Issue #1 is out, apparently

Congratulations to Heather White and all you other fabulous Fraggle Rock creators.

I haven't seen it yet myself, but a friend has assured me that it's available and he has a copy. Plus the editor, Tim Beedle, emailed me last night to say that it's been getting good reviews. Hey, hey! Maybe that means people will pick up a copy of issue two! And three. (I'll have stories in both.)

Looks like I'm headed to my local comic book store to make some tax deductible purchases.

Lost - Season 5

I'm finally watching the finale for Season 5 of Lost. And, while I've enjoyed watching it to keep me distracted while on my exercise bike, I can't help but find the plot a little muddy. It feels a lot like reading a Dickens novel, where he goes off at length on different tangents that end up going nowhere. Characters are established and then disappear without explanation.



If you want to really love Dickens, read The Real David Copperfield by Robert Graves (and Charles Dickens, naturally). Graves takes out all the "mistakes" and pandering to the gentle reader and gives you the book Dickens probably would have written if he wasn't creating episodes for a magazine and paid by the word.

Can someone please do that for Lost?

BTW, check out the hair on Mr. Dickens himself. He was quite the sass, apparently.

Smithsonian Magazine

I have become fascinated with the Smithsonian Magazine Website. All sorts of gee whiz articles from history. Good topics of conversation for when you're caught out with nothing to say. Great for distracting people from talking about stuff you don't want to talk about. Plus, it's history. History!

Fraggle favorites as a personality test

Marianne or Ginger used to be a question that showed what kind of woman a guy preferred, the sweet country girl or the Hollywood starlette. (Okay, they were both hot, so it wasn't that big of a test.)

Or, who is your favorite superhero? Back when I was dating, I found that I tended to date men who favored Daredevil. (Not sure how that reflects on me.)

At WonderCon, I got to hear a lot about which Fraggle characters were people's favorites. A large percentage of women said Red. A large percentage of burly men said the Doozers. Other guys favored Boober. One woman said Cotterpin Doozer because she always felt she was exactly like Cotterpin.

But, much to my surprise, no one mentioned the Vasco da Gama of Fraggles, Uncle Traveling Matt. Confusing, to say the least.

Heather White Interview!

Heather White, the writer of the lead story for Fraggle Rock issue #1 and the grower of some really gorgeous hair, has generously agreed to answer a few questions.



Here you go:

AA - How did you get involved with working on Fraggle Rock?

I worked with Joe LeFavi over at Henson a while back, and he knew I was a HUGE Fraggle fan, so when this project came up he was kind enough to ask if I had any ideas for short Fraggle tales. I sent him far too many ideas, and it all blew up from there! At the time, I thought there was no chance I would even get a backup story in, so all of this has been a lovely surprise!

AA - How did you get started as a writer?

I started off as a writer at the US Senate, where I wrote speeches, press releases and made up quotes ("quote producer") for lots of senators, who shall remain nameless. It was the weirdest job ever. At the time, I was about 19 or 20 and still in college. It still boggles the mind to think that some of the nation's most important political people were using words written by a young, blond chick with absolutely no political aspirations.

(AA - Wow!)

AA - Of America's famous alcoholic writers, who is your favorite and why, if limited to Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Twain, or Faulkner?

Well, Hemingway, of course! If you are going for classic alcoholics, he's the tops. In my mind, his body of work (written while smashed) is of the highest quality when compared to other alcoholic writers. Comparatively speaking. Was Twain really an alcoholic? I didn't know that. I knew he had a thing for his pipe...

AA - What book are you currently reading?

I wish I was reading a book right now! I can't really remember the last book I read for pleasure. (Though, I think it was The Body Artist by Don DeLillo). It seems like a common writer's dilemna, you don't have any time to read. Most writers I know are big audiobook fans. I'm fighting the urge to do become one myself, but at least then I could be current on books, and feel like all the time I spend in the car isn't a waste.

(AA - Yes, I admit, I'm addicted to audio books.)

AA - What comic are you currently reading?

I am, actually, rereading the SCOTT PILGRIM series in anticipation of the movie. It is one of my favorite graphic novel series ever, and the thought of seeing it on the screen, being directed by Edgar Wright, is almost too much for my geeky self to bare.

AA - When you were eight years old, who was your favorite author and why?

Oh goodness, when I was eight... I was reading a lot of Sweet Valley Twins, Francine Pascal stuff. That was right before I fell madly in love with the Star Wars: Young Jedi Knights series by Kevin J. Anderson. I really liked anything that transported me to a life that I would have loved to live - In Sweet Valley, the girls were beautiful and popular (which I was not) and in Star Wars, the main characters were in a school for Jedi! AND they were the offspring of Leia and Han Solo. You can't really get more enviable than that.

(AA - Thank you, Heather!)

Pig in Boots!

My lovely friend, Buckshot, just sent this to me and I can hardly contain myself. Look How Cute! I'm afraid I don't know where she got it, so I can't credit anyone properly, but all I have to say is, "Genius!"

Really, I'm tired of dogs. Too trendy. Cats have been weird around me lately and I'm not sure why. (Seriously, the last cat I spent any time with kept trying to French me.) But, a pig in boots is just the thing to steal my heart.

Be afraid!

Be VERY afraid!

Okay, my friend Drew just sent me this and it's a little freaky.

A few of the things that disturb me about this costume:

1) It costs $90.99

2) The guys wearing the costume was probably thrilled to get the modeling gig.

3) There is enough demand that these things have been manufactured.

4) Look at it! I mean, if it doesn't freak you out slightly then... I'm not even sure.

(p.s. - Check out Drew's site. He just landed himself a sweet, steam punk book contract. I've read a chunk of it and it's going to be pretty damn good.)