Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Huddy Combs aka Andre Hudson aka Huddy 6

Rapper -- via the New York Daily News.

Janet White Tucker

Singer and member of the White Sisters trio -- via tampabay.com.

Helga Goring

Popular film actress of East Germany -- via Welt Online.

Sue Miles

An activist, a key figure in the counterculture of the 1960s, and a noted restaurateur -- via the Guardain

Michel Hugo

Cinematographer -- via Variety. He served as d.p. on an astonishing variety of projects, including many now-obscure but vividly remembered TV series, movies-for-television, and cinema on the margins. It's a roll call of delicious strangeness! Misfires, cult hits, etc. The original "Mission: Impossible." "Head." "Bless the Beasts & Children." The original "The Night Stalker" TV film. "They Only Kill Their Masters." The remarkably funny "Shirts/Skins." Elizabeth Montgomery in "Mrs. Sundance." Dick van Dyke in "The Morning After." Martin Sheen in "The Last Survivors." The uniquely abysmal "Ode to Billy Joe." The Edward Herrmann/Blythe Danner Lou Gehrig bio. "The Manitou"! Andrew Stevens as "The Bastard"! "The Streets of San Francisco." "Terror from the Sky," the sequel to the TV-movie "The Savage Bees"! He worked on "The Octagon," ferChrissake. He wound up his career with stints on "Dynasty" and "Melrose Place." He could do it all.

Rodger Clayton aka Mr. Prinze

West Coast hip hop master -- via dubcnn.com. He was part of Uncle Jamm's Army; he produced "Dial-a-Freak."

Kostas Kafasis

Singer -- via zougla.gr.

Ashraf os-Sadat Morteza'i aka Marizeh

Iran's greatest female singer -- via Iran Focus. She lived in exile in Paris after 1993.

Eldon "E.C." Cunningham

Printmaker, artist and teacher -- via Westword.

Chance Conner

Journalist and writer -- via the Denver Post. He worked at the Colorado Daily, the Boulder Daily Camera and the Rocky Mountain News, among other places.

Abshir Noor Farah aka Ba'adle

Somali poet -- via Africa News.com.

Bill Griffith

A jack of all trades who owned a newspaper, played the trumpet, collected circus calliopes and much more -- via the Wisconsin State Journal. Here's a longer piece on him from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Maurice Allais

Nobel Prize-winning economist -- via the Telegraph. He issued prescient warnings against "casino practices" of stock markets; he also claimed to have disprove the Theory of Relativity. Unexplained fluctuations in the cosmos that conflict with the theory are still referred to as "the Allais effect."

Reggie Leon Battise

Actor, musician, dancer, choreographer -- via the Hollywood Reporter. He was part of the Bus Boys and Sha Na Na.

Robin C. Kirkman

Computer programmer -- via monsterkidsclassichorrorforum.yuku.com. As a USC student, Kirkman helped bankroll the low-budgethorror film "The Hideous Sun Demon," serving also as actor and sound man on the project.

Neil Richardson


Composer for film, TV and radio -- via radiocafe.co.uk. He is best known for his "music library" compositions -- themes that are used for programs introductions, conclusions and punctuation.

Ryo Ikebe

Actor -- via InsideJapan New Network. He worked extensively with director Kon Ichikawa; he can be seen in Ozu's "Early Spring," Schrader's "Mishima" and even some cheesy Toho sci-fi classics such as "Gorath" and "Battle in Outer Space."

John Huchra

Astronomer -- via the Harvard Gazette.

Claire Rayner

Popular English writer, journalist, broadcaster and "agony aunt" (advice columnist) -- via the Guardian.

Marcel Lapierre

Winemaker who revived the reputation of Beaujolais -- via the New York Times.

Angelo Infanti

Actor -- via ansa.it. He will be best remembered in America as Fabrizio, the bodyguard who betrays Michael Corleone in "The Godfather."

Manuel Alexandre

Supporting actor in many film and TV productions in Spain -- via the Latin American Herald Tribune.

Carla Cohen

Co-owner of the Washington, D.C. bookstore Politics and Prose -- via the Washington Post.

Art Jarvinen

Composer, musician and educator -- via New Music Box. He worked extensively with Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart.

Brenda Cowling

Comic actress in British film and television -- via maplins.

Audoin Dollfus

Astronomer and aeronaut -- via the French government. He studied Mars; he discovered a satellite of Saturn; he set several records in ballooning in the course of his research.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

One country dies . . . two are born

Saba Island.
 The Netherlands Antilles, floating off the coast of Venezuela, has dissolved -- via Reuters.
The flag of Netherlands Antilles, before Aruba seceded.
This small island chain fragments politically now into the islands of Bonaire, Saba and and St. Eustatius, now designated "special municipalities" of the Netherlands; Saint Martin aka Saint-Martin aka Sint Maarten; and Curacao, now named Kousou in the language Papiamentu, "a mix of Portuguese and Spanish with traces of English, Dutch and French," according to Reuters -- doesn't that sound like a heavenly language? -- which Curacao shares with Bonaire as its primary tongue. The other three islands use Dutch.
Come to think of it, all these islands have fascinating, interwoven-with-marauding-colonizers histories that go back at least 500 years. And, yes, the blue liqueur called Curacao comes from Curacao, from the dried peel of the fruit of the laraha tree. I'm not kidding.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Joan Sutherland

One of the great operatic sopranos of the 20th century -- via the New York Times. "La Stupenda" was best known for her key work in reviving bel canto and Baroque pieces; her Alcina was groundbreaking. She was ever-present in recordings of the 1960s, especially for her numerous collaborations with Pavarotti early in his career. Other memorable roles: Lucia, Norma, Elvira, Gilda, Marie in "La fille du regiment." This Australian dramatic coloratura was named a Dame of the British Empire.

Plus, she had a great sense of humor and didn't take herself all that seriously. I jut loved her to pieces.


Sunday, October 10, 2010

Solomon Burke

Soul singer extraordinaire -- via Yahoo News. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who was equally expert in gospel, blues, country, R & B and rock.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Edward Krtizler

Writer -- via Legacy.com. His best-known work is "Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean."

William W. "Bill" Norton

Screenwriter, and gunrunner -- via the L.A. Times

Rhys Isaac

Australian historian, the only to ever win a Pulitzer Prize. He won for his 1983 tome, "The Transformation of Virginia, 1740-1790."

Metring David

Comic actress -- via ABS/CBN News

Jack Berntsen

Folk singer -- via an.no.

Gudrun Loftus

Lecturer in German at Oxford -- via the BBC

Linda Norgrove

Aid worker killed by her Afghan captors during U.S. raid -- via the Guardian and gulfnews

SS Chandran

Comic actor -- via the Times of India.

Alvin Paige

Artist -- via Masslive.com