There is no justice

These two super-spreading, fascist assholes did NOT die of COVID.

HUGE douches creating a very dark night.

But this good guy did.

Tiny Lister in The Dark Knight.

Farewell, Tiny Lister. You will be missed.

Sad News - Bill Paxton

Bill Paxton, who died today from complications during surgery, is one of only two people in film killed by an Alien, a Predator and a Terminator. 

Rest in Peace, Bill.

In Memory - Jeff Kling

On October 25, one of my childhood friends, Jeff Kling, passed away from cancer. Jeff may have been the first friend I ever had.

I haven't seen Jeff in over thirty years, but I have strong, fond memories of him and our childhoods together. Our neighborhood had a bunch of kids of approximately the same age who all got along really well. We rode bikes, played on swingsets, went swimming, shot BB guns, climbed trees, trick or treated, had sleepovers and did pretty much everything you can imagine kids doing in the suburbs of a small town in the 1970s. We transformed one of the empty lots on our street into a baseball diamond and often played there. We dug holes deep into the ground, covering them with plywood to make forts. We had epic stick sword fights in the woods behind our street. We made home movies, first on super 8 and then on our primitive, black and white, wired VHS camera, all of which were terrible, hilarious, and awesome. We had plans for an epic home movie remake of Star Wars, but never got around to making it.

Jeff wasn't a big kid but he loved sports, especially baseball. And he was really good at it. I was much more of a nerd, into Star Trek and Lord of the Rings, and so as we grew older, our interests diverged. But I have always had fond memories of Jeff, even when we dropped out of touch. His Mom has been trying to get us together during one of our visits to Indiana but we haven't been able to arrange it. Unfortunately, we ran out of time.

Here we are, probably around 1970 or 1971. I would be five or six years old. From left to right, Rod, Me, Jeff, his brother Dave, and my brother, Mark.

Thanks Jeff.

Family News

While typically a lack of posts denotes laziness on my part, in this instance, that's not the case.

Carol's father died last week of heart failure at the age of 85. We hurried to Indiana last Thursday and stayed through the funeral on Monday when Ben and I made the nine hour drive home. Carol is staying with her mom until the end of the week. Rachel flew in on Sunday and then back to school on Monday, having been in Indiana a little over 27 hours. All of the extended family was there for the viewing and the funeral.

Carol's father was a good, kind, gentle man, a teacher and a musician and beloved by many. Our lives are now changed in many ways we will slowly learn over the months ahead.

Thanks to all our friends for the expressions of support through e-mail and on Carol's Facebook page. It means a lot to us.

My friend, Dan

Eight years ago today one of my best friends died.

Dan and I started in the same shop at work on the same day. He was twelve years older than me and had already had a career as a professor, while I was direct out of law school. But we shared a love of movies (he turned me on to laserdiscs and then we both became early-adopters of DVD), had similar senses of humor and enjoyed getting away from work. Dan and I went to lunch with another work friend, Marc, twice a week for years. Dan and I, and sometimes Marc, went to a lot of movies together and ate a lot of meals together.

Dan was overweight but had really started working on it in the months before he died. He hired an exercise coach, actually did the exercise, and was taking cholesterol medicine. On Saturday, April 14, during a pickup basketball game with people he didn't know, his heart gave out. I found out when I got to work on Monday. Given the Jewish tradition of a quick funeral, several of us were in Long Island the next day for the funeral. My mom flew out at a moment's notice to watch the kids.

It amazes me that Dan never experienced 9/11, which would have FREAKED HIM OUT, never saw any of the Lord of the Rings movies, never owned an HDTV which he would have loved. I still see movies and think about how Dan would have reacted. And I still smile when there's some subtle, dry joke in a movie and I just know Dan would have laughed.

Marc and I still go out to eat twice a week and often talk about Dan. He was a good guy and I miss him.

In Memory - Sue Smith

On Monday, December 8, my Aunt Sue died one year to the day after her Father, my Grandfather, died. She fought a long battle with cancer, years filled with travel, friends and family. She did not waste the extra time she had won.

Aunt Sue was my father's sister. She was that one relative in every family who moves from the family to live in a far-away, exotic state. Until recently, I never knew why she and Uncle Stephen moved to Florida but it didn't matter. She enjoyed her life there and if we didn't see her too often, then our visits were that much more special.

The first "big" trip I ever took was with my parents, my brother, and my maternal grandparents to Florida where over two weeks we saw pretty much every tourist attraction there was. We stayed only briefly with Sue and Stephen, but the memory of that vacation has stayed with me. We followed up that trip with many more over the next 35 years and I have had the pleasure of taking my kids down there enough times that they also know and love Aunt Sue.

We were able to visit her this year, over the summer. We knew it was the last time and although we couldn't do much together but talk and eat, we had a nice time and were able to spend a lot of time with her.

She was a very nice woman who loved life. Within the last twenty years she became a certified barbecue judge, first MIM then KCBS, with Uncle Stephen and traveled all over the United States, making friends. They got us interested in Barbecue and now Carol and I are also certified MIM judges.

She fought a long, tough fight, and lived a good life too. We'll miss her.

In Memory - Lance Jones (1921-2007)

My paternal Grandfather died on Saturday, December 8, in his bed. He was a great guy who always had a smile on his face and a joke on his lips. While I tend to be anti-social at times, Grandpa really enjoyed meeting and just talking with people. He raised a large family. He started a business and saw it to success, passing it down to my father and now my brother.

To me, he was the perfect grandfather - funny, kind, thoughtful and caring. I don't ever remember him dealing with me in any kind of anger or even raising his voice. Of course he was the person who taught me to fish.

He was there at all my high school plays and musicals. He was there during Little League. He was there when I graduated from high school, college, and law school. He loved flea marketing and, knowing my love of games, would often return with some board or card game he'd found, giving it to me months later when we visited. Because we live so far away, we didn't see him more than a couple of times a year, but he always had something for me and the family.

When I was a small boy, he delighted in giving me "girly" gifts, including, famously, an Easy Bake Oven. I enjoyed the attention and understood the affection he was showing by teasing me like that. And I loved that oven.

Many people my age haven't had a grandparent in decades. I was very lucky to have him around for almost 43 years of my life. I am especially glad that my kids got to know him and are both old enough that they'll remember their Great Grandpa for the rest of their lives.

Here's the notice.

In Memory - Ann Kidder (1942-2007)

On July 26, the day before we left for Indiana, my Aunt Ann died at the age of 64. She married my Mom's brother, Dick, not long after I was born and their only child is my cousin Drew.

Aunt Ann was undoubtedly one of the nicest persons I've ever known. She always had a smile on her face and she spoke with a firm, gentle voice. I never heard her say an unkind word about others. Aunt Ann was a very thoughtful, considerate and loving woman who seemed to handle any adversity with a positive outlook. It should also be noted that she played a mean game of Rack-O.

As a lifelong Baptist of a rather conservative denomination, if you had asked her, she would have said that her temperament came from her strong Christian faith. But I think this gives her too little credit. I believe she would have been a wonderful person whether religious or not; her goodness stemmed not from her beliefs but from who she chose to be.

Aunt Ann had been fighting cancer and a number of other health problems for a few years. She was in and out of the hospital, hospice and her home. During this ordeal, my Mom selflessly spent countless hours, sometimes seven days a week for months at a time, at her side, making sure she was comfortable and entertained. My Mom is a pretty wonderful person too.

At the end, Aunt Ann died in her home as she wanted. She was a remarkable person and we will all miss her.

In Memory

I want to note the passing of two men who played a large part in my life.

On October 18, my Uncle Steve died of cancer in his home, surrounded by his family. I have a ton of cousins on my Mom's side of the family and when I was growing up, I loved visiting them. We often went to the Prugh's and I had many good times with my cousins Tim, Jeff, Brian and Kathy. Their Dad was a big guy whose quiet, occasionally gruff demeanor, frankly, sometimes intimidated me. What I learned growing up, however, was that he was a very good man with a sense of humor who took good care of his family. What I will remember most is how he would suddenly, and quite loudly, burst into laughter, usually startling everyone around him. I am glad he was part of my family.



Stephen Prugh














Dallas "Bub" Leatherman died of natural causes on November 20. Bub was a good friend to my Mom and to our family in the years after my parents' divorce. Bub was well known around town; it was a running joke that wherever we'd go in Goshen or Elkhart, we'd see someone who knew Bub. Bub was very active in the Goshen community and well-liked by everyone who knew him. He had a lot of tough breaks in his life, but it never seemed to dampen his spirits. I will miss his sense of humor and his kindness.



Dallas "Bub" Leatherman