Our Daily Dead

Environmental News
Our mindful Left Coast reporter Bill recently filed this story regarding the passing of one Tim Mckay: Tim was an activist and long time executive director of the Northcoast Environmental Center (NEC) in Arcata. He passed Sunday of an apparent heart attack whilst birding at Stone Lagoon. He was 59. As a rare bird himself, one hopes that perhaps his heart gave out after seeing the rarest bird on his life list. He was the main man at the NEC for most of it’s thirty five year existence. Making sure that environmental wrongs were exposed and then corrected,he was needed not only by us enviros but also by the Charles Hurwitzs’ and Harry Merlos’ of the world, as every evil doer needs their Batman.

Editor’s note: Tim McKay’s reported last sighting was of a Cooper’s Hawk. You may of course interpret this as per your current theology/philosophy/&etc deems reasonable.

Emulating Big-Ben? News
Bryant Leon Sutphin sadly exited primarily due to his road-tripping sans helmet.

Family Values meets Common Sense News
Andy Richardson was beaten to death in the mosh pit at a recent Korn concert. Apparently Mr. Richardson took his heavily pregnant wife and mentally challenged offspring into the mosh pit and asked others in said pit to kindly refrain from jostling his companions. Missing the entire emphasis of the current Korn tour another mosh piter punched Mr. Richardson in the head whereupon he fell heavily to the concrete floor.

Alcohol As Truth Serum News
Is anyone truely surprised by Mel Gibson’s rant? Seriously? Consider the bizarre religious beliefs Mr. Gibson (son AND especially father) hold near and dear and Ta! Da! Mel’s anti-Semitism rant seems to have an obvious launch pad: in Mel’s tiny world the Jews are responsible for what he believes is the most heinous crime in all of history - the death of Jesus. Perhaps a ticket price refund is in order. We do know that Mel skipped the On Deck circle and rushed his career directly to the front of the Our Daily Dead queue. We didn’t realize that Mel and Tom were related, did you?

~~The ODDones for OurDailyDead.com

Technorati tags: Tim Mckay, Northcoast Environmental Center, Arcata, Stone Lagoon, Charles Hurwitz, Harry Merlo, mosh pit, Korn, Mel Gibson, anti-Semitism

The theme song of today’s ODDly Departed, Red (Aaron Chwatt) Buttons, could not be more appropriate for current circumstances. Israel and Hezbullah are lighting things up big time (although Israel, if it decides to do so, can definitely really light things up mega big time); the world’s largest collector of Daffy Duck comic books, who can enrich uranium, but can’t feed his people, barely makes 5’6’’ in 4” heels and a pompadour that might harbor small birds, and claims to shoot 35 under par golf (has he been playing with former President Clinton?), is burning a hole in the duodenum of George Bush; it’s business as usual in India—home of the original murder-suicide bomber; and, now you have the Dems saying they are going to take back at least one house of Congress by running on a platform of fiscal responsibility. Strange things are happening indeed. We ODDones are going back to bed and pull the covers over our head. You can read about Red Buttons here. He was a pretty cool guy who made (some of) our parents laugh. He finally got dinner.

~~The ODDones for OurDailyDead.com

Technorati tags: Red (Aaron Chwatt) Buttons, Israel, Hezbullah, Daffy Duck

We’ve spent a few days ODDly scrounging around for notable deaths.

Ted Berkman, died at age 92 from cancer. Claim-to-fame? Well, he wrote “Bedtime for Bonzo,” that famous film associated with notably dead President Ronald Reagan. Closest we ODDfellows came to a scene with a lower primate was in a bar, in Tijuana, in 1987…—oh never mind.

Then there’s Paul Gleason, dead at 67 (so far, so near) from cancer (mesothelioma). Anyone out there in ODDland remember “The Breakfast Club?” Well, Gleason played the grouchy principal. Okay, any one remember “Die Hard?” Of course you do, but do you remember Gleason playing the deputy chief-of-police? ODDthought-of-the-day: chief-of-police = “cop.” Hummmm.

Which brings us to Donald Rudolph, who has died of Alzheimer’s in his 86th year. Rudolph won a Congressional Medal of Honor in WW II. Here’s how the New York Times described what he did: He hurled a grenade through an opening in the first pillbox, tore away the wood and tin covering with his bare hands, then dropped another grenade inside. He then grabbed a pickax and used it to pierce a second pillbox, which he took out with rifle fire and a grenade. He destroyed six more pillboxes, and when his platoon was attacked by a Japanese tank, he climbed to its top and dropped a white phosphorus grenade through the turret, killing the crew.

So when’s the last time you charged a machine gun?

~~The ODDones for OurDailyDead.com

Technorati tags: Ted Berkman, Ronald Reagan, “The Breakfast Club?”, “Die Hard?”, Donald Rudolph, New York Times