It’s Thursday. Lunch. And I’m still bummed out after learning about the death of a co-worker and friend, Stuart Schaeffer. More on that later. First, a few articles that hopefully Stuart might have appreciated:
- Thank Johnny Carson. Mental Floss has an interesting article on how Johnny Carson influenced the sales of Twister, a game that was going nowhere until he played it on TV.
- Empty Stages. The NY Times has an interesting article on how there is a lack of shows for Broadway this upcoming season, and thus how producers are trying to rush and fill the voice. Of course, some producers think getting it right is more important than getting it on.
- Hanging Gardens. A little news item yesterday mentioned that UCLA had relocated a planned hotel and conference center from the Faculty Center to a parking lot in the campus center. This got me curious, so I investigated further. It turns out what they plan to tear down is Lot 6, also known as the hanging gardens. That’s a shame, and will just add to an already crouded southern campus.
On to Stuart. This morning we had an email message announcing that Stuart had died from some unspecified sudden illness at the end of his vacation. This makes me sad. Stuart and I had been working together since he start here. He was on the DGUX evaluation team with me, and worked on a number of programs and projects. He was always a kindred spirit, and introduced me to a number of new groups, such as Big Daddy and the Austin Lounge Lizards. He was a UPPIE (that’s a yuppie without the Y), and enjoyed the latest techo-gizmos and toys. He lived on the Westside and looked down on the valley; I regret we were unable to show him VPAC—he was coming to see Bernadette Peters with us. We had a shared love of grammar and clever turns of phrases. I will truly miss having him around at work.
