VISITING AN OLD PAL

My friend Dave who passed away from cancer almost three years ago has been on my mind more than usual the last couple of months, so I decided to pay a visit to his grave today. I've been out to the cemetery quite a few times to just sit and talk to him but this was actually the first time since his funeral that I actually came out during the day. Every other time I stopped out there it was in the middle of the night (and I was most likely drunk).
We grew up together through elementary, Jr. High, and High School and shared a lot of childhood memories. Later on when we got older he led a wilder life than I did and I just saw him on random occasions. We were always happy to run into each other and enjoyed reminiscing about our childhood days working on comic books in school and trading Garbage Pail Kids cards.
I got cancer before he did and by the time I was through with all my chemotherapy and radiation treatments he was just finding out that he had cancer. For some crazy fucked up reason a whole bunch of our elementary school friends were sick, dying, or dead. I look at our 6th grade class photo and I swear, a third of the class is dead. Since Dave died in 2006 three more of our classmates have passed away (that I'm aware of).
When Dave was starting to get really sick he would ask me for advice and I did my best to be positive but there was really nothing to say. There was a time when the doctors told me that I had a 3% chance of survival and advised my family to say their goodbyes to me. It was a genuine miracle that I'm here today and not just another name on the list. That is what bothers me sometimes. I guess that little thought of, "Why him and not me?" I try not to think about it but I can't help it.
So today I went back to his grave and put a Garbage Pail Kid card on his headstone for old times. His grave has always got stuff people left there for him. In less than two months it will be three years since he passed away. One thing that is kind of funny is that Dave was always asking me for advice towards the end, but now it seems that since he's been gone I'm the one always asking him.








DAVID K. CREW 1976-2006

I think I miss him now more than ever, especially when I need a good friend. One of the best things about him was his heart. We both share a big genuine love for people and Dave was never afraid to show it. He would always greet you with a killer hug and smile, and his laugh was horribly contagious. When we would get laughing and telling stories I felt like we could stay up all night. He was also someone you could tell your most horrible fuck-ups to because he wouldn't judge you by your mistakes. He'd made his own and was the first to forgive. I'm sure if he was still here we would be the best friend.
It's hard to share my memories of him with anyone who knew him because I know if I even mention him to anyone it just makes their heart ache. I think sometimes I'm not the only one who feels like that. For now I'll just blog.

RECENT AUTOGRAPHED PHOTOS

I got these three in the mail today.


FRED SAVAGE


PETER GALLAGHER


SAMUEL L. JACKSON

The photo of Samuel L. Jackson had visible fingerprints all over it so they could possibly belong to him? It was obviously signed in blue ballpoint pen and pressed deeply into the photo (tough guy).

BATTLE BEASTS AND PVC MADNESS PT.1

I used to buy any of the PVC figures I found at thrift stores and garage sales. Mostly I just bought 80's related ones but for a while I bought quite a bit of other cartoon related ones. The collection got a bit out of control so I sold some of the major collections I'd amassed such as the California Raisins and Smurfs. I also gave boxes full of them away to kids or friends over the years but I still have a lot left. Most of the rest I am planning on selling on Ebay, but before I sell anything on there I always try and photograph them so I can at least remember what I once owned. Here is part 1 of the PVCs I'm planning on selling:



BATTLE BEASTS aren't really PVCs but are little action figures. These guys were so awesome when I was a kid because us boys didn't have to feel bad about collecting cute little animals. Each figure had a little black square on their chest that would reveal their power when subjected to heat. You just pressed and held your finger over the little black sticker and after a few seconds the image would appear. It was very similar to "paper, rock,scissors" except in this case it was "water, wood, fire". Fire burns wood, wood floats on water, water puts out fire. The heat sensative section of their chest was actually a sticker referred to by collectors as a "rub" which kind of stinks because it ended up peeling or falling off most of the figures over time.
Also, each figure came with a little gray plastic weapon which was easily lost due to it's size. So if you have one of these Battle Beast figures with it's own unique weapon and intact rub, you've got yourself a valuable collectable.



I've got 11 of these Battle Beast figures. I also have one of the later figures where instead of the "rub" it has a small clear circle where you can just look inside to see it's power.





Here's some Cabbage Patch Kids PVCs I collected.



My sisters used to have a couple of these when we were kids.



These are all the Snork figures I found in the last 10 years or so. They are kind of hard to find in this area because I think they were offered in a fast food resturaunt that we didn't have around here. I've got three or four books on fast food collectable so I'll have to check. I'm pretty sure this isn't the whole collection.



Here's all I have left of an Alvin and the Chipmunks collection. I think I sold all the bigger items like stuffed dolls and windups on Ebay years ago.

Anyway, I don't know if anyone is interested in looking at this kind of stuff but I'm going to keep posting these PVC collections as I go through and photograph them anyway.

SWEDISH POSTCARDS

I came across a large group of Swedish postcards and they are so cheesy. These are just begging to be violated. The majority of them had cutesy couples so I added dialogue balloons with crummy pick-up lines. There's a whole bunch more where these came from and there are still a lot that I can't think of anything funny to add words to. If anyone has any suggestions for the blank ones leave a comment.



















I'll post a couple on Myspace and Facebook tomorrow and see if I can fill the blanks.