Re: Musing on Celebrity Deaths

1

It's Purdue Pharma. If you fix it quickly, no one else will notice.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 8:49 AM
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2

Also, I don't think David Bowie's death had anything to do with opioid addiction. He had liver cancer.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 8:53 AM
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3

1: Would you believe that I first wrote Perdue Farma? In a way, it seemed very right.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 9:08 AM
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4

2: That's good/bad. But what about Bob Saget??


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 9:09 AM
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5

OK, this has been happening too many times to be my imagination. I typed "bob saget cause of death" into Google - which quickly autocompleted - but it took me to results on "bob saget", end of search. What is this thing Google now does?


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 9:21 AM
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6

I've noticed that too!!


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 9:24 AM
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7

"Found dead in a hotel room in Florida" is never a reassuring sign indicating a death by natural causes, but it's not impossible that is the case.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 9:25 AM
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8

The answer for now is that the family requested privacy, of course.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 9:28 AM
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9

I guess "motel room in Florida" is worse.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 9:35 AM
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10

Anyway, the thread title made me think there was updated news about him and there was not.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 9:39 AM
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11

10: Bob Saget: Almost a Day Later, Still Dead


Posted by: Cyrus | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 10:16 AM
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12

Its so sad because drug use doesn't have to kill people. Kieth Richards still lives.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 10:35 AM
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13

Another part of it that blows my mind is that they sold a 160 mg strength OxyContin for several years. Like, they sold a pill where a single dose could kill a person.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 10:42 AM
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14

With no evidence at all, I'm personally convinced about Prince. 'Cause his hips hurt 'cause he wore high heels.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 10:44 AM
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15

I have so much hip pain this week.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 10:46 AM
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16

When you're an extremely wealthy, extremely famous celebrity, there will always be a doctor that will write you prescriptions


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 10:52 AM
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17

I just have good health insurance.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 11:13 AM
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18

With no evidence at all, I'm personally convinced about Prince. 'Cause his hips hurt 'cause he wore high heels.

I thought it wasn't speculation and that it was well documented at the time of his death.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45307000

Prince was found unresponsive in a lift at his Paisley Park Studios, Minnesota, on 21 April 2016.

An investigation revealed he had experienced significant pain for a number of years, and hundreds of painkillers of various types were found at his house.

Evidence showed Prince had thought he was taking the prescription drug, Vicodin, when in fact he was taking a counterfeit Vicodin pill laced with potentially deadly fentanyl.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/musics-fentanyl-crisis-inside-the-drug-that-killed-prince-and-tom-petty-666019/

In October, a week after the final date at the Hollywood Bowl, Petty was dead. The 66-year-old had accidentally overdosed mixing a variety of medications. The one the Petty family blamed: fentanyl, an extremely potent synthetic opioid 30 to 50 times more powerful than heroin, according to the DEA. Despite having a previous history of opioid abuse, he'd been prescribed a fentanyl patch to help with his pain; in addition to that slow-releasing patch, two other, more dangerous, derivatives of the drug were also found in his system. "Those are illicit," says Dr. Nora Volkow of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. "Those you get very likely in the black market." (Petty's family declined to comment.)

Petty's overdose in many ways mirrored Prince's a year and a half earlier. Prince was also taking the drug while dealing with a hip injury, probably stemming from decades of punishing live performances. Over the past decade, fentanyl was also a leading factor in the fatal overdoses of former Wilco guitarist Jay Bennett, 3 Doors Down guitarist Matt Roberts and Slipknot bassist Paul Gray. In November, rising rapper Lil Peep died at 21 after taking a combination of fentanyl and Xanax. "It is so crazy-strong," says Petty's daughter Adria, who is planning a campaign against fentanyl. "We really don't want this to happen to anyone else. We learned this is the worst feeling you can have: to lose someone you love for no good reason."

Posted by: NickS | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 11:19 AM
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19

If Prince couldn't even get real Vicodin, I'm guessing the door-to-door Vicodin guy should be avoided.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 11:37 AM
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20

When you're an extremely wealthy, extremely famous celebrity, there will always be a doctor that will write you prescriptions

Elvis being another case study here. People joke that he died on the toilet but what happened was that opioids his quack doctor gave him had caused such intense constipation that he had a heart attack trying to push one out.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 12:14 PM
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21

Two words: oat meal.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 12:17 PM
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22

I mean, it's probably better to not have a quack doctor, but reality isn't moving in that direction.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 12:22 PM
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23

20: Also Michael Jackson.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 12:23 PM
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24

Michael Jackson, yeah.

Michael had a really serious Elvis complex. King of Rock and Roll vs. King of Pop. Graceland vs. Neverland.

Also was he briefly married to Lisa Marie.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 12:28 PM
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25

Didn't Saget have a history of using cocaine? That's not good for your heart! Wouldn't be surprised if this was "just" a heart attack, but the result of previous drug use. And I understand why these folks use drugs. How hard must it be to get on stage day after day with the energy to put on an entertaining show? Or to come down after you've done that? All that said, of course I blame the Jews.


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 12:36 PM
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26

Robert Durst dead. Sort of a celebrity.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 12:42 PM
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27

From a NYTimes recap of his life:

In 2014, Mr. Durst was arrested in Houston for urinating on a rack of candy in a CVS pharmacy. He paid a $500 fine, and a lawyer representing him called it "an unfortunate medical mishap."

I now intend to use "unfortunate medical mishap" for embarrassing farts on any other bodily-related faux pas. (Or I guess any mishap.)


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 12:46 PM
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28

How hard must it be to get on stage day after day with the energy to put on an entertaining show?

Ok, but what does that have to do with Bob Saget?

Too soon?


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 12:47 PM
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29

Yes, you monster.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 12:53 PM
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30

I think it's safe to assume most food sold in Houston has been pissed on by someone. Side effect of living with true freedom.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 12:54 PM
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31

Durst's wife (2nd I think, he almost certainly murdered his first) is my wife's 2nd cousin. Not someone she knew personally, however. The whole marriage had an extremely weird vibe (unsurprisingly).


Posted by: President Joe Manchin | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 1:03 PM
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32

I suspect it was completely transactional.


Posted by: President Joe Manchin | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 1:04 PM
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33

31, 32: We shouldn't judge! Just because a man kills one wife doesn't mean he can't be a great husband to his last wife.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 1:09 PM
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34

Robert or Fred?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 1:10 PM
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35

33: Way to circle back.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 1:11 PM
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36

33: Well-played.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 1:22 PM
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37

Regardless of the truth, Bob Sagat would want all of us to think that the reason he died was accidental auto-erotic asphyxiation.

https://twitter.com/johngary/status/1480357970835767296?s=21


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 1:53 PM
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38

Won't somebody think of the hotel room cleaners?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 2:04 PM
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39

On social media, there's been this myopic notion that each year is a particularly bad stretch of celebrity deaths

FB reminded me a week ago of an article from 2017 that argued pretty convincingly that 2016 actually was an exceptional year for celebrity deaths. Of course, variation being what it is, there will definitionally be years where the number is higher than normal, so it's not as if 2016 is some crazy outlier. But it wasn't just people being sad about losing Bowie & Prince in the first few months.

Going back through the list is actually kind of stunning. In world leaders alone, you had Boutro Boutros-Ghali, Shimon Peres, and Rob Ford.


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 3:23 PM
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40

33 and 37 are both amazing.


Posted by: Unfoggetarian: "Pause endlessly, then go in." (9) | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 3:38 PM
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Going back through the list is actually kind of stunning. In world leaders alone, you had Boutro Boutros-Ghali, Shimon Peres, and Rob Ford.

And Fidel Castro

That is a remarkable list (seeing Guy Clarke, Ralph Stanley, and Bernie Worrell fairly close together on the list was surprising).


Posted by: NickS | Link to this comment | 01-10-22 4:15 PM
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42

33. How true! I had no complaints.


Posted by: Opinionated Katherine Parr | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 5:10 AM
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43

Bravo to 33.

I haven't read Empire of Pain yet, so I am talking out my ass more than usual, but wasn't one of the Sackler-specific issues that OxyContin was marketed as lasting 12 hours even though for many or most people it didn't, and because that was their sole sales differentiator versus other, non-Sackler opioids, their sales guys were told to get doctors prescribe it to be taken every 12 hours but at enormous dosages, thus increasing the likelihood of people developing dependence (which they said wouldn't happen because gotta win that trip to Cabo)?


Posted by: snarkout | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 5:28 AM
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44

Yes! I believe you originally either sent me or posted on FB the LA Times article circa 2013 about that aspect of it. It is indeed true, and the book deals with it, although it turns out to be less important than I would have thought because of the sheer scale of their depravity.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 6:16 AM
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45

There weren't non-Sackler opioids in any kind of substantial amount at that point, but their whole angle was that this was sustained release over 12 hours and thus not habit-forming. That "peaks and troughs" of a drug is what causes addiction. In fact, they had data to show that their drug often didn't last more than 8 hours, and then bottomed out, creating a particularly addictive cycle under the peaks-and-troughs thing.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 6:18 AM
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46

Pain drugs are tricky- the opioid receptor has a known tendency for addiction as it takes more drug to get the same response over time. But hypothetically if you had a drug that just temporarily blocked pain, like those fire walkers who can't feel pain at all and end up injuring themselves, would it be addictive? The mechanism is that pain impulses just aren't sent. But would not feeling pain itself be addictive? Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.
(ydnew probably knows more specifically why I'm asking)


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 6:53 AM
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47

It only took like three months of gastric pain before I cut back on drinking.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 6:56 AM
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48

Not-pain is so addictive it can make you stop drinking.


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 7:02 AM
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49

There's always emotional pain.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 7:04 AM
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50

Much of movies, music, art, etc itself is playing with the edges of experiences and negative emotions like pain, sadness, fear in a controlled, experimental way. Would it be addictive to rid oneself entirely of pain? I think we tolerate a fair amount of pain without finding it too bothersome, so there's not much need to eliminate it all. It's about having enough positive parts to act as a buffer, no?


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 7:06 AM
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51

49: I thought the current thing for them to all say is that emotional pain is the same part of the brain as physical pain.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 7:07 AM
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52

I can't see my brain.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 7:08 AM
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53

Not with that attitude.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 7:11 AM
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54

Moby wants to see the life of the mind.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 8:07 AM
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55

I can't see my brain.

Yes you can - if you look into your own eye (in a mirror) with a suitable light source, you'll see your retina, which is, developmentally, part of your brain. (I am assuming here that you are a vertebrate.)


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 8:15 AM
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56

46: We're just gonna be Naked Mole Rats Of Unusual Size?


Posted by: ydnew | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 8:55 AM
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57

Film comment, was there a post that disappeared about murky sound and murky color in US big-budget movies?

Both problems seem to be a consequence of misused digital editing tools, recent work that doesn't use these excessively seems less subject to this. Implicit in both discusiions is "everyone's working too fast to pay attention to outcome." Not surprising given the volume of work now being made in the US, I fear that it can't last.

Another Round was pretty bright. Recent CZ films aren't like this either, and have for the most part intelligible dialog. Babylon Berlin used tons of effects, both seasons. So did Snowpiercer. Color palette contrasts between locations was a successful part of the mise-en-scene in Oscar-winning Parasite. Also Lala Land. I haven't seen many of the superhero films and don't know who Tom Hardy is. Maybe these writers are watching too many bad films made by the same studios?

I am really liking Lovecraft Country-- lots of flaws, but incredibly creative, bursts of truly inspired filmmaking. Paprika was something else new-ish that I thought was quite good.


Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 9:48 AM
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58

Save it for tomorrow.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 9:49 AM
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59

Soderbergh's recent No Sudden Move was filmed with this and a wide lens, resulting distortion seemed distracting to me, and yes muted palette but it's set in the past.

Also, the one essay came sooo close to recognizing that unclear dialogue can be an artistic choice, I guess mentioning Rohmer or even Altman in that context would have been... what, a reminder that the people making films now are working with a rich inheritance? Amnesiac culture.


Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 10:00 AM
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60

Seriously. Tomorrow.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 10:03 AM
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61

Coincidentally I read this earlier today, it's not bad https://www.vox.com/culture/22840526/colors-movies-tv-gray-digital-color-sludge

Licorice Pizza was quite colorful and very good


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 10:05 AM
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Coincidentally I read this earlier today, it's not bad https://www.vox.com/culture/22840526/colors-movies-tv-gray-digital-color-sludge

Licorice Pizza was quite colorful and very good


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 10:05 AM
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63

You guys aren't very good at this.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 10:07 AM
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64

60 to 61-2


Posted by: NickS | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 10:08 AM
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65

You're not the boss of me


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 10:10 AM
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66

No post tomorrow, ok ok I get it


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 10:11 AM
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67

It's a request from the management.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 10:12 AM
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68

Oh my god, are you all really stomping on my post from the future?


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 10:15 AM
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69

It was them.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 10:17 AM
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70

I don't think I saw the announcement


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 10:20 AM
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71

"One perennial thought listening to this book is that these guys embody every malicious antisemitic trope possible"

Rather like Saudi royalty being an incredibly offensive racist stereotype except they actually exist and are like that.


Posted by: Ajay | Link to this comment | 01-11-22 12:36 PM
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