Alan K. Henderson's Weblog

Rest in peace.

Besides his iconic role as Mr. Spock, Nimoy played Paris on 49 episodes of Mission: Impossible. One of the "cover of the Rolling Stone" moments for TV celebrities back in the show's heyday was playing the guest villain in an episode of Columbo; Nimoy played a surgeon in the episode A Stitch in Crime. The non-Spock I'm most familiar with is his narration in the computer game Civilization IV.

In an uncredited early role, Nimoy played an Army sergeant in Them! The voice doesn't sound like him at all, but that's him. I'm guessing the film director wanted him to speak with a more average-Joe-American accent.



Nimoy's IMDb page is here. His Wikipedia page is here.

Labels: Movies, Obituaries, Television

One of the blogosphere's own passed away August 1, losing a battle with colon cancer. Condolences to his friends and family.

Here's a little something that combines two of Andrew's loves - music and libertarian/Tea Party activism. That's him at 2:10 in the hat.

Labels: Obituaries

Rest in peace.

Labels: Movies, Obituaries

Yahoo Movies features his 9 Greatest Onscreen Moments.

RIP

Labels: Movies, Obituaries

Rest in peace.

Labels: Obituaries, Television

One of rock music's great keyboardists passed away at the age of 74.

Labels: Music, Obituaries

Baroness Thatcher passed away earlier today.

Here's a snippet from her appearance on "Firing Line" with William F. Buckley Jr. The subject: "What Have We Learned from the Failure of Socialism?"



The Guardian published a few choice quotes, including this, which ties in with the topic of the "Firing Line" discussion: "It is ironic that just when those countries such as the Soviet Union, which have tried to run everything from the centre, are learning that success depends on dispersing power and decisions away from the centre, there are some in the community who seem to want to move in the opposite direction. We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain only to see them reimposed at a European level with a European superstate exercising a new dominance from Brussels." ("Bruges speech", 1988)

Rest in peace.

Update: What she meant to Eastern Europe.

Labels: Economics, Europe, Obituaries, Politics

On the silver screen we see but a small fraction of the creative talent that goes behind the films that mean so much to us. My uncle Clyde Smith was one of those people behind the scenes, involved in such tasks as camera operation and set construction. Scleroderma eventually forced his retirement from the film industry. He spent his last years in Magnolia Springs, Alabama, and passed away Friday at the age of 69. He will be missed.

IMDb list some of the highlights of his career.

Labels: Obituaries

Hugo Chavez is dead.

Update:

Labels: Obituaries, World

Rest in peace.

Labels: Obituaries, Television

See Rand Simberg's article at PJ Media.

And also my post on the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11.

Here's a cool YouTube find.


RIP.

Labels: Obituaries, Space

The Hogan's Heroes alum and Family Feud host passed away. Rest in peace.

Labels: Obituaries, Television

The Special Counsel to President Nixon and Prison Fellowship founder passed away yesterday. For those with an hour and a half to spare, CSPAN has a video interview, in which Colson "talks about the secret White House tapes, the Watergate break-in, his relationship with the 37th president, and the day that Richard Nixon resigned from office."

With Timothy George, Colson wrote a number of columns for Christianity Today, available here. This appears to be Colson's last live Breakpoint broadcast; Breakpoint's main page is here.

Labels: Obituaries, Politics, Religion

Kim Jong-Il is dead .

Labels: Obituaries

One of the greatest voices for freedom in our lifetimes has passed away.

Instapundit links a worthwhile 2003 essay by Matt Welch.

My Henderson Prize for the Advancement of Liberty tells the story of the Velvet Revolution.

Labels: Obituaries

Rest in peace.

Labels: Obituaries

Muhammar Qadaffi has reportedly gone the way of Ozymandias. US State Department cannot confirm just yet.

Labels: Obituaries, World

Pejman Yousefzadeh has some thoughtful words.

Kevin Williamson notes a characteristic of Apple Computers that the government does not enjoy: economies of scale. "Once you figure out why your cell phone gets better and cheaper every year but your public schools get more expensive and less effective, you can apply that model to answer a great many questions about public policy. Not all of them, but a great many."

I don't own a single Apple product. No iPhone (or any other cell phone), no iPod, no iPad. But I have enjoyed one of Steve Jobs' other legacies: Pixar. While Disney feature films in latter years produced more mediocrity than quality, in its short time Pixar created some of the best animated feature films of all time: Toy Story and its two worthy sequels, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and a personal favorite, Ratatouille. Few live-action films have a scene as moving as this:



Like the restaurant in the film, the microcomputer revolution owes much of its talent to humble origins. Apple was started by two college dropouts in Steve Jobs' bedroom. It now ranks 35th in the Fortune 500. Steve Jobs and his pals have made the world a better place.

Labels: Obituaries