David Carradine

When I launched this blog, I used to get all worked up about being timely...about somehow scooping the popular press. But, then I started to realize that it isn't about being newsworthy. It's about reflection and perspective. I can almost hear the Blind Master Po saying "Patience, Grasshopper." "Patience."

But I can wait no longer. The investigation will take weeks, and besides, none of it changes the fact that Mr. Carradine is in fact, dead.

One of the bits lost in all this is the fact that Shih Kien died at almost exactly the same time. Who's that? Well, he's probably the all time #1 Kung Fu movie heel, probably best known for playing the evil "Han" in "Enter the Dragon." And everybody knows who starred in that. Yes, one Bruce Lee, who was slotted to star in the Kung Fu pilot, but a bunch of suits pulled the plug because he was "too Chinese." So, they gave the gig to Mr. Carradine and the rest is history.

Along with Steve Austin and David Banner, Kwai Chang Caine was one of my first TV heroes. At first, I just couldn't wrap my head around the whole "hair / no hair" thing that kept happening.

Here's what I think should happen when a cult hero passes. There should be a TV (or Web TV) channel that goes into marathon mode, showing everything that performer has done. Perhaps this will be a spin off of "celebituary," but don't hold your breath. In fact, in my extensive Carradine research, I came across a competitor of sorts, obit. Truth be told, something like this was what I originally had in mind, with flower and life insurance advertisers, and all that.

Back to David Carradine. It was really the Kill Bill role that ratcheted him up a notch, IMHO. Matter of fact, his death scene from KB2 was the last time I saw him alive. But the last time he was captured, short of the film he was working on, is this quirky little interview about his favorite musical instruments. Here's a little thing on his first experience as a filmmaker, called "Americana."But, he will be always remembered as Caine, as Bill, ...and now for this strange set of circumstances associated with his demise.

Either way, it is perhaps one of the most irony-laden deaths of all time. One his last films was "My Suicide," and the film he was in Taiwan to work on? "Stretch."