OH, but c’mon. You and your kid got a great story out of it!
“And thissss…is my combo Bonilla-Bonds autograph. You can see where Bonds intentionally signed over it.”
Well, here we’re bumping up against creepiness to us vs cultural norms for them. Mozart was, like Hitler, an Austrian, and therefore inordinately, to us, obsessed with bowel movements, his own and those of others. Even moreso than Germans. :eek:
You bastard. Now I’m picturing Hitler painting Dachau in the Kindade style. :eek:
Miles Davis, maybe. I don’t know enough to know if he was an asshole generally, but he sure did harbor a lot of racial hostility:
“If somebody told me I had only one hour to live, I’d spend it choking a white man. I’d do it nice and slow.” Miles Davis Can’t Shake Boyhood Racial Abuse, Jet March 25, 1985.
Chimera, the Dachau Lager is located on the outskirts of a pleasant small town that has some pretty houses in it. I could totally see Kincade painting it.
Wow, did this take too long to get posted. Maybe it’s a sign we’re forgetting him.
The recent retirement of Derek Jeter was such a bittersweet moment, involving one of the most gracious and upstanding athletes of our generation, and it shows how true greatness as an athlete and a human being need not be exclusive.
Then there’s Barry… possibly one of the most gifted players to ever don spikes, and a complete, thorough, unpleasant, demanding, egotistical asshole I wouldn’t ask for an autograph if he knocked on my door.
…and that comes from a Yankee-hater for many reasons including a whole family of generational die-hard BoSox in-laws, and a third-generation Giants fan. Go figger.
Well, it could also be that baseball players aren’t generally thought of as artists/performers (although I can see the argument being made for a very wide definition of the latter.)
Love that Bonilla/Bonds story. Hell, to me it makes it all the more valuable in my eyes with the story that goes with it. It’s not just another run-of-the-mill autograph.
Dangit, I had until this thread came along.
To the list, I’ll add Ginger Baker. I’d listen to his records with you all day long. I would not ever want to have been in a band with him. Just watch the trailer for Beware Mister Baker, and tell me you’d be comfy. I’m OK with any level of art discourse until we’ve reached simple assault.
Mark E. Smith is also a guy who umm, has had his moments. Both absolute genius and absolute madman. Abrasive is his modus operandi.
ETA: And it actually makes me sad to add this name, because he is truly so great to me. Charles Mingus was a mercurial bastard at best. But much like Mr. Smith, even after he had his flame-out with people, they were still usually happy to have worked with a genius.
And not to sound to nannyish to anyone but myself, but I feel kind of ashamed for participating in this thread. Those guys are all heroes of mine. It’s my problem, not yours, but I wanted to point it out.
Wait, to clarify:
Barry Bonds isn’t a hero of mine.
(wipes brow)
To be fair, Ginger Baker lived in Parker, Colorado from 1993 to 1996 and by all accounts was popular with the locals. He participated in polo matches at the Salisbury Equestrian Park and sponsored jam sessions and concerts on the weekends. When Ringo Starr brought his All-Starr Band to Red Rocks, Baker was welcomed on stage and jammed on a few Cream songs with Jack Bruce.
Post #72 made me piss my pants laughing!
Yeah, well his actions here still grant him a place on the list.
Gene Hackman. An undeniably talented actor but I’ve heard he was a miserable prick to work with.
Wright abandoned his wife and six kids to run away with the wife of an architectural client. He was an arrogant, selfish prima donna, running badly over-budget on most projects (once bankrupting a client in Buffalo). Although a visionary architect, he was a very bad practical engineer (Fallingwater’s fabled cantilevered porches, for instance, would’ve long ago fallen into the creek below had it not been for extra structural steel snuck in by the builder against Wright’s orders, and later strengthening by the Western Penna. Conservancy, which now owns the house).
As noted earlier, H.P. Lovecraft was a racist and anti-Semite, and Richard Wagner hated Jews, too.
Eric Gill, the famous English font designer (Gill Sans, Perpetua, etc.) and artist, sexually abused his own kids and dog, and committed incest with his sister.
Jeffrey Archer is a very talented British author but also, by all accounts, a hugely narcissistic asshole and a convicted perjurer to boot.
N.C. Wyeth almost certainly had an affair with his daughter-in-law.
Michael Jackson, 'nuff said.
None of this stops me from appreciating their work. I think you have to be able to separate artists’ personal failings, no matter how awful, from the merits of what they produce.
Betty White has publicly called Cloris Leachman a pain in the ass.
Not sure if this fits here, but does anyone else watch the NatGeo series “Life Below Zero”? Here’s a paradox for me: My favorite person on the show is Sue Aiken, who owns and operates a fishing camp on the North Shore of Alaska. However, lots of other people say they can’t stand her, and while I enjoy watching her on the show, and all the MacGyvering she does to keep the place running, I figured out very quickly that she lives where and how she does, because she cannot function in the “regular” world.
I’d still hang out with Bonds before I’d hang out with Jeff Kent, and I say that as a die-hard Dodgers fan. spits in Kent’s general direction
Regarding Franklin and slaves:
There are many other cites that discuss Franklin and his ownership of slaves, but this seemed the most reputable.
How can we have made it this far without mentioning Ty Cobb?
Because he makes everyone mentioned look like a saint in comparison.