Blogging the London Trip- Day 2

A quick count reveals that Kat and I took about 900 pictures while in London. Clearly, this blog is NOT the place to view all of them. I will try to add in pictures this weekend (sorry, got home way too late last night to do much blog-enhancing), so apologies if you're keen to see what we saw.

Anyway, day 2...

We got up early (being still on East Coast time) and got downstairs for the continental breakfast. Didn't take us long to tear through cereal, fruit and cold cuts, believe me. The coffee was singularly bad.

Our tour activity of the day was a half-day trip through Westminster. This is what most folks think of when the words "West End" are thrown around, but it was originally a separate city from London and the home of the royal family. Greater London (as the sprawling metropolis is called, if you want to be technically accurate) swallowed up Westminster and various tributary villages and towns a long time ago. Nowadays Westminster is where you'll find:

• Buckingham Palace
• The Houses of Parliament
• Westminster Abbey (name sort of says it all, doesn't it?)
• Big Ben
• 10 Downing Street
• Hyde Park
• and lots and lots more

The great benefit of taking tours is learning a bit of a place's history. Our guide for the day, Rosemary, offered something on nearly every street corner we passed. Kat kept busy snapping pictures and noting key locations (among them, Barclays, which charged us no ATM fees).

We saw part of the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, rode past the cavalry barracks and stables (which have their own changing ceremony), got out at the Abbey and wandered a little, then rode back through Knightsbridge and got off near Harrods. We had a disagreement over what to do with the afternoon-- our choice consisted mostly of going on the afternoon tour of the City of London (which includes the Tower of London) or going our own way. Kat didn't care about seeing the Tower, so we ended up wandering in the West End.

We grabbed lunch at Sainsbury's, a local grocery chain, buying sandwiches and chocolate "pastilles" (buttons) and eating at Harrods. After that, we wandered through Harrods for awhile and Kat got to see where I bought her the first present I gave her (a black scarf).

We then headed for Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. Kat figured we might be able to have tea in the Orangery of Kensington Palace. Walking through Hyde Park, we had some of our sandwiches left over, so we thought we would toss crumbs to the pigeons, ducks and geese nearby.

Foolish mistake.

Once they knew food was being distributed freely, the geese came up... closer and closer... until we were virtually mugged. Kat and I discarded what we had left and made--not quite a run for it but a brisk walk, leaving the geese honking and waddling along behind us.

We joked that we could have been the first American tourists murdered by geese in "yet another tragic bird-feeding related incident." The BBC headline really writes itself.

Moving along, we crossed into Kensington Gardens, the vast lawns encircling the palace where Princess Diana made her home. It was a royal dwelling until Buckingham Palace was complete (and Queen Victoria became the first monarch to live there); since then, it's housed members of the royal family and currently features an exhibit of Diana's signature fashions, as well as a circular fountain-and-watercourse dedicated to "the people's princess" and a commemorative walking path.

Our goal was the Peter Pan statue that I didn't find back in 2001. Sure enough, we found it on the easternmost edge of the gardens, overlooking the Serpentine (a twisting lake that forms the border between Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens). It's quite impressive. We watched visitors feed the squirrels (who were uncommonly bold, even for us who are used to Washington squirrels); a fellow there fed birds and squirrels from his hand.

I'll have to ask Kat where we had dinner that night. Still, Monday was quite a busy day for our visit to London. Expect this post to be revised (significantly) once I lock down or remember some key details...

Blogging the London Trip- Day 1

It's really nice having an entire day to get ready for a trip before you leave. Our flight out of Dulles was at 10:20pm Saturday, which meant we would get a ride from Super Shuttle at about 6pm. Kat thought that was crazy-early but I said that between security and everything else, it might not mean hours of waiting.

It did, but that's beside the point.

Anyway, we got on the plane before 10pm, a British Airways flight, to find that the air conditioning was out of commission. The temp inside was climbing steadily as more passengers embarked, which meant the Cadbury chocolate bar I bought got melty real fast. Kat and I did our best to ignore the heat but... you can only ignore so much.

We got airborne by 11pm and the air conditioning kicked in once the big engines were going. That was a relief. We found, however, that our overhead lights weren't working at all; this meant the pilot had to reboot the entire system, which meant the TVs were down for awhile. Argh.

Landing in Heathrow, we got through the gate, cashed some US money for UK currency, and then waited for our tour group's bus to show up. Turns out we missed one (must not have heard them calling our names) and caught the next one, putting us into London around 1pm Sunday. We saw a huge mob of soccer fans in the street at one point, shouting in support of Manchester United (who beat Chelsea in a very close match in Moscow last week). We were a bit taken aback by the intensity of their demonstration.

Arriving at our hotel--the Riverbank Park Plaza--we settled into our room, then changed rooms (we were close to the train track behind the hotel). Our hotel was right on the Embankment, with a terrific view of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, with reasonably convenient access to the Vauxhall Tube station. (I'll add pictures and links to this post tonight, so you can see what I mean.)

Our only schedule item that evening was seeing our friend Mike Carey at a pub near Tottenham Court Road. We headed out a bit late (after 5pm for a 6pm meet), found that Vauxhall Station was closed for maintenance, scrambled to figure out how to get to Tottenham Court Road, got there about 6:10, and then asked nearly every third person on the street how to find a pub named The Angel.

Nobody knew. Go figure.

Eventually we found a police officer and he produced a pocket map, which showed us we were about four blocks from our target. Kat insisted we buy that very map immediately, then we made it to The Angel... at 6:45. Mike was getting ready to go (or so it seemed to me), but we settled back in, got a round of pints (half-pint for Kat), and talked.

Don't know about you, but I like talking and it seems Mike does too. We covered X-Men (especially Charles Xavier [currently the feature character in Mike's X-Men: Legacy series]and Scott Summers), Felix Castor, writing in other media, travel plans, restaurants and sights of interest, and a dozen other topics--including a very cool writing project Mike is on right now. I won't say more about it because it's his news to reveal, when the time is right, but Kat and I wish him the very best. He's a great guy, a good friend, and we hope to see him again soon.

Mike had to get home, so Kat and I wandered to Rules, a restaurant Mike had recommended. (It happens to be the oldest restaurant in London; it definitely has that feel of genteel antiquity and the service was matchless.) We had a fantastic meal-- Kat said it was the single best meal she had in London-- and made our way home around 11 or so. It had been an exhausting day but well worth every minute.

And on Monday... our first tour. Stay tuned!

And We're Back!

Kat and I got home from London around 1:45am Sunday morning, exhausted but very happy to see our kittens (who seemed disoriented at being woken up so early in the morning). They've hardly left us alone since then.

In brief: London was incredible. I'll be posting a day-by-day of our trip, now that Kat is working on uploading the many, many pictures we took, so stay tuned for that. However, in the meantime, here's a short run down of the coolest things we did or saw while there:

1) Stratford-upon-Avon. My #1, definitely, was seeing Shakespeare's birthplace. It has a kind of mythic resonance to it and was a must-see for Kat even more than me... but it was my favorite stop on the trip. (BTW, "avon" means river so "upon Avon" translates as "upon the river"... which happens to be named Avon.)
2) British Library. Their "treasures" room is absolutely not to be missed, for its manuscripts and its music. A Gutenberg Bible, one of two first-ever print copies of Beowulf, pages from Leonardo daVinci's notebooks, hand-written lyrics to classic Beatles tunes by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and--oh yeah--one of four surviving copies of the Magna Carta. Mindblowing.
3) Hanging out with Mike Carey. One of the nicest guys we know, Mike was exceptionally gracious about our 45-minute lateness and made our first day in London unforgettable, just by sitting to chat in a favorite pub.
4) Notting Hill and Portobello Market. We did a walking tour on our last day (Saturday) and absolutely loved it. We saw a bunch of sights featured in "the movie" (as our guide Richard called it), including the travel book shop owned by Hugh Grant's character. We also learned where a lot of the scenes were shot, most of which were not in Notting Hill at all. And you really can find just about anything in Portobello Road...

More later, plus pictures!

Offline this week

Hey folks,
Just to let you know, Kat and I leave for London tonight. It'll be our long-delayed honeymoon (we'll spend our third anniversary in Bath/Stonehenge), so that's very exciting.
Take care and we'll be back a week from tomorrow!
Drew

Thinkin' About: The Hobbit

Have to admit, I am extremely excited that 1) Peter Jackson will be executive producing The Hobbit (as a two-film package) and 2) Guillermo del Toro will be directing. While I'll miss Jackson behind the camera, his association with the movies will ensure that they are "of a piece" with his epic Lord of the Rings trilogy. This means the Shire will look like (wait for it) the Shire, and Lonely Mountain--as well as Smaug--will be titanic, something folks will need to see on the big screen.

Del Toro is a visionary fantasist on par with Jackson; both men like effects but (even better) know how to use them strategically. Neither has lost a movie's story to an overwhelm of CGI, stop motion or any other fancy visual trickery--if anything, they (like a handful of other filmmakers) really get what effects can and cannot do.

Like I said, I cannot wait. I only hope they get right to work--we need more good movies in the theaters.

My Comics List, Week of May 14

Hey gang,
Here's what I picked up this week-

• BATMAN #676 RIP
• BOOSTER GOLD #9 (man, Earth is messed up 'cause of Ted Kord, huh?)
• CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI 13 #1 SI (the Skrulls want to bomb Stonehenge?)
• FX #3 (OF 6) (love Byrne's art!)
• GEN 13 #20 (the end of the New York saga, finally)
• GREEN LANTERN CORPS #24 (the source of the Black Mercy flower--revealed!)
• NEWUNIVERSAL SHOCKFRONT #1 (OF 6) (further recreating Jim Shooter's pre-Valiant universe-building effort)
• NUMBER OF THE BEAST #3 (OF 6) (things is messed up where the High is hangin'... dawg)
• SECRET INVASION FANTASTIC FOUR #1 (OF 3) SI (okay, the ending you can see coming but getting there is kinda fun)
• TITANS #2
• WALKING DEAD #49 (the perfect antidote to happiness and optimism)
• X-MEN LEGACY #211 DWS (Xavier is still putting it together... with help from a madman, Phoenix and his wackjob sister)

Overall, thought it had some bright spots. I might do a rundown of my faves (and not-so-faves) before I run off to London.

Kat's Comin' Home

Kat gets home from a California trip tonight at about 9 o'clock. She'll be a little jet-laggy the next couple days... and we leave for London Saturday night.

Can't wait to see my honey.

Asia Nine and CoCo Sala: Two Great Tastes

Friday night, four of us met to celebrate Kat's birthday (a couple days after the fact) and hit a couple new places downtown.

Our first stop was Asia Nine, which opened rather recently at 915 E Street, opposite the J. Edgar Hoover Building (aka FBI HQ). The menu is pan-Asian, with elements from various cuisines and cool decor (we liked the black ceiling and dark walls). The prices were very reasonable and we found plenty of great dishes to keep us talking (and eating) for quite awhile.

Our second stop was CoCo Sala (note: the web site appears to be a placeholder), at 929 F Street. It only opened about a week ago (I think). We liked the variety of chocolate dishes; we each chose something from the five-course menu, and two of us tried a chocolate cocktail that was excellent. Coming on the heels of Asia Nine, we were all very stuffed when we left CoCo Sala, but it was a good stuffed.

If you have the time, check them out--both places have a lot to offer, great atmosphere and great food.

While the Kat's away...

She's in California until Thursday night (late).
I'm home with the kittens and the DC rain (which they say will let up but they're always wrong).
Ah well.
Gonna be a lonely few days.

Talk talk

Some times, the things you do come back around in an odd way.

This past weekend, a friend shared with me that a former acquaintance had been "bothered" by how I handled a goodbye to my former LCS. This person seemed to think I was "enjoying it too much" and that I was gratuitously hurting someone's feelings.

Not true, from my point of view. I was extraordinarily uncomfortable about the circumstances and found the necessity of going back to the store--after I'd made a rather final exit--to be darkly humorous. It probably didn't come off that way. But nevertheless, it bothered someone... and I guess they are still talking or thinking about it.

You know what? It doesn't matter.

The person who was bothered by what I did never bothered to talk with me about it. Instead, a friend took the risky step of passing along what others were apparently gossiping about (months after the fact), to let me know. While I appreciate their willingness to take that chance, it isn't precisely a teaching moment for me because:

a. the person upon whom I supposedly inflicted harm (or this person's friend, the nameless gossip) never addressed me about it; and
b. what, I'm supposed to listen to or be schooled by some nameless gossip?

No.

That's what separates a friend from an acquaintance, IMO. A friend takes a chance on telling you something you might not want to hear; an acquaintance-- especially one that doesn't mean you well-- gossips about it behind your back.

I can tell you which of the two I'd prefer to hang out with.

SPEED RACER Review

As a kid, I was a huge Speed Racer fan.

It was one of the things I anticipated most on summer trips to Gulfport, MS--getting to see Speed Racer in the afternoon. (There was more to these excursions than that, of course, but SR was something my brother and I looked forward to.) The story was pretty simple: Speed races cars, has a girlfriend and pesky younger brother, and ends up in trouble with various evil drivers who try to make sure he never can finish the race. But he wins anyway.

I wasn't sure what to make of the Wachowski brothers putting Speed Racer up on the big screen. Having seen it... I'm still grappling with what to make of the Wachowski brothers putting Speed up on the big screen.

Let's do this right. Summary first, opinion last.

Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is the second son of Pops and Mom Racer (John Goodman and Susan Sarandon). He's a race car driver--how odd that his name matches his career like that! hmm!--whose girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci) and buddy Sparky (Kick Gurry) double as his support team. He's also more-or-less helped by his little brother Spritle (Paulie Litt) and Spritle's chimpanzee Chim-Chim.

A cloud hangs over Speed and the Racer household. Speed's beloved older brother Rex (Scott Porter), who quit the family racing/car building business abruptly, has been dead for two years after a short career full of disgrace. Speed is now being courted by the megacorporations that sponsor international racing; a particularly sleazy corporate boss named Royalton (Roger Allam) is the first to entice Speed to consider corporate sponsorship, against Pops' deep skepticism.

But things are not as they appear. The appearance of the enigmatic Racer X (Matthew Fox) throws Speed for a loop, as corruption in racing rears its ugly head (epitomized by the vicious racer Snake Oiler [Christian Oliver]) and puts Speed's idols in a different light. Speed must make some tough choices--and learns that not everything is what it seems to be, on the track or off.

The movie is a blur of light (very brightly colored light) and sound (mostly roaring motors), with a veneer of plot to keep the various race scenes strung together. It's probably on par with most Elvis movies, where the point was to keep the spotlight on the star amid a whirlwind of activity. Hirsch acquits himself well as a young man struggling with adult responsibilities, though his one expression behind the wheel appears to be intense discomfort. Ricci, as Trixie, is well cast if only for her manga-esque features; she hangs in gamely with the dialogue and plot twists, though.

The cast is generally strong, with Goodman in particular turning in a nuanced performance (mostly) as Pops Racer. He even manages to salvage what could have been a jaw-droppingly dumb fight scene. His strength comes in a couple of scenes where he brings greater depth to Pops than he could have.

The story isn't bad--corruption is pretty good as a driver for action movies--but the explanations for how this dirty business works rushes by pretty fast and seems a bit abstract for its effects on the Racer family. It's sort of like describing how Enron's collapse would affect a telemarketer in Encino. Yeah, there might be a connection but it's not necessarily life and death for the telemarketer, you know?

Speed's car, the incredible Mach 5, has a bunch of gadgets--including spring-loaded jacks, buzzsaw cutters, crampon-spouting tires (which can replace themselves, too), and a bulletproof canopy--and we see Speed use just about every one of them. That was pretty awesome.

Apart from that bit of awesome, however, the movie's race sequences feel like they're suited more to Hot Wheels: the Movie than Speed Racer. The action takes place inside incredibly vast racing arenas, one of them apparently intercontinental, and while that's okay, what makes it tough is that the cinematography makes it hard to tell what's happening. The Mach 5 bounces around like a pinball in many scenes, so that you can't tell if Speed is in trouble... or has the bad guys right where he wants them. Plus there's a "use the Force" moment that's too ridiculous to explain further.

I'd give SPEED RACER one and a half out of four stars. It's too long and hyperactive for little kids--plus there's one really age-inappropriate gesture-- so think twice before you take the little ones. It's not a terrible movie, it really isn't, but it's not above what most film lovers deride as "mindless summer blockbusters" either.

You can see more reviews here.

What I'm Liking and Not Liking in Comics Pt 1

Okay, so I'm shelling out my hard-earned bucks for comics every Wednesday... and I realize this morning that I haven't read a chunk of what I bought two days ago.

That would have been unthinkable when I was in my 20s or even my 30s. Nowadays? I'm lucky if I read everything I buy period. Used to be I could only say that about novels (I own enormous tons of books and, sadly, have a considerable pile of "never-reads" in that papery black hole I call a library).

So what am I liking and what am I not liking?

Let me see.

LIKE
1. WildStorm.
I know, I'm surprised too. While NEW DYNAMIX isn't kicking it for me, I love that they're going all out on NUMBER OF THE BEAST and the shape of the world afterward. It's a very bold step and I hope it pays off immensely. Plus they've been trying all kinds of energetic and innovative things to recharge their classic books. Despite a couple misfires (WildCats, Authority), WildStorm is getting better all the time.

2. Green Lantern.
A couple of interlocked books that have a master plan-- how cool is that? Geoff Johns is just rocking it on GL. For a hero I kinda-sorta liked, this has become "must read" stuff.

3. Secret Invasion.
It's about time the Skrulls got serious about kicking Earth's ass. And man, have they been doing it! Reed splattered over his lab, the Baxter Building sucked into the Negative Zone, the SWORD space station blown to bits... the list goes on and on. And where are the Avengers? Chasing their tails in the Savage Land, while New York is ground zero for the Skrull ground strike. Good stuff-- I just hope they avoid what befell WORLD WAR HULK: awesome story, miserable ending.

4. Cyclops.
I think Scott Summers is poised to become the fan favorite mutant of 2008. He's shaken off his decades-long misery over Jean Grey (who seems to have been reborn like... a phoenix?... over in CABLE), hooked up with the older-but-still-hot Emma Frost (c'mon, Emma's got to have five or six years on Scott easy), and assumed real leadership of the X-Men. Thank God one of my favorite X-characters is back to being himself.

5. Ultimate Marvel.
Yeah, it's heresy for anyone who's read comics for more than, oh, four years to admit liking the Ultimate books... but hey, they're doing what Marvel used to do in the old days: shaking up the status quo, keeping you guessing, and not playing it safe. I like Bendis on Ult Spider-Man (Peter Parker should ALWAYS be a high school student! yeah I said it!), I like Mike Carey on Ult FF, and the other books have given me some smiles. Sure, I wish ULTIMATES was a more regular title-- heck, the delays on ULTIMATES II were criminal-- but overall I like the line a lot.


DON'T LIKE
1. The new Question.
I'll give Greg Rucka big props for being a great writer-- but his version of The Question isn't great. Renee Montoya evolved from being "that cop chick from BATMAN: THE ANIMATED ADVENTURES" into a complex character who'd hit rock bottom... only to begin a path toward self-knowledge courtesy of a dying Vic Sage (aka "Charlie"). Now, following the events in CRIME BIBLE, she's in charge of the Dark Faith. What the F?? C'mon, Greg, where the heck is THE QUESTION in this? Ditko's version, O'Neil's version... any version of a character searching for truth instead of punching her way to control of an evil religious sect. If you want to write "The Adventures of Renee Montoya, wannabe Cobra Commander" just do it, okay? Leave my favorite hero's legacy in peace.

2. Wolverine.
So... very... tired....

3. Captain America still dead.
C'mon, Ed Brubaker, bring Steve Rogers back already. You know you're going to.

4. Limitless crossover miniseries.
Once in awhile, it works. I kind of liked GAMMA CORPS, that WWH spinoff, and I'll buy one or maybe two of the FINAL CRISIS or SECRET INVASION tie-ins, but folks (I'm looking at you, DC and Marvel), too much is too much. It looks like FINAL CRISIS will keep it under control; let's hope SECRET INVASION does likewise.

That's all I have for now. We have a taping of FANTASTIC FORUM coming up at the end of the month. Maybe by the time I get back from London, I'll have more butt-whups in mind.

Countdown: The Wrap-Up

SPOILER WARNING
Boy, do I spoil COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS...

Well, DC's second consecutive 52-week comics project ended a couple of Wednesdays ago. It's taken me this long to come down from the experience.

Can't say it garnered a lot of conversation at Ye Olde Comics Shoppe, other than "oh, it's done?"
Frankly, that's how it went out-- with a whimper instead of a bang.

Here's what you missed, if you weren't reading:

• Darkseid got killed by Orion, who wasn't looking too healthy afterward, following week after week of a confusing (and ultimately pointless?) chess game with a rogue Monitor named Solomon;
• Superman-Prime came back, steroided-out and wearing all black, to torture Mr. Mxyzptlk, obliterate one Earth and get blown to smithereens when he tore open Monarch (formerly Captain Atom), who...
• had either gone crazy or "so sane he's crazy" and built a monstrous war machine, led by a handful of variant DC heroes, that...
• he blew to smithereens when torn open by Superman-Prime;
• Kyle Rayner, Donna Troy and Jason Todd (all of whom oddly seem more comfortable without superhero names nowadays) went kicking around the 52-verse searching for Ray Palmer in the company (briefly) of a treacherous Monitor named Bob;
• Palmer (it turns out) was hiding out on a "perfect" Earth, where he had married Jean Loring and enjoyed a world without superheroes (they'd solved all their problems and were in a Golden Age, which ended abruptly and tragically courtesy of Monarch [see above]);
• Palmer also had the inoculation against morticoccus (a transformative smart virus) in his blood and was seeding it across parallel Earths on his travels (something that turned out to be entirely pointless, as the morticoccus unleashed only consumed Earth-51-- yeah, the very same "perfect" Earth Monarch obliterated-- kind of sucks to live there, huh?)
• Oh, and that whole morticoccus thing set the pieces in place for Kamandi-Earth;
• the Earth's villains were mass-deported, a feat of brilliance undone by the heroes, who were feeling somewhat bereft of purpose, I suppose (honest, does anyone think Batman would ever in a million years go seek out the Joker to BRING HIM BACK TO EARTH?);
• the Atom (Palmer again) liberated the trapped souls of the New Gods, who were lending powers to Jimmy Olsen (who didn't die [truth in advertising, people!!] but did hook up with Forager [temporarily?], possibly the very last living native of New Genesis);
• Piper survived the villain purge (though Trickster didn't)... only to find he embodied some fragment of the Anti-Life Equation and can make Boom Tubes by playing his flute;
• Harley Quinn got a new BFF in ex-Catwoman Holly Robinson-- they survived faux Amazon training, a trip to Apokolips, the morticoccus outbreak and a final fight against Dark Mary Marvel (who got a share of Black Adam's power, then a dose of juice from the gods she helped liberate);
• Dark Mary, btw, managed to become evil TWICE in the course of this story, once by accepting Black Adam's "gift" and then a second time... by taking that same power back from Darkseid! This gal is just pathetic...
• Also btw, where is Shazam (aka Freddie Freeman) in all this, while Mary's shaming the Marvel Family? Man, I know you just wrapped up six epic feats to win your powers back--after they were somewhat arbitrarily taken away--but what a way not to defend the family honor...
• speaking of whom... my bet? Dark Mary gets seriously killed in FINAL CRISIS;
• in total-- ugh.

One conclusion? I'm swearing off weekly comics for awhile. Good luck, TRINITY.

Where did this week go?

Hey folks,

It's been a busy week. Kat had her birthday on Wednesday and we celebrated with dinner at Jaleo, then a visit to see the gang at Fantom Comics. Wackiness didn't precisely ensue but we did have fun hanging out with everyone. We also agreed that we'll be seeing Speed Racer this Sunday. Based on the reviews, I think I'd better bring dramamine if not Pepto-Bismol.

Still getting ready for the trip to England. Can't wait!


Other than that, I've been reading Carrie Vaughn's Kitty Norville novels. Kitty is a werewolf who hosts a nationally syndicated radio show discussing the supernatural. So far I've read the first two books; though werewolves aren't normally my favorite supernatural critter (and I've gotten pretty tired of vampires, sinceI'm discussing this), she makes Kitty and her supporting characters really come alive. I'll be keeping with this series as long as she's writing them.


Also on deck: Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson #4) by Rick Riordan. I've always loved Greek mythology; Riordan has a great knack for weaving ancient myths seamlessly into an ongoing tale of a boy who's Poseidon's son. Definitely one to follow, if you like urban fantasy YA (and who doesn't?).


I might have a Bugles Planet post coming up soon. Oh, and my review of Iron Man over at SFRevu? The folks at Marvel Comics took a peek at it and liked it a lot. Very very glad to hear that!

That's about all for now. See ya!

Totally Worth It

Uttered by P.J. Lusk in the context of what might go on a tombstone if one were killed by a vampire succubus.

"Totally worth it."

'Nuff said.

Been A Busy Week

Hey folks-

The biggest news of mine this week is a two-fer: seeing Iron Man on Tuesday night, writing up a review, and passing word of that review forward to Marvel Comics--whose folks there have been extraordinarily kind about my humble wordage. It's thrilling to think that Marvel is not only aware of what I did for SFRevu but enjoys it as well.

Aside from that, Kat's been busy with work and we're looking forward to her parents coming to pre-celebrate her birthday.

Take care... and go see Iron Man! It is, in the immortal words of Martin Bosworth, "made of awesome."