When "Alky" came on the screen, Frank would sit there seriously absorbed as if he were pondering great art. With good reason, as getting those little clay figures to move, with time lapse photography, was rumored to be a difficult process developed by George Pal. Sometimes I would hear about a television show coming up that I knew Frank would like, like when they were going to reveal some of the secrets of the old Puppetoons and claymation, I'd tell my sister she should call Frank and invite him over to watch the show, and he'd come over.

Frank liked puppets. One time we even watched some old reruns of Fearless Fosdick, and because Frank was trying to grow a mustache, and because Fearless was wearing not his usual black suit but a gray one and was sitting or standing near a desk without his hat on, I told Frank he looked like Fearless Fosdick, which he accepted as a great compliment. I think it was Fearless Fosdick.

He'd watched all these shows, too, when he was younger and they were televised. So we'd talk about important things, "Remember when they finally showed Beanie's legs?" (when Beanie flew through the air in an episode) and he would remember that particular episode because it was so culturally significant.  ¶ 1/13/2011 03:49:00 PM