RIP: GARY COLEMAN

Dead at 42...a life cut short...

(Oh, wait, he was already short - sorry, couldn't resist.)

RIDDLE ME THIS...

So the BP oil spill has been going on for about 2 weeks now, so why is it the price of gas has gone down almost 30 cents in that time...???

BEER NUMBER 698

Closing in on the big 7-0-0! And this was a tasty one, brewed by Lagunitas Brewing in California. Released on the 40th anniversary of the Frank Zappa album of the same name, a tasty dark beer listed as a American Double / Imperial Stout. Whatever.

A tasty beer nonetheless, though I was surprised to find it a dark beer, as you

couldn't tell through the bottle what it was, and didn't see anything on the label. But a fine drinking experience, and of course, a nice collectable label.

RIP: RONNIE JAMES DIO

Black Sabbath, Elf, Rainbow and Dio singer Ronnie James Dio has died after losing his battle with stomach cancer.
The 67-year-old singer, who passed away early yesterday morning (May 16), was diagnosed last November and seemed to be making good progress earlier this year.
The singer, who replaced Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath in 1979, fronted Heaven & Hell and Dio before his death.

And, for those of you unaware, Ronnie invented the heavy metal devil horns, after replacing Ozzy in Black Sabbath. Ozzy used to use peace signs when working the crowd, and when Ronnie took over, chose to replace the signs with the evil-eye/devil horn symbol.

A man with a truly incredible voice, sorry to see him go.

Rock on Ronnie, rock on...

ODD HOURS

By Dean Koontz:

"Blossom said, "Grandma Melvina taught a gorilla named Percy to write poetry."

Annamaria said, "Free verse, I imagine."

"No sane person would have paid for it," Blossom said, and they both laughed.

'Someday the telephone will be a small voice-activated chip embedded just behind the jawbone and under the ear, and then cell phones will be as outmoded as the coin-operated variety that they have gradually but steadily replaced.'

THE EGYPTOLOGIST

by Arthur Phillips:

"The following items will be irretrievably lost someday quite soon: Beethoven's works. The beer you prefer. All record of your ancestry. The place you first kissed a girl. Toffee. Coffee. The landscape you associate with peace and liberty. Any evidence of your boyhood, real or just fondly recalled."

NUFF SAID...

Brown uniforms and jackboots will be given out at the state line...

RIP: FRANK FRAZETTA

At the age of 82, here in Florida. An iconic fantasy illustrator, perhaps most people would recognize the Molly Hatchet album covers he did back in the 70s, though they might know know it was him that did them. Also covers of many sword & sorcery paperbacks.

I've always liked the picture below, which in the mid 70s you could find copied on a velvet painting they used to sell at roadside stands; yeah, I own one (still) - who can resist a velvet painting?

DRILL BABY, SPILL!!