RAMBLINGS....

Yesterday was a pretty awful day.

The film world lost one of the greatest and most well known actors in Sir Christopher Lee and the wrestling world lost a true legend in Dusty Rhodes.

Both hit me hard as they did a lot of people, and I decided to not review anything yesterday. Sir Lee has been a part of my life since I was very, very young and it is hard for me to believe he is gone. It really brings ones own mortality to the mind when someone you have never met, but has kept you entertained throughout your life passes away.

Nothing lasts forever, but the impact of Sir Lee's passing was like a blow directly in my gut. The man has been with me so long it was hard to imagine him not doing any more films. The good side is that his films will live on for younger people who knew him from his more recent films, and for those my age who have watched him since the 60's or further back.

Early yesterday afternoon, while still reeling from the death if Lee, I get a phone call from a friend telling me about the death of Virgil Runnels, aka Dusty Rhodes. It made the day even worse. Again, I have watched Dusty wrestle and perform since the late 70's, and it was quite a blow.

Nobody, but nobody exemplified the "every day" man as Rhodes did. Dusty taught me how to use a mic, and if you're going to imitate someone, always imitate the best, and that was what he was. In the 70's and 80's Rhodes wrestled in the NWA and was seen on WTCG which became WTBS. His legendary feud with Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen is legendary, and it filled arenas across the land, especially the Omni in Atlanta, GA.

Rhodes built my passion for wrestling, and that too has stayed with me. I lost two icons of my two passions in life, movies and wrestling in one day. June hasn't been a good month for the last two years as last year I lost my favorite radio personality, Casey Kasem.

I guess it hits you hard when you lose people who have either entertained you, taught you and have done both things well. These two men, Lee and Rhodes were part of my life as far back as I can remember. They are gone now and time marches on, but the feelings of sadness will remain for a while. Both men achieved international stardom, but remained gentlemen, not ego driven, like those "stars" today.

As I see all of these people passing on, and my past slowly disappearing, I realize that life is very short and people should always enjoy it no matter what. Yes, there are ups and downs, but people like Christopher Lee and Dusty Rhodes can at least entertain us and take our minds off of our troubles for a short while.

RIP gentlemen. I will miss both of you, but thank you for keeping my passion alive for all these years.