Many of you know Johnny Beamsderfer (pbass111). In true Johnny fashion, he asked me to apologize for him for not keeping up with his games. I say this because Johnny's been diagnosed with cancer, and for him to apologize for shirking his duties is above and beyond the call, but in line with his character.

He had an operation a couple weeks ago where they removed a lymph node. He sent me a picture -- he had an incision from his left ear all the way down his neck and across his throat to the other side. I told him he looked like he ran into OJ Simpson. Tests showed it was malignant, so his doctors have planned a full body scan to determine where it came from.

I've never met Johnny in person, but we spoke on the phone while beta testing the Basic rules for WS&IM and played together on the Rum Runners team in the recent Trident Cup. Even before that, we played well together in team games and always seemed to know what the other would do.

Johnny's a crusty ol' salt who's going to beat this crap, but I'm sure he wouldn't turn down a thought, prayer or email.

Johnny's played bass for 45 years (thus the pbass -- Google that). He described playing on stage to me and I was envious. He's still playing gigs even after the operation. Imagine slinging a heavy bass guitar over that shoulder! The pain requires a pharmacy, so you can imagine why he hasn't kept up with his games. He's trying to document some of his playing at http://www.myspace.com/johnnybeamsderfer

I'll pass along what I know, but don't be surprised if a cancer-free pbass111 logs in and rakes the hell out of you, and sooner rather than later.

--- Message edited by Longneck