RIP Grasshopper…

Good man, unfortunate accident, he will be missed.

At least we still have his children Robert and Keith (and several others not in the entertainment business)…

Well, except Bruce Lee, who created the concept but couldn’t get the part because he was … ahem.

This is a common question. To people who enjoy this it is extremely gratifying sexually. I know both men and women who enjoy this. However we don’t know 100% if this is what happened to Mr. Carradine.

Wiki has an article on it that kind of explains the idea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_asphyxiation

I think it is similar (I am not into it so this is just an idea) to getting the extra feeling and tingles you get when you cut the blood off from your hand to make the spider web joke as a kid. Only the entire body. It is supposed to increase the pleasure a lot.

I just re-read my own post here and the thought from Mr. Shakespeare hit me.. “She/he doth protest too much”.. but seriously I am not.. There I go again.

The actor was discovered with a cord around his neck and other parts of his naked body, said cops.

A police officer said: “A rope was attached to his neck and also to his penis”.

His personal manager Chuck Binder described the hanging as “accidental”.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2464856/Naked-David-Carradine-found-hanged-in-Thai-hotel-wardrobe.html?OTC-RSS&ATTR=News

I hope it isn’t tasteless to bring that up, I just kind of agree with him (if it was him).

I think you agree with me, Internet.

The announcer for the BBC breaks the story on TV. David Carradine was found dead in the Swiss Hotel on Soi Nailert. The film star was found in the closet of his room bound by curtain rope around his neck, and the inference is that his genitals were bound as well. The news ran through the Bangkok film colony like a forest fire.

I consult investigative journalist David Walker. He is also a screenwriter and author of the cult classic book, Hello My Big Big Honey. Walker is at the hotel. He has already led a CBS crew to legendary film producer-director David Winters penthouse office. Winters is a dear friend of Carradine from their glory days in Hollywood. Walker wants to see the surveilance tapes. No chance Bagger Vance. Dr. Pornthip, a colorful Thai forensic scientist is on the scene at the hotel. Walker says Pornthip, who is famous for sporting many hued punk hair styles and is a bit of a celebrity,delares the case to be death by auto sexual strangulation.

I roll up to Winters penthouse office. He is devastated by the tragic loss of a dear friend. He has not slept. CBS and People Magazine have already come by to solicit intelligence. David is shocked by the tawdry inferrences. He has spoken to 3 of Carradines agents. The agents declare that Carradine was on the roll of a lifetime. Quentin Tarantino redefined the 72 year old actor in Kill Bill. Carradine recieved a Golden Globe nomination for his work with Tarantino. The actor of the classic cult TV series Kung Fu had starred in 13 motion pictures since Kill Bill. His salary was in the stratosphere.

The strange circumstances of the verdict by auto- sexual strangulation trouble Winters. It takes two to tango. Why indeed would a man of his talent take his own life alone. Bangkok is known as a city with love for sale. Film people come here to shoot and avail themselves of the pleasures to be found in the gilded city of sin. Kinky sex is no big deal. Could this be a coverup for a sex robbery murder. The Royal Thai Police have shut the door on this case all too quickly. The tourist industry has been severely damaged by the recession and political instability. The murder of a famous film star would be a final nail in the coffin of the tourism industry. Winters says that Carradine, son of John , iconic members of an American cinema dynasty were above the fray. David Carradine was according to Winters a consumate gentleman, a brilliant actor, and a man for all seasons.

I run into local film producer Tom Waller at a reception hosted by the Italian Embassy. Tom does not believe in the verdict of death by auto-sexual strangulation. He concludes that it was a sex robbery gone wrong, and that to cover the motives the body had been arranged to fit the profile of death by auto- sexual strangulation, a theory once confined to the genre of novels classified as psychological thrillers. The denizens of the film colony in Bangkok are incredulous at the grisly circumstances of the sad demise of this brilliant talent.

The reception is attended by beaucoup des artistes and cineastes. Film critic Nick Palevski and I schmooze at the bar. Between glasses of vino rosso and spumante Nick expresses his distaste for the tawdy belching of the media and press. He is the critic for Auteur, a web site devoted to film criticism. He can not believe the shabby and sensational manner in which this case is being exploited.

In no way is this story meant to impugn the reputation of the Royal Thai Police, their meritorious service is well known. Nor is it meant to slander the bereaved Carradine family. The American Embassy has issued a statement wishing the family the best in this tragic moment, embassy staff have no other conclusion re this case except the finding of the body. Aristotelian logic might conclude that something is rotten in Denmark. Western countries would conduct a far more sophisticated investigation.

The epilogue is delivered by my dear friend in Santa Monica Martin Zweiback. He is a writer- producer director with 50 years of credits in Hollywood. Martin scrpted the original Kung Fu series and is a close friend of David Carradine. Martin is a gentleman of class and distinction. He often graces the Bangkok film colony with his presence. It is fitting that a cineaste of his stature have the final word in this affair. I recieved this e mail from Martin, and with all due respect to this fine bloke it is represented here below as a final testament to this sordid affair.

More at http://magickpapers.com/blog/

But, what an amazing life…

If there is an afterlife then it is about to have one hell of an exhibition match when Carradine and Bruce Lee finally get their face-to-face showdown.

-CISCO

If that is indeed what happened I hope that part (only part) of his legacy will be to help teach others how important safety can be. I always enjoyed listening to his delivery of lines and his apparently cool and collected presence.

Apologies in advance if I am being crude.

He said there were only two really solid methods he knew of: one was a drug (whose name escapes me) that mimics a heart attack, and the other was to set it up to look like auto-erotic asphyxiation.

Just sayin’.

Murder/Accident, but not a suicide. A 72 year old man with a bank account committing suicide naked in a closet?

The Thai police just lost a fan, me.