Our Daily Dead

By way of the AP Wire and CentreDaily.com comes that E. Howard Hunt, the man who helped organize the Watergate break-in, leading to the greatest scandal in American political history and the downfall of Richard Nixon’s presidency, died Tuesday. He was 88.

Hunt died after a lengthy bout with pneumonia, according to his son, Austin Hunt.

The elder Hunt was many things: World War II soldier, CIA officer, organizer of both a Guatemalan coup and the botched Bay of Pigs invasion, and author of more than 80 books, many from the spy-tale genre.

Yet the bulk of his notoriety came from the one thing he always insisted he wasn’t - a Watergate burglar. He often said he preferred the term “Watergate conspirator.”

“I will always be called a Watergate burglar, even though I was never in the damn place,” Hunt told The Miami Herald in 1997. “But it happened. Now I have to make the best of it.”

While working for the CIA, Hunt recruited four of the five actual burglars - Bernard Barker, Virgilio Gonzalez, Rolando Eugenio Martinez and Frank Sturgis, all who had worked for Hunt a decade earlier in the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

“According to street gossip both in Washington and Miami, Mr. Castro had been making substantial contributions to the McGovern campaign,” Hunt told CNN in February 1992. “And the idea was … that somewhere in the books of the Democratic National Committee those illicit funds would be found.”

The idea was wrong, and the fallout escalated into huge political scandal.

And in case you missed it, the E stands for Everette.

~~The ODDones for OurDailyDead.com

Technorati tags: E. Howard Hunt, Watergate, break-in, scandal, Richard Nixon, died, burglar, Bay of Pigs

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

We certainly believe that Down-Under-Man Russell Crowe, Oscar winner for staring role in “Gladiator” asked to be placed On Deck.

Crowe claimed that Osama bin Laden’s al-Quaida terror network targeted him for kidnap as part of a “cultural destabilization plot.” Stable is certainly a key term here. Dread Russell is not exactly “Master and Commander” of his own brain now, eh what?

Move over Salman Rushdie.

~~The ODDones for OurDailyDead.com

Technorati tags: Russell Crowe, Oscar, Gladiator, Osama bin Laden, al-Quaida, terror, cultural destabilization, Master and Commander, Salman Rushdie