Princess Diana 1961-1997 RIP

Diana Frances Spencer (July 1, 1961 - August 31, 1997) has been dead for 10 years today. Her fans continue to adore her. Many hold up her memory as an example for us all. However, the true tragedy of Diana's passing is not simply our loss of an enchanting humanitarian "peoples' princess," but her childrens' loss of their mother. Her sons, wealthy royals they may be, are living through the best years of their lives without their mother's support and guidance. How they must miss her. When we cry for Diana, we must relegate a few of those tears for her sons.

Princess Diana 1961-1997 RIP

Diana Frances Spencer (July 1, 1961 - August 31, 1997) has been dead for 10 years today. Her fans continue to adore her. Many hold up her memory as an example for us all. However, the true tragedy of Diana's passing is not simply our loss of an enchanting humanitarian "peoples' princess," but her childrens' loss of their mother. Her sons, wealthy royals they may be, are living through the best years of their lives without their mother's support and guidance. How they must miss her. When we cry for Diana, we must relegate a few of those tears for her sons.

Maria "Muddy" Clemm - Poe's Aunt and Mother-in-Law

Maria "Muddy" Clemm (1790-1871) at PoeForward.com

Wackiness Not Just For Christians

Camp for Those Who See Dead People - CNN.com
Former Satanist Convicted of Human Sacrifice - WPLG Miami
Man Cuts Off Hand for Hindu Goddess Offering - Yahoo! News

NDG: Leona Helmsley 1920-2007 RIP

New Dead Girl: "The Queen of Mean" Leona Helmsley (July 4, 1920 - August 20, 2007) has died. She had a reputation for tyranny. Apparently, she truly was the "boss from hell." Her name at birth was Leona Mindy Rosenthal and she was the daughter of a hatmaker, which I think is pretty cool. She was a model and appeared in billboard ads for Chesterfield cigarettes. She and her third husband, Harry, the multi-millionaire real estate investor, worked together to create an empire. Then, her arrogance as well as her greed led her to be convicted of federal income tax evasion and sentenced to 16 years in prison. Without a sympathetic President to provide special dispensation, she spent 19 months in prison and two more months on house arrest. Her community service time was extended when it was learned she was sending her employees to do her work. After Harry died in 1997, she spent the rest of her life alone with a dog. Her money couldn't buy her any more friends and she was estranged from her family. She died at 87 of congestive heart failure. What's happens to the dog?

Poe Toaster Revealed?

The mystery endured for decades. Whom was the cloaked figure in black that each January 19th slipped into the Baltimore cemetery and laid three roses and a bottle of cognac on Poe's grave? On August 15, 2007, the Baltimore Sun reported that 92 year old Sam Porpora confessed to being the "Poe Toaster."

Although the dates Porpora has offered as evidence have garnered some skepticism, he claims the tradition dates back to 1949 on the one hundredth anniversary of Poe's birth, but newspaper accounts differ. Sometime in the sixties, Porpora had been given the title of historian for the Westminister Church and cemetery. Porpora says he started the tradition "to reinvigorate the church and its congregation."

Due to the confusion regarding the dates of Porpora's story, Jeff Jerome and Jeff Savoye, both officers in the Edgar Allan Poe Society, refuse to believe Porpora is the "Poe Toaster." While Porpora's own daughter said she had never heard of her father's actions, she pointed out that it "fit in with his mischievous nature."

For more information regarding the dates controversy, go to:

"92-year-old man claims to be creator of mysterious 'Poe Toaster.'" - Canada East Online

"Who knows who started Poe toast?" - Baltimore Sun

"Poe Fan Says Tribute Began As Gimmick." - SF Gate

New Dead Girl: Boitumelo "Tumi" McCallum RIP

After neighbors reported smelling a foul odor, NYC police discovered the body of 20-year-old Boitumelo “Tumi” McCallum “wrapped in a sheet and wedged between the bed and the wall” at her mother’s Greenwich Village apartment on Sunday. Condom wrappers and empty malt liquor bottles were also found in the bedroom. Her bed was splattered with blood. While the official autopsy report hasn’t been concluded, the police suspect she died from blunt force trauma.

Both of her parents are NYU professors. McCallum moved to New York from her native South Africa with her parents when she was very young and grew up in Manhattan. Her mother, Teboho Moja, was overseas, traveling with a foreign study group. Her father, Robert McCallum, had gotten remarried last Wednesday and she had thrown a party after the wedding. Detectives turned their suspicions towards her boyfriend, Michael Cordero, 23, who was allegedly upset that he wasn’t invited to the party. Apparently, he is known to be jealous and possessive, and has a criminal record that includes assault. The Daily News reported a source who said, “Everyone is calling, asking for information about this young woman – except her boyfriend. The sense is that he’s not calling because he knows what happened.”

On Tuesday, Cordero tried to commit suicide. He was found bleeding with slits across his wrists, and was hospitalized at Roosevelt Hospital in stable condition. While being treated, Cordero made statements implicating himself in McCallum’s murder. On Wednesday, the NYPD arrested and charged Cordero with murder.

McCallum was a sophomore at Mills College in Oakland. She attended the Beacon School for high school and participated in the American Museum of Natural History’s after school program.

Hoax: Where is Amy Pressman?

A viral marketing hoax for an upcoming film.

Rumors Daily: Where is Amy Pressman"

LAist: Where is My Mom?

My Space: Where is Amy Pressman?

Fourth Floor Productions

Hoax: Where is Amy Pressman?

A viral marketing hoax for an upcoming film.

Rumors Daily: Where is Amy Pressman"

LAist: Where is My Mom?

My Space: Where is Amy Pressman?

Fourth Floor Productions

Cartoonist Dwane Powell - Raleigh News and Observer

"If we don't comply with subpoenas
Congress threatens to sic the Attorney General on us."

History Repeats Again and Again

"President Wilson Is Deceiving The World
When He Appears As The Prophet of Democracy
President Wilson Has Opposed Those Who
Demand Democracy For This Country
He Is Responsible For The Disfranchisement
Of Millions Of Americans
We In America Know This
The World Will Find Him Out."

New Dead Girl: Cheryl Kosewicz 1971-2007 RIP

Cheryl Kosewicz, Pirate Master Hopeful, Takes Own Life - News.com.au

Perhaps more tragic than the death of Mary Rogers (either the result of a homicide or a botched illegal abortion), the suicide of a young woman must be the ultimate in Poe's notions about the sublime in death. Although in his history, he was the only character in his real-life drama to attempt suicide for the sake of romance, the important women in his life died of tuberculosis. But Poe did not take enough poison, laudenum actually, which is the only recorded incident of Poe taking drugs. Some of his characters, Usher the most obvious, took opium, but Poe, nor any of his critics, save Griswold, his arch enemy who made veiled implications, mentioned Poe taking drugs. He was a drunk, a bad drunk, but not a druggie.

So, why did this young woman with everything to live for kill herself? Celebrity? Loss of celebrity? Shame? An unfulfilled meta-narrative? A fantasy lost forever and facing only reality to return to?

"Cheryl Kosewicz was born and raised on a 22-acre farm in Grand Couler, WA, where she and her family literally lived off the land-their only store purchases were paper products. Growing up, she would fish, hunt, garden, sew her own clothes, work with animals and make things for the farm. She began participating in rodeo at a young age, competing in barrel-racing, pole-bending, goat-tying, roping and calf-riding. Her father then turned her on to basketball and she discovered her true love. During high school, she played basketball, and ran in track and cross-country. She was also class president and graduated as a valedictorian. Cheryl received her bachelor's degree in English from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she was on the dean's list, on a basketball scholarship and continued on for her master's degree. She then attended law school at Northwestern School of Law in Portland, where she received her Doctorate of Law. She worked as a deputy district attorney in Las Vegas for six and a half years. She is currently a Deputy District Attorney in Reno, NV, focusing on the prosecution of sexual abuse cases. Cheryl regularly goes to the gym, runs, skis and swims. She also enjoys reading, horseback riding and athletic events. She describes herself as confident, athletic, competitive and loud. She currently resides in Sparks, NV. Her birth date is Nov. 11, 1971."

- from the Pirate Master on CBS - Cheryl Kosewicz page

Jabberwocky - the Bandersnatch and Nonsense Verse

Before the Addams Family and Green Acres, before Laugh-In and Saturday Night Live, before The Prisoner and Twin Peaks, before dada and surrealism, there were the works of Lewis Carroll. Nothing makes my heart soar more free than reading ALICE IN WONDERLAND. I suppose having the same first name tipped me off in the right direction early on, but I would've enjoyed Alice's adventures even if her name were different. I enjoy the absurdity of Lewis's work, obviously. Reading his work, his word experiments, the reader can imagine, if not feel the mental improvisations that worked within his mind to produce such prose and poetry. Just remember my friends, "nonsense" is not nothing and "absurdity" is not incomprehensible. Better than Ionesco's THE BALD SOPRANO, better than the verbal improvisations of a jazz soprano, better than the manic outbursts of Robin Williams, better only because it's more pure, the JABBERWOCKY is pure nonsense, "my son."

THE POEM

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

(I cannot read this poem without remembering the scene in INDIANA JONES when the swordsman approaches the hero and makes a big, threatening display of his prowess. However, Jones appears non-plussed and simply takes out his revolver and shoots him.)