Deaths In The Family

Above, my cousins Ralph, Rosemarie, Maria and I with Santa last Christmas
Eve. The record album was a present to me from Ralph. Photo by Ashley Kerr.

Our family suffered two losses this week. Both were totally unexpected.

My cousin Lucia's husband Jeff passed away on Sunday from organ failure. This was a shock as I just saw him on July 1 at my cousin Maria's party and he seemed to look better than he had for quite a while. He had a great sense of humor and we talked for a long while about everything ranging from cigars to recreational vehicles. He wanted to eventually get a RV to travel around. Services will be held this coming week. He will be missed.

Then this happened.

Today, I received a call from my cousin Ralph's phone. As I was driving, I couldn't answer it. Later I called back after arriving at In 'N Out Burger in Northridge. The connection was bad and I thought they said they were from a gas station who had his phone and were trying to get it back to him. Then the connection was cut off.

Several minutes later, I received another call from my cousin's phone. This time the connection was better and it was the sheriff's station. They said that my cousin Ralph had been found deceased in his room in Bellflower. They asked what my relationship was to him. I told them we are cousins. They asked if Ralph had any known medical problems. I told them that he had heart problems. I was asked if he had any children or other family. I told them no and that I will have his sister Rosemarie contact them. She's pretty much the head of their family since my Aunt Rose passed away last year.

Thankfully, my former roommate Jes was with me so she had a pen and paper for me to write down the detectives' information.

I then tried to contact my other cousins to get Rosemarie's phone number. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, I reached my cousin Annette and got Rosemarie's phone number from her.

Then I had the sad duty to inform Rosemarie about Ralph's death and give her the sheriff's information. That was tough.

She later told me that the sheriff told her that there was no foul play involved and that Ralph passed away from natural causes. And, also, he had pre-arranged funeral plans already in place.

Up to now, that is all I know about the situation.

It took about a couple of hours for this to sink in. Now I am just stunned beyond belief. Ralph and I have been hanging out together for lunches and hitting used record stores such as CD Trader, Amoeba Music and others in Burbank for the past several months. Those were good times. We last communicated two nights ago and it was about Jeff's funeral services. He was like a younger brother to me and he will be sorely missed.

Having two unexpected passings in the family within a week is a double whammy, to put it mildly.

Two nights ago, Ralph said this about Jeff:

It is hard right now. Stay positive. Remember he's out of pain, in the Lord's hands. That's a good thing.

That now applies to Ralph.

Scored At Amoeba Music

Above, House of Dark Shadows VHS signed by Jonathan
 Frid and Kathryn Leigh Scott. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Much of today was spent down in Hollywood with my cousin Ralph.

Before heading to Hollywood, we stopped at Vip's cafe in Tarzana for breakfast.

Following breakfast, we then headed to Amoeba Music on Sunset Blvd. Amoeba Music is a huge store that sells new and used CDs, DVDs, vinyl records and other items of entertainment.

I managed to pick up the last two Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry movies: Sudden Impact (1983) and The Dead Pool  (1988). I already have both movies on VHS, but with a price tag of $2.99 each, I figured I'd get them.

But, for me, the buy of the day was a VHS copy of House of Dark Shadows (1970). I already have it on Blu-ray, but the VHS tape Amoeba Music had for sale was autographed by Jonathan Frid (Barnabas Collins) and Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie Evans). The price of the tape was lower than what one would expect to pay just for an autograph at a convention. Plus, it can now be considered a "rare" collectible since Jonathan Frid passed away a few years ago.

Ralph picked up a poster and several CDs.

I am very pleased with my purchases.

Lost Photos Found

Above, The Beast at Los Banos KOA. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

For months my SD card was rattling around inside of my phone. Somehow, without me knowing it, it popped out of its slot.

The only thing I noticed was that I lost a lot of storage capacity.

Two days ago, I went with Jes when she went to get a new phone. While there, I opened the back of my phone to see whereabouts my SD card goes. As soon as I opened the phone there it was just sitting there.

I took a look to see where it was supposed to go and found it. After sliding it into its slot, almost immediately many photo files popped back up. I thought those photo files were gone due from accidentally deleting them.

Here's some of the "long-lost" photos:

Above, The Beast at Reseda Automotive. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, Amoeba Music in Hollywood. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the Museum of Death in Hollywood. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, inside Amoeba Music in Hollywood. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, yours truly speaking on Godzilla locations in San Francisco. 

Above, The Beast at the Avenal-Coalinga Rest Area. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, Superman at Santa Monica's 3rd Street Promenade. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, Tokyo Skytree at dawn. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, Dodger Stadium. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Museum of Death and Amoeba Music

An interesting, yet enjoyable, day was spent today with my daugher Amber and her boyfriend Neil at the Hollywood Museum of Death and at Amoeba Music.

Museum of Death

Above, the front of the Hollywood Museum of Death. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I've heard of the Museum of Death, but never visited it. Until today.

The museum has an interesting collection of death-related items from many sources.

According to their website:

The Museum of Death houses the world's largest collection of serial murderer artwork, photos of the Charles Manson crime scenes, the guillotined severed head of the Blue Beard of Paris (Henri Landru), original crime scene and morgue photos from the grisly Black Dahlia murder, a body bag and coffin collection, replicas of full size execution devices, mortician and autopsy instruments, pet death taxidermy, and so much more! 

Also on display are videos of autopsies and serial killers, the Heaven's Gate Cult recruiting video, and the infamous Traces (not Faces) of Death video, all real (not re-enacted) death footage.

Along with the aforementioned, there is a large collection of traffic accidents showing the poor souls who were killed and a section on cults.

They don't allow photography or videography in the museum and they are planning to produce a book (or booklet) of the museum.

The museum is not for everyone, especially those who are sensitive, as many of the items are gruesome.

For more information on the Museum of Death, go here.

*****

Amoeba Music

Above, the front of Amoeba Music. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Following our visit to the Museum of Death, we then headed over to Amoeba Music on Sunset Blvd. I've always wanted to stop in at Amoeba Music (my former roommate Jessica and I have often talked about doing so), but never got around to it).

Amoeba Music is a big store of new and used vinyl LPs, CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays, books and audios equipment.

Above, a view of the inside of Amoeba Music. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The store has something for everybody, although I was disappointed that they did not have (admittedly rare) some music albums I have been searching for.

Above, another view of the inside of Amoeba Music. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Still, Amoeba Music will most likely have what you want and their staff is eager and willing to help you find it.

If you find yourself in Hollywood, both the Museum of Death and Amoeba Music are places that you should visit.