Steve Jobs dying so much earlier than Bill Gates was like Reagan dying before Carter. the latters have to watch all the love, respect and appreciation go to their competitor and know that when they go themselves, they’ll never get or deserve anything close to it.
Steve Jobs is dead. I’ve been archiving jokes and puns for months, but I dont feel like posting any of them now. in time. but for now: R.I.P and thanks for the amazing products and software I use every day to pursue my own dreams.
I’m unusually sad about this. Like, approaching tears welling up, legit-Sad. Not just “aw, that sucks. he was cool” thoughts of someone I didn’t know. I didn’t even think he was particularly “cool” even. I think i’m sad because of the unfairness of his death. Only 56 and was still chugging along so hard, creating new and wonderful things that help people like me create our own new and wonderful things. He wasn’t some retired CEO lounging in his billions. He was actively creating and innovating.
The Image above is the current splash page at Apple.com. The file for the picture is “t_hero.png”.
He’ll never get to see the next Pixar movie (he was a founding member of Pixar, if you don’t understand why I say that). He’ll never get to walk around in that one-of-a-kind space ship style new Apple campus being constructed in Cupertino. He won’t get to host any more Apple events (I might as well unsubscribe from the video podcast right now). He won’t get to hold the iPad 3 or 4 or 15 – but worse: His mind won’t have designed them.
Human beings can’t absorb the pain and sorrow of loss of people they don’t know or they would self destruct. We HAVE to have some kind of barrier when we hear about a shooting or an earthquake or the passing of some celebrity.
I’m terribly upset over the loss of Steve Jobs because he did life right and still got robbed.
He was responsible for a record of new and “magical” things that hundreds of millions of people got to enjoy and showed no sign of slowing down until literally weeks ago when his health forced such a slowing.
From the WSJ:
“Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives,” Apple’s board said in a statement. “The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.”
His family, in a separate statement, said Mr. Jobs “died peacefully today surrounded by his family…We know many of you will mourn with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy during our time of grief.”
..
In addition to laying the groundwork for the modern high-tech industry alongside other pioneers like Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates and Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison, Mr. Jobs proved the appeal of well-designed intuitive products over the sheer power of technology itself and shifted the way consumers interact with technology in an increasingly digital world.
Unlike those men, however, the most productive chapter in Mr. Jobs’ career occurred near the end of his life, when a nearly unbroken string of innovative and wildly successful products like the iPod, iPhone and iPad fundamentally changed the PC, electronics and digital media industries. The way he marketed and sold those products through savvy advertising campaigns and its retail stores, in the meanwhile, helped turn the company into a pop culture icon.
He turned fruit orchards into innovative technology that blew all our minds on a consistant basis. He was hard working, charitable, made countless lives better and he still got robbed by cancer. I’ve been teasing him and Apple hipsters just as much as anyone over the years, but damn. this is sad as fuck 🙁
Part of the reason, as many of you familiar with my world view and life aspirations may have guessed, that I’m so distraught over his death – even though it was known to be imminent – is that it’s a unique reminder of mortality. Everyone know’s they’ll die. I think I’m more conscious than most that my time is limited and that I could get incinerated in a plane crash or hit by a bus any day but that cant get in the way of attempting a full 90+ year plan on this earth. But Steve Jobs was hard at work doing big things and making billions at it and he still got robbed – not by a freak accident, but by a slow killing bottom feeder (which is why cancer is called that, btw: because it’s like a crab).
His commencement address at Stanford in 2005 contained the following:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960?s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
Jimmy Kimmel Live – Jimmy Kimmel’s Tribute to Uncle Frank, the full monologue from that night’s tribute show
Is anyone tricked into using narcotic substances? Especially celebrities? Is anyone ever handed something and told it’s sugar and then BAM – addicted for life? Or does everyone choose to have this burden on them out of pure selfishness with no regard to for, obviously themselves, but more importantly: the people around them?
If the cause of death is what we all expect it to be, people should be more angry than they are sad. When you are a public figure with fans, you owe it to they who gave you your lifestyle and livelihood to not destroy yourself.
Is it in bad taste to talk badly about someones drug related death? To their mom, yes. To your own friends or others not personally involved? eff no. The facebook friend above continued to say that derogatory comments about Winehouse are “just rude and bad manners. And it speaks to your character.”, but I dont see how speaking of someones bad character speaks badly of your character. if thats the case then you have bad character for speaking about the bad character of the people speaking about Winehouses bad character. it never ends…
The series of choices it takes to get yourself addicted to deadly drugs is worthy of scorn and ridicule. especially when youre a public figure because you’re breaking that many more hearts by destroying yourself. fuck Winehouse.
Idk anything about Harry Potter, but this is still funny:
Commenting on the news that “Jackass” star Ryan Dunn and two others were killed in a car crash at 3AM, Roger Ebert tweeted the following yesterday afternoon:
“Friends don’t let jackasses drink and drive.”
Some were angry with the judgement call.
Today, Ebert backed off and somewhat apologized:
I don’t know what happened in this case, and I was probably too quick to tweet. That was unseemly. I do know that nobody has any business driving on a public highway at 110 mph, as some estimated — or fast enough, anyway, to leave a highway and fly through 40 yards of trees before crashing. That is especially true if the driver has had three shots and three beers. Two people were killed. What if the car had crashed into another car?
Something called “Hollywoodland” on Breitbarts Big Hollywood site disapproved of this (my guess is because Ebert is a big liberal and Big Hollywood is a Conservative outfit) first setting it up with “Before knowing for sure if alcohol contributed to the awful car crash…” and then posting the tweet and elaboration, going on to say:
There’s a time and place for this discussion. No doubt about that. But before stepping onto your sanctimonius soapbox, it’s a good idea to know the facts.
Blah blah. Eberts original tweet may have jumped to a (very logical) conclusion at a not-s0-tactful time, but his followup is crushingly valid. We’re all allowed to publicly comment our opinions on public news items concerning public people and everyone else is allowed to say it’s wrong or in bad taste or whatever they think, but factually, it’s difficult to argue with Ebert on this one.
How is it that a month later I’m still hearing people wag their fingers (its a big woosh sound) over celebrating the death of Bin Laden? Where does this notion that every human life is precious no matter what? and how many of these people feel the same way about a developing fetus? That’s human life. Then of course you get into the split of how conservatives are pro-death penalty but pro-life on abortion, making people ask “if all life is so precious then then why do you want to kill people who kill people?” – and the reverse of liberals who have to answer why it’s okay to kill an innocent human life cuz you don’t feel like shitting out a kid at the moment, but it’s not okay to kill a murderous human life. Why is everyone but me stupid?
If you are one of these people who think it is shameful to celebrate the death of a man who dedicated his life to murdering completely random innocent civilians – explain yourself. I’m hungry for answers and never get any on this.
Bill Maher joined this claiming you’re not a Christian if you celebrated Bin Ladens death saying “Capping thine enemy is not exactly what Jesus would do — it’s what Suge Knight would do.” It’s only “not exactly” what Jesus would do because Jesus wasn’t an agent of the government. If you’re a Christian however and you honestly think that Jesus would be pissed at you if you celebrated the end of a person who murdered in the name of God, then your version of Jesus sucks. Maher also said “Martin Luther King gets to call himself a Christian because he actually practiced loving his enemies, and Gandhi was so fucking Christian he was Hindu” which are funny lines, but not good satire on the serious point he’s trying to make.
Dennis Prager on Celebrating the Death of Evil People:
When she saw images of Americans celebrating, “My first reaction was, ‘I wish I was with them.’ … My second reaction was, ‘This is disgusting. We shouldn’t be celebrating the death of anybody.’ It felt gross.”
Likewise, many Jews, including rabbis, have cited traditional — though seemingly conflicting — Jewish attitudes regarding how to react to the death of evildoers.
One frequently cited source is a famous one from the Talmud: “When the Egyptians were drowning in the Sea of Reeds, the angels wanted to sing. But God said to them, ‘The work of my hands is drowning in the sea, and you want to sing?'”
Also cited is the biblical Book of Proverbs: “When your enemy falls, do not rejoice, and when he stumbles, let your heart not exult.”
On the other hand, the Talmud also states, “When the wicked perish from the world, good comes to the world.” And the Book of Proverbs also states, “When the wicked perish, there is joyful song.”
So what is one to make of this mixture of sentiments?
I do not see them as contradictory. God may chastise angels for singing at the drowning of the Egyptian army. But God does not chastise Moses and the Children of Israel for singing at the Egyptians’ drowning. People may do so; angels may not.
Secondly, it is one thing to celebrate the fall of one’s personal enemy; it is quite another to celebrate the fall of evil individuals. The two Proverbs citations are not contradictory. The vast majority of our personal “enemies” are not evil people. Therefore, we should not exult at their downfall. And the vast majority of the truly evil are not our personal enemies. Bin Laden was not my personal enemy. He was the enemy of all that is good on earth.
It seems to me that if one does not celebrate the death of a truly evil person, one is not celebrating the triumph of good over evil. I do not see how one can honestly say, “I am thrilled that bin Laden can no longer murder men, women, and children, but I do not celebrate his death.”
Woman Dies after Fall from Hotel Room: MyFoxATLANTA.com
ATLANTA (AP) — A 30-year-old woman died on her birthday and another woman was seriously injured when they plunged from a 10th-story hotel window at a hotel early Saturday morning, investigators said.
Witnesses told police that 30-year-old Lashawna Threatt and second woman were “play wrestling” in a room at the W Midtown Hotel around 3:15 a.m. when they crashed into a window and fell four or five stories onto a slanted glass ceiling above a sunroom.
“They were play wrestling and the next thing you know, they went toward the window and through the window and out they went,” said Lt. Paul Guerrucci, commander of the Atlanta Police Department’s homicide unit.
Witnesses told cops the petite women were merely horsing around before they fell out of the window about 3:15 a.m.
“According to the witnesses, there was no arguing during the hours leading up to this, either, so it’s really a tragic accident,” Guerrucci said.
Threatt, who appeared at liquor promotions and in print ads, leaves behind a 15-year-old daughter.
“She was extremely charismatic. She could talk to anyone,” said her pal, Jomarys Castillo.
It was supposed to be the end of the world as we know it, but I feel fine.
and I’m also doing this, and encourage you to as well:
Exit note: Rapturing but be a lot of fun cuz I first heard it when the Scarecrow exclaimed “oh joy! Rapture! I’ve got a brain!” in the Wizard of Oz and subsequently in many Ren & Stimpy episodes. Makes me disappointed I didn’t get to experience it 🙁
In other News: Macho Man, the wrestler, passed away after suffering a heart attack while driving. Evidently it was the car crash that resulted which killed him and not the attack itself. Too bad, but we can at least be comforted by this thought:
Osama Bin Laden killed in a US attack and we have the body. It will soon be popular to nay say this or use it as a platform to attack someone or something but for now everyone should rejoice to the end of his existence.
I cant even focus on the news unraveling cuz im just waiting for the hipsters, hippies, grad students and toocool4schoolers to start mocking the [totally valid] celebration with “A’merika Fuk Ya, lol #imperialism” Photoshops and texts while they high five each other endlessly over how clever and above-it-all they are…
Update: That was fast… already on Twitter, this update comes into my feed:
Naysaying tip: “Does this eliminate the US foreign policy that caused his anger to begin with?” is the worst question to ask now, but terrible to ask at any time. It has reminded me however that that specious line of argument even exists though. I can’t caution enough against the moral depravity and intellectual foolishness in falling into the “it’s our fault they murder us” trap. Asking “what made him angry with us” enough to order the murder of all Americans in any country is disgusting. When you have a Hitler, a Stalin, a Bin Laden, a Saddam or a KKK lynch mob on your hands, you are a fool to take their murders as legit responses to government policies. The standpoint of asking “why are they angry with us” has no shred of merit.
Update: President Obama’s Address to the Nation about this is excellent. Watching it as I type and he’s nailing it. From facial expression to speech delivery – he GOT this.
Update: He’s doing his trademark “i” disease and ruining it… making it all about him… c’mon dude. show a little class and talk about the intelligence, military – earn unassailable points from your opposition and supporters alike by dropping a shoutout to your predecessor perhaps (Update: Obama mentioned that G.W. Bush said, as Obama is reiterating now, that we’re not at war with Islam) – less of this “i” and “me” and “under my direction”. It’s tacky. You’re addressing a democracy, not subjects in a dictatorship. This is a Presidential Address, not a blog…
Interesting notice from @NewYorkObserver on twitter: Look at Obama’s face when Seth Meyers made joke about Bin Laden last night:
Best reactions on Twitter:
@buckhollywood Worst Timing Ever: @LadyGaga- Are monsters ready for me to announce the premiere of The Judas Video? The Motorcycle Fellini Pop Art Fantasy?!
@BillyHallowell I’d argue Bin Laden was already dead inside before this happened, but now…it’s official.
@jpuopolo: CIA finally unlocked the Killed Bin Laden Badge! They have been working on that one for years!
Update: Fox News is playing footage of large crowds in the streets of DC changing USA and waving flags in celebration and I admit that the hipster in me is compelled to naysay it too..but…logically, I find no way to. If you agree mass murderers are evil, then you agree that their deaths are celebratory events…so… fuck ya, USA.