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 tonight: "RIP L.C. Geenwood" in which 63 people viewed, said "Meh..." and moved on.

 

This is not, however, the place to post if a relative or close friend has passed, for whom you wish to honor separately, or if someone like Michael Jackson or Princess Diana dies suddenly in a shocking way.  More of a "some fuck or another" who added meaning to your life, but may or may not be known to others.

Back when I was on the classic rock forums frequently, someone complained about all their heroes dying recently.  I said, "that's your lot when you're a fan of classic rock", and then made some apology for being morose or blackly comic or I forget how I phrased it.  I got a lot of, "too late, I laughed" comments.  So to synopsize -- I get you.  I think a lot of people there would get you too.  I think a lot of people here would get you too.

I like it.

Can we post their name here before they die?  I have a few candidates in mind.

First serious post:  Rest in Peace, S.N.Goenka, father of meditation

Second serious post, RIP Hiroshi Yamauchi, the man who ran Nintendo during its greatest years.

Second serious post, RIP Hiroshi Yamauchi, the man who ran Nintendo during its greatest years.

This.  I had somehow completely missed the news of his passing.

I'll nominate Luciano Vincenzoni who just died. Known as "the script doctor" he wrote and fixed somewhere around 70 films including Leone's For a Few Dollars More & The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Wilder's Avanti!, Germi's Seduced & Abandoned, and even Schwarzenegger's Raw Deal. Seems like he hated a good chunk of his work, hung with William Holden, Kirk Douglas & Tony Curtis (there's a trio), and was generally badass.

 

Yup, this is perfect.  I'm glad you guys get the spirit of the thread.  Like I say, it's such a fleeting existence and a lot of people do some pretty cool things with their lives that so many of us never know about.  

Edited October 1, 201312 yr by Wmcmanus

OK, George Duke,  RIP. He made such sweet music.

 

http://www.jazzonthetube.com/videos/george-duke/rush-hour.html

Edited October 2, 201312 yr by Augsburger

George Duke gets a thread IMO....didn't he actually get one, now that I think of it?

 

I would mention Andre Cassagnes, the inventor of the Etch A Sketch.....

George Duke gets a thread IMO....didn't he actually get one, now that I think of it?

 

 

 

You must have missed it: 

Another one, Tom Clancy. 

damn

Aw, really?  I didn't think he was old enough to worry about yet...

66.  Way too early.  RIP Mr. Clancy, I loved your books.

66.  Way too early.  RIP Mr. Clancy, I loved your books.

This.

When I'm gone, would somebody please say that I was generally badass, even if you don't think it is true?  I really like the sound of that for an epitaph.  

 

RIP Signor Badass.

 

Not a huge Clancy fan, but I'm surprised he was only 66 let alone that he died that young.  RIP Mr. C.

 

Adding to the list, I want to mention a guy I barely know named Leonard who passed away this week at the age of 50 or 51.  He was the husband of one of Claire's good friends and a nice guy from my few interactions.  He found out he had cancer less than a year ago, went through surgery and chemo and radiation and all that, only to find that the cancer was everywhere and stopping it was hopeless.  He came home for hospice care on Friday and was gone Tuesday morning.  Saddest part is that in his stupor after finding out about cancer last year he let his life insurance lapse and it was lost.  While a two-teacher-income household is hard enough in SF, a one-teacher-income is going to be really tough and whatever they would have gotten from life insurance would have been a huge help.  Fuck.  RIP Leonard.

Man, that's sad to hear Al...I mean, Counselor Badass.  Seriously, sympathies to wife and family....

Yeah, that is sad to hear Al. I suppose the chemo and radiation kinda wiped his quality of life out over time as well. Sucks. Ditto on sympathies to his family.

Condolences Al. Best wishes for Leonard's family.

RIP Leonard and best wishes to the family. Horrible to hear that they have to grieve and deal with how to make ends meet at the same time. 

RIP, Leonard.  Sucks when cancer gets someone so young and unprepared to let go of this precious life.

Leave it to me to start this thread.  Just got word that a high school classmate died yesterday.  Tom McNally was his name.  He was the first to die of 102 from our class, at age 51, so I guess we've all been pretty lucky to this point.  Quiet guy who became an accountant and did the whole wife and kids thing.  He and I and another high school classmate were on the same drinking night bowling team in college, and he never complained about any of my gutter balls.

Edited October 4, 201312 yr by Wmcmanus

Condolences Wayne. I lost a classmate during senior year and several since.