Overdose

“Captain, that’s not logical.” Dr. Spock said it often to Captain Kirk, but Leonard Nimoy also said something similar to William Shatner before his wedding.

He said just one sentence, 'Bill, you do know that Nerine is an alcoholic.' I'm not sure what Leonard expected me to say. 'I know she is,' I told him. 'But I love her.' Leonard didn't speak for a minute and then he said, sadly, 'Well, Bill, then you are in for a rough ride'."~ The Age

Nimoy was not channeling his Vulcan character, as a recovering alcoholic he knew first hand the potential pain Shatner could face. Nine years later Shatner came home to find his floating face down in the pool, dead from an overdose of alcohol and valium.

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Too eager to wait for the smaller crowds of the Saturday morning showings, my brother and I braved the Friday night throng to see the much anticipated Batman installment The Dark Knight. Unfortunately even before getting to my seat in the theater I knew that my review of this movie was going to read more like an autopsy report than the rave of a satisfied fan. It wasn’t the movie’s fault, by all means it lived up to its blockbuster hype. No, it is the cinema patrons and the public in general that have earned my denunciatory review.

Standing in the refreshment line before the movie started to get my obligatory bucket of popcorn I overheard a conversation. A couple of movie goers were breathlessly gossiping that Heath Ledger got so caught up in the role of the psychotic Joker that it caused his untimely death. I had hoped that this bass-ackward speculation and fanboy glorification of Heath Ledger’s death would fade, but after hearing comments both inside and out of the theater obviously its just gathering strength.

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Lindsay Lohan recently shot a photo series mimicking what is popularly known as Marilyn Monroe’s “Last Sitting”. Same poses, same hotel, and even Bert Stern, the same photographer that did the original 1963 shoot which 6 weeks afterward Marilyn died of a drug overdose. Mentioning Monroe and the recent Heath Ledger death, clueless Lohan gushed about how dangerous the “industry” is for celebrities stating; "I sure as hell wouldn't let it happen to me."

Lohan described Monroe's suicide as "tragic" and said it, along with the Jan. 22 death of actor Heath Ledger from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, "are both prime examples of what this industry can do to someone."~ Fox News

I often couch my criticism of Lilo recalling the idiocy of my addiction, but I am afraid that instead of life imitating art we will soon see death imitating history. Ms Lohan needs to wake up and smell the coffee, its not the “industry” that kills people… it’s the drugs and alcohol that do all the killing!

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Heath Ledger, the young Australian actor famous for roles in “A Knight’s Tale” and “The Patriot” was found dead in his New York apartment Today. The talking heads on the TV news are reporting that he was found “surrounded by pills”.

My first though upon hearing of his death was that this was an accidental overdose by someone who had fallen prey to the substance abuse lifestyle of the rich and famous in the entertainment industry. But the phrase “surrounded by pills” sounds as if he passed out lying in the scattered remnants of the pill bottle he emptied, just like a director had laid it all out so it was obvious to the audience he had committed suicide. This story by Fox News however, includes information from other sources that leads me to believe that maybe my first assumption was right.

But The New York Post reported that Ledger died of a possible drug overdose and his apartment was strewn with pills.

Obviously an apartment strewn with pills paints a very different picture, probably one of substance abuse. Maybe after his split with wife and daughter he, like so many people, turned to drugs cope with his grief.

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