Another year is coming to a close. For me, personally, it's been a bit of a roller coaster ride- mostly highs, and not very many lows. I've been p[published this year- twice. I turned 40 (well, you're only 40 once, I suppose...). And, I'm still waiting for that damn settlement check (but that's neither here nor there).
2007, in many respects has been very unique. Many news events took place, and what not.
So, along with our sister blog, The Trash Bash (http://alexstrashbash.blogspot.com/ ), The View From Planet Alex proudly brings you 2007: The Year in Brief
So, without further adieu, let's take a ride through this crazy ass year we call 2007.
But first, a word from Apple:
TheBootyShow/YouTube.com
Okay, so it was the missing Apple computer ad, but hey, it did convince me to stay with the Mac, okay? (I'll admit, I did part of this look back on '07 on Windows- but that's neither here nor there, baby!)
How I'll do this is simple. The heavier news and politics will be covered here in (the soon to be renamed) The View from Planet Alex. Sports and entertainment will be covered in the sister blog, The Trash Bash.
On the top of this year end review, not much happened in January, other than the fact that California democrat Nancy Pelosi became the first ever female to become the speaker of the House of representatives.
January 30, after numerous delays, Microsoft finally released its' latest version of the Windows operating system, Vista.
vistavid1/Microsoft, Inc./YouTube
However, at this late date, I'm hearing that the people who bought Vista are downgrading back to XP. So much for that five years' wait.
February, former New york mayor Rudolph Guiliani declared the was running for the office of President of the United States.
NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak, just months after returning from space (on mission STS-121, on space shuttle Discovery), drove 900 miles- armed with a BB gun; a mallet; pepper spray and a wig to disguise herself- from Houston, Texas to Orlando, Florida to kill a romantic rival. Apparently, Nowak was smitten by fellow astronaut William Oelefein, who was dating US Air Force captain Coleen Shipman. Of course, what makes this story more soap opera worthy is the fact that Nowak is a married woman, with three kids (in January, Nowak and her husband separated).
Nowak was charged with attempted kidnapping; battery; attempted vehicle burglary; and destruction of evidence. A charge of attempted first degree murder was later added at her second arraignment. (the latter charge was later dropped). She was arrested at Orlando International Airport after confronting Captain Shipman, and pepper spraying her.
WESH-TV, Orlando, Florida/YouTube.com
Oh, and she wore adult diapers so she wouldn't have to go to the loo en route to Orlando
.
orangeflash/YouTube.com
mcpifilm/YouTube.com
The case is ongoing. Meanwhile, Nowak has been fired by NASA, but remains on active duty with the US Navy.
LANewspace/YouTube.com
San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom admitted that he had an extramarital affair with a married female aide. He later went to rehab for alcoholism.
Newsom went on to be re-elected as mayor in November, with 72% of the vote.
Comedian and actor- and ex-Air America talk show host- Al Franken announced that he is running for the seat of Republican senator Norm Coleman.
On February 8, actress and model Anna Nicole Smith died of an accidental drug overdose. More on her passing in the sister blog, The Trash Bash (http://alexstrashbash.blogspot.com/ )
In late 2006, eight US attorneys were fired- apparently, they were kind of, like, a little too hostile to the current Bush administration. In March, Albert Gonzales admits that "mistakes were made in the firings."
Irving Lewis 'Scooter' Libby was convicted on four counts- two on perjury; one for obstruction of justice; and one of making false statements to federal investigators. this stemmed from the leak of (now former) CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity. President Bush commuted Libby's sentence and granted him clemency.
In April, we lost a legendary football coach.
Eddie Gay Robinson, Sr. coached the Grambling State University Tigers to a 408-165-15 record over 56 seasons. He was the winningest college football coach for many years (his record was recently eclipsed by John Gagliardi, who still coaches at St. John's university in Minnesota). Over 200 players went on to play pro football- including Super Bowl XXII MVP Doug Williams of the Washington Redskins, who would succeed 'Coach Rob' as Grambling coach in 1998.
Never mind that Grambling State is a predominantly black college in rural Louisiana
Grambling Tigers/YouTube.com
On April 3, 2007, the beloved coach- and the love of Doris' life for 56 years- died
CBS/YouTube.com
April 16, horror struck the campus of Virginia Polytechnic University in Blacksburg, Virginia
darkdeicide/YouTube.com
33 students- including the gunman, Cho Seung-Hui- died in the massacre.
The massacre began at around 7:15AM Eastern time. The first two victims, Ryan Clark, 22, a senior studying Psychology, Biology; and English, of Martinez, GA, and Emily Hilscher, 19, a freshman in Animal Sciences, from Woodville, VA, were the first two fatalities when Cho entered West Amble Johnston Hall. Two hours later, after changing out of his bloodstained clothes and deleting his e-mail, he mailed a package of writings and video recordings to NBC News:
directoriowarez/YouTube.com/NBC News
Shortly thereafter, Cho entered Norris Hall and began shooting. It was here- at Norris- where the vast majority of students were killed and wounded.
When police finally arrived, Cho fired one final shot- to himself.
In all 33 dead, 29 wounded.
In addition to Clark and Hilscher, the remaining dead are:
Norris 204:
Liviu Librescu, 76, engineering professor, Romania. Librescu bravely held the door, allowing many of the students in his class to escape harm. He was shot as Cho shot through the door.
Minal Panchal, 26, masters student, Mumbai, India
Norris 206:
G.V. Loganathan, 53, engineering professor, Tamil Nadu, India
Jarrett Lane, 22. Senior, Civil Engineering, Narrows, VA
Matthew Gwaltney, 24, masters, Enviromental Engineering, Chesterfield, VA
Matthew Bluhm, 25, masters, Civil Engineering, Louisville, KY
Jeremy Herbstritt, 27, masters, Civil Engineering, Bellefonte, PA
Parathi Lumbantoruan, 34, PhD, Civil engineering, Indonesia
Daniel O'Neil, 22, masters, Enviromental Engineering, Lincoln, RI
Juan Ortiz, 26, masters, Civil Engineering, Bayamon, PR
Julia Pryde, 23, masters, Biological Engineering, Middletown, NJ
Waleed Shaalan, 32, PhD, Civil Engineering, Zagazig, Egypt
Norris 207:
Christopher James Bishop, 35, German instructor, Pine Mountain, GA
Lauren McCain, 20, freshman, International studies, Hampton, VA
Michael Pohle, Jr., 23, senior, Biological Sciences, Flemington, NJ
Maxine Turner, 22, senior, Chemical Engineering, Vienna, VA
Norris 211:
Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, 49, French professor, Nova Scotia, Canada
Ross Alameddine, 20, sophomore, English/Business, Saugus, MA
Austin Cloyd, 18, freshman, International Studies, Champaign, IL
Daniel Perez Cueva, 21, junior, International Studies, Peru/Woodbridge, VA
Caitlin Hammaren, 19, sophomore, International studies/French, Westtown, NY
Rachael Hill, 18, freshman, Biological Sciences, Richmond, VA
Matthew La Porte, 20, sophomore, Political Science, DuMont, NJ
Henry Lee, 20, freshman, Computer Engineering, Roanoke, VA/Vietnam
Erin Peterson, 18, freshman, International Studies, Centreville, VA
Mary Read, 19, freshman, Interdisciplinary Studies, Annandale, VA
Reema Samaha, 18, freshman, Urban Planning, Centreville, VA
Leslie Sherman, 20, junior, History/International Studies, Springfield, VA
Norris Hall Hallway:
Kevin Granata, 45, Engineering Professor, Toledo, OH
The perpetrator, Seung-Hui Cho, 23, was a South Korean natrional, with a permanent residency in the US. He began as a Business Infromation Technology major, but by his senior year was a English major. Throughout his life, Cho was diagnosed with multiple mental ailments- ranging from selective mutism, to depression.
Shortly before he shot 61 of his fellow students, he purchased a .22 caliber Walther P22 semi-automatic pistol from a Wisconsin-based online gun dealer in february, and the Glock 19 from a Roanoke, Virginia gundealer in March. Cho passed the federal background checks required.
Those were the two weapons used in the shootings.
Cho also allegedly stalked two female students. Both times, however, he only received verbal reprimands.
Also on April, a gas tanker truck crashed and burned down a key section of a freeway connecting San Francisco to the east bay communities.
baconmonkey/YouTube.com
On May 15, the founder of the Moral Majority and Liberty University, Jerry Falwell passed away. It was in 1979 when Falwell, conservative Southern Baptist pastor of Lynchburg's Thomas Road Baptist Church, formed the Moral Majority. It was comprised of groups of conservative political action committees, largely to bring- or attempt to bring- Christian values into politics. For some time, it did seem that several politicians- notably Ronald Reagan, among others- did reach office thanks to the Moral Majority.
Falwell was a well know foe of abortion and gay rights. He also was an ingrown in the American Civil Liberties Union's ass.
veracifier/CBN/YouTube.com
The well known pillow talk between lovers on CBN's sitcom The 700 Club, days after 9/11.
All Andrew Speaker wanted to do was to make it to his wedding- in Greece- in time. He was so enraptured into tying the knot that he didn't pay attention to the fact that he carried a drug-resistant strain on TB.
Tuberculosis, baby!
In may, Speaker made it to his wedding. He kissed the bride, then flew back to the States- in a plane full of passengers- with that strain of TB!
Eww!
He could've stayed in Italy, but as this clip from Fox's The O'Reilly Factor will show, Speaker thought that he would never make it back to the land of baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolets.
newshounds/YouTube.com
Tell him off, Bill! (Though I seriously doubt that it's a secular progressive versus Judeo-Christian traditional thing...).
Eventually, Speaker was sent to a hospital in Denver.
And wifey-poo! All in the rush to get to the chapel in time.
To this late date, none of the fellow passengers have come forward and said that they got TB from Speaker.
Those wacky Republicans. They just don't like gay people, do they?
Well, especially when at least two of themn happen to be closeted.
First, let's look at the senator from Idaho, the (dis)honorable Larry Edwin Craig.
Take a look from this clip from NBC's Meet the Press from 1999:
veracifier/TalkingPress.com/YouTube.com/NBC News
Bill Clinton a naughty boy? Sure, after all, it's been well known that he had extramarital affairs while Arkansas governor. Of course, the good senator is referring to the events of the affair Clinton had with intern Monica Lewinski (who, by the way, is a Lewis & Clark graduate here in Portland).
A nasty, naughty boy that Billy Clinton was.
But I'm afraid, Mr. Craig, that you've been a bit...shall I say, hypocritical.
This clip: WCVB-TV, Boston, Massachusetts/YouTube.com
The top clip is the interrogation tapes from the Minneapolis- St. Paul International Airport police.
Senator Craig was arrested June 7 on charges of a count of interference with privacy; disorderly conduct. A few days later, Craig pleaded guilty to the counts.
Of course, Senator Craig decided to come forward and talk to the press. A month later.
kovie64/YouTube.com/C-SPAN
Let's look at this again, this time with the help from the cast of the Tony winning Broadway musical, Avenue Q:
mjwilstwein/YouTube.com
Not long after Craig reportedly tried to get gay sex from the Minneapolis police officer, Florida representative Bob Allen, 49, was arrested by an undercover police officer in Titusville, Florida, for solicitation of prostitution. He reportedly gave $20 to an undercover officer, citing that it was the fear of a bl;ack man that made him make the offer.
(oh, I forgot. Republicans don't much like black folks, either. Damn! And I'm black...)
Allen was convicted in November with six months probation; $250 fine, court costs, and $245 restitution to the city of Titusville Police.
He resigned shortly thereafter.
In November- and a bit shortly before Allen's conviction- a Washington state Republican representative Richard Curtis allegedly had extramarital trysts with young men. He reportedly even went to an adult film store in a dress to meet his young boy toy dates.
2btcnav/CNN/YouTube.com
Of course, Curtis said that his young love, a 26-year-old Cody Castanga, tried to extort him.
Curtis resigned shortly after this scandal broke.
Okay, back to the timeline.
June 26, 2007, the cellphone and tech world was forever changed when Apple and AT&T released the iPhone, which acts as a phone; iPod; and even wi-fi. Initially, there were two versions- a 4GB and 8GB- but about three months later, Apple discountinued the 4GB model, and dropped the price of the 8GB from $599 to $399. The September price drop pissed off those me first types. Apple did their best to acquiese those nimrods by offering a $100 store credit.
Patience, mon capitan.
August 1, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Rush hour on I-35W. People driving home from work- some even heading to the Twins-Indians matchup at the Metrodome.
But at 6:05PM Central Time, the unthinkable happened.
WCVB-TV, Boston, MA/CNN/YouTube.com
The main spans of the bridge that crosses the Mississippi River- and carried 140,000 cars on a daily basis- collapsed.
drsnk/WCCO/KMSP/KSTP/KARE, Twin Cities, MN/YouTube.com
113 people were injured. 13 of them died.
The National Transportation Safety Board and MnDot (Minnesota Department of Transportation) continue to investigate the collapse. At the time, the bridge was only 40 years old.
Karl Rove has been George W. Bush's right hand man for over 30 years. From Bush's time in the Texas statehouse, to the White House, Rove was always there. Sometimes, itr seemed like he was one of Bush's puppetmasters.
In August, Rove called it quits as Deputy Chief of Staff. He served the six years under the current Bush administration.
In September, a young African American female was kidnapped from Charleston- the state capital- and taken about 50 miles to the southwest, and was reportedly- and repeatedly- raped by six people, all six white.
For about a week, the victim, Megan Williams, now 21, was forced to eat rat droppings; was choked with a cable cord, and stabbed. All while being called a racial slur (put 2 and 2 together on that one). It was possible that Megan was tortured in retaliation for ending the relationship with one of her captors, Bobby Brewster. Justr months prior- in July- Williams filed domestic violence charges on Brewster. Bobby is charged with kidnapping; malicious wounding and assualt during commisision of a felony. His mother Frankie was charged with the same charges, with the additonal charge of giving false information to police.
September 6, actor and former senator Fred Thompson made his declaration for the office of President of the United States. Here on Fox News, Thompson reveals his stands on issues:
pundital/Fox News/YouTube.com
On September 17, US attorney general Alberto Gonzales resigned. During his tenutre, his leadership was under suspicion- ranging from the Justice Department and FBI abusing the USA PATRIOT Act, and the firing of eight US attorneys last December.
October 10, Asa Coon, under suspension from Cleveland, Ohio's Success Tech High, walked in and shot four people. None of the shooting victims had serious wounds, thankfully.
Coon, however, took his own life.
He had a troubled 14 years, suffering abuse from on or both parents, and was sent in and out of juvenile hall.
October 17, the Dalai Lama visited the White House, where he would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Amdo2007/YouTube.com
Despite the White House's efforts to keep it low key- after all, he visited China shortly thereafter- China got pissed. After all, China sees the Dalai as a serious threat. Serious threat to what, I don't...oh, their Communist power grip on the Chinese people. After all, when you see something like this:
leelinn/YouTube.com
You'd have to wonder why the Chinese leadership is so damn paranoid. That's like an ironclad protected fortress whining over leaked military secrets- when there weren't any in the first place.
October 26 was a day of rejoicing for users of Apple, Inc's Macintosh Operating System X. The latest version, Leopard, was released.
EminemSkittles/Apple, Inc./YouTube.com
Leopard was also delayed- by only six months- so Apple could work on releasing the iPhone on time.
Kmccas/YouTube.com
In late October, wildfires threatened southern California. Over 400,000 acres and over 1300 homes were destroyed in the San diego area. These fires were among the latest to strike California. In January, a 20-acre fire destroyed five homes in Malibu. In May, over 800 acres burned in LA's Griffith Park. In nearby santa Catalina Island, more than 4700 acres burned. wildfires made a return visit in Malibu in November, with 50 homes destroyed.
SanDiegoNews8-
December 5 at Westwoods Mall in Omaha, Nebraska. Happy shoppers buying gifts for their loved ones. Everyone's in a Christmas/Hanakah/Kwanzaa mood.
Around 1:30PM Central time, all of that changed.
penneyboy/YouTube.com/CNN
The 911 call that came in at 1:42PM. Six minutes of horror at the Von Maur department store as Robert A, Hawkins, armed with an AK-47 assualt rifle began shooting.
When it was all over, nine people- Beverly Flynn, 47; Janet Jorgensen,66; Gary Joy, 56; Dianne Trent, 53; and Angie Schuster, 36 all of Omaha; John McDonald, 65, of Council Bluffs, Iowa; Gary Scharf, 48, of Lincoln; and Maggie Webb, 24 dead, including the 19-year-old Hawkins, who took his own life.
KETV-TV, Omaha, Nebraska/YouTube.com
Hawkins was a troubled young man, a high school dropout who was hospitalized twice for psychiatric problems. He had been diagnosed with an unspecified mood disorder, in addition to having attention deficit disorder and oppositional defiant disorder- a persistent pattern ogf defying authority (I think we all have a little bit of the latter) school had lost his job at an area McDonald's earlier in the day. He also saw a romantic relationship come to an end. In a suicide note, he wrote that, "I'm going to be famous now."
Several days later, on December 9, two faith-based institutions were struck by gunfire.
At around 12:30AM Mountain time, in Arvada, Colorado- just north of Denver- a young man- likely in his twenties- walked into the Youth With a Mission school and asked for a bed. When the night guard, the gunman took out a Tiffany Johnson, 26, was shot to death. Philip Crouse, 24, was the other fatality at YWAM. Two others- Dan Griebenbow, 24, and Charlie Blanch, 22 were wounded.
Then about 13 hours afther the YWAM shooting, a gunman with a high powered rifle entered the foyer of New Life church in Colorado Springs and opened fire. Three people died in that shooting, including the gunman, Matthew Murray, 24, who was shot by a New Life security guard, Jeanne Assam, 42, a former law enforcement officer. The other two fatalities are two sisters, Stephanie Works, 18, and her sister Rachael, 16. Their faather David, 51, was shot in the groin and abdomen, but has survived.
Murray- already gravely wounded- then shot himself to death.
Murray was reportedly linked to the YWAM shooting. He was expelled from the school in 2002, citing health issues. Since then, Murray had allegedly sent hate mail to the school and its' director prior to the two shootings.
New Life church was founded by the Rev. Ted Haggard, who was fired last year for meth addiction and allegedly having a relationship with a male prostitute, who dealt him the meth.
December 6, Republican Presidential hopeful, Willard 'Mitt' Romney- former governor of Massachusetts- said that he would "serve no religion", even as he is an active memeber of the Morons...er, Mormons (also known as the Christ of Jesus Christ, Latter Day Saints). He made the point that he'll honor that separation of church and state, and that he doesn't define his candidacy by religion.
However, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, another Republican presidential hopeful, is an active Southern Baptist. He- like Romney- is actively doing his best to woo the conservative and the religious right. Throughout the year, though, conservatives are not too sure of the field of Republicans. One is a Mormon- the aforementioned Willard Romney. Another is Catholic- former New York City mayor Rudolph Guiliani- but is pro-choice and pro gay rights. Yet another is Baptist- Huckabee. One wants us out of Iraq- Texas senator Ron Paul. It's like a garden variety of choices that virtually turn out the same- not conservative enough.
And then, there's the Democrat field. A senator who was once a first lady; and African-American sophomore senator who wowed the crowd at the 2004 Democratic National Convention; a vice-presidential hopeful who's giving it another run; and several others. Virtually all of them want to get out of Iraq, but only Hillary Clinton, it appears seem to understand that the U.S. must stay the course if the War on Terrorism is to be won.
It's going to be one crazy year
While I'm on the subject of politics, in 2004, 61 percent of Oregon voters (this auhtor among them) voted for Measure 37, which granted Ortegon landowners to develop on their land. This meant houses- be it for housing developments or simply to keep the land in the family.
publicintegrity/YouTube.com
However, the state leaders down in Salem didn't like that owners got to basically do what they damn well pleased. So, without so much of any public input, they snuck in Measure 49, which said would only reform Measure 37 claims.
yeson49/YouTube.com
yeson49/YouTube.com/KGW-TV, Portland, OR
Well, 49 passed by 62 percent. I voted against this measure.
Now government has retained the right to take land from owners under the lie 'imminent domain'.
In California, the question was asked on whether elected offices should receive funding from taxes.
calnurses/YouTube.com
However, voters didn't buy into that argument. Proposition 89 failed by 74.5%
Eunice Lopez has British ctress Elizabeth Taylor beat. Whereas Liz married eight times- (including twice to Richard Burton), Lopez married seventeen- SEVENTEEN!- men over a four year period. Damn! The only difference is that Liz dumped all of those dedbeats like lava. Lopez, on the other hand, didn't even bother filing for divorce.
This month, Lopez was charged with bigamy. She reportedly demanded money from the men she married, under the threat of deportation (all of the husbands were illegal ailens).
thrawnbutler/YouTube.com
Gerald Richardson, 29, wanted to be on the news.
Who would have thought that he did it by crashing into the studios of ABC 7, WLS-TV/DT in downtown Chicago on Sunday, December 23, 2007? He was arrested for crashing into the studio- right as the 10PM (Central Time) newscast was beginning.
No one was hurt.
Christmas Eve turned out to be horrific when six memebers of a family were gunned down in Carnation, Washington. TYwo suspects were arrested.
On December 27, former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, 54, was assasinated in Rawapindi, Pakistan. Bhutto was greeting crowds when she was shot to death. The assasins- or assassins- blew themselves up just moments later. 20 others were also killed (mostly from the blast). Her killing has cast a pall over the pakistani elections, which are to commence next month.
Many blame the current president Pervez Musharraf, yet others blame Washington and President Bush for failing to protect Mrs. Bhutto, who came from a self-imposed exile to attempt to win back the seat of Prime minister. She served as pakistan's PM between 1988 and 1996.
alJazeera/YouTube.com
Oregon's domestic partnership law was to have taken effect on January 1, 2008. But a group, Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative group that opposes same-sex marriages, along with a federal judge, Michael Mosman- who was appointed by that best friend of same sex relationships, George W. Bush, in 2003- decided to put the law on hold while ADF alleges that the 100 votes that weren't counted to allow a ballot measure to be placed on the November 2008 ballot, have been erroneously tossed.
If you ask me, these folks are making much ado about nothing.
We had notable passings in 2007.
Sidney Sheldon, 89, was a best-selling novelist.
Jack Valenti, 85, founded the Motion Picture Association of America in 1966
Lady Bird Johnson, 94, was first lady of the united states from 1963-1969.
Ruth Lotz Graham, 87, wife of evangelist Billy Graham.
Wally Schirra, 84, one of the Mercury 7 astronauts.
Ernest Gallo, 97, winemaker, scion of the Gallo vintery dynasty.
Joseph Gallo, 87, brother of Ernest. Left the family winemaking business to make cheeses. Predeceased Ernest by a little over a month.
Phil Rizzuto, 90, New York Yankees broadcaster whose catchphrases "Holy cow!" became part of Yankee lore.
Molly Ivins, 62, liberal columnist
Beverly Sills, 78, Brooklyn-born opera legend who brought opera to the masses
Robert Goulet, 73, opera tenor who also poked fun at himself.
Kurt Vonnegut, 84, author of Slaughterhouse Five
Denny Doherty, 66, member of 60s group the mamas and the Papas.
Art Buchwald, 81, Pulitzer-winning humorist.
Tige Andrews, 86, played Captain Greer on ABC's The Mod Squad
Frankie Laine, 93, singer in the 50s.
Betty Hutton, 86, singer-actress, noted for role in Annie Get Your Gun
Bowie Kuhn, 80, baseball commissioner.
Luther Ingram, 69, singer noted for hit If Loving You is Wrong (I don't Want to Be Right)
Roscoe Lee Browne, 81, actor with mellifluous baritone voice.
Don Ho, 76, the man who gave us Tiny Bubbles
Kitty Carlise Hart, 96, actress of film and TV, also noted as panelist on long-running game show To Tell the Truth
Boris Yeltsin, 76, former Russian president.
Bobby 'Boris' Pickett, co-wrote the hit Monster Mash
Tommy Newsom, 78, Tonight Show with Johnny Carson bandleader
Tom Poston, 85, actor who frequently co-starred with Bob Newhart's sitcoms.
Yolanda King, 51, actress and activist. Daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King.
Charles Nelson Reilly, 76, frequent panelist of Match Game and actor.
Brett Sommers, 83, Reilly's co-panelist on Match Game and actress. Estranged wife of Jack Klugman.
Kurt Waldheim, 88, UN secretary.
Chris Benoit, 40, WWE wqrestler. Killed himself after killing his wife and young son.
Liz Claiborne, 78, cosmetics and fashion queen.
Joel Siegel, 63, Good Morning America film critic.
Doug Marlette, 57, editorial cartoonist who created Kudzu
Tammy Faye Messner, 65, co-founder of PTL ministry with then-husband Jim Bakker. Later became a gay rights activist.
Laszlo Kovacs, 74, cinematographer of numerous films(Easy Rider; Five Easy Pieces, etc.)
Tom Snyder, 71, talk show host (Tomorrow; Late Late Show with Tom Snyder)
Bill Walsh, 75, San Francisco 49ers head coach
Merv Griffin, 82, talk show host, real estate magnate; and game show creator.
Phil Rizzuto, 89, New York Yankees shortstop and later broadcaster. Coined the phrase "Holy Cow!"
Brooke Astor, 105, Philantropist.
Max Roach, 83, jazz drummer.
Leona Hemsley, 87, bitch who ran Hemsley Hotels.
Richard Jewll, 44, man credited for saving lives in 1996 Centennial Park bombing in Atlanta. Accused and later exonerated of charges that he caused the bombing.
Rev. D. James Kennedy, 76, conservative Christian pastor.
Luciano Pavarotti, 71, opera tenor. Hailed as the 'King of the High C's'.
Jane Wyman, 90, actress and first wife of actor (and later US president) Ronald Reagan.
Rex Humbard, 88, televangelist.
Marcel Marcaeu, 84, legendary pantomine artist.
Lois Maxwell, 80, Miss Moneypenny in early James Bond films
Tawn Mastery, 53, female voice of LA's heavy metal scene.
Deborah Kerr, 86, actress noted for hot steamy kiss with Burt Lancaster in 1953's From Here to Eternity.
Joey Bishop, 89, one-fifth (and last surviving member) of Hollywood's Rat Pack.
Porter Waggoner, 80, country musician, credited for kick starting Dolly Parton's career.
Hank Thompson, 82, country musician, created 'honky-tonk swing'.
Norman Mailer, 84, 'prince of American letters. Best-selling author.
Joe Nuxhall, 79, youngest major leaguer with the Cincinnati Reds, later the Reds play-by-play announcer.
Dick Wilson, 91, lovable hypocritical store owner Mr. Whipple in Charmin bathroom tissue ads.
Kevin DuBrow, 52, lead vocalist of Quiet Riot.
Sean Taylor, 24, Washington Redskins safety.
Ike Turner, 76, credited for creating rock-n-roll, ex-husband of Tina Turner.
Roger King, 63, creator of King World Productions, and CBS executive.
Dan Fogleberg, 56, singer of song Leader of the Band
Oscar Peterson, 82, legendary Canadian jazz musician.
Harry Lee, 75, Chinese-American sheriff of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.
That's the way it is for 2007. It's been one hell of a year, indeed. 2008 promises to be quite a whirlwind.
There are a lot of people to thank. So, in paricular order, my thanks and gratitude goes out to first, my Lord and Savior Jesus, whom without him, I wouldn't be breathing. My friend C.J. White for inspiring me. The gang at Write Around Portland, and special thanks to Dawn Thompson and Krista Price for being the muses that inspired me this summer. Patty Warman, Marvin Mitchell, Gary Davis, and the rest of the gang at Julia West House. Thanks Rev. Tom Nolen for allowing such a space from the storm. Ulis Hardman, also, for goading me on (even if he sometimes talks to me to death). And everyone else I may have forgotten. Thank you all! It's been a great year, and I look forward to a fast paced 2008.
I leave you with this:
suzydastar2007/YouTube.com
Have a Happy and Safe 2008!
Copyright (C)2007, by DWA Organisation (Darren W. Alexander). All Rights Reserved.
