Ozzy Osbourne
PG read I Am Ozzy, the autobiography of Ozzy Osbourne. (The copyright is given to “Ozzy Osbourne”.) The ghostwriter is Chris Ayers, who PG suspects did the majority of the writing. John Michael Osbourne is dyslexic, among other things. Honestly doctor, I thought the bottle said six pills every hour, and now you say it was one pill every six hours.
This is quite a story. John grew up poor in Aston, England. When he was through with school at 15, he faced a life of manual labor, or prison. The first few jobs he had were horrible, and a stretch behind bars made an impression on him. He put an ad up, saying he wanted to be a vocalist, and was about to give up when Tony Iommi (spell check suggestions:Mommie, Commie) came knocking on his door.
Mr. Iommi was well known in Aston as a musician, but he had to keep a day job. Before he left the factory to become a star, an accident cut off the ends of some of his fingers. He had to change his style, and developed his own, unique way of playing guitar.
The original name of the band was the Polka Tulk Blues Band. They were named after a brand of cheap talcum powder Mrs. Osbourne used. They would load their gear into a vehicle, and hang out by arenas where famous bands played, in case the headliner didn’t show up. One night, Jethro Tull’s truck broke down, and Earth (as the band was then known) played the gig.
Soon, the band…Osbourne, Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward… settled into the business of playing heavy music, with satanic themes. They never took the black magic business seriously, but the combination of a good gimmick and ….their music….clicked, and they began to make buckets of money.
Or rather, somebody was making buckets of money. There was the management, which were typical rock and roll crooks. A few cocaine merchants got some of the revenue, as well as liquor merchants. Ozzy was off on a forty year bender, taking every substance in sight. Supposedly he is clean today.
So Black Sabbath fired Ozzy, and he started a solo career. Ozzy divorced his first wife, and married the daughter of a management heavyweight, Sharon. The alcoholic escapades got more and more bizarre. One night, someone handed him something that looked like a plastic bird. Ozzy bit the head off, and went into rock and roll infamy. (Leviticus 11:13 And these ye shall have in detestation among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are a detestable thing: … 19 and the stork, and the heron after its kinds, and the hoopoe, and the bat,)
The stories come one right after another. After a while your bs detector sends out a warning, but the stories are so much fun to read. Besides, many of these stories were headlines, and can be easily verified. How many people would claim to be arrested for pissing on the Alamo, while wearing his wife’s nightgown? Before long, he is starring in his own reality TV show.
A lot of the credit for this book goes to Chris Ayers, and whoever helped him. Mr. Ayers has a keen ear for British slang, and keeps the action zipping along. Once you get started with these stories, they are tough to put down.
When PG was young enough, he didn’t think it was cool to like Black Sabbath. He was able to ignore them for a while, until that night in 1980 when PG stood outside a stadium in Seattle WA, and listened to Sabbath (with Ronnie James Dio) play inside. Two years later, he pulled up to the triangle building in Century Center. 96 rock was in this building, and a man was standing outside giving away something. By the time PG got to him, he had run out of free tickets to the Black Sabbath concert, at the Omni. The next encounter with the band was at a job. There was an eight track tape player, and a copy of Paranoid. PG played the tape , and a salesman immediately left the building. This is a repost.
How Am I Doing Mama?
November 17, 1963, Liza Minnelli was on “The Judy Garland Show”. The former Frances Gumm was looking rusty from years of hard living. Five days later, President Kennedy made a trip to Dallas. Six years later, Judy Garland left the building. Liza Minelli is still with us, fifty years later. She has been every bit as wild as her mother, but lived to see another day. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
The Last Night Of Judy Garland
In march of 1969, Judy married her fifth husband, Mickey Devinko, better known as Mickey Deans, a gay night-club promoter. Judy had an unfortunate habit of marrying gay men. They lived together in a tiny mews house in Chelsea, London. The evening of Saturday June 21 1969, Judy and Mickey were watching a documentary, The Royal Family, on television, when they had an argument. Judy ran out the door screaming into the street, waking the neighbors.
Several versions of what happened next exist, but the fact remains that a phone call for Judy woke him at 10:40 the next morning, and she was not sleeping in the bed. He searched for her, only to find the bathroom door locked. After no response, he climbed outside to the bathroom window and entered to find Judy, sitting on the toilet. Rigor Mortis had set in. Judy Garland was dead at the age of 47.
The press was already aware of the news before the body could be removed. In an effort to prevent pictures being taken of the corpse, she was apparently draped over someone’s arm like a folded coat, covered with a blanket, and removed from the house with the photographers left none the wiser.
The day Judy died there was a tornado in Kansas…. in Saline County,KS, a rather large F3 tornado (injuring 60, but causing no deaths) did hit at 10:40 pm on June 21st, that would be 4:40 am, June 22nd, London time, the morning she died. I know the time of death has never been firmly established, but since Rigor Mortis had already set in, I think this tornado may very much be in the ballpark in terms of coinciding with time of death…. Other news articles suggest the tornado struck Salina “late at night” which could certainly also mean after midnight on June 22, or roughly 6:00 am London time.
The Toledo Blade for June 24th, also in an article located right next to a picture of Garland, in a write-up on the Salina tornado noted that “Late Saturday [June 21] and early Sunday [June 22, another batch of tornadoes struck in central Kansas.” So it seems the legend seems confirmed.
The text for this story comes from Findadeath. You can spend hours at this site. Pictures are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost.
Lisa Jackson Is White
The New York Times did it’s liberal media duty Saturday with a story about Savannah, and the Paula Deen controversy. There were three curious words in paragraph four. “The predicament that Ms. Deen finds herself in began when a former employee — a white woman who is now managing restaurants in Atlanta — filed a discrimination lawsuit in March 2012.”
This thing has seemed, er, fishy from the get go. The restaurant industry is full of disgruntled former employees, few of whom are paragons of virtue. DFE worked in a restaurant partially owned by a famous person. It is uncertain how active the famous person was in the day to day operation of the restaurant. DFE has a lawyer, who gets famous person to say embarrassing things in a deposition. Somehow, this deposition is leaked to National Enquirer. And now we learn that DFE is white.
Confirmation of the ethnicity of DFE is tough to come by. Few pictures are available. You have to ask Mr. Google repeated questions. A law industry blog called Huseby (spell check suggestion:Houseboy) has a good story on the matter, with a couple of links.
The attorney for the plaintiff, Matthew Billips, has a few issues. “The case began with an “inflammatory letter seeking over a million dollars for forgo filing a lawsuit and allow Deen ‘a chance to salvage a brand that can continue to have value,’ ” Withers’ document said. (Tom Withers, attorney for Bubba Hiers, the brother of Paula Deen) In the motion to dismiss Billips, Withers quoted a tweet by Billips in which he said “suing Paula Deen is a hoot.” Withers also referred to a sexually laced tweet Billips directed at Deen “even more concerning.” In it, “Billips promises to symbolically undress and have sex with” Deen, Withers said. “Billips has posted sexually explicit tweets using extremely graphic and profane language and imagery. He has used the “N” word,” Withers’ motion said.”
Huseby links to an article in the ABA Journal that is downright fascinating. This feature confirms that Lisa Jackson, the DFE/plaintiff, is melanin deficient. The Deen-Hiers legal team has filed a motion, that is highly entertaining. Unfortunately, the pdf is not copy friendly, so the ABA summary will have to do. If you have the time to read the legal motion, you will enjoy it.
“The motion by lawyer Tom Withers says the plaintiff pursuing race-based claims has no standing to assert them because she is white, the Savannah Morning News reports. The plaintiff, Lisa Jackson, had claimed she was sexually harassed and worked in a racially hostile environment at a restaurant owned by Deen and her brother in Savannah, Ga. Withers represents Deen’s brother and the restaurant.
According to the motion, Jackson claimed she was offended because her nieces “are bi-racial with an African-American father.” But the motion says there is just one niece, and she is related to Jackson’s partner, who said in a deposition that the niece’s father is Hispanic and she hasn’t seen the girl in years…. “Jackson cannot enforce someone else’s right, and she has no actionable claim for feeling ‘uncomfortable’ around discriminatory conduct directed at others,” Withers wrote. Jackson must show that any harassment was directed toward her because she was white, but at her deposition she alleged she was treated more favorably than African American employees at the restaurant.” (Page 153)
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
One AM Break
PG does not always know when he has it good. It is breaktime, in a midtown office tower. PG is in an abandoned cubicle, away from the infomercials of the break room TV. He has a tupperware box with four slices of cold pizza. He has … the third shift manager just told him to get out of the cubicle. You can go anywhere but in this room … but that doesn’t steal his joy. There is a gatorade bottle with a quart of water, and a book of short stories by Hank Chinaski. The hero of tonight’s tale just got out of the hospital. His GF ran up a tab of $13.75 at the favorite liquor store.
The new hangout desk has better lighting than the other place, but the chair is not as comfortable. Eventually, it was time to go back to work. Later, some people were talking about Paula Deen, and her troubles. PG said that one of her sons is supposed to be gay. Maybe this is who the plantation wedding was going to be for. Pictures are from Gwinnett County.
Citizenship Test
Atlantic Magazine online has a bit of amusement, Are You Smart Enough to Be a Citizen? Take Our Quiz. It is sponsored by Shell Oil, Prudential Insurance, and something called box. PG took the test.
It is thirteen questions, multiple choice. Some are the standards, like “6. How does a bill become a law?”. Some are creative, like the multiple choices for ” iconic American structures”. It would be interesting to see how many people answered Hoover Dam for a picture of the Gateway Arch. What this has to do with qualifying for voting and jury duty is a good question. (PG missed the Gateway Arch. He looked at the 20 available choices, and did not see the correct answer. Maybe the test of citizenship is looking carefully over long lists of options.)
Question 8 is strange. Pictures of the Supreme Court justices are shown, and the respondent is asked to match the picture with the name. Pictures of the Supremes are seldom shown. Even a fairly well informed person might have trouble telling Stephen Breyer from Anthony Kennedy. If you confuse Clarence Thomas for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, you automatically fail.
PG scored 58, meaning citizens attained, with distinction. The scoring is weird. You get one point for every election you voted in over the last 10 years. Georgia’s tradition of runoff elections got PG 5 extra points. 6 of the 9 Supremes were named correctly. The “civic text” question, and the “references” question, were passed without a hitch. It is good to know that Rosie the Riveter was not a 1984 Ronald Reagan campaign ad.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Two Hundred Yards Behind
In 1985, PG went to work for Shaky Blueprints. The real name was a Japanese word that nobody knew how to spell. Two of the previous hires were an athletic young lady, and a fat man. Until better nicknames arrive, we will call them AYL and FM for this story.
AYL was trying to get FM to go jogging with her after work. This was an ongoing conversation, with FM always turning her down. One afternoon, PG wore an old pair of jogging shoes to work, and said that he would go running with AYL.
Shaky was just off highway 400, in what is now part of Sandy Springs. There was a road leading away from it. The road went over the highway, and went in a wooded semi circle for a couple of miles. The plan was to go on this loop, and take sidewalks on Roswell Road back to Shaky.
At one time, PG went running every day. He was out of the habit by this time, and always a slow runner. When the work day was over, PG tied his glasses on with a rubber band, did a few stretches, and was ready to take on the course.
AYL and PG left the parking lot, and started up the road. PG trudged along with his head down. When he got to the bridge over the highway, PG looked up. AYL had taken off like greased lightning, and was already two hundred yards ahead. PG hollered for her to slow down, and finished the course.
Pictures by “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
101 Ways To Say Death Part Two
In 2008, a blogger started a series, 101 Ways to Say “Died”. It focused on epitaphs from New England cemeteries. Most of the headstones used were carved before 1825. The series has gone past 101, and is up to 118 now. If you look at the site, you see links to the individual parts. That is the number before the epitaph. Some have been skipped. The VPI site has photographs of many of the headstones used here. HT to Twenty Two Words. Pictures by Chamblee54. Part one has been published.
31 Martha H. Locke Passed to the Summer Land Sept. 13, 1817 Et. 31 yrs —- is no death[?]
32By the Church of Christ in Chelmsford. In Testimony of their Esteem and Veneration this sepulchral Stone was erected, to stand as a sacred Memorial of their late worthy Pastor, the Reverend Ebenezer Bridge, who after having officiated among them, in the Service of the Sanctuary, for more than a year above half a Century, the Strength of Nature being exhausted sunk under the Burden of Age, and joined the Congregation of the Dead, Oct. 1 1792. Age, 78 yrs.
33In Memory of HULDAH Wife of STEPHEN TILTON, who exchanged Worlds, Augst 29th 1793; in the 26th year of her age. Also MARY, her Infant, who died Sept. 14th 1793, aged 8 Months. Ye Angels guard this sleeping Clay, Till comes the great decisive day; When in their SAVIOUR’S Image drest, They’ll wake to be completely blest.
34 Here darkness dwells — Fit contemplation for proud human thought. Under this mournful Stone lie the remains of ANNA, Wife of TIMOTHY PALMER who changed this mortal life for that of immortality on the 21st of JULY AD 1786. In the 32d Year of her age. O the soft commerce! O the tender ties, Close twisted with the Fibres of the Heart! Which broken, break them; and drain off the soul Of human joy; and make it pain to live — And is it then to live? When such Friends part, Tis the Survivor dies — my Heart! no more!
35 Sacred to the Memory of Mrs. MERCY TAPPAN the mournfull but resign’d relict of Mr. RICHARD TAPPAN who sleeps in dust beside her to Religion she was an ornament to the neglect of it a Reproof. After a long confinement by a languishing disease which yet could never draw her to a discontented moan nor quench the ardor of incessant prayer, Her SAVIOUR whisper’d rise and come away and at the welcome sound her longing spirit sprung with joyfull assurance from the eager arms of lov’d and loving friends to the far more lov’d and loving arms of her LORD On the 17th of May 1790 AEt 80.
38SACRED to the Memory of Mr. Ralph Cross Who served God & the Presbyterian Church as a ruling Eder in this town more than XI years being a faithfull reprover of vice both in public and private Finish’d a Life of Examplary Piety in a well Grounded hope of eternal glory Janr. the 4th 1788 in the 82nd year of his Age.
39 Sacred to the Memory of Mrs. MARY McHARD the virtuous & amiable Consort of CAPt. WILLIAM McHARD of NewburyPort who amidst the laudable exertions of a very useful & desireable Life in which her Christian Profession was well adorned and a fair copy of every social vir- tue displayed was in a state of health suddenly summoned to the Skies and snatched from ye eager embraces of her friends (and the throbbing hearts of her disconso- late family confessed their fairest prospects of sublunary bliss were in one moment dashed) by swal- lowing a pea at her own table, whence in a few hours she sweetly breathed her Soul away into her SAVIOUR’S arms on the 8th day of March A.D. 1780 AEtatis 47.
41 Sacred to the Memory of Mrs. Ann Cumings Consort of the Revd. Henry Cumings Who quitted this Stage of Mortality and passed into the world of Spirits Jan 5, 1784 in ye 45th Year of her Age supported by lively Hopes of ent’ring into the Joys of her Lord. My flesh shall slumber in the ground Til the last trumpet’s joyful sound, Then burst the grave, with sweet surprize, And in my Saviour’s image rise. Cease then my friends to mourn, Bid earth adieu, Loosen from hence the grasp of fond desire, Weigh anchor and some happier clime explore.
42 Here lie interred Mrs. Lydia Beadle Age 32 Years Ansell Lothrop Elizabeth Lydia & Mary Beadle her Children: the eldest aged 11 and the youngest 6 years Who on the morning of the 11th day of Decr AD 1782 Fell by the hands of William Beadle an infatuated Man who closed the horrid sacrifice of his Wife & Children with his own destruction. Pale round their grassy tombs bedew’s with tears, Flit the thin forms of sorrow and of fears; Soft sighs responsive swell to plaintive chords, And Indignations half unsheath their swords.
43 In Memory of MARGARETT CUMINGS Consort to the Revd. HENRY CUMINGS who expired in the faith of Christ June 2d. 1790 In the 54th Year Of Her age This corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality.
44 Here lies the Body of the amiable ELIZABETH Wife of Mr. STEPHEN PAINE and Daughter of NATHL. FEALS Esq. of Bristol who ended all her Cares in quiet Death January 17th A.D. 1777 In the 23d. Year of her Age.
45 In Memory of Miss AMEY SESSIONS, the amiable daughter of the Hon. Darius Sessions & Sarah his wife; who though suddenly called, met her dissolution with great composure, yeilding up her spirit into the hands of her Creator in full confidence of His power and mercy, on the 22d. day of Oct. 1829, in the 60th year of her age.
46 In this Silent Mansion are deposited the Remains of JEREMIAH KNOWLES Youngest Son of Edward and Molly Knowles, who clos’d this Earthly scene on the 22 of Jany, 1810, in the 35th Year of his Age. Such was the Virtuous Life, of this beloved Youth, that his final hour sweet peace and Heavenly hope, Devinely beam’d on his Exalted Soul. Could greatful love recall the fleeting breath, Or fond affection sooth relentless Death, Then had this stone never Claimed a tear, Nor read to thoughtless man a lesson here.
48 Here lies ye Body of Sarah Antram, Daughter of Major Thomas Fenner & Wife of William Antram; by whom he had 7 Children 4 of which surviv’d her, & rise up & bless her Memory. Proverbs, Chap. 31, Verse 23 28. She was a Careful Loving Mother; A Desirable Neighbour; And a Prudent Wife. She rested from ye Pains & Sorrows of this Life April 17th 1736, in ye 39th Year of her Age. He hath destroyed me on every side, & I am gone: & mine Hope hath he removed like a Tree. Job Chap 19, Verse 10.
49 IN MEMORY of Silvanus Son of Stephen Hopkins Esqr & Sarah his Wife, Was Cast away on Cape Breton Shore & inhumanly Murdered by Cruel Savages on the 23 of April 1753. aged 18 Years 5 Months and 23 Days. Think not by this, My Grave is Shown Hard Fate Decreed, I should have none.
50 Here lies Interred the Body of SAMUEL PACKARD Junr. Son of Capt. Samuel Packard, and Abigail his Wife: Suddenly snatch’d by the hand of his Heavenly Parent, from the evil of this transitory life, He on Feby. 25th A.D. 1799 entered the regions of immortal felicity, Aged 1 Year, 5 Months & 17 Days. Beneath a sleeping Infant lies, To earth his body’s lent; More glorious he’ll hereafter be, Though not more innocent. When the Arch-angel’s trumpet shall blow And souls to bodies Join, Millions will wish their lives below Had been as short as thine.
51 ALLEN WARDWELL son of Mr. Peleg Pitman & Mary his wife; who lost his life by a fall from a tree April 13th 1799, in the 11th Year of his age.
While on the tree The summons came And call’d me to my GOD.
52 In Memory of Mr. Obediah Brown Junr. who fell bravely fighting for the Liberties of his Country on Rhode-Island, Aug. 29th, 1778 in the 26th Year of his Age.
53 Sacred To the memory of Mr. SANDArS PITMAN Goldsmith, who finished a long and useful life on the 15th day of August, AD 1804 in the 74th year of his age. His works were useful standard weight & pure, But still his virtues were applauded more.
54 In Memory of Mr. EDWARD Son of Mr. EDWARD and Mrs. ELIZABETH ALLEN who by Missfortune was shot by a Negroe Soldier April the 10th 1781 in the 23d Year of his Age.
Labelism
Chamblee54 had a post recently about conservatives and liberals. A lot of people see things in those terms. There are other pigeon holes that people get stuffed into. Not only politics, but religion, fashion, and sexual activity are classified, usually by someone who disapproves. Maybe the true religion of our culture is Labelism.
A trip to google city had lots of results. The top result (possibly paid for) is a company called Labelism. You can create personalized labels, usually for an alcohol product. “Welcome to Labelism. The personalised Wine, Whisky, Champagne and Beer gift service where you become the designer & create your own label.”
The always helpful Urban Dictionary calls labelism “The act of judging people by the labels of their clothes. Here are a few examples of labelism: 1(in Abercrombie): I’m so classy. 2 (in Hollister): Me, too. 3 (in American Eagle): Don’t forget me. 1: We all rock! 4 (in Aeropostale): Hey, I’m classy, too! 1: You wish, you wannabe! 2: Yeah, Loser! 5 (in Wal-Mart clothes): I’m pretty classy myself. 1: Eww Get away! You’re poor! 2,3, and 4: Gross! White Trash! Nasty! 5: Whatever, you label whores!”
Ablogspot facility called Quadrilateral Thoughts gets a bit closer to the original concept of this post. “labelism: The tendency to skew diverse particular ideas, events, people, and so forth by grouping them under overly generalized labels in the service of argument.” A few examples are given. “All these statements are logically fallacious, even though they are the stuff of common rhetoric. They take diverse realities and oversimplify them because the human mind has difficulty processing complexity.”
A playground called Young Americans for Liberty comes out as an Anti-Labelist. “If we refuse to be objective in this way, but rather use smear terms and labels, then it is no surprise that more anti-labelites are produced. We become part of the problem rather than part of the solution.”
Labelism dot org is another take. “Labelism- There Must Be For There To Be/Create Create/ Leaving Assumption To The Act/Support Support/ Do Good To Be Good/ Look Passed Word Act-RE-Reality=Option/True”
This post was a good idea that turned out to be boring. The spell check suggestion for labelism is Isabella. Pictures are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost.
Edward Snowden
Edward Snowden is in the public eye now. He told some journalists about a sleazy government-business connection. The former model is being attacked in the media. Could this be the plan?
One of his sources, Glenn Greenwald said on CNN “One of his big concerns with coming out, really his only one, was that he knows political media loves to dramatize and personalize things, and he was concerned that the focus would distract away from the revelations of about what our government was doing on to him personally …. The other problem is that whenever there’s whistleblower, someone who dissents from our political institutions, the favorite tactic is to try to demonize him and highlight his alleged bad personality traits. ”
Lets assume for a minute that few people are surprised that the government is spying on them. Perhaps the plan was to get this information out, and do so in a way that the focus is on the whistleblower rather than the message. This could take several forms. Mr. Snowden could be on the payroll, and will spend a well paid life in exile. Or, Mr. Snowden might be sincere, but was egged on by government personnel who wanted to get this story out in the open.
It should be noted that Chamblee54 does not know what he is talking about. This is rank speculation. Pictures today are from Gwinnett County. Mr. Snowden will probably not spend time in this facility. The spell check suggestion for Snowden is Snowmen. This is similar to straw man.
Pink Pony
About this time last year, PG was following the effort to create a city of Brookhaven. It was a nasty affair, with racially charged mailers, legal complaints, and enough mud slung to cover the Capital City Club . The effort passed, the city was created, and J. Max Davis elected mayor. PG was disgusted, and quit paying attention.
It turns out one of the first moves by the new city was a prohibition on “the serving of alcoholic beverages at a nude dancing establishment.” The intended victim of this move was a large dancing emporium known as the Pink Pony. The PP is one of the larger adult venues in the Atlanta area. The club can afford lawyers, and has filed suit against the city. The ban on alcohol sales will not be enforced until courts rule on the suit.
This lawsuit is going to be expensive to defend. While considering whether, or not, to create the new city, there was much speculation regarding finances. Some said the city was going to have enough money to operate. Some were renaming it Broke-haven. The studies that showed the new city could function used the revenue from the Pink Pony as part of the tax base. These studies probably did not consider the double whammy of losing that revenue, and fighting an expensive legal battle.
The Pink Pony is on Buford Hiway, at the southern fringe of the new city. Some say the boundaries were drawn to include this establishment. PP is in a business district, far away from the mansions of historic Brookhaven, and the mcmansions of Ashford Park. PP is down the hill from Cross Keys High School, which should enable teachers to get part time jobs as exotic dancers.
Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
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