Damn. This SUCKS.

I was just going through the blogroll and found that "skippy the bush kangaroo" was gone. Uh-oh.

Tried googling the blog title. And found an obit.

Gil Christner was an actor, comedian, and writer. he was also "skippy," of "skippy the bush kangaroo" blogging fame.

He was one of the very first to link to me regularly and, I believe, the second or third to blogroll me.

Here's a piece by a guy who knew him face-to-face.

RIP, Mr Christner.

RIP Hal Bruno

Hal Bruno, the long-time political director for ABC News, and life-long volunteer fire fighter, has died at the age of 83.

He was the commanding general of ABC's political coverage in the 80s and 90s, but more important to me, he was a dedicated firefighter, rising to the rank of Chief in his department, and a tireless campaigner for fire safety:

In what amounted almost to a second career, Mr. Bruno was a volunteer firefighter for much of his life and became an authority on fire safety. He wrote a monthly column for Firehouse magazine.

When he retired from ABC in 1999, he was appointed chairman of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, which honors firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty and provides assistance to their families, a position he held until 2008.

Mr. Westin recalled that on Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. Bruno was among the first to phone in details of the attack on the Pentagon. He had got word of a fire there and had rushed to the scene to help.

Chief Bruno won just about every award there was in the world of fire suppression.  His voice, his expertise, and his experience will be missed.

[And now, the Block Quote function has decided not to work. Don't know if it's Blogger or Microsoft or both.]

The Passing of Another Giant

Political satirist Art Buchwald -- one of the funniest and most gifted writers this country has ever produced -- is dead. Buchwald died yesterday at the age of 81.

Buchwald had refused dialysis treatments for his failing kidneys a year ago and was expected to die within weeks of moving to a hospice on Feb. 7, where he held court as a parade of luminaries and friends came by to say farewell. But he lived to return home and even write a book about his experiences.

One of my favorite Buchwald lines, from an article about a series of prostitution raids in DC, where the brothels were calling themselves "massage parlors":

"Is there anyplace I can get a massage without getting laid?"

Rest well, old friend.