Mike Ross: Co-Creator of Billy O. Crop
Sunday, August 29th, 2010
Those with razor sharp memories might recall my mention of “Billy O. Crop” in a long-ago posting detailing entries in my 1980 diary. Others actually have lives. Either way, the references to this made-up character came right smack in the middle of my second grade year, where my friend Lee Ballinger and I would pretend to be fictional characters Billy O. Crop and Fred R. Floyd, and ‘act out’ what would amount to the childish equivalent of a two-reel comedy…without the cameras. But the genesis of Billy O. Crop didn’t come from Lee. It came with another great friend from my second grade class named Mike Ross. Read the rest of this entry »
It was within the past couple of years that I was watching Better Off Dead and became intrigued by the adorable girl who played foreign exchange student Monique. Ah, Monique. But anyway, I actually went to the effort of looking her up on Wikipedia, wondering whatever had become of her – and mostly was curious as to whether she was still smokin’ hot in her mid-40’s. On Saturday, April 24, I got my answer. But I nearly bypassed my opportunity to get an autograph and photo with her. 
For about two solid years, I had an ongoing crush on Amy Lupini. Of all of the crushes I had had up to that point, Amy was the one that lasted the longest, and one of the many I never landed. Even still, I completely cherish the friendship that I had with her during my fifth and sixth grade years (in which she is seen in the class photo at right). There is no way that I could possibly have felt rejected, considering I never had the guts to tell her how I felt or put forth a request that she ‘go with’ me. So I stood by and idly watched as she went with Jason Painter in the fifth grade and my best friend Eric Welch in the sixth. Sigh. The love lessons we learned in grade school… 
If you’re not much of a gambler, there is really not a whole lot to do or see in Reno – which might explain why we spent our evening bowling the night before. But one interesting attraction that might be found there is the National Automobile Museum. This acclaimed museum first opened in 1989 to showcase the collection of gaming pioneer Bill Harrah. Today it contains over 200 cars, displayed within impressive and dynamic displays. Bob and I got there when the museum opened at 9:30am on the morning of Wednesday, June 16, 2010.