Sadness

Peter and Paul are without a Mary today, because she had to run off to heaven to serenade Patrick Swayze as he twirled about. Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary passed away in a Connecticut hospital yesterday from leukemia. Mary was 72.

Both Peter and Paul issued statements on their official website which you can read here in their entirety. Below is just a snippet of what each of them wrote:

"I have no idea what it will be like to have no Mary in my world, in my life, or on stage to sing with. But I do know there will always be a hole in my heart, a place where she will always exist that will never be filled by any other person. However painful her passing is, I am forever grateful for Mary and her place in my life.” - Paul Yarrow

"I am deadened and heartsick beyond words to consider a life without Mary Travers and honored beyond my wildest dreams to have shared her spirit and her career." - Noel Paul Stookey

Yes, the hungry Summer of Death just won't stop. Let's just hope it doesn't turn into the Autumn of Death or we'll all just have to get under the covers. Saaaaaads.

Rest in Peace, Mary.

And now for a song:

I really hope Mary took that amazing outfit with her, because it also belongs in heaven.

Jessica Simpson's full-time dog friend and frequent subject on this blog, Daisy, was captured by the coyotes yesterday! Jessica Twittered that she watched in "HORROR" as those evil coyotes took Daisy. Jessica has posted this flier all around town and on Twitter asking the coyotes to please e-mail her. She is ready negotiate!

Now, I know most of you are thinking that Daisy was probably the main entree at dinner last night (insert mega sad face here), but maybe that's not the case! Maybe the coyotes have been following Daisy's rise to stardom on the internets for some time and decided they wanted to worship her. So they kidnapped her, took her back to their lair and made her their new coyote queen! But probably not (insert more sad faces here).

Hopefully, real coyotes didn't get Daisy. Hopefully, it was Papa Joe in a coyote costume who took Daisy, because Jessica needed some more press. One can hope.

Poor Daisy (insert all the sad faces we have in stock here).

Well, this is a hard one. The summer of death has taken yet another piece of my 80s childhood, because Patrick Swayze has jazz walked all the way to heaven where there are no corners. :(

Patrick died of pancreatic cancer today. He was only 57. Patrick's rep issued this statement:

"Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months."

I need to thank Patrick for The Outsiders, Road House (YES!), Ghost, Point Break, To Wong Foo and of course, the masterpiece of all masterpieces Dirty Dancing. Seriously, I wore my VHS copy of that OUT.

Rest in peace, Patrick. Nobody did it like you.

And now I must go choreograph a dance tribute to "She's Like The Wind."

Can we all get in a time machine and fast forward to September 22nd, so that the summer of death can officially come to an end? This summer has swallowed up another beautiful soul! Scooter, a contender for the title of world's smallest dog, closed his tiny eyes for the final time earlier this week. WHY?!!!!!!!!!

Scooter's owner said he broke his leg after jumping out of her arms. The vet put Scooter's leg in a cast and gave him some medicine to take at home. Sadly, the medicine gave him a stomach ulcer and Scooter flew off to heaven. Just the thought of Scooter's tiny leg in a cast the size of a thimble is making my insides melt. And prepare to melt some more...

Scooter's owner added, "I put him in the box with flowers and a little dove picture to take him to heaven – he looked wonderful."

6-month-old Scooter, who was 8cm tall, 20cm long and weighed 400 grams, was going to try for the title of the smallest dog in the world when he turned 1.

The hole left in my no-heart is bigger than Scooter and it can never be filled. Although, I will try to fill it this weekend with massive amounts of the sweet nectar and Hostess products.

Heaven just got a lot more adorable thanks to Scooter. Insert a zillion and one sad faces here. And no, it's not too early to start bonging and boozing.

Source: Metro (Thanks Dylan)

The King of Pop was laid to rest last night at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, 70 days after his death. The "private" funeral was attended by Michael's children, his family and friends including Elizabeth Taylor, Macaulay Culkin, Lisa Marie Presley, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Al Sharpton, Corey Feldman, Miko Brando, Quincy Jones, Chris Tucker, Barry Bonds and the girl from That 70s Show.

The service was supposed to begin at sunset, but the Jackson family arrived nearly 2 hours late. The Jackson family didn't allow any media inside, but they did hire their own production team and handed out pictures (below). Michael's funeral was supposed to air live on TV, but the plug was pulled right before the service started. Some say the Jackson family decided at the last minute it should be private. Others say the Jackson family plan to sell a DVD of the service at a later time. And I say Joe Jackson tripped on the power cord. Wouldn't that be ironic?

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who spoke at the service, Tweeted during the funeral. Can you take this one, because I can't with Al Sharpton anymore.

After the ceremony, Michael's brothers carried his gold casket into the Great Mausoleum. The Jackson family issued this statement right after the funeral:

"The Jackson Family wishes to once again thank all of Michael's fans around the world for their generous outpouring of support during this terribly difficult time. Their expressions of love for Michael and his music have sustained the Jackson Family."

And now I can finally finally say: Rest in peace, Michael.

TMZ and The New York Post are both reporting that DJ AM, real name Adam Goldstein, was found dead this afternoon in his NYC apartment. He was only 36.

The cops say his friends had not heard from him for a few days. When his friends went to check on him, they didn't get any response after knocking on his door. The police were called and they knocked down the door to his apartment. Sources tell the NY Post that drug paraphernalia was found in his apartment.

It was almost a year ago when DJ AM and Travis Barker both survived a fatal plane crash in South Carolina.

This is absolutely crazy and tragic. Everyone on Twitter is saying this is like Final Destination (and the fourth movie opens today, gulp). I don't know about that, but I do know this is all sorts of sad. The Summer of Death needs to end. Can it be Autumn already?

Rest in peace, DJ AM.

The summer of death has claimed another. CNN reports that Dominick Dunne, Hollywood producer, best-selling author and frequent contributor to Vanity Fair, passed away at his home in Manhattan today after a long battle with bladder cancer. He was 83.

Dominick's first article for Vanity Fair was in 1984 and it was his account of the trial of the man who murdered his daughter Dominique.

He was working on a novel before his health took a turn for the worse. He traveled to Germany earlier this month to receive another round of stem cell treatments at the same clinic Farrah Fawcett went to. When he got back to NYC, he was immediately hospitalized and then sent home.

Dominick is survived by his two sons Griffin and Alex.

May Dominick rest in peace. The sads.

In case you haven't heard (since it's on every news show, website newspaper and your neighbor might be shouting it from the window), Senator Ted Kennedy passed away last night at the age of 77 after a battle with brain cancer. Ted was the last surviving brother of the Kennedy dynasty. Ted's sister Eunice passed away recently.

The Kennedy family issued this statement early this morning:

"Edward M. Kennedy - the husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle we loved so deeply - died late Tuesday night at home in Hyannis Port. We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever. We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice, fairness and opportunity for all. He loved this country and devoted his life to serving it. He always believed that our best days were still ahead, but it's hard to imagine any of them without him."

May the lion rest in peace...

Source: Associated Press

It looks like we've really reached the end of the rainbow. Okay, that sentence was cheesier than RPattz's dick, but sad news like this makes sentimental (along with UB40 songs, go figure). Cincinatti.com reports that after 26 years, PBS' Reeeeeeeeeaaaading Raaaaaainboooow is going away this Friday. The show stopped production in 2006, but they were showing the old episodes on PBS. But PBS' contract with the show expires on Friday and they aren't renewing it. That means it won't ever be on the air again unless another network picks it up.

The truth is I haven't seen an episode of RR in a while, but it was one of those things you knew was always there if you needed to be picked up. You know, like re-runs of The Golden Girls, the on-and-off fuck buddy you've had for years, strawberry parfait (the trash kind) and weed. It's a sad day, because LeVar Burton will no longer be there to gently stroke our soul by reading a story about a flying pony or some shit.

And Reading Rainbow will go down in history for having one of the top 10 theme song/openings of all-time. Watch that trippy shit above and try to tell me that it didn't take you higher for a quick second. You can thank Reading Rainbow for getting you buzzed for the first time. Oh, shit. RR was a gateway drug. Tears. It will be missed.

(Thanks Kristin)

Guitar legend and father of the electric guitar Les Paul passed away today at White Plains Hospital in New York at the age of 94. A rep for Gibson Guitars said Les died of complications from pneumonia. Les was surrounded by family and friends when he went off to the great beyond.

In addition to inventing the electric guitar, Les also came up with multitrack recording, which allowed artists to record different instruments at different times. It also allowed singers to harmonize with themselves. Mimi better send the biggest floral arrangement ever to Les' family.

Les also had a string of hits with his wife Mary. She passed away in 1977.

May Les rest in peace! I'd like to think he's up in heaven starting a band with his wife, Michael Jackson and Willy DeVille.