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Michael Jackson, Dead at 50

Brock Keeling — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:43:35 GMT

According to TMZ, "Michael suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon and paramedics were unable to revive him. We're told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back."

What?

Update: According to ABC, Jackson was rushed to the UCLA Hospital after a heart attack. The LA Times reports that "paramedics performed CPR on the 50-year-old King of Pop, who was not breathing when they arrived at his home."

However, no major outlets are reporting that the 'King of Pop' is, in fact, dead. (Egads. First Ed, then Farrah, now this.)

Update II: CNN reports that Michael Jackson is alive. Hmm. Stay tuned for more updates.

Update III: reports that he's alive but in a coma. (It's a veritable MSM feeding frenzy! Listen closely and you can hear every newsroooms going full-blown insane right now.)

Update IV: Ryan Seacreast, for what it's worth,. says "dead." The American Idol hosts says,"I am hearing from a source at ucla medical center, michael jackson has died."

Also, the LA Times just confirmed it. "Pop star Michael Jackson was pronounced dead by doctors this afternoon after arriving at a hospital in a deep coma, city and law enforcement sources told The Times."

RIP, Michael Jackson.

Update V: CNN (finally) says, 'OK, now he's dead, at least that's what LA Times and CBS say.' But, for what it's worth, they haven't independently confirmed it. Otherwise, yeah, sadly, Jackson died today. There you have it. Sigh.

LA Times

Lesbian Activist Del Martin Dies

Brock Keeling — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:39:01 GMT

Some sad news, folks. Lesbian rights activist Del Martin -- who married her wife Phyllis Lyon at City Hall this past June on the first day that same-sex couples gained the right -- died this morning at a San Francisco hospital. She as 87. (Read more about her legacy and recent passing here.)

Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, if you recall, were the first queer couple to get married at City Hall. Mayor Gavin Newsom officiated the ceremony. Martin founded the Daughters of Bilitis, the country's first lesbian advocacy group, back in 1955. 1955, people!

(Oh, and one way to honor Martin's tireless work and lasting activism would be to Stop8.org to find out how you too can stop the ban on same-sex marriage.)

Image: Del and Phyllis back then.

George Carlin, Dead at 71

Brock Keeling — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 22:43:03 GMT

Inspiration to many left-leaning political activists, writers, and observational humorists, comedian/social satirist/pottymouth George Carlin died of heart failure today at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica. He was 71.

Above is his "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" bit for which he was well-known. Sigh. RIP, George.

Follow the jump for more clips of his comedic legacy.

RIP: Heath Ledger Found Dead

Brock Keeling — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 15:15:46 GMT

Australia-born actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his NYC apartment today. It is reported that he allegedly died of either a drug overdose or hanging ~~at Mary-Kate Olsen's apartment.~~ More details as they come in. Sad. Very much so. Read more about the actor here and here.

You may start any and all Brokeback Mountain references starting...now.

UPDATE: According to our parent site, Gothamist:

The housekeeper and masseuse tried to awake him and called the authorities when he did not respond. When the paramedics responded he was in full cardiac arrest and they attempted to perform CPR. It was unsuccessful, however, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.The police say foul play is not suspected.

He was not, as was reported in the , found dead inside MK Olsen's pad.

Weighing in with hard-boiled insouciance on the death of the Academy Award nominee (on announcement day no less! Have you no shame?), check out SFBG and SF Weekly also getting in on the traffic-enticing action.

New York Times

RIP: Evel Knievel

Brock Keeling — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:55:11 GMT

The motorcycling-riding Johnny Knoxville of his time, minus any homoerotic subtext, Evel Knievel died today at the wonderful age of 69. He passed away after years of suffering from "diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs." Which? Good for him -- in that he wasn't taken down by his daredevil-laced stuntsmanship. He even survived a run-in with the Hell's Angels. (Aside: why do the Hell's Angels act like such dick slices?) Wikipedia tells us that:

On March 3, 1972 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, Knievel got into a scuffle with a couple of Hells Angels in the audience. After making a successful jump, he tried to come to a quick stop because of a short landing area. Knievel ended up getting thrown off and run over by his motorcycle, a Harley-Davidson. Knievel ended up with a broken back and a concussion.

What's more, he signed over the rights to his life story for Jef Bek's rock opera, "Evel Knievel: the Rock Opera," which garnered decent reviews when it opened two months ago in Los Angeles. And really, once your life is interpreted via rock opera format, you're golden. Jesus H. Christ and Eva Peron? That's pretty good company.

RIP: Cum on Feel the Noize Singer

Brock Keeling — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 14:16:03 GMT

Growing up west of (the) 5 freeway, the heavy metal sound fo the '80s escaped us. But while vacationing in the far off land of Riverside County during the holidays as a wee tyke, we would listen to our cousins' heavy metal tapes with envy and detached amusement. This was one of the songs we enjoyed most, Quiet Riot's "Cum on Feel the Noize." Sadly, their lead signer, Kevin Dubrow, 52, was found dead this past Sunday afternoon in his Las Vegas home.

Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali has this to say to CNN, "I'm at a loss for words. I've just lost my best friend...out of respect for both Kevin and his family, I won't comment further. There's going to be a lot of speculation out there, and I won't add to that. I love him too much." Sad.

No word yet on the exact cause of Dubrow's death.

RIP: A's Pitcher Joe Kennedy

Brock Keeling — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 12:30:51 GMT

Former A's pitcher Joe Kennedy, 28, died at his home in Florida this morning. At this time the cause of death is officially unknown, but it was "sudden" and a brain aneurysm is rumored to be at fault, according to the Chronicle.

Making his major league debut in 2001 with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Kennedy went on to play for other teams such as the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Toronto Blue Jays, and of course, the one and only A's.

His career record, it seems, was "43-61 with a 4.79 ERA." (You more sporty types probably know what that means better than we could possibly explain.) He is survived by his wife, Jamie, and his one-year-old son.

RIP: Dick Nolan

Brock Keeling — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 11:43:01 GMT

Dick Nolan, former coach of the 49ers, died yesterday at the age of 75.
While battling Alzheimer's disease and prostate cancer, according to the Chronicle, he passed away in an assisted-living facility in Dallas. According to Wikipedia, he was quite the coach for the once-glorious football team. "He was head coach of the 49ers for eight seasons from 1968 through 1975, noted for developing the defense and taking the team to three straight NFC West division titles (1970-72), twice missing the Super Bowl by only one game (1970-71). Cool.

His son, Mike, as most of you already know, now coaches the 49ers -- a team that has also recently passed on. We send out mad support to the Nolan family.