Off Topic

Ricardo Montalban passed away at 88 years of age. Here is the info on msnbc. I'm sure that somewhere he's sitting on a sofa made from rich, Corinthian leather.

So sad ... The brother truly brought it to Woodstock. RIP, Richie. http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=rynxqdNMry4&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DrynxqdNMry4

Cubs legend Ron Santo dead at 70 - Daily Pitch: MLB News, Standings, Schedules & More - USATODAY.com If there's any other Cubs fans around, they'll probably care to know about this. Unfortunately I never knew Santo as a player, only as a commentator, but I grew up listening to him on WGN Radio and am very saddened by this.

Passed away Saturday from prostate cancer... http://legacy.roadru...wsitemID=170627 Official site

Sally Ride, first US woman in space, dead at 61. An inspiration to both boys and girls, and something I did not know until today, she was an out lesbian. Condolences to her family and partner. And as stated on other sites, astronauts are badass. Female astronauts even more so. Godspeed Sally.

I'm not sure if the humor translates, but there is a thread with this title on the Big Lebowski forum, which always makes me chuckle. I guess because I have a sick sense of humor but still view life as a precious gift even though I realize that our existence is fleeting. It's not meant to be disrespectful to the newly dead; quite the contrary. The idea is to pause for a moment to honor the lives of those who have touched our lives in one way or another through some form of notoriety or celebrity status (be it music, the arts, entertainment, sports, politics, science, whatever). This way, there won't be a need for threads like the one I started …

I don't think I'd ever have become a football fan if it wasn't for the beautiful work Steve and his father Ed did over at NFL Films. RIP, Steve. http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-videos/0ap2000000063280/Remembering-Steve-Sabol

Graphic designer Storm Thorgerson, whose album covers included Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, dies. R.I.P. Storm

Posted over at HF earlier today: Todd Green is one of the good guys. Just thought everyone over here should know in case they want to contact Todd and wish him well in this very difficult time.

I don't know if any of you know of Tuli or the Fugs, but I knew and loved the man, and what's strange is that I'd been thinking about him a lot the last month for no reason that I could figure. I found out today that he passed. RIP Tuli. Fugs Co-Founder Kupferberg Passes - by Marc Tracy > Tablet Magazine - A New Read on Jewish Life

Wild Man Fischer dead at 66. I hope he and Frank can make up on the other side. RIP Wild Man

http://xfinity.comcast.net/blogs/tv/2013/02/15/underdog-cartoon-co-creator-dies-at-85/ I always liked Underdog, his superpowers were enhanced by taking a pill hidden in his ring..... Something so wrong but funny in that!

Really sad news today. http://www.whereseric.com/eric-clapton-news/303-jj-cale-dead-heart-attack I've always been a huge fan, and I can't exactly explain why. I have all of his albums and have seen him several times live. He was everything he was and nothing more. He didn't have to play the usual games of the music industry because he was never in any rush to get anywhere. He was an authentic musician. No pretense whatsoever. Didn't seem to have anything to prove. First time I saw him was in a small venue at an old theatre in Kansas CIty in the winter of '96 when I lived in town. Couldn't believe it. Just opened the paper one day, and said, "Shit! I c…

Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, dead at 82.

Sad - http://www.dodbuzz.com/2013/09/18/air-force-mourns-likely-passing-of-a-10-warthog

Does anyone here have a fancy robot that goes around doing the boring dirty work, cleaning all the vacuum at home? I was thinking perhaps the Roomba could work... but I'm not sure if it's the Stax of vacuum cleaners, or if it's more like the Bose of floor sweeping robots. Do you have a robot floor sweeper at home? Is it good?

Just though this might help us to get to know each other better.

So Karen is running the Chicago Marathon for St. Judes on October 12, 2014. This is the sixth straight year she has run it and she is now older than I was when we met. As parents of a child who had some issues at a young age (but thankfully not anything that required a visit to St. Judes) this is a charity that is very close to our hearts. I am a little late in posting this year but if you can donate, that would be great, but well wishes are also very welcome. You can donate at the following link: http://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR/Heroes/Heroes?px=2199704&pg=personal&fr_id=19570 Thanks for the support.

This year my wife, Karen, will be running the Chicago marathon as a St. Jude hero again. As the flagship of the Children's Hospital Network, St. Jude is a special charity. Unlike last year however, Karen made a deal with her Facebook friends that if they met a certain monetary goal, she would run the race in a Wonder Woman costume (I was actually pushing for a bikini clad Princess Leia, since I am a man of that age). As can be seen below, they did step up. Additional, race-day photos will be forthcoming. If you would like to donate you can do it HERE

Sweet -- I just nonintrusively started linux on my machine (bootable from CD Knoppix 4.0.2). Huzzah.

Tomorrow is the day.

... I just have to say youre, I mean MY Balanced Ref is a fantastic amp... too bad you can't be enjoying it right now

And, here I thought Santa was a December child......... Happy birthday Wmcmanus. May it be a BIG one.... :dance: :dance: :jbl: :jbl: :dan: :popcorn:

Nice!

So, went out for a "thinking" walk this morning and as I look up to the sky... saw not one, but two (out of the 21 total) B-2 bombers flying over Bethesda. Pretty impressive, and cool. It is not everyday one sees $4.2 billion flying being operated by a grand total of 4 people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-2_Spirit