Well, its been a week since I've written and I wish I could say that I've been on vacation, but instead I was just sick. Something is blooming or dying here in Napa and whatever it is seems to want to kill my allergies. Basically, it was all I could do to get through my show each day and then go home to rest. Not fun at all. By the time I was starting to feel better (around Thursday and Friday) I had so much to catch up on here at the station that there was no time to blog. But I'm mostly caught up and feeling better, so here it goes.
It was a pretty sad weekend in the entertainment world, with the deaths of two well loved entertainers. On Saturday, word cam that Bernie Mac had died in a Chicago hospital from complications from pneumonia.
Bernie Mac, who told jokes on train platforms and plugged away for decades before coming into the spotlight on his own Fox sitcom, the Ocean's movies and more, died Saturday morning—one week after it was learned he'd been hospitalized with pneumonia. He was 50. A spokesman for the Cook County Medical Examiner's office confirmed to E! News that Mac had been a patient at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital for "over a week," and that he died Saturday morning of "natural causes." Friday, Mac's publicist, Danica Smith, responding to rumors that the star had fallen critically ill, said Mac was in stable condition, and was "responding well to treatment." Mac suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease that can affect any body organ, per the Mayo Clinic's website, but that Mac revealed in 2005 had taken root in his lungs. According to Smith, the pneumonia that struck down the star was unrelated to the disease, which had reportedly been in remission. (Source E Online)
My heart goes out to his family and friends. I always liked Bernie Mac in the movies (though not always the movies he was in) and I also enjoyed his stand up. He was a great comic and will be missed.
Yesterday, more sad news came in the form of the death of Shaft singer Isaac Hayes. Most people know Hayes from one place or another, be it South Park, Shaft or Soul Man. Here are the details:
Soul music pioneer Isaac Hayes – whose 1971 "Theme from Shaft" won the Oscar and Grammys – died Sunday in Memphis, where he lived. He was 65. A releative discovered an unresponsive Hayes near an exercise machine in their home at midday, and Hayes was pronounced dead at 2:10 p.m. when he arrived at Baptist East Hospital in Memphis, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office tells PEOPLE. Although the hospital is still determining the cause of death, Shular says Hayes most likely died of natural causes. Family members said the singer, who had a history of high blood pressure, had recently been treated for various medical conditions. In January 2006, news sources reported that Hayes had suffered a mild stroke. At the time, friends said the condition was brought on by exhaustion. Hayes reportedly had 12 children, 14 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. (source People)
More sad news from an already grim weekend. Once again, my heart goes out to his friends and family.
So yeah, what a depressing weekend this was in the entertainment world. There was also some domestic violence reported as well, but I'm already too depressed to talk about it. Someone needs to announce an engagement or pregnancy or both. Isn't Gwen Stefani due any day now? She needs to have that baby pronto to cheer us up. Seriously Gwen, its for the good of the world. Just pop that baby out already!
Aside from depressing, the weekend was pretty low key for me. While I love the concerts at Robert Mondavi Winery, I always breathe a sigh of relief when they're over so I can get my weekends back. Five Saturday nights in a row can get a bit exhausting! It was nice to just kick back and not do too much. Who knows what next weekend will bring.
Well, I think that's it for me. I'll have more for you in the coming week, but I'm easing my way back into it all for right now.
Later!
