Missing Kurt Cobain, John Candy, Charlie Murphy, Muhammad Ali, and Queen
Remembering and celebrating some transcendent entertainment talents, and one intellectual and emotional leviathan who was bigger than the sport in which he starred
Hey there. Welcome back to my blog. Once again, I’ll give you a few intriguing links to check out, offer up some memories of my travels, and you can always let me know what you think in the comment area below. Let’s get it started.
For starters, this is a tremendous New Yorker piece on the writer’s friendship and working relationship with the late, great Kurt Cobain. As I said on Twitter, I was a huge fan of Nirvana’s, as most young people were, in the early 1990s. Cobain killed himself in 1994, and the first I heard of it – we didn’t pay much attention to TV and radio when we were drama students living in Manhattan – was when I walked out of my apartment building and saw the New York Post newspaper box with Cobain on the cover. One month earlier, I suffered a similar shock when John Candy died. Both those guys were real cultural touchstones for me, and it seemed so unlikely they’d be gone at young ages. Part of growing up and growing old, right? You just hope people get as much time on the planet as possible.
Next up is my heartiest recommendation for you to seek out and watch PBS’ four-part documentary on Muhammad Ali. It’s made by the master documentarian Ken Burns, his daughter, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon. Everything the Burns family touches turns to gold. They’re elite storytellers, capable of framing the protagonist or main character in each documentary inside society-at-large during their lives. You always learn something new from a Burns documentary, and it doesn’t matter if you’re a boxing fan or not – Ali transcended sport, and was a worldwide phenomenon because of his courage, sense of humour, and passion for social justice and humanitarianism. If ever I had to choose a few famous people to go out to dinner with, one absolutely would be Ali. His life’s arc should be taught in every school there is.
Hockey links: here’s my latest for The Hockey News: This one focuses on the Anaheim Ducks, who are leaning on their young kids for success this season. They’re asking too much of them, I think, and this is going to be a very long year for their veteran players.
And here’s my latest Maple Leafs piece for Full Press Hockey. It’s about Buds captain John Tavares, and the particular pressures he’ll be facing this season in Toronto. The Leafs need him to be his usual point-per-game self, but as is the case with all their players, they’ll be looking to him for a little bit extra this year.
Song of the Day: Queen, “I Want To Break Free”. Freddie Mercury is an icon for many reasons, but this song from late in Queen’s catalogue stands out as my favorite of the band’s. The video for it is still so much fun. Enjoy it again here:
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In the wake of Norm MacDonald’s passing, I thought of another comedian gone too soon: Charlie Murphy. Eddie’s big brother was phenomenally hilarious, just in telling stories the two of them experienced together:
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The “I want more!” story is just as excellent as the “I’m Rick James, bitch!” stories Charlie was most famous for. He was absolutely hysterical. He went the extra mile to add color and laughs to everything he talked about. Losing him at 57 back in 2017 was, and is, so sad. But I’m glad he got at least a small taste of the fame Eddie got. He may not have been as well-known, but the people who did know him were so thankful for all the joy he brought them. You’ll be doing yourself a favor if you go down a Youtube rabbit hole with all of his work.
That’s all I have for you today. I’ll be back with a subscriber-only piece this weekend. Until then, be safe and happy. And if you want to subscribe, you can do so here:
A great post, as always, Adam. John Candy was a treasure. Planes, Trains and Automobiles is one of my favourite films, but now when I re-watch it, I feel a tinge of sadness. I will check out the Ali documentary for sure. Thanks again.