Sean is gone 1978.
Kevin is gone 2011.
Hugh Jay Rupp is gone 1999.
And now Ted Palmer is gone 2017. This here is a wonderful tribute to Ted. Laurie Jarosz was his wife, and it was his daughter, Charisse, who put together a very loving, very beautiful tribute to Ted's life. That link is dead now. Not sure why. But she put the life of her father to Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man." It was perfect.
We love you, Ted. And you know that.
I don't know what to make of things anymore. It's Thursday morning, September 21, 2017, and time seems to be racing on ever faster. I read the terrible news last night about an old neighborhood friend who had died during open-heart surgery. Ted loved sitting, talking with folks. I don't know what was important to him. I just recall how important he was to Tom, and how important Tom was to Ted. They were in the truest sense, good friends. I guess what I hate about death is that it calls upon the living constantly to honor, to record, to love the dead, meaning pay tribute to them in the most loving ways or else how is their life in death made larger? It has to be made larger.
Bowie's "Major Tom" reminds me of Ted. Tom's loyalty to Ted was something to be admired. And Ted returned it. I don't know why Ted reminded me of Bowie's Major Tom. I wish I knew. Where are the victories? Where are the hurrahs? Where, O, where and O, when or when do we conquer? Death or business or restitution of family? Have people surrendered restitution? Do folks even know what it is?
I wrote the following Facebook comment to my brother, Tom, on Wednesday, September 20, 2017:
Ted was a painter by craft. He painted several rooms inside my mom's house when she was alive.
This song reminded me of those Duarte days, hanging out waiting for Sean or Dave or Ted or Eric or Stuart Greene, someone, anyone to stop by the house and extract me from my boredom. I recall listening to this song on the 1974 8-Track in my 1980 VW bug. The song, "Going to California," was on Zeppelin's Zeppelin IV album, released on November 8, 1971, and am reminded of just how important the albums, their titles, the songs, and the concerts were to us back then. Our lives were consumed by that sort of thing. Other Zeppelin albums were released on the following dates:
Led Zeppelin, January 12, 1969.
Led Zeppelin II, October 22, 1969.
Led Zeppelin III, October 5, 1970.
Led Zeppelin IV, November 8, 1971.
Kevin is gone 2011.
Hugh Jay Rupp is gone 1999.
And now Ted Palmer is gone 2017. This here is a wonderful tribute to Ted. Laurie Jarosz was his wife, and it was his daughter, Charisse, who put together a very loving, very beautiful tribute to Ted's life. That link is dead now. Not sure why. But she put the life of her father to Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man." It was perfect.
I don't know what to make of things anymore. It's Thursday morning, September 21, 2017, and time seems to be racing on ever faster. I read the terrible news last night about an old neighborhood friend who had died during open-heart surgery. Ted loved sitting, talking with folks. I don't know what was important to him. I just recall how important he was to Tom, and how important Tom was to Ted. They were in the truest sense, good friends. I guess what I hate about death is that it calls upon the living constantly to honor, to record, to love the dead, meaning pay tribute to them in the most loving ways or else how is their life in death made larger? It has to be made larger.
Bowie's "Major Tom" reminds me of Ted. Tom's loyalty to Ted was something to be admired. And Ted returned it. I don't know why Ted reminded me of Bowie's Major Tom. I wish I knew. Where are the victories? Where are the hurrahs? Where, O, where and O, when or when do we conquer? Death or business or restitution of family? Have people surrendered restitution? Do folks even know what it is?
I wrote the following Facebook comment to my brother, Tom, on Wednesday, September 20, 2017:
Hey Tom, sorry to hear about Ted. Terrible news. He was good to Mom, painted several rooms in her house. Will never forget what Ted did for her. And how he reassured her when she worried about what came next. He was terrific with her. Nor will I forget the time that I fished with Ted in the High Sierras up toward Bridgeport. He was the life of the party. He treated you like a great brother. And you’re right—he was always smiling when he came to see you. And he extended his affections, out of respect to you, to me, to Joe, to Mom, and Dad. He was the life of the party. Will never forget his deep, fun pitch in his voice. From the standpoint of the joyful days of our youth, his loss is too great. I'll never forget either how the loss of his mother altered Ted. Some losses are harder to bear. He is such a fixture on those Duarte days that I can't recall the joys of them without also including Ted. I haven't been in touch with Duarte folks for years. I understand that his sister, Adehlia, is a Realtor or something in Lake Havasu. Is a funeral scheduled for Ted?Tom replied on October 18, 2017
No, didn't make it. I was sick. I went to set The Who, Aerosmith with Ted in concert. His favorites were Zeppelin, ZZ Top, but Ted never liked the word "best" or "favorite." It was too limiting for him."
This song reminded me of those Duarte days, hanging out waiting for Sean or Dave or Ted or Eric or Stuart Greene, someone, anyone to stop by the house and extract me from my boredom. I recall listening to this song on the 1974 8-Track in my 1980 VW bug. The song, "Going to California," was on Zeppelin's Zeppelin IV album, released on November 8, 1971, and am reminded of just how important the albums, their titles, the songs, and the concerts were to us back then. Our lives were consumed by that sort of thing. Other Zeppelin albums were released on the following dates:
Led Zeppelin, January 12, 1969.
Led Zeppelin II, October 22, 1969.
Led Zeppelin III, October 5, 1970.
Led Zeppelin IV, November 8, 1971.
Going to California
written by Robert Plant & Jimmy Page
Spent my days with a woman unkind
Smoked my stuff and drank all my wine.
Made up my mind to make a new start
Going To California with an aching in my heart.
Someone told me there's a girl out there
With love in her eyes and flowers in her hair.
Took my chances on a big jet plane
Never let them tell you that they're all the same.
The sea was red and the sky was grey
Wondered how tomorrow could ever follow today.
The mountains and the canyons started to tremble and shake
As the children of the sun began to awake.
Seems that the wrath of the Gods
Got a punch on the nose and it started to flow;
I think I might be sinking.
Throw me a line if I reach it in time
I'll meet you up there where the path
Runs straight and high.
To find a queen without a king;
They say she plays guitar and cries and sings.
La la la la
Side a white mare in the footsteps of dawn
Tryin' to find a woman who's never, never, never been born.
Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams,
Telling myself it's not as hard, hard, hard as it seems
I will never forget the fun that Sean Moore and I had watching Fernwood Tonight with Martin Mull and Fred Willard. The show had a phenomenal cast. Jim Varney, 1949-2000, the great Ernest and foil Vern, is featured in this clip from Fernwood Tonight. I did not realize that Barth Gimble's character was an import from Miami, a slashy, sharpy on lam from Miami.
Smoked my stuff and drank all my wine.
Made up my mind to make a new start
Going To California with an aching in my heart.
Someone told me there's a girl out there
With love in her eyes and flowers in her hair.
Took my chances on a big jet plane
Never let them tell you that they're all the same.
The sea was red and the sky was grey
Wondered how tomorrow could ever follow today.
The mountains and the canyons started to tremble and shake
As the children of the sun began to awake.
Seems that the wrath of the Gods
Got a punch on the nose and it started to flow;
I think I might be sinking.
Throw me a line if I reach it in time
I'll meet you up there where the path
Runs straight and high.
To find a queen without a king;
They say she plays guitar and cries and sings.
La la la la
Side a white mare in the footsteps of dawn
Tryin' to find a woman who's never, never, never been born.
Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams,
Telling myself it's not as hard, hard, hard as it seems
I will never forget the fun that Sean Moore and I had watching Fernwood Tonight with Martin Mull and Fred Willard. The show had a phenomenal cast. Jim Varney, 1949-2000, the great Ernest and foil Vern, is featured in this clip from Fernwood Tonight. I did not realize that Barth Gimble's character was an import from Miami, a slashy, sharpy on lam from Miami.
The guy was a commercial star.
Wikipedia explains his success
Varney also starred as Ernest in a series of commercials that ran in the New Orleans area (and throughout the Gulf South) as a spokesman for natural gas utilities. In one, he is seen kneeling down in front of Vern's desk under a lamp hanging from the ceiling, stating, "Natural Gas, Vern; it's hot, fast, and cheap. Hot, fast, cheap; kinda like your first wife, Vern, you know, the pretty one!?" Vern then knocks the lamp into Ernest's head, knocking him down. Those same television advertisements also were featured on channels in the St. Louis area for Laclede Gas Company during the mid-1980s and in the Metro Detroit area for Michigan Consolidated Gas Company. Another TV ad for Laclede Gas featured Ernest saying, "Heat pump, schmeat pump."[citation needed] Varney also appeared in several Braum's Ice Cream and Dairy Stores commercials throughout the 1980s. These aired on Oklahoma television.
Varney also was noted for doing commercials for car dealerships across the country, most notably Cerritos Auto Square in Cerritos, California, Tysons Toyota in Tysons Corner, Virginia, and Audubon Chrysler in Henderson, Kentucky.[7] Another favorite Ernest vehicle was promotions for various TV stations around the nation, including the news team and the weather departments.[citation needed]
Varney portrayed Ernest in a series of commercials for Convenient Food Mart during the 1980s. In 1982, Varney co-hosted the syndicated Pop! Goes the Country with singer Tom T. Hall. The show had just had a major overhaul and ended shortly after Varney hosted..
Varney also portrayed another character, "Auntie Nelda", in numerous commercials long before he resurrected the character for the movies. Dressed in drag and appearing to be a senior citizen, the commercials gave off the tone of a motherly lady encouraging one to do what was right (in this case, buy whatever product was being promoted). This character, along with the "Ernest" character, ran for a couple of years in Mississippi and Louisiana in commercials for Leadco Aluminum Siding, a company that would provide estimates for placing aluminum siding on a home. Leadco often bought two-hour slots in local markets. During the slot, a movie was televised, and Varney (as one of his characters) and a Leadco representative would be the only commercial breaks during the movie, promoting only Leadco.[8]
During the 1990s, Varney reprised his role as Ernest for Blake's Lotaburger, a fast food chain in New Mexico. In these commercials, Ernest typically would be trying to get into Vern's house to see what food Vern was eating. After a lengthy description of whatever tasty morsel Vern had, Ernest would get locked out but would continue to shout from outside.
