World’s Best Psychic’s Predictions for 2011!

by Mick DuRussel

As a new year is about to begin, we often wonder what the future has in store for us and the world. Some people have the unusual gift to foresee the future with incredible success. It’s with great pleasure that I had some of the world’s top psychics give me their predictions for 2011. In the first of two parts, here is what our favorite psychics predict…..

JANET RUSSELL is a Long Island based psychic/medium/spiritual advisor and also a TV host on one of New York’s top cable access shows, the psychic program “Beyond The Unexplained” which appears nationwide and locally on Channel 20. Janet predicts……

We will be told that we do have other living specimens on other planets. I feel that they are already aware but afraid to tell us.

People will be taxed when they get married more than twice. Most end up divorced again.

Parents that do not take responsibility for their children’s bad habits ( causing problems in neighborhoods, disrupting schools, etc) will get large fines and may be sent to jail. If they want children, they need to care for them.

More reality shows with real people showing what really happens in a dysfunctional home and what alcohol and drugs do to children that are born from those addictions.

Atlantis will rise again; Many diseases will be cured due to the plants in the ocean.

We will have a universal medical coverage.

More people will go to holistic doctors for healings (It works!)

There will be another blackout, first in the eastern states and then in the west.

It will be found that many children are misdiagnosed with ADHD so that schools can get more funding.

Many illegal immigrants will be deported to their countries and their countries will be liable for the taxes that they have not paid in the United States.

Many more people will stop smoking. Cigarettes will double in price and only the wealthy can afford them.

Celebrity Psychic NANCY BRADLEY is an award winning author and writer of five books and over 600 articles worldwide. She is considered one of the top ten psychics in the world, holding that title for over fifteen years. She is tested three times a year for accuracy and consistency and maintains the highest accuracy in the world. Living in California, she is originally from Long Island. Nancy predicts….

A famous rock star will not have a long life and in fact die shortly.

Much more will be coming forward about UFO’s and honesty in what the government knows under the Obama administration.

Lindsay Lohan could commit more drug and alcohol fueled offenses. We hope she is not still out of touch with reality and still thinking she can still get away with anything. Her life is in danger. Her father will be looked upon as the one using his daughter for publicity.

Likely health issues for Burt Reynolds, Liz Taylor, Nathan Lane, Lauren Bacall and Tommy Lee Jones.

More species thought to be extinct or mystical (having never thought to be real) are coming back. This includes the Unicorn which is already making a comeback on the planet. Many species will be coming forth from the sea.

Another death in the Michael Jackson family.

One of TVs Housewives of New Jersey Show will file for divorce within the next year or two. At least one will be investigated for mob connections. One Housewife of New York Show, who left the series for her own show, will also divorce within 3 years and come back to the show.

Mel Gibson will make another mistake. His life in the movies is on the line. Suicidal tendencies could be there and he would be well advised to seek counseling. Temper issues and bigotry could be the core, he a victim himself of things in his past. We pray for him not harm to himself or others.

Job market improvement around June or July, then another plummet. California in big trouble. Look for major crime, looting, fires and theft as lay-offs in law enforcement and fire prevention is understaffed. Schwarzenegger will go down as the worst Governor of California ever. Jerry Brown has his work cut out for him and will suffer a health issue.

JEFFREY WANDS is the author of ‘the Psychic In You”, appears frequently on national television, is a popular guest on radio shows across the country and hosts his own weekly radio call-in program “Psychic Sundays” on WALK 97.5 FM. His flourishing psychic practice regularly has a waiting list of up to a year for a reading, and his personal appearances benefit WALK For Women Breast Cancer Fund, which are always sold out events. He lives in Port Washington with his wife and sons. Jeffrey predicts….

San Francisco will experience a significant earthquake during the period of April-May.

Alaska will experience a series of minor earthquakes.

The Alaskan pipeline will have an incident of sabotage before May.

Iran will experience an attack in February during which a nuclear power plant is taken out.

Bad year health wise for former Presidents.

Scandal around Mayor Bloomberg in NYC.

Amelia Erhart’s body is found in January in the South Pacific.

Sylvester Stallone has a bad health year.

George Clooney gets married and becomes a father.

Economy at a 3.5 percent pace.

Real estate rebounds in the end of 2011.

Oil reaches $130 a barrel.

Danger in the sky over Washington in February. Two planes collide.

NIKKI-Psychic to the Stars is based in Toronto Canada and is one of Canada’s top psychics. . She is known all over the world. Some of her clients include well known movie stars, politicians, people from the sports world and business world and the world of entertainment. Nikki predicts…

North Korea and South Korea go to war…….A gold rush in Hawaii…….The world’s first brain transplant…..A powerful earthquake rocks Chicago.

The worst landslides in California history destroys a thousand homes.

A terrorist attack on the Statue of Liberty….The Mona Lisa painting is stolen.

The movie “The Black Swan” will be nominated for an Oscar.

Natalie Portman will be nominated for an Oscar.

The TV series “Boardwalk Empire” will win lots of Emmy Awards.

Rosie O’Donnell will make a comeback….Tiger Woods has to be careful of planes….

Taylor Swift has to be careful of planes and cars…Kim Kardashian has baby and marriage…

Snookie from the Jersey Shore has to watch out for an injury.

For more on Janet Russell go to www.janetrussellpresents.com

For more on Nancy Bradley go to www.nancybradley.org

For more on Jeffrey Wands go to http://jeffreywands.com/site/

For more on Nikki go to http://psychicnikki.com/

Disclaimer: The views and/or predictions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of SpotonLI.com. Predictions on this website are for fun use only.

New Children’s Book: Do Witches Make Fishes? by Jason Mayo

Last October I interviewed Jason Mayo and his family about his comical and successful blog Outnumbered. I asked Jason…

Christine – Do ever think about writing a book one day?

Jason – I was thinking about writing some sort of a humor memoir about parenting but also anything I can do that goes to charity. So if anything getting more involved in Garden of Dreams, has inspired me to sort of think about possibly doing something to take the blog thing to the next level and turning it to some sort of charity effort.

Within one year of this interview, Jason amazes us with his brand new children’s book Do Witches Make Fishes? With bold and colorful illustrations by Justin Wolfson, Jason tells the tale of a little boy who prefers candy over his mom’s healthy dishes. The boy brings us on a new journey after he wishes that his mother disappears only to learn that moms always right! Jason captures the eyes of a child with humor and tackles a very familiar subject that all parents can relate to. From a successful blog and  now a successful book, Jason Mayo is unstoppable and writes with his heart. When you purchase his new book all profits will go the Garden of Dreams Foundation.

NEW YORK – Oct 13, 2010 – Author Jason Mayo announces the release of his latest children’s book, Do Witches Make Fishes?

Do Witches Make Fishes? is the moral tale of a young boy who favors candy over his mother’s outlandish but healthy dishes. When faced with an ultimatum from his mother, the boy has to make a difficult choice. What ensues is a series of extraordinary and fantastical events that takes the reader on a magical journey through the imagination of a child.

In the end, the book teaches an important lesson to children about eating healthy, as well as, learning to make responsible choices. The book is fun to read for both parents and kids and boasts eye-popping, color illustrations. It is most appropriate for children ages 4-8.

All of the profits from the sale of the book are being donated by the Author to The Garden Of Dreams Foundation; Garden of Dreams is a 501c3 non-profit charity that works closely with all areas of Madison Square Garden, including the New York Knicks, Rangers, Liberty, MSG Media, MSG Entertainment and Fuse Network “to make dreams come true for kids in crisis”.

What People Are Saying:

“Just in time for Halloween, Mayo crafts a story that is both fun and engaging while remaining a little bit twisted and deliciously ghoulish as it tackles the topic of picky eating.” –Honest Baby

“Do you have a kid who won’t eat his vegetables? Would your kids rather have candy at every meal? Well, perhaps you should check out Do Witches Make Fishes? by Jason Mayo and see if they change their minds.” – My Book Retreat

“The illustrations are beautiful and are geared towards a child’s eye. It is not at all scary, but very fantastical and imaginative and completely different than ALL THE OTHER BOOKS YOUR KIDS HAVE. I promise.” – MamaPop

About The Book:

Do Witches Make Fishes? by Jason Mayo

ISBN-13: 978-1452069449

Publisher: AuthorHouse

Date of publish: August 23, 2010

Pages: 36

S.R.P.: $12.99

About the Author:

Jason Mayo is the author of the children’s book, Do Witches Make Fishes? He is also the author and creator of a popular dad blog and has written for the pop culture website, MamaPop and is a regularly featured blogger at www.honestbaby.com .  He was recently chosen by BlogHer as one of the Top 100 Voices of the Year. In real life, he is the Managing Director and Partner of the award winning NYC Digital Media Boutique, Click 3X.

Jason is married and has two amazingly smart and beautiful daughters. They all live together and give each other much love and headaches. Do Witches Make Fishes? is his first children’s book.

For more information about Do Witches Make Fishes? please visit: www.dowitchesmakefishes.com or email witchesandfishes@gmail.com

Nonfat Gingersnaps

Contributed by SporkorFoon/ Original recipe by David Leibovitz

David Leibovitz, you are my hero.  Now, we all know that I have undergone some crazy adjustments to my diet to knock off the holiday weight (which worked like a charm and I’ve lost the 7 pounds I gained over the holidays plus 4 more! And these changes don’t make me want to eat my arm off anymore!  Score!), but I have reintroduced coffee and alcohol because I couldn’t take it anymore (and I reintroduced both of them by having an Irish Coffee. Two birds. One stone. Happy Teanna) and now I will introduce these amazing cookies.

Please click  here for Dave’s recipe and the story on how he came to create these amazing cookies!

SpotonLI presents Guest Blogger Jill Mizrahi Balnis creator of Blog Yourself Silly. Jill is a recent graduate of Hofstra University with a BA in English and creative writing. Married with two beautiful kids, Jill shares her life, love and at 40 proves that she’s only just begun.

Thirty-Eight Plus TWO

Wow. It’s here. Today. The big one. The one I never thought I’d make it to. Forty. I can barely type it.

But you know, so far, it’s really not so bad. Eight made me “coffee-in-bed” (bless her little heart, the “on” button wasn’t working on the coffee machine and she couldn’t get the milk carton open. I didn’t mind helpin’ her one bit when she came up with the carton while I was all bleary-eyed in bed. God forbid Twelve help her.) Anyway, she also made pancakes (again, with my help as Twelve was too busy with his Playstation 3 head-set on and was in video-game bliss) and she answered the phone all morning taking birthday messages for me while I rested. What I am finding, though, is that with the journey to forty comes the culmination of at least some wisdom and a little bit more acceptance. Forty brings decisions, (some that are life-altering), realizations, (the ah-has! we all heard about from Oprah) and the Grand Puba of all… the “fuck its/yous/thats”. Sometimes I like those the best. It means my skin is thickening and that I’m not running around with my tail between my legs all the time. Certain things and experiences are still a little frightening to face in some ways, but also exciting in others. I don’t know – maybe forty is going to be better than twenty. Mentally at least. What follows are some observations, lessons and some things I’ve accepted up to this point in my life:

For starters:

– These days, I wait anxiously each month for the “beast” to come, NOT for fear that if it doesn’t I could be pregnant, but out of fear that its absence could mean I might be experiencing those types of changes that indicate I will be growing hair in bad, more-visibly unacceptable places. When that shit happens, I’m just throwin’ in the fucking towel.

– Gone are the days when I’d fling my bra off ASAP in order to free the girls. Now I sleep with said bra in hopes that I can re-train them to lay where the good Lord intended. But really, it’s like trying to re-elasticize a rubber-band. Impossible.

– The allure of a thong is wearing off. All thongs and anything resembling a thong have somehow migrated to the bottom of the undies drawer. Not to say that I completely ignore them altogether, but lately I have more important concerns for my ass than whether I have panty-lines. The temptation of the three-pack of Hanes bikini undies hanging in Target’s intimate apparel aisle won out one day: I circled around with my wagon and finally threw in the stupid pack. For a moment, I even considered going up a size AND to briefs just for the sheer promise of MORE comfort. Comfort over style is totally age-related, although it has yet to completely win. I am not ready to give in to panty lines AND the promise of total comfort and belly-coverage all in one shot.

– I have accepted I’ve reached that level of uncoolness we all dread as parents. Here I am, thinking I can kick ASS at Wii Just Dance, but all Twelve has to do is wiggle his hips and flick the Wii remote and he wins – every fucking time. And then there I am laying, on the couch, winded and sweaty and listening to chants of “DORK DORK DORK” coming from his wise-ass self. Is it wrong that I’ve come ::thisclose:: to saying “fuck you” to my child out of sheer frustration?

– Not to say I don’t want to look nice when I leave the house, but I’ve found as I get older, I don’t care so much about how awful I look sometimes, either. I mean, really… sometimes it’s easier to fall asleep in what I’m already wearing and much easier not to have to get dressed again in the morning. What…? I have to be fashion conscious just for school drop off and a stop at 7-11? I don’t know if throwing a sweatshirt over my recycled outfit really does constitute a brand new outfit or if it just means I’m old and lazy. (pause) Okay, so after re-reading that, 1) it sounds yucky, and 2) I’ve decided that yes, I AM old and lazy. But because I know for a fact SEVERAL people who’ve done that, too, (and there are a few people I can add to that list with some degree of certainty), I don’t care that I actually wrote it. Some of you are nodding to yourselves saying, oh my god! I’m not the only one! Don’t deny it.

– The fact that I don’t care that I wrote that above means something BIG for me.

– As I get older, the more I enjoy saying really bad, offensive words. I can’t help it. I LIKE it. I say them often, too. Even to my mom, Sixty-Seven. (Well, she says them, too, so…. we’re even).

On a more serious note, I really have come to many things leading up to this decade of my life. I’ve realized that in my quest to please others, I’ve oftentimes made things harder for myself and allowed other people to hurt me. I know now that I can’t always please everyone and it’s okay. And those that have hurt me are long gone from my life and it no longer affects me negatively. They’re in my past for a reason: lesson learned, moving on.

I’ve learned that the further I am from perfect, (or trying to be), the better off I am. My faults make me strive to better myself, they motivate me, and they keep my determination alive to fight for what I want and need. Perfect, truly, is overrated and I’ve come to like and accept my idiosyncrasies.

Life really is a journey and sometimes our paths veer off to places we never knew existed or ever thought about taking. But, as Frost said:
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
So, if my life takes me onto a different path, well damn it, if it ends up making all the difference, then so be it.

And finally, I have met and I have known many people in these 40 years and while some have come and gone, they were probably there for some reason. Maybe I learned what I needed, (or didn’t need, for that matter) from these people, or maybe they came and went because their paths took them another way. Whatever the reason, so be it.

Then there are those that came and went, who added nothing to my life but heartache. I’ve learned not to cry over experiences or people like that in life anymore – they’re not worth the tears or the emotional exhaustion from crying them. I’ve learned how to weed out the good from the bad because of these types. While I say “good riddance,” I’m still grateful for the lessons I’ve learned.

Then there are those friendships that have sustained throughout the years; those that have been unsinkable through the good times and the stormy ones. These are the friends that are considered as part of my family. These are the people I know who love me.

So, tonight as I celebrate this milestone, I raise my chocolate martini glass to these people:

-To those who have touched my life, whether in the past or present, I am nothing but thankful.
-To the people who make me cry from laughing so hard, and you all know who you are, laughter is most def the best medicine for anything that ails a person.
-To the people who move me to tears simply because of the admiration I have for them, or for sharing their struggles, and for demonstrating their strength during these struggles. How wonderful and generous that you’ve invited me into your lives and allowed me to stay and share with you.
– To the people who bring out the parts of me that I never knew were there,(or the parts of me that were there but were afraid to come out), and who allow me to be exactly the person I’ve come to be at this ripe ol’ age. Throughout my life, I’ve often wondered who I was and what I was all about because I’ve never had the confidence or courage to see things in myself and allow them to just “be.” Then unexpectedly, this person who’s always struggled with herself finally does come out and does so quite naturally and without much fanfare. I see the same face in the mirror, but I see a different person behind the visage. People who have come into my life and who have helped me, even unknowingly, with this type of self-discovery and acceptance are the types of friends everyone needs. I’m grateful to have them because the gift they’ve given me is priceless. I do hope and pray they know who they are, and if they don’t, well… there will come a day I will make certain they do.

So, as Thirty-Eight Plus Two (a.k.a “Forty”), I finally seem to be learning things in life, -things about people, things about myself -that have great significance and staying power. While I count my blessings of what I have and what I once had, I am looking forward to what else lies before me, what path my life may take, and the people I may encounter. And along the way, I hope that I, too, can touch people’s lives in a positive, memorable way.

Love and cheers from Ol’ Forty.

Time to Give by Bonehead

There’s time to be a Bonehead – and sometimes there’s not.

After spending time watching the news and scanning the stories and their horrific photos of the past forty eight or so hours reporting on the devastating Earthquake in Haiti it seems somewhat inappropriate as yet to babble along with my typical snarky attitude and usual ramblings about stupid annoyances.

So many people killed just proves once more how fragile life is, and how it can be wiped out whenever, wherever and without warning.

You’ve seen the photos and video of the devastation – it is all quite graphic and disturbing.

Often in a tragedy, a person’s quality will shine through by the simple human trait of wanting to help. When you’re too far away to lend a helping hand physically – you can always help by donating dollars. Personally, we’ve helped in some local fundraising done by Americares after both 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina – but however you may choose to do something – that choice is yours.

The international community must rise to the occasion and help the Haitian people in every way possible. Imagine you were faced with having everything you knew, your home, family, pets, possessions swallowed and taken by disaster. Imagine that such basics as running water, food and shelter from the rain were now considered a luxury.
You’d want people to reach out and help you.

Right now there are bodies lining the streets of people who’s lives were wiped out by a shift in the earths plates. There’s not enough infrastructures remaining to properly dispose or bury the dead – which means that within days those still alive will be exposed to disease, dysentery and further hardship.

Chances are you don’t know any of the people affected by this tragedy. They’ll never have any effect, positive or negative in your life. They’ll never know weather you decided to donate five bucks to an organization that can help their plight, or if you decided to slap the five bucks on the bar for another Heineken.

But if you do nothing, you can be certain that their days of never knowing will be less likely to continue.

Here are a few worthwhile charitable organizations that are helping the relief effort, and some you can feel confident your donation will actually get to the people who need it. Long Islanders have always been very generous when it comes to supported those affected by disaster, may that never change.

Network for Good

Americares

Yele

Do what you can, give even though there may be nothing in your hand.  Be a hero.  Just for one day.

New Release Tuesday-Old News

by Bonehead

New Release Tuesday As a prelude to my Black Friday extraveganza – I just thought I’d point out something you may not have noticed.  Today – two TV show contestants released their debut albums, just in time for the holiday shopping season, Adam Lambert from  American Idol , and Susan Boyle from  Britains Got Talent .

Their cover designs are somewhat similar I thought…

Reminded me of a little known album that was realeased in the early 90′s….

Not many people remember that MaCauley put out an acapella album of old school Austrian holiday music.  Problem was, his voice was just starting to change and every song sounded like a bad  Peter Brady  impression.  Plus, they were sung in German – so most of them were actually sort of frightening.

November 23, 2009

Potatoes and Onions Recipe

]]> http://spotonli.com/2009/11/potato-and-onions/feed/ 2 http://spotonli.com/2009/11/unemployed/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=unemployed http://spotonli.com/2009/11/unemployed/#comments Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:49:15 +0000 admin http://spotonli.com/?p=1575 Being Unemployed is Hard Work

a Blog by Bonehead

I profess this forum to be a clearing house for random thoughts, rants, ideas and general stupidity. The aggressive tossing is simply reflective of an unyielding effort to be honest to whatever crosses my mind without concern over political correctness.

That’s probably too bold a description – most of my blabber is just that, blabber. And like this one – they probably tend to run a little too long to be of interest to anyone other than myself.

Don’t get the wrong idea by the title of this post either. I’m not here tonight to talk about the difficulties that being unemployed presents. Everyone knows that already – and Bonehead doesn’t play the whining game. These last few days though have been a bit of a challenge. And since my posts often venture into a rambling thistle of confusing thought-shit I humbly predict that this one will no doubt travel my typical path. I’d offer you a map – but it’s probably tucked safely in the back pocket of my pants, and I have once again, misplaced those.

Tonight, my wife inadvertently gave a mission statement to our new business – the old expression; “if you want something done, give it to a busy person”.

I’ve been out of work for about two months yet I feel like I’m working harder than ever. My wife and I are settling into our new routine, trying to get some sort of direction as to where we’re going to take this new venture. Trouble is we feel we have a boatload of new ideas, some good ideas even, but the effort and occasional fret over getting them up and running is daunting. We make a good team, and we’ve managed to get a few things started that seem to be headed in the right direction, all still geared towards a more or less official launch in January. She runs a great local online interview magazine – maybe you’ve seen it – www.spotonli.com she does the interviews, I do some of the editing, but that’s just a part of the bigger picture.

We have several other websites in production (a couple I’m actually attempting on my own – THAT’S going to be interesting) and we have a litany of special client projects that we’ve agreed to undertake. I’m considering starting a consulting firm that I feel uniquely qualified for since people have been telling me that I need counseling for years now. We’re looking into some online publishing and merchandising opportunities, and still trying to come up with a stupid enough You Tube video that we can make go viral for nothing else except our own amusement.

Sure – it all sounds wonderful. I probably could have sat out my severance period drinking beer and watching The Flintstones, then jumped into another sales position somewhere within my industry once my agreed upon time frame concluded. Nope. I decided the day I got shit-canned that I was going to attempt to make the most of this unique opportunity. I think we have thus far, but now I’ve entered the realm of anxiety that the clock is ticking. Reaching the halfway marker the other day made us stop and take a look at the status of everything, plus what’s on the calendar to do before our planned launch date. We’ve got a lot of fucking work to do.

First – it seems we’re on e-mail overload. Through the various sites and projects, we have over twenty active e-mail accounts between us on various platforms. Add that to the social media sites, twitter accounts (Bonehead tweets now, albeit one lonely tweet so far – follow me @boneheadblog) checking in on entrecard, my bloglog, blog catalogue, ebay etc, etc it seems we’re just trying to keep up sometimes. You can probably imagine all of the exciting new Viagra and male enhancement offers that many e-mail accounts provide on a daily basis, and of course, I have to review each one.

A side issue to all of these accounts is trying to remember user names and passwords to each one. Following the sage advice of varying passwords and names over online accounts, coupled with my depleted brain cell count often leads to great amusement here as I try to recall how to get into my old AOL e-mail accounts. Great amusement for all except me of course.

One of my patented spreadsheet solutions will help get that together soon.

As I was lovingly sharing a website idea with my wife, she began to ridicule me for its apparent complexity. This led her to address the multitudes of e-mail addresses and projects we seem to be laying out. Plans are piling up faster than we can address them – and we needed to simplify them into a way we can manage it more effectively.

This got me to thinking.

People have described me over the years as highly organized, efficient, detail-orientated, systematic, analytical, a prick. Face it – I’m anal retentive, but it’s helped me get the job done. Well.

So why not draw on something I actually learned through my time in radio. The most basic element of programming is the “clock”. No we’re not exactly talking about the frightening bird chirping one on the kitchen wall – but a systematic breakdown of the plan for each hour of broadcast. How many minutes for each element – music, commercials, announcements, dead air, of a show or broadcast hour is devised, then it’s painstakingly broken down literally into seconds, fed into a computer, checked and then put out over the air on a radio station nobody is really listening to anyway.

We decided to put a clock on what we anticipate our basic tasks to be on a weekly basis. Counting the precious few minutes I typically allot to Bonehead on a daily basis, it seems like we’ll be working night and day, every day until either the end of time or 12/21/12, whichever comes first. So we’re going to have to pare down and cut out some non-essentials.
Quickly to hit the scrap heap was the pants for dogs idea. Sure, your pooch might look pretty smooth in a stylish pair of chinos, but the reality is that since dogs do not have opposable thumbs – they’d have the damnedest time getting the zipper undone when it’s time for them to do their business.

Also now removed from our future plans is the online social site exclusively for gentlemen with excessive back hair and the women who love them. Nope www.fuzzback.com won’t be launched anytime soon. We have returned Robin Williams deposit.

It’s difficult sometimes to let go of your ideas. A crushing of dreams, death to hope. However, occasionally it’s necessary to fire them down in order to allow some of the smarter, better looking ones to grow further upward.

The point of any journey is not to arrive – it’s to enjoy the ride. At our pre-determined halfway point, the point now is not to return.

November 11, 2009 Veterans Day

A Hero Among Us

by Mick DuRussel

One definition of the word “hero” is described as any man who is admired for his courage, nobility, or exploits in war. It is not often that a person gets to meet a genuine American hero. This fantastic moment happened to me eight years ago. My son was in the Boy Scouts at that time. Each year, the troop would hold a Chinese auction to raise funds for themselves. This particular year, 2001, the tragedy of September 11th propelled the troop to not only raise money for their own group but for local families who lost loved ones.

 
I started contacting many companies, foundations and celebrities for donations to be included in the auction. The response was tremendous. One celebrity I got in touch with was Lt. Col. Francis “Gabby” Gabreski. For those of you who are not familiar with Gabreski, he was the top American Ace pilot in World War II. A pilot becomes an Ace with “five” kills, enemy planes shot down. Gabreski scored 28 kills, the most ever for an American pilot. After the war, he worked in the aviation industry and was president of the Long Island Railroad. He was married for 48 years and had nine children. They made their home in Dix Hills on Long Island. His wife died in an automobile accident in 1993.

 
Having known about the great exploits of this American icon, I decided to call him to see if he could donate something for our auction. To my surprise, he answered the phone himself and asked me if I could stop by his home to pick up a signed lithograph. “Absolutely Mr. Gabreski, I will be there shortly!!” I replied. So I drove from my home in Lake Ronkonkoma to his home in Dix Hills. I knocked on the door and an older, fragile gentleman opened it. There before me was “Gabby” Gabreski.
He shook my hand, welcomed me and said to come inside. The home was a cozy family home but seemed to be only inhabited by the great but humble Gabreski. He moved slow and told me he was not well, having just been in the hospital.

 
From the dining room table, he handed me a rolled up lithograph that depicted “Gabby” downing an enemy aircraft in a WWII dogfight. I thanked him for this rare and beautiful piece of art that I knew would bring in a lot of money at the auction.
Before I left, Gabreski asked me if I could do him a favor and give him a jump start in his car. The battery had died.
“It would be my pleasure Mr. Gabreski”. We went outside. His car was in the garage. With him behind the wheel, I pushed the car into the open. I found jumping cables in the garage, pulled my car alongside his and jump started his vehicle within minutes. He was very happy. Before I left, I gave him one of my business cards. “If you ever need help with anything at all, I only work a few miles away in Melville. Please give me a ring and I will be here in a flash!”. He smiled, shook my hand, thanked me and said he surely would call. As I pulled away, he was still sitting in his running car.

 
Less than 3 months later, just before the auction, Gabreski passed away on January 31, 2002. He had just turned 83.
The auction was a huge success. One of the prime items was the signed litho from the late, great Francis Gabreski.
The years have passed. Boy Scouts are a pleasant memory. And that brief moment in time when I got to meet a true American hero is a treasured moment that will forever be etched in my memories.

For more information on Lt. Col. Francis Gabreski, please see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabby_Gabreski

One of the best things about having a magazine is you run across amazing writers, columnist and bloggers. Glenn of Man Over Board runs an online magazine that’s made for a man but is smart and sassy enough for a woman. From health to fashion to humor and news, Glenn is one of the highest ranked bloggers in the blogosphere and for good reason…his site is fantastic!  Glenn interviewed Designer Tristan Christopher and we’re happy to have him as a guest blogger on SpotonLI!  To read more  about Glenn please visit Man Over Board! -Christine Gerani

Interview with Tristan Christopher of Couture Tees

by Glenn of Man Over Board

MOB:Tell me a little about yourself. Where are you from?  What are your general professional and non-professional interests?

TC: My heritage is native American and Caribbean inspired but I call home, my birth and resting, place Redondo Beach California. I aspires to be known as a philanthropist, compassionate, and loving individual. I strive to stay competitive  and competent in many challenging fields, a “renaissance” type character.  Professionally I am focused on creating residual income from various automated business primarily online and wholesales.

MOB: What does Fashion mean to you?

TC: Fashion to me is one of many modes of expression. Wearable art, simple, rAw, refined or elegant, it is a statement and testament to self.

MOB: When did you realize you wanted to become a fashion designer?

 TC: In grade school I often wore garb that was edgy, a talking piece, funky. The attention good or bad motivated me to mold myself from outside in as well as visa versa.

MOB: What was the first article of clothing you ever designed? 

TC: For a project in grade school I used my mothers scrubs. I mixed them with patch work to create what I thought was pajamas you could sport on the playground. Um, I looked silly, but nonetheless it carved a path for me.

MOB: How long does it usually take you to construct a piece?

TC: All of our items are embellished by hand. Although simple, and repetitive, typically an item takes 3-20 minutes. It’s a pop-modernist meets commercial art, Warhol factory of sorts. Samples usually take three or four hours from Concept to conception.

MOB: Describe the general process you go through to design and realize a piece of clothing.

TC: First I decide what canvas “articles of clothing” to use. Then I really feel out it’s geoMetry, color and style. Then I create the art using computer graphic software, paint brush, paints, dye, silk screen, foiling, embroidery, and more.