Not too sure about anyone else, but Ken Ober was the face of my television youth during the mid 80’s on MTV.  Ober passed away at the age of 52.

Image via TVPopcrunch 

LOS ANGELES – Michael Jackson’s official autopsy report indicated that the surgical anesthetic propofol in combination with three other sedatives probably stopped the pop star’s breathing and killed him, said an anesthesiologist who reviewed the document.

In a phone interview on Thursday, the doctor, Zeev Kain, the chairman of the anesthesiology department at the University of California, Irvine, said he reviewed the autopsy report, which has not been publicly released, on behalf of The Associated Press. (more…)

The Associated Press is reporting that Actor Patrick Swayze has passed away Monday at the age of 57 following his battle with Pancreatic Cancer.

Image via HollywoodActors 

The Punk / Poet who might be best known in our generation as the mind behind the 1978 autobiographical Basketball Diaries, Jim Carroll has passed away at the age of 60 on Friday in Manhattan in what media reports are calling a Heart Attack.

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Jumped in my ride and headed to the Miami Fusion training facility (which was really the Baltimore Orioles Spring Training facility) to meet up with the team to head to the airport as it was Tuesday and we were about to set off on a two game road trip that would start Wednedsay night in New York (against the then MetroStars) and end Saturday night at DC United (where our team hotel was across the street from the Pentagon).

We had three televisions in the locker room and as we stopped in to grab our gear for the bus ride to the Ft. Lauderdale Airport, our coach Ray Hudson made sure that everyone was aware of what had been happening…

At the point only one plane had hit the Towers, but a few of our teammates that day had some very strong connections to what was going on.

Carlos Llamosa had been a cleaner at the World Trade Center Towers after arriving from Colombia (and before playing for DC United and the US National Team) and was out to lunch when the first bombing occurred on February 26th, 1993, a lunch that in his honest opinion probably saved his life.

Jimmy Rooney’s brother was a firefighter that was on the seen and Jimmy had yet to be able to get a hold of him.

After the second plane hit the South Tower, we were all pretty aware that this wasn’t an accident and that something horrible had happened.

And at that point news came out that all flights were being grounded. Then the Pentagon building was hit and all were silent.

I guess what sticks with me most from that day is seeing people jumping from the burning buildings.. the collapse.. the helplessness watching your friends not being able to get a hold of their loved ones.. and watching our American / Palestinian teammate Shaker Asad questioned by our local Sports Media about his views and thoughts on the situation and the disgust I had that he was being put in that situation.

R.I.P.

Gertrude Baines, a former maid who was born before the discovery of penicillin and was the world’s oldest person, died today in Los Angeles. She was 115.

She died peacefully in her sleep at Western Convalescent Hospital, according to the hospital’s administrator, Emma Camanag. An autopsy is planned.

The Shellman, Ga., native, whose father was believed to have been a slave, was born April 6, 1894, when the U.S. flag had 44 stars and Grover Cleveland was president. She married at a young age and later divorced. Her only child, a daughter, died of typhoid at 18. Baines had outlived every one of her relatives.

source

Sounds like you’ll be hearing about the Sycamore Valley Ranch, aka Neverland Ranch a lot more in the future after reports coming out in the media are claiming Michael Jackson’s Family and Co-Owners are planning on turning the estate into a Graceland like attraction.

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The BP_TOW  crew lost a good man and a good friend of ours over the weekend with the passing of a high school friend, Kevin Carlberg.

Unfortunately the above is the only youtube clip I could find of his music. Luckily I got a chance to see him live at the Mint about a year after this performance when he was playing some of his solo stuff.

Kevin Carlberg, a vocalist and acoustic guitarist for the band Pseudopod, a band best known for winning Rolling Stone Magazine’s award for the Best College Band in America contest in 2000. The band bested over 1,000 other college bands from across the country to win the award. Kevin himself completed a solo CD with producer Dito Godwin in 2008 and worked numerous celebrity Artists on a “Stand Up 2 Cancer” compilation CD where all proceeds go to fighting cancer.

the following is taken from a UCLA Medical Center article in 2007

Carlberg’s journey to fight cancer was inspired by personal experience. While on tour with Pseudopod in Colorado what was thought to be altitude sickness was diagnosed as a cancerous brain tumor. (more…)