Responses & Comments Received

Should have started saving various comments and responses I received in regards to my art/missives emails a long time ago. Some have been hilarious, some vulgar, some uplifting and some not so complimentary. Plan to share some of the ones I may receive in the future here with you. As is my normal policy, I will not publish the authors identity, unless they specifically request I do so. Please keep responding, as have I have requested and keep the "Crazy Croatian" inspired and informed.

In Regards To "We're All Tied Together By The Past And Future"

In Regards To "Never To Be Held And Rocked Again"

Life is not forever, but we (I) like to deny that.

Really like this peice. Sorry you are missing Walter. I remember the stories you shared with me. Keep up the good work.

You know John that was a great piece. What a nice tribute.

Very strong piece, simple but very poignant.

In Regards To "Different Approaches And Methods"

Don't mention Geeks Squad. Feel like the young man who repeatedly returns for repairs is our third child. He actually spends more time here than our kids.

You missed your calling.

In Regards To "We Were Taught To....."

His mom would have appreciated this piece.

That was a very nice little way to let Bub know how special he's been in your life. I also like the bit about bringing tootsie pops to the dentist office...one of the things I always admired and perhaps envied a little is your rebellion. YOU GO, BOY!

Think you have written my eulogy.

I got busy and didn't realize I never read the email until today. This was an interesting read. You are a very good story-teller. I felt like I was going thru those many years with you and Bub Mayhew. Of course I enjoyed this piece too.

In Regards To "Teach Them To....."

Really like this piece. Remember I have a birthday coming up.

When you go off on one of your rants you don't spare anyone. Remind me to call before I stop by in the future.

Your'e still a primadonna and self-righteous, but then again that's just you.

In Regards To "He Worked For So Many Without A Net"

Happy 76th Birthday :) or was it 67th?:) Hope you'll have a grand time right now, I wish you many good years in the best of health!!!

Regards,

M*******, J** and A********

Abigail and Cloe the Pointer Sisters

Pierre, Cho Cheng and Louis the rabbits

Snooki the rat

The parakeets

How many more times are you going to take us down MEMORY LANE?

Granted there are those out there that unselfishly work to help others find their way. Unfortunately the are becoming a vanishing breed.

(Thank all of you who remembered my birthday, even if for some it took a reminder from me. Will try to be a little more subtle next year, just in case one might forget.)

In Regards To "Thru Them The Ship Sails On And Life Keeps Rolling Along"

Good to see some of your humor creeping back in. Was beginning to worry about you.

Was happy to finally hear that you creative geniuses have stolen most of your ideas. Get tired of hearing, was sleeping, had this dream, woke up, sketched it real quick and here is my masterpiece.

The thought of the hummingbirds reminds me of our visit. Never knew they were such violent little creatures. Did the vodka you put in the one feeder have an effect on the sparrows who had tried to take it over?

In Regards To "The Hall Of Fame Of The Very Special"

Hang in there brother. You may feel like you lost, but you actually gained by knowing these individuals. Only knew Walter, but heard you talk about the others. Do know they all had great influences on you and how much their friendships meant. Am here if you need.

Simple but powerful piece. We often don't give enough credit to those that helped pave the way for us.

Wasn't Walter putting together a book about special memories and those special people and events in our lives?

In Regards To "Simple Tribute To Walter A. Verbanic"

Received numerous responses to the posting about Walter. Heard from family, friends and associates who knew him over the years. Thank all of you for your support in trying to deal with this loss. Have also passed on your condolences to his family. We were all fortunate to have had him in our lives and know we will a miss him.

In Regards To "Feed The Kitty"

You have a sick mind, but this is really a funny piece.

We have enough nightmares dealing with our own kids. Why would we want to compound our problems by adopting one of yours.

You sometimes talk out of both sides of your mouth. You want to deny others help, but want the government to bail you out when things don't go your way.

Where and how do you come up with this stuff? One thing for sure, you have consistently been out there all of these years.

In Regards To "Pursuing The Golden Goose"

What are the options if you weren't born with a silver spoon or inherited a trust fund?

Frienships are really the golden eggs in life. Know without certain friends, couldn't have made it through some of those rough times in life.

Are you going to have a real New Year's party or just mentally masturbate like you do in some of these emails? Las Vegas must not be the exciting place they would have us believe. Maybe you should get out a bit and enjoy it or open a church and do your preaching there.

Memory Lane. Is that somewhere between Minnesota Ave. and Armstrong Ave.?

In Regards To My Christmas Messaage (also included below)

Merry Christmas.......Happy Hanukkah.......Festive Kwanzaa and of course.......Happy New Year !!!!!!!!!!

To Each and All,

As usual, I didn't make it out there on time to purchase the appropriate cards to send to each of you for the upcoming holidays. However, I will be having my annual cerebral parties and you are all invited. You can't opt out of attending, as I have total control of your attendance. I also have the control of your actions and behavior. It is a quite unique way of getting many together and showing the good, the bad and the ugly sides of all of us. It is like editing a video or film. I simply plug in a sequence or scene, which I have experienced with each of you over the years, not necessarily only holiday events. Over the years we have had some great and memorable bashes together. Won't go into specifics, as not to embarrass anyone. We all know when we have been really GOOD and when we have been really BAD. Sometimes the venue may start as a in-home gathering, then it can expand into a crowd large enough to fill Yankee Stadium. I feel honored in a way that so many of you have given me so much, that I can make these events last for minutes, hours or even days. If I were running for political office and your contributions were converted to dollars, my campaign funding chest would make B.O.'s billion dollars look like a child's piggy bank. Want to thank each and every one of you and wish I could shake your hand or give you a big hug. What I cherish the most, is that you have not given me campaign dollars, but have given me parts of your lives and have afforded me far more happiness and warmth than I probably deserve. Really am looking forward to the upcoming festivities with you. Similar to the saying about what happens in Las Vegas, "What happens in the Crazy Croatian's mind, stays in the Crazy Croatian's mind". Truly, do have much happiness and give hugs to all around you, especially those shy or not quite confident souls trying to hide in some corner.

That was a great email to receive and read. So good, in fact, it deserves a re-read often.

Merry Christmas Baby! Gotta go! Run Rudolph, run, run, run.

Thanks Jon and the same to you, except maybe the Kwanzaa thing.

When we gather with friends and family we are always reminded of you. Thank you for all yor efforts that have made our house truly a home.

The last time I sat on Santa's lap, I remember what you tried to do.

Remember when you were the drunken Santa in the annual 6th Street Christmas parade. All of the kids were probably wondering if they would get their gifts. Heard a few say they should leave a beer and a shot. Forget the cookies and milk. Have a good one Wild Man.

If anyone deserves to be merry, happy and festive, it's not you. Seriously the best from the both of us.

Do you still wear that Star of David pinky ring so you don't have to but Xmas gifts?

When you made those little brown gift bags to give to the strange and homeless on Magnolia, it really touched me. Getting something they never expected probably meant a lot to them. You aren't as cold as you sometimes make out to be.

Still waiting for special gift you promised me. How many years is it now?

In Regards to "Coasting And Running On Fumes"

A very clever, serious, good-looking piece. Like it a lot.

Your references to early shopping days was very funny.

John,

You do know you are predisposed to thinking about the END game. Baby, Senior, and of course Destiny the driver are depicted, but what about the yin and yang, where is the women figure, how can man continue to roll without his rib being beside him, or of course if you believe in Sharia law, beneath him and subjected to slavery. I think the following poem has a direct correlation to the work you just accomplished.

The clock of life is wound but once,

And no man has the power

To tell just when the hands will stop

At late or early hour.

To lose one's wealth is sad indeed,

To lose one's health is more,

To lose one's soul is such a loss

That no man can restore.

The present only is our own,

So Live, Love, toil with a will --

Place no faith in 'Tomorrow' --

For the clock may then be still.

Do you make all those little people?

That looks like a cheery Sunday drive to oblivion. The only thing missing is the rabbit crushed under the tire and a "road under construction" sign.

Hey Bubba,

Me and all the other boys at NASCAR ( f that Danica whatsherlastname ) really liked your last work of art. Hell, Johnnie Michael Boy, we think it ought to be place in the NASCAR Hall of Fame right next to Dale Earnhardt.

Damn, it would be a nice memorial headstone to that flamer.

You really captured the spirit of racing and the progress of a driver in that piece of art. Why when I was a little boy I used to go spread eagle on the hood of my pappy’s 53 Hudson Hornet then I progressed to riding ‘shotgun’ when he was running white lighting through the Kentucky back roads. We’d be singing: “There was thunder, thunder, over thunder road, Thunder was his engine and white lighting was his load. There was moonshine, moonshine to quench the devil’s thirst, The law they swore they’d get him but the devil got him first.” Yeah, those were the days, it’s a sorry world now when all we can do is cruise to the QT and pick up a couple of 2 fer $2 dollar Millers.

But back to your artistic rendition, dems some big tires to do racin with, maybe you ought to skinny down dem hogs, huh?

Maybe you might want to do another work about a drive-in movie theater complete with a back seat and popcorn all over the floor. Sticky stuff that popcorn when you get all done with everything, ha, ha Johnnie Michael Boy, that ever happen to you with anyone you’d like to name!!! Yee Haw!!!

Well, I’ll bet you’ll hear from a lot of folks, admirers, bout this construction but I just want to let you know we all here at NASCAR loved it.

The Nascar Boys.

In Regards to "They Kept Waiting, Waiting, Waiting......But Got No Answers"

Please check this out and send it on. Hopefully the Congress will be reminded who they work for.

Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling:

"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election. The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971...before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc. Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land...all because of public pressure.

Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise. In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed around.

*Congressional Reform Act of 2011*

1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S.) to receive the message.

Maybe it is time.

THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!!!!! If you agree with the above, pass it on. If not, just delete. You are one of my 20. Please keep it going.

"Anybody who knows all about nothing knows everything" -- Leonard Susskind

**I love this one. I think you've nailed it.**

**Yes i think you are right, I think we will be waiting for a while. I try not to think about it too much. That does'nt mean my head is in the sand. They just try to dazzle us with bull shit.**

**I hate politics and can't believe people are as stupid as they are....it's so depressing....so instead of sitting in your rocking chair-- come visit us... we can listen to Bob Dylan together on the front porch!!! **

In Regards to "CSL: Croatian As A Second Language"

Dear JohnMichael,

I’ve enjoyed receiving your emails and sampling your art and even though I have a very busy schedule as POTUS shooting off drones and making important decisions about the economic future of America I’ve taken some time while traveling on this big black bus (aka BBB) to respond to your invitation to provide my comments on your latest creation.

First, what the hell is Croatian and what does it mean to me, and the world? I called in my political advisors and they explained to me that it’s some kind of ethnic minority; and I asked them what we were doing to get their support and votes for the upcoming election, even though I’m not campaigning right now, I wanted to know how important a group this would be to my re-election.

Since I found out that Croats are really “flat-heads” and “hunkies”, not to be confused with “honkies”, and have a long tradition of political patronage I thought they’ll be behind me and I should recognize one of their “exceptional” ( gotta be careful with that word), artists.

So, here’s my review of your latest artistic work, Michelle, who is really into the arts chipped in. And please let me know what “chernney” means, seems like no one here has any idea, better get some ‘flat-head” on staff, I guess.

I see JohnMichael’s “CSL” as a political statement on the current situations we as American’s face. It is a multi-plastic, multi-representational and multi-contented work. In it I see statements about the Republican Presidential Candidates who are all white, including Herman Cain, (wait until Rev. Wright starts to lay into him for having the name and identity of the first murderer).

I also see the droves of Occupy Wall Street community organizers standing up against the devils of Capitalism, these hard protesting saviors of socialism, I mean democracy who are just doing what those racist, Nazi teabag party members were doing just a few months ago, and got lots of support from middle class America, Don’t worry, my media will soon turn Occupy Wall Street into a Mother Teresa figure.

JohnMichael, has seen and represented me as the Top Dog standing with the black and white spotted dog – hey, I’m half white and half black aren’t I, I could have been spotted you know.

Some people have called me an “egotist” that I use the word “I” to much, I say that depends on what your definition of “I” is.

Finally, JohnMichael’s use of the “teleprompter” in this work is a testament to my ability to read well, which I do. When I see those words I can just go on and on until they tell me to stop. I like to read what I say, it helps me from making those stupid statements like Joe Biden makes. OK, I did screw up when I said. “Those shovel ready projects weren’t shovel ready”, but give a guy a break – who blames George W. Bush for that “WMD” statement, not me.

I just wish there was something in this artwork that had to do with ‘green energy’ or ‘solar power’, that would have made his work eligible for a nice fat government secured loan to hire some people to make more.

All in all, I have to say that I really appreciate being immortalized in this work of art and look forward to finding a space on the Washington Memorial location of Martin Luther King to permanently install this masterpiece, I only wonder if it is big enough.

P.S. I’ve included a personal photo of me for you.

JMD,

Shit and all this time I just thought it was a drive-in movie screen and the crowd was a portrayal of my youth in the 50's-60's that allowed us to go see the "big" screen as well a cop a feel, drink beer, and mostly mess around with our date. LUCKY anyone. But...as we all knew, some of those cars or trucks had mom's and dad's with youn'uns in them and sometimes we just pulled up a chair in the bed of the pick-em-up truck and watched the movie with two speakers, if no one was next to us. I guess that truly was the first surround sound. And of course when the refreshment cartoon played we got to see who was with who as they "Hurried on down to the snack bar" to either grab a snack or empty a bladder, or just talk and giggle as the young ladies did about their date or what they had "already" done. Damn life was sure simpler then and maybe we should head back that way. Maybe the first Croat had unrealized a memory.

"By the way, if the Prez doesn't know what a Croat is then maybe he should re-think Bosnia."

Another enjoyable piece which enabled me to learn more Croation through your creative ability and Walter's analysis. Thanks to you both, I am now becoming less and less of a dunav!