A sad day

I just read about the deaths of Dennis Hopper, 74 and Gary Coleman, 42. Hopper had cancer and Coleman suffered a head injury.

I grew up with Diff'rent Strokes. I've seen it since then a few times and realized it's just a typical 1970s/80s sitcom and not really funny. But Gary Coleman always seemed like a nice guy and I felt bad about all the troubles he's had in his life. I think he deserved better. (Also, the 25 year-old son of Dana Plato killed himself. He looked just like his mother, who was beautiful. It's sad that he killed himself. Of course I rolled my eyes when I read that he had been "an aspiring rapper".)

I first saw Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet. I've always been amazed by the life he led. He was an artist and one of the first people to buy a painting by Andy Warhol. He was friends with James Dean. He's worked with all the biggest stars in movies and TV and was even the lead actor on an old episode of The Twilight Zone. And he's been directed by everyone from Francis Ford Coppola to David Lynch.

When I saw him doing TV ads for Ameritrade, I think it was, I felt he was "selling out" but when I thought more about it, I realized that it's just work and he has kids that are going to want to go to college and everything and he was just thinking about their future.

It reminds me of something Ryan Adams (the younger one) said. A lot of people were giving him shit about an ad he did for The Gap and he said something I'll always remember; it was something like "They paid me $30,000 for five hours of work and that means I can keep making music and don't have to get a job in a factory." Excellent point. People say that the Pixies are selling out because of their ongoing reunion tour. They worked very hard and while they were together they were under-appreciated. They deserve to get paid. And Frank Black has a few kids now. I'm sure he wasn't making millions off Catholics records- now he has the security to do what he wants and take care of his family.