The Story of Funny Faces

I only saw my father cry twice.

He was crippled up with Progressive Supra-Nuclear Palsy both times. The worst kind of Parkinsonism you can get. That wasn’t why he was crying though. Muhammed Ali’s neurologist said my father’s PSP had two features worse than just regular PSP. Most people with that severe PSP don’t survive for more than a year. My Dad lasted eight.

He could take that. The first time he really cried was when his best friend’s son died in a plane crash. He cried so hard. He was so upset it really startled me. It made me think of how much more he would cry if I had died. That is when I knew, really knew that my father loved me.

The second time I saw him really break down was about two months after September 11, 2001. He had read a story in a magazine about a little girl whose father died in the towers. She said she would never see his funny face again.

When I spoke about all this in his eulogy after he died in 2003, I told about how much my Dad loved to make Funny Faces with his kids. It was his favorite thing to do. The last thing I said was that he was the “The King of Funny Faces.”

Sometime around 2008, I realized this:  

The King is Dead! Long live the King of Funny Faces!

9/11/11

I was with my father 10 years ago today. I was getting ready for work upstairs when I saw the towers begin to fall. I ran down crazily to tell him "The twin towers are collapsing." He couldn't believe it until I turned on the TV and there they were. He told me to go to work. I worked in Secaucus, New Jersey, just across the river. My shift started at 11 am. Many of my co-workers watched the second plane hit from their window. I never made it to work, though. The roads were closed. I went to a Blood Bank to see if I could donate blood, but the line was already 40 or 50 people long, so I decided just to go to a car dealership and get some work that needed to be done on my car since I had the day off. I sat in the waiting room watching the news by myself for a long time.

A few weeks later, I remember walking in on my dad. He was crying terribly. I learned that he had just read a story in a magazine or something about a little girl who was never going to see "daddy's funny faces" again. I mentioned this as part of his story at my father's memorial service. It is the origin of the phrase "The King of Funny Faces".

The Death of Marat

One Year Ago Today the King of Funny Faces Got a Tattoo



It's a thin, one inch, teardrop shaped black stab wound under my right collarbone.



It looks like the wound in "Death of Marat" by David.



Enjoy the rest of this program about the French painter:

BBC's The Power of Art - David p4

BBC's The Power of Art - David p5

BBC's The Power of Art - David p6

How I Spent March 4, 2010

March 4th, 2010 - The Seventh Anniversary of my Father's Death

First I got into an argument with someone on the phone.

Then I met and talked with some friends and calmed down.

Then I got on my bike.

Then I had lunch at Mama's Pizza.



Then I rode up Schooley's Mountain. I had to walk up most of the way. But when I got to the top, I rested at the Schooley's Mountain General Store for a while.

Then I went to Rock Spring Park.



Then I sat on the Throne of Funny Faces.



I listened to a few songs on my iPod. One of them, I remember, was by the Talking Heads. I can't remember the name of the song.

Then I rode down the hill toward Palmer Park.

When I got to Palmer Park, it was closed.


Bummer.

I took this picture - I thought you would be able to see the flag, but I guess not:


I did not want to trespass. I took another picture, but I did not get close to my father's flag.



I never was able to just sit and rest like I wanted to but, I was able to wait for a song on my iPod to play all the way through.

The song?

Maybe you've heard of it:

• My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue) by Neil Young

More Neil Young music on iLike

The King is Dead!

But He's Not Forgotten!

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
The King of Funny Faces
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782