The rest of the week. 6-28-15

The week seems to go fairly fast and the mail didn't disappoint me. Back in 1977 they aired a mini-series on tv called ROOTS. Even though I was only 12 I remember this min-series very well and one of my favorite characters in it was Chicken George played by Ben Vereen. Ben was in Petrolia, Ont doing a show for a month so i wrote to him and he replied to me and sent me a signed playbill from his show.

Also this week I heard back from Curtis Armstrong. Most of you will remember him as BOOGER in the Nerd movies. He has been in many tv shows and movies and most recently playing Metatron in the tv show Supernatural.




Now the last one came from New York City where I wrote to Matthew Morrison who played the teacher on the tv show GLEE. He sent me a signed playbill from his show Finding Neverland, Other then all the rain that came down on Saturday it's been a great week

Nice Find 6-28-15

Today I found a t-shirt of the Hamilton Tiger Cats and it was signed by 6 players. After bringing it home my wife and I did some research as to who had signed the shirt because autographs are hard to read. Turns out it was signed in 2008, Whoever owned the shirt took care of it because the sigs are not worn or faded and the shirt had not been washed. It will be taken care of here as well.The sigs on the shirt are. Phillip Gauthier, Chris Bauman, Richard Karikari, Jason French, Nick Setta and Cedric Gagne Maroux

IP & Tire Trouble!!! June 20th, 2015

Yesterday we went to a Bisons football game and Nick Kaczur who played for the Patriots was there. (He's from here).Anyways I was hoping to get him going in but he was already on the field so I had to wait til 1/2 time when he came around. It was warm out there. He comes around and is a real nice guy signs everything and poses for a photo. My wife and I are hungry so we decided to leave and go grab a bit to eat.

We get to the car and the back tire is FLAT. Hungry, hot and now pissed off we opened the trunk to get the donut and couldn't get it out. It was screwed in there and it seems that the thing that kept it in place rusted on..I can't get it off and it's getting late so I called my brother who came down to help.It took at least 30 minutes for him to finally get that thing off.Now to jack up the car.no problem BUT!!! the wrench don't fit the bolts so he tries to make do but it was a losing battle. I told him I have a cross wrench at home. He said why is it at home? I said hell if I know I forgot to put it in the car..

He lowers the car and tells me to drive it to the gas station put air in it to get home and we'll change it at home. Get to the station put money in the machine and it don't work very good. Just enough I would say.So I get the car home wife goes to get the 4 way wrench. My brother jacks the car up again and the car slips a little. So he fixes that up changes the tire for me and then lowers the car but the jack is stuck on something.My wife gets in the car and backs the car up to a hole so bro can knock it off. I doubt it did any damage but is an IP worth all that trouble? Some ppl would say yeah..this time for me...No it wasn't worth it..Cause I gotta get that tire fixed buy a new jack because that one sucks!!!

Angela Lansbury

Today in the mail I received a nice but small autographed photo from Angela. I wrote to her when she was on tour with her play. She had taken the letter home in California and mailed it from there. I am really surprised that that photo got to me in the first place because I wrote to her while she was in Canada and my SASE had a Canadian stamp on it. The envelope had my uncancelled CDN Stamp and no American Stamp on it.

SH**IT Happens

Well for the 1st time in a long time I struck out getting an autograph. Randy Bachman was in Town and I had a nice photo done up for the occasion and an album for a friend to get signed. We went down there at 1-1:30 and hung out hoping he would come early for a sound check. 2 guys showed up for it but no Randy.round 4:30-5 this guy comes out and told me he found out that Randy wasn't coming for the check and was at the Hotel.So off I go to the Hotel waited around in the lobby then outside. After a long while of being in Denial I finally listened to what my wife had been saying. Oh well so you didn't get this one. IT happens... So Randy Bachman was a BUST..I'll hang onto the photo.He'll be back...

Hamilton Tiger Cats Fanday

My wife and I went to the Hamilton Tiger Cats Fanday at Horton Field. This is the first time I was ever in a Stadium and it was really cool.Seeing the field up close and from the stands was cool. I took a few shots of it and the players. They were holding a practice and then a fan meet to sign autographs ad pose for photos. While they had practice we went around to try and find some of the Alumni players that were there. They were scattered and I didn't get to meet them all.

Alumni Players-Top Scan
Dale Sanderson
Wally Zatylny
Rocky DiPietro
Roger Dunbrack
Joe Zuger
Less Browne

Current Players
Carson Rockhill, Brian Simmons
CJ Gable
Byron Archarabault
Anthony Woods
Everton Williams
Joel Fugueroa,
Matthew Girard
Matt Coates

Giovanni Aprile
Roy Holley
Carl-Oliver Prime
Bakrai Grant
Daniel English
Nic Grigsby
Jeremy Lewis
Preston Huggins
Peter Dyakowski
Craig Butler
Luke Tasker
Justin Medlock
Bryan Hall
Zac Collaros
Julian Posey
 CJ Gable
Brandon Banks
COACH-Kent Austin

Joe Theismann

If you know me then you know that I am a fan of the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the CFL and I like to collect autographs of CFL players and my wife is a fan the Washington Redskins of the NFL so what better autograph to have in my collection then Joe Theismann. Yes people Joe played in the CFL. Joe played for the Toronto Argonauts from 1971-73. He came to the CFL when negotiations with the Dolphins hit a snag.He went to the redskins in 1974 after they bought the rights to him from Miami Dolphins.. I sent Joe a home made CFL card and he also signed my index card as well!!

Theo Fleury In Person

Theo was in Town on Tuesday and I went down to try and meet him and have him autograph a few photo's and cards for my friend and I. He was here for a conference so we sat in the lobby waiting for lunch break at noon. Time went on for awhile and I thought what if they are catering in there instead of using the restaurant. So I went down and sure enough they were catering. I thought about it looked at my wife and then I said hell with it. I went in to look for him. I couldn't see him but then my wife spotted him and pointed him out to me. So I went over and waited til he was done talking to the others then he came over shook my hand and I asked him if he would sign a few things? He said sure not a problem. He sat down at the table and I apologize to the lady who was eating at the table at the time. I asked him if he ever seen the photo I got he told me if was from a Alumni Game that Calgary played against Montreal. After he signed the photos and cards he posed for a photo with me. Then he had to leave..Nice experience and my 1st CRASH!!

                                           This is mine Al..Yours looks just like it!!

Another Cool Week

Although I think this week coming will be a slow one because mostly everyone that I wrote has replied back to me.. To keep up with the last few postings I received yet another one of my 1971 CFL cards back signed. This one came from Moe 'The Toe' Racine.He kindly signed the 2 cards I sent to him and he also enclosed one of his own cards which is a 2014 CFL Alumni Hall of Fame Card

The next one that I got this week is from an actress that is really just starting out and she will be the voice of Lucy in the new show 'Killjoys' which I am looking forward to seeing when it starts in early June. The show is about a fun loving trio of bounty hunters in space who attempt to remain impartial as they chase deadly warrants. 

When I was a kid I loved watching 'The Bionic Woman' and 'The Six Million Dollar Man' and who could forget the men who made them what they were Prof. Sharp. I wrote to Alan Oppenheimer awhile ago and he sent me 2 photo's personalized. One on the top is from an episode of 'The Bionic Woman'. The one below is a head shot of what he looks like today. Alan is also a Voice Over actor for cartoon and movies. He is the voice of Falkor in the movie The Neverending Story.

Now last but defiantly not least about a month ago I found an address to Susan Richardson who I was and still am a big fan of. She played Susan Bradford on a tv show called 'Eight Is Enough'. I wrote to her and she replied to me by sending me 4 print out pictures that she signed to me and also on the last one she wrote me a nice note about me remembering her early work. She had did a very early episode of 'Happy Days' 

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Nice Week

Since I really don't send many letters out as much as I use to and no one really coming to Town so my autograph collecting is a little slower. This week I recieved another one of my 71 CFL cards back. This one comes from Wayne Giardino who played for the Ottawa Roughriders.



Also my wife and I were browsing a store and flipping through books and my wife found a copy of Wishful Drinking which was signed by Carrie Fisher who is most famous for portraying Princess Leia in the Star Wars movies.The book was signed back in 2011 when she was in Toronto touring with her play Wishful Drinking. This is a very cool addition to my collection.

My Autographs: A very cool one today.

My Autographs: A very cool one today.: I received my 71 CFL card back today signed by Bob Howes. he also signed my custom card as well and wrote me a letter Bob played in the CFL ...

A very cool one today.

I received my 71 CFL card back today signed by Bob Howes. he also signed my custom card as well and wrote me a letter Bob played in the CFL for 14 years and won 5 Grey Cups. He played for the B.C Lions from 68-71 then Edmonton Eskimos from 72-81 where he won all 5 of his Grey Cup Rings. Very nice addition to my collection.

Tony Danza & Jerry O'Connell

I got to add 2 playbills to my collection recently. The 1st one is signed by Tony Danza who is best known for the tv shows TAXI and Who's The Boss?. I wrote to him but I was afraid that the show ended before my letter got to him. The 2nd one is signed by Jerry O'Connell who is best known as Vern in 'Stand By Me' and 'My Secret Identity' and 'Crossing Jordan' that he did as an adult. Great addition to my collection

Artists at free comic book day

 Well the weekend is here and I was away for awhile this afternoon getting a few Autographs. Today is free comic book day so I went over to our local store and they had 3 guest there. Steve McGinnis, Brian Anstee and Gibson Quarter. I got these 2 pieces from Steve. They are Vincent Price and Christopher Lee. You should see some of the people he draws.





Next up I met Brian Anstee  Because I am a fan of the X-Men I settled for a print of Wolverine. He signed and personalized it to me. I asked for it to be personalized. He's a real nice guy to talk to. Then Gibson Quarter came in and I decided to buy one of his comics and asked him to personalize it which he did.  It was a great Free comic day BTW I got 2 comics.
STEVE AND GIBSON ONLINE                                        
Steve McGinnis Illustration Link
Gibson Quarter Art

Dame Edna

Does anyone remember Dame Edna? She is an old lady with 50's style glasses and pink hair and one other thing she is no lady? It's actor Barry Humphries who has performed as her for the last 40 some odd years and even had his own tv show. He has been touring the US and Canada with Dame Edna's farewell Tour and his tour made a stop in Toronto so I wrote to him. He has did countless spots on shows like Johnny Carson, Jay leno, Dave Letterman etc. He has also did other things other then Edna. He was the voice of Shark in Finding Nemo and The Great Goblin for The Hobbitt.. This is a nice edition to my collection..


On another note I came across several CFL (Canadian Football League) cards from 1971 and I thought it would be cool to try and find some of these guys and have then signed the card. All these guys are in their late 60's and early 70's now and after searching them I have found that several of the players still around and I got a few addresses from them or their family members. So far I sent out 5 so I will be happy to see if some of them come back to me.. I will let you know when I get one back..

As Dame Edna would say..'Good Bye and Good Night Possums!!!'

It's been a good Week

Hey Everybody !!

This was the week for the annual book fair and for the 1st time in about 3 years I struck out and didn't find any signed books. But I am not letting that bother me because this week I have had a few great ones come through.
For starters back in 2011 I wrote to Bebe Neuwirth on Broadway when she was doing the musical "Addams Family". I never heard back so I thought either it was lost or just didn't get my letter but this week I received from Bebe a cast signed playbill from the show. She must have been getting caught up on her fanmail in her down time.There are 18 signatures on the playbill including Roger Rees who is best known for playing the Sheriff Of Rottingham in 'Robin Hood:Men In Tights"






Awhile ago I wrote to actress Anastasia Phillips who was in the tv show 'Bomb Girls" Earlier last year I won a contest and I got a nice Poster which was signed by all the girls except Anastasia. I told her she was the only one I was missing so she sent me this 8X10 glossy personalized to me







One movie I really like is "The Day After Tomorrow" I think it's the best disaster film of the decade and I have several autographs from the movie and today I added another one. This one is from Sela Ward who played Lucy in the movie. Most of you probably remember her from "CSI:NY or House M.D" She is a cool add for my collection.






I received another playbill today from New York City's Broadway and this came from the play "Gigi". I liked the movie with Leslie Caron and Louis Jourdan and I wanted one for my collection. This Playbill is autographed by Howard McGillin and Vanessa Hudgens. Howard is best known for playing The Phantom on Broadway for years and Vanessa for High School Musical movies.






Last but not least my wife found a copy of Vidal Sasson's autobiography which is signed and personalized to a lady named Gwen. The book has a small paper with her name on it so I know it was from a book signing even and the book itself came from Selfridges & CO a store in the U.K. I thought the store was made up just for the TV show  but there really is a Selfridges in the U.K..Vidal died in 2012. The book was signed in or around  2010.

Well I hope your week was as good as mine and I hope next week is just as good.!!

My 3 Bonds

I think everyone knows that I like James Bond movies. I never really watched them til this year. I do have all of the movies on DVD and I am looking forward to the release of  'SPECTRE'. After watching all of the movies I would have to say that Daniel Craig is the best Bond although it could be that over the years they have calmed down on Bond trying to be funny and way to much womanizing and more on the story plot and the action. So far in my autograph collection I have 3 actors who have played James in the 007 movies
The first one I got was Pierce Brosnan from a movie set that I wrote called 'Butterfly On A Wheel'. MY favorite Bond film he did was 'The World is Not Enoug' with Robert Carlyle who people should know from 'Once Upon A Time'



My second one is Daniel Craig. I wrote Daniel when he was performing on Broadway with Hugh Jackman in 2009 in a play called 'A Steady Rain'. I do have a Playbill signed by both men but this is my card that is just signed by Daniel to me. I would have to say that 'Casino Royale' was my favorite Bond film that Daniel did. SO FAR

And lastly the one I got on Monday from George Lazenby who played James in one film 'Her Majesties Secret Service' which was a pretty good movie for it's time. He could have did more Bond films but ended up being Blackballed because he took some bad advice and held out for more which they didn't give him.

Bond James Bond

It's been a really slow mail week for me and I've been going to a few Dr. appointments here and there so this is why I slacked off a little plus I have been watching the show 'Banshee' on DVD. If you haven't seen the show I really recommend it.The cast are more less unknowns with a few knowns thrown in the mix. Guy who plays Proctor who is the real bad ass in the show is played by Ulrich Thomsen who I have liked for years. I saw him in a German film called 'Festen' in English it mean Celebration. We get the DVD's from the Library when they come out. I know we might have to wait awhile before we get to see a movie or a tv show that we would normally not get but sooner or later we get it

Now for my autograph. I only got one this week and it was a really cool one. I had sent to George Lazenby who played James Bond in one film 'On Her Majesties Secret Service'. After a few weeks my letter was RTS'd so I did a search and then someone posted a new address for him so I thought I would give it a try and on Monday I got my envelope back and inside was all 3 of my cards signed by George Lazenby. I am happy to have him in my collection.

Legend Arrived

Today was a great day mail wise. I got a reply from Carol Burnett. I have been a fan of hers for as long as I can remember.  The whole family would watch 'The Carol Burnett Show' I am pretty sure it was on Thursday Nights which ran for 11 years I think. She is so funny and always got a laugh when I watched the show. I still do when they show it..

AFL & CFL in the last few days..

It was a nice long weekend not too cold and not to warm just nice and the 1st weekend for the return of Australian Rules Football which my wife and I like to watch. Most of the time they show maybe 1 game a week and that is on at 4:30 in the morning here and with any luck we'd get it in a rerun if they played it. This season it's different we have a DVR box and was able to record the game. We watched Jimmy Bartel lose the 1st game of the season. Jimmy BTW has a cousin who is a punter in the CFL Josh Bartel. He use to be with the Ticats but was traded to SSK.




 Since we are talking about football let's talk about what I received in the mail today. I like to collect autographs of CFL Players eps the TiCats and today I was really happy. A nice little brown envelope that was taped very well and inside was 3 cards all signed by Greg Wojt. He sent me 2 cards of him when he played for the Edmonton Eskimos. Both cards are are from JOGO






Last year the CFL struck a deal with Upper Deck to come out with CFL Cards for the league and although I have seen them online I have not seen them in the stores and I knew they were a little priccy But I have one now. Greg sent me an Upper Deck card of him in the TiCat uniforn which was very cool of him. So I am very happy with my autographs today and seeing some Aussie Rules. If you have not seen Aussie Rules I recommend it.Its a rough game. The usually show a game or 2 in the early morningson the weekends on TSN2.