In other, more close to hme sad mews, a colleague and friend who I sadly hadn't been in touch with post-pandemic passed away as well. I didn't find out a few weeks later and by accident, but that's a whole other story. RIP, Oracle (that was my nickname for the man).

I was sorry to hear MeatLoaf had died, but I absolutely hated his music. Not a fan of the Steinman oeuvre at all.

Jon, that link to Shelf Awareness doesn't work, perhaps you could re-post it.

Here's an alternate link

Ah, that's sad, I'm sorry you lost a colleague, Jon. What a remarkable man Ben was. Definitely a one-off.

Did I introduce you to him? I know Pinky and Stynxno met him. Ben saw their baby and said to Stynx, "You make that baby? Cos it looks just like you." to which Pinky replied "Everybody says that, but I only carried him in my body for nine months," with a roll of the eyes.

(Also, I'm a little irked that I had to find out this way. I know there are hundreds of ex-employees out there, but I worked with this man for over a decade. Somebody coulda let me know.)

Earlier in the pandemic, we lost another of my collegaues (we weren't besties or anything, but he was a cool cat and we shared interests in metal music and other stuff) and I found out the same way.

I don't think I met him, Jon. I remember Neil (who could forget him?) but I don't recall meeting Ben.

I found out the other day that a colleague I'd worked with for 22 years had retired, but there was no email circulated about a card or collection - presumably because she was admin staff, not technical. All of us who know her were pissed that we weren't told. We get emails every week asking us to contribute to collections for people we don't know, just because they are on our grading. When we were all in the office, we'd find out about people we knew in other departments leaving, and be included in their parties and be able to contribute towards their gifts. But since we shifted to home working, and there are new managers who don't know any of us old legacy staff, that's all been forgotten. It's quite sad.

Fucked up, to be sure. And we lost Louie Anderson today too. He Could be funny as hell, indeed.

it's always terrible to find out 3 months or 2 years latter. Sorry for your loss jon.

Thanks, arse_hat. Ben did have a bunch of hilarious stories. For instance, he told me that while his parents were teachers, his extended family owned a prominent funeral home in Detroit. When he'd go out and introduce himself, people would say "Oh yeah, your people buried my mama." He told me that's part of why he left town.

I have no idea if it's still family owned but McFall's is still in the business.

Ben had mentioned that. In happier news, a few days back I convinced pips to finally watch Pee Wee's Big Adventure, which she enjoyed more that she thought she would. The same night we watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and now she's constantly telling me that she farts in my general direction. I've created a monster.

A lot of Monty Python hasn't aged well - it was a product of its time and although I found the TV shows hilarious when I was 13 or 14, much of it is very cliched and sexist. I think a lot of the reason I found it funny came from shock value, as British TV comedy at the time was family-based sitcoms. I don't find Monty Python funny at all now, particularly knowing what a complete arsehole John Cleese turned out to be. But Life of Brian is a work of genius and still stands up to repeated viewings.

*looks on the bright side of life*

Also, Four Yorkshiremen still holds up, and I'm surprised it hasn't been transposed into other ethnicites.

Whenever I see a Duolingo ad I immediately think 'my hovercraft is full of eels.'

≡ Click to see image ≡

WTH is that?

Meatloaf. With gravy and A-1 sauce. And mashed potatoes with cheese on top. and a beer. Last nite's dinner.

Eating meatloaf. Some serious Catholic symbolism there.

Meatloaf brings back middle school memories of scream-singing Dashboard Lights at gymnasium dances with my best friend Beth. Such fun. I'd always meant to see him in concert. He will be missed.

(I did not, btw, make that meatloaf Jon ate. Frozen dinner. He makes them his own though.)

I was sad to hear the news that yet another icon of my youth has been lost. His music was, by most measures, pretty bad, but so much fun and I loved it! One day, I hope to find a karaoke partner that can belt out the female parts of Paradise by the Dashboard Lights with me. My wife can't be bothered learning the words :-(

Sorry to hear tales of people passing unnoticed by people that care. COVID has changed so much in our lives that we haven't even noticed yet. Me, I'm heartily sick of working from home after two years of it but have no practical way to avoid it now unless I move interstate.