Gyroscopic Investing

His mind worked at such a frenetic level that his 63 years on this earth was probably more like 163. His talent was incredible and he will be missed!

These Hollywood types, and in particular comedians, are often tortured souls.  They seem to have extremely high highs and extremely low lows (mentally speaking).

I think it's also what makes them successful in their careers.  In life, I've found that your strengths are usually your weaknesses as well.

It's weird but when he was young he and Freddie Prinze always reminded me of each other in their personalities and mannerisms. And sadly, they both ended up the same way.

So sad but what an incredible contribution he made.

Yes, he was terrific in Awakenings. Also in Good Will Hunting.

barrett wrote: Yes, he was terrific in Awakenings. Also in Good Will Hunting.

Insomnia.

clacy wrote: These Hollywood types, and in particular comedians, are often tortured souls.  They seem to have extremely high highs and extremely low lows (mentally speaking).

I think it's also what makes them successful in their careers.  In life, I've found that your strengths are usually your weaknesses as well.

So true on all counts.  He had it all by earthly standards (fame, fortune, adoration gained by hard work - a proliflic doer), and apparently not so much by the ultimately important standards that deal with trusting God's promises.  Sad.

... Mountaineer

Mountaineer wrote:

clacy wrote: These Hollywood types, and in particular comedians, are often tortured souls.  They seem to have extremely high highs and extremely low lows (mentally speaking).

I think it's also what makes them successful in their careers.  In life, I've found that your strengths are usually your weaknesses as well.

So true on all counts.  He had it all by earthly standards (fame, fortune, adoration gained by hard work - a proliflic doer), and apparently not so much by the ultimately important standards that deal with trusting God's promises.  Sad.

... Mountaineer

He was arguably the greatest comedic genius of the last several decades But like so many other comedians, he was also a tortured soul who struggled with mental illness compounded by drug and alcohol addiction. His battles with clinical depression were often near crippling. God grant him mercy and peace.

I think I am going to sit down and watch The Dead Poets Society later today.

I'm going to just come at this from a slightly contrarian angle....

Best of all for mortal beings is never to have been born at all
Nor ever to have set eyes on the bright light of the sun
But, since he is born, a man should make utmost haste through the gates of Death
And then repose, the earth piled into a mound round himself.

- Theognis of Megara

Or maybe another from Socrates:

“To fear death, gentlemen, is no other than to think oneself wise when one is not, to think one knows what one does not know. No one knows whether death may not be the greatest of all blessings for a man, yet men fear it as if they knew that it is the greatest of evils.”?


Just like Hemingway I guess he decided that it was finally time to slip off. I don't know the chemistry or psychology of what was going on in Robin Williams head, but I sometimes wonder whether depression induced suicide isn't a result of a tremendous amount of clarity about the nature of reality, while those choosing to go on with their lives believing they have some reason or meaning aren't suffering from delusions. This is a very mysterious universe

Thanks for posting that, Doodle. Excellent. Two great quotes and you may be correct in your conclusion. A friend of mine is fond of plowing ahead with quotidian tasks with the rationale of "What the hell else is there to do?"

While doodle could very well be right, I still feel really crappy about this one.  I usually don't get too upset when I hear a celebrity has died, but RW was a bit more than just a celebrity.  What a unique, hilarious, kind-hearted dude.  As Reub has mentioned, with the speed his brain worked, he's probably lived about 12 lifetimes. 

I also feel bad for the people with clinical depression who will see Robin Williams's suicide and become even more discouraged--closer to suicide themselves. Williams was such an uplifting icon that his suicide will deeply affect many people other than just himself.

I saw someone share a personal anecdote recently about how his family once walked into a donut shop in the Bay Area after a funeral, and Robin Williams was in a booth by himself. When he saw how sad the family looked, he got up and walked over to their table to say hi and strike up a conversation. He ended up sitting down with them for a good long while, cracking jokes to make them smile and laugh and forget some of the pain for a few minutes. That story really touched me. What a warm, friendly guy he must have been.

Tortoise wrote: I also feel bad for the people with clinical depression who will see Robin Williams's suicide and become even more discouraged--closer to suicide themselves. Williams was such an uplifting icon that his suicide will deeply affect many people other than just himself.

During a very brief trip to CVS today, we were followed by a young umbrella-less woman, crying in the rain. She started stomping her feet behind us, screaming "f__ you all! My boyfriend tried to kill me twice, my lawyer's not doing a good job, and I don't have the things I need!" Over and over. I was thinking that if R.W. can't hold it together...

I have heard that Mr Williams -- I've been a big fan since the 70s, by the way -- was hard up for cash, but he's got to be better off than most people on the planet. It's got to be biochemical. It just has to be.

What's interesting is that I am a huge fan of dark humor.  I find it very awkwardly funny when a comedian can say something that shocks you to your core a little bit.  Some would consider this stuff really in bad taste.  I can't help but find it to be the most funny kind of humor there is, at times.

But Williams, as uproariously funny as he was, seemed to really care more than any comedian/comedy-actor I've ever seen.  He could do raw humor, but it was never dark.  He was just too nice of a guy to say things that were down-right mean-spirited.  He'd talk about raunchy topics, but I never saw him get mean.

The guy just oozed that he actually cared about people, even as he made you crack up as he made fun of what certain people do... I remember seeing Good Morning Vietnam for the first time when I was like 24 or so.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing... though I should have, given his other movies.  Most gut-bustingly funny dudes have a bit of a harshness to them.  It allows them to make serious situations humorous.  To always see the punch line in everything.  RW wasn't like that.  He saw humor in a lot of things, but he always seemed to know when to turn that off, and when to actually give a shit about someone.  And I don't really think he was "acting."  I think his humor was sorta acting, but he was just being his crazy-self in almost all of his movies... and when he was in a more serious scene, it's almost as if he simply turned on his empathy switch and read the lines... it seemed to come so natural to him.  Like all he had to do is memorize lines and understand how someone might feel in a situation and "boom" you have a scene.  He just memorized and felt his way through the damn thing.

I'm probably being too melodramatic about the death of a celebrity, but even with him being a bit older, it kind of seems like "this time it's different."  I never thought I'd have so much to say/think about a 63-year old drug-addict, depressed celebrity/comedian dying. Guess that's what happens when you watch a grown man believably become Peter Pan 500 times as a kid .

I don't mean to suggest this in a disrespectful or lewd way, but it seems possible that this could have been an accident (auto-erotic asphyxiation) and not suicide.  It would still be very sad, but at least not deliberate.  He was apparently addicted to various substances, and maybe to certain behaviors as well.  I heard the sheriff's statement this morning, and something about the way he emphasized the word "clothed" made me think he wasn't being entirely truthful.

stuper1 wrote: and something about the way he emphasized the word "clothed" made me think he wasn't being entirely truthful.

I guess they have to do that, post-David Carradine.

This is all I have to say about how insanely funny this guy was:



Anyone who has seen this stand-up routine will immediately chuckle!

My Pastor had a really nice note about Robin Williams on his blog today.  It is shown below:

We become fans of people usually at times in our life, when what they do really impacts us.  For me, I became a lifelong fan of Robin Williams in 1989, when he played the role of English Teacher John Keating in Dead Poets' Society.  At the time I had an english teacher and physics teacher who was like the fictional Keating in so many ways: Mr. Ronald Brandhorst of Denver Lutheran High School.  "O Captain, My Captain" – a shout-out to both!  I thank the Lord for Mr. Williams and Mr. Brandhorst, both of whom taught me " … to suck the marrow out of life … ," Mr. Williams through his acting and live interviews and Mr. Brandhorst in the great setting of his cluttered AP Physics, AP Chemistry, and AP English classroom in the middle wing of the old Denver Lutheran . 

The first article of The Apostles' Creed puts us on our knees:  "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth."  This confession of faith takes us to Genesis 1 & 2, where we learn early on in The Holy Bible our place in creation AND all the gifts of creation:  poetry, science, children, landscapes, work, marriage, etc.  "In the beginning God created the heavens and earth" (Genesis 1:1).  In this overarching statement the author summarizes the details that follow and everything in between.  Mr. Williams certainly was a wonder-filled "in-between."  Like so many gifted people he inspires us to be more than we think we can be.  As a senior in high school, he did just that.  The world, indeed, was my oyster! 

Let us thank the LORD for ALL his gifts, even those that are not recognized by the world as gifts from Him.

... Mountaineer

Uggg word that Lauren Bacall has passed away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY0WxgS ... enofficial

... Mountaineer

I saw someone share a personal anecdote recently about how his family once walked into a donut shop in the Bay Area after a funeral, and Robin Williams was in a booth by himself. When he saw how sad the family looked, he got up and walked over to their table to say hi and strike up a conversation. He ended up sitting down with them for a good long while, cracking jokes to make them smile and laugh and forget some of the pain for a few minutes. That story really touched me. What a warm, friendly guy he must have been.

When I went through a period of depression a few years back (and still slip in and out of it occasionally) one of the things that was helpful to me was to help another person who felt sad. I used to love it when a friend or acquaintance would come up to me with their troubles. First, I felt an instant bond with them through their pain and it helped me to know that I wasn't alone in this, and second by listening to them and providing whatever help or reassurance I could it gave my own life a sense of purpose and meaning where otherwise I could find none.

I have known many outgoing incredibly funny and popular people who see counselors every week for depression. I have also met the most beautiful, funny girls who have deep scars up and down their arms from cutting themselves. It's really incredible how pervasive depression is in our society and how good some people are at concealing their inner demons in public.