22 thoughts on “Alan Rickman, 1946-2016

  1. I fell for him with “Truly, Madly, Deeply”* and never looked back.

    I believe his performance as Snape changed the character’s arc in the Potter books (OK, granted, not talking deep literature here).

    *And c’mon, who wasn’t secretly rooting for Gruber in “Die Hard”?!

    In private life, he lived happily with the same partner for 50+ years, by itself an amazing accomplishment.

  2. Not to be morbid, but usually the good one fall in 3’s, so, who’s next?

    I’d love to see evil people fall in 3’s.
    How does this DOA trifecta sound?
    Cheney.
    Greenspan.
    John Yoo.

    Yeah, I know, as long as poor children have blood for him to suck out, Cheney will be immortal…

  3. How about this trio?:
    Murdoch.
    Ailes.
    Limbaugh.

    Lest folks think I’m being serious about this, I just want to assure them thaytI’m just doing this for some shit’s and giggles. I don’t really wish death on anyone.

  4. moonbat,
    Perish the thought!

    Pete and The Who, are my fave’s.
    He’s one of the greatest songwriters (and underrated guitarist’s) in R&R history.

    And back when Keith, that drum-playing maniac, was still alive, they were – imo – the most kick-ass band of bad boys around!
    And with Roger’s great voice, with his unparalleled scream/howl, and John Entwhistles calm demeanor, and monster bass – as well as other instrumental – playing abilities, they made a 4-piece R&R band, sound like a 10-piece – and at a volume that was only slightly louder than standing on the runway, as a jumbo-jet was taking off!

    And I should know, since I saw them live dozens of times, from the mid-70’s until the late 90’s.

    So please, anyone, don’t even joke about Pete leaving us anytime soon!

    Not that I would want him go soon either, but how in the hell is Keith Richards still alive?
    Pete was no angel when it came to booze and drug abuse, by any stretch of anyone’s imagination, but Keith could make even Townshend look like a JH school kid, toking on a mild joint, and sipping at some Boone’s Farm!
    I guess all of that blood-filtering and transfusions back in the day, to clean-out the drugs from his system so he could still live to abuse booze and pharmaceuticals to excess once he went home, worked!

    Ah, the great old days of R&R – for those who somehow managed to survive them!!!

  5. Funny, I almost posted “Pancho and Lefty” a few days ago. Except for a couple of years, I wasn’t into rock very much, at least until New Wave came along.

    I think this is my favorite TVZ song, although that can change. There’s a Buddhist sensibility to it. But, what do I know?

    https://youtu.be/ioJizJ93DdQ

  6. A Tour de Force: David Niewert writes Donald Trump may not be a fascist, but he is leading us merrily down that path. It includes so many strands of thought in one article.

    …It is by small steps of incremental meanness and viciousness that we lose our humanity. The Nazis, in the end, embodied the ascension of utter demonic inhumanity, but they didn’t get that way overnight. They got that way through, day after day, attacking and demonizing and urging the elimination of those they deemed their enemies.

    And this is what has been happening to America – in particular, to the conservative movement and the Republican Party – for a very long time. Donald Trump represents the apotheosis of this, the culmination of a very long-growing trend that really began in the 1990s.

    That was when we first saw the popular rise of eliminationist hate talk, wielded with thoughtless glee and great regularity by an increasingly rabid set of right-wing pundits led by Rush Limbaugh, and then deeply codified by the talking heads who have subsequently marched across the sound stages at Fox News. It rose to the surface with the vice-presidential candidacy of Sarah Palin in 2008, followed immediately, in reaction to the election of Barack Obama, by the birth of the Tea Party, which is perhaps the single most significant manifestation of right-wing populism in the nation’s history…

  7. usually the good one fall in 3’s, so, who’s next?

    Aaaaand we have a winner! Grizzly Adams (a/k/a Dan Haggerty). RIP fuzzy dude.

    I confess, not in any of my morbid guesses.

  8. Thanks, Moonbat. I’ve always had a lot of admiration for David Niewert. This article reminds me of the series on fascism that he did many years ago.

  9. goatherd,
    Niewart still posts at Crooks & Liars, so you can still read the great stuff he’s writing about.

  10. I wonder if Cruz ever registered with the Selective Service System? Seeing how Cruz has a tendency to overlook nuisance legal “paperwork” requirements it seems to me that there is a good chance given the time period between the implementation of an all volunteer military service and Cruz’s legal obligation to register he very well could have dismissed or overlooked that legal requirement. Also given the fact Cruz held a dual citizenship he could have interpreted that fact as exempting him from any requirement.
    I don’t know if Cruz registered or not, but I do know that he was required by law to do so, and failure to do so could carry a penalty of $250,000. and 5 years prison. It’s a felony. And it not something that he can go back and amend.
    If I were Trump I’d be sure to turn over that rock to see if Teddy got complacent while shuttling around seeking out debates on the Constitution.

    Just a little footnote…I’m glad to see that the financial penalty for failure to register has keep pace with inflation..Back in my day the financial penalty was only $5,000. To bad salaries haven’t kept up, huh?

  11. joan,
    Yeah, that was a good movie and a cute TV show.
    But the show got old real fast.

    I wanted to recommend that they merge Grizzly Adams and Kung-Fu. This way, two guys walk into an old Western town, and between Adams, the bear, and Grasshopper, they could kick-ass, kung-fu the bad guys, and let the bear eat them!

    Now THAT would have been a hit TV show!!!
    At least until Fonzie came, and jumped the Grizzly!

  12. Grizzly Caine!

    But only if they skipped into town to the “Shlemiel, Shlemazel” rhyme from Laverne & Shirley.

    Bear: jumped.

  13. joan,
    Have I told you recently how much I love you?

    That last comment was ROTFLMAOTIP funny!
    (Rolling On The Floor Laughing My Ass Off ‘Til I Puked!)

  14. Thanks, CUND. I read Crooks and Liars regularly, but, your post prompted me to check orcinus again. I thought it went bust a few years back. I guess I was wrong.

    By the way, regarding the quote equating fascism with “corporatism,” The closest I’ve found is from the libertarian darling, Ludwig Von Mises. I think it is well documented. It expresses the same sentiment, less directly. He was part of an Austrofascist government until the leader was assassinated. Randian libertarianism is just fascism stripped for import. His conviction that “Fascism was saving Europe” is also genuine.

    ====================================================

    And now, a musical break. This guy is one of my faves. He’s more melodic than most, at least I always know what song he’s playing. He’s also an excellent teacher, and seems to be a genuinely kind person.

    https://youtu.be/mTMiNWabZJM

  15. goatherd,
    Man, what a guitarist!
    I was pretty good on the piano – I got the highest grades you could get from NYSMA (The NY State Music Association) on their tests, at the tender age of 13. I played an extremely demanding but incredibly beautiful piece by Grieg.

    I dropped studying and playing the piano at 16 – a long story…

    I wanted to play guitar.
    Well, to make a long story short, and went out and got a nice electric one, figuring, STUPIDLY, ‘how hard can it be!’
    Oy! Did I find out!
    And as good as I was on the piano, I sucked twice as bad at the guitar.

    It’s a non-linear instrument, unlike the piano, where all 88 keys are in front of you, and there’s only one was to hit any chord within whichever octave range is called for. And I just couldn’t wrap my little linear-piano-playing brain, around the number of different ways there are to hit the exact same chord on a guitar – which has 6 strings, as opposed to 88 keys. I mean, really?

    So, I gave up trying to play the guitar.
    My sister has a Masters in Piano Performance, and her teacher/mentor/tormentor, was Vladimir Feltsman, one of the greatest current interpreters of the great Bach. She had to work at playing piano, which came pretty easily for me. She hated that! It was the same way in school – she had to work for her grades, and I could do as little as humanly possible and still get great grades.

    Now, with arthritis in both hands, both instruments are out for me. But I still love hearing great musicians, no matter the instrument or style of music. So, there’s at least still that!

    Thanks for the musical interlude, but sorry about the long TMI story. 🙂

  16. 6 strings, as opposed to 88 keys

    Yes but guitar is a two dimensional instument as opposed to piano! The secret is to playing guitar is to accept mediocrity, then its just fun, though when Goat posts his Spanish classical stuff I sometimes think of burning my entire collection!

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