MUSIC VIDEO: Tribute to Dolly Parton (parental discretion advised)

So, farewell then, Dolly Parton. You were one of the best country music entertainers of my generation. Even with my eyes closed, I like listening to you sing. RIP. 

Here's a tribute to Dolly Parton performed by MacLean & MacLean, two Canadian boys known for taking the "O" out of country music. Sound up

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Scott Adams, RIP

It was only five days ago that we posted a link to what Scott Adams himself said might be his last show. He wasn't off by much. He died this morning at the age of 68. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. ✠

Mr Adams, the legendary creator of the comic strip Dilbert and a widely respected and beloved political commentator, announced on his vlog Coffee With Scott Adams that any hope for remission was gone, and he expected to die sometime in January. He continued to do his popular online podcast right up to the end.

We are happy to be able to write "the souls of the faithful departed." In a final message read by his ex-wife, Scott wanted everyone to know about his conversion to Christianity. "If you are reading this," he wrote, "things did not go well for me. I have a few things to say before I go. My body failed before my brain. I am of sound mind as I write this January 1st, 2026. I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and look forward to spending an eternity with Him." Amen.

Charlie Kirk, RIP

In April, conservative activist Charlie Kirk, posted, "Assassination culture is spreading on the left." Sadly, that proved to be prophetic, as an assassin took Charlie's life yesterday while he was speaking at Utah Valley University. He was only  31 years old.

Charlie Kirk's time as a Republican influencer in the new right was much too brief. Kirk founded Turning Point USA when he was just 18 years old and spent his media career making the argument for conservatism in a generally hostile media ecosystem. 

That’s what he was doing Wednesday afternoon when he was fatally shot in the neck. In the moment before the loud snap of a gun could be heard and a gushing injury appeared on his neck, he finished a sentence about "violence".

So far two suspects have been arrested and then released. As is customary these days, police say the shooting is still under investigation and they have no clue (duh!) as to the shooter's identity or motive. 

Still, it's impossible not to make any connection to politics and the growing wave of societal derangement. Mr Kirk was one of the American right's top conservative influencers. Now, after years of the progressive left preaching about revolution, about words being violence and about President Donald Trump being the second coming of Hitler, he's been "cancelled". RIP.

Charlie Kirk was reviled by the left not just because he was a Trump supporter, but also because he was so effective. He founded a media organization that, along with a handful of others on the right, played a key role in shattering the monopoly of ideas held by the left-leaning mainstream media. 

But he famous mostly for his debate-style "Prove me wrong!" videos, in which he sat with a microphone, listening to a long diatribe from a progressive audience member attempting to prove him wrong, and afterwards replying with a firehose of counterpoints. His style was sharp and humorous. It was a golden formula for engagement on Youtube, and no doubt an outlet for closeted young conservatives and disillusioned liberals who rarely get to see these beliefs expressed in the wild.

Charlie Kirk was a Christian*, a firm believer in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Just last week, he quoted Psalm 34:18, "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." A few days ago, he posted, "Jesus defeated death so you can live." Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.

* On his vlog Return to Tradition, Anthony Stine reveals that, shortly before his death, Charlie Kirk and his wife began attending Holy Mass once or twice a month at St. Bernardette's Catholic Church in Scottsdale AZ, and was very close to coming into the Church.

VIDEO: Tribute to Ken Dryden, RIP

Further to Poor Len Canayen's commentary, posted earlier today... From his iconic stance to his lightning-fast reflexes, the Montréal Canadiens' Ken Dryden's unique goaltending technique stunned the greatest hockey players and revolutionized the best game of all. Our good friends at Blazing Cat Fur have found and reposted this excellent video showing the historic moment that changed hockey forever.   

VIDEO: Graham Greene, RIP

Walt notes with sadness the passing of Graham Greene, the actor who gained fame (and an Academy Award nomination) for his performance as real-life Lakota Sioux medicine man Kicking Bird (Ziŋtká Nagwáka) in Dances With Wolves.

It was a natural role for Mr. Greene who was not a Pretendian, but a real Indian, and I don't think he would mind us using that term, rather than the politically correct "First Nations". 

He was born in 1952 on the Six Nations Reserve at Oshweken ON. He fell into acting while working as a recording engineer, after a friend persuaded him to read his script. He started on stage, performing in Canadian and English productions in the 1970s, before making his screen debut in 1979 in an episode of the Canadian drama The Great Detective. His first film role was in the 1983 biopic Running Brave. 

After Dances With Wolves (1980), Mr. Greene's Hollywood career included roles in Thunderheart (1992), Maverick (1994), Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), The Green Mile (1999) and The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009). 

Most of our readers will remember at least two of those, but not as many will remember him (as we do) for his occasional appearances on The Red Green Show in the role of Edgar K.B. Montrose, the explosives expert. Here's a clip -- you'll have to click on the YouTube link to see it -- which is perfect for this little tribute. In it, Edgar Montrose gives his explosive opinions on Hollywood movies, from The Bridge On The River Kwai to Speed. The inside joke is his reference to Dances with Wolves.

Geddit now? That's Steve Smith, aka Red Green, in the middle, with his nephew Harold, played by Patrick McKenna, on Red's right.  After a long illness, Graham Greene died yesterday in hospital in Stratford ON, at age 73. RIP.

UPDATED: Rex Murphy, RIP + VIDEO of Jordan Peterson interview

Rex Murphy, the witty, voluble, and, above all, Canadian writer and broadcaster, has died, of cancer, at age 77. RIP+.

For decades, Mr Murphy was a fixture of the Canadian commentariat, writing and speaking primarily on political and social matters. 

For some time he was politically correct enough to have regular gigs with the CBC, Canada's liberal state broadcaster. He did POV pieces during the national news, and was the host of CBC Radio's "Cross-Country Checkup", a nationwide call-in show, for 21 years ending in 2015.

He also wrote op-ed pieces for the Globe and Mail, Canada's self-styled national newspaper, which has become nothing more than the print version of the CBC. 

As the Groan and Wail moved left, Mr Murphy moved right, and, in 2010, was one of the first victims of cancel culture. The National Post, founded by arch-conservative Conrad Black, snapped him up, and he wrote for them as often as he could right up till this week. His last column, on Prime Minister McBlackface's two-faced stance on the Hamas atrocities of October 7th, appeared on the front page of the Post's print edition the day before his death.

Rex Murphy was born in Carbonear, Newfoundland in 1947, before that province even was a province, to Harry and Marie Murphy, the second of five children. He grew up in the community of Freshwater, about ten minutes up the road. He skipped two grades and eventually, in 1968, headed to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, before returning home and, after bailing on a Master of English degree, settled into a very long and very fruitful career in the media.

A collection of Mr Murphy's columns, reviews and commentaries has been published in two books: Points of View and Canada And Other Matters of Opinion. Walt recommends them both. Even if you don't share his political views, you can't help but admire his command of the English language. Perhaps being from Newfoundland had something to do with it. 

In the last years of his life, Rex Murphy embraced the Internet, creating podcasts and his own YouTube channel, REXTV. In tribute to Rex, and to perpetuate his memory, I've chosen to repost his November 2019 interview with Dr Jordan Peterson. The two very learned gentlemen talk for almost an hour about the modern state of education, politics, identity, and the new media. You won't hear intelligent and astute commentary like this any more. Not from Rex at least. I miss him already. 

 

Further reading: Tributes to Mr Murphy are appearing all over the Internet. Here are two which Walt thinks are pictularly good.

"Rex Murphy was the true guardian of Canadian identity — not the pretenders on the left", by Father Raymond J. de Souza, in the National Post, 10/5/24. Mr Murphy's full name, according to Father de Souza, was Robert Rex Raphael Murphy. Who knew?!

"No one could outsmart or outword Rex Murphy — I miss you, my friend", by Peter Mansbridge, the last good host of the CBC's national TV news, in the National Post, 10/5/24.

I wouldn't even attempt to write such eloquent farewell pieces. I can only add: Rex, ave atque vale.

Rush Limbaugh, RIP... plus: death watch

In Rush Limbaugh: An Army of One, (((Zev Chafets))) quotes Rush Limbaugh as saying, "In my heart and soul, I know I have become the intellectual engine of the conservative movement." Walt would agree. Mr Limbaugh was a powerful influencer -- an inspiration, in fact -- as well as a voice for millions of conservatives, libertarians, fundamentalists, nationalists, populists and others on the right. His death from lung cancer was reported by his family yesterday. RIP.

Mr Limbaugh first announced his diagnosis a year ago, saying he would take time off for medical tests and to determine treatment. He said he intended to continue to work as much as possible, as well as focus on what he called his "deeply personal relationship" with God. A day after he announced his diagnosis, during the State of the Union address,President Trump awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

I have a feeling that next year's posts on People Who Left Us in 2021 will be voluminous. Britain's Prince Phillip entered the hospital yesterday (under his own steam, apparently) "for observation". He is 99. His better half, HRH Queen Elizabath II, will turn 95 in April.

April will also see the 94th birthday of Joseph Alois Ratzinger, aka Benedict XVI, sometime Pope of Rome. If he dies, the Roman Catholic Church will be left with only one pretender to the Chair of Peter.

And then there's Hazel McCallion, longtime mayor of Mississauga ON, who turned 100 on St. Valentine's Day. Walt wishes "Hurricane Hazel" many more years!

RIP Kathy Shaidle

Just yesterday, not quite a month since we asked you to support Kathy Schaidle and those who care for her, came the sad news that she had entered a hospice. The merciful end came quickly, for which thanks be to God. Here is the notice, copied from Blazing Cat Fur. 

Kathy Shaidle 1964 – 2021

Following a tedious rendezvous with ovarian cancer, Kathy Shaidle has died, wishing she’d spent more time at the office. She is relieved she won’t have to update her LinkedIn profile, shave her legs, or hear “Creep” by Radiohead ever again. Some may even be jealous that she’s getting out of enduring a Biden presidency.

Kathy was a writer, author, columnist and blogging pioneer, as proud of her first book’s Governor General’s Award nomination as of her stint as “Ed Anger” for the Weekly World News. A target for “cancel” culture before the term was coined, she was denounced by all the best people, sometimes for contradictory reasons.

Kathy did not lead a particularly “full life,” her existence having been comprised mostly of a series of unpleasant surprises. Her favourite corporeal pleasure was saying, “I told you so,” which she was able to utter with justification multiple times a day. A bookish movie-buff and agoraphobic homebody, as a child Kathy (as per the Roz Chast cartoon) “always preferred the little couch ride on the merry-go-round.” Yet Kathy managed to acquire a reputation for mouthiness, a side effect of her bullshit allergy.

Contrary to cliché, Kathy did not conduct herself with particular "grace", "dignity" or "courage" in her final months. She didn’t "bravely fight on" after her cancer was pronounced terminal. All she did was (barely) cope, and then only with assistance from her generous employer, and some energetic and selfless friends whom she’d somehow managed to acquire over the years, much to her astonishment. 

Of course, the greatest of these was her stalwart beloved of over 20 years, Arnie, with whom she is now in the ultimate long distance relationship. They can all finally catch up on their sleep.

Donations can be made to the Dorothy Ley Hospice, Toronto.

All of us at Walt Whiteman's World pray: requiescat in pace.

One last farewell for 2020 - RIP Wilma Pelly

With this week's "Anus horribilis" posts, I thought we were done with the fond looks in the rearview mirror at some good folks who won't be continuing the journey with us into 2021. But I just learned of, via a death notice in the Calgary Herald, of one more. 

Wilma Pelly, the Canadian indigenous actress best known for her role as Elsie Tsa Che on the series North of 60*, died in Calgary on 28 December 2020. Born Wilma Episkenew in Fort Qu'Appelle SK on 5 March 1937, Ms Pelly was a member of the Muscowpetung Saulteaux First Nation.

Her daughters, Leeanna Rhodes and Stella Pelley, said their mother leaves a legacy of hard work and perseverance, having worked in factories and at a gardening centre and in factories before finding work as an extra in the early 1990s. 

The rest, as they say, is history. Ms Pelley worked in TV, film and theatre for 25 years. Her daughter told CBC, "She had no training in being an actress or anything like that, but she nailed it. Nobody in our family had ever done anything like that, so we were really proud of her...and she loved what she did.

Her North of 60 character, Elsie Tsa Che, resonated greatly with its audience, and with good reason, for Elsie Tsa Che closely resembled Wilma Pelly herself. Elsie was a highly respected elder who could communicate her disapproval with a mere look. Her daughters said the role was written for Ms Pelly because of her connection to her family and indigenous culture.

"I think a lot of viewers really related to my mom," said Leanna Rhodes. "I believe a lot of people related to her like she was their Kookum [the Cree word for grandmother], and all of her teachings on the show, they learned from." 

She added that becoming something of a legendary figure among First Nations communities across Canada was a meaningful part of her legacy. "What it meant for me to see my mom on screen was that there were always people out there who gave other Nations, and other people, a chance."

* Footnote: Walt has reviewed North of 60 not once but twice! See "Soap opera review: 'North of 60'" (WWW 9/10/18) and "Walt recommends a soap opera. Really? Yes, really!" (WWW 26/9/20 - includes video clip). Yes, I like it that much!

UPDATED: Anus horribilis 2020: So farewell then....

Ed. here. 2020 is almost over, thank God, truly an Annus Horribilis if ever there was one. (I know my Latin but Walt insists on leaving the headline as he wrote it.) We continue now with our yearend review, saying farewell to some people we liked who have shuffled off this mortal coil, and will be missed....

Before we get to that, let's start with three on whose death you might want to make book on for 2021. 

HRH Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain, Ireland [really? Ed.] and her other realms and territories, on the left in the photo, will be 95 next April. Some think she is taking ibogaine or something to keep from dying just to spite her jug-eared son Charles, Prince of Wales, from becoming king, and his second wife Camilla "forever a duchess".

You can probably get 5-2 on Elizabeth, shorter on her seldom seen husband, Phil the Greek. 10-1 on Charles. 

Also rumoured to be still alive (although not seen in public recently) is Sleepy Joe Biden. To those who call him "President-Elect", Walt says "Not yet!"

The Democrats and other never-Trumpers who are breathed a shallow sigh of relief when, in the week hours of November 4th, Mr Biden emerged from his Delaware hideout to say that he was confident that before dawn enough votes would be found to elect him. And so they were. 

Then came the challenges, and now the fear is that he will die before he can be sworn in. Better for everyone, the lefties say, if he makes it through the inauguration ceremony, and then succumbs to a heart attack or other "natural cause" [like falling up the stairs from his basement? Ed.], leaving the Oval Office to that well-known Indo-Jamaican, Kamala Harris. 

Odds on Joe pegging out before January 20th are 20-1. Thereafter, 5-1.

Another world leader ["One World", shurely. Ed.] still in the land of the living is Jorge Bergoglio, aka Francis, Pope of Rome. At the beginning of his possibly illegitimate papacy, the Humblest Pope Since Saint Peter (TM) said that he expected his reign to be a short one. That was nearly 17 years ago.

Traditional Catholics, who believe that Jorge-Francis religiously says three stupid things every morning before breakfast, are hereby reminded that it is a sin to pray for the death of a pope, or anyone for that matter. Praying for God's will to be done is, of course, another matter!

And we can pray always that Saint Michael the Archangel will defend us in the day of battle, and by the power of  Almighty God cast into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Further viewing, added 29/12/20: "Will Pope Francis resign? Dr Taylor Marshall responds to the rumour"

Ed. here. Walt seems to have lost sight of the theme of this post, which was supposed to be, errr, obituaries of people we liked. Check in again tomorrow.

Zimbabwe: Bob's not your uncle any more

So, farewell at last, Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe, former tinpot dictator of what he turned into a shithole country. "Uncle Bob" (as no-one called him, ever) died early today in Singapore at the age of 95.

Most Zimbabweans would say (in whispers, if not out loud) that his death did not come soon enough to save his country from its precipitous descent into chaos and bankruptcy. Your Obdt Servant laboured in Zimbabwe during the late 1990s, trying to help its businesspeople learn modern, Western management techniques. But they couldn't adopt or adapt the things they learned, because they were stymied at every turn by Comrade Bob's Marxist policies, which turned the once-prosperous Rhodesia into an economic basket case.

"Things will be better once Bob goes," people said. But Bob replied, "Handiende!" It means "I will not go!" And he didn't, ruling the country with the proverbial iron fist from its independence in 1980 until, late in 2017, he was finally deposed by Comrade ED [No relation! Ed.] Mnangagwa (pictured below) in a bloodless coup. Since then, things have gotten no better, proving yet again that there is not one country in Africa who leaders -- black or brown -- are capable of managing an economy.

Instead, they rely on massive injections of foreign aid supplied by us chumps in the West, and latterly the Chinese, who still have a lot to learn about Africa, the land of bambazonke. Incompetence and corruption come naturally to African leaders. When mismanagement and kleptomania become too much for even the Swedes and the Brits to stomach (see "Reform or no support, UK tells ED", Zimbabwe Newsday, 6/9/19), the aid money stops flowing and the people starve.

Comrade Bob, who took power after the perfidious Brits sold out their Rhodesian kith and kin in 1980, said more than once that he wanted to rule for life. In that he was typical of the African "Big Man" syndrome, in which the people of shithole countries acquiesced in one-man rule by the likes of Hastings Banda (Malawi), Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (Congo/Zaïre/Congo), Jean-Bédel Bokassa aka Emperor Bokassa I (Central African Republic) and Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi (Libya - not all the Big Men were black Africans). But growing discontent about his government's maladministrationd a military intervention, impeachment proceedings by the parliament and large street demonstrations for his removal.

The November 2017 announcement of Comrade Mugabe's resignation (after he initially ignored escalating calls to quit, and take his lovely and fragrant wife Grace with him) triggered wild celebrations in the streets of the Ha-ha-harare, the fun capital of Africa. Well into the night, cars honked and people danced and sang in a spectacle of free expression that would have been impossible during his years in power and reflected hopes for a better future. But there has been no change for the povo (= poor people) of Zimbabwe, only more of the same, with an even Bigger Man ruling the roost. Prognosis? Dim and getting dimmer. Don't bother to stay tuned.

Further reading: The picture above was scraped from the Associated Press article "A look at the shattered Zimbabwe that Mugabe left behind", as posted on the CTV News site, 6/9/19. Quote from one of the povo: "Life was not that good [under Mugabe], but it was never this bad."

RIP John McCain, patriotic American

Farewell then, Senator John McCain. You spent 65 years of your life serving the United States of America with honour and with distinction.

It is interesting (but idle) to speculate on what America might be like today, had you won the presidential election of 2008. Those who opposed you vilified you for being an older white male. It was time for someone quite different, they said. After eight years of misrule by the token they chose, the people opted for an older white male. And here we are. Rest In Peace.

VIDEO: Tom Wolfe, RIP - interview with Michael Moynihan

Thomas Kennedy Wolfe Jr. died yesterday at the age of 88. Farewell then, Tom Wolfe. With Ken Kesey (who was not not nearly so prolific) and Dr Hunter S. Thompson (who followed in your footsteps), you created and exemplified the New Journalism. You made us -- or me, at least -- see the realities of contemporary American society, the little things that everybody notices but pretends don't exist.

For half a century, you were a monumental figure not only in the English language, but also in the American culture. Through your eyes and your words on the printed page, you showed us the spirit of 50s (The Right Stuff), the 60s (The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and Radical Chic: Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers), the 70s (The Me Decade), and the awful mid-80s (Bonfire of the Vanities, your best novel, IMHO).

Although I can never hope to grasp the English language as tightly as you did, I do try to emulate your style. OK, I "borrow" from you, occasionally. As the old saying goes, it's the sincerest form of flattery. I will remember you.

In a December 2012 interview with Michael Moynihan, Tom Wolfe discussed not just a forthcoming Newsweek cover story (on the 25th anniversary of Bonfire of the Vanities), but also class in America, why the Prez made life difficult for Jesse Jackson, what's wrong with the stock market and a host of other still-relevant topics. Running time 1:21:48.

"Plan 9 from Outer Space" actor dies

Troy McClure died yesterday. You may remember him... [Wrong actor. Start again. Ed.] Gregory Walcott died yesterday. You may remember him for his role as Jeff Trent in Plan 9 from Outer Space, long revered as "the worst movie ever made". (Sources for this quote are too numerous to list.) IMDb gives it two stars; Rotten Tomatoes gives it 3.5, largely for its high comedic value.

The 1959 movie was a low-budget oddity written, produced and directed by the idiosyncratic Edward D. Wood Jr., himself the subject of an excellent biopic with Johnny Depp starring in the title role. Plan 9 from Outer Space slowly developed a cult following for its cheap effects and a ragtag cast that included the one-name TV personalities Vampira and Criswell as well as Bela Lugosi, in footage shot shortly before his death in 1956. And Greg Walcott.

To Mr. Walcott’s embarrassment, Plan 9 became a staple at bad-film festivals and the movie with which he was most often associated. The actor had already been in the hit Henry Fonda Navy comedy Mister Roberts (1955) and other movies. He said in a 1998 interview that the Plan 9 script "made no sense," but he took the job because one of the producers was a friend of his. "I thought maybe my name could give the show some credibility," he said.

Here's the trailer for Ed Wood.



And here -- I know you've been waiting for it -- is the link for Plan 9 from Outer Space -- the whole rotten tomato. According to the biopic, Ed Wood said, "This is the one I'll be remembered for." He was right!

Dept. of Dubious Tributes

Nexus, the University of Toronto Faculty of Law alumni magazine, remembers former Prof. Irwin Koziebrocki:
He spent his last day on the beach with his wife. They relaxed, drank, ate, read, and enjoyed being togther. Then, suddenly he died. He lived his last day the way he lived every day of his life.
... Except for the last little bit. Walt.