Dig A Hole: Jesse Helms is finally dead!
July 4th, 2008 by Scott Marks
Another piece of s–t has forever been scraped from off the shoe sole of life. “Morally sick” homosexuals and “Negroes” will rest better tonight knowing that on this, America’s Independence Day, they are forever free of the hate-spewing North Carolina Republican. Former U.S. Senator Jesse Helms is at last where he belongs. He died Friday at the age of 86.
While the cause of death has not been announced, it’s safe to say that it wasn’t AIDS.
Helms’ first full-time job after college was as a sports reporter with The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina. In 1942 he married Dorothy Coble, who was the newspaper’s society reporter. During the war Helms served stateside as a naval recruiter. He eventually became the city news editor of the Raleigh Times, and later moved to radio and television.
Helms began his career in politics as an unofficial researcher for Willis Smith, a conservative Democratic lawyer, former president of the American Bar Association and staunch supporter of racial segregation, who successfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 1950.
Before launching a media career, Helms was executive director of the North Carolina Bankers Association. In 1960 he became the executive vice-president, vice chairman of the board, and assistant chief executive officer of the Raleigh-based Capitol Broadcasting Company. The folksy editorials, which he delivered at the end of each night’s local news broadcast, made Helms a local phenomenon.
In 1972, after announcing his candidacy for a seat in the United States Senate, Helms went on to win the Republican primary with 60.1 percent of the vote.
When Helms retired in 2003 after serving five terms, President Bush said, “Sen. Helms has been a tireless defender of our nation’s freedom and a champion of democracy abroad.” He mourned the Senate for “losing an institution.” Let’s let the record speak for itself regarding exactly what type of institutionalized modes of living Sen. Helms represented:
- In 1950, the distinguished Senator helped create a campaign ad that read, “White people, wake up before it is too late. Do you want Negroes working beside you, your wife and your daughters, in your mills and factories? (Democratic candidate) Frank Graham favors mingling of the races.” So this is where KKK big muckety-muck Daniel Carver got his inspiration to “Wake up, white people!”
- Helms blamed blacks, gays and lesbians for “the proliferation of AIDS.” He took acceptance to the use of the word “gay” to describe homosexuals since, “…there’s nothing gay about them.”
- Helms dubbed The University of North Carolina, “the University of Negroes and Communists.”
- Black civil rights activists were “Communists and sex perverts.”
- During the 1963 Civil Rights protests Helms wrote, “The Negro cannot count forever on the kind of restraint that’s thus far left him free to clog the streets, disrupt traffic, and interfere with other men’s rights.”
- In 1983, Helms launched a Senate filibuster opposing the Martin Luther King Day bill on grounds that King had two commie associates. He also disapproved of King’s alleged philandering.
- In 1988, he observed, “There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy.”
- According to the Chicago Sun-Times, in 1993 Helms sang Dixie in an elevator to Carol Moseley-Braun, the first African-American woman elected to the Senate, bragging, “I’m going to make her cry. I’m going to sing Dixie until she cries.”
- When Roberta Achtenberg was appointed Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1993, Helms refused to vote for her “because she’s a damn lesbian.”
- In a 1994 Newsweek article Helms declared homosexuality “degenerate,” and homosexuals “weak, morally sick wretches.”
- In his memoirs, Hendrik Hertzberg of The New Yorker noted that Helms had “the ‘humorous habit’” of calling all black people “Fred”.
And still, in spite of all the damning evidence against him, the Associated Press‘ list of Helms’ quotes on life and politics mentioned only one derisive comment. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate’s Republican leader said, “Today we lost a senator whose stature in Congress had few equals. Sen. Jesse Helms was a leading voice and courageous champion for the many causes he believed in.” White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said, “America lost a great public servant and true patriot today.”
I take back what I said earlier. Wake up, non-white people. The enemy is still at our gate.
Tags: Daniel Carver, Dorothy Coble, George Bush, Homophobe, Jesse Helms, Jessie Helms, North Carolina, Obituary, President Bush, Racist, Republican, Roberta Achtenberg, Sen. Helms, Sen. Jesse Helms, Senator, The News and ObserverShare: 
Filed Under Obituaries
Dig A Hole: Larry Harmon, the Architect of Bozo
July 3rd, 2008 by Scott Marks
If you listen carefully, you can almost hear Ringmaster Ned blow his whistle and ask that time honored question, “WHO’S YOUR FAVORITE DEAD CLOWN?”
BOZO!!!
But wait, this isn’t some franchised clown clone sporting the traditional red, white and blue jumpsuit and sugar-cone-tipped orange hair. We’re talking the progenitor, apex and architect of Boz, Larry Harmon.
Well, not really. I mean the clown kicked, but to my surprise Larry Harmon was not Bozo’s creator. That dubious distinction goes to Disney voice artist Pinto “Goofy” Colvig who originated Bozo the Clown when Capitol Records introduced a series of children’s records in 1946. Harmon first met his future alter ego (or was it the other way around?) while answering a casting call to make personal appearances dressed as Bozo T. Clown to help promote the record.
On Thursday, Larry Harmon died at his home in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure. He was 83.
Harmon eventually bought the rights to Bozo, added a few personal touches to the costume and became a clown guru and Boz’s biggest supporter. And you know what they say about a man who wears a size 47EEE shoe!
According to the Associated Press, Harmon’s place in history was challenged in 2004 by Milwaukee’s International Clown Hall of Fame. (Sounds like the vacation destination from hell.) The bastards removed a plaque honoring him as Bozo and formally endorsed Colvig for creating the role. Harmon denied ever misrepresenting Bozo’s history.
He said he was claiming credit only for what he added to the character — “What I sound like, what I look like, what I walk like” — and what he did to popularize Bozo.
“Isn’t it a shame the credit that was given to me for the work I have done, they arbitrarily take it down, like I didn’t do anything for the last 52 years,” he told the AP at the time.
Before John Wayne Gacy delivered a black eye to clowns everywhere, Harmon personally trained over 200 full grown men who wanted to wear a funny costume, hang around small children all day and sing about Bozo’s “pocket rocket.”
What did it take to make a good Bozo? Harmon said, ” “I’m looking for that sparkle in the eyes, that emotion, feeling, directness, warmth. That is so important.” The records, cartoon spin-off, merchandising, character licensing and personal appearances made Harmon a very wealthy man.
He was fiercely covetous of his stolen creation, going so far as trying to have the more derisive connotation of the word “bozo” stricken from the record. And woe unto those who donned a similar costume. Harmon’s crack legal team would be on them like yellow on Frazier Thomas’ sport coat.
Bob Bell
Harmon’s most successful pupil was WGN-TVs Bob Bell who assumed the role of Chicago’s favorite clown between 1960 until he hung up his (artificial) red nose 1984. Bell and Bozo were so popular that there was a ten-year wait for tickets to a live taping of the lunchtime show. I went with my fourth grade class, but sadly the tips, and the tips only, of the magic arrows never landed on me, but I did get a free Bun (by Wayne) candy bar.
If there is a God, funeral services will be held at 2501 W. Bradley Pl. The notable pall bearers, including Oliver O. Oliver, Sandy the Clown, Mr. Ned, Bob Trendler, Cooky the Clown and Golly the Gorilla, will carry Mr. Harmon’s remains to the studio where he will forever be interred in Bucket #6.
Links:
Classic Chicago TV and Radio Memoribilia
Bozo le Clown
Tags: Bob Bell, Bozo, Bozo the Clown, Bozo's Circus, Chicago, Chicago TV, Children's Show, Clown, Golly the Gorilla, Larry Harman, Larry Harmon, Obituary, Photos, Pictures, Pinto Colvig, Video, WGN, WGN-TVShare:
Filed Under Obituaries
Global Warming caused by Plasma Screen TVs?
July 3rd, 2008 by Scott Marks
Global Warming: Coming soon from a TV set near you.
Remember when your parents told you not to sit too close to your new 25″ Zenith color TV for fear of radioactive contamination? You ain’t seen nothing yet! A gas used in the making of flat screen televisions is being blamed for damaging the atmosphere and accelerating global warming. Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) is estimated to be 17,000 times as powerful as carbon dioxide.
ABC News reports that NF3 is not covered by the Kyoto protocol as it was only produced in tiny amounts when the treaty was signed in 1997.
Levels of this gas in the atmosphere have not been measured, but scientists say it is a concern and are calling for it to be included in any future emissions cutting agreement.
Professor Michael Prather from the University of California has highlighted the issue in an article for the magazine New Scientist.
“One of my titles for this paper was Going Below Kyoto’s Radar. It’s the kind of gas that’s made in huge amounts,” he said.
“Not only is it not in the Kyoto Treaty but you don’t even have to report it. That’s the part that worries me.”
He estimates 4,000 tons of NF3 will be produced in 2008 and that number is likely to double next year.
Almost half of the televisions sold around the globe so far this year have been plasma or LCD TVs.
Tags: Global Warming, LCD, NF3, Nitrogen trifluoride, Plasma Screen, Plasma TV, Television, TVShare:
Filed Under News
Judge allows Verne Troyer sex tape clip to return to TMZ
July 3rd, 2008 by Scott Marks
Here’s a shock: The co-star in the Verne Troyer sex tape is the one responsible for selling a clip of the video to TMZ.
After a 25-second snippet of the 50-minute video appeared on the celebrity gossip website, Mini-Me, alleging that the tape was stolen, sued TMZ for $20 Million. A judge ordered that it be taken down immediately and barred TMZ from showing or broadcasting any portion of the tape on its Web site or TV show. The post was restored by Tuesday evening..
Ranae Shrider, Verne’s ex-girlfriend, says she gave TMZ permission to broadcast a brief clip of the tape. Shrider, signed a declaration filed in federal court in Los Angeles stating the tape was created with her video camera. Her statement prompted a judge to allow TMZ to reinstate a post featuring snippets of the tape.
The video was brought it to dealer Kevin Blatt, the quantum physicist who brokered the deal for the Paris Hilton video. The judge has still barred SugarDVD, a porn distributor named in Troyer’s $20 million lawsuit, from distributing or taking orders for the tape.
In her statement, Shrider says she believes she also owns the tape, but so far has only given permission to TMZ to air it.
Can’t wait for the director’s cut!
Tags: mini me, mini me sex tape, Ranae Shrider, tmz, vern troyer, vern troyer sex tape, verne troyer, verne troyer sex tape, VideoShare:
Filed Under Rants
Will David Cronenberg’s opera fly?
July 2nd, 2008 by Scott Marks
Daniel Okulitch performs in a scene from David Cronenberg’s first opera, THE FLY
David Cronenberg, the father of modern horror, has an opera debuting in Paris tonight that’s creating quite a buzz.
Mr. Cronenberg will direct a new version of The Fly with Placido Domingo conducting a score by Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore.
Shore, a childhood friend of Cronenberg’s, first teamed with the director on The Brood (1979). This marks the duo’s fifteen collaboration. According to The Associated Press, the composer “who also wrote the film’s original music, said he started picturing The Fly as an opera as soon as the movie was released.”
Shore said he sampled only two themes from his 1986 work.
Another Cronenberg crony, Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly) wrote the melodramatic libretto. The Fly marks not only Cronenberg’s operatic debut, but also the LA Opera debut of Marty’s production designer of choice, Dante Ferretti.
The opera will have its world premiere Wednesday at Paris’ Theatre du Chatelet and its U.S. premiere Sept. 7 at the Los Angeles Opera.
The plot is said to follow the film’s basic storyline, only the setting has been shifted from the 80s to the 50s, the time of the original version’s release. The AP’s Angela Doland writes, “ The retro set design is evocative of 1950s horror flicks. And there’s something thrilling about the old-school special effects—terrifically gruesome costumes, a singing teleport machine and a giant fly scaling an opera set.”
When asked what attracted him to a story of a man forced to vomit on his food before consuming it, world class tenor Placido Domingo said, “Why not? I couldn’t resist.”
Tags: Dante Ferretti, David Cronenberg, David Henry Hwang, Director, Howard Shore, LA Opera, Opera, Placido Domingo, THE FLYShare:
Filed Under News
Dig A Hole: Character actor Henry Beckman, Hollywood cop
July 1st, 2008 by Scott Marks
Clockwise: Cmdr. Paul Richards in Flash Gordon (1955), Peyton Place’s George Anderson (1964) and as Alf Skully in Check It Out (1985)
Character actor Henry Beckman, a prolific 50s and 60s television staple, died June 17 in Barcelona, Spain. He was 86.
Mr. Beckman appeared in hundreds of TV shows, movies and commercials in the U.S. and Canada. Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, he served in the Canadian military during WWII and survived the Normandy invasion. After the war he married Cheryl Maxwell, a one-time actress and Broadway producer. She remained his bride up until the time of her death in 1998.
His first television appearance was in the Pretend I Am A Stranger episode of The Philco Television Playhouse (1951). Following their 1955 marriage, Henry and Cheryl eventually purchased The Dukes Oak Theatre in Cooperstown, New York. Two years after that, they sold the theatre and moved to Hollywood where Henry pursued an on-camera career.
His first recurring television role was as Cmdr. Paul Richards on six episodes of the ultra-cheapo TV version of Flash Gordon (1955). His two longest running TV hits were roles as George Anderson on Peyton Place and Colonel harridan in “McHale’s Navy.
Mr. Beckman was known for playing heavies or small roles that required regional dialects or foreign languages. Great gunsel that he was, Henry was at his best when he wore a badge and answered his call on the Hollywood squad roll. He played just about every type of hard-line lawman one could imagine: a Motorcycle Cop (Niagara), a Beat Cop (The Twilight Zone, Tashlin’s The Man from the Diner’s Club, I Dream of Jeannie, Sweet Charity), Lieutenants (My Favorite Martian and the mind altering Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre), Sheriffs (Mannix, The Rockford Files, Quincy), Detectives (Hitchcock’s Marnie, The X-Files), a Narc (Breakfast at Tiffany’s) even the D.A. in an episode of The Monkees!
In 1977, Henry and Cheryl were awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Medal for “contributions to Canadian culture and the esteem in which they were held by their peers”. (I wonder what the Queen thought of his performance in David Cronenberg’s The Brood?) His work in Canada earned two Canadian film awards in best-supporting actor category including a Genie in 1978 for Blood and Guts.
1979 the journeyman actor wrote and published How to Sell Your Film Project, a guide on how to make and market independent films.
Beckman also wrote film scripts, and was a member of the Writer’s Guild of Canada, the Screen Writers Guild of America, SAG, AFTRA, ACTRA and the Director’s Guild of Canada.
He is survived by two sons, Brian and Stuart.
Tags: Bob Hope, Character Actor, Cop, David Cronenberg, Henry Beckerman, Henry Beckman, Movies, Nova Scotia, Obituary, TVShare:
Filed Under Obituaries
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