R.I.P. John Callahan

John Callahan, a syndicated cartoonist who overcame the setback of becoming a quadriplegic in a car accident in 1972 has passed on at the age of 59. He had been undergoing surgery treatment at a Portland, Oregon hospital for a chronic bed sore when he left this world for a better one on Saturday. Callahan was one twisted individual—and I…

Set ‘em up, Joe’s

Glancing at the Flagpole website—the Flagpole is Athens’ weekly alternative newspaper—I noticed a blurb that Trader Joe’s, the high-end, health-conscious (but kinder to the wallet—unlike Whole Foods, or as Clark Howard, Elisson, the family and I refer to it, “Whole Paycheck”) grocery store based out of California is putting in a store here in Athens. Well, maybe I should amend that to “the Athens…

Curtain calls

I first heard about the death of Canadian actor Maury Chaykin at J. Kingston Pierce’s invaluable pulp fiction blog The Rap Sheet; Chaykin passed away on Tuesday (July 27) at the age of 61. Not only is it tragic to lose such a talented thesp at a relatively young age, but the actor died on his birthday; he…

“Lazybones/Sleepin’ in the sun/How you ‘spect to get your day’s work done…”

Bill Crider pointed me toward this interesting article at BusinessWeek.com on “America’s Laziest States 2010.” The bizarre thing is, Georgia is not even in the Top 20 (something that is still making me scratch my head in bewilderment)—Louisiana is Numero Uno—but guess who’s at #7 with a bullet? “Oh, those West Virginia hills…how majestic and how grand…” Time sleeping: 8 hours, 27 minutes Time watching TV: 2 hours,…

R.I.P. Daniel Schorr

How devastating it is to hear about the passing of veteran newsman/journalist Daniel Schorr, whose fourth-estate notoriety was immortalized when he found himself ranked No. 17 with a bullet on President Richard Milhous Nixon’s “enemies list.” Schorr died today at the age of 93 after a short illness, according to NPR’s Anna Christopher—Schorr had worked for National Public…

R.I.P. Buff Cobb

The Los Angeles Times reports that actress-producer Buff Cobb has passed on at what is believed to be the age of 83. Born in Florence, she was the daughter of famed opera singer Frank Chapman and authoress Elisabeth Cobb, daughter of famed folklorist Irvin S. Cobb. Father Frank was also married at one time to Gladys Swarthout, also serving as her…

Fortunately, I did not have to use my new powers in order to pick a winner…

Congratulations are in store for Thomas Stillabower, a longtime TDOY reader and supporter who’s the big winner in the “Home Fires” giveaway—namely, a brand-spanking new 4-CD set of vintage 1947 Maxwell House Coffee Time broadcasts starring George Burns and Gracie Allen that’s just been released by Radio Spirits. While Thomas takes his requisite victory lap, I’d like to remind…

Crime does not pay (as well as it used to)

Well, what had been some simply splendid viewing experiences via TCM on Demand—namely, some showings of those classic Crime Does Not Pay shorts—has completely dried up in the past three weeks. TCM’s On Demand channel has shifted to M-G-M’s “Nostradamus” shorts cranked out between 1938-44, attempts by the studio to assure the American public that we were…

DVR-TiVo-Or whatever recording device strikes your fancy-alert!

I couldn’t possibly cut this announcement any closer, but a casual glance at the TCM schedule reveals that the Greatest Cable Channel Known to Mankind™ (ka-ching!) will show the 1933 Thelma Todd-ZaSu Pitts two-reeler Beauty and the Bus (1933) at 9:39pm EDT this evening, following the Essentials, Jr. feature Beauty and the Beast (1946). As I have preached from my blogosphere…

R.I.P. James Gammon

Once again, Bill Crider enacts the role of the harbinger of death—I just read on his blog where character actor James Gammon has passed on at the age of 70. (In all fairness to Bill, I generally get the bad news from his blog first because he shows up first in the rotation—I could just have easily learned…