The Terrible Catsafterme

I wasn’t quite as slow to stir on the morning of Wednesday, May 13, 2009, but I still wasn’t breaking any records. I awoke a little before 8am, got on Facebook for a bit, and ate that bag of bacon chips that had been calling my name. Sarah got up not long after, we got ready for the day, and headed out for next day’s walking tour and adventures in Florence just a little before 10am. Fifteen minutes later we were arriving at the Bargello National Museum. Sarah had a student pass that got her into all the museums for free – but for the average tourist the cost was 7 Euros. Florence knew that tourists would basically have to pay whatever they charged.

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As I was weaving through the hallways of the Hilton Parsippany during the Chiller Theatre Expo on April 18, 2009 – on my way to meet up with Peter Criss, the original drummer of KISS – I noticed a room full of signed KISS art. I barely gave it a second thought, thinking that it was just what it sounded like, artists who had drawn or painted KISS. This didn’t excite me that much, but after I met Peter Criss, I told my friends Bill and Peter that I’d like to take a look inside the room, thinking that it might contain artwork actually signed by KISS members. Read the rest of this entry »

History has not been all that kind to our nation’s 15th President, James Buchanan, who served from 1857-61, for just one desired term. As the chief executive who had preceded Abraham Lincoln, general consensus is that he came to the job reluctantly, sat idly by as the issues of slavery and secession passed him by, and then with relief exited the Presidency – which he had promised that he would do during his inaugural speech – and left the momentous job ahead in the hands of his successor. In nearly all regards, he deserted the sinking ship and is today regarded as one of the worst of U.S. Presidents. Read the rest of this entry »

United States Presidential sites. Graves of Vice Presidents. Hard Rock Cafes. Baseball parks. State Capitol buildings. Hot dogs. Anyone want to venture a guess what all of these have in common? Throw in some signers of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, a dose of John Brown, a casino, an unbelievable war veteran, and even a re-visit of Stonewall Jackson and you’ve got the most recent road trip in my repertoire of venturing across America in search of the historic, fun, and unusual. My friend Bob and I began this journey which took us through a total of eight states (with three amply visited, and two touched upon – those being the two which are the subject of this posting) on Friday, June 12, 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

The title of this posting quotes the reply given by Jason Bateman, starring as Matthew Burton, in an episode of the greatest sitcom of all time It’s Your Move. The response is spoken when Stacey Hall, object of Matt’s affection who is annoyed by his frequent advances, asks him point blank “What do you want??” In a typical bold move on my part, this has absolutely nothing to do with the subject of this posting, save for the fact that it mentions The Blue Lagoon, the starring vehicle for the final celebrity in the long stream of postings highlighting the celebrities whom I met at the October 2008 Hollywood Collectors Show in Burbank, California. Read the rest of this entry »