RIPs

Mr. Funk died the middle of last week. He was my next door neighbor growing up. The Funks were great neighbors, invited us to parties, kept the house looking nice from the street and didn't roll their eyes every time I came around.

Mr. Funk was funny, and as a final joke, he left us in his casket, shirt and tie pulled back just enough to reveal the Superman shirt on underneath. He was a huge fan of Superman. It was fitting. I will always remember him being a funny man. He told me jokes that were above my age limit and understanding, some I didn't get until much later.

When I was a wee lad, I was going out with a cute red-headed girl. Mr. Funk asked me to describe her and after I was done he said "yeah, but do the curtains match the rug?" I was maybe 10. I had no idea what he meant until a few years later when it just sorta hit me. It still makes me laugh.

RIP, Mr. Funk, you will be missed here on earth.
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Phyllis Diller cannot be explained, she must be experienced. My first experience with her was as an animated guest star on Scooby Doo. Like so many in my generation, that's how I learned about pop culture. I met the Globetrotters, The Monkees and so much more on Scooby Doo. Following the career high of Scooby Doo was The Muppet Show and The Love Boat. Both were really big in my house; and so even from the time I was very young, I knew who Phyllis Diller was.

And that she was funny. And classy. I like funny and raunchy... Roseanne, way back before she lost her last name(s) was funny raunchy. I liked her stuff. Joan Rivers could swear a blue streak and was terribly mean spirited. Funny. But mean. Diller was first, and like Bill Cosby, seldom resorted to overtly blue material, opting instead for delighting in entendre. Classy.

I cannot eulogize Ms. Diller as well as those who knew her personally, but it really does say something that everyone I know who is a cohort of mine knew Phyllis Diller and her humor and was sad to see her go. Considering she was in her late fifties when I was born that is quite a long and lasting legacy.

Here's to you,Ms. Diller. I hope you and Johnny and Bob and Dinah are having a ball up there... speaking of a ball... say hey to Lucy for me.
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I have never been to San Francisco, but Scott MacKenzie's eponymous city song always made me want to go. A troubadour in the classical sixties mold, he wrote and co-wrote many songs you and I know word for word, even if we didn't know he had a hand in writing them.

Thanks for the gentle melodies from a turbulent time.
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We are all immortal, really, or at least we live on long after we are physically gone. Through children or the people who surrounded us. We will continue to be the subject of stories anecdotes, and maybe even legends. I am amazed that people I haven't seen in a long time or don't talk to with regularity will quote back to me things I have said to them. It is as shocking to me they remember what I said as it is when I hear what I told them and really like it.

I guess in the end, that's what we are all living for if we are doing it right. Leave a lot of good memories, wisdom, humor and positive energy. Immortality without having to pay income tax... not a bad gig.