All of us here at the Holabird Advocate were shocked and just a little saddened by word of the passing of Roger Ebert. Shocked because we had just heard on Wednesday night that his cancer came back. It didn't stay long now did it! Of course we are saddened by the way Ebert was delivered from the cancer, but at least he didn't suffer long!

     Roger Ebert, film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, was part of the team of Siskel and Ebert. His partner, Gene Siskel, film critic for the Chicago Tribune, died in 1999. Our publisher remembers well the first time he saw them in action. It was the first time he saw "Sneak Previews" on PBS. Siskel loved every movie they reviewed that week, while Ebert hated them all. He told Siskel that he was too easy on these films, to which Siskel replied "And you, my friend are too hard". A TV show with 2 film critic talking about movies was real high-brow entertainment in Holabird back in 1977.

     We'd like to think that they are back together in the heavenly theatre, where "Twilight) isn't playing (which, of course, is what makes the theatre heavenly), where Siskel welcomed Ebert saying "Come on up Roger, the balcony is open!"

     Easter was particularly festive for my family and me. This year, I got quite a few items in my Easter basket, including two pounds of chicken, two pounds of turkey, four pounds of hamburger, eight rib steaks, and a can of Manwich.

Now, as the great musical philosopher, Hank Williams Jr. once pointed out, "It's hard to be a bachelor man", and that is true. At least rocking Randall Hank had "girls that can cook, girls that can clean and girls who can do everything in between". When I'm home I do most of my own cooking and cleaning. When i do cook, I keep it simple, and rely on my either my conventional oven or the microwave oven to do most of the cooking work for me.

     However, on Wednesday night, I stepped out of the boat and into the water, leaving my comfort zone far behind, with the can of Manwich. I could have gone online for the microwave cooking instructions, but I was afraid that I might end up with ground beef that tasted like rubber. So I browned some ground beef in my skillet. As it happens this was Ponderosa beef, so I didn't have much grease to drain, then I added the sauce, stirring occasionally until it was boiling. The cooking instructions said to cook until the meat was 160 degrees, but I had no way to take the temperature. I must say that all things being equal, it came out alright. Yes, it was labor intensive, but nothing works up a man sized appetite like preparing your own vittles! I needed an appetite too! The label on the can said there was 7 servings. Since I was the only one there, I had to eat the whole mess myself, which I did.

The next time I go shopping for vittles, I just might pick up another can of Manwich and a pound of ground beef, just to see if I can do better. It's hard to improve the taste of beef that was raised hormone free on the Ponderosa, but I must admit that Manwich comes pretty close! God be with you and do the best you can!