R.I.P. The thread of death....celebrity or otherwise

[hitbyambulance]

because when's the last time you had a functioning cassette player?

i have four or five that work quite well, thank you. last year i actually purchased a _new_ album on cassette. i stupidly got rid of some cassettes when i got my first CD player in 1992, but i have acquired quite-a-lot-many of them since.

[Defiant]

One of the pioneers of the modern computer interface has passed away: the New York Times reports that William “Bill” English died on July 26th from respiratory failure at the age of 91. Alongside Douglas Englebart at the Stanford Research Institute, English helped develop the first computer mouse and put together a 1968 “Mother of All Demos” that outlined many concepts that would come to PCs over the decades, such as graphical user interfaces, online text editing, video calls and hypertext links.

Computer mouse co-inventor William English dies at 91

[Blackhawk]

because when's the last time you had a functioning cassette player?

i have four or five that work quite well, thank you. last year i actually purchased a _new_ album on cassette. i stupidly got rid of some cassettes when i got my first CD player in 1992, but i have acquired quite-a-lot-many of them since.

Four or five years ago I grabbed a cable, my cassette player, and all of the cassettes I still owned (half a dozen, all stuff that just isn't available anywhere else), and copied them all to my PC. Then I carefully placed the special cassettes in a storage box, and carefully placed the player in a storage trash can.

[Blackhawk]

False equivalence. 1979 was one of the best years of my life, and I don't even remember 2004.

Actually, this is true for me as well.

Your Mother (my band) wrote a song called 1979. AFAIK it only still exists on a cassette that I can't play anymore, because when's the last time you had a functioning cassette player? We also had a song called Skylab that was huge in 1979. I can still remember some of the lyrics. IDK if it was ever recorded.

I was five in 1979, and turned six a third of the way through. In retrospect, it was the last year of my childhood, and the last year of 'wide eyed innocence' before life started happening. I was still living in my childhood home in Clovis (we'd move near the end of the year), my mother was still alive (she'd die two years later, and spend most of the intervening time sick), my sister still lived with us, and my father wasn't the one raising me yet. We had plenty of money (that would never happen again), and I was too young to be aware of the problems of the world. I was also too young to experience the social pressures and expectations that I (for reasons - autism - I couldn't understand then) wouldn't be able to handle and would drive me into depression and anxiety. I was six then, and I can tell you that seven years old is way to young to suddenly have to grow up and become an 'adult.'

In 1979, none of that had happened yet, and when I look back into the past for a time when everything was 'perfect', my mind always dredges up 1979. When I'm feeling nostalgic and just want to be at peace, that's where I go.

[LordMortis]

AFAIK it only still exists on a cassette that I can't play anymore, because when's the last time you had a functioning cassette player?

I have what I believe to be a functioning Tapedeck component in a five component stereo system (tuner, amp, CD player, tape deck, turntable) and a dual cassette portable radio. I don't think I own any cassettes and haven't played one since the 90s, so I can't guarantee any of it works.

[Jaymann]

I used to live for cassette tapes. I would record the best tracks off my vinyl collection so I could play them in my car. I still have many of those tapes. Fast forward a quarter century and my work was getting rid of some expensive tape recorders, so I nabbed one. Spent a couple days listening to the old tapes - good times.

[LordMortis]

I used to live for cassette tapes. I would record the best tracks off my vinyl collection so I could play them in my car. I still have many of those tapes. Fast forward a quarter century and my work was getting rid of some expensive tape recorders, so I nabbed one. Spent a couple days listening to the old tapes - good times.

I had some mixed tapes I loved. I don't know where they went. They just went *poof*.

[stessier]

Prince's album, 1999, was released in 1982. That would be like someone today releasing an album titled, 2037.

That's my hopeful retirement year!

[Daehawk]

Prince's album, 1999, was released in 1982. That would be like someone today releasing an album titled, 2037.

That's my hopeful retirement year!

I had that album. I also played it in 1999 for the fun.

[Daehawk]

Two losses. One a Nobel Prize winner and one a fellow geek. I feel the death of Bill. He came across as a gentle soul with a wondrous intellect. Always smiling in interviews and happy to show off the 'wooden box' that started our journey to today.

Bill English: Computer mouse co-creator dies at 91

The co-creator of the computer mouse, William English, has died aged 91.

The engineer and inventor was born in 1929 in Kentucky and studied electrical engineering at university before joining the US Navy.

He built the first mouse in 1963, using an idea put forward by his colleague Doug Engelbart while the pair were working on early computing.

It would only become commonplace two decades later, when personal home computers became popular.

Mr English's death was confirmed to US media outlets by his wife.

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AND
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John Hume: Nobel Peace Prize winner dies aged 83

He died in a Londonderry nursing home following a long period of illness.

One of the highest-profile politicians in Northern Ireland for more than 30 years, he helped create the climate that brought an end to the Troubles.

He was a founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in 1970 and led the party from 1979 until 2001.

[Hrdina]

Wait, so Grampa Wilfred Brimley was only a couple of years older than me when he made Cocoon? Holy shit!

$#^$&#, he was about a year younger than I am right now.

And Bryan Adams recorded Summer of 69 in 1984. Is he working on Summer of '05 now?

[Sudy]

That hurts, but interesting cultural stuff still happened through the end of the 80s. Everyone knows humanity has been culturally dead in most regions since around 1997 and the advent of reality television. Everything has now just blended together in a slow downward march into obscurity and the banal.

[hitbyambulance]

Everyone knows humanity has been culturally dead in most regions since around 1997 and the advent of reality television.

i remember the late 90s as a garbage wasteland of music and i'm still mad i lived so many years of my life in that gross time. but music seemed to recover around 2003.

[Blackhawk]

Everyone knows humanity has been culturally dead in most regions since around 1997 and the advent of reality television.

And the first use of auto-tune in 1998.

[dbt1949]

When you get to be my age you'll look back to now as the "good ole days".

[Blackhawk]

The secret to happiness is finally realizing that all of the times were the 'good old days' and you just never recognized it until later. And that means that realizing that every day is a good old day.

If anyone figures out how to do that, let me know.

[dbt1949]

I never felt medieval times were all that great.

[LordMortis]

And Bryan Adams recorded Summer of 69 in 1984. Is he working on Summer of '05 now?

And Iggy Pop wrote 1969 in 1969. That'd be like writing a song called 20/20 now.

[coopasonic]

I never felt medieval times were all that great.

I had a lot of fun at Medieval Times!

[Alefroth]

Not many people are owed more of a debt by our hobby, heck even our way life.

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/13/90227739 ... dies-at-91

[Daehawk]

R.I.P

[dbt1949]

Bet he has a really small coffin.

[Jeff V]

The secret to happiness is finally realizing that all of the times were the 'good old days' and you just never recognized it until later. And that means that realizing that every day is a good old day.

If anyone figures out how to do that, let me know.

I had a humanities class in college where one of the books was "The Good Ol' Days...They Were Terrible!" by Otto Bettmann (with photos from the Bettmann archives). I learned not to be overly nostalgic in that class (which was invitation-only) and better appreciate modern advances. I usually can refrain from being overly snarky in the FB nostalgia group for the town I grew up in (with old photos posted daily). It's kind of fun to reminisce, but living in the past? That's a pretty awesome Jethro Tull song.

[Daehawk]

I live in the past all the time. Nothing now or future.

[Blackhawk]

That was mostly humor. There are 'good old days', but they're never what our memories tell us they were.

Any time I find myself looking too hard at how good things were back in (usually in 19-something) and I didn't appreciate it at the time, I stop and make myself remember why I was so unhappy during these so-called 'good days.' Invariably, our minds protect us by burying all the crappy memories and just leaving behind the great ones.

1998? I was young, still in my 20s. I had the freedom that you have before kids. I'd just discovered PC gaming. I had money. I was thin and in shape. I had a job where I was in management and had the respect of my peers. I had a hot girlfriend (soon to be wife.) What's not to love?

Oh, yeah. My anxiety was so through the roof that I gamed and chain smoked two and a half packs a day just to forget, and I hadn't even discovered that it was anxiety yet. My stress levels made me angry, miserable, and unpleasant to be around. My job was mostly about getting the blame from the upper management for any issues that took place in a public place that had tens of thousands of visitors on a good day. I wanted out so badly that I barely slept, because sleeping meant it was, *snap*, the next day and time for work again.

But when I think back, I think about the friends, the freedom, the discovery, the respect, and my youth. The rest is only there when I dig, even though it was 70% of the reality back then.

Human brains are fun.

[Kraken]

That was mostly humor. There are 'good old days', but they're never what our memories tell us they were.

We'll always have 1979.

[Smoove_B]

We'll always have 1979.

[AWS260]

"1979" by Smashing Pumpkins came out in 1995. If it came out today, it would be titled, "2004."

[Smoove_B]

[Daehawk]

Doesn't seem long ago.

[Archinerd]

2004? That was before I was born!

[Daehawk]

Spock's father has died

British actor Ben Cross, known for his role as athlete Harold Abrahams in “Chariots of Fire” and Spock’s father Sarek in 2009’s “Star Trek” reboot, has died at the age of 72.The actor made his screen debut in 1976 World War II thriller “A Bridge Too Far,” he portrayed slick lawyer Billy Flynn on stage in “Chicago” in the late 1970s, was Prince Malagant in “First Knight” in 1995, and more recently was in works like “The Hurricane Heist” and The CW’s “Pandora”.

[Z-Corn]

RIP to Ron "Rontrose" Heathman, founding guitarist for The Supersuckers. He died yesterday. Cause of death has not been announced.

This really bums me out. I saw Rontrose with The Supersuckers at least 30 times and chatted with him many times at shows. He was a funny, humble man and just a monster guitarist. After he left The Supersuckers he got into coffee roasting and bounced around the country. He ended up in my humble hometown and worked for a roaster that was in the same building that housed the brewery warehouse my brother-in-law ran. Those two got to know each other during smoke breaks on the loading dock and bonded over music. I got to hang out with Ron but never got a chance to fanboy him and reintroduce myself as a major Supersuckers fan.

There was a period of time when our schedules synced in an amusing way. I would be driving home from work and stuck in a long line at a traffic light at the same time he would be out on said loading dock having a smoke. When I would get close to his smoke spot I would put on some Black Sabbath and crank it up. When he looked over to see who was jammin' I'd throw him the Mano Cornuta and we would laugh. It happened like twice a week for a whole summer.

There are plenty of videos out there of him playing guitar but I really like this one where he talks about coffee. I think his personality really comes through:

[Holman]

I remember my wife coming home with the Supersuckers' The Evil Powers of Rock 'n' Roll. I'd never heard of them, and it blew me away.

[Z-Corn]

I remember my wife coming home with the Supersuckers' The Evil Powers of Rock 'n' Roll. I'd never heard of them, and it blew me away.

Such a great album. They actually had to record it twice and form a record label to release it due to some shenanigans with their original label.

[A nonny mouse]

Todd Nance of widespread panic has died, CNN.

Never really listened to them, but respected the determination and regular band attitude (as opposed to the "best band" one hit wonders like Creed)

[McNutt]

I'm not a fan of Creed, but I have to give them their due. They sold over 50 million albums and are not a one-hit wonder.

[Unagi]

Oh that's a bummer.

I had a college friend turn me on to Widespread Panic ages and ages ago.

two of my favorites:

Traveling Light


and, Coconuts



really, that whole album is pretty good.

[Unagi]

(as opposed to the "best band" one hit wonders like Creed)

I always felt like Creed wanted to be Perl Jam... a poor man's Eddie Vedder.

[Jaymann]

(as opposed to the "best band" one hit wonders like Creed)

I always felt like Creed wanted to be Perl Jam... a poor man's Eddie Vedder.

I can't stand either one.