Er, Pugs for the In-Laws?

When Pugs Attack (not Buster and Buddy).

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Being Human: "Pilot" - Hubby-Eric and I finally got a chance to sit and watch this after having watched the entire first season earlier this year. And it's pretty good. The cast changes were mostly not a big deal. Mitch is still Mitch. Annie is... ok, Annie is completely different. I see her character traits there, but the actress in the pilot is very different in almost all respects. Still, the whole thing was very good, and I'm glad it went to series.
• Ghost Lab: "Shadowman" - The GDC building is a pretty neat-looking place. It looks like they are covering the "renovations can cause hauntings" theory with it. They don't really test the theory at all, but I'm not sure you can. Again, I want a thermal camera to play with. I don't want to hunt ghosts with it, just play with it. The second place was a cool little antique mall. I'm not fond of the places, but they do make for a really neat ghost story.
• Heroes: "Thanksgiving" - Hiro at the circus. The Petrelli family has it out. The Bennets display family love. Typical of this season, although Hiro's growing spine is nice.

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This week's comic book related review is Hikaru No Go Vol 17 by Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata. There are 23 volumes of this Manga, but I would have been satisfied if this had finished the story. There was a conclusion, and settling, at the end of this volume that made reading it immensely pleasing. True, there is a lot more that could be told, but the end of this volume manages to pull together a lot of the threads and tie up quite a few loose ends. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Game 148 was originally meant to end the series. I'm not sure what the final six volumes will do, but I have to say that I'm really glad I read this series. And yeah, I'll pick up the final six, and hope that it doesn't go on too far and detract from the wonder that went before.

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My library book this week was Goth Girl Rising by Barry Lyga. As I said a couple of weeks ago, The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl kind of blew my mind, but Lyga wasn't even started yet. This dark look into the heart of a teenage girl is so true, so complete, so incredibly real that I wanted to throw it across the room and I couldn't stop reading it. Admittedly, my life was heaven compared to Kyra's, but I was suicidal from elementary school until well into college, and Lyga has somehow captured in a single book what took me over 20 years to work out. I loved Kyra's letters to Neil Gaiman, and although I knew right away that she wasn't sending them (more of a dear diary thing) I wondered if Neil actually gets those kinds of letters. And, like Bendis with the previous book, I wonder if Neil has read this book. This is really really good stuff. Deep and painful reading that has the potential to be light and fluffy on the surface. Again, Highly Recommended.

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Agatha Christie this week was The Under Dog and Other Stories from 1951, a collection of nine stories only released as this collection in the United States.

• The Under Dog - Poirot is asked to investigate a murder by a woman who clearly doesn't want him to investigate. This is a good one, with plenty of twists and turns, and the reader gradually is let into the thinking of Poirot in such a way that I *almost* had it. I'm not even sure if I got it before Poirot's reveal or not. A mostly satisfying story, with a few too many subplots.
• The Plymouth Express - A murdered woman is found on a train, and Poirot comes in to investigate. I got who the murderer was, more or less, but didn't figure out all the details. Bummer.
• The Affair at the Victory Ball - A society double murder mystifies London, but is easy work for Poirot. I GOT THIS ONE! As soon as I read the description of the events of the night, I knew exactly who the murderer was. Unfortunately, I didn't quite figure out the motive. But hey, I solved a Poirot mystery! Yay me!
• The Market Basing Mystery - On vacation with Inspector Japp, Poirot and Hasting get called to a murder scene. My first thought on reading the set up was correct, but I rejected it too quickly. Christie has used a similar set up before. Or maybe written after, I'm not sure.
• The Lemesurier Inheritance - A family curse claims the first-born sons before they can inherit. The clincher for this one was the final few paragraphs. Ha! Good ol' Poirot.
• The Cornish Mystery - A very ordinary woman married to a dentist comes to Poirot with the belief that her husband is poisoning her. Another one of Poirot's failures of timing. These stories show that he isn't quite perfect, even if he is very clever.
• The King of Clubs - Poirot is called to investigate a murder by a Prince. Very simple story in a lot of ways, and the whole thing played out nicely.
• The Submarine Plans - I read an expanded version of this story in "Murder in the Mews" so I knew the solution ahead of time. It was still fun to read it.
• The Adventure of the Clapham Cook - Poirot is called upon to find a missing cook. Wow. I wasn't expecting that one to go where it went. And I didn't even come close to figuring it out.

A nice solid little anthology of Poirot stories, all very short except the first. I think two of the stories were either expanded into other stories I've read, or were based on other stories. And I finally got a Poirot tale before the reveal.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews -- My Wishlist

Nothing Really Matters...Still...

Yes, the Muppets' tribute to "Bohemian Rhapsody" is making the rounds, and is quite funny. But I'd like to point out that this is not the first time "Bohemian Rhapsody" has been done. I present to you now, "Bohemian Polka," performed by the one and only (thank goodness) Weird Al Yankovic!

Thanksgiving

• I'm thankful for my husband, Eric, and the many years we've had together.
• I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful to know them and proud to be related to them. Even when we all disagree.
• I'm thankful for my friends.
• I'm thankful for the internet. For e-mail, blogs, message boards, usenet and the rest.
• I'm thankful for people who understand obsession, and allow me to indulge in my fandom of Aquaman without thinking I'm a loon.
• I'm thankful for retailers who wait until after Thanksgiving to start putting up Christmas stuff, instead of starting Christmas decorations before Hallowe'en.
• I'm thankful for people who wait until the end of December (or even January) before starting to post "year in review" articles.
• I'm thankful for mysteries and wonder, and I hope we never quite figure out everything there is to figure out, because that would take the magic out of the world.

Nothing Really Matters...

College Memory

I was thinking about this for no reason last night. I didn't drink in college, in fact I don't do the alcohol thing at all. The hardest drug I've ever done without strict doctor's orders is over-the-counter pain-killer. But that didn't mean I didn't have... moments.

I don't remember which year it was, but I think I didn't have a roommate at the time. I got a flu or something, and it was bad enough I stayed in bed. I remember getting very dizzy every time I tried to stand up, but I was bored even though I was sick. I wanted to go to class, but couldn't make it to the door much less down the stairs from the Ridge to campus. I *did* manage to turn on the TV once in awhile, but I really didn't pay much attention to it. I sometimes thought it was on when it wasn't, and at times I thought it was off only to realize I was watching a show and not just imagining stuff.

Anyway, to make a short story long, there are two specific incidents I recall from that sickness. Besides the moment when some of my friends in the dorm realized I was sick and came to rescue me (they got me McDonald's foodstuff and orange juice). Anyway...

The first was when I was laying in bed and thought everything was normal. Except I couldn't figure out why the room was swaying back and forth. It was swaying so much that while I lay on my back in the bed I could occasionally see the floor right next to the bed, including my shoes. What was unusual about it was that at the time it was happening I thought it was completely normal. It wasn't until I thought about it later that I realized that I had to have been hallucinating to be able to see the shoes next to the bed.

The second was more disturbing. I imagined that I saw Candice Bergen on the TV, which in itself wasn't disturbing or even unusual. It was the 1990s. No, what was disturbing was that she was lip-syncing and dancing to "C is for Cookie" on Sesame Street. At that point I suddenly realized I was hallucinating and tried to get help.

Later, I found out that I wasn't hallucinating:

Candice Bergen in C is for Cookie
The bit about one minute in, where she's "dancing", are the bits that alarmed me enough to find a phone and call for help. That bit is burned into my brain in a way that very few other things are, and I thought for a long time that I hallucinated it.

Pug

Pug for the in-laws.

Another Pug for the in-laws.

And, just cuz I feel like it: A Pug Puppy for the in-laws.

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Robin Hood: "Sins of the Father" - New tax collector with old grudges. Fun little episode with lots of action. And Kate moves in with the boys. Can the sheriff be any stupider?
• Doctor Who: "The Waters of Mars" - This episode is not my favorite. It isn't as bad as "Love and Monsters" or "Fear Her", but it's not that much higher on my list. This is a fairly standard siege episode, with a handful of twists that did not make it work any better for me. (SPOILER ALERT!)I fully expected to learn that the water creatures were the precursors of the Ice Warriors, and that the initial crew would survive to form the revived Martian race. I felt like the design of the "monsters" was playing on that expectation, as was the Doctor talking in Martian to the infected crew member. The lack of resolution of that scene detracted from the episode for me. I saw a gun on the wall in act one, but it was never used in the rest of the play. Moving on, the Doctor's attitude, "I must leave," was strange. At first it seemed very like him, then it got disturbing. When he left, I really thought he wasn't going to go back. His whole reasoning, his whole discussion with Adelaide about time and fate, it seemed pretty cut and dried. A fixed point in time. And then, when he did what he did... was I the only one who thought for a moment that he was the Valeyard? He'd gone evil. Adelaide saw it, but he seemed so joyful about it. Until... well, you know. And what the heck was that Ood about?(END SPOILER) There is a lot to wonder about in this one. This is a thinking episode, but despite the philosophical questions it raised, it just wasn't that great a watch.
• Ghost Lab: "They're Watching You" - The Catfish Plantation. Nice stories. I like the whole "knife flying at a guy" thing. The moving silverware was funny. Easy to fake without any cameras on, but if it's for real, that ghost is hilarious. And if you are trying to draw out a ghost that likes to manipulate objects, what better way to attract it than with a game of Jenga? Pity they couldn't get the ghost to act on cue. The Hotel Lawrence had ok stories, nothing terribly impressive. The idea of a ghost holding a hotel door closed is a fun one. I'd like the see that door tested a little more. Two times is certainly a coincidence, if it happens consistently I'd be more convinced. Ah well, an entertaining episode if nothing else.
• Ghost Hunters: "Pensacola Lighthouse" - I really do enjoy the lighthouse investigations. They are so freaky even without any ghosts. This was a nice looking building. Not much activity that night. I'm sorry, footsteps and banging noises don't impress me. And EVPs need to happen right after a statement, not several seconds later. Nothing there to convince me.
• Ghost Hunters Academy: "The Honeymoon's Over" - The North Carolina. The medium again refuses to go on the tour, which may not be the best choice when you are dealing with a maze-like battleship. While I admire her insistence that she's better off not knowing the stories, she's certainly making it hard for herself to help set up. Of course, then the others got lost before they even set up the cameras. The whole thing was a fiasco. I was not impressed by the medium, in particular. I think I'd hate going on a ghost hunt with one. Ah well, I'm enjoying the look at the set-up and technique, even if I'm not impressed with the team itself.
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "Death Race To Oblivion" - Nice Captain Marvel pre-credit sequence. And nice guest appearances. Black Manta is a nice touch, but what is his home city? He's not from Atlantis. And the way he was taken out... Aqua-villians get no respect. The rest of the episode was pretty typical. Yay Batman.
• Heroes: "Brother's Keeper" - Ok, Claire and Tracy make a good team with the whole she-freezes-Claire-who-heals thing going. Nice to see Mohinder again. Interesting twist with Hiro's involvement. And now I understand "Evil Butterfly Man". Don't like him any more than before, but I understand now. Actually, now that I know where he's coming from, I pretty much despise him. Because you know how his brother died.
• Robin Hood: "Let the Games Commence" - I like the circus gal, and her attitude, right until she shows off her true colors. And Isabella is a nice addition to the cast, even if her relations are... less than impressive. Another good episode.
• Numb3rs: "Con Job" - I like the reappearance of Buckley, because he's just funny when he's a "good" guy. This whole episode is about misdirection. Lots and lots of misdirection.

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Here are reviews of the DCBS comic book shipment that arrived this week, of books originally released November 4th and 11th:

• Age of Bronze #29 - Wow. Say you want to tell about a war that drags on and on, and you need to get bits of plot in while the time passes quickly. Shanower makes a bold decision to show us key moments without heavy plot. I can't say it worked entirely for me. I suddenly felt an urge to look up more of the story to follow some of the tale.
• Marvelous Land of Oz #1 - Yay! Tip and Jack Pumpkinhead. Good stuff. Sadly, I like the variant covers better than the main one, but all of them are nice.
• Doctor Who Classics Series 2 #12 - Definitely stories I've never seen. The quality is a bit uneven, but I'm enjoying reading these for the first time. I suppose I could go into our Doctor Who Magazine collection and read them all, but this is a nicer format.
• Usagi Yojimbo: Yokai - I wish this had come out in time for Halloween, as it would be PERFECT for the holiday. Fully painted Usagi Yojimbo is always a treat, and when you add in a bunch of crazy Japanese spooks, well... a great story!


• JSA vs Kobra #6 - Did anyone actually win? Don't think so.
• Green Lantern Corps #42 - Ok, THAT is a cliffhanger. One that will make lots of GL fans scream with joy.
• DMZ #47 - What has Matty become? I sure don't like him anymore.
• Incredibles #2 - I like this comic. Not as much as I'd like more of the Incredibles in movie form, but this seems to stay pretty true to them and is fun as well.
• Doctor Who Ongoing #5 - There's the Doctor I like! That's more of what I hope to see when I read/watch Doctor Who. Against the odds, dealing with the situation.
• Kidnapped Santa Claus - This is an incredibly fun little book. It's amusing to me that we got two works authored by L Frank Baum this week, as well. Good stuff, especially if you've read "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus".

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My library book this week was The Golden Shrine by Harry Turtledove. I picked this up at the library after looking at the cover to make sure it was a standalone book and not a part of a series. There was nothing on the cover, nothing on the flaps, nothing at all that indicated this book was part of a series. So I picked it up. And once I got a couple of chapters in I was certain it was part of a series, because Turtledove is way too careful about introducing characters for him to be dropping references and characters on me like this. Sure enough, a few moments of hunting online told me that this was the third book of a trilogy. At which point I had to decide whether to continue reading or go find the first two books. I decided to finish the book and see how it stood on its own. And for the most part, it stood very well. There was always enough context to figure everything out, and the only drawback was the setup for the title object, which was no doubt done in the previous books, wasn't enough to make the revelation work. It worked in the story, but didn't have a whole lot of impact, as most of the book was about defeating an undefeatable foe. As is often the case, I found some of the action difficult to read and enjoy. There's some philosophical crudity that is... questionable. But hey, it made me think.

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Agatha Christie this week was They Came to Baghdad from 1951. This was not a regular mystery, more of a mystery thriller like the Tommy & Tuppence stuff. Victoria falls for a man she meets in a park, and follows him to Baghdad. While the whole mystery side was ok, the real fun was Christie's descriptions of the places and people. She was familiar with it all, and the interlude at an archeological dig reeks of authenticity. While not my favorite Christie ever, it's fun.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews -- My Wishlist

Dental Distress

There is plastic in my mouth. It's just a temporary crown, but my tongue is well aware of it, and sends my brain a distress signal every time it touches the plastic. My taste buds apparently really don't like the plastic at all. It doesn't have any particular taste, but it seems like I jump every time my tongue touches it.

The soreness in my jaw is receding. Slower than I expected, but still going away. When the numbness wore off yesterday afternoon, the pain was fairly intense. I waffled on whether or not to call the dentist back and ask if it should hurt so much, but since the pain was in my entire lower jaw and not localized on my tooth, I decided to keep quiet unless it continued. Now that it's going away, I don't think I'll call.

I go back in two weeks to get the permanent put in. It will be of a different material, so I hope I won't notice it as much. I suspect by the time I go back, my tongue will be used to the temporary enough that it doesn't constantly seem to jolt me.

I'm not allowed to eat anything sticky for Thanksgiving. I cannot floss between the temporary crown and my regular teeth. And I'm supposed to call the dentist if it comes out.

Single Link Post

Pug For the In-Laws.

Too Soon

I just finally finished bundling up my Hallowe'en lights and decorations, I still need to put them in the garage somewhere but they are at least organized for next year now. And I grabbed the mini Christmas tree I bought a few years ago and put it in the window. It's not "on display" yet, but it's over in the general area where it'll be for the season. Ok, yeah, I plugged it in, but just to check that the lights were all good. It's too early for any other decorations, although at least three houses in the neighborhood already have their full Christmas displays up.

Watched the new Doctor Who last night with hubby-Eric. No spoiler review: Not the best story, but has some moments to really think about. I may try to write a spoilerific review later, but I'm still thinking about it now.

Tried to read the Ted Kennedy autobiography True Compass from the library. I didn't get very far into it before it had to be returned. Usually four weeks is plenty for me to read a book, but I just couldn't get into this one. I may try again later because I do want to read his perspective on some certain events, but for the moment I let it go. I couldn't renew it because it had too many holds on it.

Made my famous meatloaf for dinner last night, and just made up a batch of my fudge brownies for Eric and I to use as desserts for a week or two. The meatloaf turned out really nice this time, thank goodness. My previous one didn't hold together very well. For someone who couldn't cook at all just a decade ago, I'm progressing nicely in my baking and cooking skills. The fudge brownies are particularly pleasant, and keep well enough to use for awhile. My cakes tend to go stale too fast.

I am trying to rekindle my interest in updating my Aquaman page. With the lack of Aqua-action it's been hard to keep going, but now that Mera is a major part of Blackest Night, I feel like I can get going again. That and I've started watching the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and have finally seen his dreadful (but funny) Aquaman skits, so I have a little more motive. The Wiki-fied part of the site is so much easier to update now, I think I'll probably be moving more of the site to that side as I go along. Now if only I could find a handful of fellow Aqua-fans who are as crazy as I am and want to help update the site... *sigh*

Winter?

I don't have much else to write about, so I'll write about the weather. It's been strange. Since we moved out here to Churchville, in the middle of the Eastern Washington desolation, we've had tons of sun. Until about a week ago. Now, please note that I've already survived one Eastern Washington winter, so I thought I knew what to expect. But this one has been different so far.

Cloudy, cool one day then warm the next. It hasn't gotten truly cold yet, although my body is over-sensitive to changes in temperature and pressure so I'm hurting more often than not.

And we've had rain. Not much, admittedly, but we've had Seattle-like rain, the kind that mists across the land and doesn't drop a lot of water but definitely makes you feel kind of down. So it's been an odd week.

My weather bar is currently showing three days of rain out of five total, and the final day has snow mixed in. I don't really expect the snow to happen, but then... I don't really understand the weather out here yet. I just hope it's nice enough for us to get over the pass for Thanksgiving and the family time we're due over that weekend.

Hey, if you've read this far, how about some even more boring news? I went to the dentist last Thursday, and now I must get a crown for one of my teeth. The filling that I got in that tooth as a child has cracked. I'm due to sit in the chair for a couple of hours and get a temporary crown on Friday. I made sure to ask if I could still eat Thanksgiving dinner, and was assured I would be fine. As the nurse/tech said, "gotta make sure of the important things first, right?" I also saw my doctor and got the usual physical which so far has been normal (still waiting for blood test results). And I got my first ever mammogram (for a baseline) today. Now I know. Breast in the fridge door... I understand now.

Anyway, that's my life. Anything cool going on in yours?

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Sarah Jane Adventures: "The Eternity Trap" - Ghost Hunters! EMF! And a truly haunting haunted house! YAY! Hubby-Eric and I both thought that the gentleman playing Lord Marchwood looked an awful lot like the fellow who plays Sir Guy of Gisborne on Robin Hood, but they aren't the same person. As for the story itself, I was only annoyed by the fact that Sarah Jane and her gang were ignoring the first rule of Ghost Hunting (never go off alone). The rest was a lot of fun.
• Robin Hood: "Cause and Effect" - Surprisingly touching story of rebellion. The newest cast member, Kate, makes an impressive debut tormenting Robin. And what happens to Gisborne... well, this changed things a little.
• Robin Hood: "Lost in Translation" - Ah, the reason for the Abbot's deception was terribly real. I love how Tuck reacts, and the reactions of the other members of Robin's gang, particularly John, were fascinating as well. I love Much's response as well. Another good episode.
• Dinner Impossible: "WWE: A Mission on the Mat" - I am not a wrestling fan, so the stars they presented didn't amuse me. Although that guy (The Big Show) is really really big. I know that Robert is very tall, so seeing him dwarfed was good. I thought for sure Robert was going to have a full-on brawl in that kitchen. Good thing Robert is a pretty strong guy too. Oh yeah, the food? Looked like standard Robert fare. I'd love to try a meal by him some day.
• Ghost Lab: "John Wilkes Booth" - Ok, bringing in an audience was just funny. I really wonder what they thought of the performance by the Klinge-ons. The idea of the ghost of a single person haunting two locations is an interesting one, but I would think that they should prove that a ghost is actually a person haunting a place. The theories about Booth surviving are ones I'd never heard before, so that bit was fun to learn about.
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "The Fate of Equinox" - YAY! AQUAMAN! Oh, yeah, and Doctor Fate and Batman. But Aquaman! The Bat-collective was pretty cool, too. And I liked seeing a lot of heroes at once, even if they didn't get lines. And seeing Atlantis is always neat as well. And Aquaman! Yay!
• Heroes: "Shadowboxing" - Sylar... ug. Claire... eh, ok. Circus guy Samuel... yuck. Matt's solution to the Sylar problem... interesting. Peter and Emma, very good. Next week's previews: gives away the entire show.
• Numb3rs: "Ultimatum" - You know, the guy who plays Ian also played Aquaman's dad in the ill-fated pilot. And this was a pretty good one, even though I wasn't entirely sure what Ian was trying to prove until the end got closer. Lots about friendship and trust in this one.
• Ghost Hunters: "New Hampshire Gothic" - I really wish they wouldn't talk into their walkie-talkies while driving. It just seems a bad example. Anyway... The Amos Blake House looks like a good little museum. A ghost cat! I wanna have a ghost cat! I wasn't convinced by the chain and tools moving: old house equals shifting walls, floors, and ceilings. The Arbona Building was a similar structure, old and creaky. I like the advice to put up webcams. If you are having a haunting, putting up cameras seems like a no-brainer.
• Ghost Hunters Academy: "Web of Deceit" - I guess training new blood is good, but I'm just not impressed by the candidates. The prize of investigating with the GHI team, and maybe eventually the main TAPS crew seems nice enough. They go to Fort Mifflin, which TAPS investigated before. The medium refuses to go on the tour, which is both good and bad. I do like Steve's lesson on the power of suggestion. And good grief, the other woman claims to be an empath? A medium and an empath? *sigh* Give me a break.
• Sarah Jane Adventures: "Mona Lisa's Revenge" - Not the best, but still better than a lot of TV these days. The plot was fun, if incredibly ridiculous, and the solution was fairly obvious. I have to wonder what the folks who got trapped in paintings thought of the whole thing. And I wonder if the canvas of the Mona Lisa still has "This is a fake" written on it from City of Death?

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This week's comic book related review is Power Girl #1-6. Hubby-Eric hunted these down, and I have NO idea why, no none at all... ok, yeah, hubby is a JSA fan so he wanted to catch up on her adventures. He also considered getting Magog, but didn't. Anyhow, we finally managed to get all the issues, and I read them all at once. I thought these were great. I particularly love the artwork. It just makes everyone look great. I like the new Terra, though I was extremely confused by her at first. I didn't read the mini, so I had no idea who or what she was and had to go hunting online until I found a wiki entry that explained her.

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My library book this week was The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga. This book is oddly intense. While reading it I got a horrible sense of time, and how it's been moving along and how I will never, ever, understand the next generation because they are being raised in a foreign world. And yet, they are still the same as us, human at the core. And I understand the emotional conflicts of these two quite well even if the trappings of their lives are completely different than what I grew up with. Anyway, enough with the deep thoughts... although this book hit me hard in a lot of ways. The major plot point, Fanboy's meeting with a Bendis, felt like watching a train headed for a cliff. I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but I knew the odds for a good result were against Fanboy. The actual scene exceeded my expectations, and made me really curious if Bendis has read this book. In some ways my knowledge of the comic book industry denied some of the fun of this book for me, but I think it helped in a lot of ways that I understood most of the comic book references. Highly recommended.

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Agatha Christie this week was A Murder is Announced from 1950. A local newspaper announces that there will be a murder at a local home, so everyone shows up expecting some sort of silly game. Again, there were twists and turns and red herrings and I got some bits but completely missed the biggest bits. I don't know that I will ever get any of these, because Christie is so much more clever than I am. This one even gave me a headache from trying so hard to figure out what I wasn't seeing. Ah well, I love the Miss Marple stories. As a side note, one of the characters writes a play called "Elephants Can Remember" which I seem to recall is the title of a later Christie novel.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews -- My Wishlist

Want

Really. I really want this. XL. Maybe two. Or three. Or fifteen.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 - 1918)

Where Was I When The Wall Came Down?

My most vivid memory of that time was sitting in band. The band director had brought in a TV and we were watching the coverage of the Wall coming down live. We hadn't got out our instruments, it didn't seem important enough. What was happening on TV was far more important than the next concert or football game.

One of the band members that year was a German exchange student. She played the flute, I think. I honestly don't remember much of the class itself, although the images of the celebrations on the Wall are engraved on my mind. But I remember the reactions of the German exchange student, whose name is lost in the morass of my mind, better than just about everything else.

As you may know, there were signs of big things happening a few days prior to the Wall coming down. Gates were opened, and East Germans were visiting the West for the first time in decades. I remember someone asked our exchange student what she thought, expecting her to be all joy and pleasure. She wasn't happy. She was worried. She tried to explain, but she was just a high school kid and she was trying to convey deep concepts in a foreign language. Her eyes told us as much as her words.

The day the Wall came down I think I saw her crying. Both joy and terror. Joy at the fact that no more lives would be lost trying to cross that evil thing, and terror at what was going to happen to her country now. She was understandably worried about how the East Germans were going to impact West Germany. How the two economies were going to be able to deal with each other. Would East Germany drag the West down? Or would the West be able to pull the East up? Would East Germans try to move to the West in case another Wall went up? She wanted to know what was happening in her own home town. And so, deep in the joy of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, I was able to catch a tiny somber glimpse of the larger picture. And I've always been grateful to her for that insight.

Where was I when the Wall came down? I was in High School, getting ready to graduate into a brave new world. What about you?

A Sunday Monday Review

TV this week:

• Dinner Impossible: "Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Rock the Chef" - Yay, Seattle Grunge! Boo, coffee was the first thing he thought of. C'mon, why not seafood? Yuck. That's a Seattle course I wouldn't want any part of. Destroying perfectly good chocolate by adding coffee (BLEAH) to it should be a crime. Utter waste of good chocolate. Anyway, the rest of the challenge was suitably difficult. It was typical Robert to see him yell at that poor chef that volunteered his efforts but couldn't handle the workload, and very uncomfortable viewing. The food went over well, as usual. They were lucky the weather didn't mess 'em up. Except for the awful coffee crap, a good episode.
• Numb3rs: "Hydra" - Kidnapping case. Always makes me feel squicky. The dad didn't seem very likable in the first scene. The direction of this episode is very different from the usual feel of this show. The gratuitous car chase scene was frenetic. And the subject matter... well, not entirely out there, but close. I liked the resolution.
• Ghost Lab: "Murky Water" - Fifth episode. First location is Nottoway Plantation in Louisiana. The hypothesis is that the Mississippi river is generating electromagnetic fields that are "feeding" the ghosts in the plantation house. To test the theory, they compared the conductivity of the river water versus bottled water. Then they checked to see if there was any movement of EMF from the river to the house. Then they noted that only areas of the house in the direct path of the EMF from the river were reported to be haunted. I don't think they proved it, but at least there was a semblance of science there. The second location was the Metro Club in Chicago. They found a source of running water under the building to link it to the first location, but otherwise it was a pretty standard investigation.
• Heroes: "Strange Attractors" - I like Matt, I hate Sylar's nastiness. I'm not fond of the situation with Claire and Gretchen, because I really hate invisible girl. But Jeremy's story is a good piece of tragic fiction. A surprisingly strong episode.
• Dinner Impossible: "Double Jeopardy" - Nice theme, and nasty helpers! I'd like the desserts. Raspberry and chocolate rock. I like the notion of Robert being his own Evil Twin. I don't think I'd ever want to work with Robert. My self-esteem is low enough, thank you. Nice how the weather again gets in the way. Another good episode.
• Destination Truth: "Bhutan Yeti" - I absolutely ADORE the cultural bits in this one. The monk's cellphone ringing was a highlight, but the roadside fire ceremony was just cool, especially how they practically ran them over.
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "Inside the Outsiders" - Fun opening with Green Lantern being grossed out. And the Outsiders are an interesting little team in this cartoon. Needs more Aquaman, of course.
• Numb3rs: "Dreamland" - UFO hunters witness a woman being killed by unexplained lights from the sky. I was thinking this would be a farce, but except for a single character who claims to be from the Pentagon, it was a fairly serious story. It was nice to have a fairly light story, even if it involved four deaths.
• Ghost Hunters: "Ghost of Buffalo Bill" - Another celebrity guest ghost hunter in this one. The Buffalo Bill Museum looks kind of fun. The discovery of high EMF fields makes TAPS say, "there may be nothing here" but would make the Ghost Lab people say, "Oh, fuel for hunting!" That's one of the differences between the two groups. I'd be interested to hear if the activity slows or ceases when those towers are taken out. The second place, in Georgia, was a nicely spooky house. But it's old and therefore very creaky. The TV problem sounds like you need an electrician, not Ghost Hunters... amusingly, they agreed with me.
• Heroes: "Once Upon a Time in Texas" - Poor Hiro. Even when he succeeds he fails. I really really hate the circus guy. Even more now. I'm not sure what to make of Bennett's little rendezvous.
• Numb3rs: "Shadow Markets" - What an incredibly idiotic hacker dude. I mean, I know some of them aren't exactly saavy about the world, but that is a little beyond the pale. Wow. This one never felt resolved because enough of the action happened off-screen while we focused on nerd-boy. Alan's new boss is a hoot.
• Sarah Jane Adventures: "The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith" - Not feeling it. Sorry. No chemistry at all between Sarah Jane and Peter. If I'd felt a little chemistry, I would've bought the story as a whole, but there was nothing there on screen. Nice to see the Doctor, and nice to see Rani and Clyde's response to him. But the story fell flat for me because of that utter lack of on-screen chemistry.

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Here are reviews of the DCBS comic book shipment that arrived this week, of books originally released October 21st and 28th:

• Blackest Night: Superman #3 - Zombies. As my hubby pointed out, regular and Marvel Zombies go for the brain. DC Zombies go for the heart. Will Image or Dark Horse Zombies go after courage? And I wonder, do some zombies just want to go home?
• Justice League of America #38 - Detroit League rejects and DC Zombies. *sigh*
• JSA vs Kobra #5 - Not really sure what is going on in this one, but it's not too bad.
• DCU Halloween Special 2009 - Standard mixed quality anthology. I'm actually less impressed overall in this one. Still, it was nice to see Aquagirl named as one of the most powerful Titans by Wonder Woman. Needs more Aquaman.
• Tiny Titans #21 - Yay! Mera! Soapy sudsy ocean! Yay!


• Blackest Night #4 - Yay Mera! Kick butt and take names! Yay! And AquaZombie appears as well, *yawn*. I liked the appearance of Scarecrow.
• Blackest Night: Titans #3 - TulaZombie and GarthZombie double-teaming Victor? I lost track of TulaZombie in the fight, but I see GarthZombie escaped to fight another day. I'm amused by the redesign of GarthZombie's scar and uniform.
• Green Lantern #47 - More cosmic zombie adventures. Trying to care. Failing.
• Justice Society of America #32 - Stretching out the Mr Terrific tale for another issue? I like the bounty listing showing the members of the JSA.
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold #10 - This is such a fun book. I love the reaction of Green Arrow to Batman's, er, problem. Good thing Atom was there.
• Astro City: Astra Special #2 - Aw man. Not what I expected to happen. And it was odd, but I was sitting there reading it and thinking, "Astra can't leave Earth! She's a superhero!" And then I realized that she's part of a universe that can change at any moment because it's not set. YAY!
• Northlanders #21 - Brutal start to a promising story. I like the character we've been introduced to here, and I hope her story is more happy than I expect it to be based on the start.

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Agatha Christie this week was Three Blind Mice and Other Stories, also published as The Mousetrap, a 1950 Collection.

• Three Blind Mice - A murder leads police to a guest house to investigate possible future murders. This is the short story that was based on a radio play that later became The Mousetrap, the long-running play that is still going in the West End. I was surprised by the solution, which made me extremely happy. The potential for having had this story spoiled on me in all these years was high. I'm amazed I never heard it before.
• Strange Jest - The heirs of a bachelor cannot find his fortune. I love Miss Marple. I'm not sure what more to say. There were idioms in this that I didn't stand a chance of understanding, so I could not have solved it.
• Tape-Measure Murder - A woman is murdered and her husband is accused, but the facts don't add up. More Miss Marple, and I was impressed at seeing her actually get angry, showing it by her interference and her almost-rant at the end.
• The Case of the Perfect Maid - A maid is fired after being accused of stealing a brooch, and the new maid is too perfect. Miss Marple again uses her observation skills to protect the reputation of the fired maid.
• The Case of the Caretaker - A boy returns to his hometown with his rich bride. I love the framing for this one, with Miss Marple recovering from a flu and being given a "puzzle" by her doctor. Again, she observes what I didn't see, even though it was there.
• The Third-Floor Flat - A murder is discovered by men trying to get into a flat they are locked out of. This is a Poirot adventure, and I was very happy to see him appear. I love the short stories when we get a mix of Marple and Poirot. The stories complement each other.
• The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly - The case of a kidnapped child is child's play for Poirot. The motive behind this is just... wow. Impressive.
• Four and Twenty Blackbirds - Poirot becomes interested when a reliable pattern is broken. I had a feeling of what was happening, but I didn't figure out the exact motive and method before the reveal.
• The Love Detectives - On the way to a murder scene, Satterthwaite runs into Mr Quin. Any time you start a story with Satterthwaite you can expect a touch of the supernatural to appear. Mr Quin is a supernatural being, after all. And Quin's snark made the results of this one obvious even to me. And so we finish the book with a story that I figured out before the reveal... Ah, this was a great book!

Put all together, this is a great collection. I wish I could see the play itself, but I'll settle for this version of the tale. While I love the longer novels, I think the short stories are fantastic as well. I sure hope that I can find and read every story eventually.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews -- My Wishlist

Belated Halloween Pugs

Just saw this post on the Sheldon website. And thought of my parents and their pug. So, here you go, Mom and Dad. Maybe some ideas brewing for next year?

Deep Thought

Hubby-Eric thinks that somebody should make a version of Lemmings for the Wii.

Hallowe'en Notes for Next Year

Ok, this year was extraordinary because of the perfect weather, full moon, and the day falling on Saturday. I suspect 500 will be enough for next year, although it never hurts to have a bit extra. If anyone wants to donate age-appropriate comic books, I'll take 'em. We couldn't afford the ashcan packs this year, but we might be able to next year if life treats us well.

Candy: anything squishable, like the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, are not a good idea. Also, Whoppers were very unpopular because they look so small compared to everything else. They weren't, they just looked that way due to the packaging. Pure chocolate was most popular, snickers and kitkat close seconds.

Lights behind me inside the house were a hit. Kids LOVED it. Little kids were entranced, older kids thought it was cool. The display was lame by my standards, but it worked. The Candied Apple candles made for a strong atmosphere inside the house, as well. All said, I think I hit the right tone with the lights I had up.

Handing out candy: need something to kneel on. I tower over many adults in this area, the kids are tiny compared to me. But this morning my legs are in sheer agony from all the kneeling I did to be on the kids' level instead of looming over them.

I wish I had a livecam to share the crowds with people on the internet. Since I really want to get a cam to put up anyway, maybe I'll manage this some year. I think it would be fun to have a "spot the doublers" and "watch for hover-parents" contest on my blog. If I do get a cam, I need to record the night for sure!

I want to laminate my signs. The "Trick-or-Treaters Welcome... Beware the Monster Under the House, Though... He Likes Trick-or-Treaters Too... Dipped in Chocolate" sign got a LOT of amused squeals. I want to put it out at the end of the porch under the garage light instead of on the door next year so kids can read it. Maybe I can make it look like there is a hole that a monster could climb out from as well... someday.

I'm trying to remember what superheroes I got... Lots and lots of Spider-Man and Batman, a few Captain America, Superman, Hulk, and Wonder Woman. No Aquaman, no surprise. Lots of Japanese anime style heroes. Not many of the old standards. I swear I saw a Wicked Witch of the West, but I couldn't say that for sure. There was a Care Bear. Lots of "Day of the Dead" type white makeup with black outfits.

Need to have some canned food and pocket change near the door next year for the folks collecting for charity.

Now if I can just remember to look at this blog entry before getting prepped next year... *sigh*

A Sunday Review

Didn't get much TV watched this week, but we'll get to it eventually. We really do most of our TV watching on Friday and Saturday nights, and this week Eric was gone both nights, and well, you know what happened on Hallowe'en!

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TV this week:

• Ghost Lab: "Under the Skin" - A correlation between tattoos and paranormal activity? Oh-kay. That is one incredible Tattoo parlour, though. I can see why Richie was so attached to it. Now, getting a tattoo just to draw out a ghost seems a little extreme to me, but I have to admit that's a pretty cool logo to have tattooed on your arm. And then an EVP that swears at them, so they can't actually play it on TV. That's pretty amusing. Then they go to a haunted brothel in Texas, and leave the one female member of the team alone in the building, taking a bath. No, I'm not kidding. These folks try everything to bring out the ghosts.
• Destination Truth: "Werewolf/Africa Monster" - This is the "trip and fall" episode. They start in Romania looking for a werewolf, and the cameraman takes an impressive tumble. All they find are regular wolves, possibly large ones. Then they wander to a hostile desert in Chile and find dinosaur tracks and possibly find a dino descendent. This time Josh slips down a mountainside on a loose piece of rock. This show has one very impressive moment when Josh actually refuses to get into an old plane with engine problems. Remember, this is the guy who had the windshield of a cockpit fall off in mid-flight. If he doesn't want to fly in that plane, I think it's time to junk it.
• Ghost Hunters: "Rocky Mountain Hauntings" - This investigation was in Manitou Springs, CO at Briarhurst Manor, picked as part of the Great American Ghost Hunt. It was suitably creepy, but again, not much of substance was found. There's a part of me that really wants to believe that ghosts are external, but the more I see on various ghostie shows, the more I think that ghosts are an internal expression of something common to human nature.

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This week's comic book review is Beasts of Burden from Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson. I was introduced to this from a Hallowe'en mini-comic, and enjoyed the first story, Stray (the complete story is available on the Dark Horse website at that link). Eventually I heard about the ongoing series, and Evan Dorkin linked to all three shorts available free online from his Livejournal. I read The Unfamiliar and Let Sleeping Dogs Lie and suddenly realized that I really like this series and I wanted to read the mini that's coming out. Problem is, I hadn't ordered it, and without a local comic shop, getting my hands on it was going to be difficult. Luckily, a trip to civilization meant I was able to catch the first two issues, and except for the fourth short story (A Dog and His Boy) I'm all caught up.

The stories concern a group of six animals living on Burden Hill that stumble onto the supernatural and slowly become experts. The animals are: Pugsley, a skeptical and obnoxious pug; Rex the cowardly Doberman pinscher; Whitey, a hyperactive Jack Russell terrier; Jack, a beagle whose haunted doghouse started the group's involvement in the supernatural; Ace, the sensible and compassionate Husky, and Orphan the homeless marmalade cat. They are supported by the Wise Dog, a bearded collie who has knowledge of the mystic and Apprentice Wise Dog Miranda, a black lab. Another local dog is Red the Irish Setter. The first short story involves Jack's haunted doghouse, then the group faces off against a coven of witches. Then there are zombies (sigh) and the fourth short story apparently involves a werewolf. The first issue of the new series involves a rain of frogs (yay, Fortean!). The second issue is about lost puppies. And, of course, these one-line summaries don't do any justice at all to the stories. They are funny, touching, beautiful, grim, brutal, and just generally awesome. I highly recommend this series to any animal lovers (and a few animal haters as well) and plan on getting the collection when it comes out.

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Agatha Christie this week was Crooked House from 1949. A woman will not consent to marry her love until the murder of her beloved grandfather has been solved. Again, do not rule ANYONE out as the murderer in a Christie mystery. I briefly had the right person, but quickly dismissed it despite the stuff staring me in the face. *sigh* I'll get one of these eventually. Maybe. I've still got a great many years of her stuff to read. Maybe I'll get one that isn't a short story before I'm done. Maybe.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews -- My Wishlist