September 11, 2009
Remembering
"After kids, there are days that just get going when you say, 'Hi honey, I'm home'", wrote the U.S. Army Major. "My conclusion is that what we do until that moment pales in comparison to what we do after that point in the day."
This is the 9/11 bracelet I wear to remember those taken from us that day.
The name on mine is Major Kip P Taylor, he was serving at the Pentagon with the US Army when terrorists flew Flight 77 into the building. His office was on the outer ring, he was killed instantly.
Other than that I don't know much about him, but what I know is this:
He had received his promotion to Lt Colonel but deferred to the next round in October so his family could attend. But by October, Kip was gone.
He had a 2 year-old son, Dean (named for his brother), and his wife, Nancy, was pregnant. They were both thrilled about the arrival of their second child. But by the time their son Luke was born in October, Kip was gone.
Nancy was diagnosed with cancer after that. She was beginning the fight for her life, a time she needed her husband, and she was alone. When he should have been by her side, Kip was gone.
Nancy lost her fight on November 18, 2003. The Taylor's children were 4 and 2 then. They should have had the strength and love of their father to help them through. But as their mother was taken by a terrible disease, their father had been taken by a terrible evil.
I encourage you to learn more about Lieutenant Colonel Kip Paul Taylor (he received his promotion posthumously) and his family here. Kip's brother, Dean, and his wife are raising the boys so you can be sure they will learn enough to know the father they can't possibly remember. A man that I remember, despite the fact that I know so little about him.
Only what I have read.
And that he was killed along with nearly 3,000 other innocent people on September 11, 2001.
Lt Col Kip P Taylor
Sept 5, 1963 - Sept 11, 2001
Rest in Peace
August 13, 2009
Les Paul - R.I.P.
Les Paul
1915 -2009
The contributions Les Paul made to music are well documented...and little known. I doubt most who are not in the industry realize what huge leaps were made based on his innovations.
I'm sorry that the only Les Paul album I can find in my collection is a greatest hits collection of his work with Mary Ford. Even on those somewhat cheesy songs, though, his nibble guitar work is evident. I was just listening to "World is Waiting" last week, you can't go wrong with "How High The Moon", and just try to keep up with his "Tiger Rag". I did find a couple of stragglers from compilation albums that I've included, as well. Enjoy
~ Listen ~
July 07, 2009
Saying Goodbye To a Music Legend
One of my favorite music men died last week, news that was lost in the flood of celebrity deaths.
Harve Presnell 1933 - 2009
Though he went on to many other roles, not all of which involved singing, he won my heart as Johnny Brown, singing "I'll Never Say No To You" to Debbie Reynolds' adorable, unsinkable Molly.
I imagine most of you will remember him from his role as the father-in-law in "Fargo"
June 25, 2009
R.I.P. - Farrah Fawcet
I was never a huge Farrah fan, despite my obsession with Charlie's Angels. It always seemed that she left because she thought she was too hot for the show that launched her career (perhaps bad advice from her management) The whole "leaving her husband for his best friend" kind of grated on me as well.
Through the years though, she managed to maintain her relationship with Ryan O'Neal - making it seem less tawdry & slightly more 'romantic'. She also did some good work, even going outside her "babe" comfort zone.
Most recently we've watched her wage her battle with cancer with more grace than many of us could muster. She and Ryan had just decided to marry, sadly she passed before he could make that happen.
She was an icon (of a very iconic time) - she will be missed.
December 27, 2008
Eartha Kitt - R.I.P.
In honor of Eartha Kitt's passing and her considerable talent for performance, I have updated the RadioBlog.
There was much I disagreed with her on, but her intriguing voice, and her stage presence, were beyond dispute.
~ Listen ~
October 27, 2008
Dean Barnett - R.I.P.
Found the sad news over at ExLg and I agree, Oh, crap and Win one for the Chowda.
September 27, 2008
Paul Newman - R.I.P.
Screen legend Paul Newman dies at 83
UPDATE: Lori posted a pic of Newman when he was in his prime - and very cool
September 11, 2008
August 15, 2008
Jerry Wexler - R.I.P.
Jerry Wexler died Friday at the age of 91.
The son of Polish immigrants and a music buff since his teens, Wexler, a New York City native, landed a job writing for Billboard magazine in the late 1940s after serving in World War II and studying journalism at Kansas State University. He coined the term "rhythm and blues" for the magazine's black music charts; previously, they were listed under "race records."While working at Billboard, Wexler befriended Ertegun -- a life-altering friendship for both. Ertegun and a partner had started Atlantic, then a small R&B label in New York. In 1953, when Ertegun's partner left for a two-year military hitch, Wexler stepped in as the label's co-director.
August 03, 2008
Alexander Solzhenitsyn - R.I.P.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn: 1918 - 2008
The Russian novelist and historian Alexander Solzhenitsyn, whose works detailed the Soviet labor camp system, has died at 89, Russian news agencies reported Monday.
July 19, 2008
Jo Stafford - R.I.P.
Jo Stafford, the honey-voiced band singer who starred in radio and television and sold more than 25 million records with her ballads and folksongs, died Wednesday. She was 90.
In honor of G.I. Jo, listen to some of her stuff on the Radio.Blog
July 12, 2008
Tony Snow - R.I.P
Snow, who served as the first host of the television news program "Fox News Sunday" from 1996 to 2003, would later say that in the Bush administration he was enjoying "the most exciting, intellectually aerobic job I'm ever going to have."I knew he had been battling cancer, but I had no idea that the prognosis was so grave.Snow was working for Fox News Channel and Fox News Radio when he replaced Scott McClellan as press secretary in May 2006 during a White House shake-up. Unlike McClellan, who came to define caution and bland delivery from the White House podium, Snow was never shy about playing to the cameras.
Thanks for your service, Tony.
July 04, 2008
Jesse Helms - R.I.P.
Former Sen. Jesse Helms, a Capitol Hill icon who devoted 30 years in the Senate to championing conservative causes, died Friday morning. He was 86.The Jesse Helms Center posted a brief statement on its Web site saying Helms died at 1:15 a.m. in Raleigh, N.C., on the Fourth of July.
June 22, 2008
George Carlin - R.I.P.
Carlin, who had a history of heart problems, died at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica after being admitted earlier in the afternoon for chest pains, spokesman Jeff Abraham told Reuters.
June 17, 2008
Cyd Charisse - R.I.P.
Cyd Charisse, the long-legged Texas beauty who danced with the Ballet Russe as a teenager and starred in MGM musicals with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, died Tuesday. She was 86.
Unbelievably gorgeous and elegant. One of my first celebrity idols, I wished there was some way to grown up to be her. As I grew older, I watched as she seemed not to. She maintained her looks, her style, her grace.
May 29, 2008
Harvey Korman - R.I.P.
Korman was a regular on "The Carol Burnett Show" from 1967 through 1978, for which he won Emmy awards in 1969, 1971, 1972 and 1974. He also won a Golden Globe for his work on the series.
The lanky Korman also appeared in Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles" (as the sneering Hedley Lamarr), "High Anxiety" and "History of the World, Part 1."
May 27, 2008
Thelma Keane - R.I.P.
The inspiration for the Mommy character in the long-running "Family Circus" comic created by her husband, Bil Keane, has died. She was 82.
Earle Hagen - R.I.P.
Earle H. Hagen, who co-wrote the jazz classic "Harlem Nocturne" and composed memorable themes for "The Andy Griffith Show," "I Spy," "The Mod Squad" and other TV shows, died Monday. He was 88.
May 12, 2008
Nuala O'Faolain - R.I.P.
Nuala O'Faolain, an Irish journalist who mined a rich vein of longing and childhood suffering in two midlife memoirs and an acclaimed first novel, "My Dream of You," died on Friday night in Dublin. She was 68 and lived in Barrtra, County Clare, Ireland, and Manhattan.
I absolutely adored her memoir "Are You Somebody?", but never made it through her first novel. Perhaps I will give it another go.
Is í féin atá ag teacht anois.
May 01, 2008
Yossi Harel - R.I.P.
Yossi Harel, who renamed the rickety ship he commanded Exodus 1947 and sailed it to legend as a symbol of the righteousness of the mission by Jews to settle Palestine in the face of British opposition, died Saturday at his home in Tel Aviv. He was 90.
April 06, 2008
Charleton Heston - R.I.P.
Charlton Heston has passed away at the age of 84.
There seems to be some confusion over his date of birth..or his age. Some sites have him born in 1923, some in 1924 - all seem to say he was 84. Since he was born in October, and this is 2008, he must have been born in 1923, right?
March 30, 2008
Dith Pran - R.I.P.
Dith Pran, the Cambodian-born journalist whose harrowing tale of enslavement and eventual escape from that country's murderous Khmer Rouge revolutionaries in 1979 became the subject of the award-winning film "The Killing Fields," died Sunday, his former colleague said.Dith, 65, died at a New Jersey hospital Sunday morning of pancreatic cancer, according to Sydney Schanberg, his former colleague at The New York Times. Dith had been diagnosed almost three months ago.
February 27, 2008
R.I.P. William F Buckley Jr
Conservative author and editor William F. Buckley Jr. died today, his assistant told the Associated Press Wednesday. He was 82.National Review
He was truly one of a kind, and will be missed. Hopefully, his spirit and ideas will live on.
January 18, 2008
Checkmate
He was a whack job, but you have to give him credit for his skill.