It Takes a Graveyard to Raise a Child

My love for ghosts goes all the way back to when I began reading funny books during the sixties. The Harvey Comics title, Casper was one of my favorites. I have a 1972 Casper and Nightmare (Nightmare is the galloping ghost) in my comic collection today. I have always thought it would be cool to hang out with ghosts, and have fading and haunting as tools in my skill set. 

So- when I found out that Gaiman had written a book about a child who is raised by ghosts, I put it on my "gotta have it" list.

The Graveyard Book is a fun, surprising, and sometimes creepy story about a boy who manages, as a toddler, to escape from a murderer that kills the rest of his family. The small boy finds his way to a graveyard and is rescued by two adoptive ghost parents, the Owens, and a guardian named Silas. The Owens are a sweet and loving couple who were never able to have children during their lives. Silas is neither living or dead, and Gaiman never reveals more than that about him.

The boy, Nobody "Bod" Owens has a wonderful childhood filled with adventure, and receives his boyhood lessons from the Residents of the graveyard. He learns his letters and numbers by doing rubbings on the headstones with paper and crayons that Silas provides for him.

He of course, eventually seeks out the person who killed his family, the man Jack, and the reason for the murders is revealed. Gaiman gave the story a sweet and very real ending. Bod does what all children do when they grow up, and leaves home.

The Graveyard Book is well deserving of the 2009 Newbery Medal Award and will be loved by young readers and adults for many years to come.

Thank you for the gift of this book, Michael, I really love it!

We Were Supposed to Make the World a Better Place

Michael was able to score on two tickets for opening night of Watchmen last Friday. We had been looking forward to this movie (and dinner afterward in celebration of Michael's birthday) for months, so we were very excited about those two little tickets. 

I have to say, I went into the theater not expecting to love it. I knew the movie was two hours and forty-three minutes long, and the couple of reviews I had read online that week were not the best. The last comic book based film I had watched, The Spirit, had been a total buzz-kill, so I really kept the bar low on my expectations.

However- I did love it.

I never once looked at my watch. The film was a wonderful ride, and I even had to close my eyes a few times. There were a couple of uncomfortable scenes with violence against female characters (and a Munchkin) that were hard to watch, but the creators did keep the film true to the graphic novel. There have been a few scenes in my life that have been hard to watch, but there it is.

The characters were fun and interesting. I greatly enjoyed Rorshcach, Dan, Laurie, The Comedian, and Dr. Manhattan with his wonderful stimulus package. Even Adrian and his genetically engineered lynx, Bubastis, were very cool. The special effects were well done and I enjoyed reliving moments from the first twenty-five years of my life. It was good to see the Twin Towers in the NYC skyline again, and to remember that there was a time before they were removed from that skyline.

I will definitely be looking for this one to be released on DVD, as I know I'll be wanting to watch it again...and again. Watchmen is clearly one of those movies that you could see a dozen times, and pick up on something new each time through.

I have also seen Watchmen: Motion Comic DVD as well, and unless you're collecting Watchmen memorabilia, skip it. The DVD does a great job at bringing the comic panels to life, but the narration kills it. I did fall asleep during this one.

Oh yeah- Michael and I had our celebration dinner at the Olive Garden after the movie. We filled ourselves with Zuppa Toscana, salad, breadsticks, and wine. Happy Birthday, Michael!

 

Zombies and Brains

The National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Warning for today, and forecasted another foot of snow for our area. 

Another foot of snow.

What better way to spend a stormy Sunday than reading a zombie book and watching four hours of 24 on dvd?

Thanks for the dvd, Neal.

"Zombie Haiku" was a birthday gift from Verge, and just as the title implies, it is a poetry journal written by a zombie, during his final days, in haiku format.

It's great having friends who are English teachers. They come up with the coolest books.

The "zombie" in this book records his journey from living as an average guy to being one of the flesh-hungry, smelly, decomposing undead. He finds "food" in his old neighborhood, a nursing home, a farmhouse, a mall, and finally an airport. It's in the airport that another guy, while running from the zombies, remembers the "head you're dead" rule and obtains the journal. 

Why are the farmhouses with cornfields always such a zombie magnet? 

Seriously?

One of my favorite entries in the book:

"The flies on my neck

are starting to irritate

the other dead guy"

The best part of this story- 

wait for it- 

is that the author, Ryan Mecum, is a youth pastor at a Presbyterian church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Nicely done, Ryan.

Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!

New York City is filled with geeks and dogs this weekend. The Jacob Javitz Center has been host to the New York Comic Con, and the Westminster Dog Show is going into Madison Square Garden on Monday and Tuesday. Half of the lobby of our hotel was filled today with dogs, pet carriers and women in mink coats, and the other half was filled with guys carrying swords, comic books, and racks of Mountain Dew.

Quite a sight indeed.

When I arrived in the city this morning, the geek squad was already out in huge numbers (some in costume, all with an empty messenger bag on their shoulder) and headed down to the waterfront. There was no need to ask for directions to the event.

The convention center was filled with more geek stuff than I could absorb in one day, a far cry from the cons I've attended in New England. I did see a couple of familiar faces- Larry, from Larry's Comics, and Ralph, from Jetpack Comics. I met horror artist Basil Gogos and purchased one of his Frankenstein prints for him to sign. Michael introduced me to his friend Lee Weeks, a Marvel artist, and I had him sign my copy of Amazing Spider Man #580. 

While I was waiting for my turn to go through a box of bargain-priced toys, a young boy (12 or so) asked me if I was in line to look through the box. "Yes, I am", I replied. "Well", he asked, "Can I look through it with you?" I smiled and shook my head yes. I had the best time looking through that box, as this kid new every name of every action figure in there. Baby geeks are just so darn cute.

In addition to my few purchases, I have much pop culture chum to take back to New Hampshire.

After spending the day at the con, Michael and I went to the Tick Tock Diner (there was a dog in there too) for our Reuben sandwich fix, and took a night time stroll through Times Square. The city has put a set of funky lighted red stairs over the half-price Broadway ticket booth there, and we just had to go check them out. 

I think they're very cool and a nice addition to Times Square.

I'm sitting in my room on the 29th floor of the New Yorker Hotel. Directly outside my window is the Empire State Building. I can see planes flying by, and hear the horns of a million and one yellow taxis in the streets bellow. Manhattan is so very beautiful and busy at night- maybe I'll go back out later tonight and find some cheesecake. 

You've got to love a city that sells cheesecake and cannoli at 2:00am~ 

Comic Book Day

After finding Amazing Spiderman #583 in my drawer last week, I really wasn't expecting to find any of the Frank Frazetta's Moon Maid up for grabs at my comic book shop yesterday. 

Usually the high-demand titles are pretty thin in number by Thursday.

The wooden bin devoted to the new comics did indeed contain two copies, so I grabbed them both.

Score.

The cover art of this one-shot is just fun geeky goodness. The comic was rolled out with three different covers,  and I was lucky to get Cover A, done by Frazetta, as shown above.

The  story opens with the beautiful maiden, Ciena, strolling along on the moon, Kyra. She quickly runs into trouble, and is rescued by a centaur with a spear wearing some ugly costume jewelry. Once they're out of danger, he shares that he is the son of the Moon God, Orel. He takes her to the Temple of Orel, and then by reading the writings on the wall (literally) she discovers that she has been brought there to be sacrificed. Apparently her blood is the element that is needed to give life to Orel. 

Anyway, a  priestess called Lyanna, accompanied by a gang of bad-ass flying monkeys, show up to kick some centaur butt and save Ciena from the blood letting. 

This is exactly why I love flying monkeys.

The final panel of the comic reads, "The Equinox has come....and the rebirth has begun." 

There are only 56 days until the Vernal Equinox- but who's counting?

 

It's a New Day

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

As I take the sacred oath of the highest office in the land, I am humbled by the responsibility placed upon my shoulders, renewed by the courage and decency of the American people, and fortified by my faith in an awesome God.

We are in the midst of a season of trial. Our Nation is being tested, and our people know great uncertainty. Yet the story of America is one of renewal in the face of adversity, reconciliation in a time of discord, and we know that there is a purpose for everything under heaven.

On this Inauguration Day, we are reminded that we are heirs to over two centuries of American democracy, and that this legacy is not simply a birthright -- it is a glorious burden. Now it falls to us to come together as a people to carry it forward once more.

So in the words of President Abraham Lincoln, let us remember that: "The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 20, 2009, a National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation, and call upon all of our citizens to serve one another and the common purpose of remaking this Nation for our new century.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

2009: So Far, So Good

I was all set to go to a party at a friend's house last night, but because of various reasons (snowy/slippery roads, a long day at work, and my drinking buddy telling me earlier in the day that she wasn't going to the party) I decided to stay home and just chill for New Year's Eve. 

After hearing that I was going to be alone to ring in the New Year, Michael decided to go to work, ask his supervisor for the night off, pick up a bottle of champagne, and drive down to NH to make sure I had a glass of the bubbly as 2008 came to a close.

When I awoke this morning, I decided to go to the market and pick up some breakfast items, so I could make a tasty brunch to thank my friend for his kindness.

The first person I spoke to in 2009 was a women pushing a shopping cart in the produce section. She looked at me, smiled, and said, "Good morning.....and Happy New Year!"

 And this woman said it as if I was a favorite cousin who she hadn't seen in ten years.

I was taken back, but manage to get out a "And a Happy New Year to you as well."

After all the negative energy that I encountered in public during the holiday season- all the deep sighs, frowns, screaming children, yelling parents, and shopping cart bumper-car games at WalMart, I just couldn't believe that a person was being so very kind and wishing me a Happy New Year.

I'm very grateful that was my first encounter with another human being in 2009. So far, so good. 

I'm 1-0 with 364 to go.