Ray Charles dead - Here comes another annoying weekof tributes

[World Eater]

Just when Reagan is about to exit stage left, Ray Charles has to take the dirt nap? I can't take another week of memorials, tributes, and 24 hour media coverage.

Gaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

[Alessan]

Shame on you.

This isn't some stupid politician dying , this is Ray Charles. Show some respect.

[Frank]

At least this one will involve some excellent songs.

[silenus]

So shut the television off and go read a book. Believe it or not, these people mean something to a large number of us. Brother Ray was a giant, and the world is a poorer place without him. Hit the road, Jack.

[Scarlett67]

That's right, they're honoring and remembering a human life JUST TO PISS YOU OFF.

Turn off the damn TV if you don't like it. Oh, and bite me.

[Lord Ashtar]

Maybe they can double-up and use a Ray Charles song or two in the Reagan tribute. Then they fade out of Reagan and into Charles, before they fade into the next celebrity death.

[Colibri]

At least this one will involve some excellent songs.

I'd 1000 times rather watch a tribute to Ray Charles than a tribute to Reagan.

[wolfman]

Maybe they can double-up and use a Ray Charles song or two in the Reagan tribute.

The see-no-evil, remember-no-evil special?

[Munch]

What I'm going to be annoyed the most about is the flurry of threads that get started each time someone dies. It's usually pretty unavoidable (two started in Cafe Society at the same time, so preview wouldn't have prevented it), and it's pretty minor to get all up in arms about, but it still sticks in my craw.

I'm such a jackass.

[gobear]

Gracious, now there's a death I'll mourn! I do hope that his passing won't be treated as a footnote to Reagan, like Mother Teresa's death was in the wake of the Princess Di hysteria.

*sigh* I need to go home and put on "Georgia on My Mind."

[lieu]

I'd 1000 times rather watch a tribute to Ray Charles than a tribute to Reagan.I'm guessing Ray would have expressed exactly the same sentiment.

I had no idea he was ill or even that old. Anyone have any idea as to his age or the cause?

This will be a helluva tribute. Not many come anywhere close to his musical stature.

[Casey1505]

You'll just have to suck it up for a couple more days. Tony Randall, Ronald Reagan, and now Ray Charles. That's three.

Besides, do you really think Charles will get a full week of coverage? He was not a head of state. Three days, maybe four, tops. By Monday, you'll just have to avoid the magazine racks. (No disrespect intended to the recently deceased, or to the OP.)

[World Eater]

Well my DSL is down at home, and I'm leaving work, so let me just say this before I get flamed out of existence.

My annoyance has nothing to do with Ray Charles, he was a great man, and I hope he rests in peace. My problem is with the weeks of cheesy round the clock media coverage this will set off. Give the man a tribute, but make it short and sweet, and then move on.

This should be repeated in the future for anyone else.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Anyone have any idea as to his age or the cause?This (http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,14285,00.html?tnews) makes it sound like death was a result of complications stemming from his hip replacement.

[GaWd]

Anyone have any idea as to his age or the cause?

73, Cause of death: Acute Liver Disease

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5182959/?GT1=3584

Sam

[Lute Skywatcher]

Note: the above link will probably ask you to register for E! online. Just click "I'd like to continue reading" if you don't want to register.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Someone would have to come in and confuse things.

I meant my link, of course.

[elucidator]

WE,old chap, you're just suffering from tributosis, the result of a staggering overdose of maudlin crapola being spewed into your fragile existence. There will be no round the clock tributes to Ray Charles, there wouldn't be even if the competition weren't sucking up all the air time. What with Katie Couric interviewing Ronald R.'s tailor about how the cut of his trousers revealed a down-home sense of humor aligned with a masterful grasp of geo-political alignments.

(Lord God, when will it end!....)

Ray Charles I truly dug, he was a inspiration to heroin addicts everywhere. The only people I ever heard speak disparagingly of him were musicians hired as his side men, and they hated him down to the tips of thier toes. He (it is said) had the unnerving habit of changing key and tempo more or less on whim, and firing anyone who wasn't appropriately psychic.

But, hell, "Hit the Road, Jack." Priceless.

[Kalhoun]

The see-no-evil, remember-no-evil special?
That's fucking hilarious! The Wolfmeister embraces the dark side!

[gobear]

WE,old chap, you're just suffering from tributosis, the result of a staggering overdose of maudlin crapola being spewed into your fragile existence. There will be no round the clock tributes to Ray Charles, there wouldn't be even if the competition weren't sucking up all the air time. What with Katie Couric interviewing Ronald R.'s tailor about how the cut of his trousers revealed a down-home sense of humor aligned with a masterful grasp of geo-political alignments.

(Lord God, when will it end!....)


Oh, hush up, 'luci, you're safely away from the madness up in the Great White North, but here in the DC area the roads are closed, the trains are clogged, security is everywhere. Oh, and the Bush girls are coming to work in my building (which houses the Bush reelection campaign), so we're going to have more security checks here and more Secret Service hovering by the elevators.

[Cervaise]

Oh, and the Bush girls are coming to work in my building (which houses the Bush reelection campaign), so we're going to have more security checks here and more Secret Service hovering by the elevators.Look on the bright side, the cafeteria's gonna have to start stocking the good liquor.

[elucidator]

As well, there is the (admittedly remote) possibility that you could nail one of the Tequila Twins. I know your orientation makes this presumably distasteful, but think of the bragging rights....

[Annie-Xmas]

I'm sorry, but I love Eve's post in this thread: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=260884

I'm sad about Ray Charles's death. He seemed like a nice person :(

[wring]

OMG, I am so there! I mean all this shit about Ronnie and stuff has actually diminished gavel to gavel coverage of the Peterson trial!

[gum]

wolfman, That was excellent.

As for Ray Charles, He really will be missed. Not like some other recently diseased persons.

[Colibri]

I'd 1000 times rather watch a tribute to Ray Charles than a tribute to Reagan.

I'm guessing Ray would have expressed exactly the same sentiment.


Are you going for some kind of Yogism, there? I would guess most people would rather watch a post-mortem memorial tribute to almost anybody else than watch one for themselves!

If you don't go to other people's funerals, they won't come to yours. - Yogi Berra

[Marley23]

Are you going for some kind of Yogism, there? I would guess most people would rather watch a post-mortem memorial tribute to almost anybody else than watch one for themselves!

If you don't go to other people's funerals, they won't come to yours. - Yogi Berra
Or it might be because Ray was blind. Either way, or both, it's pretty funny.

[Master Wang-Ka]

I would rather listen to hours of Ray Charles tunes on the radio than have dozens of hours of pre-empted news and entertainment so that CBS can have live coverage of someone staring at a box with a dead President in it.

News? Sure. A week ago. Now it's a pointless waste of time and resources genuflecting over a box with a corpse in it. What, are we waiting for someone to spit on it, or for Al-Qaida to try and blow it up or something?

[Dewey Cheatem Undhow]

I'm with wring on this one: I'd rather watch 1,000 Ray Charles tributes than one more second of the Laci Petersen trial, or the Kobe Bryant trial, or whatever the fuck else is being passed off as "infotainment" on cable news for 99% of the broadcast day.

[Marley23]

We'd better hope somebody VERY famous dies when during Michael Jackson's trial, because that's going to drag on forever and we'll need a break... of course the Petersen trial will last a long time too, I'm sure.

[rjung]

Ray deserves a week of tributes more than Ron does, IMO.

[Liberal]

Ugh. MTV refered to him as "former pop idol, Ray Charles". Why not just call him "former Davey Jones knock-off and Clay Aiken groupie"? Damn, MTV, how can you, as a music channel, be so fucking clueless?

[Marley23]

Damn, MTV, how can you, as a music channel, be so fucking clueless?
If MTV was really a music channel, that would indeed be very confusing.

[Lord Ashtar]

As for Ray Charles, He really will be missed. Not like some other recently diseased persons.



That's deceased.

[gum]

Originally posted by Lord Ashtar That's deceased.
I'm sorry, Mylord.

Now, might be a good time to say my English sucks..... "My English sucks". Excuses for that. :)


Let's turn on the juice and see what shakes loose.