I see from Facebook posts that our friend Kevin Skelly (prior Carnegies manager) has died. He was a nice bloke. 
RIP. Did he ever recover from the coma, or…?
Did not know him, other than going to Carnegies with co-workers for drinks and snacks on Fridays.
P.J. O’Rourke, 74, lung cancer:
I have only one firm belief about the American political system, and that is this: God is a Republican and Santa Claus is a Democrat.
One of my favorite writers, though I strongly disagreed with his politics (except when he admitted voting Hillary over Trump in 2016).
I read plenty of his stuff back in the 90s, especially with the international material like Holidays in Hell, and a bunch of the hardcovers are still on the shelves at my parents’ place. At some point I got a little tired of his schtick - too many easy potshots, no longer informative enough - although I can’t remember what the last book I read was; maybe Eat the Rich? Plus he got more conservative, I got more liberal, and we both got older and more cantankerous.
Oh wow, Eat the Rich was 1999?! He’s had tons since then that I don’t think I’ve read. (Wikipedia link for Bibliography.)
Are there any of his more recent books that you’d recommend?
I’ve seen pictures of him out and around over the years, but he suffered serious head trauma and brain damage.
He was never the same person. The injury was the equivalent of having a frontal lobotomy.
The one silver lining is that Kevin lay down on a bed on Monday night and simply didn’t wake up. A blessedly simple way to go.
What were the circumstances of his motorcycle accident? Was it like the poor foreigner down south who recently got run over by a huge truck through no fault of her own?
Or was it more like the other guy Mark who had his scooter accident in the middle of the night after heading home from Carnegies, I think it was?
The only reason he survived is he was so drunk he was already anesthetized. Any references to “tragic accident” is nonsense. I say this as one of his closest friends in Taiwan.
RIP
I happened to know Kevin way way back when we were ‘young men about town’ and bump into him in various late night bars and hotspots in Taipei . A very charming , friendly and funny Scotsman is how I always remember him.
I had a mate at school who fell off a wall while drinking. Basically a different person afterwards. No self control and has been in and out of prison since then.
Another famous example is James Cracknell, the rower. Hit by a truck while cycling. Basically a different person according to his ex wife.
Madoff’s sister, Sondra Wiener, 87, and her husband Marvin were found with gunshot wounds on Thursday in Boynton Beach, Florida, according to a statement from the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office.
“After further investigation it appears to be a murder/suicide,” the office said. The medical examiner will determine the cause of death.
Imma go with lack of frontal lobe.
Gary Brooker at 76
Gary Brooker dead aged 76 - Whiter Shade of Pale singer dies at home after cancer battle (thesun.co.uk)
𝕬 𝖂𝖍𝖎𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖍𝖆𝖉𝖊 𝕺𝖋 𝕻𝖆𝖑𝖊 - 𝕻𝖗𝖔𝖈𝖔𝖑 𝕳𝖆𝖗𝖚𝖒 - YouTube
Mark Lanagan
Personal friend from back in the day.
Here’s how he and his father are remembered by those who knew them growing up. Really different than the troubled rock star he portrayed.
He wasn’t known as a druggie or an alcoholic, but rather an athlete and an above average student. I think he needed to have the “grunge narrative” in order to try to live the rock star life. Kind of a Kurt Cobain wannabe.
His father was a well known and respected teacher and coach. I don’t recall ever hearing anything about him being an abusive alcoholic. I can’t remember his mother. He was known as the town drunk since he was 12 years old? Bullshit.
Cracknell is an interesting case. His accident released a lot of anger. You can see his energy is diverted somehow. However, he’s totally lucid, been back to uni, regularly appears on tv, he’s well spoken and witty, but you can sense a tension within him now that was missing prior to his accident. He also left his wife, subsequently hooking up with much younger women. He’s in some kind of crisis in his mind from the trauma.
No shit. I listened to the Screaming Trees more than a few times. Good stuff,
A bit niche, but well known on YouTube. This guy was kind of infamous for abusing his body.
To look like gods on the outside, a lot of bodybuilders really destroy their insides.