RIP, Acidman

Three years ago today, Rob "Acidman" Smith passed away from a pulmonary embolism.

Just, damn.

Three years ago, I wrote this:

I've been reading Acidman since about the time I discovered the blogosphere. I started this blog just so I could debate one of Rob's commenters on the topic of gun control.

Say what you want about Rob, he didn't pull any punches. He said what he meant, meant what he said, and took no shit from anybody. I admire and respect that. It was fascinating watching the ongoing train wreck that was often his life, and I feel for both Sam (his daughter) and Quinton (son from his second wife "the bloodless cunt"), and especially for his Grandmother. Outliving your children is one thing. Outliving your grandchildren must be especially hard.

Rest in peace, Acidman. If there's an afterlife, I hope yours is a lot like Costa Rica, with sweet nubile women, a working Roscoe, and all the good food, good beer, and good company you could ever want.

I still get an occasional visitor from Rob's archives. Per his request, Gut Rumbles is still up, and his past posts are rotated around the front page.

It's really kind of odd, but I "know" more people through the internet who have died than I know personally who have. Cathy Siepp in March of 2007. AR15.com prolific poster "Eric the (fill in the blank) Hun." Airboss. Christiana Hendrix, wife of Mike Hendrix of Cold Fury. I'm sure there are more, but those come immediately to mind.

Yesterday both Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died, earlier this week Ed McMahon passed. I took a look at Rob's archives to see what he had to say about them. Nothing on Farrah or Ed, but he had quite a bit to say about Michael:

In MY humble opinion, Michael Jackson is a great performer but one of the most fucked-up human beings (if he's even human anymore) on the face of the planet. Look at what the confused bastard has done to himself through plastic surgery over the years. He resembles a goddam ALIEN, for crying out loud.

He is a weird dude.

He can sing, he can dance and he can entertain. I don't know why he couldn't be happy with those abilities looking just the way he did when he was born. I am not nearly the good-looking guy I was when I was 26 years old. Years of bar-life, shiftwork, hard-drinking and hard-living have taken a toll on me. My hair is gray silver, my beard is the same color and I don't have the same sparkle in my eyes that I did 25 years ago.

But I remain pretty much who I was back then.

And he remained that way to the end, I think.

Michael Jackson is one fucked-up individual, but I believe that the people going after his ass for child molestation are more fucked-up than he is.

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I dreamed that I played basketball with Michael Jordan last night. I was proud, and I remember thinking in the locker room after the game, when Mike shook my hand, "I have played with THE VERY BEST, and I didn't embarrass myself." I regretted waking up from that one.

When I start dreaming about Michael Jackson, someone drag me off and shoot me.

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What do YOU think is an erotic fruit? (and any reply containing the name of Michael Jackson WILL be deleted.)

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Is Michael Jackson a pedophile? I don't know, but I DO KNOW what he's guilty of. He's different. In fact, that crazy bastard is downright ALIEN if you look at what he's done to himself over the years.

But that shit doesn't make him a criminal.

People are always too eager to jump on ANYBODY who is "different." I know that fact because I've been different for my entire life. Individuals suffer when they don't join the mob.

Think back to high school. You needed to wear the "right" clothes, hang around the "cool" people or face scorn and ostrascism. I tried that shit for a while, until I realized that MY worth wasn't what some fucking spoiled teenager said it was.

Being different is no crime. But being different WILL bring you a lot of grief in life. Just try it and see if a mob doesn't come after you.

They will. They always have, too. Just read history.

Like I said, Rob didn't pull any punches. He said what he meant, meant what he said, and took no shit from anybody.

I still miss the guy.