Dead or Alive?

This is getting ridiculous-false or incorrect celebrity death notices seem to be poping up a lot on the internet.I just saw one for Morgan Freeman, sadly proclaiming that he died on Thursday.I was shocked by this, and wondered why I hadn't seen anything in the news about his passing- for about a second- then figured it was probably a hoax.(Maybe someone thought the empty chair Clint Eastwood was talking to signified that his old friend was gone...) This kind of stuff is terrible- and,, of course, the internet spreads it like wildfire. There are enough uninformed and gullible people who take it as fact and spread the word far too quickly. It seems like only about a week ago that this internet death squad was mourning the passing of Bill Cosby-whom, it would seem, is just as alive as Mr. Freeman.Then, there's the retro death sundrome- a friend posted on my Facebook wall that Bob Denver, Gilligan of "Gilligan's Island" had passed away. I think I also saw some sort of other posting previously. Yes, sadly, he is dead- and has been since about 2005. I've heard people play the "Dead or Alive?" game- is this celebrity still with us, or has he or she joined the choir invisible? This just came up between a good friend and I-regarding Noah Beery, Jim Rockford's dad on "The Rockford Files" (by the way- he left us in 1994...)It's one thing to question a celeb's existence, but quite another to pronounce him DOA to the world when he is NOT. Always keep in mind- if it's a fairly well-known person- you'll see the information on TV or in newspapers (you know- those "dead' mediums- hmmm... maybe the reports of THEIR deaths are also incorrect?) I love the surprises we encounter- last Friday, I exited the elevator at our station, only to walk right into (not literally) James Hampton. Mr. Hampton is well-remembered as the dad in the original "Teen Wolf" movie, from the black-outs on "Love: American Style", his role as the caretaker in "The Longest Yard",and, of course, as the hard-luck bugler Hannibal Dobbs on the classic TV show "F Troop"! He was at our studios to record some things for us while in town for one of those Hollywood autograph events. Mr Hampton and his wife are both big fans of Me-TV- it's so nice to see that the people who were involved in classic television- from Bob Newhart to Carl Reiner to Marla Gibbs-really enjoy what we're doing and appreciate the respect and love we have for their work. I'm writing this before a decision has been made whether or not to have the Chicago teachers go on strike today- I hope they don't. I was reflecting on my days at school- I really liked it, for the most part.I was a small kid who was kind of intelligent (and thusly, a target for bullies) and I mostly got good grades- until it came to penmanship.When it came to cursive writing, my report card always had "D"s under the penmanship heading.My printing was fine, but- my handwriting was awful.(What irony that now people ask for my signature!) I think this was partially a product of my hand not being able to keep up with my mind. I was wondering-do they still grade penmanship in grade school? With almost everybody typing things into a computer- do they even care if the kid's penmanship is bad? Since keyboarding is taught so early in school now, how much importance is placed on handwriting neatness? It would seem more important to place emphasis on spelling- since the texting shorthand certainly doesn't promote correct spelling, and , as we all know, spellcheck doesn't always work correctly. Isn't that sum thing?...hey, weight a minute...