Tag Archives: RIP

Whatever Moves the Product

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It’s no secret that Michael Waltrip has had an abysmal season on the Nextel Cup circuit. I have mulled over how his sponsors must feel about his performance. And, today. during ESPN’s coverage of the Pennsylvania 500, a NAPA ad that went something like this:
Scene: Michael Waltrip Racing, Cornelius NC.
Michael is on camera, and acknowledges that his season has been sub par. He then reads and answers mail from fans; the answers follow:

  • Yes, I’ve checked; the parking brake is not on.
  • No, I’m not saving tires during qualifying.
  • My head is still on my shoulders, but thanks for your concern.

Lemons, lemonade, anyone?

-k-

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Carolina, RoVA, NoVA

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SWMBO and I are safely ensconced back at tbbs World HQ, following the drive from Conway SC back to Northern Virginia. The trip was routine, except for a real “flat rock” rain that happened just north of Richmond. A little time in a nearby Walgreen’s parking lot, along with the munching of a few Cheetos while the rain subsided, and we were rolling again.

We’re tired, but happy. And our faithful cat was delighted to see us again. The feeling was mutual.

-k-

Home from the Hills

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The West Virginia trip was a 100% authenticated blast. Our host and hostess are about as laid back as we are; we were shown our room, bathroom, location of such things as coffee, etc, and told to make ourselves at home. And we did.

Last night, we had the traditional beer drinking, grilling, bocce ball playing, fireworks watching experience. SWMBO and I left for the trip back to NoVA around noon or so today, and were one turn from our homestead when work butted in intervened. So I got a half-day vacation, my phone assistance to coworkers counting as an official time at bat and all.

We also broke in our new GPS device, to see how it behaved in semi-familiar territory. The digitized female GPS voice has been named Diana. I didn’t heed her U-turn advice where there was no place nor need to execute such a maneuver, but other than that, she did a stand up job.

-k-

Obits Moving to Section C

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Man, I look at my current front page, and see three RIP posts, a tribute to the Acidman, and one to Buddy. Five of ten, dedicated to those who’ve gone on before.

So, let’s make a deal; if I love you, if you’ve commented here, or otherwise know me; if you’re someone of public note who has crossed my path with your talents, please stay alive.

Thanks for your attention.

-k-

RIP, Boots Randolph

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Boots Randolph, saxophonist and session musician of Yakkety Sax fame, has passed away at age 80.

And his session music work included the following:

As a session musician, he played on Elvis Presley’s “Return to Sender,” Roy Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman,” Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Round the Christmas Tree” and “I’m Sorry,” REO Speedwagon’s “Little Queenie,” Al Hirt’s “Java” and other songs including ones by Buddy Holly and Johnny Cash.

Still, aging boomer that I am, I remember Yakkety Sax.

RIP, Boots.

-k-

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RIP, Hy Zaret

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Hy Zaret, who wrote the hauntingly beautiful lyrics to Unchained Melody, has passed away at age 99. The boomer that I am, I remember the Righteous Brothers’ rendition of the song the best. The song was recorded over 300 times, and ASCAP listed it as one of the 25 most-performed works of the 20th century.

When the Righteous Brothers recorded the song, I was a young nerdish wallflower1, and didn’t care for it a lot at the time. I grew to like it after marrying SWMBO, and then after Leann Rimes recorded it, I fancied that I’d always been a huge fan of the song all along.

I’ll leave y’all with the lyrics; imagine your favorite version, or if you can pull it off, break out into song:

Oh, my love, my darling
I’ve hungered for your touch, a long lonely time
And time goes by, so slowly and time can do so much
Are you, still mine?
I need your love, I need your love
God speed your love to me

Lonely rivers flow to the sea, to the sea
To the waiting arms of the sea
Lonely rivers cry, wait for me, wait for me
To the open arms, wait for me

My love, my darling, I’ve hungered for your kiss
Are you still mine?
I need your love, I need your love
God, speed your love, to me

-k-
H/T: Absolute Lyrics, for the words.

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1 As opposed to the cantankerous old wanker I am now.

RIP, Beverly Sills

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Beverly Sills, legendary opera singer, has passed away at age 78. My knowledge of fine arts could be summarized on a small Post-It using a wide tip pen; she had a passion and an interest in promoting the finer arts that impressed even such a rube as I.

And I know a good set of pipes when I hear ‘em. And she had ‘em.

RIP, Beverly.

-k-
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RIP, Jim Shoulders

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I haven’t been to a rodeo in years; I used to watch rodeo on TNN, in its pre-Spike TV days, or whatever it is now. I guess my casual rodeo-watching, along with my love of classic country music, made me aware of the name Jim Shoulders. Every time his name was mentioned on the telecasts, it was almost spoken with reverence.

Jim passed away at age 79, and as is my unfortunate custom, I found what a mark he made after his death. He won 16 world championships, and 10 reserve championships. That’s a huge achievement in any sport.

And being a huge fan of rodeo country music, a verse in memory of Jim, from Jerry Jeff Walker:

Now, relax and take a deep breath or two
It’s a one time shot and then you’re through
Hang on, boy, and someday you’ll have fame.
When they open up that gate
The bull takes off like a runaway freight
And you’re a ro-de-o de-o de-o de cowboy
Bordering on the insane.

Jim Shoulders had that fame.

RIP, Jim.
-k-
H/T: Sing365.com for the lyrics.

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The Code of the SysAdmin

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I’ve been pushing buttons, clicking mice, and typing in arcane crap from command lines for a good many years now. And today carried on that tradition. I was on my way to the bank to deposit some checks 1, with a trip to my franchise haircut place planned for afterwards. A ring of the cellphone derailed the tonsorial plans, as an admin buddy of mine found himself in undeserved distress from system users.

He needed some help; no problem, I’ll be home when I’m done at the bank. The haircut can wait.

Some of our filesystems had gone out to lunch due to failure of external systems which we don’t manage.

First step was to assess the damage. I logged in from home, my buddy was ensconced in his shabby cubicle at work, and we did the evaluation of the problem. No smoking gun. Damn. So, iff’en you cant fix it, you monitor the problem.

Over the next few hours, we crafted a simple-minded little script to watch our stuff, put that script in cron, and wired it up to the Tivoli monitors we already use. Tested it, and by damn, it catches the problem, without solving same.

This is what sysadmins do:

  1. Help a brother out.
  2. Stay until the job is done.
  3. Proceed one step at a time.
  4. Drink celebratory beers.
  5. Be thankful, that at least for this weekend, they aren’t on call.

Not a lot of work-specific stuff, but admins help each other out. That’s rule #1.

-k-

1 I’m old school enough that I don’t make ATM deposits of paper checks.

RIP, Don Herbert

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Don Herbert, better known to a generation of TV watching geek wannabes as Mr. Wizard, has passed away at age 89. From 1951 to 1964, Mr. Wizard graced TV screens with his Ask Mr. Wizard series, wherein he explored science with a laid-back, decidedly not cutting edge presentation, most of which used ordinary household items to conduct experiments, and explain phenomena.

A former colleague of his, Steve Jacobs, recalled Mr. Wizard’s approach like this:

When Jacobs would reach for beakers and flasks, Herbert would remind him that science didn’t require special tools.

“’You could use a mayonnaise jar for that,’” Jacobs recalled being chided by Herbert. “He tried to bust the image of scientists and that science wasn’t just for special people and places.”

Hmmm, maybe he was an uplifter before uplifting was cool.

Not a lot of glitz and glamor involved in his presentation, but he stirred my curiosity when I was a kid.

-k-

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