Summer Reading Report
Jun 13You Holmes fans might dig this: I just finished reading and thoroughly enjoying Down the Rabbit Hole, the first teen-themed novel from suspense writer Peter Abrahams. I picked it up from the library because of the glowing Stephen King blurb on the back cover, which made it sound like a fun read. It is, and I’d also say that it’s as enjoyable for us big kids as it is for the young ‘uns it’s aimed at. And I mention it for Holmes fans because the thoughtful young heroine, 13-year-old Ingrid Levin-Hill, is an avid Holmes enthusiast and often references his adventures as she’s untangling a pretzel of a murder mystery plaguing her small hometown.
Ingrid is a terrific character, stubborn and self-sufficient. She also has a great, droopy, drowsy dog, Nigel, who reminded me a lot of The Tick’s immortal Speak. Aw, Speak.
In other reading news, I also finished Charles de Lint’s latest, Widdershins. It’s very good and very satisfying for longtime Newford-heads and Jilly/Geordie ‘shippers. I do have one…it’s not really a complaint, but let’s just call it A Thing. It seems like we’re spending a lot of time in the Otherworld lately and that’s all fine and good (especially when it’s necessary, as it is for Jilly’s inner healing), but…I miss the streets of Newford. The Tombs, the bookstores, the little cafes, and all the weird magic lurking just around the corner. Hopefully, we can hang out there a bit more in the next book.
Oh, also, while I was reading Widdershins, I went back and re-read some of the early Jilly/Geordie stories, as well as select portions of The Onion Girl. It definitely enhanced the experience and gave the story some nice context. Highly-recommended, as it also makes the book last longer.
WikiWikiWhack: Speak, Charles de Lint.
No disintegrations!
Jun 13
Vancouver has this new, spruce up the city plan. Actually, they have several each year, which tends to keep a lot of local artists employeed, so that’s nice. They did something similar a couple of years back, only it was Orca whales – various parts around the city sponsored a whale and an artist would paint it to reflect the area. Most were so-so, but Bell Canada painted theirs to look like it was made of pixels and the library made theirs into a bookshelf, complete with fake, fiberglass books.
This year, it’s spirit bears (or, as everyone assumes, polar bears – cuz that’s what they look like.) The one outside HMV takes the My Fav award, for obvious reasons. And you can hardly tell it’s a bear. One might say, you can barely tell. har har.
Civil War Spoiler: DUH.
Jun 13Have you heard? There’s a shocker at the end of issue 2 of Marvel’s Civil War that will RHIP TEH INTRENET IYN HYALF!!! OHEMGEE!!!
Of course, if you read the last issue of Amazing Spider-Man, and/or last week’s debut of Civil War: Front Line, you would have to be BRAIN DEAD not to determine what this spoiler is.
(AVAST! SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU’RE STUPID!)
Print nerd
Jun 12I’m a print nerd too. All of us here are nerds of many things and given enough time it will all come out. I worked at a student newspaper for many a year, which is where I got my first taste of just how cool it is to publish something. This was the proto-digital era, meaning the text got laid-out on computer, but that was printed out and arranged with seperate elements not on the computer (like ads and photos) on a card, slightly bigger than the size of the final page. Actual physical contact*.
Chewie On the Skins
Jun 11The awesome Star Wars-themed Gnarls Barkley performance from last week’s MTV Movie Awards has made its way onto YouTube.
This was so, so much cooler than Hayden Christensen winning Best Villain. Come on, if you’re gonna give it to someone from Sith, why not Ian McDiarmid? He made a seven course meal out of all that scenery without even coming up for air.
