The Terrible Catsafterme

I love the TV series That 70′s Show, and really enjoy the performance of Kurtwood Smith as the eternally-angry and insulting father Red Foreman – but it was one year prior to the show’s debut that I sent an autograph request to Kurtwood Smith on October 14, 1997. My primary reason for writing him was because of his appearance of the quirky psycho killer Barry Jenkins in my all-time favorite episode of my all-time favorite drama Picket Fences - perhaps the most appropriately cast role in the history of television. That guy really scared me.   Read the rest of this entry »

Although William Howard Taft did a respectable job as our nation’s 27th President of the United States, most people today only recall that he was our heaviest President and a special bathtub had to be designed for him in the White House. Mostly that’s because there was very little significant about his term from 1909-1913 - only a capable President maintaining the status quo in domestic and foreign policy. And he also admitted our last two states, New Mexico and Arizona, to the continental United States. Most of the excitement came at the end of his term…and beyond. Read the rest of this entry »

On Saturday morning, August 2, 2008, Bob and I departed Denise and Aaron’s house in Westerville for the final leg (or rather legs) of our road trip journey around Ohio. This was a day trip I had long planned as part of my “website-driven re-visits of places I’ve already been but have to see again because I was too stupid to take photos of myself by the landmarks when I was there the first time” tour. I was mostly interested in the Presidential stops, but Bob added a couple of additional places to visit to round out the full day. Aaron recommended an interesting restaurant at which to dine for lunch…and off we went. Read the rest of this entry »

I guess you could blame a tomato for my introduction to Bob Satterfield the man, not to be confused with Bob Satterfield the fish (as introduced here). And not just any tomato. I’m talking a 1928 tomato. Because it was Thomas Benton Roberts, who had been hit in the face with a tomato in the 1928 Laurel and Hardy silent comedy Two Tars who referred me to Bob (again, the man) to purchase a scene photo of himself covered in said tomato, which I could get autographed. How appropriate that Bob and I both hate tomatoes. Read the rest of this entry »

As a prelude to the forthcoming 1996 Laurel and Hardy Cruise convention postings, here I am sharing the article I wrote at some point following the trip. It isn’t a complete breakdown, but rather a nice tongue-in-cheek overview of the goings-on of our crew. The issue of Dante’s Info #17 that contained the article was slated to come out in the late Summer of 1996, but for reasons of laziness, it didn’t actually come out until the late Summer of 1997! So I’m not sure at exactly what point I actually wrote the article, which is presented here exactly as it was written, but it was probably almost a full year after the convention. Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate the actual color prints or negatives of the two photos that I used in the article, so I have simply illustrated it with the crummy black and white versions – exactly how they would have been displayed in the newsletter. Read the rest of this entry »