Thank you, sir, for sharing your talents and creativity with the world. You will always be remembered and greatly missed.

“Hey, MaryAnne, your buddy’s on tv here…”

My buddy.

I have several buddies, but the particular context of “buddy” in this case are those actors whom I adore absolute.  Those who I go out of my way to watch something they’re in, buy a DVD, view a video on YouTube, or collect photographs of.

It’s a small group. These guys are the All Time Favorites. One such member of this elite group is Robert Culp.

Back on March 24th, I lost one of my buddies.

No, I never knew the man personally. Never had the opportunity to meet him. Would have liked to, but figure I would’ve acted something like Culp in the GAH episode “The Price is Right” when Bill meets the famous football quarterback that was friends with Ralph in highschool.

Yeah…

Truth be told, I would’ve been happy to just sit and listen to him talk. I could’ve listened for hours.

I was shocked by the news of his sudden passing. A mere moment in time…and he was gone.

What he leaves behind, however, is a body of work that I’ve only just started to make dent in, in terms of viewing. From Trackdown to I Spy to Greatest American Hero, to feature films and television guest spots. It was only two short years ago that Robert Culp became the latest addition to my group of Buddies. I’ve blogged about him occasionally here and over in my LJ. I’ve fangirled over him and have been truly inspired by him.

Given this bias, I’ve been annoyed at the seemingly paltry acknowledgement of this man’s contributions to film and television by the print media. TV Guide managed to spare a mere paragraph on his passing. I missed if Peoplemagazine bothered to spill any ink on it, they certainly didn’t do a special issue (like they did for Farrah Fawcett). Granted, I haven’t been able to actively hunt for anything, only a quick look-see at the checkout aisle of the grocery store, but I think it’s safe to say that very little was printed beyond an obit. (The tabloid Globeand it’s bogus “shocking secret” that Culp “hid” from fans doesn’t count).

Online, however, it’s been a different story. Several fine articles and blogs have been written, tributes made and accolades expressed. There’s little more I can add to these fine expressions. Frankly, for calling myself a writer, words fail me at a time like this. In the two years since “discovering” Robert Culp, I have come to greatly admire and respect him for his dedication to his craft and the quality of his work (even when the quality of what he had to work with wasn’t so good). He has been a great inspiration with my own writing and creative pursuits.

Perhaps that, more than any glossy special issue of People, is the better acknowledgement. Instead of seeking the tributes paid by others, I will pay tribute my own way. I will continue to yammer on about him, post screen caps from various episodes and films and carry on as I have been.

More than that, though, I will continue to be inspired by Culp’s work and I will continue to “feed the muse.”

Because he was and always will be one of the buddies.

Well, I had in mind to do this but I have a tendency sometimes to play the same one or two songs over and over again, especially if I’m writing. Or I won’t have any music playing at all for various reasons. Lately, it’s been hard to come up with the last five songs I’ve listened too (even if I try to count the songs on the radio at work. I can’t because I tend to not be paying close attention LOL).

So, instead I’m adding a twist to the challenge and am going to list the last five songs I’ve listened to on YouTube. This list I can do because these vids are ones I’ve watched several times lately. I gotta tell ya tho’, it’s pretty eclectic!

So here it is, the last five songs I’ve listened to! (I should note that since my track record with imbedding YouTube vids is miserable, I’ve merely included the links here.)

1. Speechless (Live on Ellen) – Lady Gaga (Say what you want about Lady Gaga, the girl has the chops and can craft songs and sing. I don’t think we’ve seen anything like her since David Bowie and Elton John in the 70’s)

2. Come With Me Now (Theme from Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Full version) - Bill Conti (Cripes I had this song totally stuck in my head for awhile about a week or so ago. It would not leave me alone. It still pops in every so often.)

3. I’m a Ramblin’ Man (Live in Austin Texas, 1989) - Waylon Jennings ( I LOVE this live version of this song. Especially Waylon’s guitar part. One of the most unique sounding guitars in country music.)

4. I’m Just a Giglo - David Lee Roth (Fo’gettabodit Dave! LOL. Yeah, seriously, I don’t know how this song ended up stuck in my head lately, but it did. I had a feeling back in the day when it first came out that it was a cover, but I had no idea until recently just how old this song really is. Louis Prima did a version back in the 50’s, which Roth basically did similar of, but Bing Crosby did a slow waltz version waaaaaay back in the early 30’s. You can find it on YouTube.)

5. Yankee Rose - David Lee Roth. (After watching the Giglo video I got to thinking about the rest of Diamond Dave’s Greatest 80’s Hits and could recall the opening to another video…but couldn’t remember the song. A Google search of the words “gimmie a bottle of anything, and a glazed donut. TO GO!” and I found the vid. Truthfully, I haven’t gone back repeatedly to watch this one, except to watch the totally unrelated intro – which I always got a chuckle out of it, even if it makes no damn sense at all. I wasn’t that big a fan of the song as a kid. ROFL)

Oh, I should also add, I know who Django Reinhardt was. Heh!

I’ve avoided blogging about financial related matters as it’s just become trite at this point. My daily gig is in the financial industry, where every day I see the fallout from the economy, bankruptcy, foreclosures, deaths of borrowers who leave no will or had any estate planning. And then the morons who file bankruptcy and think the slate is wiped clean a month later and they can go right back out and get more credit. (Wrong!)

I’ve avoided the rant because nobody’s paying any attention. This is evident in the government’s overhaul of lending regulations that cover home buying. This is evident also in the President’s Home Affordable Modification Program, aka HARP, which, surprise, has not helped hardly anyone out there that it was intended to help.

The reason why is easy. The program sucks. The qualifications and requirements are too complex, the required slashing of interest rates on these loans no bank or investor wants to swallow and it’s probably safe to assume that even once all is said and done, the loan would end up in foreclosure anyway because the borrower was in over their head from day one.

Which brings me to the changes to lending regulations. This is even worse. Although the intent of the new reg is noble, to provide the consumer with information so they can shop around for the best loan for them, unfortunately does not work in practical application. What was once known as the “Good Faith Estimate” is now essentially a document the lending institution is bound by. The government has taken “good faith” and “estimate” right out of it. The bank is bound by the fees and costs it discloses in that Estimate or else it could end up paying a penalty, (if certain fees/costs exceed a certain tolerance in certain circumstances).

In fact, if the bank does a “no cost” loan, in which it absorbs the costs/fees of the loan and the customer doesn’t pay a dime in closing costs, if any cost or fee disclosed on the Good Faith Estimate should exceed one of those tolerances, the bank has to pay the customer the difference.

Hell of a deal eh? You don’t pay a cent in fees, but if the bank screws up you get a check! Woo! Bank Error in Your Favor. Pass Go and Collect $200!

Ah, but I’m rambling in a half rant here. Thus, this is why I haven’t blogged much because I don’t want this to be one rant after another. I realize, however, that I gotta get back into the swing of things with the blog here and find topics BESIDES the stuff that pisses me off to blog about. Even if it’s just sharing YouTube gems or more screen caps from DVDs or whatever nonsense I can come up with.

So here’s to renewed chaos!

As a result, my cousin Brian set out on a quest, to find if there were any remaining boxes left anywhere of these now rare chocolates.

Well, he struck pay dirt. Yes, folks, Brian’s quest was successful, so much so I now have enough Starbucks chocolates to last me…well, for a good long while. Khee!

I also received a batch of a different flavor of Starbucks chocolates, from another friend, ones I never tried but they look good too. So I’m happy in chocolate again!

Now when Brian talks about some short cut over a strip of ice through a cornfield, I believe it. I Googled the location of this store he risked all to venture to. It’s in the middle of nowhere surrounded by cornfields. Literally!

Thank ya, cousin.  I saa-lute you!