Actor George Coe, who was nominated for an Academy Award in 1968 for The Dove but is probably best known as an original SNL cast member and the voice of Sterling Archer’s reluctantly loyal, heroin-addicted butler Woodhouse on Archer, died on Saturday “after battling a long illness,” reports Variety. He was 86 years old.
The Jamaica, Queens-born Coe appeared in multiple roles in every decade since the 1960s, including guest spots on Thirtysomething, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gilmore Girls, and Curb Your Enthusiasm, and he even voiced Wheeljack in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Coe was an original Not Ready For Prime Time Player on SNL, but was only credited for one episode, the show’s first, on October 11, 1975 (he, however, did appear a few more times).
Despite NBC’s insistence on Coe as an SNL cast member, he was used sparingly during the first season and only appeared in eight episodes, not including guest appearances in 1978 and later 1986 when William Shatner took his turn as host.
Ever since video of Hannibal Burress making jokes about the not-so-well-known accusations went viral, the media has been on fire for news about the rape allegations against Bill Cosby. Yet aside from more and more accounts of rape from reported victims, no documented evidence could be attributed to the famous comedian. At least, before the sealed 2005 deposition was released in July.
On July 6, the Associated Press reported that Cosby admitted during questioning to administering Quaaludes to young women for the purpose of having sex with them. It was the first time any kind of evidence, let alone a supposed admission, had leaked to the press. As a result, former Cosby defenders left his side, Disney World removed a bust of the comedian from an exhibit, and a White House petition called for his Presidential Medal of Freedom to be revoked.
Yet as horrible as all of this is, none of it compares a The New York Times story published on late Saturday, in which the paper got its hands on a copy of the deposition. If accurate, then the portrait painted of the once beloved stand-up comedian and television personality is about to make things a whole lot worse for him, his wife and manager Camille Cosby, and their team:
Even as Mr. Cosby denied he was a sexual predator who assaulted many women, he presented himself in the deposition as an unapologetic, cavalier playboy, someone who used a combination of fame, apparent concern and powerful sedatives in a calculated pursuit of young women — a profile at odds with the popular image he so long enjoyed, that of father figure and public moralist.
No, it’s not that bad. It’s actually much, much worse.
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Early on in the article, the NYT’s Graham Bowley and Sydney Ember detail the story of an unnamed 19-year-old model “who sent him her poem and ended up on his sofa,” where “she pleasured him with lotion.” And remember, this is all from a deposition — an interrogation in which Cosby told investigators about these things, and in great, horrible detail:
He spoke with casual disregard about ending a relationship with another model so he could pursue other women. “Moving on,” was his phrase.
He suggested he was skilled in picking up the nonverbal cues that signal a woman’s consent.
“I think I’m a pretty decent reader of people and their emotions in these romantic sexual things, whatever you want to call them,” he said.
Through it all, his manner was largely one of casual indifference.
His tone here, need I remind you, is apparently best described as “one of casual indifference.” The man is well aware of what he was doing, and yet he didn’t really care about any or all of the possible implications of wrongdoing. That, or he wasn’t capable of recognizing them.
Probably the worst bit comes near the end of the article, in which Bowley and Ember recall the story of Beth Ferrier:
He could be dispassionate in recalling former relationships. With a woman named Beth Ferrier, a model he met in the 1980s, he recalled inquiring after her career and her father, who had died of cancer.
“Did you ask her those questions because you wanted to have sexual contact with her?” Ms. Troiani asked.
“Yes,” Mr. Cosby responded.
Still, he said he viewed himself as a good person, worthy of trust, and chivalrous in his desire to never tell others about the women with whom he had sex.
“I am a man, the only way you will hear about who I had sex with is from the person I had it with,” he said.
Obviously, that last part isn’t entirely true, as Cosby’s legal team has fought long and hard to keep many of the lawsuits and complaints filed against him quiet. Not even the women he allegedly raped were allowed to tell whether or not Cosby had had sex with them:
In the court case, 13 women came forward with anonymous sworn statements to support Ms. [Andrea] Constand, saying that they, too, had been molested in some way by Mr. Cosby. But they never had a chance to pursue their claims in court because, six months after the fourth and final day of his deposition, Mr. Cosby settled the case with Ms. Constand on undisclosed terms.
Thursday afternoon, GQ Magazine revealed photos from their latest issue featuring Trainwreckstar Amy Schumer in joking, sexual situations with Star Wars characters like C-3PO and R2-D2. Friday, Lucasfilm responded and not in kind.
In a post on Twitter by the official Star Wars account, they said the following: “Lucasfilm & Disney didn’t approve, participate in or condone the inappropriate use of our characters in this manner.” What “manner” do they mean? Well, the photo above, as well as these.
Obviously, GQ and Schumer didn’t mean to disrespect Lucasfilm with these photos. They’re just supposed to be funny, weird and provocative. Like Schumer and her comedy.
In fact, that they chose to use these characters at all is a testament to their cultural significance. It’s kind of a compliment. But Star Wars is owned by Disney.
Disney is a family company and they obviously wouldn’t be cool with anyone, even the biggest comedienne in the world, fellating a lightsaber. At least in public.
The Ramones of the ’70s are iconic. They were at the vanguard of punk, and arguably pop punk, and created songs that are still considered classics of the genre today. You go to a sporting event, you hear “Blitzkrieg Bop.” Their look was easily recognizable, and influential. They appeared in Rock ‘N’ Roll High School. Then came 1980’s End of the Century which was, in its own way, the end of an era for the band. By 1995, when they released their final studio album Adios Amigos!, they were no longer part of the zeitgeist. They were an afterthought, and they weren’t even the same band.
The change from Tommy to Marky on the drums had happened a while back, with a brief stay from Richie in there as well, and, in truth, changing the drummer isn’t really going to rile up many people. However, by the time of Adios Amigos!, Dee Dee was also all but gone, although his presence is still felt on the album, as he is credited as the writer on many of the songs, including a handful from other projects of his. He had been replaced with C.J. Ramone, who was given a lot of credit by his bandmates for bringing some much-needed youthful energy to the band. C.J. could only do so much, though. This was a band that had been releasing music for 20 years. Nobody could blame them for being burnt out.
Adios Amigos! begins with the iconic “1, 2, 3, 4!” count off that was synonymous with the band, but after that it feels decidedly like warmed-over Ramones. Now, this could be where one would break out the old chestnut about how even bad pizza is pretty good, and how the same can be said for the Ramones. The Ramones were still making the music they’ve made for years. Charging guitars. Simple drumbeats. Although, they do slow it down a bit more than they did in the past, in part to ease the strain on Joey’s vocals. He gets to croon a bit, and he’s not half-bad at it.
The album is hit-or-miss. In addition to the songs from Dee Dee, there is a cover of Tom Waits’ “I Don’t Want to Grow Up” and Johnny Thunders’ “I Love You.” They are both fine. “Fine” is about the highest level this album achieves. “Life’s a Gas” is pretty good, but also goes on a bit too long. In the end, the songs that Joey sings on are reminiscent of the glory days of the Ramones. The issue is that on four of the tracks, C.J. takes the lead vocals. One of the song, “Scattergun,” is OK, but the others are abysmal. Of course, one of those songs is “The Crusher” from Dee Dee’s brief time as a rapper, so C.J. can’t take all of the blame. Nevertheless, it’s one of the worst things ever recorded for posterity.
Dee Dee’s impact on the album is felt in his songwriting, but his only tangible appearance is on the final song “Born to Die in Berlin,” wherein he (literally) phones it in from Germany. None of the original Ramones (Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and Tommy) would die in Berlin, but they have all now passed away. Three of them have been dead for over a decade now. However, those Ramones weren’t the Ramones by the time the band was winding it all down. Adios Amigos! isn’t a stain on their legacy by any means. It has its moments, and it sounds like the Ramones, which has merit. Based on their album title, obviously, they knew this was the end. They didn’t go down in a blaze of glory, but at least they said goodbye without embarrassing themselves.
Cats know so many things. They definitely know the meaning of life. They are wiser than you, they are more intelligent than you, and they are generally better than you in everything. You must accept it – you’ll never be as good as your cat. But can you imagine what would happen if your cat could speak? That’s right – it would judge you. Every step of the way.
My cat always watches me with a look which says, “You’re stupid.” So this is an illustrated story about the things my cat (I presume) would say if he could speak. And it makes me think I am lucky that he can’t…
The fact that someone has created a condom that can detect sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is amazing on its own, but the fact that it was invented by a team of 13- and 14-year-old students is even more impressive! Muaz Nawaz, Daanyaal Ali and Chirag Shah from the Isaac Newton Academy in London came up with the concept, calling it the ‘S.T.EYE.’
The condom glows faintly in different colors depending on what STIs it has encountered; green for chlamydia, yellow for herpes, purple for human papillomavirus, and blue for syphilis. They won the first prize (£1,000) for Health at TeenTech Awards, a competition that encourages 11-to-16-year-olds to create inventions that will help the world.
I was pretty much born with paint on my hands! Over the years I have pursued my passion for the fine arts through many avenues, but it was around three years ago that I discovered the joy of working with ceramics and porcelain.
As the Resident Artist of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Toronto, my hand-painted plates made their original debut at TOCA, the Ritz’s signature eatery. Here they continue to serve the purpose of both function and intrigue; a plate at every setting of the 120-seat restaurant sparks both conversation and inspiration for future design.
To date I have painted over 1500 plates and counting, and my custom designs range from landscapes, portraits, animals, food, and everything in between. While my explorations in plart are proving to be rewarding (painting custom plates for the A-list during the Toronto International Film Festival is a pretty wicked job perk, right?!), there is nothing more inspiring to me than bringing joy through custom art to clients all over the world!
I started to mix my drawings with pictures of real objects some time ago with the project called “Sketching Words”. The object brought life to my character, and my drawing was changing the meaning of the object itself. I soon found that I could tell tales and stories to the people who watched my sketches with very few elements.
This is my version of Alice’s adventures in Wonderland. I sketched some characters of the novel making them interact with poppies. I always imagined Wonderland as a place full of these flowers.
The students’ design is currently just a concept, but we hope it becomes a reality!
The map to wonderland is curiosity
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