Wednesday Hump Day Cartoons: Sometimes you shouldn’t even bother getting out of bed in the morning.
Posted: March 7, 2017 Filed under: open thread, Political and Editorial Cartoons, Wednesday Hump Day Cartoons 17 Comments
“The Fool”
(Notice in the antique card above the pussy is grabbing back.)
So…have you seen the latest tweet from the Head Twit in Charge?
This is really not why it is sometimes best to stay in bed…yesterday Robert Osborne, the host of TCM passed away in his sleep.
Robert Osborne, host of Turner Classic Movies, has died – CNN.com
Robert Osborne, the film aficionado who shared his knowledge and passion for movies with millions of viewers as the longtime host of Turner Classic Movies, has died. He was 84.
[…]
Osborne has been on TCM since it made its on-air debut in April 1994.A cause of death has not been announced.Osborne, a Washington native, moved to Hollywood to pursue a career in acting and was once mentored by Lucille Ball, according to an official bio on his website.
Robert Osborne, Host Of Turner Classic Movies, Dies At 84 : The Two-Way : NPR
NPR film critic Bob Mondello also highlighted Osborne’s “encyclopedic” knowledge of film history.
Osborne “grew up before the Internet made film research easy — before there was even a book keeping track of Oscar winners,” Bob told our Newscast unit. “So he spent hours at his college library scribbling notes that eventually helped him write film reference books, fill a column for The Hollywood Reporter, and host decades of Turner Classic Movies.”
According to his biography, Osborne was born in a small town in Washington state and studied journalism before he headed to Hollywood, where Lucille Ball encouraged his writing career.
He had a brief acting career — his biography mentions the pilot of The Beverly Hillbillies, and Bob Mondello notes uncredited bit parts in Psycho and Spartacus — but it was his work as a host and historian that earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
He wrote the “Rambling Reporter” column in The Hollywood Reporter for more than 25 years, and wrote a series of official histories of the Academy Awards.
Osborne was the first host of Turner Classic Movies, when the network launched in 1994. He has been the face and voice of the network ever since, although he was eventually joined by two other hosts and had cut back on his duties in the last few years.
About a year ago, in an interview with Mo Rocca on CBS Sunday Morning, Osborne said he’d been training his whole life to host TCM — without imagining it would be an option. “I was preparing for my ideal job that didn’t exist,” he said.
He also told Rocca why he believed movies matter.
“I think we have to have dreams,” he said in the CBS interview. “We need a little Carmen Miranda with all her tutti frutti hats. And we need some Fred and Ginger dancing. We need Gene Kelly hanging off that lamppost. We need to be taken into a fantasy world, and not be afraid to go there occasionally.”
Robert Osborne dies at 84; genial student of films hosted Turner Classic Movies – LA Times
Robert Osborne, who displayed an encyclopedic knowledge — and love — of film history as the primary host of Turner Classic Movies, died Monday morning at age 84, said his partner of 20 years, theater director and producer David Staller.
Osborne died of natural causes in his sleep at home in New York City, Staller said.
“It’s difficult to imagine a planet without him,” Staller said. “He made the choice to call it a day, and he wants everyone to know that he’ll see them at the after party.”
More stories of Robert here:
Robert Osborne Dead: Turner Classic Movies Host Was 84 | Hollywood Reporter
Robert Osborne: a classic gentleman – latimes
TCM Host Robert Osborne Dead at 84; Survived by Same-Sex Partner | Advocate.com
Robert Osborne, Turner Classic Movies Host And Oscars Expert, Dies At 84 | The Huffington Post
Robert Osborne, Turner Classic Movies host, is dead at 84.– Via Slate
Robert Osborne Is Dead, and Classic Movie Fans Are Bereft – Via Jezebel
TCM announces plans to honor longtime host Robert Osborne – LA Times
It is too sad to think of TCM without Robert…Things have been so depressing lately. I don’t know how much I can take…
Now for some comedy:
https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/839305421450006530
This is an open thread….
peej
Carissa
ecocatwoman
grayslady
mablue2
JJ Lopez aka Minkoff Minx
NW Luna
peggysue22
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
I hope all is well…
JJ thank you for the cartoons!
I share your grief over the loss of Robert Osborne. I was a huge fan. Keeping the tissue handy for the articles. I feel very fortunate to have been watching TCM from the beginning. I must have received a film school’s worth of knowledge from him.
Nice reply to the “don’t tread on me.”
Great Cartoons today JJ. Like you I loved Robert Osborne. I almost feel as if I’ve lost friend, although I’d noticed he’s was not on TCM as frequently as he once was. But at 84 I wasn’t surprised.
He had a good life and a long life, all any of us can hope for.
I loved that line about how he’ll see us all at the after party 😀
And thanks for the great, laugh-out-loud cartoons. I’m glad you got far enough out of bed to give us those!
Good cartoons, as usual, JJ. Thx — we can use the laughter!
A GOP lawmaker is selling his party’s vision for the U.S. health care system by presenting Americans with a decision: Your iPhone or your health. ….
if you run the numbers as my colleague Christopher Ingraham did, you quickly find it’s an apples-to-oranges comparison. Even the most expensive iPhone is a tiny fraction of what most people pay for health care every year. …
Even if you believe scaling back on iPhones and other expenses such as movies or dinners out could make health care more affordable, Chaffetz’s choice to highlight iPhones as an extravagance speaks to a certain relationship to technology that research tells us is dramatically at odds with the economic realities of millions of other Americans. …“Surveys show that lower-income and minority people increasingly rely on smartphones for Internet access, since they can’t afford both home and mobile broadband subscriptions.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/03/08/the-luxury-of-telling-poor-people-that-iphones-are-a-luxury/?hpid=hp_hp-cards_hp-card-technology%3Ahomepage%2Fcard&utm_term=.01f15b20b667
Saw this last night – Chaffetz is being challenged in his upcoming primary election by a Democratic woman – Kathie Allen. She saw a sudden spike in donations after he made the iPhone comment.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865675117/Kathryn-Allen-is-the-underdog-running-against-Chaffetz-See-why-shes-suddenly-on-the-rise.html
Good!
What a co.inc.i.dence.
Wow! The revelations are coming thick and fast now. I hope everyone has been watching Rachel Maddow for Russia news. Last night she devoted an hour to connecting the dots in the “Russian connection.”
Wonderful post! Thank you for all the background on Robert Osborne. I wish I could get TCM, but even so, I’ve seen him enough to know what a terrific interviewer he was. Here’s another piece on him from Vanity Fair.
From the morning email:
THE PERFECT HOST
Yesterday someone referred to Il Douchebag as “King Don”. I found that very apt because anyone familiar with Hostess snack cakes knows that “King Dons” are just “Ding Dongs” by another name.
Poor Andrea Mitchell! NOT!
I’m just glad she is asking tough questions of Tillerson. She has been kicked out twice now. I don’t forgive her for other stuff, but happy she’s doing this now.