Thursday, January 01, 2015

2014 - The Year in Review

We say goodbye to 2014, the 70th Anniversary of D-Day and 75th for Batman, a year of Ebola, ISIS, The Ukraine, Frozen, Ferguson Missouri and where Colbert "won" Television.


Where the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Germany won the World Cup and Luis Suárez was hungry. 

When Boko Harem were prompted to Bring Back Our Girls. Crimea was annexed by Russia. Israel and Palestine fought again and the Syria crisis worsened. 

A year of the Ice-Bucket Challenge, the Pistorious verdict, Irish Water charges, when Scotland is united yet divided, MH370 is lost, MH17 is shot down and QZ8501 crashed.

Kim Kardashian's huge oiled ass didn't break the Internet, but we landed something on a fucking comet [which you can even listen to] - there is hope! 

It is time to remember those we have left behind in 2014...
General Carl E. Mundy Jr, former USMC Commandant, former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds, outspoken Northern Irish Unionist politician Ian Paisley, Shirley Temple the child actress who would grow up to be come a U.S. ambassador, Ralph H. Baer engineer, inventor and pioneer of video gaming, author Maya Angelou, artist H. R. Giger, announcer and movie trailer voiceover artist Hal Douglas, TV producer Glen A. Larson, actors Eli Wallach, Mickey Rooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, James Garner, Bob Hoskins and Lauren Bacall. Comedians Joan Rivers, Harold Ramis, Rik Mayall and Robin Williams. They changed the world and our lives.

Elaine Stritch and Donald Sinden both starred in the British ITV comedy series Two's Company from 1975-1979, both legends passed away in 2014 only 8 weeks apart
We also lost the following people from the world of entertainment:
Elaine Stritch, 89, American award-winning actress (30 Rock, Two's Company)
Sir Donald Alfred Sinden CBE FRSA, 90, English actor (The Day of the Jackal, Two's Company) Roger Lloyd-Pack, 69, English actor (Trigger in Only Fools and Horses)
Hal Sutherland, 84, American animator (Star Trek: The Animated Series), co-founder of Filmation
Sarah Marshall, 80, British actress (Janet Wallace Star Trek: TOS, "The Deadly Years")
John Cacavas, 83, American television score composer (Kojak, Hawaii 5-O, The Bionic Woman, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)
Bernard Stanley "Acker" Bilk MBE, 85, English clarinetist ("Stranger on the Shore")
Campbell Lane, 78, Canadian actor (Baron Wolfgang von Strucker in Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.)
Richard Bull, 89, American actor (Mr. Oleson in Little House on the Prairie, The Doctor in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Ralph Waite, 85, American marine and actor (The Waltons, NCIS)
Cliff Bole, 76, American television director (MacGyver, T.J. Hooker, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Christopher Malcolm, 67, Scottish actor (The Empire Strikes Back, Highlander)
Jimmy Murakami, 80, American animator and film director (The Snowman), co-founder of Murakami-Wolf Films
Malcolm Tierney, 75, British actor (Lieutenant Childsen in Star Wars, Braveheart)
Aaron Allston, 53, American game designer (Dungeons & Dragons) and sci-fi author (X-Wing)
James Rebhorn, 65, American actor (Independence Day, Homeland)
David A. Trampier, 59, American fantasy gaming artist (Dungeons & Dragons)
Arthur Smith, 93, American musician and songwriter ("Duelling Banjos" from Deliverance)
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., 95, American actor (Alfred in Batman: The Animated Series and related shows/video games)
Terry Richards, 81, British actor and stuntman (Arabian Swordsman in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, James Bond movies)
Casey Kasem, 82, American radio jockey (American Top 40) and voice actor (Shaggy in Scooby-Doo)
James Shigeta, 85, American actor (Takagi in Die Hard)
Patsy Byrne, 80, English actress (Nursie in Blackadder II)
Bob Hastings, 89, American actor (Commissioner Gordon in Batman: The Animated Series and related shows/video games)
Joe Viskocil, 61, American visual effects artist (Independence Day, Star Wars) Oscar winner (1997)
Cassandra Lynn Hensley, 34, American model (Playboy Miss February 2006)
Arlene Martel, 78, American actress (T'Pring in Star Trek: TOS "Amok Time")
Stephen Lee, 58, American actor (The Negotiator, Chorgan in Star Trek: The Next Generation "The Vengeance Factor")
Brian G. Hutton, 79, American actor and director (Kelly's Heroes, Where Eagles Dare)
The Rt Hon. The Lord Attenborough [Richard Samuel Attenborough], CBE, 90, English award-winning actor, producer and director (Gandhi, The Great Escape, Jurassic Park)
Buster Jones, 71, American voice actor (Blaster in The Transformers, Winston in The Real Ghostbusters and Lothar in Defenders of the Earth)
Polly Bergen, 84, American singer and actress (Rhoda Henry in The Winds of War and War and Remembrance) Emmy Award winner (1958)
Geoffrey Holder, 84, Trinidadian actor (Baron Samedi in Live and Let Die)
Jan Hooks, 57, American comedienne and actress (Saturday Night Live, Batman Returns, 30 Rock)
Carol Ann Susi, 62, American actress (Mrs. Wolowitz in The Big Bang Theory)
Richard Kiel, 74, American actor (Jaws in the James Bond movies)
Christine Cavanaugh, 51, American voice actress (The Critic)
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE ("With a little help from my Friends", "Up Where We Belong")
Maximilian Schell, 83, Austrian-Swiss Oscar-winning actor (A Bridge Too Far, Cross of Iron)
Elizabeth Peña, 55, American actress (The Incredibles, Modern Family)
Mike Nichols, 83, German-born American director (Catch-22), Oscar winner (1968)
Don Pardo, 96, American radio and television announcer (Saturday Night Live)
Menahem Golan, 85, Israeli director and producer (Operation Thunderbolt, The Delta Force, Masters of the Universe), founder of Golan-Globus and the Cannon Group
Edward Herrmann, 71, American actor (Nixon, The Lost Boys, The Aviator)
The Ultimate Warrior, 54, American Hall of Fame professional wrestler (WWE)
Warren Clarke, 67, British actor (Firefox, Top Secret!)
Dennis Lipscomb, 72, American actor (Under Siege, Wiseguy, In the Heat of the Night)
Jimi Jamison, 63, American musician (Baywatch theme, Survivor "Burning Heart")
Lee Marshall, 64, American radio personality, professional wrestling announcer and voice actor (Tony The Tiger)
we appreciate the legacy of their talents and creativity.

Jackie Healy-Rae, charismatic former Fianna Fáil politician who left the party to become an Independent TD and founded a political dynasty.

We also acknowledge those who died in 2014 who devoted much of their lives to military, scientific, industrial or public service:
Vicente T. Blaz, 85, American USMC general and politician, delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Guam (1985–1993)
Captain John J. McGinty III, 73, American Marine Corps officer, recipient of the Medal of Honor
Major-General Patrick Guy Brooking CB CMG MBE DL, 76, former Commandant of the British Sector in Berlin [1985]
John Carty, 63, Irish politician, FF TD for Mayo (2002–2007), Senator (2007–2011)
Captain Dale Gardner, 65, American naval officer and astronaut (STS-8, STS-51-A)
Valeri Kubasov, 79, Russian engineer and cosmonaut (Soyuz 6, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project/Soyuz 19, Soyuz 36)
Lieutenant Walter D. Ehlers, 92, American World War II soldier, recipient of the Medal of Honor
Major Kurt Chew-Een Lee, 88, American military officer, first Asian-American officer in the Marine Corps, recipient of the Navy Cross
Staff Sergeant William Guarnere, 90, American World War II non-commissioned officer and author, key figure in Band of Brothers
Leutnant Hermann Schleinhege, 98, German Luftwaffe ace during World War II [97 aerial victories]
Colonel Ola L. Mize, 82, American army officer, Korean War recipient of the Medal of Honor
James R. Schlesinger, 85, American government official, Director of the CIA (1973), Secretary of Defense (1973–1975), Secretary of Energy (1977–1979)
Rear Admiral Jeremiah Denton, 89, American politician and naval officer, Senator from Alabama (1981–1987), recipient of the Navy Cross
Colonel James H. Kasler, 87, American Air Force officer, three-time recipient of the Air Force Cross
General of the Army Vladimir Popovkin, 56, Russian military officer, General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency (2011–2013)
Avraham Shalom, 86, Austrian-born Israeli security official, Director of the Shin Bet (1980–1986), commander in the capture of Adolf Eichmann and the Bus 300 affair
PFC Chuck Tatum, 87, American WWII Marine, Iwo Jima combatant, provided source material for The Pacific
Denis Lyons, 78, Irish politician, FF TD for Cork North Central (1981–1992)
Colonel Henry Hartsfield, 80, American air force officer, NASA astronaut and test pilot (Columbia), commander for Discovery and Challenger missions
Major Theodore Van Kirk, 93, American military officer, navigator and last surviving crew member on the Enola Gay
Sergeant Major Jon R. Cavaiani, 70, American NCO and prisoner of war, Army Special Forces, recipient of the Medal of Honor
Yitzhak Hofi, 87, Israeli general, Director of Mossad (1974–1982)
Colonel Anatoly Berezovoy, 72, Soviet cosmonaut (Soyuz T-5)
Lieutenant General Lincoln D. Faurer, 86, American air force officer, Director of the National Security Agency (1981–1985)
Flight Lieutenant Bill Green, 97, English Battle of Britain RAF fighter pilot
General Ramsey Muir Withers, CMM, CD, 84, Canadian army officer, Chief of the Defence Staff (1980–1983)
Jackie Healy-Rae, 83, Irish politician, fmr FF, IND TD for Kerry South (1997–2011)
Ariel Sharon, 85, Israeli politician and general, Minister of Defense (1981–1983), Prime Minister (2001–2006)
Karl Albrecht, 94, German billionaire grocery executive, co-founder of Aldi
Brian Farrell, 85, British-born Irish broadcaster and journalist
we thank them for their service to their respective fields.

I must also mention the passing of Angalifu, a Sudanese-born American rhinoceros, and was one of two remaining male northern white rhinoceros, Julia O’Donnell, “Ireland’s most famous mammy” mother of singer Daniel O’Donnell who died at 94 and O Sang-hon, a 50 year old North Korean deputy security minister in the Ministry of Public Security, who was bizarrely executed by flamethrower in the political purge. May they rest in peace.

And now we look forward to

2015

Happy New Year




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