Hey gang,

Maybe they all dined alfresco at the corner hot dog stand outside of the ABC studio, sort of like the way that Gene Wilder and the late, great Zero Mostel did in "The Producers."  I'm sure that DC was enough of a big spender to splurge for that epicurean feast.

Then again, maybe on extra-special occasions (Christmas, Bob O'Connell's birthday, etc.), they phoned down to Canal Street and placed a take-out order for complete Chinese dinners for seventy-five people.

Bob the Bartender, who just loves the way they make calzones down at the Azurra Grotto on Mulberry Street.  

The heck with Quentin Collins!  I'm waiting for the arrival of Edith "Grand Ma-Ma" Collins, Collinsport's undisputed femme fatale of the 19th century.

Yes, Edith maintains Collinsport's rich tradition of sultry and desirable temptresses, first started by the bodacious Bathia Mapes back in 1795.  Of course, the introductions of Magda Racosi and Minerva "I Can't Say No" Trask are two more welcome inducements for the male fans of Dark Shadows to keep watching the 1897 story line.  

When I was back in college, I worked summers at the WTC for the Port Authority of NY and NJ, the agency that runs the airports, tunnels and most of the bridges in the NY/NJ area.  I remember looking down onto Church Street from the eigthieth floor of the north tower (the pedestrians looking like ants far below).  What a view!

I thought that if a really bad fire occurred in the buildings, it would probably resemble a scene from Irwin Allen's disaster film, "The Towering Inferno."  Who would have ever thought that terrorists would crash two hijacked jetliners into the towers?  (Well, maybe Tom Clancy envisioned a similar scenario.)

I worked in the Merrill Lynch building, on Church Street directly across the street from the WTC, for five years.  You could run into the Brooks Brothers store on the first floor of the building to do some last minute Christmas shopping.  Down on Church Street, across from Trinity Church, is the Stapleton Shoe Company, a great men's shoe store that has been there for years.

I was fortunate to meet many out-of-town Dark Shadows fans at the 1999 festival at the WTC.  When they asked what to see in downtown Manhattan, I recommended that they check out the great J & R Music World, arguably the finest record store/stereo equipment dealer, over on Park Row across from city hall.  You could also spend a great deal of time at the Strand Book Store on Fulton Street as you made your way over to the old Fulton Fish Market, enroute to all of the shops and restaurants at the South Street Seaport over on the east side of the financial district.  There were a number of terrific Friday night rock concerts at the seaport, where thousands of financial workers would unwind and get loaded at the end of the work week.

As I watched the twin towers collapse from across the Hudson River on 9/11, I heard a reporter on WINS radio announce that the Merrill Lynch building might topple down after the WTC across the street.  (Thankfully, the building, like the Millennium Hotel next door, was spared.)  I later learned from a friend on the police force, that the firemen had used the Brooks Brothers store as a makeshift morgue that day.

As a college student and, later, as an adult in the so-called "real world," I always enjoyed the financial district.  People may not know, that with so many corporations and law firms downtown, there are literally hundreds of computer professionals and attorneys working round the clock.  (One of my friends at a large firm on Water Street, used to joke about the undersized "sleeping rooms" that were maintained to allow harried attorneys to get some much-needed sleep during some hectic and prolonged litigation.)

I particularly enjoyed stolling through Battery Park with my "significant other," on a quiet Sunday afternoon in the city, before an early evening dinner at the seaport.  Yet, today, I don't believe that I could ever enjoy frequenting some of those wonderful downtown locations again.  It would seem almost sacrilegious to enjoy oneself, knowing what transpired on 9/11, a very  sad and tragic day in our nation's history.

Dear Craig Slocum,

I once saw the late Joey of Joey and the Ramones open up for Iggy Pop at the old Palladium in New York many years ago.  (It was the one and only punk rock concert that my friends convinced me to see with them.)

Old Iggy was feeling "no pain" that night.  Honestly, I never thought that he would be still with us twenty years later.  However, I'm glad that Iggy has straightened himself out and is doing well.  

You know, Iggy does have a very good singing voice.  His vocal style has been compared to that of the late, great Jim Morrison.  And, of course, Iggy collaborated with David Bowie on some great rock songs like "China Girl" and. I believe, the theme song of the film remake of "Cat People."

Bob the Bartender, president of the Lena Zavaroni Fan Club.

Connie,

Yeah, we've all speculated about that portrait.  Maybe it's a painting of one of the Smith Brothers.  Then again, the guy looks like either Sacco & Venzetti. (I'll bet that Raineypark's grandad, like mine, used to "comment" on that putative case of injustice.)

The guy also looks like he could the ancestor of actor Avery Schreiber (frequent Match Game Show celebrity contestant) or, possibly, the great-grandfather of former St. Louis Cardinal relief pitcher, Al "The Mad Hungarian" Hrabosky!

Bob the Bartender, who thinks that Willie Loomis would have looked cool with that same style of handlebar moustache.

Dear CastleBee,

Thank you. (I think!)

Bob the Bartender, defender of downtrodden Dark Shadows actors.

VAM,

As the late, great Perry Como once crooned, "It's just impossible!"

Bob the Bartender, who misses Mr. Como's relaxed, laid back style, sort of like the "Anti-Iggy Pop."

Hey Misty, here are some more T-Shirts for you:

Mrs. Johnson - "Domestic Goddess"

Sheriff Paterson - "Book 'Em, Danno!"

Harry Johnson - "Mr. Itchy Fingers"

Dirk Wilkins - "Emotionally Disturbed, Morally Bankrupt"

Bathia Mapes - "Love Bandit"

Sandor Racosi - "Kiss Me, I'm Rumanian!"

Natahn Forbes - "An Officer, But Not A Gentleman"

Adam - "I Just Don't Get No Respect"

Eagle Hill Cemetary Caretaker - "A Dud At Sixty, A Stud At Eighty!"