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James Doohan Not In A Coma and Likely To Survive
ThreeHamsWillKillHim writes "Apparently, it's rumored that actor James Doohan, from Star Trek fame, is in a coma." The article notes that he's not likely to come out of it. James Doohan is 82 and is known best for his role as Engineer Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott on Star Trek. CD: Update, he's home undergoing rehab for his bout of pneunomia.
He's dead, Jim.
The goatse guy for president. Win one for the gaper!
Scotty: Beam me up god
An Education is the Font of All Liberty
Isn't there some better way to learn about cool people like this guy before they're likely to die? I thought of this when the author of ping died, too.
Maybe Slashdot could do a montly/(bi)weekly thing on "Lifetime Geek Achievement Awards."
I'm sure that 99.99% of these people use the Web, so it would be really cool to thank these people for all they've done for technology.
Any thoughts?
qslack.com
Wheres a transporter suspended animation plot device when you need one! Seriously, Jimmy Doohan is a real nice guy. Having never met him, but read his autobiography and some interviews he would've been really interesting. I hope that guy doesn't get your blood now Jimmy!
-AndrewJNR, NSO, The Don College
...any more power. I'm sorry Captain, I gave it all I got.
Is it such a slow news day that the Slashdot editors see fit to post *rumors* on the front page? They even state that it is a rumor. If it's a fact, then fine, post it since many Slashdot members think its important. But there is no need to engage in baseless rumor mongering.
-> Capt Cosmic <-
I truly hope he gets better because losing him would be a loss to all geeks.
I love things like this...
:)
It must be true I read it on the internet
If it is true, which is probably isn't, then good luck Scotty!
If it isn't, well... weeee. one more hoax to the list.
He was always one of my favorite actors from the original star trek. He added a unique sense of humor to it - especially the movies. I still remember the scene in the movie (I forget the number of it, it was the one with the whales :P), where he reprogrammed a black-and-white macintosh to support voice activation. :) The various 'cameo' episodes in other ST series where he showed up, were excellent as well - I remember the ST:TNG episode where they found him, that was excellent.
He'll be missed.
using namespace slashdot;
troll::post();
If you're an old phart like me, it's kinofa bummer when actors that you knew and loved growing up start to die. We can remember the "young" versions of these actors and to even think of them being 82 is mind blowing.
Heck, next thing you know companies like DEC and Pan-Am won't exist anymo... Damn, I'm really feeling old now.
P.S. If this is true, and he doesn't pull through, condolences to his family.
Here is some biographical info on the beloved "Scotty" of Star Trek.
Wasn't his daughter just born a year or two ago?
I hope to have that kind of stamina when I get to that age. Course, I also hope to have enough money not to have to work at that age too. All the more reason not to have kids.....
The link on the page that this story is on states that (in an update) he is just recovering from pneumonia. Here, look for yourself.
Buying a Dell computer is equivalent to dropping the soap in a prison shower.
He's not best known as Lt. Commander Doo... Scott. He's best known as "Scotty" on Star Trek.
Best wishes.
As my father lik@(munch munch)...
kirk didn't get revived. He got 'lost' and then 'found' again.
...not a techie. When he messed with the stuff on Star Trek, he was PRETENDING. Yep, that's right, it was all an act. He really didn't know how to calibrate a plasma relay, etc.
Tommorow I'll let you know about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny (warning: bad news).
I'm givin' her all shes got Jim!!!.. she can't take no'moore..
anime+manga together at last.. in real time.
See the update here: http://www.syfyportal.com/article/?id=703
He has been released and is recovering at home; he's not comatose
sudo eat my shorts
The rumor says that his latest round of convention apperances was to raise money for his daughter, but then does not say why. What is the problem? Maybe we can all band together to help her out as our way of saying thanks for a job well done to him after he has passed.
Papa Legba come and open the gate
Well, you remember what happened to Franklin..
I thought they couldnt do much worse than Voyager but they did. By orders of magnitude.
I have to wonder why most people are just kind of cracking Star Trek jokes and such when this may be a serious situation. Couldn't you use Star Trek phrases for anything? If it actually involves Star Trek, than it's not exactly as witty, and since this is pretty serious, maybe this would not be a good time to be doing that sort of thing. How about something like Mark Hammil's carreer-shortening "Nooooo! That's impossible!"? That's much better.
I thought he was scottish.
I saw him at the Tulsa sci-fi con last year. I'll bet he signed 400 autographs. I asked one of his helpers why he bothers to come to these cons at his age, he said "you can't keep him from coming, because he wants to."
Thank you Mr Doohan.
I'm betting that the story submitter is the original "I heard some sad news on the radio today. $CELEBRITY is dead" troll.
"You get what you pay for after all." --
They did a pretty good job of hiding this in the series, but if you're looking for it you can catch a glimpse every now and then.
Apparently she can take more of it Cap'n!
At least, that's what he did in the Star Trek TNG episode "Relics." It was only "50 percent brilliant," though.
Pretty fucking cold I'd say.
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." Mark Twain
Cause it'll be a sad day when there's no more "Beat me up, Scotty"...
*Argh!*
Beam me up, Scotty...
(sorry - scary, warped t-shirts...)
---- I've fallen, and I can't get up.
Yes, this has rumor status. No, it's not out of the question. James is a really fantastic individual and as anyone who has met him as he made his rounds on the con circuit, is always kind and well mannered. He can also tell a mean story or two.. and it's even better when you can get him talking about William Shatner.. Bwahahaha!
He wanted to make sure his daughter and wife are taken care of when he is gone. That's what the money is for, no big mystery there.
Run. I like water. Push My rutabaga.
If that's not a damned role model, I don't know what is. He fought in damned World War 2, and he also inspired a lot of people. If that's not worth recognizing, what is? Actors serve as much a role in society as others, they just have to remember it. They're role models to children and teenagers, and they also help to express ideas and to bring awareness to a generally ignorant public.
using namespace slashdot;
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Is it a slow enough news day that you'd oversimplify a situation just so you could get modded up for griping? Never mind that you'd prefer we say 'goodbye' tomorrow than say 'get well' today.
"Derp de derp."
I think the headline should have an "update" thing, cause when I read "James Doohan Not In A Coma and Likely To Survive", I thought, "Yah me too, so what??"
And my first nomination: Jon Katz!
:)
:)
Okay, I am SOOOO just kidding
A couple ideas for candidates I can think of off the top of my head:
-Stephen Hawking
-Bruce Sterling
-Woz
Sick idea: have one nominee every month for the year, then have the award be determined via a slashdot poll?
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
"He's dead, Jim."
"You idiot, I'm not dead. I'm not even in a bloody coma!"
"Oh...sorry..."
"Honest to Pete...and will you please tell Hemos and Commander whatever-his-name-is to change the bloody headline? Thank you!"
Finding God in a Dog
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." Mark Twain
to not flip the Jerries off.
Maybe this explains why Scotty was left out of the latest Futurama "where no fan has gone before"...
Hilarious episode BTW, especially if watched in the middle of a TOS marathon.
I don't know why people mock Seven of Nine on Voyager, or T'Pol on Enterprise, when one of the main points of TOS was that if Kirk didn't bang some alien chick (who conveniently looked like a 60s fashion model) then Spock did (at least twice, that I can think of.)
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
My Uncle was in the same unit as James Doohan and James Doohan's brother in WW2. As I understand it, they were forward artillery obsevers, whose job it was to crawl up in front of the lines and direct fire on enemy positions. I also understand that they flew small planes over the battlefield to direct fire. Apparently Mr. Doohan's brother died after his plane was obliterated by a field artillery shell.
I believe they fought in the Italian campaign, particularly at Monte Cassino, as well at Normandy.
My Uncle is, as I'm sure Mr. Doohan and other veterans are, very reluctant to talk about his experiences. They live through horrible things and went on to live good lives and achieve many things. I think it's important to remember that people of this era that are now dieing did incredible things and made the way we live possible. But their experiences are being forgotten. I hope that, when we do lose James Doohan, we remember him as a hero as well as a man who got past that part of his life and ended up entertaining us all.
Kind of a shame they didn't see fit to work that into the history of his character. In addition to ST being a landmark television show with respect to gender and race, they had the opportunity to deal with physical disabilities as well. Might have brought something more to the character as well, a freak engineering accident or something.
Are we up to over 323,000 users already? Wow.
-- Imagine how much more advanced our technology would be if we had eight fingers per hand.
LaForge: "Yeah, well I told the captain I'd have this analysis done in an hour."
Scott: "How long would it really take?"
LaForge: "An hour!"
Scott: "Oh, you didn't tell him how long it would *really* take, did you?"
LaForge: "Well of course I did."
Scott: "Oh, laddie, you've got a lot to learn if you want people to think of you as a miracle worker!"
include $sig;
1;
I just got off the phone with Someone Who Knows(tm).
He phoned Jimmy's wife, and asked her how he was, and she laughed out loud. He was in the hospital because of pneumonia, but he is home now.
She put Jimmy on the phone (he told my friend to say hi to me =]) and he said that he's glad to be home from the hospital because he missed his daughter and "the food is much better."
Please let everyone know that rumors of his death are greatly exaggerated.
Does anyone know if his illness was the reason he wasn't included in the Futurama season finale with the remainder of the living crew of the Enterprise(more accurately, the surviving cast of Star Trek), or did he not want to participate in the project?
You're only as smart as your brain.
Here is the first column.
Here is the follow-up that he promised not ot do.
Editors, get your priorities straight. We expect more from you. Stories about someone going to the hospital don't count.
Is this REALLY off-topic? Read the links prior to modding.
Lasers Controlled Games!
This article reminds me of the headline from the Times newspaper (London, not New York) that is said to have won a most boring headline competition: "Small Earthquake in Chile. Not many dead".
I can see tomorrow's Slashdot headlines now:
CmdrTaco not dead.
JohnKatz (sadly) not dead.
Dick Cheney: is he dead yet?
etc.
Sailing over the event horizon
Perhaps I was just young, and old was just old, but if James Doohan is 82, that means the youngest Scotty we ever saw was 45, by the time he did his first movie, he was almost 60, and by the time he did his last Star Trek movie, he was 71. Can this be right? Granted it probably takes 2-3 years from film to air date, but still, I always figured Scotty was about 35. Perhaps it's what they put in the water out in Hollywood.
...if I could...is for getting him to the nearest Klingon bird of prey and send him on a heliocircumnavigation voyage. His role on Star Trek has captivated a lot of us.
To-do List: Receive telemarketing call during a tornado warning. Check.
He may only be an actor, but he knows the only technical principle you need to know on a starship: if something doesn't work right, reverse the polarity.
That'll only get you through until you hit the 24th century... Then you'll have to master the art of "redirecting auxillary power to the main deflector dish to create an inverted tachyon pulse". This method is found to be much more efficient in fixing all problems.
(Was auxillary power EVER used only for backup purposes?? I don't ever remember seeing all the power go out and then little circular lights near the ceiling come on... and somebody say "Well, thank god for the battery backups...)
The "Flight Engineer" series can't be any worse -- and thanks to SM Stirling, I'd say it's a lot better -- than Shatner's "Tek" series. Come on! :-)
-_Quinn
Reality Maintenance Group, Silver City Construction Co., Ltd.
That Mac was supposed to be an Amiga.
I was not directly involved with the debacle, but was closely connected with Commodore personnel who were in a position to know. Paramount originally wanted to use an Amiga in that scene in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. To that end, they contacted Commodore to obtain an Amiga 1000 for use.
The dweezil at the other end informed them that Commodore had no procedures in place for distribution of promotional machines (marketing? What's that?). However, they would be willing to sell them a machine at cut-rate developer pricing. Surprisingly, Paramount agreed, cut a check, and sent it off.
Fast forward a couple weeks: No machine. Another call to Commodore. It turns out that the amount of the check failed to include some trivial fee (shipping, tax, whatever), and the machine wasn't going to be shipped. Paramount was invited to send another check for the corrected amount.
Paramount understandably got fed up and made it's next call to Cupertino, CA. Apple not only gave Paramount a machine, they assigned them a programmer to do whatever they needed to make the machine dance for the camera.
Just another page in the ponderous tome of Commodore's incompetent management.
Schwab
Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
I was thinking, for some reason, that Leonard Nimoy is dead. But, I checked the Dead People Server, and apparently he is still alive.
Dead People Server
"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
The Zap2it report comes following a source report that the 82-year-old was in worse shape than previously reported [syfyportal.com]. SyFy Portal, which is a news and rumors site, had been working on confirming the report which stated that doctors did not anticipate a recovery. The We did note in our initial report that details were still in the rumor stage.
Well what are they waiting for?? He's close enough already... stick him in the transporter pattern buffer on diagnostic cycle already and preserve him for later generations!
He kept doing this for a while, meeting her at conventions and asking her to be at the next one...that's a pretty common suicide-prevention tactic, to get a promise from someone that you'll see them sometime in the future. That way they can't kill themselves.
He lost touch with her for a few years, and thought the worst, until he got a letter from her stating that she'd gone to grad school (Engineering, I think), and that his intervention saved her life. When he was telling the story, he was fighting back tears.
So yeah, he had a chance to do the Right Thing, and he did it. Celebrity may be a fickle thing, but he used his influence well.
That's why I admire him.
"Hardly used" will not fetch you a better price for your brain.
For what it's worth...His rehab stint will probably last a month or two, provided that he can afford it (which I think is safe to presume) and that those in charge make sure he gets it.
No, I'm not a doctor. But I have been working in a Veteran's Affairs medical center for the past seven months, and this is based just on how long it generally takes patients to be discharged. The VA, unlike most places, actually makes sure that those patients who really need extensive rehab get it. Most people will only get a few weeks of therapy (and just go 2-3 times a week, an hour or two a session), in the unit I work in, patients stay anywhere from a week to three or four months, going to therapy atleast five days a week, 1-3 hours a day.
-Jenn
My fans dinna think
I could take much more
But I'm still alive
At two and four score
So get me some Burma Shave
Right from the store!
Finding God in a Dog
First, they tell us TLGAD before the show airs on the west coast, and then they tell us Scotty is comatose and not likely to recover, while the man is still conscious!
Secession is the right of all sentient beings.
That would explain why he was talking into a mouse in "Star Trek IV".
Ergonomica Auctorita Illico!
They can always replace him with Welshy!
w .c gi?action=show&Season=4&Episode=11
http://www.gotfuturama.com/cgi-bin/EpisodeRevie
Slashdot: come for the pedantry, stay for the condescension.
A few people here need a good bitch slap!
He's Scottie! He's a hero.
Isn't it time for another SonicBlue article?
I don't usually troll, but this story just begs for it.
Ceci n'est pas une sig
Good thing that he didn't become a cab driver, that middle figer is very important.
Now my favorite Scotty Quote:
Captain, whatta we doo !!!
"Science is like sex: sometimes something useful comes out, but that is not the reason we are doing it" Richard Feynman
I really actually haven't had sex since 1989. In fact George Micheal has had sex with a woman more recently than me.
But guess what? My goal is not to have sex. My goal is to live in Shinjuku.
graspee
Now that we've seen this, I think it's time the ACs actually submit the following "rumor" as a story and see if it makes the front page:
"Stephen King, author, dead at 64"
Maybe then at least it won't get posted quite so often...
In this fucked up society we're supposed to prize quantity of life above quality of life (because it the feeds the HMOs and our own selfishness).
When my grandmother died at 70-something years of age, I was happy for her. She was lucky enough to live a full life, without having anyone else wipe her ass for her.
Of course, my family didn't approve of my "celebration of life" point of view at the funeral... they were all mourning her loss... like selfish bastards.
You may now mod me down for being "insensitive" or whatever.
--
Power to the Peaceful
Novelist Steven King, 55, was found dead in his Maine home today. Even if you aren't familiar with his work...
Oh wait... just kidding... he's not quite dead yet, either. (insert appropriate Princess Bride or Monty Python quote here)
As a world class engineer, Scotty has the best solution to The Kobayashi Maru. It is worth reading. Really funny.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Hereis their website. They're flying around a bunch of old Boeing 727s. Not nearly what they were many years ago, but they're still clinging on for dear life. ;)
My 74 year old Scottish father recently spent 6 weeks in hospital (including 10 days in a 'coma') with the dreaded 'big P'. It's what a lot of old people die of.
:-)
Dads home now, and expected to make a full recovery, hopefully the other "Scotty" will be just as lucky. Maybe it'll give him the few years more work he'd need to get the scots accent right
Quidquid Latine dictum sit, altum videtur (anything said in Latin sounds important)
Tachyon? Tachyon?! Fibre Channel? That's so, so 21st century
To Copy from One is Plagiarism; To Copy from Many is Research.
I never said I wouldn't want people to be able to say get well. I've been around the 'Net long enough to know that rumors are a dime a dozen. How many times did the "Alex Guiness is dead" story circulate?
My point was that if Slashdot wants to post notices about such things, I would feel far more comfortable with them posting stories based on *fact*, not rumor.
-> Capt Cosmic <-
Not hardly. Been around Slashdot for over a year. I just don't post unless I have something meaningful to add.
-> Capt Cosmic <-
"Just" Wil? Say rather, are any of the others as cool as Wil. Sounds more diplomatic...
I'd be inclined to guess that most actors, even sci-fi-happy actors, aren't too much more interested in news-for-nerds than the average American (not even all self-proclaimed geeks read slashdot, after all). On the other hand, you never know who might be lurking. But on the gripping hand, people who lurk are people who don't want to attract attention (sort of by definition).
"The Crystal Wind is the Storm, and the Storm is Data, and the Data is Life"
I just heard the sad news on IRC. Poster Anonymous Coward from Slashdot fame was found dead in his home this morning under a pile of BSD CDs and Stephen King books. I am sure everyone in the Slashdot community will miss him - even if you didn't enjoy his role as the vector for half-witted trolls and idiotic Beowulf and First Post posts, there's no denying his contribution to the communal bowl of hot grits. Truly a (naked and petrified) /. icon.
/Brian
Better setup that transporter so we can beam in into it, and preserve his life until LaForge finds him later.
Attention all planets of the Solar Federation! We have assumed control! - Neil Peart
He's (not) dead, Jim.
Game: Player 'Donald J Trump' now has AI skill level 'experimental'.
Maybe you mean that other site, K5. I have looked for it on /. and I can't find it either. Search shows nothing recent. This is strange since he could put up a column on how he was going to make his own ultra-wide band who knows what with his very own supercomputer and it would show up here as news. I never did mind, since I would rather discuss what he says than Katz, but you would think of anything that he ever wrote, this is the most worthy of a /.ing.
Lasers Controlled Games!
"Burns was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
He was then transferred to a better hospital where his condition was upgraded to 'alive.'"
-Kent Brockman
I prefer modulating the shield harmonics on a triaxillating frequency.
Wouldn't it be cool if scads of folks slashdotted him with get well notes (in the US mail)? The dude is not feeling too well, and is practically the patron saint of geeks. I don't know his address, but I assume that some /.er knows how to find it, and could follow up here.
Cap'n! Mah brrrain canna take the strrain much longarr!
Four fifths of all our troubles in this life would disappear if we would just sit down and keep still. -C. Coolidge
I know how you feel, #33356. I was slow to sign up when they started logins, yet got a pretty low number. I was impressed when the numbers raced through 5 digits.
-Paul Komarek, #794.
wow, I guess that does explain the acting then. Even more kudos to chekov and sulu, who both managed to appear more wooden than the set. I reckon chekov must take the prize - the sliding door at the back usually managed to convey more emotion - but its a tough call.
"The energizer's bypassed like a Christmas tree. She cannot take too many bumps."
"Aye, lad. You're going to need something to wash that down with."
"That ties it. That poppinjay Fox just beamed down with the landing party."
Wansu, th' chinese sailor
It also said he fathered a child at 80, with his current 40-something wife.
I can just hear the moment of conception now... : "I'm givin' her all she's got, Captain!"
I'd have a personalized plate on my car, but "toxic bachelor" won't fit into 7 letters.
Nope. Ewhac (Hi, Leo!) is a well-known Amiga pioneer, and he knows what he's talking about. I'm the former editor of .info magazine, which covered the Amiga, and we reported this story at the time. It was, unfortunately, representative of Commodore's "Let's Shoot Ourselves in the Foot Again" marketing philosophy of the time.
Serving your airship needs since 1995.
Did you really have to reopen those old wounds? What Commodore did to Amiga makes my stomach hurt.
If you play the Star Trek theme song backwards you can distincly hear "Scotty is dead" being spoken by Paul McCartney.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
Man: Here's one-
Cart-master: Nine bars of latinum.
Old Man: (feebly) I'm not dead!
Cart-master: (suprised) What?
Man: Nothing! Here's your latinum....
Old Man: I'm not dead!
Cart-master: 'Ere! 'E says 'e's not dead!
Man: Yes he is.
Old Man: I'm not!
Cart-master: 'E isn't?
Man: Well... he will be soon-- he's very ill...
Old Man: I'm getting better!
Man: No you're not, you'll be stone dead in a moment.
Cart-master: I can't take 'im like that! It's against Starfleet regulations!
Old Man: I don't want to go on the cart....
Man: Oh, don't be such a baby.
Cart-master: I can't take 'im....
Old Man: I feel fine!
Man: Well, do us a favor...
Cart-master: I can't!
Man: Can you hang around a couple of minutes? He won't be long...
Cart-master: No, gotta get to the station in the Regulus Nebula, they lost nine today.
Man: Well, when's your next round?
Cart-master: Thursday.
Old Man: I think I'll go for a walk....
Man: You're not fooling anyone, you know-- (to Cart-master) Look, isn't there something you can do...?
(they both look around)
Old Man: I feel happy! I feel happy!
(the Cart-master deals the old man a swift blow to the head with his wooden spoon. The old man goes limp.)
Man: (throwing the old man onto the cart) Ah. thanks very much.
Cart-master: Not at all. See you on Thursday!
Man: Right! All right....
I have discovered a truly marvelous sig, unfortunately the sig limit is too small to contain i
Boy, if this is true, it shows just one aspect of the downfall of Commodore. I first learned Basic and Pascal on a C64. The first computer I purchased was a C128.
:)
I guess it was a market inevitability that we would be reduced to, basically, 3 or 4 basic computer architectures. It would have been nice to see machines like the Amiga make it. I guess it is still used in some TV stations - for what, I do not know.
Get well soon, Scotty. You are a living legend.
-- Those of you who think you know it all are very annoying to those of us who do.
Wow, one of the rumoured 3 digiters ;)
---
Live Long & Prosper \\//_
CYA STUX =`B^) 'da Captain,
Jedi & Last *-fytr
There is actually a real person behind the pseudonym Robert X. Cringely -- he left InfoWorld around 1993, and after a bunch of lawsuits, won the right to continue writing using the name. Oddly enough, InfoWorld, also won the right to keep using it -- their Cringely column is a staff-written collaboration.
My thoughts go out to the "real" Bob Cringely on the death of his son.
BOO! BSD is BAD! j/k
I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it!