Patrick Swayze

Finally.

Look, I didn't mean that the way it came out, but this one is truly overdue on so many levels. OK, well...two levels.

#1) In case you haven't noticed, things have been rather quiet in celebituary land the last two weeks and I was waiting...hoping for a big name to end the um...moratorium on celebrity deaths. Sure, I could have caved and done the world's oldest woman. And, I had a nice little thought about Jack Kramer, what with the US Open going on. But, I was really holding out for someone big to pass.

#2) That someone, Patrick Swayze, has been on the near death list for a long time. He and Farrah Fawcett were essentially the King and Queen of the death prom, and..well...he kind of stood her up, if you ask me.

I usually find out these things from a friend, and I betcha anything my inbox will fill up in the time that it takes me to write this entry. This time, I got the news from my arch nemesis, the precious Obit magazine who has the same business model as me, except they have a staff, and probably nice offices. I bet they were sweating this prolonged lull out. Frankly, I was OK with it -- it was a nice break. But, now it's back to school, and I really can't think of a better way to head into the fall than celebrating the life of St. Patrick.

I have a few Patrick Swayze memories, but the one I'd like to document is actually quite fresh. It was winter break this past year. My abnormally large family and I were stuck in a hotel in Portland, Maine during one of the bigger snow days -- only it seemed even bigger in Maine. It would have made for the perfect Stephen King novel, but the Embassy Suites didn't really offer that vibe at all. Amazing free breakfast buffet, though. Highly recommended.

So, we're pretty much snowed in and Ghost comes on the TV. And this was after the news had broken about Mr. Swayze's illness. So, I'm sitting there watching this movie about a dead man, and explaining to my kids (who are a little young to appreciate irony) that in real life this actor is going to die soon. What I didn't know until just looking it up this evening is that "Willie Lopez" (actor Rick Aviles) has been deceased now for almost fifteen years. Alas, actor Tony Goldwyn, most recently of "Criminal Intent" fame is still with us. I wonder if he has made the "last man standing" connection like I have? Probably.

I'm not going to go into the whole Dirty Dancing thing. I'm just not. But, since the theme has suddenly become dead co-stars of Patrick Swayze, I stumbled upon this vintage link of a SNL skit with Swayze and Chris Farley. The hair is simply awesome. Hard to believe it was the nineties and not the eighties.

I couldn't find any deceased co-stars from the movie, "The Outsiders," but damn, what a movie, what a cast! I swear to God, in my attic, I have that movie on a beta tape and I refuse to get rid of it.

While we are all caught up in Patrick's acting prowess, I won't let any of you out of here until you enjoy the vocal talents of Mr. Swayze as captured in the timeless 80's classic "She's Like the Wind."

What else? Sure, there were the gay rumors. I mean, come one, he DANCED for God Sakes! And then he goes and plays a Drag Queen? Gay. Case closed. But, perhaps his wife and co-author Lisa might beg to differ. I don't think he was gay, but what's up with the no children?

Jay Bennett

(Author’s note: This entry is in part about collaboration, so I think it’s only fair that I come clean and tell you that I’m a new contributor on this blog, and it’s my first entry. In the interest of collaboration, SuperChar contributed the picture, but the fair-to-poor quality of the entry is all mine. Cut me some slack.)

In the midst of high-profile celebrity death watches like Patrick Swayze and Farrah Fawcett, it’s hard to remember that sometimes celebrities die the old fashioned way: unexpectedly in their sleep. Such was the case with Jay Bennett, formerly of Titanic Love Affair, Wilco and of this world. But that's why he's here, I suppose...
Way way back in the 90’s, Bennett famously collaborated with Jeff Tweedy in Wilco, but it wasn’t Tweedy’s first difficult collaboration with someone named Jay. (Jay Farrar of Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt is still alive, so at least we can rule out some weird ‘collaborators named Jay’ curse.)
Truth is, he was lacking money and health insurance to take care of an old stage diving injury (how cool is that – I mean the stage diving part, not the money part). He had even recently sued Tweedy for royalties from the film that made him look pretty prickly (with an emphasis on prick), ‘I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.’ He pretty much spent the rest of his life trying to not be that guy who was in Wilco, so let’s take a look at Jay Bennett’s life in relation to his time in Wilco.
There were a lot of of clues in Wilco’s third album, Summerteeth that this might be an issue sometime down the road. First of all, in the lyrics of a couple of the songs, health care was clearly an issue:
In ‘A Shot in the Arm,’ Tweedy sings “Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm” (over and over.) And in ‘She’s a Jar,’ he sings “I believe it’s all because Daddy’s paycheck is not enough.” Pretty eerie, right?
Even in the album title provides a healthcare cry of help. It’s derived from a hillbilly quote: “I’ve got summerteeth: summ ‘er there, sum aren’t.” Wilco trivia for the day. But if you're the kind of person who would like that bit of Wilco trivia, you probably already knew that one.
Sure, Jay Bennett didn’t really write any of those lyrics, but he might have helped name the album, and he definitely helped to make the music sound delicious. All strangeness aside, this is a great album, in large part because of Jay Bennett. That's what Jay Bennett meant to me. A driving force in shaping one of the most interesting bands out there.
True collaboration isn't easy. And a lot of times it really is painful. But damn, I pretty much remember the first time I heard any of the albums he played on. That's some serious influence.
Maybe it’s because he couldn’t sit still for long.
Now if you didn't like this entry, let me know. I did have a couple more angles:
1. People who I think look like they probably smelled a little funky. (Keith Richards, Puck, Delta Burke)
2. Some connection between Jay Bennett and JonBenet. Never gets old for me. JonBenet was from Boulder like me. And they both wore cowboy hats.