The Sunday Night Music Express: In Memory: John Fairfax 1937-2012

He crossed the Atlantic because it was there, and the Pacific because it was also there.

He made both crossings in a rowboat because it, too, was there, and because the lure of sea, spray and sinew, and the history-making chance to traverse two oceans without steam or sail, proved irresistible.

In 1969, after six months alone on the Atlantic battling storms, sharks and encroaching madness, John Fairfax, who died this month at 74, became the first lone oarsman in recorded history to traverse any ocean.

In 1972, he and his girlfriend, Sylvia Cook, sharing a boat, became the first people to row across the Pacific, a yearlong ordeal during which their craft was thought lost. (The couple survived the voyage, and so, for quite some time, did their romance.)

Both journeys were the subject of fevered coverage by the news media. They inspired two memoirs by Mr. Fairfax, “Britannia: Rowing Alone Across the Atlantic” and, with Ms. Cook, “Oars Across the Pacific,” both published in the early 1970s.

Mr. Fairfax died on Feb. 8 at his home in Henderson, Nev., near Las Vegas. The apparent cause was a heart attack, said his wife, Tiffany. A professional astrologer, she is his only immediate survivor. Ms. Cook, who became an upholsterer and spent the rest of her life quietly on dry land (though she remained a close friend of Mr. Fairfax), lives outside London.

San Francisco occupy protester strangles his parents

Unreal.

The Story:

Friends and relatives said Susan Poff and Robert Kamin of Oakland were the perfect pair to adopt a foster child.

They had dedicated their careers to helping others escape poverty, she as a physician assistant in a city-run clinic in the Tenderloin and he as a clinical psychologist for inmates in the San Francisco County Jail system.

But now, less than a decade after they adopted, their 15-year-old son stands accused of strangling both Poff, 50, and Kamin, 55, then hiding their bodies in the back of the family’s PT Cruiser.

Police were called to the family’s home on Athol Avenue on Friday by a co-worker who was concerned when Kamin did not show up for work.

[…]

Initially the son, whose name is being withheld because of his age, denied any involvement, but later told officers what had happened, authorities said. He was arrested on suspicion of murder Saturday and is being held at the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center in San Leandro.

Co-workers said Poff and Kamin were having some arguments with their son, some of it having to do with him spending too much time in the Occupy Oakland encampment, but nothing that sounded beyond the scope of typical teenage rebelliousness.

Yup, Just like the tea party.

Nancy Pelosi herself said it!

I’m sure she is really proud.

Others: The Gateway Pundit, moonbattracker.com/wordpress, Verum Serum and Jammie Wearing Fools

Legendary Singer Etta James Dead at 73

So sad, she lived to see the first black President. Now she’s with the angels in Heaven. 🙁

Video from AP:

TMZ.com reports:

Legendary R&B singer Etta James — famous for her hit songs “At Last” and “Something’s Got a Hold on Me” — has died.

The singer — whose health was on a rapid decline the last few years — was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010. She also suffered from dementia and Hepatitis C.

 Her live-in doctor announced the singer was “terminally ill” last month, after her leukemia was declared incurable.

 Etta died at a hospital in Riverside, California … her manager confirmed.

Her Best:

Another good one:

Say what you want; but the woman could belt a song. She will be missed and may she rest in peace.

Tony Blankley RIP

Sad News:

Tony Blankley, a noted conservative author and commentator and former editorial page editor of The Washington Times, died late Saturday, according to family sources. He was 63 and had been battling stomach cancer.

Mr. Blankley was an executive vice president of the Edelman public-relations firm in Washington, a visiting senior fellow in national-security communications at the Heritage Foundation, a syndicated newspaper columnist and an on-air political commentator for CNN, NBC and NPR.

He was also a regular weekly guest on “The McLaughlin Group.”

Mr. Blankley was editorial page editor of The Times from 2002 to 2007, and from 1990 to 1997 he served as press secretary and general adviser to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. – Ex-Times Editorial Page Editor Tony Blankley dead at 63 – Washington Times

RIP.

Others: Scared Monkeys, The Sundries Shack, NewsBusters.org and Outside the Beltway (Via Memeorandom)

Liberal Tool of the Day: Eugene Robinson

(H/T HotAir)

There’s phrase that comes to mind to describe this man.

….and it is not “Smart Liberal Black Man” either.

Click the picture to watch the video:

That is about all I can truly say about this little incident. I made a promise that I would keep it out of the gutter on this new blog. I’m gonna try to stick to it.

Only other thing I will truly say is this; if the Democrats actually think this sort of tripe is going to help thier cause; they are very highly mistaken. Insulting the parents of a dead child, yeah you boys keep on plucking that little chicken and see what it gets you.

I’ll keep the rest of my thoughts to myself. 😡 …..least I get accused of being a racist, a Klansman or whatever else those mentally depraved buffoons call people like me. (blanco)

Others: Stop The ACLU, NewsBusters.org blogs, Whiskey Fire, Pundit & Pundette, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, National Review, nation.foxnews.com, Big Journalism, Mercatornet, Big Journalism, Patterico’s Pontifications, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Ed Driscoll

As of now, I have zero respect for Jesse Ventura

Because of this: (H/T HotAir)

CONTENT WARNING! Language!

You want to know what a Ron Paul supporter acts like, want to know their mentality? Play the video.

This, my friends, is why I despise Ron Paul. Military or no Military; Ventura is a lying scumball.

In Memory: Jimmy Dean 1928 – 2010

The Working Man’s Country Music Singer has died:

Yahoo News Reports:

RICHMOND, Va. – Jimmy Dean, a country music legend for his smash hit about a workingman hero, “Big Bad John,” and an entrepreneur known for his sausage brand, died on Sunday. He was 81.

His wife, Donna Meade Dean, said her husband died at their Henrico County, Va., home.

She told The Associated Press that he had some health problems but was still functioning well, so his death came as a shock. She said he was eating in front of the television. She left the room for a time and came back and he was unresponsive. She said he was pronounced dead at 7:54 p.m.

“He was amazing,” she said. “He had a lot of talents.”

Born in 1928, Dean was raised in poverty in Plainview, Texas, and dropped out of high school after the ninth grade. He went on to a successful entertainment career in the 1950s and ’60s that included the nationally televised “The Jimmy Dean Show.”

In 1969, Dean went into the sausage business, starting the Jimmy Dean Meat Co. in his hometown. He sold the company to Sara Lee Corp. in 1984.

He was also a bit of a Conservative:

In the late ’60s, Dean entered the hog business — something he knew well. His family had butchered hogs, with the young Dean whacking them over the head with the blunt end of an ax. The Dean brothers — Jimmy and Don — ground the meat and their mother seasoned it.

The Jimmy Dean Meat Co. opened with a plant in Plainview. After six months, the company was profitable.

His fortune was estimated at $75 million in the early ’90s.

Having watched other stars fritter away their fortunes, Dean said he learned to be careful with his money.

“I’ve seen so many people in this business that made a fortune,” he told the AP. “They get old and broke and can’t make any money. … I tell you something, … no one’s going to play a benefit for Jimmy Dean.”

Rest in Peace, Mr. Dean. You have more than earned it.

(Fixed headline typo…. Sorry about that….)

Sad News at Wizbang Blog

Politics is one thing, real life is another… Some very sad news to report at WizBang Blog:

Hugh Slatery

Wizbang author Hugh Slatery, who published here as HughS, died suddenly Sunday evening. Hugh was 53 years-old, and is survived by his mother, his three children and their mother, two brothers, and a niece and five nephews.

via In Memoriam: Hugh Slatery (Wizbang).

I think it would be a good idea for everyone to say a silent prayer this night and into the week for the Slatery family and for everyone over at Wizbang Blog. May the Lord Jesus Christ be with those children, especially the oldest one.

May We Never Forget – 6/6/1944 – D-Day

God Help Us, if we ever forget this solemn day.

On June 6, 1944, The United States Armed Forces landed at Normandy Beach, to stop the tyrannical rule of Adolf Hitler.

May we never, ever forget…….