The Terrible Catsafterme

Although Patsy Barry, who was one incarnation of “Baby Patsy” in the Our Gang films, had few appearances – and generally no fanfare – in the Little Rascals, it was still a tremendous pleasure to meet her. I first got the chance during the Hollywood Collectors Show in October of 2005. She had a very nice child portrait of herself, displayed at left, along with a couple of Our Gang stills in which she can be seen. To be honest, I have never picked her out in an actual film. Read the rest of this entry »

I really wanted to make Dante’s Info #13 something special. Despite the unlucky number in the series (I denoted it as issue NUMBER 13! – exclamation included), my desire was for this really to be a breakout issue. Beginning with this edition, my Dad and I were now exclusively creating these on his computer as a Quark Express document, no longer relying on independent scans of the photos being made to paste into the issue before it was sent to the printer. Fresh back from my Hollywood and Florida trip with tons of new material in hand, I thought that this issue could really put me on the map of fine Sons of the Desert publications. Read the rest of this entry »

After the busy weekend cram-packed full of activity that I had just enjoyed, it seemed as if my vacation was ready to be ending rather than beginning a brand new week with six full days ahead of me! Nevertheless, I awoke bright and early to a phone call from one of my service providers at work informing that some files were not staged for a pinpad upgrade they were performing that morning in one of my stores. This was my fault, so I had to make a few early phone calls. I then shuffled my way out from the guest room couch of my friends the Wileys for breakfast of bacon, eggs, and jellied toast courtesy of Kris. She always takes good care of me. Read the rest of this entry »

It was at the Hollywood ’80 Sons of the Desert convention when I first became acquainted with the flight of steps that Laurel and Hardy encountered in their 1932 Acadamy Award winning film The Music Box. This short film had been the first one that I had ever seen from my favorite comedy team so I was well aware of the significance of where I was standing – on the corner of Vendome and Del Monte in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles on that warm summer afternoon, Thursday, July 31, 1980. Although I was only eight years old, I can distinctly remember being at this location, walking up and down the 133 steps, milling about, oohing and aahing, and then pressing on to our next locations. Read the rest of this entry »