The end of the year is here and 2008 is knocking at the door. Let's take a moment to remember some of the notable, and not so notable, people who passed away in 2007.

This year I noticed several "connections" again and that just freaks me out. Two of the three famous Gallo brothers passed away within 12 days of each other. Lucille Ball's brother and a writer who worked on all her shows died within a month of each other. Lanna Saunders and Edward Mallory, who played brother and sister on Days of Our Lives, died about a month apart. Cartoonists, Johnny Hart & Brant Parker died within days of each other. Fannie Lee Chaney and Carolyn Goodman, whose sons died in the "Mississippi Burning" case, died within three months of each other. Charles Nelson Reilly and Brett Somers, both of "Match Game" fame, died four months apart. Chase J. Nelson and Nolan Herndon, both members of Doolittle's Raiders, died this year. If you notice more connections, let me know.

Here are the 249 people whose deaths were posted here on Slobokan's Site O' Schtuff throughout the year.

January

Gasper, the whale
James Andelin, actor
Frank Campanella, actor
Vincent Sardi, Jr., owner of Sardi's restaurant
Nikki Bacharach, songwriter
Joel Roux-Neville, wife of musician Aaron Neville
Momofuku Ando, inventor of Ramen Noodles
Mario Danelo, NFL kicker
Bobby Hamilton, NASCAR driver
Iwao Takamoto, animator
Carlo Ponti, movie producer
Yvonne De Carlo, actress
Gloria Connors, tennis pro
Jane Bolin, first black woman to graduate from Yale Law School
Ralph, the whale shark
Larry Stewart, Secret Santa
Ward Grant, publicist
Steve Krantz, husband of author Judith Krantz
Michael Brecker, jazz musician
Dora McDonald, secretary for Martin Luther King, Jr.
A.I. Bezzerides, screenwriter
Alice Coltrane, jazz composer
Harvey Cohen, composer
Darlene Conley, actress
Benny Parsons, NASCAR broadcaster, champion.
Thornton James "Pookie" Hudson, singer/songwriter
Art Buchwald, satirist
Ron Carey, actor
Betty Trezza, All-American Girls Professional Baseball player
Denny Doherty, musician
Juanita Cleland, mother of Senator Max Cleland
Eleanor McGovern, wife of Senator George McGovern
Marcheline Bertrand, mother of actress Angelina Jolie
Bob Carroll, Jr., television writer
Sharon Tyler Herbst, cookbook author
Sidney Sheldon, playwright, novelist, screenwriter
Molly Ivins, columnist
Richard Kelley, stepfather of President Bill Clinton

February

Lee Bergere, actor
Billy Henderson, musician
Joe Hunter, bandleader
Pedro Knight, musician
Barbara McNair, actress, singer
Tige Andrews, actor
Frankie Laine, singer
Fred Ball, brother of Lucille Ball
Anna Nicole Smith, Playboy playmate
Ian Richardson, actor
Charles Langford, lawyer for Rosa Parks
Charles Norwood, Congressman from Georgia
Joe Edwards, comic artist
Ray Evans, songwriter
Janet Blair, actress
Daniel McDonald, actor
Joseph Gallo, CEO of Joseph Gallo Farms
Lothar-Guenther Buchheim, author
Walker Edmiston, actor
Herman Brix, aka Bruce Bennett, olympic athlete, actor

March

Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., historian
Myer Feldman, presidential adviser
Bobby Rosengarden, jazz musician
Ernest Gallo, vinyard owner
John Inman, actor
Brad Delp, singer
Richard Jeni, comedian
Billy Walkabout, decorated war veteran
Betty Hutton, actress, singer
Lanna Saunders, actress
Robert W. Young, linguist
Bowie Kuhn, baseball commissioner
Stuart Rosenberg, director
John W. Backus, helped create Fortran
Vilma Ebsen, dancer
Luther Ingram, R&B singer
Larry "Bud" Melman, television personality
Cathy Seipp, blogger
Albert Baez, physicist, father of Joan Baez
Milton Wexler, psychoanalyst
Carol Richards, singer
Eric Medlen, NHRA driver
Henson Gargill, singer
Chase J. Nielsen, World War II veteran

April

Elaine Shore, actress
Robert Clark, director
Mark St. John, guitarist
Edward Mallory, actor
Johnny Hart, cartoonist
Stan Daniels, writer, producer
Roscoe Lee Browne, actor
A.J. Carothers, writer
Kurt Vonnegut, author
Barry Nelson, actor
Don Ho, singer
Patricia Buckley, wife of writer William F. Buckley, Jr.
Brant Parker, cartoonist
Kitty Carlisle Hart, actress
Helen Robson Walton, widow of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton
Lt. Cmdr. Kevin J. Davis, member of the Blue Angels
Boris Yeltsin, former Russian President
Bobby Pickett, singer
Jack Valenti, White House aide, lobbyist
James B. Davis, Sr., singer
Tommy Newsom, bandleader

May

Dabbs Greer, actor
Zola Taylor, singer
Tom Poston, actor
Gordon Scott, actor
Wally Schirra, Mercury Seven astronaut
Alvin Batiste, musician
William Becker, founder of Motel 6
Jerry Falwell, evangelist
Yolanda King, eldest daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Fannie Lee Chaney, mother of Ben Chaney
Marion King Jackson, civil rights pioneer
Bud Molin, film & television editor
Gretchen Wyler, actress
Charles Nelson Reilly, Tony Award winning actor
Paul "Ed" Yost, father of modern hot-air ballooning

June

Pamela Low, scientist who developed coating for cereal
James Deakin, White House correspondent
Bill France, Jr., NASCAR pioneer
Craig Thomas, Senator from Wyoming
Edwin Traisman, scientist who helped develop Cheez Whiz
Homer J. Stewart, rocket scientist
Don Herbert, televisions, "Mr. Wizard"
Mala Powers, actress
Norton, the whale shark
Kurt Waldheim, former UN Secretary-General
Ruth Graham, wife of Rev. Billy Graham
Claudia Cohen, columnist
Richard Bell, songwriter
Ed Friendly, co-creator of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Jim Shoulders, rodeo champion
Bob Evans, restaurant founder
Hank Medress, singer
John "Jack" Flynt, Jr., former Congressman from Georgia
Charles Lindberg, U.S. Marine who raised flag over Iwo Jima
Ralph F. Stayer, founder of Johnsonville brats
Liz Claiborne, fashion designer
Robert Vincent Wright, television writer
Joel Siegel, movie critic

July

Beverly Sills, opera diva
Art Stevens, animator
Hy Zaret, lyricist
Boots Randolph, saxophone player
Linda Pace, heir to Pace Foods
Will Schaefer, composer
Bill Pinkney, musician
Robert Brown, cartoonist
Charles Lane, actor
Doug Marlette, cartoonist
Kerwin Mathews, actor
Lady Bird Johnson, former first lady
William Seegers, German World War I veteran
Jack Odell, engineer
Mark Sneed, president of Philips restaurant chain
Tammy Faye Messner, television personality
Ron Miller, songwriter
Laszlo Kovacs, cinematographer
Mike Reid, actor
Tom Snyder, talk show host
Ingmar Bergman, director
Bill Walsh, football coach

August

Jerry Ringlien, creator of "My bologna has a first name"
Alice Borchardt, writer
Oliver W. Hill, civil rights lawyer
Lee Hazlewood, sing, songwriter
James Callahan, actor
Mel Shavelson, director, producer
Betunia, the giraffe
James Faust, LDS Church leader
Merv Griffin, television legend
Brooke Astor, civic leader
Phil Rizzuto, baseball shortstop
Robert Todd Williams, brother of Robin Williams
Max Roach, musician
Carolyn Goodman, mother of Andrew Goodman
Michael Deaver, White House aide for President Reagan
Leona Helmsley, hotelier
Charles Comiskey II, grandson of Chicago White Sox founder
Galina Dzhugashvili, granddaughter of Josef Stalin
Arthur Jones, Nautilus inventor
Richard Jewell, falsely accused of Olympic Park bombing
Jose Luis de Vilallonga, author,actor
Alfred Peet, founded Peet's Coffee & Tea

September

Michael Jackson, beer critic
Janis Martin, musician
D. James Kennedy, megachurch pastor
Paul Gillmor, Congressman from Ohio
Marcia Mae Jones, actress
Luciano Pavarotti, opera tenor
Effi Barry, former wife of Washington, D.C. mayor Marion Barry
Madeleine L'Engle, author
Jane Wyman, actress
Ralph Kent, cartoonist
Brett Somers, actress
Robert Jordan, author
Alice Ghostley, actress
Marcel Marceau, mime
Michael Evans, actor
Wally Parks, NHRA founder
Lois Maxwell, actress
Martin Manulis, producer

October

Al Chang, photographer
George Grizzard, actor
Nolan Herndon, Doolittle Raider
John Henry, racehorse
Bud Ekins, off-road racer
Charles Griffith, screenwriter
Werner von Trapp, member of the "Sound Of Music" musical family
Carol Bruce, actress
Deborah Kerr, actress
Teresa Brewer, singer
Joey Bishop, comedian
Vincent DeDomenico, co-inventor of Rice-A-Roni
Eve Curie Labouisse, daughter of Marie Curie
Judy Mazel, author
Porter Wagoner, musician
Chef Tell, television chef
Robert Goulet, singer

November

Pual Tibbets, World War II pilot
George Osmond, patriarch of the Osmond family
Hank Thompson, singer
Barbara West Dainton, Titanic survivor
Norman Mailer, author
Laraine Day, actress
Delbert Mann, director
Ira Levin, writer
Martha Kostyra, mother of Martha Stewart
Dick Wilson, "Mr Whipple"
Patricia Crane, actress
Herbert Saffir, engineer
Mel Tolkin, television writer
Henry Hyde, former Congressman from Illinois
Evel Knievel, daredevil

December

Raleigh "Dusty" Rhodes, early leader of the Blue Angels
David "Chip" Reese, high-stakes poker player
Ike Turner, musician
Freddie Fields, agent, producer
Floyd Red Crow Westerman, American Indian activist, actor, singer
Dan Fogelberg, singer/songwriter
Tom Murphy, Former Georgia House Speaker
Joel Dorn, record producer
Frank Capra, Jr., producer
J. Russell Coffey, World War I veteran
Benazir Bhutto, former Pakistani leader
Joe Dolan, musician
Tab Thacker, actor
Weepin' Willie Robinson, blues singer

May they all rest in peace.

Here's what happened after Domino's canvased our neighborhood for a week.

I screwed something up when I was converting it, but it's the thought that counts, right? I really need a Mac.

Click To Play

Happy New Year!

Download the podcast: Test Pattern – Episode #38

I know things have been slow around here for a while, but things are going to pick up again now that the holidays are over.

I hope you and your family had a great holiday season, and more importantly, I hope you all have a wonderful and happy new year!

As southern tradition dictates, we'll be celebrating with a nice big pot of black-eyed peas. The wife has added the hambone we saved from Thanksgiving, and all should be good with the world.

Happy New Year!

"Weepin'" Willie Robinson, a blues singer who performed with Steven Tyler and Bonnie Raitt but also spent time homeless, has died at age 81.

Robinson had been a sharecropper, an Army veteran and a friend of performers, including B.B. King.

"He was truly the elder statesman of the (Boston) blues. He was our godfather. He was the most dear man," Holly Harris, host of "Blues on Sunday" on WBOS radio, told The Boston Globe for Monday's editions.

…

His wife, Alice, died four decades ago.

Rest In Peace, Willie.

Valley Fever is dangerous. My father almost died from an infection of Valley Fever. Back in 1997 he contracted it, and it led to two different forms of meningitis. He ended up having Valley Fever, bacterial meningitis, viral meningitis, and a staph infection all at the same time, and he almost died from it.

When any of the 5,300 inmates at Pleasant Valley State Prison begin coughing and running a fever, doctors do not think flu, bronchitis or even the common cold.

They think valley fever; and, more often than they would like, they are right.

In the past three years, more than 900 inmates at the prison have contracted the fever, a fungal infection that has been both widespread and lethal.

At least a dozen inmates here in Central California have died from the disease, which is on the rise in other Western states, including Arizona, where the health department declared an epidemic after more than 5,500 cases were reported in 2006, including 33 deaths.

Endemic to parts of the Southwest, valley fever has been reported in recent years in a widening belt from South Texas to Northern California. The disease has infected archaeologists digging at the Dinosaur National Monument in Utah and dogs that have inhaled the spores while sniffing for illegal drugs along the Mexican border.

In most cases, the infection starts in the lungs and is usually handled by the body without permanent damage. But serious complications can arise, including meningitis; and, at Pleasant Valley, the scope of the outbreak has left some inmates permanently disabled, confined to wheelchairs and interned in expensive long-term hospital stays.

The people of Coalinga have dealt with Valley Fever for generations, so why did the state build a prison there? Makes you wonder doesn't it? Maybe someone at the state level needs a good colon cleanse. What do you think? It obviously wouldn't hurt, unless of course, their head is shoved up there, then it might get a bit disgusting.

Last night I was having a hell of a time with my internet connection. I don't know what it is that Bellsouth AT&T does but ever since Bellsouth and AT&T became one big happy family again, my internet connection has been spotty as all heck.

I knew it was coming. I mentioned it back in October. As soon as AT&T got their hands on my little DSL modem's neck, all heck was going to break loose and it seems to have done just that. The problem I have with internet providers is the same problem I have with television providers. I have limited choices.

Cable does not run down my street. Why? I have no idea. I bet, if Charter Communications ran the cable down our street on a Monday, they would get 30 subscribers before Friday. But they wont, at least they say they wont. Heck, if someone selling satellite internet walked door to door on our street, they would probably pick up more than their fair share too.

My only options for internet access are dialup (via AT&T), DSL (via AT&T) and high speed satellite internet. I actually looked into HughesNet back in October, but I even with AT&T's crappy service, I could not justify the extra expense.

Satellite internet access has certainly come a long way in the past five years. Every time I think about it, I see all these bits of computer data streaming from the roof of my house up to the stars. I know, I am weird.

Tab Thacker, an NCAA championship wrestler who appeared in two "Police Academy" films and other Hollywood movies, has died after a long illness complicated by diabetes, according to North Carolina State University. He was 45.

…

After his Hollywood stint, Thacker returned to Raleigh and opened a remodeling business and Heavyweight Bail Bonds.

He is survived by his three children Tahj, Raven and T.J.

Rest In Peace, Tab.

My grandfather died eight years ago, in fact, the anniversary of his death was just 11 days ago. I still miss him.

Before he died he was trying to teach me all about the stock market, long and short-term trading, and the advantages to having a very diverse portfolio. I never really "caught the fever" so to speak, because it was all Greek to me.

He was a great person and a very smart man, I wish now that I would have listened to him. I wish I would have paid attention and actually allowed him to mentor me when it came to the market. There are so many different types of investments to make, different ways you can trade stocks, like position trading, and so many different things to keep your eye on, I don't know if I will ever catch on, but I am trying.

I realize now, more than eight years later, the importance of making your money work for you, whether you invest it all for the long term, or whether you want to get into swing trading stocks.

He used to tell me that once I got my money working for me, I'd do okay. Now pardon me while I go do the dishes. My money says it can't do that yet either.

I've always been somewhat of an introvert. Except for a brief period of about five years, I have always felt more secure in a small close-knit group rather than in a large crowd of people. Blogging has brought out a lot in me, in the fact that I now feel comfortable enough to share with people, even if it is not face to face.

During that five years though, I was quite a character. I toyed with many different ideas and kept all my career options open. At one point I wanted to work in radio, or even doing voice overs, but once reality sunk in and I realized that many, many people would hear me, I would get nervous and rethink my idea.

I think I would have been good at voice overs, but not now. The field is very competitive for voice over talent and I don't think I would stand a chance. Plus, I love doing our weekly podcast, and I am looking forward to returning with my Test Pattern videos real soon.

When I think of voice talent, I can hear some of the more famous voices in my head. No, I do not hear these voices all the time, only when I am thinking of the talented people who do the voice overs.

I bet you're hearing one of them right now.

While promotional products have been my greatest tool for spreading the word about my blogs, my wife's greatest asset has been the brochures that she placed in local businesses over the course of the past year.

She first got the idea for Brochure Printing when she was in a local fabric store and noticed a few index cards and brochures for custom sewing on their back wall. She knew then that she needed to do something like that to help build her business, and it worked.

Within a week or so she had a basic concept of what she was looking for and set her sights on finding a company that specialized in Cheap Brochure Printing. BY the end of the next week she had the first box of 250 brochures to start handing out.

She placed several at the local fabric stores, and a few in the hobby and craft sections of other stores she would frequent. She received quite a few calls based on those brochures and within a month she made enough money to justify the cost of getting them all printed. All 1000 of them.

Getting the word out by using printing services really worked out for her, and the word of mouth from satisfied customers has kept people coming back ever since.