Ben Gazzara died this afternoon, on the anniversary of the death of John Cassavetes on February 3, 1989.

Don Cornelius checked himself out, it would appear.

See him here — doin’ it to death — with Mary Wilson in the Soul Train line dance.

Offer: Blow up nativity for yard Clarke area of Dubuque

This works, we just don’t have a spot in our yard here that works, we are all hill! This is in great shape, only one stitch holding up a sheep has come out otherwise good as new. Quick pickup would be a plus, hoping to put it out today. Thanks

I have a 10″ infant Jesus from a large nativity set (approx 20-24″) if anyone is interested. It needs some work as it is broken/cracked in a few places, but it shouldn’t take too much to repair if you are handy with plaster and paint.

STOLEN INSTRUMENTS alert! Violin and 2 guitars stolen from trunk of car outside The Whistler on Milwaukee on Sat night:

VIOLIN — Handmade, bears label: “Samuel Giovanni Casco in Örebro Anno 2010 For Ethan Adelsman”. The back has these measurements: 35.2 cm, 16.5 cm, 11.1 cm, 20.3 cm. The linseed oil-based varnish is a warm orange-brown color on a golden ground. The bow: Handmade by E. Herrmann of Brazilian pernambuco wood with silver mounted hardware. The bow bears inscription: E. HERRMANN *** Violin & bow were in a Bam Lotus case, black with grayish stripes on the top and black backpack-style straps.

GUITARS –

FENDER MUSTANG, 1966 model. Pale blue with black pickguard. 1 pickup is black, the other is white. Had red strap with black lightning bolt pattern.

FENDER TELECASTER, black with white pickguard, made in Mexico. Has a chip in the finish near the bottom strap mount.

Instruments belong to Ethan Adelsman of Scotland Yard Gospel Choir. If you have info, please call Bloodshot Records.

It’s awful enough, but here is this from my good friend Alison (who plays keyboards with the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir):

Early this morning, Ethan Adelsman had a valuable violin, a pale blue 1966 Fender Mustang, and a black Telecaster stolen out of his car near Milwaukee and Fullerton. (SYGC had just played @ the Whistler.) Please keep your eyes/ears open! I know Ethan will be checking the local pawn shops but if you see anything please let him know. Especially heartbreaking is the loss of his violin. It was custom made for him to replace the violin that was destroyed in our van accident in ’09.

Chicken Dance Elmo. A little dirty, but works.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless smartphone

Update: Tim has a good analysis of what it all means over at Wired:

Now both individual authors and trade and textbook presses can be drawn into a development and publishing ecosystem that begins and ends with Apple. Amazon may offer more eyeballs, but Apple offers an easier workflow. And the multimedia enhancements baked into the new iBooks will tempt everyone creating an e-book to add bits that will be specific to Apple’s platform — creating accidental exclusives.

I have 12 boxes of hamburger helper flavors we didn’t care for. If interested please send contact info and time available for pickup in Dubuque.