Zappa.com

Patti Page (85), singer.

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Jimmy was unavalible for comment.

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For those of us in California we lost part of our gold today.Huel Howser passed away from natraul causes.He was 67.
He hosted one of my favorite PBS shows.California's Gold.He would go around the state with just a cameraman and find these little nuggets of places and people in the golden state.Nothing fancy just funky little interviews,and a trip to someplace you probably didn't know about before.(he even found a few I hadn't been to!) Just a half hour show.(he was known to say "That's Fantasic!" quite a bit)
Originaly from Tenn.,he served in the Marines,worked in TV in New York before coming to LA and starting California's Gold which ran for 19 seasons.Last Nov.he stated that he was not going to make anymore new Califoria's Gold segments for PBS a spokesperson said.
El bummo man.He will be sorely missed.He was part of California's real gold.

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Thats huge! Wow what a nice guy he seemed to be and a fantastic show, Mrs Plook and I decided to try Morro Bay for are first time after watching an episode in which he featured it. He could always dig the littles detial out of an area. If you really want to learn about the different areas of California I would recommend his shows as guides.

He looked like he was in great shape and appeared healthy, I am very surprised by his passing.

Deffinetly a loss...

My folks and I were just about to watch an episode of California's Gold tonight, when Val Zavala of SoCal Connected (another good KCET show) came on with Huell's pic in back of her. This can't be good, I thought. I feel like I've lost a member of the family---he had such a friendly, folksy manner that you always felt he was talking to you. He gave a talk in town way back in '96, and he could'nt have been nicer. At one point, he was mentioning something dear to his heart, and you could see tears welling in his eyes...completely uncaring if anyone would snicker because we felt the same. It just endeared him to me even more. Afterwards, he signed autographs and posed for photos---I'm lucky enough to have a picture of the two of us together. What you saw on tv, is what you got. Please look him up on YouTube if you get the chance, he was great fun. Here's to you Huell, you were an amazin' and spec-TAC-ular guide to California, as well as a human being. You are sorely missed.

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"That's Amazing!" Dovey.I'd a jumped at the chance to get a pic with Huell!
I always figured I run into him at some odd and wonderful place.You're right though,he was one of the family and what you saw was what you got.I always wonder about his family life.Did he even have one? He started one of his shows with a view from his house/flat in the Hollywood Hills.Beautiful view of LA,but definetly a bachlors pad.Was he gay or just a loner.Nice guy either way,don't get me wrong.I was just always curious if he had family or not.He was so nice and always looked buff,so where are his groupies or special one? I'll miss his good humor and good will towards all.Real special guy,Huell Howser was. Sorta the California Andy Griffin,where everytown became a Mayberry RFD special when he visited.
Anyway we can see the pix of you and Huell,Dovey? {-

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The pic is way buried in some boxes in the garage...so not at the moment. I would've described Huell as "mother bait" , a phrase we used for "real nice boys" anyone's mom would love. Little old ladies just loooved him. Who's to say if he was gay or straight and what did it matter? However, I felt he might be gay---never mentioned a woman in his life, you know how every interviewer on whatever talk show would sooner or later talk about the wife and kids. This means nothing, of course, but I think if he was, he knew that he might lose many of his audience members. Maybe they thought so, too, but "Don't ask, don't tell". Could'nt care if he was or not, just such a wonderful person. Miss him very much already.

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I totaly loved Huell,whether he was a Kleon or not.I did notice how he appealed to the greatest generation and the don't ask don't tell comes from them.Not I.My dad used to watch Huell too.Although he later passed with Alzhiemers,when he was cognet,he asked me what I thought.I don't know or care,but dad always thought it "different" that these two guys would find the coolest places and attract an older demagraphic,yet appeal to me (and him) too.That was around 15 yrs.ago,I answered my dad after he asked me again with my usual casual distain for such questions with a simple "Why,you interested?" He didn't ask again and started watching Antique Roadshow and This Old House.But if Huell was doing a show on someplace he liked,he would watch him too.
Huell being from Tenn.made me wonder what kind of home life and family he had growing up with.They and the Marines gave him a love for California that even I,a stuck-up native from SF and area can appreciate.Huell was cool.
(the Tenn. accent didn't hurt his persona either)

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Claude Nobs, or funky Claude, founder of the Montreux Festival, 76:



RIP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGFNnpWOyq4

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The BBC story (click picture above) reads:

Claude Nobs, Montreux Jazz Festival founder, dies

Claude Nobs, who founded the world-renowned Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, has died after a skiing accident.

The 76-year-old suffered a fall while practising cross-country skiing during the Christmas holidays.

He had been in hospital but passed away on 10 January, a statement on the festival's website said.

The festival, which takes place on the shores of Lake Geneva, has featured the likes of Miles Davis and Santana.

"For all of us, who were fortunate enough to cross your path, you will always remain the one who questioned certainties," the statement said.

Organisers had previously said that Nobs' accident would not impact this year's event, which runs 5 - 20 July.

"We carry, and will continue to carry on in your spirit, everything you taught us," Thursday's statement added.

The festival was co-founded by Nobs and Atlantic Records president Nesuhi Ertegun in 1967, who booked Charles Lloyd and Keith Jarrett as the first headliners.

Nobs even earned himself a mention as "funky Claude" who rescues children in Deep Purple's 1973 song Smoke On The Water.

The song is about a fire that burned down the Montreux Casino, where the festival was held, during a Frank Zappa concert in 1971.

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The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true Art and Science. - Albert Einstein

Rest in peace Claude, you've saved a bunch of lives that day...

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It is Deep Purple Day here at work. Currently, the Made in Japan version of Space Truckin' is on in the other room, while I have Stormbringer crankin... Smoke on the Water throughout the day!

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Ol' Claude was quite the charator and he did save alot of lives that fatefull night.It just blows my mind when I think of all the great music and preformers this man has heard and seen.What a show his life has been.El Bummo,he will be missed.

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Dr. Peter J. N. Linnerooth, 1970–2013

Dr. Peter Linnerooth spent nearly five years wearing an Army uniform, including the bloodiest 12 months in Iraq at the height of the surge. As a mental-health professional, his top mission was to keep troops from killing themselves. After he returned home, he spent another two years trying to save the vets he loved, working for the VA in California and Nevada.

Few who wore the uniform in the nation’s post-9/11 wars better understood the perverse alchemy that can change the rush and glory of combat into a darkening cloud of anxiety, depression and posttraumatic stress. But strikingly, all that understanding — and the knowledge, education and firsthand experience that nurtured it — didn’t save Linnerooth.

“Pete struggled with PTSD and depression after his deployment to Iraq,” an Army comrade says. “Pete is a good example of how serving in combat can change someone. Pete was one of us,” he adds. “He’s the first Army psychologist that I know who killed himself.”


Full story:

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I just became aware of Huell's passing by seeing a brief memorial at the end of the new Simpson's episode. "Huell Howser - A friend of the Simpsons and a friend of California". Matt Groening was a fan and he even guested on a episode. I really liked watching his show - usually on Sunday evenings. Apparently he had been battling cancer for a few years but he looked so healthy and robust.

Wow,I had no idea he was battling the big C.He did look healthy on his show.I wonder when and which episode was his last.It could have been months or even a couple a years ago,just sitting in the can.I remember seeing Matt Goening on one of the episodes too.It had something to do with his charity and where he lives.I just caught the end of it so I really didn't catch what it was all about.

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Aaron H. Swartz (November 8, 1986 – January 11, 2013) was an American computer programmer, writer, archivist, political organizer, and Internet activist.

Swartz was a member of the RSS-DEV Working Group that co-authored the "RSS 1.0" specification of RSS[2], and built the Web site framework web.py and the architecture for the Open Library. He also built Infogami, a company that merged with Reddit in its early days, through which he became an equal owner of the merged company.[i] Swartz also focused on sociology, civic awareness and activism. In 2010 he was a member of the Harvard University Center for Ethics. He cofounded the online group Demand Progress (known for its campaign against SOPA) and later worked with US and international activist groups Rootstrikers and Avaaz.

On January 6, 2011, Swartz was arrested in connection with systematic downloading of academic journal articles from JSTOR, which became the subject of a federal investigation.[3][4] Swartz disliked the fact that JSTOR charged to access articles but, rather than compensating the authors, JSTOR compensated publishers instead. JSTOR's fees limited access to works produced by America's colleges and universities.[5][6]

On January 11, 2013, Swartz was found dead in his Crown Heights, Brooklyn, apartment, where he had apparently hanged himself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz

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The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true Art and Science. - Albert Einstein

With just that short background description,it seems suspicious that Mr. Swartz would hang himself.

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Apparently he suffered from depression. Suspicious anyway

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The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true Art and Science. - Albert Einstein

Almost all the geniuses and really smart people are nuts and a large percentage try suicide or contemplate it, very few are successful, but you know what they say about playing with fire.

As a side point I read somewhere that some researcher interviewed almost all the people who attempted suicide from jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge and were still living, 100 percent of them said they knew it was a bad idea and regretted it the moment they jumped…

I was watching Democracy Now! where they ran a speech that Aaron Swartz* gave just after SOFA was defeated.He was very articulate about how the copyright laws were being sneakly used to undermine everyone's rights on the web.The government/corperations could shut down web sites under the disguise of copyright infringement,when in fact it's stamping on our 1st amendment rights to free speech.He saw what they were trying to do and fought against it.
For those who don't know who he is,find out.It's guys like this that keep the internet as free as possible from those who would like to control it.El Bummo,we need some more like Aaron H Swartz in this kinda town/world.

*Started Reddit as a teen

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LMAO!
Sometimes you feel like a nut,sometimes you don't,eh?

Plook,you have nuts in your fruitcake!

Thanx MR_G_G,you just might be the biggest nut here. (Thats a good Plookism)

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I think I'm living proof that Plook's theory is incorrect. I'm relatively sane and I'm not a suicide chump. I just haven't figured out how to harness my genius or what I'm actually smart at.

For the folks who were going on and on about Huell Howser, you should get a kick out of this.

He may have been gay, but he definitely wasn't stupid...

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Very cool MTF,where did you get that pix? Any links? It's definetly before California's Gold was ever a second thought.It must have been when he worked in NYC or Tennessee...perhaps Nashville? Hell,they could all be from the same holler.
He could be a Glen Cambell stand-in in this picture.
Far out man! Thanx for posting this MTF

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Holy crap, Mental! That's hilarious, and you're right KK, he does look a bit like Glen Campbell. No, not a dummy Huell.

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