melodious background noise. The house was also a touch damp and drafty and most winter nights it seemed that the Humboldt fog would creep right inside with the three of us. And there we’d be each hunkered down under our respective sleeping bags watching Barney Miller. The other two worked on crab boats out of Trinidad harbor so many nights we dined on fresh Dungeness crab - “Oh damn, crab again” - and sipped martinis. And here we thought there was something more and better to life.

~~The ODDones for OurDailyDead.com

Technorati tags: Ron Carey, dies, died, Carl Levitt, Barney Miller, Hal Linden, Mel Brooks

You’ve got to like the title over at the DailyRecord.com anyway: Obi: No More Kenobi. Seems not-so-young-anymore Star Wars hunk Ewan McGregor says he’s too old to strip off on screen.

“And until now, the 35-year-old has managed to fool the camera.”

“He told Radio 1 listeners: ‘I’ve found ways to cheat the ageing process. I shave my chest because having it hairy makes me look older.’” Run out and get your copy of Trainspotting for the ultimate in kenobi-less Ewan.

And perhaps when he decides enough is enough he’ll change his name Eeeew-an McGregor to alert us all.

And then again perhaps you’ll run into ol’ non-hairy chested and kenobi-less Ewan while your whiling away the hours on vacation at The Terra Cotta Inn. As an ODD public service announcement please consider the following when you are planning your next vacation:

This Year Make a “Nude Year’s” Resolution to Vacation at the Terra Cotta Inn Clothing Optional Resort in Sunny Palm Springs, CA.

The press release further informs us that “The best modern nudist resorts are actually clothing optional places, so that first timers feel comfortable easing into nude sunbathing at their own pace.” And there is more as they offer a “Complementary California breakfast and afternoon snack spread.” Remember…ease into it and try to feel comfortable. Don’t go expecting a comfortable feel, however, even with your complimentary afternoon spread.

Ok and finally, just to wrap things up, we do believe that while you are getting the all over tan with Mr. McGregor you might do a bit of reading. We suggest you try Spy: The Funny Years. Oh and a bit of a warning: have care and wear your Ultimate Panic Sunglasses if you go perusing the clothing optional vacation spot web sites. Seems to us, not that we looked of course, that everyone shown looks like your Mom’s Auntie Grace and Uncle Elbert.

And one ODDcorrection. Away back Sherman we mentioned something about “bulldart” fence posts. Fact is these little beauties are actually called a bois d’arc fence posts after the Bois d’Arc trees of Texas. You need to know these things and that is why we bring them out of hiding. Especially if you are writing songs about Oklahoma family reunions (including some thoughts on sister twistin’), Choctaw Bingo or setting about to build an Osage Bow

~~The ODDones for OurDailyDead.com

Technorati tags: Star Wars, Ewan McGregor, strip, Trainspotting, Nude, Vacation, Terra Cotta Inn, Clothing Optional, Palm Springs, nudist, spread, Spy, bois d’arc, Texas, sister twistin, Choctaw Bingo, Osage

From the one and only Kung Fu Cinema.comwe read: Hapkido Grandmaster Bong Soo Han, a pioneer in bringing real martial arts technique to American movies died on Monday at the age of 73 in his home in Santa Monica.

“The Korean-born instructor was greatly respected in the martial arts community and often called the father of Hapkido in the Western world for his many years of promoting and teaching the martial art in America. As a senior first-generation student to Hapkido founder Yong Sul Choi, Han is credited with first bringing the art to America in 1967.”

“His contribution to the development of martial arts action in American filmmaking is at least as noteworthy. In 1969, actor Tom Laughlin recruited Han after witnessing one of his demonstrations to assist in giving the star some credible martial arts moves in the film “Billy Jack”. Han not only choreographed the fight scenes, but also doubled Laughlin onscreen. Thanks in large part to never-before-seen screen fighting moves, this independent cult classic became the first widely popular American-made movie to prominently feature authentic martial arts screen fighting. In the process, Han helped to set a standard for screen fighting in Hollywood that was far ahead of its time.”

Kung Fu Cinema winds up their article with this public service notice: “Martialartsinfo.com has created an online tribute to Bong Soo Han that includes an hour-long video interview and comments from martial arts celebrities including Richard Norton, Simon Rhee, Phillip Rhee, and Cynthia Rothrock.”

~~The ODDones for OurDailyDead.com

Technorati tags: Kung Fu, Cinema, Hapkido, Grandmaster, Bong Soo Han, martial arts, died, Yong Sul Choi, Tom Laughlin, Billy Jack, Hollywood, Richard Norton, Simon Rhee, Phillip Rhee, Cynthia Rothrock