Obit: Former US representative Barney Frank, 86, died yesterday. He had been in hospice care in recent days.
He was known as an outspoken liberal, representing Massachusetts, but in recent times he had some criticism about "the left," whatever it is.
Anyway, here is a snip:
Frank represented southern Massachusetts in the House for 32 years and established himself as a leading voice in debates over banking, affordable housing and LGBTQ rights. He chaired the Financial Services Committee amid the 2008 meltdown and co-authored the milestone Dodd-Frank Act, a sweeping law that sought to put Wall Street firms under tougher scrutiny.
He blazed a trail for other openly gay American elected officials, and in 2012, he became the first member of Congress to enter into a same-sex marriage, tying the knot with his longtime partner, Jim Ready.
“It was life-changing, lifesaving for me,” Frank told NBC News in a phone interview in last month.
Obit: Mark Fuhrman, retired LAPD detective who was smeared on the stand during the O.J. Simpson trial and later turned to writing bestselling books, died on May 12. No cause of death was given.
He was 74 years old, having been born on February 2, 1952.
Snip:
Fuhrman retired from the Los Angeles Police Department after Simpson’s 1995 acquittal. He subsequently moved to Idaho with his wife Caroline and their young daughter and son and set up a 20-acre (eight-hectare) farm, raising chickens, goats, sheep and llamas.
In 1996, Fuhrman was charged with perjury and pleaded no contest. He later became a TV and radio commentator and wrote the book “Murder in Brentwood” about the killings.
I am laughing out loud over Trump preferring playing golf than attending that ridiculous "Regeneration 250" rally by a bunch of religious nuts who want to force everybody in the country to believe the way they do.
Meanwhile, the dimbulb who calls himself Speaker of the House once again tries to lie out of both sides of his mouth, and everybody knows he is lying.
Napoleon Solo has won the 151st Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park. Iron Honor tried to make a bid at the homestretch, he couldn't quite catch the winner. Napoleon Solo won by 1 1/4 lengths. He had 7-1 odds. It is his third victory. Chad Summers is the winning trainer while Paco Lopez is the jockey. Lopez has won 4,000 races, but today was his first Triple Crown win.
The time was 1:58.69.
Local horse Taj Mahal led most of the way before the top two took over.
Chip Honcho was third, while Ocelli was fourth.
Earlier: Since the top two finishers in the Kentucky Derby will not be in today's race, just about any horse entered has a good chance to win.
As for me, there are few official collectible items available because this year's race is being held at Laurel Park. Pimlico, like Belmont Park, is undergoing a major renovation.
Today, I read the news that a convicted killer who got a slap on the wrist, had once been married to Andy Williams, had a mediocre singing and acting career, and finally disappeared from view in disgrace, had died. Claudine Longet, 84, had died sometime this month, her nephew announced. She and her second husband (from 1985), Ron Austin, had moved full time to Hawaii upon his retirement from the legal profession. They had lived in Aspen, Colorado, where Claudine gained permanent infamy.
Fifty years ago, on March 21, 1976, Claudine Longet went from being a somewhat lucky woman who traded on her looks to snare rich men to being a permanent pariah. This was a result of being charged with the killing of her live-in boyfriend, Olympic skier Vladimir "Spider" Sabich, who helped popularize skiing to millions of people. He was tall, good-looking, charismatic, and articulate on top of being a top athlete. He had millions in endorsements, with his brother built his house which he owned free and clear, and seemed to have everything going for him. He did like the freewheeling lifestyle Aspen had to offer. He had relocated there in the early 1970s. He had previously lived in northern California, where he was born in 1945. After Longet and Williams split up, she moved to Aspen with their three children (at least one of whom, Christian, passed away in 2019 at age 54 in Costa Rica, and I know nothing about her daughter having died as well, and, contrary to the link provided, there is nothing to indicate she did pass away). Not long after she relocated, she met Sabich and soon the two became an item and eventually shacked up at his house.
Anyway, tiring of Longet's possessiveness, Spider had given Longet an ultimatum to move out of his house by April 1. She moved in with him a couple of years prior with her three children. Longet was furious and wasn't about to be dumped. She wasn't the type of person who was going to be tossed out. She would move only on her terms. Then on the evening of March 21, 1976, she snuck behind him with a gun while he was in the bathroom either shaving or brushing his teeth and shot him dead. According to her, it was an "accident." She just "accidentally" shot him from behind while he was showing her how to use the gun. It was a total bullshit story, but the Aspen police so bungled the investigation by mishandling her diary and the gun involved, neither could be admitted as evidence. Because of that, she was convicted of the most minor thing imaginable, practically a misdemeanor when in fact it was premeditated murder. Since Longet had little support in Aspen, she turned to the one person she could rely on for help: ex-husband Andy Williams. He helped her in her defense; after all, she was the mother of his three children. He was loyal to her.
Longet served only 30 days in jail, at her convenience, and because Aspen was a rich person's town, she got the privilege of being able to paint her cell pink. The public was outraged. Sabich's family eventually sued her for over a million dollars, with the parties settling out of court. The amount of money was undisclosed, but she agreed she would never speak publicly, let alone write a book, about her time with Sabich. She never did. She did create a scandal of sorts by taking up with her defense lawyer, Ron Austin, right after the trial. He ditched his wife and family for her, and, after several years of shacking up, they married in 1985. Amazingly, he survives her given her checkered past.
Years ago, Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege and Justice had a good episode on this case:
Caustic film critic, journalist, and sometime actor Rex Reed, 87, died today. He died at his home at the fabled Dakota, the apartment which he bought for $30,000 way back in 1969. Now only the megarich can afford to live there.
For his part, Reed died after a short illness. He was born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1938, and, thanks to his father's job, lived all over the southern U.S. He received a journalism degree from Louisiana State University in 1960. He had wanted to become an actor, but he ended up writing newspaper columns.
It is just as well he did. As bad film fanatics remember, he starred or rather co-starred in one of the all-time worst movies, 1970's Myra Breckenridge. Of course, he played the "Myron" part while Raquel Welch actually played the title role. It was a shit movie, more stupid than offensive. Yes, I have that movie on DVD and have had it for years.
Reed fared way better with criticism. One of his most famous screeds was his evisceration of Frank Sinatra when the latter performed at Madison Square Garden in 1974. The San Francisco Chronicle reprinted it, and I liked the particular column so much, I saved a copy of it for decades. I think I still have that scrapbook and that column. Reed said Sinatra looked like Porky Pig and his wardrobe made him look like Elmer Fudd. He said his ego was bigger than the Sahara, "the desert, not the hotel in Las Vegas, although either comparison applies." He declared this about Sinatra's ability as a singer, "The grim truth is Frank Sinatra has had it." I remember entire sentences from that column fifty years later. My favorite line was this: "When you looked into the ol' blue eyes, you saw the River Stix." When Reed wanted to, he could really write. Sinatra, meanwhile, wasn't happy with the column, but he and Reed continued with their careers.
Snip:
Reed was not the typical dowdy or frumpy critic. With his nasally drawl and fashionable attire, he was front and center in a profession where most writers of his time were behind-the-scenes personalities who shied from public exposure. His hauteur could be endearing or off-putting.
Some considered him to be representative of “New Journalism” — his 1966 piece about an angry Ava Gardner for Esquire made it into Tom Wolfe’s noteworthy 1973 anthology — while others decried him as being a celebrity monger. (He was a judge on The Gong Show in the 1970s, after all.)
Today, I went on an interpretative hike with a small group sponsored by Friends of the Cascade-Siskiyou Monument to the base of the geological landmark Pilot Rock. It is located near Ashland, Oregon. Of course we didn’t go on the rock itself; people have been injured and even killed up there, but we got about as close as it gets. Some of us stayed behind because of the scrambling necessary to get to the base. A few photos:
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