Odds and Endings

You can keep yer Seafair, yer Miss Seafair contest, and yer Torchlight Parade. (Sorry, that would be your Southwest Airlines Seafair Torchlight Paradetm)

It's Loganberry Festival time here on The Island.

Have some pie.

No, no, there are no "pie-rates. " Sheesh!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
K.'s coming home right now. She's been in Belize for the last couple of weeks, scouting possible Real Estate for a friend in need of Tropical Climes. For those of you thinking, "Hmmm. Belize. I hadn't thought of Belize..." the land is as expensive there as it is here. Ka-ching! No Sale.

Katheryn's traveled the World, but this trip things have been a bit different. When we talked this morning, she told me that when folks found out she was American, they looked concerned and said, "Aren't you afraid?" More specifically, "Aren't you afraid to be an American travelling abroad with all the crap that your country is raining down on the world?"

First time in all her travels that has ever happened...and frequently.

Hey, how can we be afraid when we're spreading Democracy?

The world is changing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spent my commute home last night listening to the unfolding madness down in Belltown. We have friends at the JSF, and more than a few hours were spent with our hearts in our throats.
I also worried about my sister who works in the area (she took the day off yesterday). And had many thoughts about my friends at Zanadu Comics, who were no doubt locked down, they being a block away from the shooting. This week I picked up my comics on Thursday, instead of the usual Friday. Good choice, that. In a New York minute, everything can change.

You can not walk around in this world, afraid. The world is full of deluded nuts who will take innocent people down for their "cause." The answer is to not be one of them. And take care of the folks who can't take care of themselves. Do it for them and for yourself. It gives you perspective. Keep your heads down. But not in the sand.

"He put a gun to the head of a 13 year old child to gain access..." where he shot six women, including one who was 22 months pregnant.

Bastard. Stupid, crazy sociopathic bastard. Had he never been born....

(Shakes his head violently...well non-violently, but vigorously)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Uneasy Segue to Change the Subject:

I enjoyed the hell out of this comic this week. Grant Morrison wrote some cracker-jack dialog, setting up a superb plot that put a Joker-like grin on my face . This one effort alone puts him up there for me with Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman. And Andy Kubert (son of Joe) did some lovely work on the interior art. I hope the quality is able to be sustained, for it could make this the best series of Batman stories since the Steve Englehart-Marshall Rogers days of Detective Comics. For this, I live in hope. It's been so long since I've read something in the comic book form that has engaged me enough to think that the medium is capable of brilliance. Not since "New Frontier," anyway.

Even if they did put Bat-poles in The Batcave.

Highly recommended.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Song in Me Head

Here are the lyrics to the song that has been in my head all day. Jerry Goldsmith wrote the tune (someday there'll be a few pieces on him here). The lyrics were written by a fellow named Don Wolf, who's about as obscure as they come. Anyway, it's the theme from a long-forgotten Glenn Ford movie about an airline investigator trying to clear a friend's reputation in a plane crash. The lyrics and tune have been in my head all day.

Why stop and wonder what tomorrow 's going to bring
Might as well wonder why the Winter? Why the Spring?
For Fate is the hunter
Some unseen hand guides you forever
Life's all been planned

Fate is the answer when a happening seems strange
Might as well face it--Life's the one thing you can't change
Have faith in the future
Freedom from fear
for Fate is the hunter
And the hunter is near.


Next week: My head feels like it's about to explode, Part 1 (actually "5") of a film series, and, with any luck, a fond farewell.