Charlotte McCourt passed away this week at the age of 84 after a long illness. But it is not too late for Charlotte to ttell everyone exactly how she feels.
An excerpt from her obituary, placed in the Las Vegas Review Journal Tuesday, reads:
“We believe that Mom would say she was mortified to have taken a large role in the election of Harry Reid to U.S. Congress. Let the record show Charlotte was displeased with his work. Please, in lieu of flowers, vote for another more worthy candidate.”
As John Smith of the Review Journal points out, this kind of thing makes an impact, not because McCourt "was a political player or business powerbroker, but precisely because she was neither of those things. She was a homemaker, proud mother and grand mother and wife of 67 years to Patrick McCourt."
I thought using the death of a loved one for political grandstanding was considered bad form? Well, not anymore. Looks like the obituary section of the paper (what's a paper) is the new political battleground. And note, if you better write your own obit before your kids do - because if you were a terrible parent, they'll tell the world you worked on the Nixon campaign, or Carter, depending which one ruins your reputation more. If I hated my parents, I'd say they worked on the Nixon and Carter campaigns. If I really wanted to punish them, I'd say they were LaRouche supporters.
Ontario, Canada, 1946 - Two children were killed early Sunday morning in a house fire on the northeast side.
The blaze began before 5 a.m. at a home in the 3600 block of Hillside Avenue.Family members identified the deceased children as Max (3) and Ruby (7).
"Max and Ruby (were) wonderful kids," said Grandma, the victims' grandmother. "They are angels -- church-going kids."
Max, the youngest victim, had a speech disorder that limited his vocabulary to just one word or a two-word phrases, which he would repeat periodically.
Officials said no adults were in the house when the fire began. The children's grandmother, Grandma, escaped unharmed through a downstairs window and watched with horror as firefighters pulled the two victims from the blaze, neighbors said.
"She was crying, just screaming, talking about her babies were in there," said Rosemary Wells, who lives across the street.
According to Wells, "As in most homes in this neighborhood, we never see Max and Ruby's parents. I believe that those kids resolve their issues and conflicts differently when they are on their own. Kids can usually resolve their conflicts in a humorous and entertaining way. Ruby acted as a maternal figure to Max, and took care of Max's basic needs.”
Their latchkey lifestyle apparently caught up with them when the danger was too overwhelming.
Neighbors said Grandma tried to lead firefighters through a door to some steps that led to the bedroom where the children were, but there was too much smoke. The deceased victims were pulled from the fire first.
"He had the first baby just thrown over his shoulder, laid it on the ground and started working on it," another neighbor said. "Then, Ruby -- they had them side-by-side -- it was painful."
Neighbor Louise played with one of the victims, Ruby.
"When you know them personally, it really, really hits you," Louise said. “Their parents were never around, which was great. We were in the bunny scouts and everything. Max was a stinker, though.”
Investigators said the fire was an accident, but they are working to determine an exact cause. An unattended sparking wind up toy might have been to blame, investigators said.
Rick Wagoner to Step down as GM CEO, at Obama's Request. He could be heard shouting in the parking lot, "A sedan, a sedan, my kingdom for a well built, fuel efficient sedan!"
"Mr. Wagoner was asked, and agreed to, step down as part of G.M.'s restructuring agreement with the Obama administration, according to an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity because a formal announcement has not been made yet. The unexpected move by Mr. Wagoner, who has been at the helm of G.M. for eight years, was not confirmed by the company. A statement about Mr. Wagoner's future will be issued after the president's comments, which is expected to be Monday morning."
No word, yet, on the color of Mr. Wagoner's parachute. My guess it'll require another bailout on top of the second bailout they were asking for. My take on all this - It's time for GM to be carefully spun off and sold to their competitors. I'm sure that Ford wouldn't mind taking Jeep, and I'm sure that Kia would love all the empty GM dealerships. Perhaps Dodge and Cadillac could survive on their own?
Oh, GM where did you go wrong? Let me count the ways.
Among GM's many problems, I think their worst failure was losing the Gen X and the following Gen Y (whatever you want to call them) crowd. There was never the kind of dialog or loyalty given to these customers, nor was it returned the way it was with previous generations of Americans.
Second largest mistake was to practically concede the sedan to their competition in favor of the more profitable truck and SUV, and GM luxury vehicles. Citation? Ford isn't asking for bail out money, are they?
Third, their business model assumes you're going to purchase another vehicle in three years. Seeing the repair bills and number of recalls a typical GM car gets, this seems to be designed - not a great strategy when your competitors even "seems" or pulls off the Quality issue to the consumer.
Four, their designs focused more on exterior than interior... really, have you been in a GM vehicle - there are gaps and strange things going inside because the engineers took cost cutting inside, not the exterior...
and Five, they were too big to change the ship back to sedans when gas went to $4.
Well you can't dig me you can't dig nothing. Do you want the real thing or are you just talking? Do you understand? I'm your Garbageman. ~Cramps
Lux's vocals jumped and weaved around the jangly guitars and throbbing back beat. Like a child swinging through the monkey bars oblivious to time and surroundings. Ignorant of pressing issues - just having fun.
A black and yellow ghoul-like creature with a six foot pompadour leered at me off the cover of the album knowingly. Just slap that vein a few more times . . . The back cover offered no clues as to what was happening either. Lots of ghouls connected together by sinews and tendons and hair - a sort of Gothicescher painting.
This is one of my fondest rock and roll moments. As I searched for some hint as to what was going on I was being cleansed by the sounds coming out of the speakers a foot away. It dawned on me - John Cougar is bullshit, Bob Dylan is a whiny chatty Cathy, and I could do without Paul McCartney telling me that love will solve all of my problems. I would have no more 12 hour guitar solos from the Dead and I would ignore all "important" Elvis Costello music. I had no more room in me. It was being filled with schlock, puns, b-movie images, and soft core porn all over a bed of psychobilly. And it felt great.
This past Wednesday, Lux Interior, lead singer of the Cramps, died. Heart condition.
"We sell a lot of records, but somehow just hearing that you've sold so many records doesn't hit you quite as much as when a lot of people call you up and are obviously really broken up because you've died." ~Lux Interior
The Cramps have had a career as bizarre as their stage shows. Formed in 1976 by Lux and a hitchhiker he picked up who would later become his wife (learn from this kids), the Cramps created a sexually charged punk-rockabilly style that was truly unique at the time. Part of the CBGB's crowd, they never really fit in. They were not as crunching as the Ramones or as artsy as Television. They were, simply, fun.
The live shows were truly spectacular. I have seen the other members of the band leave the stage for a break while Lux licked a female audience member. For 10 minutes. She was soaking wet by the end of it. I have seen him cry while singing "It's just that Song" drinking wine from a shoe he grabbed from someone while squirming on the ground. Say one thing for Lux Interior, say he left it on the stage.
The last time I saw the Cramps perform was at the Vic Theater here in Chicago. The costumed crowed was singing, swaying, laughing, and rocking. Lux was clad in a leather g-string and at one point made an amazing climb up to the balcony (he was 60 at the time) where he proceeded to smash his microphone and dangle the remaining live wires into beers of the balconyers.
It's just so much fun. You pull in to one town and people scream, 'I love you, I love you, I love you.' And you go to a bar and have a great rock 'n' roll show and go to the next town and people scream, 'I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.' It's hard to walk away from all that. ~Lux Interior
Lux Interior reminded me that rock is supposed to be fun. There is no shame in screaming at the top of your lungs, "Calling all cows down on the farm. Close the door, you born in a barn?" He gave us great songs, Don't Eat Stuff Off the Sidewalk, GooGooMuck, What's Inside a Girl, Bikini Girls with Machine Guns, end Over, I'll Drive, and Tear It Up. Unafraid, the Cramps have opened for the Police and headlined at the Napa State Mental Hospital. They have rocked, shlocked, hooked, and banged all over the world. And now it is over.
Lux Interior may be gone but his attitude, and his music, will live on.
Charlotte McCourt passed away this week at the age of 84 after a long illness. But it is not too late for Charlotte to ttell everyone exactly how she feels.
