 Archive - November 2006 |
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| Contact Fred | Links-a-Plenty! |
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| Fred's MySpace Blog | |
| Who Fred? | |
| November 30th, 2006 | |
| A quick note: The Fred Hembeck Show, Episode 82 has just been posted. Should you be so inclined, go look! | |
| November 26th, 2006 | |
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| I only ever met Dave Cockrum once. He was sitting behind a table at a NY comics convention, alongside Bob Layton. It was the mid-seventies, and Bob was delighted to announce to any and all who'd listen that he'd just been assigned to take over the inking of Dave's pencils on the then still new New X-Men series. I myself hadn't had anything published as yet at that point, though my goal was clearly to become a cartoonist for Marvel just like Dave. Though I never bothered to tell either of them my name--it wouldn't have meant anything, anyway--I must've stood around that table for nearly an hour, amiably chatting with the pair as other fans came and went. Bob, enthusiastic as always, did most of the talking, while Dave concentrated on his sketching, stopping occasionally to offer a pithy comment, a wry observation, or maybe even both. Outside of a general feeling of good vibes, I have absolutely no recollection of any of that long-ago conversation. I don't recall what I said to Mr. C, but I sure hope I took the time to compliment the work he did for a small, now-forgotten fanzine called "The Yancy Street Gazette" back in 1968. The YSG doubled as a newsletter for a fan-generated fan-club devoted to Marvel Comics--the Yancy Street Gang, natch--and for a while after I joined (6 issues), it amazingly maintained a mostly monthly publishing schedule. With contributions from the likes of Mark Evanier, Tony Isabella, and Dwight Decker--not to mention dispatches from Roy Thomas--this modest little club bulletin already had a lot going for it, but on top of all that, every issue sported about a dozen wonderful drawings by artist Cockrum (some of which were simply signed "DEC", causing me some initial confusion, as I erroneously suspected that fellow contributor Dwight Decker was also sending in nifty illos with his text pieces! Hey, I never claimed to be the sharpest grapefruit spoon in the drawer!...)! These drawings ranged all the way from swell to flat out gorgeous, and in fact, I have as fond a memory of Dave's take on the Marvel characters as I do of pretty much anything Marvel itself published that year--and folks,1968 was a pretty good year for them, take it from me! |
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As the years rolled on, I followed Dave's
subsequent professional career closely and
with great interest--the Legion of Super-Heroes,
the X-Men, the Futurians, and some often
overlooked work I particularly enjoyed, his
stellar contributions to the Evanier/Spiegle
version of Blackhawk--but there'll always
be a special place in my heart for his fanzine
work, as it so obviously combined a true
affection for the material with superior
drawing ability. What a shame that now he's left us--and way, way too soon. My sincere condolences go out to his fans, his friends, and most especially to his family. Thanks, Dave, for all the love you put into drawing your comics--it showed. Oboy, did it ever... |
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| November 24th, 2006 | |
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| By the time I first started taping quarters
to index cards, looking to purchase as many
comics fanzines as I could possibly afford
back in 1967, I was already well aware--thanks
to several glowing plugs from DC editor Julius
Schwartz in his book's lettercols--of Jerry
Bails. By then, though, most of his active 'zine activity was behind him. Still, his legend as a true trailblazer seemed to hang over every single lovingly produced amateur publication that arrived in my mailbox. Would there have been a comics fandom without Jerry Bails? Probably, but that doesn't lessen his accomplishment any. You can't help but admire someone who goes out and does something that hasn't been done before, after all. I never had any direct contact with the man, but one of my biggest thrills came early in my professional career when I was a sent a form for his ground-breaking "Who's Who of American Comic Books" project to fill out. I gleefully did so, basking in the unspoken acknowledgement that yes indeed, I was now part of the club, however small and insignificant a component next to true giants like Kubert, Kirby, and Swan. Jerry Bails had welcomed me into the auditorium, and I couldn't have been more excited. Reading of his recent passing just made me sad. Every single one of us who, over the last forty odd years, made the effort to sit down and write something serious (or even not-so-serious) about the once neglected funny book genre--whether in a crudely printed fanzine, a mass produced coffee table volume, or simply on our very own blogs--owes a deep debt of thanks to Dr. Jerry Bails. This, however inadequate it may be, is mine. |
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| November 23rd, 2006 | |
| Hey! Look who's front page news!... | |
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| November 23rd, 2006 | |
| HAPPY CRUELTY TO TURKEYS DAY! | |
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| November 22nd, 2006 | |
| I had a great time at the Big Apple Con this
past Sunday! Daughter Julie and I hopped a MetroNorth train on down to Grand Central Station--roughly a ninety minuter trip--then walked about a dozen blocks on over to where the con was situated (right next Pennsylvania Station--gee, and how easy would things have been if THAT'S where our lurching locomotive wound up, hmm?...). Before the clock had struck 11 in the AM, we were inside, sitting behind a table, all ready for...what? Sketching, as it turned out. As I've mentioned in the past, it's been a LOOOONG time since I'd done this sort of thing at a con, and I wasn't sure what to expect. But happily, the fans put me to work immediately! In fact, I wound up dashing off nearly twenty drawings, most of 'em between 11 and 2:30, during which time there wasn't any let up in my illoing activity. Hey, who knew I could draw so fast? Quick--someone call Guinness! (But please, don't mention any of this to Mr. Aragones...). The most popular choice? Spider-Ham! That's right--SPIDER-HAM! I doodled a trio of piggish Parkers--and a pair of regular Spideys as well. Oddly enough, though I also got requests for the likes of both the Golden Age Flash and Green Lantern--as well as old favorite, Brother Voodoo, and mutant buddies Nightcrawler and the Beast--not a single request came in for either Wolverine or Batman, big con favorites in past years. Maybe those movies made 'em overexposed? (No call for Howard the Duck, either...) According to my plan going in, Julie and I sat behind our table throughout--I didn't stroll around the dealer's area until 4:45 or so, by which time--this being the last day of the show and all--most people were already beginning to pack up. That's okay--I wasn't figuring to buy much of anything anyway. i did miss out on speaking with a lot of the cool artists and celebrities in attendance, but hey, maybe next time. I did get to see--however briefly--Richard Howell, Peter Sanderson, Danny Fingeroth (our first face to face meeting, though we had worked together on at least two past occasions), Bob Smith, J. David Spurlock, Mark Sinnott and his family, and Jerry Ordway, who sat at a right angle from me at the table next to me. I arrived first, amassing a modest line of my own of folks waiting for sketches, but after Jerry settled in, I looked up from my pad, suddenly mightily impressed with the length of my line--until I realized it was actually HIS! No problem, though--I'm sure I benefitted from some of his overflow! We were both so busy, I barely had a chance to say more than "hello" to Jerry before I had to say "goodbye" when he left around 3! At least I got to meet plenty of fans--including several of my commission customers (like Arthur Chertowsky, a wonderful fella who owns about two dozen of my cover redos!) AND a bunch of my MySpace friends (none of whom were 16 year old girls, I hasten to point out...)! I was situated across from the MoCCA table, which gave me a chance to speak with my old pal, Gary Dunaier (who gifted me with a marvelous piece of personally produced Mets memorabilia--a large print of a nifty shot he took from the stands of the Shea field mere seconds after the New Yorkers clinched the National League Eastern Division title back in September! Much obliged, Gary!) And then there was Jim Salicrup... Even though Jim was seated way over on the other side of the room--and spent an hour interviewing none other than Adam (Batusi) West upstairs--he came over to our table up more than one occasions to chat. Later, after everything was all said and done--around 5:30--Jim took Julie and I over to the MoCCA museum, where we received a private audience for their freshly opened show, Saturday Morning! |
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It's quite an entertaining exhibit, featuring
the full scope of televised animation, all
the way back from the very first NBC in-house
produced cartoons right on up to the present
day and the field's peak achievement, SpongeBob
SquarePants! Personally escorted through
the decades by curator Matt Murray (though
I only wish we had had the time to read each
and every annotated info card he'd written
to accompany all the colorful artwork), I'm
delighted to report that I learned something
about those fun-loving moptops, The Beatles,
that I was unaware of: the overwhelming success
of their animated adventures, circa 1965/66,
convinced other network bigwigs that freshly
minted product could indeed succeed--and
succeed big--on weekend morns, in lieu of
the traditional recycled theatrical leftovers
that had previously been the mainstay! In
the words of the late Johnny Carson, "I
did not know that!..." All too soon, it was time for us to leave, and Jim took Julie and I too a delightful restaurant, one with a heavily (though not exclusively) vegetarian menu (though since last we supped with Salicrup, Jules has gone vegan--but still she muddled through). At dinner, Jim regaled us with tale after tale of his Marvel Bullpen tenure--more often than not, slipping into his dead-on--and hilarious--Stan Lee impression! Folks, take it from me--this man has GOT to write his memoirs--AND include a audio component to showcase his Smilin' Stan!... Then it was back to Grand Central. We missed our train by about ten minutes, but not to worry--another one was scheduled fifty minutes later. Jim kept us entertained us with his recollections of Stan Lee Media, but eventually, it was time to bid our host adieu, and board the train for New Hamburg. Thanks, Jim--Julie and I had a heckuva time! On the ride home, I asked Julie what she thought when the various con attendees approached our table and told me how much they dug my funny little comics when they were growing up, thinking that maybe she'd be a little, y'know, impressed? "It was kinda creepy." Well,I suppose that IS one way to look at it. (And of course, she--and we--mean no disparagement against those swell type people who were kind enough to voice such opinions, but I guess it CAN seem a little odd to have complete strangers come up to your dad and start laying on with the praise. After all, she has to LIVE with me, and a cute little cartoon ain't gonna placate her when we butt heads on some issue, lemme tell ya!...) But, Julie had a good time--hey, so did I!--and we're both planning to do it again in the not too distant future! Watch this space for details! (And maybe photos--we took a bunch, but as of yet, haven't gotten them downloaded. Holiday time, don'tcha know?...) (On a totally unrelated note, eBay had another of their twenty cent listing days yesterday, so I put some more cover redos up for auction. Here's the link to the one for SHOWCASE #4--use it to get connected to the whole list of 16 on sale, should you be so inclined...) And yeah, I bought The Beatles "Love" yesterday, but another time for THAT! I will say this, though--the sound has never been crisper or clearer! Short review: BUY IT! Bye! |
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| November 18th, 2006 | |
| Just one final reminder--tomorrow, Sunday
the 19th, I'll be sitting behind a table
at the Big Apple Con in NYC--if you're in
attendance, stop by and say hello! I'll be
doing cheapo sketches as well, so grab yourself
a couple of penny rolls and c'mon down! Speaking of which, let me take this opportunity to announce that the price of my moderately popular Classic Cover Redo commissions will be going up slightly, come February 1st, 2007. At that time, the fee will increase $25 per cover, but hey, they're still a bargain! Fair warning--AND a chance to get in under the wire--if you'd like to take advantage of the current price while it's still applicable, go to our Sales page for all the details. And then by all means, send me money! The cost of Fred's care and feeding has gone up, y'know!... And on the subject of original art, you can find some of mine (in galleries 71-74) over at Jeremy Adolphson's 4x6 Art,com, which features an amazing array of illos all done (you guessed it...) four inches by six! Check it out--there's an awful lot to look at, and some of it is awful good! See you tomorrow, New Yawkers! |
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| November 16th, 2006 | |
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| When an interview posted last week over at
Quick Stop Entertainment conducted by Ken Plume with Tom Kenny--the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants, natch--unexpectedly
wandered into totally uncharted territory--i.e.,
they began talking about ME!?!--I knew exactly
what I had to do for this weeks' 81st episode of The Fred Hembeck Show: PULL OUT ALL THE STOPS! But even if you're more of a Power Puff Girl fancier than a Bikini Bottom booster, I still suggest you take a peek at this week's installment. Trust me--the visuals alone should keep you entertained!... |
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| November 15th, 2006 | |
| A reminder, and a very special link today... First, for those of you who didn't quite manage to make it all the way through the previous entry entirely awake, let me repeat the nugget of news I included near the tail end: I'll be a guest at NYC's Big Apple Con this Sunday, the 19th (only for the one day, I'm afraid). Come by and say hello if you're so inclined! Now, some of you may recall the piece I wrote not long ago about Senator Bobby and politically themed novelty tunes of the sixties. Well, shortly after that was posted, Mike Catron sent me an email about a less successful follow-up issued by the Royal Guardsmen to their mega-smash, "Snoopy Vs, the Red Baron", one that posited the "Peanuts" canine for President! And not only that--there's also a recent reunion single pitting Charlie Brown's doggie against none other than Osama bin Laden!! Good grief, indeed!... Inasmuch as my good buddy Roger (Rotatin' Yer Tires With Rog) Green kicked off this entire discussion when he provided me with access to the Tom Clay recording of "What The World Needs Now/Abraham, Martin and John" (whew!...), I forwarded Mike's letter--chock full of fascinating musical minutia--to Rog. And that in turn sparked Mr.G's interest enough for him to ask that, if I had no plans to cover the topic myself, would I mind if HE investigated things further? Fine by me, as i have a Grass Roots history to exhume--and checking with Mike, happily he was okay with the situation as well, even it had never originally been his intention to see his musings on cartoon dogs and terrorists go out live over the internet! So here it is: Rog and Mike team up to snoop into Snoopy's black vinyl past, or, "You're a Bad Man, Osama bin Laden"... |
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| November 12th, 2006 | |
| Lynn, Julie and I had quite a remarkable
evening Thursday night at the open house
portfolio review held over on the grounds
of the FDR mansion in Hyde Park. We'd attended last November--the first such event we'd gone to--but wandered in mid-way, and didn't know exactly what to expect. This time around, we arrived just minutes before the 4pm starting time--and still we were turned away from the main parking lot because it was already full! There are an awful lot of potential art students out there, gang! Luckily, we didn't have to resort to parking on the grass--those folks pulled in later--and soon we were inside, accompanying our daughter (and caddying her burgeoning portfolio, if the truth be known) as she waited to have her work examined by representatives of as many of the the colleges present as we could possibly squeeze into the prescribed four hour duration. Since this wasn't really about finding a college, but more about getting some professional input regarding her work so as to better prepare her for NEXT year, when it WILL be about getting into a college, Julie generally found the shortest lines to stand in (with the single exception being early on, when we spent our longest wait to see the folks from nearby New Paltz college), and dutifully absorbed the advice of hard-working reps from coast to coast.. In all, we went wire to wire, 4 to 8, and spoke with twelve different colleges (maybe a little less than half the total present). Julie brought along five of her photographs, five of her various drawings--charcoal portraits, water color figure studies, and the like--as well as twelve of her paintings (oil and acrylic), one of which was not only too large to fit inside her portfolio, but barely made it into the trunk! Guess who got to lug THAT one around?... Keeping in mind that the people behind the tables aren't inclined to tear apart even the most mediocre work--they, after all, want to encourage attendance at their home universities, not discourage it--it's amazing how much valuable commentary can be gathered in such an assembly line-like environment. Sure, a couple of the reps came off as perfunctory, and a few added little beyond a litany of vague praise, but overall, Julie received enough insightful advice to make the long evening more than worthwhile. (The old axiom about art being in the eye of the beholder was once again proven to be right on the mark--while there seemed to be a general consensus about what was Julie's strongest work (her charcoal portraits, and several of her paintings), it was amusing when the various experts contradicted one another: one fellow called a nude sketch, done with a large exaggerated head as "too cartoony" (like that's a BAD thing?!?), only the have the rep the next table over later praise the very same drawing because he DUG the cartoonieness of it! And another young woman, going against the tide of opinion expressed by everyone else there, suggested that Julie needed to temper and flatten down the background colors of several of her best pieces, a move that I--and everyone else present--would probably agree would far lessen their charm. Hey, it's art--ANY opinion is valid, right?...) But the most memorable portion of the evening came about ten after seven. Lynn was dead on her feet--there was no place to sit for tired parents, save for out in the hallway--so when she left us to go take a load off. Julie and I went up to the table housing the rep from Detroit's College for Creative Studies. Like the Chicago school next to it, the lines had been short all night long, as most of the artsy hopefuls were gravitating towards the closer halls of higher learning, whether they be in NY, Connecticut, Massachusetts, or even Pennsylvania. But like I said, while we had no plans to ship out offspring off to the motor city, that didn't mean we couldn't get a considered opinion from their man manning the table. Forty minutes later, lemme tell ya, we BOTH wanted to go there! This guy was great! He engaged us both in conversation, a shift from earlier when, mostly, Lynn and I had hung back, letting Julie handle things herself. His attitude was upbeat, very engaging, and he saw things in Julie's work that no one else had taken any notice off. While praising her best work, he also pointed out some subtle flaws--missing shadows, undetermined light sources, things I, as a non-painter, never would've picked up on. He essentially corrected her work right there on the spot, but did it in such a positive manner, you couldn't help but be thankful for his criticisms! Noticing a paucity of hands and feet in her work, he good-naturedly goaded her into practicing drawing same. At this point, he pulled out a piece of paper, and whipped up a small guide on how best to draw hands (and as someone who's never come close to mastering the art of drawing phalanges, I made a point of grabbing that piece of paper when we left, and plan to use it my own self!!...) (And no,I didn't tell him I was a cartoonist--Julie has this thing about not wanting people to think she's going into art because of me, so, unless directly asked--like the lady at NYU did--I keep mum on my status. Shh--don't tell anyone!...) Now, please understand, as things were winding down, there wasn't ever anyone else waiting behind us. If there had, we probably would've gotten a "quick" fifteen minutes of Dave's time, and then moved on. but because there was no one else in line, he gave us the royal treatment. He asked Julie about how she planned to use her art in the real world, which was a question I don't think she was entirely ready to answer, but merely by planting the notion in her mind, odds are he did a good thing. He went on to extoll the joy of doing art as your life's work, and what a kick he gets out of the simple knowledge that each day, when he gets out of bed each morning, he's gonna do art sometime that day! He says he can't turn it off--and he doesn't WANT to, and he wanted to know if Julie had that same fervor. Well, she's not painting 24/7, but trust me, she HAS got the bug! And as the woman from Chicago told her earlier, while she'd seen more polished work amongst the many participants that evening, Julie's work had a look and energy all its own, unlike anything else she'd reviewed earlier--and she genuinely meant that as a GOOD thing! (And it sorta echoed comments, I'VE heard about MY stuff over the years--sorry kid....). That little impromptu seminar was enough to get not only my daughter's artistic juices flowing, but mine as well! Odds are, she really WON'T be attending Detroit's CCS (though we certainly heard some real good things about the college), but wherever Julie ultimately DOES wind up (in the fall of '08--hard to believe), neither us will soon forget Thursday night's encounter with Professor Dave! And I bet, if she wasn't grinding her nose on the proverbial stone all weekend, working diligently on her Junior Thesis ("The Effect of the Viet Nam War on the Culture of the Sixties"), Julie would be making some crazy fun piece of art right now! Speaking of sitting behind tables--and how's THAT for a sneaky segue way?--next Sunday, one week from today, on November 19th, I'm gonna be a guest at the Big Apple Con in New York City (hit the link for further info)! It's been a long, long time since I've been a bona fide guest at a show--the last couple of times, i went mostly to wander about, unfettered, but this time, I'm gonna find me a table, and stay behind it pretty much the whole time! I'm afraid I'll just be there that one day (and though the hours are 10am to 7pm, given my travel situation, I think you'd be more likely to find me between noon and five, although I do hope to get there a bit earlier). Julie's coming along, and we'd love to say "hi" to any and all interested parties! I'm gonna bring along a sample binder full of reduced copies of my classic cover redos for folks to pore over, and I'll be happy to sign anything you have on hand--short of a blank check (haw haw--expect quality witticisms like that as well!). I'll even be doing simple sketches at reasonable fees--and Julie's gonna draw, too! She's still got some work to do to catch up with Denis Kitchen's daughter, but give her a chance--I like the odds! And of course, I look forward as always to seeing Jaunty Jim Salicrup, since he's the one who got me involved in all this in the first place! One week from today--YEE HAH! Hope to see you there! |
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| November 9th, 2006 | |
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Can someone please tell me when the staff
of MAD magazine began running the Daily News?... (Congrats to dose dere Dems, by the way...) |
| It's time for the all-new 80th episode of
The Fred Hembeck Show! It's mostly art, and it'll take you even
less time to read than a Mike Grell comic,
but go take a look. After all, what else
have you got to do--read a Mike Grell comic? If you want to read a something a bit meatier, check out this issue of LITTLE LULU (via Tom Spurgeon)--their slogan usta be "Dell Comics are GOOD comics". Well, the qualifier shoulda been "But LITTLE LULU are GREAT comics!" It's true! Later today, we'll be taking daughter Julie to a college portfolio review, where we get to stand in a buncha lines for about four hours, waiting to have various college representatives pore over the 22 pieces she's lugged along for their consideration. We did this last November for the first time, and while we're still a year away from pulling the college trigger, there appears to be a whole lot more preparation for moving on up to further learning than there ever was when I left high school! Yeesh! Anything interesting happens, I'll be sure and let you know... |
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| November 7th, 2006 | |
| Today is Election Day-- VOTE!! (And a word to the wise--while you're down at your local polling place, don't forget to fill up the tank, because--count on it--tomorrow, gas prices start going up again...) |
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| November 6th, 2006 | |
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| Tomorrow, I get to do something I've never
had a chance to do before: vote for someone
who I first saw perform live on stage back
in the mid-seventies, and then whose records
I bought (as part of the group, Orleans),
John Hall, the ex-singer who's running for
Congress. (No word of erstwhile partner, John Oates' whereabouts, however...) He's a local guy who's been involved in local politics for a long time, and now he's going national, taking on incumbent Sue Kelly (who also has a Hembeck connection--she visited daughter Julie's classroom back during my offspring's elementary school days, giving the grateful kiddies a chance to take an open-eyed nap while she speechified...). To be frank with you, while "Dance With Me" is a nice enough tune, given the choice of all the American-born singers I've seen perform live, John Hall probably wouldn't be my first choice to run things. How's Congressman Jonathan Richman sound to you? Sounds good to me, too! This country could surely benefit from sage advice given us by the man who wrote such immortal ditties as "Here Come The Martian Martians" and "Abominable Snowman In The Market"! But, alas, Jon's not running. So, I'll vote for Mr. Hall (yes, yes--he's "Still The One"--and yes, he even used that in his TV ads early one, eliminating the reference pretty quickly probably cuz it was just too cornball). I'm hoping that, nationwide, the predicted shift of power that'll add a much needed balance comes to pass. I'm pulling for MY group of crooks and liars to win out over the group of crooks and liars currently in charge, cuz if there's anything we've learned over the last six years, this country needs one party's crooks and liars keeping their opposite side in some sorta check, otherwise that ol' absolute power deal corrupts, absolutely! And let's hope, for Mr.H's sake that, in the words of another past chartbuster, Ms. Kelly ISN'T a Maneater!... |
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| November 2nd, 2006 | |
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| Happy 79th birthday to the man who plotted
and illustrated AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #25, probably my favorite
single comic book of all-time! Odds are pretty darn good that you're not
reading this, but allow me to nevertheless
salute you in your absence, Sturdy One! Happy
birthday, Steve Ditko! The all-new--and moderately meaty--Episode 79 of The Fred Hembeck Show is now up for your viewing pleasure. This time around, the topic is politicians and their Top 40 pop hits, including the most peculiar Top Ten hit of all time! Big props to Roger (Rassalin' With Rog) Green who not only inspired this piece, but in many key ways, facilitated it as well! Thanks, Rog--I think you're groovy! Time for a quick Halloween recap. The temperatures reached an unseasonably warm 70 degrees during the day, and made for splendid Trick or Treating weather. Unlike last year, when Julie went over some friend's house right after school, and didn't get back here until after 10, effectively missing the entire holiday on her home turf, this time around she instead brought a buddy over our neck of the woods directly from school. Rachel lives about a half-hour away, so it made sense for her to just sleep-over, and then go into school with Julie the next morning, which is indeed what she did.. Julie--wearing her riding clothes, a ten gallon hat, and white and black face make-up in her guise as a dead cowgirl--went out with Rachel around 6:30. But, in a crazy backward manner, several of the local girls hooked up the pair as the night went on--Lisa at 7, Samantha near 8, and Julianna about quarter to nine! By then, it was pretty much over--we had 29 visitors at our house between 6:10 and 8;25 (my favorite was a young girl about 10 or 11, wearing a black beret, a B&W horizontally striped shirt, and white face make-up, with the topper being her hand lettered "Trick or treat" sign--she was a MIME! Cute!...) Thanks to the miracle of cell-phones (all teen-agers got 'em, friends), the group was able to co-ordinate their movements, and when, at 9:30, with no one else left out on the streets, Julie used hers to call yours truly to come pick up their exhausted little carcasses, the night was finally over (save for checking out their candy booty...)! A swell time was had by all, even if their number has shrunk a bit in recent years, with at least two of my daughter's best friends opting out of the fun due to the feeling that perhaps they're now a wee bit too old for going house to house in funny outfits. Maybe, but like I tell Julie, if you still feel like Trick or Treating when you're in grad school, hey, be my guest! After all, with all this comic book stuff, who am I to say when it's time to outgrow something, huh?... |
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| November 1st, 2006 | |
| I was very saddened to hear of Betty Sinnott's passing. During the several occasions when we encountered her, she was always very warm and friendly to me and my entire family. Lynn and Julie join me in offering our deepest condolences to her husband, Joe, and to the entire extended Sinnott family during this difficult time. We're very sorry for your loss. | |