Showing posts with label autographs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label autographs. Show all posts
Monday, July 23, 2007
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Sit on it, nerd
Today at Rex Parker Does the New York Times website, comments were on topics wide and varied, as they tend to be. There was mention (by me) of a series of books based on the TV show "Happy Days." Someone expressed surprise that there such books would ever have existed. But that's the way it was back in my day, kids. If a television show was popular it led to a series of books, an awful lot of them by the group-pseudonym William Johnston. I had "Man From Uncle" paperbacks, and "Room 222", and "Get Smart" and "Gomer Pyle" and "The Brady Bunch." Oh, and about 25 "Dark Shadows" novels although I remember being upset that Lara Parker, who played Angelique the witch who turned Barnabus into a vampire (and stole my prepuscent heart away from Julie Newmar's Catwoman) was never on the cover.
Anyway, I still happen to have a copy of a "Happy Days" novel, the classic "Ready to Go Steady"
And my copy is autographed, not by the author, but by the Fonz himself, Henry Winkler
who also included this bookmark --
Cool, huh?
Anyway, I still happen to have a copy of a "Happy Days" novel, the classic "Ready to Go Steady"
And my copy is autographed, not by the author, but by the Fonz himself, Henry Winkler
who also included this bookmark --
Cool, huh?
Monday, April 23, 2007
Maybe Annie was wrong
Maybe the Sun won't come out. It's 3:13 pm and no Sun Crossword puzzles have yet been posted. I'm going to go do last Friday's Wall Street Journal puzzle before I go into full-fledged withdrawal. In the meantime, here's one of my favorite autographed pictures. It's from billionaire former Italian Prime Minister and all-around ladies man, Silvio Berlusconi
.
.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
New column
For the last eleven years or so, I've written a column (as well as CD and book reviews and a few interviews) for Country Standard Time Magazine and I just turned in my new column, which will be in the next issue. But I thought I'd go ahead and post it here since it has a little something to do with crosswords.
When Will I C You Again?
I just got back from the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, Connecticut. And on the 19 hour train home I had time to contemplate crosswords and how they relate to a couple of my other passions – comic books and country music.
They all have something in common – I mean besides the fact they all start with the letter "C." It’s that they've all gotten more popular in the last few years and I kinda wish they hadn't. In some ways I prefer my hobbies to be more niche than mainstream
When I go to comic book conventions I can actually meet and talk to people like Adam Hughes, Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez, Frank Brunner and John Romita (Senior and Junior). In Stamford I got to spend time with Will Shortz, Merl Reagle, Peter Gordon and Stan Newman.
You probably don't know who any of those people are, but I can best describe it to you like this: If you were a movie lover, it would be like spending a weekend with Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz, or Meryl Streep and Paul Newman. If you're more of a literary lover, it would be like a dinner party with John Updike and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
The point is I can hang out with and bask in the presence of some of the biggest names and greatest talents in two fields of endeavor that I am enamored of, comic books and crossword puzzles.
And I used to be able to do the same thing with that third C. When I went to country concerts back in the 1970s – and I saw some of the biggest stars around at that time -- Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, Sonny James, Crystal Gayle – they all hung around, signed autographs and chatted with fans, not just a few fans, but everybody that wanted to meet them got to do so.
Most country stars don't do that anymore. And I know that some of them probably would like to, but it's just not practical. And I know about Fan Fair, and I think Fan Fair is great, but it's only one week and one place.
I’m not sure what the answer is, but I don’t think we can ever go back to the way it was. And now it looks like it may be happening with my other hobbies too. Some comic creators have stopped going to conventions because they get mobbed, the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament had a hard time handling a record crowd this year and next year will have to move to a bigger location.
And I’m glad that the things I love are being enjoyed by lots of other people, really I am. But it just seems like we lose something, a personal touch, when an avocation becomes too big.
Oh well, I guess I could always take up croquet or candle collecting.
When Will I C You Again?
I just got back from the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, Connecticut. And on the 19 hour train home I had time to contemplate crosswords and how they relate to a couple of my other passions – comic books and country music.
They all have something in common – I mean besides the fact they all start with the letter "C." It’s that they've all gotten more popular in the last few years and I kinda wish they hadn't. In some ways I prefer my hobbies to be more niche than mainstream
When I go to comic book conventions I can actually meet and talk to people like Adam Hughes, Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez, Frank Brunner and John Romita (Senior and Junior). In Stamford I got to spend time with Will Shortz, Merl Reagle, Peter Gordon and Stan Newman.
You probably don't know who any of those people are, but I can best describe it to you like this: If you were a movie lover, it would be like spending a weekend with Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz, or Meryl Streep and Paul Newman. If you're more of a literary lover, it would be like a dinner party with John Updike and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
The point is I can hang out with and bask in the presence of some of the biggest names and greatest talents in two fields of endeavor that I am enamored of, comic books and crossword puzzles.
And I used to be able to do the same thing with that third C. When I went to country concerts back in the 1970s – and I saw some of the biggest stars around at that time -- Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, Sonny James, Crystal Gayle – they all hung around, signed autographs and chatted with fans, not just a few fans, but everybody that wanted to meet them got to do so.
Most country stars don't do that anymore. And I know that some of them probably would like to, but it's just not practical. And I know about Fan Fair, and I think Fan Fair is great, but it's only one week and one place.
I’m not sure what the answer is, but I don’t think we can ever go back to the way it was. And now it looks like it may be happening with my other hobbies too. Some comic creators have stopped going to conventions because they get mobbed, the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament had a hard time handling a record crowd this year and next year will have to move to a bigger location.
And I’m glad that the things I love are being enjoyed by lots of other people, really I am. But it just seems like we lose something, a personal touch, when an avocation becomes too big.
Oh well, I guess I could always take up croquet or candle collecting.
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