I am all at once saddened, amused, and befuddled, by the latest rash of deaths in the news. Deaths are no surprise and can be found without trouble in any daily rag in the country sitting in plain sight in the obituaries column. I'm talking about the high profile personalities with whom I've shared a parallel universe my entire life. People like Michael Jackson, David Carradine, Farrah Fawcett, and to a lesser extent, people like Karl Malden and Ed McMahon. The manner of their passing has not gone unnoticed and may well be consistent with the way they led their lives. Officials in Bangkok discovered Carradine hanging naked in a closet in Thailand with ropes around his neck and genitals - no foul play was suspected; Jackson had been administered a lethal cocktail of drugs not intended to kill the patient, just the pain of being Michael Jackson; and Farrah went out with a ravaging case of anal cancer-what does that tell us about her preferences-more than I want to know. You have all been as consistent in life as you were in death so I salute you. And for you, Malden and McMahon, shame on you for being character actors on deaths stage. Not that I expected any more from the two of you. Once a sidekick, always a sidekick.

Nancy has been taking great pride in her work this year on designing and maintaining various web sites to support local non-profit enterprises. The Little League site has been most demanding and keeping the slide show up to snuff (just to keep the theme alive) has been a chore. Sifting through the multitudes of photo's retrieved through Pando has been one chore I would not have had the patience for but she has been angelic indeed. I think her work is done for the summer but Evan has been chosen for an all-star position on a Portsmouth Babe Ruth Team so I suspect her camera work is not complete as yet. That aspect of her work is largely unrewarded and unrecognized but I sure do appreciate the fine quality of her work. The team picture of A&M Paint this year was astounding in its clarity and composure. I think she excels most at portrait work and she has a knack for it as is easy to see in the photos she takes. Bravo to her for her commitment to her craft.