R.i.p. 2008

[newb]

June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Bo Diddley, the rock 'n' roll originator with the rectangular guitar whose signature beat influenced musicians from Buddy Holly to the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead and Bruce Springsteen, has died. He was 79.

Diddley died at his home in Archer, Florida, early today, according to his publicist, Susan Clary. The cause was heart failure. In May 2007, he suffered a stroke during a performance in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

He scored only a few hits in more than 40 years of recording, yet Diddley's impact on the development of rock 'n' roll places him in a pantheon with Chuck Berry and Little Richard. The maracas-fueled sound he introduced in 1955 on the song ``Bo Diddley'' evolved into what Rolling Stone magazine called ``the most plagiarized rhythm of the 20th century.''

The beat -- bomp a-bomp a-bomp bomp bomp -- became the driving force on songs such as Holly's ``Not Fade Away'' (1957), which the Stones recorded and the Grateful Dead used in live shows for years; Johnny Otis's ``Willie and the Hand Jive'' (1958); the Strangeloves' ``I Want Candy''(1965); The Who's ``Magic Bus'' (1968); the Stooges' ``1969'' (1969), Springsteen's ``She's the One'' (1975); and U2's ``Desire'' (1988).

The Stones' version of ``Not Fade Away'' in 1964 became their first top-10 hit in the U.K. and first U.S. release. In its early days, the band often opened its shows with the number.

``We did it with a Bo Diddley beat, which at the time was very avant garde for a white band to be playing Bo Diddley's stuff,'' said Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts. ``It was a very popular rhythm for us in clubs.''

[neverending]

Heard about this earlier today. A real innovator. He'll be missed.

[_____V_____]

Earlier this week, we learned that two influential STAR TREK personalities had passed.

Joseph Pevney, who directed the beloved Original Series episodes like CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER, AMOK TIME, and THE TROUBLE WITH TRIBBLES left us - he was 96 years old.

Also, Alexander Courage, a composer for The Original Series (including its legendary fanfare/theme music) had slipped away.

Now comes word that one of STAR TREK's unsung heroes is gone.

Robert H. Justman was a producer on The Original Series as well as the inaugural season of THE NEXT GENERATION. He was 81.



Known for guiding with a firm-but-even hand, Justman demonstrated vast appreciation for the creative process. Producers will often micro-manage budgets with little concern for the impact their scrutiny will have on story lines, characterization, atmosphere, and so forth. Justman worked feverishly to preserve, and even enhance, the intent of writers and creators...inventively laboring to realize their ideas whenever, and however, possible.

Sometimes his contributions were subtle - like conjuring a way to create "alien" skies on planetary sets by using gels & lights instead of significantly more costly (and sometimes cost prohibitive) painted backgrounds. In other instances, his impact was both profound and indelible - like his campaign to cast a moderately known British actor named Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard when THE NEXT GENERATION was ramping up. Many weren't so sure...Justman was.

Justman wrote a great deal about his adventures on (and contributions to) STAR TREK in a book entitled INSIDE STAR TREK: THE REAL STORY, co-authored with Herbert F. Solow...Desilu's Execustive in Charge of Production for The Original Series.

"There seems to be a big 'Star Trek' convention and everyone is going,"..."Everyone is getting beamed up," says Justman's son Jonathan about the recent passing of his father and other STAR TREK alum, in an LA Times article.

[neverending]

Inside Star Trek is a great book, and Justman was a great producer. Likewise Courage as a composer. And Pevney- what a talent.

Three tremendous losses. The three of them gave me endless hours of enjoyment.

[zwoti]

----------------
Now playing:
Faith No More - Helpless
via FoxyTunes

[newb]

Originally Posted by zwoti

----------------
Now playing:
Faith No More - Helpless
via FoxyTunes

dropping like flies...R.I.P...Another good run...90


LOS ANGELES (AP) — A family spokesman says actor-director-producer Mel Ferrer, who starred in scores of movies and directed his late wife, Audrey Hepburn in numerous others, has died at age 90.

Mike Mena says Ferrer died Monday at his ranch near Santa Barbara, surrounded by family and friends.

Known for his good looks, Ferrer starred in such films as "Lili," "War and Peace" and "The Sun Also Rises.

In 1967, he produced the film classic "Wait Until Dark," a terrifying thriller in which Hepburn played a blind woman terrorized in her apartment by drug dealers.

[The_Return]

Rough couple weeks for media personalities...:(

[newb]

This was unexpected


Tim Russert, the South Buffalo native who became the influential host of NBC's "Meet the Press," died unexpectedly Friday morning.

Russert, 58, collapsed while taping voice-overs for his weekly "Meet the Press" show at NBC's Washington, D.C. studios. No other details were immediately available.

Born Timothy John Russert Jr. in South Buffalo, he graduated from Canisius High School, John Carroll University and Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Russert was a member of the bar associations in both New York state and the District of Columbia.

After graduating from Cleveland-Marshall, Russert entered the world of politics, first on the Senate staff of the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan and in 1982, he worked on Mario Cuomo's successful campaign to be elected New York governor.

Russert joined NBC News in 1984 and the following year supervised the Peacock network's live broadcasts of the "NBC Today" show from Rome. Russert during those shows was able to convince Pope John Paul II to make an appearance on the show.

In December 1991, he was named host of "Meet the Press."

Russert wrote two books "Big Russ and Me" in 2004 that detailed the role his father, Tim Russert Sr., played in his life and "Wisdom of Our Fathers" in 2006.

In addition, Russert received 48 honorary doctorates and this year Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.


R.I.P.

[Zero]

i saw this on the news in the gym and kept thinking it had to be a relative of his - wow it just goes to show you never know when its going to be your time

Originally Posted by newb

This was unexpected


Tim Russert, the South Buffalo native who became the influential host of NBC's "Meet the Press," died unexpectedly Friday morning.

Russert, 58, collapsed while taping voice-overs for his weekly "Meet the Press" show at NBC's Washington, D.C. studios. No other details were immediately available.

Born Timothy John Russert Jr. in South Buffalo, he graduated from Canisius High School, John Carroll University and Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Russert was a member of the bar associations in both New York state and the District of Columbia.

After graduating from Cleveland-Marshall, Russert entered the world of politics, first on the Senate staff of the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan and in 1982, he worked on Mario Cuomo's successful campaign to be elected New York governor.

Russert joined NBC News in 1984 and the following year supervised the Peacock network's live broadcasts of the "NBC Today" show from Rome. Russert during those shows was able to convince Pope John Paul II to make an appearance on the show.

In December 1991, he was named host of "Meet the Press."

Russert wrote two books "Big Russ and Me" in 2004 that detailed the role his father, Tim Russert Sr., played in his life and "Wisdom of Our Fathers" in 2006.

In addition, Russert received 48 honorary doctorates and this year Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.


R.I.P.

[IggysPinkTights]

The coverage of the election won't be the same without him.
He was working an incredible amount of hours.
Meet the Press is one of the few intelligent new shows and he will be greatly missed.:(