JaiDee

This is a damn shame. Russell Crowe played him in the movie of the same name. http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2015/05/famed_a_beautiful_mind_mathematician_wife_killed_in_taxi_crash_police_say.html Famed 'A Beautiful Mind' mathematician John Nash, wife killed in taxi crash, police say''John Forbes Nash Jr., the Princeton University mathematician whose life story was the subject of the film "A Beautiful Mind," and his wife of nearly 60 years died Saturday in a taxi crash on the New Jersey Turnpike, police said. Nash was 86. Alicia Nash was 82. The couple lived in Princeton Junction. The Nashes were in a taxi traveling southbound in the left lane of the New Jersey Turnpike, State Police Sgt. Gregory Williams said. The driver of the Ford Crown Victoria lost control as he tried to pass a Chrysler in the center lane, crashing into a guard rail.''

Here was one favorite tactic of Whitey; he'd summons some poor sap from the neighborhood in Southie to come visit him in his office above The Triple O's saloon. No one turned down those invites. And they would be locals but guys with some money, like real estate brokers or bankers, etc.... so he'd get these guys in his little office and he'd start with "You know, so-and-so has put out a contract for your life. But for 50 grand I will get the contract canceled; waddaya say?" Of course there was no contract, no one really wanted to kill these people, but Bulger would walk away with 50 large for 5 minutes work; not a bad gig. When he wanted to have a legit place to launder his money, he approached the owner of the South Boston Liquor Mart, a guy named Stippo Rakes, and told him he was interested in buying him out. Rakes had just put a ton of money into fixing the place up, had a grand opening, and was running the place with his wife. He told Bulger "sorry, not for sale" and Bulger pulls out a gun and says "wanna bet?" right in front of his kids. He paid him half of what it was worth and Rakes signed on the dotted line. That's just 2 of many stories, hell the guy murdered more than 20 people, most with his own bare hands. Pure psychopath.

Initially I was a bit perturbed they couldn't get a Boston actor to play that role, maybe Marky Mark or Matt Damon? But then I remembered the forced accents in The Departed - why, if they are from the area anyway? - and realized maybe Depp would be a good choice; he certainly does have range. If you guys haven't read Black Mass I'd highly recommend it, along with 4 or 5 other great books about Bulger. Howie Carr from the Boston Herald has written a few, The Brothers Bulger was a good one of his which shows the corruption which took place under Bill Bulger at the state senate. One quick story from that one; Whitey once was caught trying to fly to Montreal from Logan with 50 grand in a carry-on bag, some state trooper pulled him out of line and sent him off to the clink. He got out right away of course, and told his brother Billy, the most powerful man in Massachusetts for 25 years, and that state trooper got reassigned to some post way out in the middle of nowhere and basically his life was ruined. He committed suicide a couple years later. People outside New England may not realize how much of a psycopathic murderer this guy really was, and indeed I am sure lots of people in about 40 states have never even heard the name. Hell, if there was some crime boss in Milwaukee or Kansas City I would surely have little interest in him as well. But I remember well, during the 80's at the height of his crime spree, this guy being all over the Herald and The Globe on a regular basis; their reporters were always perplexed how this gangster could run the city with impunity and never be put away. In fact it was 2 Globe reporters who finally ran an expose on Bulger in the 90's over several days which finally got the heat coming down on him; the same 2 guys later wrote Black Mass based on that series of articles.

Central Ireland, about an hour west of Dublin. Horse country! Lovely place, nice people, stays light till almost 11pm in late June; fantastic.

I'll never forget being in County Meath with my daughter in late June, hanging out on the banks of Lough Sheelin late into the evening outside our lovely bed and breakfast; it was close to 11pm and still just kind of gray out, not even really dark yet. I took this pic that night, maybe around 9 or 930. Compared to Thailand, which is usually about 6:30 pm year 'round, and even this part of the USA - we barely make it till 8:45 on the solstice - that is some great extra time to stay outdoors and have fun.

At least in the top 10! Capone and a few others surely gave him a run for his money, but there's no doubt that James "Whitey" Bulger left a mark and he is considered the most dangerous and feared Irish-American mobster ever. He ruled Boston from the mid-60's until the early 90's, all with the help of crooked FBI agents and local cops, as well as his younger brother Bill Bulger, who was the Speaker of the Massachusetts state senate! Black Mass was one of the best books ever on this piece of trash, who is now in his 80's and rotting away in federal prison for killing more than 20 people and extorting dozens of others while also controlling prostitution and drugs in Boston for 25 years. The book is now made into a movie starring Johnny Depp, which comes out in the fall; here are the trailers for it. Can't wait to see this one.

Oh, there's no question about that.....not to mention the burden of guilt and shame which had to be carried around by millions of people because of those ASSHOLE catholic scumbags. I would hope the yes vote was indeed a very strong rejection of their worthless dogma.

Snoop says "Have a great weekend!"

Thanks PD, the weather has been excellent recently, too! Today about 70 and sunny, tomorrow even warmer.......cool and crisp nights for sleeping, basically perfect. I am heading down to the Atlantic Ocean today, about 45 minutes east; my brother has a house over there and will surely be throwing some burgers on the grill.

I never stay home just to watch Jeopardy - it comes on at 7:30 and the weather is PERFECT this time of the year so usually out doing something - but if I am home I never miss it.

Wow, this is great news! And was the first thing my news feed was telling me this morning, probably because my news feed is filled with Liberal websites who all support LGBT rights! I was super-happy for my Irish friends I have met over the years, and for all Irish people; this is a great day for love and unity. Hopefully this will send a message to every other country on earth.

Heh, never thought of it like that. It's gotta be either him or......Alexxxxxx Trebek!! Or, if you include the re-runs, Jerry Seinfeld.

Yups! Salzburg is the answer. Great place, I spent a few days there in 2007, it's lovely.

And here he is on the beach with Iggy Pop

Not me! Promise..... Here's a photo of Anthony Bourdain hitting a bowl

Wow, what a horrible way to die! I am extremely claustrophobic so reading this sends shivers up my spine, I couldn't even imagine being confined in such a tight place and they said they heard faint calls for help, poor guy.

This is one of the coolest small cities in the world, any takers?

Keepin' it classy on the Orange Line platform, Boston

Jaisus Seven, what time does it come on 'Live' there, like 530am?

So ISIS just executed some poor dude with a rocker launcher http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3090886/ISIS-execute-man-BAZOOKA-shocking-new-video.html?ito=social-facebook

Agreed it was the perfect time for him to retire......he is currently number 3 behind Fallon and Kimmel, and that wasn't going to improve anytime soon; it's a young man's game. Dave is 68 and still young enough to go out and enjoy his life and spend more time with his young son, good for him. Last night was pretty good, not fantastic but good....and I enjoyed seeing all those celebs doing the Top 10 list. Happy retirement, Dave!

This is what we looked like 330 million years ago.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/epileptic-girl-who-moved-to-colorado-for-medical-marijuana-has-dramatically-improved-parents-say ''Epileptic girl who moved to Colorado for medical marijuana has dramatically improved, parents say'' "It just seems so ridiculous, now that we're actually able to try it - why is this being withheld from any child or any person dealing with seizures?"

The future of TV's - 1mm thick and able to hang on a wall with magnets. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3088702/The-wallpaper-TV-light-hang-wall-using-MAGNETS.html?ito=social-facebook ''The bendy TV so thin and light you can hang it on the wall using MAGNETS: Screen is less than 1mm thick and weighs as much as a laptop''

Thing is, that's his role; if there was a cool guy in that seat the show wouldn't work as well. He's the Ed McMahon of the Letterman era.