I’ve been doing this for nine years?
Where does the time go?
Thanks to everyone for their continued support. I can name a few people specifically: Borepatch, Joe D., Lawrence, Roadrich, Mike the Musicologist, South Texas Pistolero, Infidel de Manahatta, pigpen51, roadgeek, thinkingman, Chuck Pergiel, Morlock Publishing…and probably a whole host of others I’m forgetting now.
Thanks, everyone. Can I keep this up for nine more years? I intend to try.
Bill Loud, patriarch of the Loud family, is dead at 97.
I’m not sure how many people remember the Loud family. They were the stars of what may have been the first television “reality” show: “An American Family”, which ran on PBS in 1973.
“An American Family” shocked Americans families. Aired with the imprimatur of public broadcasting, it was portrayed as sociological exploration, not exploitation, and although many people found it irresistible, it was also hard to watch.
It showed Mr. Loud’s wife, Pat, bluntly discussing his adultery with her brother and sister-in-law. It showed her telling her husband to move out. It captured the Louds’ oldest son, Lance, living an openly gay life in New York — startling images for many people at the time.
The Louds separated during the filming of the series, ended up divorcing…and thirty years later, moved back in together and cohabited until Mr. Loud’s death.
In the 1970s much of the outside world had taken moral measure of Mr. Loud and found him wanting. But Grant Loud said his father was not created by television and should not be defined by it. He noted that the family moved to Santa Barbara in 1962 with very little money, and that his father had created a successful business from scratch.
“It provided a family of five kids with a very comfortable life, and took him — and us — around the world,” he said by email in 2013. “As a kid, I never thought much about it. As a middle-aged guy, I can only shake my head in awe and respect.”
The Loud’s had five children. Four survive him: Lance passed away in 2001.
I’m sure we all remember the Fyre Festival, now a synonym for “legendary fiasco”.
Loyal readers of my blog, and perhaps others, may remember that one of the principals, William McFarland, pled guilty to wire fraud charges related to the festival.
You’re probably not going to believe this. I have trouble believing it myself. On Thursday, Mr. McFarland pled guilty to even more charges.
Astonishing part one: this had nothing to do with the Fyre Festival. From the Justice Department’s press release:
Astonishing part two: notice the dates? Yes! He was running this scam while under indictment for the Fyre Festival scam!
Max sentence, whale sushi, yadda yadda. But I would expect running a second scam while you’re under indictment for the first one to be what they call an “aggravating factor”, and I’d expect Mr. McFarland’s sentence to be on the high end of those ranges.
Of course, I Am Not a Lawyer, so take that with some salt.