James Garner has Passed

[Kavinsky]

April 7th 1928 - July 19 2014, may He Rest in Peace, and I just learned of this while I had this running in the background

 

 

kinda gives the last shot a double meaning doesnt it?

 

But God damn it, Jim Rockford is dead, I was literally just watching the rockford files the other day on Me TV along with the TV movie I still love LA on youtube.

 

as well his feelings about LA in that mirrored my own in my personal life with MA, only thing is there is no action here, so I have nothing to keep me here, vs LA where theres plenty.

 

but still god damn it, may he rest in peace and atleast he had two kids and a wife, just like Eli Wallach, so atleast we have that

 

 

and also if theres one man who sold as many firebirds as Burt, and the hoff, it was James Garner lol

 

 

(also note the Vette, that was Cleopatra Jones car in said movie with Bernie Cassey)

 

 

but I must admit, I prefer the pre 1977 models to the bandit and last two seasons Esprit, like this beaute'

 

 

and also I must wonder how much the rockford files influenced the Video Game Driver, as a car that is distinctly like his was in it at 0:41

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9t5YlEWsBw

 

plus this:

 

Edited July 21, 2014 by Kavinsky

[Sonny-Burnett]

Then you might have liked a car I drove briefly back in the day. A '79 Gold TA Special Edition.

Reminds me of when Tubbs was in the Stinger and said "you beast, you". Lots of horsepower.

 

 

 

and RIP James Garner of Maverick fame.

[agent 47]

It's been a long time since I've seen the Rockford Files but I love the Marlowe movie he did.

 

Guy was just a whole lotta cool, R.I.P.

 

 

[Tony D.]

One by one and very rapidly our favorite stars are dying and leaving us with nothing that can compare.

 

Rest in Peace James Garner!   

[Victor]

I liked him in movie Tank(1984) R.I.P.  one more of my favorite actors had past away and it time the list will get shorter and shorter,that is very sad.

[alleycat]

We're losing some great actors really liked him it was sad to hear.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[James]

Sad to hear, but people get old, they die.

 

I am very fond of The Rockford Files and the 1966 Formula1 movie "Grand Prix". RIP.

[Kavinsky]

Then you might have liked a car I drove briefly back in the day. A '79 Gold TA Special Edition.

Reminds me of when Tubbs was in the Stinger and said "you beast, you". Lots of horsepower.

 

 

 

and RIP James Garner of Maverick fame.

[Kavinsky]

It's been a long time since I've seen the Rockford Files but I love the Marlowe movie he did.

 

Guy was just a whole lotta cool, R.I.P.

 

Jesus, James Garner AND Bruce Lee in the same room? how is that even possible?

 

I'm surprised the world didn't explode from the awesomeness of that.

 

and is that Marlowe as In Philip Marlowe, the Character Bogart Played in the Maltese Falcon?

 

 

also its kind of funny reading about him, he was apparently a former National Guards man, and from the sound of it a really great guy to work with.

 

as he would put his neck on the line for alot of people apparently, as I remember reading something about him really trying to keep I think a shelby american or a ford team going back in the late 1960's alone with his sponsorship.

 

and I think Jackie Steward was part of that team too, and I think that partuclar film they did of that actually recently after 40 years finally came our or was re released, showing how the F1 season back then was actually run and like.

 

 

and additionally that even after all that trouble with the studio over how the Stephen J Cannel productions ran things with The Rockford files, which I'm starting to think was used as the basic basis of the A Team

 

where they would, from the sound of it, rack up any expenses they could just to take more money from the studio, purposely damaging the car, repaired it, sold it and then bought it back and did weird things like that

 

he had 22 people volentarily come back to work from retirement on the first rockford TV movie I was watching the other day.

 

 

and the sad thing is it sounds like that if it wasnt for the Cannal Production team doing that, we would have had Jim Rockford mixing things up With Magnum In Hawaii

 

hell I know he and tom sellek are good friends and were up until his death as it seemed like his work there with him on rockford was kind of a prototype of Magnum back then.

 

plus he did a forward for his autobiography

 

 

 

Then you might have liked a car I drove briefly back in the day. A '79 Gold TA Special Edition.

Reminds me of when Tubbs was in the Stinger and said "you beast, you". Lots of horsepower.

 

 

 

and RIP James Garner of Maverick fame.

 

 

Hmm I had heard these latter ones were good cars, what was the thing packing suspension and engine wise? as I had heard the WS6 Package just absouletly transformed these cars into quite the handlers

 

and I believe 79 was the first year for all around discs too.

 

 

and sorry double post by accident

Edited July 24, 2014 by Kavinsky

[agent 47]

Jesus, James Garner AND Bruce Lee in the same room? how is that even possible?

 

I'm surprised the world didn't explode from the awesomeness of that.

 

and is that Marlowe as In Philip Marlowe, the Character Bogart Played in the Maltese Falcon?

Actually that's Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon but Bogart played Marlowe in The Big Sleep (Another masterpiece though, BTW). But yep, same character. Pretty darn good movie. Shame it's not that well known as it's a lot of fun to watch and that scene is just downright historic.

 

BTW, Turner Classic Movies posted this as tribute, another Hollywood badass narrates it too, it was done before James Garner's death:

[Kavinsky]

Ah yeah I'm getting my bogart movies mixed up, actually true story the film that got me into black and white's wasnt one of his big ones, it was his 1947 Film Dark Passage that I caught on PBS some late night years ago.

 

but I guess I gotta put that on the list of films I must see and Catch up on then

 

and Jesus, now I feel really bad for Clint Eastwood, as the poor guy has lost two friends in short succession

 

and I must admit while thinking about his passing I remembered something leno said about steve mcqueen in the recent video they did of his car, that back then in the 1980's when he passed the mentality was: wow he lived 50 years, nowadays its damn it he only lived 50 years

 

same thing with Bogart and John candy too and atleast Mr Garner got 34 more and had kids too, and Eli Wallach, my god, can you imagine the stories he could of probably told?

 

 

 

also with my first post I just feel the need to clarify something, with the music video above I found and bookmarked years ago at the end of the video with the empty grid starting at the 4 minute mark, I feel that kind of symbolizes all of the great actors we've lost over the years.

 

and it was just startling that I had that running in the background, and more or less at that mark when I read the news while Looking on the Spoonyones twitter to see what he had been up to in the past couple of weeks.

 

and also a similar thing happened with Eli Wallach, I was picking someone up from a bus trip, and the bus was getting off next to a cemetary with american flags posted all over, next to the school that George Bush SR went to up here.

 

and I was just looking over the whole thing and reflecting after hearing the news on the radio while I waited.

 

it was just, kind of the ideal setup to learn of something like that, like something out of a hollywood film, sun was shining, next to this spectacular graveyard with flags and memorials all over the place.

 

and I swear ill never forget that or having that imagine playing just as I learn the news about Mr Garners passing.

Edited July 24, 2014 by Kavinsky

[Sonny-Burnett]

Hmm I had heard these latter ones were good cars, what was the thing packing suspension and engine wise? as I had heard the WS6 Package just absouletly transformed these cars into quite the handlers

 

and I believe 79 was the first year for all around discs too.

 

 

Found this link to the TAs of that period:  http://www.musclecarfacts.com/pontiac-firebird/420-1979-firebird

 

So was the lower of the two 400 V8 engines since it was auto, and had all wheel disc for stopping and did have some suspension performance package, but sadly I don't have the literature that came with the car anymore. It was all gold....exterior as well as gold interior in leather with the huge firebird hood decal, and removable T-tops.

What I remember is that it had a mean engine growl, was fast off the blocks, could handle tight turns pretty easily, and was a huge gas guzzler, at around 12 mpg. lol

Edited July 24, 2014 by Sonny-Burnett

[Kavinsky]

Jesus sounds like you literally got the last of the big block cars there

 

actually the time period fits in with about the time Dave McLellantook over at GM and updated the Corvette's interior and a bunch of other little things, including part of the rear suspension and I believe the brakes as well for the last of the C3's

 

so I wonder if the old firebird got the same treatment, plus around this time Chrystler used a loophole in the laws to use a police interceptor motor in one of their trucks, the little red express truck with a 360 V8

 

 

so I wonder if the same was done here with the 400? also that 360, it showed up in dons other car on nash bridges, as the one he favored more than the big block they had on set.

 

also Zora Antov left GM with the biggest motor he could find as well back in 1974, a C3 Convertible with a 454 motor, very similar to the one they had in the road kill truck here from 1973

 

 

and the power comes out to about the same as that 400, a little more but it is close with a 750 carb

 

337 Foot Pounds 3100 RPM, 213 HP 3500, before the new 770 carb and Distributor they put on it in that video.

 

although as a sidenote I'd be very careful about changing the distributor that he talks about 10:30, and after that and the tune up on the dyno it was 356 Foot Pounds, 244 HP

Edited July 24, 2014 by Kavinsky

[Sonny-Burnett]

Jesus sounds like you literally got the last of the big block cars there

 

 

No the 400 refers to ci, not hp. Have a look at the chart on the link I posted.

[Kavinsky]

Yeah I know, thats about a 6.6 liter I think, technically not a big block under american standards, but back then considering that GM was offering 305's and 350's primarily that was kind of the new big block.

[pahonu]

April 7th 1928 - July 19 2014, may He Rest in Peace, and I just learned of this while I had this running in the background

 

But God damn it, Jim Rockford is dead, I was literally just watching the rockford files the other day on Me TV along with the TV movie I still love LA on youtube.

 

as well his feelings about LA in that mirrored my own in my personal life with MA, only thing is there is no action here, so I have nothing to keep me here, vs LA where theres plenty.

 

but still god damn it, may he rest in peace and atleast he had two kids and a wife

 

 

Hey Kavinsky,

 

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by his feelings about LA.  He lived in the area almost 60 years and seemed to like it.  I read his autobiography and he never said anything bad about living in the area.  He loved all the golf courses, that's for sure.  What he didn't like, I should say hate, was the Hollywood studio system.  He had plenty to say about the "cheating" business men who run the studios.  If your talking about the more liberal politics of the area, he was very progressive.  He was at the '63 march on Washington and a Democratic Party member.  He even met his wife at an "Adlai Stevenson for president" rally and they were approaching 60 years of marriage.  It's a really good book.  You might like it.  He's a straight shooter, for sure.  It's called The Garner Files.

[Kavinsky]

well I ment with his character there, jim rockford in the 1994 TV movie "I still LOVE LA" I mean that was the nice thing about I still love LA, it showed the good and the bad of it all,  and why people were leaving.

 

and that kind of mirrored my feelings towards MA here, thing was he stayed because of the action at the end, despite being shot in the leg, having his car stolen and scrapped, the brushfire, the earthquake, the riot, the second time in their history, as my father passed through there during the first one, and actually lived in cali for a time during the run of the rockford files, albiet breifly.

 

and here, all the good action has left, and its just being replaced by bad action.

 

and I can understand liking cali, its just the politics of a one party state are quite frankly poison towards anything that explodes or makes noise, which pretty much covers everything that I love in life it seems.

 

or sprays paint from what I've heard from Steve Neill, the hollywood make up artist/ Model maker

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/darkuboot/videos

 

as he said that he's not able to get certain paint or spray cans anymore because of the smog and polution worries there, and it just seems like its worse than england in that respect.

 

as even they will cut certain people a break when it comes to restoring a car and a motor using period lead in the motor and paint, provided they go through the right hoops for it, which I dont have a problem with.

 

however if you dont care about that kind of thing, and your in a good part away from all the problem spots I can see how people could love Cali, its just the classic problem of having too many people and an unbalanced power system with nothing to pull it back from extremism

 

 

and it seems like the only answer in those instances where when you try and do everything in your power legally to get them to do the right thing and they still wont listen to you, the best thing is to just leave and stop supporting them with your tax money.

 

and go where all of the like minded or atleast respectfull of your rights people have moved to

 

and Cali, well after watching the LA Car Scene video from Mighty Car mods, and the illegal search and sesure things the California Highway Patrol does, where it seems like if they find its got illegal performance mods they can have it crushed,  it just seems like they've really oversteped there legal bounds and honestly Im surprised they haved started a car rights organization to fight that kind of stuff there.

 

especially after crushing the grey market R34 Skylines, which should be a crime punished by death in my book to kill such a beautiful and iconic automobile, even if they were imported illegally, I mean shut down the business but still alow the owners to keep the stuff via a grandfather cause or something.

 

you know do the right thing, not some stupid knee jerk reaction to it, I mean its not like they brought a nuclear bomb or something in.

 

and with the smog and emmsions things it just seems like they've gone off the deepend, I mean even on the GM crate engine website they say that most of the engines, which are far better and polute less than the old carb engines are not Cali Legal.

 

and I just cant fathom putting up with that kind of crazyness, and evidently 25 % of the businesses cant either as the Govenor of texas said that they've had a huge growth from buisnesses moving away from there to Texas if nothing else but to get away from the taxes.

 

hell Toyota is moving 3000 jobs from Cali to Texas alone.

 

and the same kind of thing is happening where I live too, I ask around and it seems like everyone is thinking about moving away in some way or another. hell the Realitor in South Dakota said they just had two people move from CT to SD recently.

 

and I know of one that also did the same except to Seatle.

 

 

and yeah I know he was quite the progressive just from a breif look on the wikipedia page, where it said that he was in the first three rows during the famous I have a dream speech, and I can really respect having the balls to do that back then.

 

and its a bloody shame we've lost such a great man.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Kavinsky

[Kavinsky]

Some more info about Mr Garners death has arrisen, he died from a heart blockage, almost word for word the same thing that nearly killed my father 7 years ago.

 

and I think peter sellers for that matter.

 

so trust me if you get up into your 50's and 60's have your heart valves checked out for blockages, as its quite the silent killer, hell the doc only found it by chance on my pop because he noticed a slight dot on the EKG and wanted to be through.

 

the others wouldnt of noticed it and I would have been fatherless by now. hell it killed HIS father the same way before I was born.

 

So avoid bread and other bread based things unless your really hungry for it. after all that stuff can last for 30 days before it goes bad, so what the hell is in it?

[pahonu]

I didn't realize you were talking about the character and not Garner.  I saw the movie, and I see what you mean.

 

I'm not a sports car or muscle car guy, but I do like to tinker.  I have a 26 year old VW camper van that I keep running.  It hasn't been a big problem keeping it smog compliant. I do know one thing, though.  The air quality is immensely better than when I was a kid in the 70's, so it seems to be working.  I remember bad smog alert days when I was young and if you ran around you could feel it in your lungs.  It was like someone standing on your chest.  So we had to stay indoors alot in the summer when it was the worst.  We haven't had a stage I alert since the 90's!

 

California's economy is starting to take off again.  The Wall Street Journal listed California 5th in the nation in job growth rate and 2nd in total jobs created last quarter.  There's actually been a shortage of tradesmen in construction recently. A friend of mine is a general contractor and he's having a really hard time getting subs on the job site they're so busy. I know some places are still really struggling. I read about Kansas and how all the austerity measures they took haven't worked.  The recovery has been very uneven, to say the least.

 

Sorry about your father.  How's he doing?  My father had quadruple bypass about ten years ago.  He's had to slow way down, but he's doing OK for 80, I think.

Edited August 4, 2014 by pahonu

[Kavinsky]

Sorry I dont doubt the smog problem has gotten better because of the restrictions, but I just know the poltics of CA are abit wonky and it just irks me alot, as the states far too big for them to handle in one big way like they are, especially with Diana Fienstein in SF there.

 

and I dont mind them maybe keeping that kind of smog compliance to something like Public Transport and new cars that arent going to be modified by people who dont care about them, but I dont like them butting in and bothering people like that over specialty cars like that and putting damaging additives into the gas without the peoples vote on it.

 

especially when it can cause engine fires in NEW cars like it did with Dick Van Dikes 09 Jaguar a few months or a year ago, as that's damaging to the car and overall thats the state doing damage to people's personal property without there say so.

 

 

So it just seems wrong and I dont doubt that smog control and all of that is needed, its just the ethics of doing it the Draconiana no say to the other way irks me badly. especially when it has those kind of ill effects on a machine like that, and then when you do have a choice of using a gas that doesnt do that... well then the EPA tries to ban low lead gas for use in private small planes.

 

despite it being like 0.0005 of the overal polution in the air around airports like that according to the flying magazine I read called Flying, and I'd almost wadger there only doing that because people have started using it in classic cars to avoid putting the damaging ethanol in them

 

hell Camera Daytona is using it in the show car right now as we speak, and its only a dollar more expensive per gallon.

 

I mean this is what happens to a car that sits with Cali Gas in it for 3 to 6 months at 5:22

 

 

 

 

and I have nothing against catalitic converters that were added to cars in the 1970's and the Detuning to run on unleaded, or charcoal canisters provided they dont suck down that much power.

 

its just that we're past that and all modern cars for the past 35 years have had that, and then to have them go the extra mile and openly inconvenience and harass people like that really bothers me, then to actually ruin machines like that, now that is too far.

 

 

plus that begs the question where does it stop? and that's what scares me the most, the idea that, that it could and would spread nation wide if the people in charge have their way.

 

basically the whole afair kind of reminds me the most of an episode of TNG called the Drumhead about how something with good intentions like that can turn into a full on witch hunt, and that's what frankly it seems like there doing with the stuff that matters to me in CA

 

and same thing in my own backyard, and damn these people for putting these kind of ideas into everyones heads without explaining the truth about this kind of stuff first like Fienstein and her bunch of crooks do to mislead people into their way of thinking, one of which was busted for arms smuggling no less by the FBI a few months ago.

 

and it just seems like the more I learn about CA and what they do with this kind of stuff, well it badly irks and worries me, like what are these polticians going to do next? and what happens if it spreads elsewhere, and all for some social clause that's overall failed to realize the biggest truth about life

 

that there is no free lunch, and that all you can do is aim to not hurt people, not damage personal property and aim for a balance overall that is as neutral as possible.,

 

 

 

hell you should read some of the reports of the after effects of the us fish and wildlife banning the selling and import of sport hunted elephant products and the effect its having on the elephant and crops there, all because people think its unregulated and unbalanced like its Bambi is real life when it isn't.

 

and now there going to be overrun 4 to 1 with elephants there and its going to do serious damage  to the crops according to one of the latest issues of the magainze sports afield, july august, page 54: Politics Vs Conservation

 

all for some feel good cause of equal value as this, the law of unintended consequences, or unforseen if your a half life 2 fan.

 

 

 

and I'm sorry if this irks you but I just feel very strongly about this, but they really should pass a law about haviing to plant one tree per square foot rather than putting ethanol and corn starch which probably contains sugars in the gas.

 

or atleast give people the option to use good gas if they can prove the car is valuable above something like 20 K and a certain age and then get the percentage down to a managable non damaging level for everyone else.

 

 

and my father, he had to change his diet and really pay attention to his blood pressure and sugar intake but he's doing far better now and didnt really have to slow down weirdly, although his close up eye sight is going.

 

along with his hearing, which was caused by not wearing hearing protection at the range one day in the 1960's and someone let off with a high powered rifle in the next stall (always wear ear plugs and ear covers at a range for that reason, as I had a short AK stock knock off the first layer with its winter shortened stock)

 

and being around loud humming machines for a very long time at his job.

 

but other than that I guess what they say is true, work keeps you young.

Edited August 5, 2014 by Kavinsky

[Kavinsky]