RIP thread

[pharoahegypt]

i wonder if that idiot blake is happy now...??? its what he wanted wasnt it...???? (that is sarcasm in case youre wondering)

[tygrkhat40]

"Not all addicts have Amy's incredible talent. Or Kurt [Cobain]'s or Jimi [Hendrix]'s or Janis [Joplin]'s. Some people just get the affliction. All we can do is adapt the way we view this condition, not as a crime or a romantic affectation but as a disease that will kill. We need to review the way society treats addicts, not as criminals but as sick people in need of care. We need to look at the way our government funds rehabilitation. It is cheaper to rehabilitate an addict than to send them to prison, so criminalization doesn't even make economic sense. Not all of us know someone with the incredible talent that Amy had but we all know drunks and junkies and they all need help and the help is out there. All they have to do is pick up the phone and make the call. Or not. Either way, there will be a phone call."

--Russell Brand on the death of Amy Winehouse

http://omg.yahoo.com/news/russell-br...house/67927?nc

Here's a link to an article that give all of Russell's tribute to Amy.

[0162baldeagle]

Not my favourite artiste, but I appreciate a special talent and a great voice - she had both within a very fragile psyche and body. My thoughts go to her family, she now has no worries.

[Paul_25]

Amy was quite simply one of the very finest singers - of either gender - these isles have ever produced. Her first record was a tentative start with no really great songs on it, but 'Back to Black' is a solid gold masterpiece full of magnificent songs and inspired singing, backed up by superb and sympathetic production and arrangements from Mark Ronson. It is an irony that it was her much vilified ex- husband who gave her the inspiration to write many of the songs.

Apart from a few tracks here and there, that was about it. We await the duet with Tony Bennett to be released this autumn.

I really do think that despite the minimal amount of work Amy produced that she will remebered for an awful long time, not so much for the tragic story but for the genuine merit of her work.

Rest in peace Amy xx

[otiscleotus]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Dan Peek, a co-founder and musician for the folk rock band America, famous for the No. 1 hit "A Horse with No Name," has died. He was 60.

Peek, who died on Sunday, founded the band in the late 1960s with bandmates Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell while they attended high school together in London, where their fathers were stationed with the United States Air Force.

America's self-titled debut album, which featured "A Horse with No Name," shot to the top of the charts in 1972. The group won a Grammy for best new artist that year, and enjoyed a string of other popular hits including "Ventura Highway" and "Lonely People."

"We created lasting music together and experienced a life that we could never have imagined," wrote America co-founder and bandmate Dewey Bunnell on the band's website. "This news brings me great sadness. My sincere condolences go out to his wife, Catherine, and the entire Peek family. May Dan rest in peace, and his memory be cherished forever."

Neil Portnow, chief executive of The Recording Academy which gives out music's highest awards, the Grammys, called Peek "a dynamic individual and great talent."

He noted that Peek was a multi-talented musician who played guitar, bass, keyboards and harmonica.

Peek left America in 1977 and went on to perform contemporary Christian music, but never found the sort of fame he enjoyed with the popular band that recorded hit singles.

Beckley, who called Peek "a dear friend for many years," said the man "and his music will live on in the great songs he shared with us all."

I think this tribute song deserves a reposting here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_79mlkZ8ehg

[bp666]

Roger Ettinger, regarded as the father of cryonics, has died of respiratory failure at age 92.

A 5 day process was then started as he became the 106th patient at the Cryonics Institute, the organisation he founded.

See more http://detnews.com/article/20110725/...393/1409/rss36

[ErnestoGuevara]

Probably, not many people will know of Cec Thompson. I'm a Rugby League fan, which is why I am familiar with him. He was born in County Durham to a (black) Trinidadian father in 1926 and grew up as an orphan in Yorkshire, eventually working as a labourer. He became only the second black player to represent Great Britain at Rugby League and, incredibly for a man of almost no education, an academic in later life, working as head of economics at Chesterfiled Grammar School. A wonderful story that somebody (come on, Ken Loach) should make into a film one day.

[sweatyhat]

A remarkable man.
Thanks Ernesto

[keefriff]

Major League Baseball and Japanese Professional Baseball player Hideki Irabu died July 27 2011 of an apparent suicide. He was 42 years old. Irabu was of Okinawan and American descent but grew up in Japan. He pitched for the Chiba Lotte Marines from 1988-1996. His contract was purchased from the Lotte Marines by the San Diego Padres of MLB who promptly traded him to the NY Yankees. He pitched for the Yankees from 1997-1999 winning two World Series championships although he himself only had one post season appearence. He was traded after the 1999 season to the Montreal Expos where he pitched for the 2000-2001 seasons. In 2002 he pitched for the Texas Rangers before going back to Japan in 2003 where he helped the Hanshin Tigers win the Central League title for the first time since 1985. Irabu was one of the first of what eventually became many players who left Japan to play baseball in the States. He may not have always lived up to some very high expectations but he proved to be a competent major league pitcher. He had some personal problems since his retirement and they may have factored into his suicide. RIP Hideki.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hideki_Irabu

[victor meldrew]

Originally Posted by otiscleotus

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Dan Peek, a co-founder and musician for the folk rock band America, famous for the No. 1 hit "A Horse with No Name," has died. He was 60.

Peek, who died on Sunday, founded the band in the late 1960s with bandmates Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell while they attended high school together in London, where their fathers were stationed with the United States Air Force.

That is so sad, I first saw them in 1970 (I believe) at the Wake Arms in Epping on a cold winters night, three young lads in parkers playing some refreshing music on accoustic guitars and trying to keep warm as well as chatting to the audience after the set, while we waited for the next band.

God Bless.