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Christine Sherman

My grandmother died last week. I wrote about it in my newsletter. It is reprinted here for posterity when Substack goes dark eventually.

She was my grandmother, but of course she was more than that. She was a human being with thoughts and wants and needs and she was not shy about telling you what they were. She and her late husband (who preceded her in death), our Nanny and Gramps, were the bedrock of our extended family. If one of their kids, grandkids, or great-grandkids needed help out of a bad spot, they were there every time. COVID-19 took Gramps from us last year. He died thinking it was a hoax thanks to Fox News. Nanny died gasping for air, too.

Nanny and Gramps would give their last dollar to a family member who asked for it and they would forgive nearly any transgression. Many of their kids and grandkids took great advantage of this and stole from them, lied to them, begged them to co-sign bad loans or buy cars with a promise to pay and just never did. My grandparents had come up with nothing, and knew how that felt and their family was everything to them. They both died with nothing much to their names except their social security checks and a reverse mortgage on the home they built together. Despite this, I know in my heart if you could ask them they would do it again. They would give again, and again.

My favorite memories with her are of waking up and making coffee for us (she liked it strong) when I lived with Nanny and Gramps, and arguing with her about whatever news was on the TV. She was smart and funny and enjoyed that kind of banter. When I first moved out, I’d still call and talk with her frequently, and she’d lament that “nobody here will argue with me.”

Christine Sherman née Perkins had a tenacious mind, and it made seeing her struggle with dementia and senility the last several years all the worse, for Nanny’s own quality of life foremost but not least of which for my mother who has been her tireless (and often sleepless) live-in caretaker. Still, everyone she knew was happy to see her and talk with her every time we could until the very end.

She believed in us, and proved it time and again, and boy did we need it. Without her help I don’t believe any of us, from her children to her great-grandchildren, would’ve had much of a chance at decent lives. Even with their help all of her kids spent time on food-stamps and government assistance, even the conservative family members reading this who like to pretend they never got any help.

I myself owe them so much- for helping my parents get a home when I was a baby, for letting my mother and brothers and me stay with them when that marriage dissolved, for buying us school shoes, for being at our meets and games, for always… being there for us. I could spend days telling you how much they did for us.

But Nanny and Gramps are no more. That bedrock, like so many things and people we used to lean on, is soon to undertake that final change into the inevitable dust and ash. Goodbye, Nanny. You gave us everything you had and more, and we loved you more than words could say. Still, I count myself lucky that I was able to say it, and hug you, one last time.

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Retronauts on the 20th Anniversary of Gunpei Yokoi’s Death

Gunpei Yokoi’s legacy is one of sensible choices and thoughtful compromise. I admire him greatly as a professional. [Jeremy Parish has a retrospective on Retronauts.com][link]:

>Yokoi liked to create gadgets. More than that, he liked to come up with clever hacks. He had a keen eye for simple but unexpected ideas that would translate into fun toys, along with an unerring sense of how to make those products affordable for the widest audience possible. Rather than saving costs by using cheap materials, Yokoi preferred to match low prices to premium quality production by making cuts at the conceptual level.

Same, Gunpei. Same.

[link]: http://retronauts.com/article/655/20-years-ago-gaming-lost-a-creative-visionary “20 years ago, gaming lost a creative visionary | Retronauts”

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WWE wrestling star Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan dies aged 72

RIP, Brain. He’s arguing with a gorilla in a suit right now if there’s any justice in the universe.

Source: [Legendary WWE wrestler and commentator Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan dies aged 72 after losing battle with throat cancer][link]

[link]: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4894270/WWE-wrestling-star-Bobby-Brain-Heenan-dies.html “WWE wrestling star Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan dies aged 72 | Daily Mail Online”

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Conservatory Of Flowers Live Stream of Amorphophallus Titanum Bloom

The Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park is doing [a live stream of their Amorphophallus titanum, aka Corpse Flower, blooming][link]. This plant blooms once every 10 years, and during the bloom grows almost two times its normal size and emits a foul stench for two days before shriveling up and starting over. It’s pretty cool. Corpse Flower!

If you’re in the bay area you should go visit.

[link]: http://conservatoryofflowers.org/bloom/amorphophallus-titanum/ “Amorphophallus titanum | Conservatory Of Flowers”

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Ooooh Yeeeeaah. DIG IT!

[ESPN’s Bill Simmons on the death of a man who, for many of us, typified pro wrestling in the 1980s][link]. Hulk Hogan was always more popular, but Macho *was* wrestling in a way Hogan could never touch.

[link]: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/110524 “Bill Simmons: Macho Man brought together the die-hards, the bandwagon fans and the ’80s – ESPN”

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‘Empire Carpet Man’ Elmer Lynn Hauldren dead at age 89

[Rest in Peace][link]. Watching Cubs games as a kid I probably say his Empire Carpet commercials hundreds of times. Everyone who grew up near Chicago remembers the jingle instantly.

Once more for old time’s sake: 588-2300 EMPIIIIIRE.

[link]: http://www.suntimes.com/5053412-417/empire-carpet-man-elmer-lynn-hauldren-dead-at-age-89.html “‘Empire Carpet Man’ Elmer Lynn Hauldren dead at age 89 – Chicago Sun-Times”

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A Letter From Lois Lane

Joanne Siegel, widow of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, passed away on February 12th of this year. [She’d been working on writing a letter to Time Warner’s CEO, Jeffrey L. Bewkes.][link]

Joanne is widely known to be the inspiration for Lois Lane, and even at 93 she fit the part. Time Warner’s action in all of this has been gross.

[link]: http://www.deadline.com/2011/03/letter-from-lois-lane-to-time-warner-boss/ “Letter From Lois Lane To Time Warner Boss – Deadline.com”

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The Good Doctor & Friends

Hunter Stockton Thompson took his own life on February 20th, 2005. (image via [mildredpickles][via])

[via]: http://mildredpickles.tumblr.com/post/3461391908/have-posted-something-similar-to-this-before-but “Mildred Pickles tumblr”

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‘I Wanted to Join the Fight Against Hitler’

[Baseball great Bob Feller passed away this week at the age of 92. He left his Cleveland Indians during the prime of his career to fighting WWII, enlisting two days after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.][link]

[link]: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/17/sports/baseball/17reflect.html?_r=1 “Joining the Navy After Pearl Harbor, in Bob Feller’s Own Words – NYTimes.com”

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Alex Anderson, Secret Creator of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Dies

[Rocky and Bullwinkle is one of the finest television programs ever made, and Alex deserves any credit he can get.][link]

[link]: http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,2027264,00.html “Rocky and Bullwinkle Creator Alex Anderson Dies – TIME”

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Tony Wilson’s Headstone

[A fitting tribute:][link]

>Factory Records founder Anthony H Wilson died in August 2007. Just over three years later, a memorial headstone designed collaboratively by Wilson’s long-term associates Peter Saville and Ben Kelly with Paul Barnes and Matt Robertson, was unveiled in The Southern Cemetery in Chorlton-Cum-Hardy, Manchester.

[link]: http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2010/october/peter-saville-anthony-wilson-headstone “Creative Review – Saville and Kelly’s memorial to Tony Wilson”

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George Steinbrenner Dead At 80

[Even as a visceral anti-Yankees guy, this brings me no joy. Steinbrenner demanded the best from his staff and players at all times.][link]

[link]: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/sports/baseball/14steinbrenner.html?_r=2&hp=&pagewanted=all “George Steinbrenner, Yankees’ Owner, Dies at 80”

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Deadspin’s “Dead Wrestler of the Week”

[A well-written weekly feature][link]. Relevant to the interests of anyone who grew up watching pro wrestling. Notables covered so far: [The Junkyard Dog][jyd], [Chris Canyon][canyon], [André The Giant][andre].

[link]: http://deadspin.com/tag/deadwrestleroftheweek/ “deadwrestleroftheweek – Deadspin”
[jyd]: http://deadspin.com/5542721/dead-wrestler-of-the-week-junkyard-dog “Junkyard Dog”
[canyon]: http://deadspin.com/5512595/dead-wrestler-of-the-week-chris-kanyon “Chris Canyon”
[andre]: http://deadspin.com/5500057/dead-wrestler-of-the-week-andre-the-giant “André The Giant”

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The “Immortal” Jellyfish

turritopsis nutricula, a species which can “[cycle from a mature adult stage to an immature polyp stage and back again][link],” may have no natural limit on it’s lifespan.

Granted, it can still get beaten to death or otherwise killed through violence or stupidity. Just not old age.

[link]: http://green.yahoo.com/blog/guest_bloggers/26/the-world-s-only-immortal-animal.html “The world’s only immortal animal | Yahoo! Green”

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Goodbye, Sir. And Thanks.

[Eliza Gauger’s farewell to Frank Frazetta][link]. A giant died today.

[link]: http://www.ectomo.com/2010/05/10/goodbye-sir-and-thanks/ “ECTOPLASMOSIS! » Goodbye, Sir. And Thanks.”

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Frank Frazetta Is Dead

[An artist that defined a genre, whose work has never been surpassed][link]. [Eliza Gauger][tweet]:

>The greatest classical painter of the modern era, and the only fantasy artist with enough balls to paint cellulite.

[link]: http://www.comicsbeat.com/2010/05/10/frank-frazetta-rip/ “Frank Frazetta 1928-2010 | The Beat”
[tweet]: http://twitter.com/3liza/status/13737949931 “Eliza Gauger’s tweet”

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Chuck Palahniuk: Live Like You’re Dying

[A platitudinal title][link] for Chuck’s always-unique take on life and death.

[link]: http://www.menshealth.com/men/best-life/life-lessons/make-life-worth-living/article/a1769597c4737210vgnvcm10000030281eac “Make Life Worth Living : Men’s Health”

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Edward Woodward (1930 – 2009)

[BBC News has the standard obit][link] covered, for a less formal take, see British filmmaker [Edgar Wright’s tribute][edgar].

I used to watch [The Equalizer][equal] all the time in reruns at a kid, and [the Wicker Man][wicker] is one of my favorite films, and one of the best British horror films ever.

Nobody had a poker face like Woodward.

[link]: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8362367.stm “Edward Woodward dead at 79”
[equal]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB1NiNKwueE “The Equalizer intro”
[edgar]: http://www.edgarwrighthere.com/2009/11/edward-woodward-1930-2009/ “Edward Woodward (1930 – 2009) : Edgar Wright Here”
[wicker]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FdV-O8o7ok “The Wicker Man trailer”

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Les Paul dead at age 94

[I don’t know what else to say][link]. Les was a true innovator in the guitar and recording space.

[link]: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-wi-obit-lespaul,0,3409136.story “Guitar legend Les Paul dies at age 94 — chicagotribune.com”

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David Carradine found dead in Bangkok

[Sad news. He was one of the best at what he did][link].

>Thai police told the BBC the 72-year-old was found by a hotel maid sitting in a wardrobe with a cord around his neck and other parts of his body.

[link]: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8083479.stm “BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Kung Fu star Carradine found dead”