YOUTUBE COMMENTER PREDICTED JAY REATARD'S DEATH

This uncanny prediction of Jay Reatard's death can be found in the comments of this video of him urinating on a band member:

JAY REATARD DIES; EDITOR TAKES OPPORTUNITY TO PROMOTE HIS MAGAZINE

Indie rock star Jay Reatard was found dead today around 3:30 a.m. at the age of 29.  No cause of death has been reported. 

In an attempt to promote his magazine's cover story on Reatard, the editor of Death + Taxes commented on BrooklynVegan.com saying:

I'm the editor of the Death+Taxes magazine. Jay Reatard is our current on-stands cover story and I had the opportunity to spend some time with him this fall.
He was a great talent and his passing is a big loss to the music world. We'll continue to celebrate Watch Me Fall as one of the best records of 2009 and remember him fondly.
He was honest and revealing in his cover story, and we appreciate the special access we were given to one of the great songwriters of our generation.
If you'd like to join us in remembering him, you can read the cover story here: http://www.deathandtaxesmagazine.com/?p=1445

The crass timing of the comment incensed several anonymous commenters who stated:

i love how the editor of Death+Taxes magazine just used this as a way to promote their publication. stay classy.

and:

To all the people either making jokes about his death or speculating on the cause go fuck yourself you are seriously the scum of the earth.

 Same goes for you Death & Taxes Editor, using this to promote your mag is disgusting.

We at chrysler5thavenue.blogspot.com find theeditor's of Death + Taxes statement to be tasteless and inappropriate.

UPDATE (7:21pm EST):  The R.I.P Jay Reatard bebo skin has surpassed 1000 downloads.

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PATRICK SWAYZE DIES AT AGE 57

Actor Patrick Swayze died in Los Angeles today after a public bout with pancreatic cancer. "Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months," said his publicist, Annett Wolf. Swayze is best known for his roles in Ghost, Roadhouse, and Big Trouble In Little China.

THE PHOTO OF DAVID CARRADINE'S DEATH

This is a photograph of David Carradine's body by forensics investigators. It was featured on the front page of The Thai Rath newspaper, the original publisher. Another, slightly different version of the photo can be seen at greenstijl.nl. TMZ.com reports a statement by Keith Carradine, David Carradine's brother, saying "The family wants it understood that, per attorney Mark Geragos, any persons, publications or media outlets will be fully prosecuted for invasion of privacy and causing severe emotional distress if the photos are published." Apparently they are under the impression that dead people have privacy rights and that the source of the family's distress is the information about his death rather than the death itself. Or maybe they would rather use their wealth to threaten journalists with the financial consequences of being embroiled in the U.S. legal system than accept Carradine's kinks. Carradine's ex-wife Marina claimed in their divorce trial that he took part in "deviant sexual behavior which was potentially deadly". Another ex-wife of his, Gail Jensen, claims he would take days preparing bondage scenarios for himself and that "he liked to be tied up. And he could tie himself up ..." In spite of this, Geragos explained on Larry King Live that it is likely Carradine was killed in response to investigative work he may have been doing to uncover a secret underworld martial arts society. As a side note, commenter PRIAPISM EROTICAL on TMZ.com believes that David Carradine was making a political statement about the exorbitant suicide rate in China which they say is the real issue here. Some of Mark Geragos' previous clients include Scott Peterson, convicted of killing his pregnant wife; Chris Brown, ex-boyfriend of Rihanna whom he beat badly enough that she couldn't perform at last year's Grammy Awards; and Susan McDougal, who was convicted for multiple counts of fraud in the Whitewater controversy and later pardoned by President Bill Clinton.

CHAT WITH A DYING PERSON

Have you ever wondered what a person with only months to live would chat about on IM? Do you want to get photo tips from the world's premier homeless photographer? Maybe you're just lonely and want to send photos of your wang and your car to a cute barely legal chick? You can chat with Zombie Twatz using the Digsby widget on right side of this page below. Her blog is hobohappenings.tumblr.com and this is her flickr.

DAVID CARRADINE KILLS HIMSELF JERKING OFF, MEDIA MOPS UP

According to media reports, actor David Carradine died in Bangkok last night or this morning at the age of 72. He was found in his hotel closet. While earlier reports from the U.K. mentioned rope tied around his genitals and his neck, the stories have since been sanitized of all mention of his genitalia and the implication of auto-erotic asphyxiation. Compare the following screen captures of the story from bbc.co.uk taken 61 minutes apart:

In fact, there was an intermediate edit between the two versions above that only mentioned the cord being around his neck (Sorry, no screencap.) Compare also the following two versions of this story at telegraph.co.uk, both marked "Published: 3:34PM BST 04 Jun 2009".

Reports in the U.S. media are even shorter on details such as the story at abclocal.go.com, which initially reported Carradine's agent suggesting that he had died of natural causes.

Carradine was best known for his work on the TV series Kung Fu and a number of movies including Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2. He is survived by his wife Annie Bierman and their three children.

UPDATE (16:26 04 June 2009): Commenter friendlyfires on thesuperficial.com makes some interesting points about Carradine's death and says author David Foster Wallace died of auto-erotic asphyxiation and it was covered up as a suicide. UPDATE (19:08 04 June 2009): While most other media outlets are just hiding the details of the incident, Fox News is trying to sell this as a suicide despite all the evidence against it. Who commits suicide half-naked with rope around their dong? UPDATE (04:42 04 June 2009): The Huffington Post has a good article about what happened.

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DAVID HASSELHOFF DEAD FROM ALCOHOL POISONING

Television and recording star David Hasselhoff lost a long and public battle with alcohol on Sunday after being discovered unconscious by his daughter Hayley in their Encino, CA home and rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where he expired. Although no documents have been released, the cause of death will reportedly be listed as "alcohol poisoning." Hasselhoff is best known in the U.S. for his starring role in the Knight Rider and Baywatch TV shows as well as his recent work as a judge on America's Best Dance Crew. In 1989, he topped the German pop music charts with his hit "Looking For Freedom." Hasselhoff is survived by his two daughters, Taylor and Hayley. He was 57 years old at the time of his death.

UPDATE:  We are currently investigating rumors that David Hasselhoff may still be alive. 

BREAKING NEWS: JAY LENO DEAD AT 59

Comedian and host of NBC's The Tonight Show, Jay Leno, has just died following his admittance to a Los Angeles hospital on Thursday after canceling the day's taping of The Tonight Show. A source reports he expired shortly after midnight. No cause of death was mentioned. Rumors of food poisoning had been dismissed earlier by NBC staff. He was 59 year old. Leno rose through the ranks of stand-up comedy before succeeding Johnny Carson in 1992 as host of The Tonight Show, for which he is best know. He was slated to continue hosting the show until May 29 of this year, after which he was to host his own primetime talk show tentatively entitled The Jay Leno Show this fall on NBC. Leno was an avid car collector and authored a regular column for Popular Mechanics. Leno had no children and is survived by his wife Mavis.

UPDATE (April 25, 2009):  It has come to our attention that Lay Leno is not in fact dead and is currently still hosting The Tonight Show on NBC.