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Post by Farrar on Jun 8, 2023 18:18:07 GMT -5
RIP to the atmosphere in NYC Yes, yesterday @12pm and the sky was a gray-yellow (and if I had a dime for every time I heard someone remark the sky looked "post-apocalyptic" I'd have enough $$$ for a Starbucks cinnamon caramel crème cold brew). Today it looked (and felt) a lot better, but the NYC air quality index will still be dangerously unhealthy for at least few days. |
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Post by foxley on Jun 9, 2023 2:46:05 GMT -5
RIP to the atmosphere in NYC Yes, yesterday @12pm and the sky was a gray-yellow (and if I had a dime for every time I heard someone remark the sky looked "post-apocalyptic" I'd have enough $$$ for a Starbucks cinnamon caramel crème cold brew). Today it looked (and felt) a lot better, but the NYC air quality index will still be dangerously unhealthy for at least few days. Welcome to an Australian summer. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jun 9, 2023 9:29:32 GMT -5
RIP to the atmosphere in NYC Yes, yesterday @12pm and the sky was a gray-yellow (and if I had a dime for every time I heard someone remark the sky looked "post-apocalyptic" I'd have enough $$$ for a Starbucks cinnamon caramel crème cold brew). Today it looked (and felt) a lot better, but the NYC air quality index will still be dangerously unhealthy for at least few days. It's been like that in the Pacific Northwest for at least the last 10 years. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 9, 2023 11:22:22 GMT -5
James Watt, the controversial Interior Secretary, in the Reagan Administration has died.
Refer to the Pat Robertson post for comments.
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Post by Calidore on Jun 10, 2023 18:51:55 GMT -5
It's being widely reported that comic creator Ian McGinty (Adventure Time, Invader Zim, et al) has died at 38. No cause has been given.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 10, 2023 19:25:20 GMT -5
38 is seriously young. The Beat mentioned a Facebook post where McGinty mentioned feeling ill, though there was no acknowledgement of any direct relation to his death. Might have had underlying or hereditary health conditions. Might have been related to something else. Still, at that age, it is likely something major affecting the body's systems.
You'd be amazed, though, how one problem within the body can weaken it enough that when another problem arises, it can't handle it. Barb was hospitalized because of alcohol-related issues, which caused physical problems (stomach ulcer and major acid problems, plus internal bleeding) and when we seemed to be getting that situation treated and improved, she contracts COVID, while in a nursing home, to undergo physical therapy, to get her ambulatory again. From there it was a rapid decline. her body just couldn't deal with the infection and her lungs turned out to be severely damaged due to her inactivity and weight issues, and probably the alcohol-related issues. Of course, that was all tied into mental health issues, in a linked circuit. I had no idea about the lungs, as she didn't have breathing issues, other than she got winded and was in intense pain if she was on her feet for very long; but, we assumed that was the back pain. You don't think about the fact that she would lay on one side, to relieve the pressure on her back, but couldn't lay on the other side, because of Meniere's Disease, which caused issues in her inner ear and would send her into vertigo, especially if she laid on her left side. Her right lung had her bodyweight on it constantly and couldn't function properly and deteriorated. Her left lung was affected by the weight problem, to, but to a lesser extent. Neither could handle COVID. She had a weak immune system, as well. One thing just overlaps with another. You just tend to think of such issues as single entities, rather than how they then affect other things. Its like a stack of bricks. Start chipping away at portions and you eventually stress other bricks and then you reach a point to where the whole structure can't hold itself any longer.
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Post by Calidore on Jun 10, 2023 20:55:34 GMT -5
38 is seriously young. The Beat mentioned a Facebook post where McGinty mentioned feeling ill, though there was no acknowledgement of any direct relation to his death. Might have had underlying or hereditary health conditions. Might have been related to something else. Still, at that age, it is likely something major affecting the body's systems. You'd be amazed, though, how one problem within the body can weaken it enough that when another problem arises, it can't handle it. Barb was hospitalized because of alcohol-related issues, which caused physical problems (stomach ulcer and major acid problems, plus internal bleeding) and when we seemed to be getting that situation treated and improved, she contracts COVID, while in a nursing home, to undergo physical therapy, to get her ambulatory again. From there it was a rapid decline. her body just couldn't deal with the infection and her lungs turned out to be severely damaged due to her inactivity and weight issues, and probably the alcohol-related issues. Of course, that was all tied into mental health issues, in a linked circuit. I had no idea about the lungs, as she didn't have breathing issues, other than she got winded and was in intense pain if she was on her feet for very long; but, we assumed that was the back pain. You don't think about the fact that she would lay on one side, to relieve the pressure on her back, but couldn't lay on the other side, because of Meniere's Disease, which caused issues in her inner ear and would send her into vertigo, especially if she laid on her left side. Her right lung had her bodyweight on it constantly and couldn't function properly and deteriorated. Her left lung was affected by the weight problem, to, but to a lesser extent. Neither could handle COVID. She had a weak immune system, as well. One thing just overlaps with another. You just tend to think of such issues as single entities, rather than how they then affect other things. Its like a stack of bricks. Start chipping away at portions and you eventually stress other bricks and then you reach a point to where the whole structure can't hold itself any longer.
Yeah, way too young. You're right about the domino effect, though.
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Post by Cei-U! on Jun 11, 2023 6:41:07 GMT -5
Mark Evanier reports that comic book artist Richard Lester a.k.a. Joshua Quagmire, creator of Cutey Bunny, has passed away at age 71. Bummer.
Cei-U!
I lower the flag to half-mast!
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Post by Icctrombone on Jun 11, 2023 21:33:12 GMT -5
38 is seriously young. The Beat mentioned a Facebook post where McGinty mentioned feeling ill, though there was no acknowledgement of any direct relation to his death. Might have had underlying or hereditary health conditions. Might have been related to something else. Still, at that age, it is likely something major affecting the body's systems. No offense to you are anyone , but alcohol is a recognized poison. It's not good for anything and will tax your immunity systems as well as various organs. Many of the people that really struggled with the virus were in poor health to begin with. Whatever you consume will help or hurt your body and overall health. Most people will neglect that because tasty food will satisfy the senses and alcohol will numb pain , albeit temporarily. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Jun 12, 2023 10:36:03 GMT -5
I never thought I'd beat codystarbuck with an RIP, particularly this one...  There was a long obit in the NY Times, as if he had cured leprosy, led a nation to freedom, or won five Pulitzers. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2023 10:48:58 GMT -5
I never thought I'd beat codystarbuck with an RIP, particularly this one... There was a long obit in the NY Times, as if he had cured leprosy, led a nation to freedom, or won five Pulitzers. Come visit the wrestling thread some time. We’re gonna dive deep into history if you come (I know you’ve mentioned vintage wrestling at times). We’ll go back to 1948 and the reign of Orville Brown - or we can even go as far back as George Hackenschmidt. I’m pretty sure you mentioned one of those names in a post a while back! |
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Post by Prince Hal on Jun 12, 2023 11:01:32 GMT -5
I never thought I'd beat codystarbuck with an RIP, particularly this one... There was a long obit in the NY Times, as if he had cured leprosy, led a nation to freedom, or won five Pulitzers. Come visit the wrestling thread some time. We’re gonna dive deep into history if you come (I know you’ve mentioned vintage wrestling at times). We’ll go back to 1948 and the reign of Orville Brown - or we can even go as far back as George Hackenschmidt. I’m pretty sure you mentioned one of those names in a post a while back! You flatter me; I don't think I mentioned either, but I will check them out. My wrestling years were the mid-1960s to early '70s: late-night black-and-white TV on WOR, an independent station from NYC that broadcast the Mets, Rangers, and Knicks as well as roller derby and harness racing to fill the hours between cartoons and movies.The big names were Haystacks Calhoun, Wahoo Ed McDaniel, Chief Jay Strongbow, Bruno Sammartino, Ernie "The Big Cat" Ladd, Bobo Brazil and the Von Erichs, to name a few. There was also a tag team from Samoa, allegedly, who always lost and whose name I can't recall. . |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2023 11:04:11 GMT -5
You’re most likely thinking of The Wild Samoans.  I’m glad you got to watch some wrestling! |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 12, 2023 20:37:00 GMT -5
You’re most likely thinking of The Wild Samoans. I’m glad you got to watch some wrestling! That time frame doesn't sound right. Afa and Sika Anoa'i, aka The Wild Samoans, didn't work for the WWF, until 1979. They were primarily in the West, South, Canada and japan, before that and were usually put over as a strong team. They didn't start wrestling until 1972. The most obvious names, like Peter Maivia, Neff Maivia, Oni Wiki Wiki, Cocoa Samoa or Great Tio and Tapu also don't seem to match up with that time frame. If they lost routinely, I wouldn't think it was one of the bigger name Samoan wrestlers. Neff Maivia goes back to the 50s, in the business. Peter Maivia (grandfather of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) started in the early 60s, but didn't work for the WWF until the mid-late 70s. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 12, 2023 21:11:56 GMT -5
Iron Sheik had a colorful life, though it was always hard to separate fact from fiction. He was a wrestler in Iran and was a bodyguard for the Shah. He failed to qualify for the 1968 Olympics, but has claimed to have been on the team and medaled, before the Internet made it easier to disprove such things. His mentor was Gholamreza Takhti, who was a gold medalist for Iran, in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics (and won Silver at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and the 1960 Rome Olympics), then was found dead in his hotel room, in 1968, believed to have been murdered by the SAVAK, the Shah's secret police, for his political activism. Vaziri (The Iron Sheik's real name is Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri) emigrated to the US in 1970 and settled in Minnesota, due to a relationship with one of the Minnesota coaches, I believe. he was involved as an assistant coach for the US team, at the 1972 Munich Olympics and competed in the 1971 AAU Greco-Roman championships and won, at 180 lbs.
He worked out a bit with Verne Gagne and some of his trainees, then trained with Gagne to be a pro wrestler and also aided in training others at Gagne's training camp. The guys who knew him then said he was very quiet, very religious and soft spoken. He started wrestling as Ali Vaziri, then variations of The Great Hussein Arab, Hussein Arab, Iron Sheik Farouk, Muhammad Farouk, and The iron Sheik, inspired by The Original Sheik, Ed Farhat, who promoted Detroit and was the perennial US Champion there, and wrestled in Toronto, on top, for many years.
He was wrestling in Georgia, appearing on World Championship Wrestling, when I first saw him, in 1982 and left there sometime in 1983 and went to the WWF, where he became a challenger for Bob Backlund. Vince McMahon Jr had decided to expand nationally and recruited Hulk Hogan, who was wrestling in the AWA, for Verne Gagne, to come in, as the top star (on the strength of his appearance in Rocky 3 and his popularity in the AWA and Japan). It was decided to have Backlund lose the title and they picked Sheik to win it, since it set up Hogan to come in as the American Hero, after he had appeared there 3 years before, as a heel, losing to Backlund and Andre the Giant. Backlund dropped the title to Sheik, in Madison Square Garden, on December 12, the Hogan started appearing on TV on December 27, to build up for the match. On January 21, the pair met in Madison Square Garden and Hogan is the winner and Hulkamania is born and the WWF uses the attention to start expanding out of their Northeast base. Sheik stuck around, having a notable feud with Sgt Slaughter, who had been a heel, challenging Backlund, but they did an angle where Slaughter was on his way to the ring and Sheik was coming back from his and they meet in the middle of the aisle, with neither giving way and staring each other down. Then, Slaughter gets into a fight withSheik and becomes a babyface, as an American Military Hero (who never served in the Armed Forces, let alone the USMC) and they have their Boot Camp No Disqualification match, in Madison Square Garden. He also teamed with Russian (actually Croatian) Nikolai Volkoff and they won the tag titles.
In 1987, he was feuding with Hacksaw Jim Duggan, who did a patriotic tough guy gimmick, and the two were traveling together, in the same car, to their next town and got pulled over and were discovered in possession of marijuana and cocaine. They were fired by the WWF, both for exposing the business by having hated enemies traveling together, and the drugs.
According to family and the boys who knew him early on, life on the road led to his increasing vices, including drinking alcohol (despite being a muslim), marijuana, cocaine, and eventually crack cocaine. He became severely addicted, by his latter career. His daughter was also murdered by her boyfriend, which didn't help his demons.
In recent years, he became a kind of internet star, on Howard Stern and with his Twitter feed. There is a really good documentary about him, made by the guys who managed his Twitter account and were friends of the family.
One of the guys described his pre-match routine of 500 Hindu squats, about 30 minutes with his Persian clubs (which are about 50 lbs and are swung around the head and shoulders), then his match. He used to have challenges with the clubs and have people try them out. There is footage of The Ultimate Warrior, Jim Hellwig, before he was a wrestler, trying them....
He actually had hair, when he started, then shaved it at a promoter's suggestion.
I have heard stories of him flying on commercial airlines, wearing the curly-toed boots, even after 9/11, which probably made some people anxious.
The Iranian flag he used to carry, with Ayatollah Khomeini's face on it, was actually modified by Jerry "The King" Lawler, who drew and painted the Ayatollah on it. Lawler is actually a very accomplished artist and Sheik worked Memphis with him.
Quite a character
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