WHY, YOU ASK?

Why is beer better than wine? Human feet are

conspicuously absent from beer making."

— Steve Mirsky, Scientific American; May 2007

CASTLE (THE TV SHOW)

Kate Beckett (the gorgeous Stana Katic) to a street magician she's just busted:

"Alakazam, jackass"

HEY ASSHOLE!

Yeah, you in the SUV - you know, the one that drives up the side of mountains and crosses raging rivers?

Well, do you think that you could not slow down to 1 MPH to cross the freaking railroad track!!

Just once, please...

RIP: GERRY RAFFERTY

Gerry Rafferty was a Scottish singer-songwriter who scored several hits throughout the ’70s and ’80s, most notably, “Baker Street” and “Right Down The Line.” Launching his career as a busker in London’s Underground during the late ’60s, Rafferty soon teamed up with future actor, Billy Connollyin a band called the Humblebums. In 1972, he helped form Stealers Wheel who had a hit with “Stuck In The Middle With You.” Six years later he released City To City which included the smash hit “Baker Street,” with one of the most instantly recognizable openings in pop music history. The album will go down in history as the one that knocked the groundbreaking juggernaut, Saturday Night Fever soundtrack out of the #1 slot in America. He released several more albums over the course of the next two decades, but none came close to the success of City To City. In August of 2008, Rafferty reportedly disappeared from a hospital where he was being treated for chronic liver problems, leaving all of his possessions behind. He resurfaced in the media in February 2009, apparently living in hiding and being cared for by a close friend. Other reports indicated however, that he was suffering from alcoholism but otherwise doing fine. What IS known is that he was still making music, having released Life Goes On in August of 2009. In November of 2010, Rafferty was taken to a hospital where he was placed on life support due to liver failure. He was later taken off support and subsequently passed away on January 4, 2011. He was 63.

And "Stuck In the Middle", what a great car song; I'll always remember driving along in the front seat, seated between Larry & Mark, singing at the top of our lungs..."Stuck in the middle with Jews...", because I was, and they were...

RIP: Captain Beefheart

Captain Beefheart was a respected, innovative, and highly influential rock musician who launched his 40-year career in 1964. A multi-instrumentalist with a powerful voice, Beefheart found himself at the top 1960s avant-garde rock heap. He was a high school classmate of Frank Zappa with whom he occasionally recorded and performed with. In 1969, Beefheart released his groundbreaking opus, Trout Mask Replica on Zappa’s Straight Records. In 2003, Rolling Stonemagazine positioned it at #58 on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. It is commonly cited as an influence on post-punk and alternative rock. It has been reported that his paintings can command as much as $40,000. Captain Beefheart died today of complications from Multiple Sclerosis. He was 69.

Iconic, but never a big fan, though I did see him play with Frank Zappa in the mid-70s.

IT WAS 30 YEARS AGO TODAY...

And we still miss you...

RIP: LESLIE NEILSEN

Well, I know you know him. The famous actor best known for his role in "Forbidden Planet".

What do you mean you never heard of it? Who do you think this guy was, some kind of comic genius who could make you laugh with his facial expressions?

Oh...yeah...

RIP: INGRID PITT

What do you mean, never heard of her? Are you some kind of Philistine? She was the well-known Hammer Horror actress who played Countess Dracula, among others. Only in her early 70s, she passed away last week...or did she...?

Coign Of Vantage

by John McAleer:

"As fast as I can I'm gonna hie me over to McDonald's and have the biggest cheesburger they've got. I could eat a heifer."

"Heifers are vegetarians."

"Maybe that's why they're dumb enough to end up as hamburgers."

BONGWATER

by Michael Hornburg:

"There's a sense of dread this time of year, like running out of pot and knowing the only way to get high is to drink the bongwater."

And keeping in mind this was published in 1995...

"'Planes only crash when they take off and land, they don't blow up in midair'

'What about that one in Scotland with all the schoolgirls inside?'

That was terrorism, that's different.There aren't any terrorists in the skies over Pennsylvania'"