Neighbor, Would You Be Mine?
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
Despite the slow talking drawl, despite the incessant smile, despite the fact that in the real world he might be mistaken for a creepy pedophile, I’d still loved to have had Mr. Rogers as my neighbor. I grew up on the PBS staples of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, Sesame Street, The Electric Company, and Zoom – which each succeeding show for an older audicence than the one before. But even when I was ready for Zoom, I still secretly adored Mr. Rogers and the comforting make-believe surroundings he created. Read the rest of this entry »
Sure, the joke eventually got a little old. But one of the highlights of some of the early Kevin Smith films involved the characters of Jay and Silent Bob – portrayed respectively by Jason Mewes and the director himself, Kevin Smith. They first made their appearance in Clerks, a black and white gem detailing a day in the life of two clerks in a convenience store and a video rental store. Jay and Silent Bob did virtually nothing but hang around. Jay babbled on and on incessantly, and you can guess what Silent Bob did. 
I remember a lot about moving day as we re-located our family from our home at 3574 Echo Hill Lane to our new digs at 3195 Winterset Drive about five minutes drive to an nice area also located in Beavercreek. I recall giving the Echo Hill house a hug goodbye (literally). I remember that it took place on Denise’s second birthday on April 8, 1978 – because I joked that the house was her birthday present, and was none too pleased that she was also receiving additional gifts. And I remember a certain black gentleman named Kenny Bailey who assisted with the moving who introduced me to the concept of putting sugar in my chili – which is what we served to all who helped with the moving. Kenny was an employee of Central Printing, Dad’s company who offered a free moving truck and driver to their employees when they moved. 
Like all Sons of the Desert conventions that came before it, the 1996 Caribbean cruise had its fair share of celebrity guests on board to share their memories of their work at the Hal Roach Studios and the associations with Laurel and Hardy. In addition to the actors of this era, famous Laurel and Hardy impersonators Chuck McCann and Jim MacGeorge were also on hand to do an appropriate skit and mingle with the swabs on board. Chuck and Jim had not jointly been seen at a Sons convention since 1980, so it was cool to have them back. 
The Winter blahs had taken their toll on me so much that I decided that despite the rather weak line-up of celebrities at the Hollywood Celebrities and Memorabilia Show in Rosemont, Illinois on the weekend of Saturday, March 13, 2010, it would be worth it just to get away for a road trip. My sister Denise had mentioned that she might like to go along sometime on one of these excursions, and agreed that this one might be fun. Aaron agreed to babysit the kids – for the first time overnight alone. He did swell.