Bless Me Now With Your Fierce Tears XI

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Fri, 2015-05-15 04:59

Left Turn

[url=http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-32747861]BB King, the King of Blues, dies at 89[/url]

Back when I was a teenager taking guitar lessons, I would get my teacher to teach me "B.B. King-style" guitar licks. B.B. King's playing was, and still is, a high standard to aspire to.

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6gDeGdQ3rM]B. B. King & Eric Clapton - The Thrill Is Gone[/url]

I came acrosss this live version of 'Thrill is Gone' back in 2007, and it's been a favourite of mine ever since. B.B. King and Eric Clapton's duet at the end is absolutely classic. Though B.B. King is no longer with us, as long as I can still watch this, the thrill will never be gone. Rest in peace!

Fri, 2015-05-15 05:13

#253

Slumberjack

Left Turn wrote:
B.B. King's playing was, and still is, a high standard to aspire to.

Vey much so. He is listed at #6 on Rolling Stone's greatest guitarists of all time.

Fri, 2015-05-15 05:13

#254

lagatta

Very sad to hear this, but not terribly surprised. He had been ill for a long time, and I was pleased that he lived and worked as long as he did.

Perhaps all the "King Streets" here and there should be renamed "BB King"?

Remember that he grew up in the peonage that followed chattel slavery, as a sharecropper.

Wed, 2015-05-27 13:07

#255

sherpa-finn

Michael Barratt Brown - a familiar name to anyone dabbling in alternative (socialist) economics in the 70s and 80s, - or engaged in the worker control / industrial democracy movements of the day.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/26/michael-barratt-brown

Tue, 2015-06-09 22:13

#256

sherpa-finn

Ronnie Gilbert, singer, song writer and activist - best known as a member of the classic folk band The Weavers.

Obit with embedded video clip here: http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/06/08/passing-ronnie-gilbert

Thu, 2015-06-11 19:00

#257

bekayne

Christopher Lee

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jun/11/christopher-lee-dies-at-the-...

Thu, 2015-06-11 19:18

#258

bekayne

Ornette Coleman

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/12/arts/music/ornette-coleman-jazz-saxoph...

Thu, 2015-06-11 19:25

#259

6079_Smith_W

Herman Zapf

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/shortcuts/2015/jun/10/why-we-lov...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/10/arts/design/hermann-zapf-96-dies-desig...

Fri, 2015-06-12 19:02

#260

laine lowe laine lowe's picture

Big hit on the music front with BB King, Ronnie Gilbrert and Ornette Coleman. At least they were not young deaths.

Fri, 2015-06-12 23:37

#261

Ken Burch

The thing to remember is, new songs will always be made...by those whose names we do not yet know, and in places we may not expect. We just need to be open to whatever song may rise.

Sun, 2015-06-14 01:16

#262

Ken Burch

Ronnie spent a considerable period of time in her post-Weavers years living in B.C., from what I've heard.

Here's my favorite vocal performances of hers(in duet with Holly Near) :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqGOZm9qJOo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVPbxqqNZk0

(on edit)

And here's a collection of short films from 1951 in which The Weavers perform several of their best-known songs(right before blacklisting ended their commercial music career, other than in a series of reunion concerts) :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HCsW0xh1Mk

Mon, 2015-06-15 17:13

#263

Unionist

A great man has left us, much too soon.

[url=http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/former-montreal-mayor-jean-do... Montreal mayor Jean Doré dead at 70[/url]

Mon, 2015-06-15 19:08

#264

sherpa-finn

With a great set of archival photos attached, including early MCM days. Thanks!

Mon, 2015-06-15 19:36

#265

lagatta

Thanks. I've had a rush of work and didn't even listen to the news at 6 p.m. I knew him - not "well" but as a colleague, and the initial election of the RCM was such a thrill - I remember the party at l'Union française (an old hall for the "Français de France" community, beautiful but somewhat rundown, very close to the old headquarters of the CSN). And the acrimony over Overdale.

While I won't let any municipal party, not the RCM or Projet Montréal, take the credit for things community associations have fought for, whether bicycle paths, bus lanes or social housing, they did implement a lot of our demands that the Drapeau administration had refused (and jailed some of us for). And the commitment to fighting complicity with Apartheid and miitarism was very real, culminating in Nelson Mandela's visit here.

Wed, 2015-06-24 00:00

#266

Ken Burch

Comedian Rick Ducommun(from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, as it turns out), age 62:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/18/entertainment/feat-rick-ducommun-obit-thr/...

Thu, 2015-06-25 19:26

#267

bekayne

Patrick Macnee:

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/25/avengers-star-patric...

Macnee nearly lost the role of bowler-hatted Steed because of his aversion to violence. In a 1997 interview he recalled being told by producers that he would have to use a gun on the show.

“I said, ‘No, I don’t. I’ve been in World War II for five years and I’ve seen most of my friends blown to bits and I’m not going to carry a gun.’ They said: ‘What are you going to carry?’ I thought frantically and said: ‘An umbrella.’”

Thu, 2015-06-25 19:49

#268

lagatta

I LOVED that show when I was a girl. Indeed, it was one of the few shows were women were something other than decorations. Yes, they were stylish and attractive, but so were the men.

Fri, 2015-07-10 16:55

#269

NDPP

Omar Sharif, 83

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-33483877

RIP (quite a bridge player too)

Wed, 2015-07-22 15:16

#270

Unionist

Great novelist and progressive:

[url=http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/22/books/el-doctorow-author-of-historical.... L. Doctorow Dies at 84; Literary Time Traveler Stirred Past Into Fiction[/url]

Wed, 2015-07-22 17:21

#271

josh

Theodore Bickel,actor, musician, and fighter for social
justice to the end. As witnessed by his support of Jewish Voice for Peace.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/22/theater/theodore-bikel-master-of-ve...

Mon, 2015-07-27 13:21

#272

sherpa-finn

I suspect many Babblers are disinclined to acknowledge the passing of Conservatives with any measure of regret, - but Flora MacDonald was one of the few good'uns, championing and defending the 'progressive' in Progressive Conservative. And a bit of a pioneer for women in politics, too. RIP.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/flora-macdonald-longtime-politicia...

Mon, 2015-07-27 13:54

#273

Unionist

Theodore Bikel, Flora MacDonald, two long-time heroes in my personal pantheon (though in rather different sections thereof). I sincerely wish we look upon their like again.

Mon, 2015-07-27 16:02

#274

laine lowe laine lowe's picture

Thanks for that NYT obituary of Theodore Bikel, josh.

I think you'll find many Babblers, leftists and other progressive Canadians will be saddened by the loss of Flora MacDonald, sherpa-finn. I knew of many of her accomplishments but I hadn't realized that she had campaigned against the Free Trade Agreement in 1988 (heard a clip of an interview on yesterday evening's "World at Six".

Mon, 2015-07-27 18:04

#275

quizzical

sherpa-finn wrote:
I suspect many Babblers are disinclined to acknowledge the passing of Conservatives with any measure of regret, - but Flora MacDonald was one of the few good'uns, championing and defending the 'progressive' in Progressive Conservative. And a bit of a pioneer for women in politics, too.

RIP.

had not heard of her until yesterday when my mom cried over her death. said she looked up to her as a teen and young woman. sometimes it seems there's no one on my age group who warrants such regard.

Tue, 2015-08-04 19:14

#276

quizzical

Christopher Hyndman. 1965-2015

i'm very sad. started watching Steven and Chris as a teenager when it was Design Rivals. one of the only damn channels we got here in the mountains.

i'll miss you.

eta. condolences to Steven, family and friends

Tue, 2015-08-04 22:42

#277

Ken Burch

laine lowe wrote:

Thanks for that NYT obituary of Theodore Bikel, josh.

I think you'll find many Babblers, leftists and other progressive Canadians will be saddened by the loss of Flora MacDonald, sherpa-finn. I knew of many of her accomplishments but I hadn't realized that she had campaigned against the Free Trade Agreement in 1988 (heard a clip of an interview on yesterday evening's "World at Six".

She voted NDP in her later years.

Fri, 2015-08-07 17:27

#278

bekayne

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canadian-doctor-who-kept-th...

Frances Kelsey, the Canadian doctor whose unyielding vigilance spared the United States from one of the worst drug disasters in history, died on Friday morning. She was 101.

Dr. Kelsey is regarded as a heroine for her role in the early 1960s opposing thalidomide, a teratogenic drug heavily promoted by its boosters as a safe sedative for pregnant women, but which caused an epidemic of birth defects around the world, including Canada.

Dr. Kelsey died less than 24 hours after receiving the insignia of Member of the Order of Canada for her role in stopping thalidomide, a belated gesture of recognition by her native country announced in July. Dr. Kelsey’s family requested that the ceremony be moved up as Dr. Kelsey’s health declined.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/frances-oldham-kel...

Sun, 2015-08-09 19:48

#279

Ken Burch

I was born in December, 1960...without fin hands or flipper legs. Thank you, Dr Kelsey.

Sun, 2015-08-09 19:52

#280

Mr. Magoo

You were born in the United States?

Mon, 2015-08-10 03:00

#281

Ken Burch

I've always told everyone here I'm a Yank. I post here out of internationalism and a sincere interest in the Canadian left.

Wed, 2015-08-26 17:22

#282

6079_Smith_W

Frances Wasserlein. Former colleague and great person, way too soon.

http://www.straight.com/arts/517096/arts-and-human-rights-advocate-franc...

Wed, 2015-08-26 18:57

#283

lagatta

I'm very sorry to hear that. I think I might have met her at the Abortion Caravan.

Sun, 2015-08-30 23:32

#284

ikosmos

Oliver Sacks

NY Times wrote:
Oliver Sacks, the neurologist and acclaimed author who explored some of the brain’s strangest pathways in best-selling case histories like “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,” using his patients’ disorders as starting points for eloquent meditations on consciousness and the human condition, died on Sunday at his home in Manhattan. He was 82.

Thu, 2015-10-15 21:19

#285

mark_alfred

Ken Taylor

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ken-taylor-canadian-ambassador-iran-dies-1...

Thu, 2015-11-12 19:40

#286

NDPP

Identical Twins Separated At Birth: The Jew and the Nazi

http://www.unz.com/isteve/identical-twins-separated-near-birth-the-jew-a...

Jack Yufe dies at 82

Fri, 2015-12-04 02:52

#287

Slumberjack

Scott Weiland - Dead and Bloated

Mon, 2015-12-07 14:07

#288

ikosmos

Dave Brubeck takes 5 for the last time.

Tue, 2015-12-08 11:42

#289

ikosmos

bekayne wrote:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canadian-doctor-who-kept-th...

Frances Kelsey, the Canadian doctor whose unyielding vigilance spared the United States from one of the worst drug disasters in history, died on Friday morning. She was 101.

Dr. Kelsey is regarded as a heroine for her role in the early 1960s opposing thalidomide, a teratogenic drug heavily promoted by its boosters as a safe sedative for pregnant women, but which caused an epidemic of birth defects around the world, including Canada.

Dr. Kelsey died less than 24 hours after receiving the insignia of Member of the Order of Canada for her role in stopping thalidomide, a belated gesture of recognition by her native country announced in July. Dr. Kelsey’s family requested that the ceremony be moved up as Dr. Kelsey’s health declined.

[/quote]

There is at least one school named after her .. in Mill Bay on Vancouver Island.

Mill Bay is close to Cobble Hill where Dr. Kelsey was born.

Tue, 2015-12-08 18:50

#290

ikosmos

"The last participant in the storming of the Reichstag, veteran Nikolai Belyaev, died today in St Petersburg.

During the Great Patriotic War, Lieutenant Belyaev was a Komsomol leader of the legendary 756-th Regiment, that took the Reichstag in 1945. "

Nikolai Belyaev, THE LAST OF THOSE WHO STORMED THE REICHSTAG, has left us ...

Tue, 2015-12-08 19:30

#291

lagatta

Thanks for that. I assume he wasn't the lad who raised the flag in the famous photo?

I can't find anything more about him. My searches for that name turn up someone much older, who died in 1966.

Most of our living memories of that dark time have passed on. I have ONE resistance fighter friend (in Normandy, as a very young man) who is still alive and lucid, though very, very sad. Even my dear friend V, who was had to wear a yellow star as a Jewish child in occupied Paris and whose Italian-Jewish family were saved by a fascist functionary delivering them a bogus "certificate of Aryanity" is getting up there.

Both of these people live in Paris, by the way.

Wed, 2015-12-09 09:05

#292

6079_Smith_W

John Trudell

http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/john-trudell-dies-at-69-1.3356642

Wed, 2015-12-09 10:39

#293

Unionist

6079_Smith_W wrote:

John Trudell

http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/john-trudell-dies-at-69-1.3356642

Oh my god, I only ever knew pieces of this story. Thanks so much for posting this. May he rest in peace and may his people overcome.

Wed, 2015-12-09 18:10

#294

NDPP

John Trudell: Human Being

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/12/09/john-trudell-human-being/

https://youtu.be/6GgUyZ4F7CU

https://youtu.be/ooZ8xz9AgpM

Wed, 2015-12-09 18:32

#295

quizzical

Unionist wrote:
6079_Smith_W wrote:
John Trudell

http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/john-trudell-dies-at-69-1.3356642

Oh my god, I only ever knew pieces of this story. Thanks so much for posting this. May he rest in peace and may his people overcome.[/quote]

i never knew anything. his family died the year i was born.

thank you John Trudell for leading the way....

Thu, 2015-12-10 00:54

#296

ikosmos

lagatta wrote:

Thanks for that. I assume he wasn't the lad who raised the flag in the famous photo?

I can't find anything more about him. My searches for that name turn up someone much older, who died in 1966.

Most of our living memories of that dark time have passed on. I have ONE resistance fighter friend (in Normandy, as a very young man) who is still alive and lucid, though very, very sad. Even my dear friend V, who was had to wear a yellow star as a Jewish child in occupied Paris and whose Italian-Jewish family were saved by a fascist functionary delivering them a bogus "certificate of Aryanity" is getting up there.

Both of these people live in Paris, by the way.

Yes, I'm pretty certain he wasn't the one who raised the flag. A more important point is that the right-wing website where I took the link to the photo from claimed that the whole photo was a staged event, 3 days after the storming, and provides some other (alleged) details. I haven't investigated the claim at all.

Thu, 2015-12-10 21:50

#297

lagatta

As far as I know that is bullshit, but let them try to prove it. Remember the Greek partisan who did the same? He's still alive, at last reading.

Mon, 2015-12-14 00:34

#298

Ken Burch

Greg Fisk.

Born in Montreal in 1945.

In 1974, was Co-Chief Negotiator of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, negotiating on behalf of the Northern Quebec Inuit Association. He later worked for the Makivik Corporation, which represents the Inuit of Nunavik,

Holding joint U.S.-Canadian citizenship, Greg spent much of his life in Alaska, where he specialized in fisheries management.

I knew him here in Juneau when we worked on a committee attempting to start a food co-op here in downtown Juneau(this was prompted by the announced closure of the only supermarket in the downtown area-the co-op attempt became moot when another supermarket came in).

this summer, on the day of the filing deadline, Greg challenged the incumbent mayor for re-election(no one else had filed against the guy).

Running one of the most positive campaigns in local history, Greg was elected this October in a landslide.

On November 30th(about one month into his term), despite being in apparently excellent health, Greg dropped dead of a heart attack in his home on Starr Hill in Juneau(about five blocks from the spot I am writing this post). His son found his body later that day. Greg Fisk was a very young, very vigorous 70 years old.

(I've chosen not to post the news links about his death because initially, they weren't sure why he died, and since there were some bruises on his body from the uncontrolled fall he took-he apparently died instantly-the stories leave the impression that foul play was possible.)

Mon, 2015-12-14 09:56

#299

lagatta

I remember Greg. Very sorry to hear that. Hopefully there will be more thoughtful news articles soon, in Canadian news media as well. I wonder if APTN will be covering the story; you might want to contact the network, as that was an important, if incomplete, victory for First Peoples in Québec. Yes, far from ideal, but the government basically wanted to screw the peoples of the Far North (Inuit, Cree, Naskapi). We must always remember that if we have a relatively low carbon footprint in Québec today, it is because of those hydroelectric developments on the lands of First Peoples.

The wiki article says nothing about his James Bay work, or indeed about his life or work anywhere in Canada: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Fisk Nor does it state his place of birth.

Mon, 2015-12-14 10:15

#300

lagatta

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