My current state of mind during a double layout week. Calgon take me away!

I love the press releases I get from Springfield police spokesperson Sgt. John Delaney. Here is one I received today:

"Yesterday at 1:39 P.M. an 82 year old female city resident was pulling into the "Bank of America" lot located at 1316 Carew Street. The female was driving her car into the lot to do some banking. Her windows were open because of the heat. The elderly female victim parked her car when an unknown male approached her on the passengers side window. The unknown male asked the female victim if she knew where the Springfield Plaza was? As she turned to point to where it was the thief reached into her car and stole her purse containing $50.00 and all her ATM cards. The thug then ran to a waiting silver colored Jeep Cherokee and fled. There was a witness in the lot who observed the crime and jotted down the plate number. There were three people in the Jeep. The car fled towards Chicopee. Bank employees assisted the victim in canceling her ATM card and the police were called to take the report. As the bank was canceling her card they received information that someone was trying to access her account from an ATM on Springfield St. in Chicopee. The ATM was located at the Honeyland Farm Store. (Later, an employee of the Honeyland stated that all three subjects from the Jeep tried to use the card and one of them told the clerk that their mother gave them the ATM and to buy anything they want. The alert clerk didn't buy this garbage and threw the scum out). The Officers in Springfield broadcast a "lookout" for the Jeep and Officer Edwin Vasquez of the Springfield Police Departments "Ordinance Unit" spotted the Jeep traveling down Newbury Street. He pulled the car over across the Chicopee line. Chicopee PD came to assist and the trio was arrested. The victim made a positive ID. The video at Honeyland Store shows the three brain surgeons trying to use the stolen credit card. The victim ID's and money were recovered in the Jeep. Great job by the victim, the witness, the bank employees and the Springfield and Chicopee P.D. Let hope they throw away the key on these three......
1) Brenda Manchino age 21 of 29 Los Angeles Street
2) James Gelinas age 18 of 29 Los Angeles Street
3) Joseph Martinelli age 19 of 236 Springfield Street, Chicopee ... charges ...
a) Larceny from a Person Over 65 years of age
b) Receiving Stolen Property
* Martinelli had Cocaine on his person (shocking, I know) he was charged with the Poss. of Cocaine also."

And now the best part, the mug shots!






Wait for it...

An ode to growing older, yet another year

It’s just a few days from my 56th birthday and I feeling rather introspective.

The reasons are many.

I don’t believe I’ve succumbed to middle age craziness, but I do realize that certain things in my life and personality have changed.

Now I’m very lucky – now that’s the dog! My wife of 31 years still likes me. Loving someone is a lot tougher in the long run if you don’t actually like the person to whom you’re married. My foster daughter and my granddaughter care for me, as does my nephew Douglas. My other nephews, although fine young men and I never really much of a chance to build a relationship.

I’ve got a good relationship with my brother.

I’m gainfully employed doing something I like and, despite what some co-workers think, I’m actually good at – oops, dangled my participle. Our credit card debt is low. We’re paying the bills more or less on time. I’m appreciative of the blessings in our life.

But I do have some issues.

I have a decreasing tolerance for unnecessary bullshit. Now let’s face it everyone faces necessary bullshit at work and in the family – the situations in which you close your eyes, grit your teeth and move on because you have to. As a younger man, I always took it on the chin, but now I’m more apt to sift through the unnecessary and necessary and say something.

My tolerance is waning. The following thoughts frequently run through my mind:

Why do you insist on mistreating animals? Why play that damned music so loud I can feel it? Why throw your bag of fast food wrappers on the street? Why look me in the face and lie and know that I realize you’re lying? Why have children when you can’t care for them?

Why do you invoke Christ’s name, but behave as if you’ve never read the Bible? Why do you think supporting hate is something He would have approved of? Killing in His name is acceptable?

Why do so many people squander the life and opportunities they’ve been given? Why do people who are young really and truly believe that youth trumps age and experience?

Why do so many of the people in power actually do something to help make things better rather than support the corporate status quo?

Now the last 31 years of my life have gone by in a frickin’ flash and time is accelerating. I can feel it every week getting just a bit faster.

I’ve got stuff to do. Books to write. Places to see. Seegars to smoke. Wild Turkey to think about drinking. Movies to enjoy. Friends to cherish. Every minute of my life counts more and more and more.

That’s why at age 56 – almost – I just can’t stand the petty crap I’m forced to wade through on a daily basis.

Perhaps I do have some sort of middle-aged craziness. Ah well, I plan to have a very large piece of cake, a beer and a smoke on May 29th and screw ‘em.

One of the eight cats, DG, likes to keep me company when I write. Here he is at about 6:30 this morning as I was trying to meet all of my deadlines today. I wish I could have slept a bit more myself.

Catching Up
It's been a very busy month so far and frankly I've been boggled. if I'm not working for the newspapers, I've been trting to catch up at home and battle a frequent fatigue.

But I've done a few fun things, such as attend the graduation ceremony for the current class of the Center for Cartoon Studies thanks to my pal Steve Bissette who is a much loved instructor there. I've had the pleasure of lecturing at the school several times and I am constantly amazed at the high level of work I see. Some of the senior thesis projects I saw this past weekend on display were truly ready to published – very polished, professional pieces of work.

There's a lot of talent at this school and I can see why Steve loves teaching there. Seldom have I seen a school/business environment where there seems to be so much genuine support and respect among faculty and students. This certainly wasn't like what I saw working at a college for seven years.

Evan Dorkin's commencement address was one of the best I've heard: funny, sentimental, blistering real and heartfelt.

Mary, Lucky and I also went on our first fishing expedition on beautiful Beaver Lake in Ware – "Come for the fishing, but stay for the beaver! " – and Capt. Dave on the good ship "Fishing Boat" – he reminded his lovely wife Kim that fishing boats aren't supposed to be clean – caught quite a whopper, as you can see below.



This monster was 50 pounds if he was an ounce. Needless to say we didn't try to get the hook out of his mouth.

I've got a bunch of new movie items that I need to scan. Stay tuned.

My wife has a blog!

Mary and I have been married for 31 years and our relationship can be characterized as one of mutual infection.

That sound romantic, doesn't it?

When we met she had no idea about who Max Fleischer was nor was she educated in the lore of obscure exploitation cinema.

I thought her father was speaking a foreign language with his Scottish accent and Glasgow slang.

Now you can quiz Mary on bizarre film stuff – remember this is a woman with a personally inscribed poster of "Insemenoid" from both the producer and director – and she's pretty impressive. Quick, who is the director of "The Corpse Grinders?" She'll shoot back "Ted V. Mikels." She's met Ted as well.

And me? She's says that I'm more Scottish than she is at times. I've certainly embraced her culture and heritage.

One divide remanded, though, between us – blogging, Facebook,etc. She is now on Facebook and now she is blogging about her scrapbooking activities. She used to make fun of scrapbooking – she has been an active cross-stitcher for years as well as a beader – but couldn't get into the rapidly growing hobby.

That's right, Mary was a hobby snob.

Then something clicked and, whoosh, she's into glue dots, and pages, and stamps, and embossing and make and takes and – you get the picture.

Now she is blogging about her scrapbooking, so she has succumbed to another of my dark sides. I wonder what I will have to learn about?

Check it out.