"Ned Beatty, Actor Known for ‘Deliverance’ and ‘Network,’ Dies at 83" (Variety.com - Sunday, 6/13/21)
Former UCLA (where he was, honestly, one of the worst players in DI) and Utah Jazz Center (where he was pretty solid) Mark Eaton dies at 64 after a bicycle accident https://www.nba.com/jazz/news/utah-jazz-legend-mark-eaton-has-died-age-64 Eaton was drafted by the Jazz in the fourth round of the 1982 NBA Draft. The 7-foot-4 center out of UCLA would go on to play 11 seasons in Utah, establishing himself as one of the league’s most feared interior defenders. Eaton blocked 3,064 shots during his career — fourth-most in NBA history. He led the league in blocks in 1984, ’85, ’87, and ’88. He still holds the record for most blocked shots in a season (456 in 1984-85). “It kind of astounds me,” Eaton said in a 2019 UtahJazz.com interview. “I always thought there would be someone that came along and knock me off the block. It’s remarkable. I don’t think about it a whole lot but sometimes I look at all the great centers that have come along and nobody has come close to breaking that record. It’s kind of crazy.” I saw him play in person for UCLA when they were ranked #2 against #1 DePaul. He was a back up center and just absolutely terrible. But he worked his ass off, developed his strength and agility, and became a legitimate NBA center. Not bad for a bench warmer. I mean, OK, he was riding the pines for a storied program, but still: He got blown off the court against DePaul. And yet he went on to have a better NBA career than anyone else playing in that game, a rare #1 vs. #2 regular season match up.
"Frank Bonner, ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’ and ‘Saved by the Bell’ Actor, Dies at 79" (Variety.com - Thursday, 6/17/21)
Blue Jackets goalie Matiss Kivlenieks dies at age 24 The Columbus Blue Jackets confirmed that goalie Matiss Kivlenieks has died from an apparent head injury following a fireworks accident on July 4. Novi, Michigan, police told Associated Press that Kivlenieks was fleeing a hot tub with others after a fireworks malfunction on Sunday night, slipped and hit his head on concrete. He was 24.
Pathologist says no, it was chest trauma from a firework, not the slip. Apparently the rocket or whatever wasn't instantly fatal?
"Richard Donner, Director of ‘Superman,’ ‘The Goonies’ and ‘Lethal Weapon,’ Dies at 91" (Variety.com - Monday, 7/5/21)
https://www.si.com › 2021/07/05 Terry Donahue death: Ex-UCLA coach dies after cancer battle - Sports Illustrated
Robert Downey Sr., Filmmaker and Provocateur, Is Dead at 85 Robert Downey Sr., who made provocative movies, like “Putney Swope,” that avoided mainstream success but were often critical favorites and were always attention-getting, died on Wednesday at his home in Manhattan. He was 85. The cause was Parkinson’s disease, his wife, Rosemary Rogers, said. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/07/movies/robert-downey-sr-dead.html
There was even a recently released "10 Things You Didn't Know About..." video about 1978's Superman: The Movie, which of course includes him as well:
Washington State Legends of Soccer This morning brings sad news. Jimmy Gabriel – the original Mr. Sounder, our captain and later our coach – has died. He was 80. Jimmy's spirit, his teachings, his fire – they burn on. A legend at Everton, Southampton and Seattle. Our prayers and condolences to the Gabriel family.
RIP Paul Mariner (22 May 1953 – 9 July 2021) (Middle row on the left in white sweatshirt... He was a player coach with the SF Bay Blackhawks way back in 1992 I had the pleasure of meeting him at the Britannia Arms Pub in San Jose and he was a 1st class guy on and off the field and a true legend of the game! My thoughts and prayers for you big man and to all your family, friends and fans! You will be greatly missed!
Byron Berline, 77 Bluegrass Boy for Bill Monroe-- one of the few that really got along with Monroe-- played with the Burritos, Byrds, Parsons, Eagles, Emmylou, and many more, but most famous for the street fiddle track on "Country Honk" for the Rolling Stones...
Jackie Mason (June 9, 1928 - July 24, 2021) https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainmen...mic-perfected-amused-outrage-dies-93-79038448
Did I ever tell you that I almost bought a bass that had "Bill Monroe" scratched into the upper treble bout? It was a good bass at some point, but had been rode hard and put up wet. I passed.
How long ago? (Wondering if it could have belonged to Bessie Lee Mauldin Brown, Bill's bassist and road squeeze, 1958-64, and Grand Ole Opry member up to her death in '87. Soon to be played in a major motion picture by Maggie Gyllenhall... Her doghouse in pictures looks pretty beat up to me... her marriage got past the infidelity, but Brown may not have wanted stuff with Bill's name on it around after she died...) Upper treble bout? Is that part of the fingerboard? I only ever worked on guitars...
Do you have an image of that bass? I'm using my phone, so I'll give the beat description I can and I'll try to post an image in a couple days. A bass haa a top with f holea cut into it, a back, and sides. The sides are divided into three sections- the treble bouts that connect to the neck, the bass bouts that go down to the bottom, and center "C" bouts that look like a woman's waist so you can bow the bass wirhout hitting the sides. This bass had a hole in the upper bass bout (the part that would lean against your chest if you were playing 'grass style, perfectly perpendicular to the top. The upper trenle bout is on the other side of the neck, if you are a rh bassist playing a rh bass. LH baasiata and instruments ans few and far between. IIRC, tje autograph was on the treble side. Owner was an old White guy, wanted $3500. Got bent when I offered $1500. It would have taken at least another $3500 to put it back into playing condition. I did not want it as a museum piece, but a player.
This may help. In the second image, what I errantly describe as "bouts is being referred to correctly as "ribs". "Bouts" really refer to the whole of that part, if you will, like you'd refer to a hip. My bad. They're called bass and treble because of the strings. The lower EA strings are on the bass' left and the higher-pitched DG are on the right, if you're looking at the fingerboard from the front. Basses are not symmetrical on the inside. There's an extra bit of wood under the bass foot of the bridge, called a bass bar, curved like a bow. There's a small dowel called a soundpost which runs from the top to the back, unglued for adjustability, and supports the bridge's treble foot Anyhoo, the bass had a hole in it where the word "ribs" is, and was signed (by someone) with a sharp something in the exact same place, but on the other side of the instrument. Probably mid 19th century. Man, I'd really be grateful if you had a photo of this bass. I may have seen the same one! But it was a pos (conditionwise) that dude said he'd been playing in church. He got mad when I suggested that he might do better keeping it as a memento and finding a more playable piece for his church. I doubt the mofo played at all. No experienced bassist I know would have dealt with that thing as it was, and it would be an absolute sin to start a beginner on such.
Here's the best I can find, but its not definitive... it does look as though there's a hole, but on the other side. And the negative's not reversed-- Bill Keith is playing from the correct side for him.
Wow wow wow! I may have the sides mixed up- it could have been the bass side with the sig and the treble side with the hole. It very well might be the same bass! I don't regret not buying it, but it's so cool that I may have put hands on a famous instrument. The tuners are the same kind, but I have them on my modern basses (during WWII the Czechs had to stop making their tuners. The US stepped up and made them, but they were all metal, and not as classy IMO. Then, in the last 30-40 years or so, other German companies brought back the "hatpeg" tuners like you see here) so that's not a dealmaker. BTW, whatever bass I saw was in the late 90s Re Bill Keith- I'm not sure what you're getting at. It looks like a standard RH banjo being worn by a RH player.
If the negative were reversed he'd be playing backwards, and he didn't, he was standard-- so the mark on the bass isn't reversed...