Meeting Frank Stallone

On Sunday, November 8, 2009, Frank Stallone dropped by City Line Pizza in Edgewater, Florida. Since the store co-owner, Joe V, is a SZoner, I was given advance notice and made plans to be there. Talk about a cool experience. Frank was totally down to earth and spent the time talking with fans, signing autographs and CDs.  Frank has a new reality tv show in the works.  Of course we’ll keep you updated as it moves closer to production.

Although Frank and I had exchanged e-mails over the years, it was my first time meeting him in person. Frank was very gracious and thanked me for my efforts with the StalloneZone. He explained that Sly doesn’t mess around on computers much and at first had reservations about someone using his name and creating a website about him. Frank explained to Sly that “Craig is one of the good guys” and the StalloneZone is a positive place for Stallone fans to gather. Frank also wanted to make sure that all SZoners knew how much he and Sly appreciated our support.

I also met a couple of other fans at Frank’s appearance. The first, Stephen Isaia, is a huge Frank Stallone / StalloneZone fan. Stephen flew down to Florida to attend a Frank Stallone concert and come to the store appearance. It was a pleasure meeting Stephen. I also met Mike Tourney who collects autographs and guitar pics. Mike had an original Valentine record album for Frank to sign. Valentine was Frank’s band back in the pre-Rocky days. Talk about rare!

I’ll post more on Frank’s visit next weekend along with a few more photos. The pictures today come to us from Stephen Isaia!

Rambo Plot Change News Everywhere

Since we broke the story of Sly’s e-mail to the StalloneZone about changing the direction of the next “Rambo” movie and the potential for Hunter to be made, several sites picked up the story and ran with it:

Otis Frampton’s Jack Carter

Otis Frampton is an extremely talented artist who loves drawing for his fans. Every Sunday [okay, ALMOST, every Sunday], Otis has a live UStream broadcast that he calls the 7×7 Sunday.  Lucky fans can get a headsketch of ANY character drawn live by Otis on a 7X7 inch bristol board for 7 bucks postage paid.   It’s the best deal going.

I’ve been lucky enough to get four pieces from Otis and the Jack Carter shown above is just one of them.  I’ll be showing the rest in the coming weeks.  In the mean time, check out Otis’ Gallery.  Most likely, after seeing more of his work, I’ll be competing against you in Otis’ next 7×7 Sunday.

Miguel Insignares’ “Cut Me, Mick!”

Miguel Insignares is back with a new e-mail and art.  Miguel says:

Hey Craig
Good to see you at the show. Here is another Sly piece NEVER seen before!  This one is from Rocky and the always quotable, “Cut Me Mick” scene.  Hope your readers dig these Stallonezone Exclusives–I got a brand-new  Rambo illustration that I’ll send your way in 2 weeks!

Thanks again and keep up the great work!

-Miguel

Miguel — thanks for sharing your Stallone art here at the SZ.  I also look forward to your The Rufnex: Island of the Dead comic [www.islandofthedead.com.