The August Horrorfind convention was a bit of a letdown. It's become harder to get the "collector's market" DVDs these days as con managements are cracking down on that, and I've heard tales of law enforcement types wandering dealers' rooms looking for that stuff. I bought a few movies but overall I wasn't all that thrilled; there was a lot of mass-market stuff that I could buy cheaper on Amazon or Deep Discount, and there was quite a bit of straight porn, which was of little interest to me. I did get some books, too, that I'll be dipping into later.
This past weekend I was on the annual Birthday Visit with the parents, which was made more interesting by the new addition to the family....
This is Lobo, a kitten my parents found in their backyard vegetable garden one rainy morning. From all appearances, he was part of a litter that some heartless person ditched at the side of the road (several other kittens were found by neighbors), but they had him checked out by the local vet. He's in perfect health, has been declawed, and is scheduled to be neutered in October. He's a typical kitten, full of bites and play, tearing around the house like a whirlwind, but in his quiet moments, like here when he's sitting in the front window to watch the birds and butterflies, he's utterly adorable. He'll grow up to be a handsome adult beast.
I don't have much to review; in between being sick and watching the last of the Olympics, I haven't had much time to read. I've started on Quiller-Couch's ON THE ART OF WRITING and I'm almost done Wirt Sikes' BRITISH GOBLINS, and I'm making an attempt to read Andrew Lang's THE VALET'S TRAGEDY. I'm finishing up the Clark Ashton Smith stuff I'd been reading and I also finished today Wilkie Collins' novella THE DEVIL'S SPECTACLES. It's an entertaining story of a man who receives a magical pair of spectacles from a dying servant that allows him to see the hidden thoughts of anyone around him. It's a humorous if moralistic tale, looking at how the magical eyewear allows him to see only the faults and none of the qualities of the people he looks at. And it's also kinda creepy as I'm getting my eyes examined in a couple of days....
My birthday is coming up, 8/31, so if anyone's reading this, feel free to drop a Happy Birthday message. I'll try my best to get on the ball come autumn.
3 comments:
Happy Birthday to a fellow horror fan. Anyone who reads Clark Ashton Smith is a true aficionado. I assume you're into Frank Belknap Long too, right?
I just finished "The Missing" by Sarah Langan, a quasi sequel to "The Keeper." She's a very good writer who definitely does not care about feel-good endings. You might want to check her out.
Cheers,
Springvale Roader
Hey, Springvale! Good to see you on here! I have some Long, but I've never heard of Langan so I'll have to find out more.
Maybe we'll have to get SS/TP horror fans together at Mayorga or something for a get-together...
Hey there, Vagrarian. Sorry to hear about your glaucoma. I'm just a little older than you, 45, and about 3 years ago I was diagnosed with a less severe form of glaucoma where the cells of my iris shed and clog some ducts. This could lead to more serious glaucoma down the road. Alas, 40 seems to be the magic age for eye problems (I now need reading glasses!).
Mayorga sounds like a good idea, but I'm hoping we SS horror fans can kick it off with a zombie lurch into AFI for Night of the Living Dead.
Good luck with your Palace of Wonders show. We (the missus and I) will be busy building our reputation as the best Halloween house for trick or treaters in Silver Spring, so that's where we'll be all night.
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