Mattsapundit

He was often called David Letterman’s favorite comic. Mitch Hedberg has died of an apparent heart attack:

Comedian Mitch Hedberg was found dead in a New Jersey hotel room Wednesday morning, according to Minnesota’s Pioneer Press. He was 37.

The cause of death has not been determined, and details concerning his death have yet to be released. The Pioneer Press reported that Hedberg’s family has been told he suffered a heart attack.

The comic — who bore an uncanny resemblance to Rush frontman Geddy Lee and once explained the reason his was not a household name was because most of his fans lived in apartments — spent much of his career straddling that fine line between cult status and relatively larger stardom.

Hedberg was known for his goofy observational humor and one-liners, like:

An escalator can never be broken; it can only become stairs.

Rice is great if you’re hungry and you want 2,000 of something.

Imagine being killed by an arrow: “Look, there’s a dead guy! Let’s go that way…”

It was an odd sort of humor, delivered in a mellow laid-back manner that you couldn’t help but like. Hedberg’s candor and approachability endeared him to audiences, including this blogger. I saw him live three times, and I couldn’t get enough. Rest in peace, Mitch.

Matt Bramanti | March 31, 2005 at 8:08 pm
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An Italian news agency is reporting that Pope John Paul II’s health condition has worsened:

The Vatican did not immediately comment on the report, which said doctors had to intervene because of what was described as a “worrying” drop in the pope’s blood pressure, but a spokesman later said the Pope has a high fever because of a urinary tract infection.

The Pope is reportedly being given antibiotics for the infection.

CNN quoted an unnamed Vatican official who described the situation as serious and said the Pope had received the last rights or the sacrament of the sick, which is not necessarily an indication that John Paul is in any immediate danger of dying.

An Australian newspaper says that Vatican sources are less optimistic:

“We are on stand-by for anything,” one priest who works in an important Vatican department said.

“Hardly anyone thinks the situation will improve but everyone is hoping for a miracle,” he said.

“I know the Pope is very disappointed with the progress of his rehabilitation and would like it to be much faster,” said another source, a Vatican monsignor.

“This is a new phase in this papacy,” the source said, adding the Pope would most likely have to face what looks set to be “a permanent state of precarious health”.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the Holy Father is tough as nails. Don’t write him off just yet.

Matt Bramanti | March 31, 2005 at 3:57 pm
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Click pic for story.

Matt Bramanti | March 31, 2005 at 12:05 pm
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Folks, here’s an example of someone in a persistent vegetative state, with a demonstrated lack of higher cognitive function and a minimal level of consciousness. This person has been lingering in an institution for decades. While the patient may appear to communicate, we really just see primal reflexes, not evidence of brain activity. It’s just the same rudimentary moaning over and over.

I’m talking, of course, about Chronicle editorial cartoonist Clyde Peterson, aka “CP Houston.”

I beg the Chronicle’s editors: please, let this poor soul go. Pull the paycheck tube.

Matt Bramanti | March 31, 2005 at 11:25 am
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John DeLorean may be dead as a beaver hat, but his cars live on in the Bayou City, thanks to a local entrepreneur:

In 1997, Stephen Wynne, then a DeLorean mechanic based in Houston, purchased the inventory. Sixty-five tractor-trailers drove the goods from Ohio. Wynne bought the rights to the DeLorean name and logo, and the original engineering drawings, and thus the DeLorean Motor Company was reinvented, with Wynne as the new president.”Half of our business comes from selling parts, and the other half comes from repairing and restoring old DeLoreans,” Espey says. He says they service 30 or 40 cars at a time in the 40,000-square-foot facility. DeLorean owners ship their cars from all over the country for work.

The Houston company has no relation to the original founder other than haggling over patent rights and forwarding media requests.

It has outgrown the reputation of its notorious predecessor, Espey says. “Ten years ago I’d pull up to a gas station and people would ask if there was coke in the trunk,” he says. He’s heard all the cocaine humor imaginable, he admits. (”Nothing sucks up the white lines on the highway like a DeLorean!”)

That last joke is pretty funny.

If any of you are interested in buying a DeLorean or restoring your old one, stop by the refurbished DeLorean Motor Company.

Mr. Fusion not included.

Matt Bramanti | March 31, 2005 at 11:07 am
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Is that a cat sleeping on your head?

Buh-bye:

Ted Koppel, who has anchored ABC News’ “Nightline” since its inception a quarter-century ago, said Thursday he will leave the network when contract expires at the end of the year.

No word yet on the professional future of his rug.

Matt Bramanti | March 31, 2005 at 10:55 am
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