Favorite Fictional Character --- Wile E. Coyote & Road Runner

While searching for a appropriate youtube video to put at the end of this post, my roommate commented that he couldn't understand why someone our age would still love these characters.  He said when he catches it on TV now, he just gets annoyed by them.  I told him to mind his own business and buzz off.

How can you not love the classic give and take between these two?  The pursuit, followed by the ultimate humiliation and defeat every time is a classic story. Whether you want to compare it to the relationship between two people who's feelings for each other aren't quite matching up or to the pursuit of your goals that seem to be just out of reach, the story seems to resonate within each of us.  Now what I just described is what I would compare this story to now, as a kid I just enjoyed it for the fun.

Watching this show as a kid was a war of wills for me.  At times I would be rooting for Wile E. Coyote to accomplish his goal of capturing the Road Runner.  I would want his crazy hair brained schemes to work.  I would want the boulder to wipe the Road Runner off the road, I would wait in anticipation to see if his new ACME rocket would help him out in his quest or if it would fail horribly once again.

At other times I would want the Road Runner to get away from the hungry look in Coyote's eyes.  I would sit on the floor with bated breath to see how he would get out of the Coyote's new nefarious trap.  This was the safe side to root for, because no matter what, you knew the Coyote would fail once again and that the Road Runner would live to see another day.

Dawn Of The Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith

Synopsis From Back Cover:

....Dawn of the Dreadfuls-a thrilling prequel set four years before the horrific events of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  As our story opens, the Bennet sisters are enjoying a peaceful life in the English countryside.  they idle away the day reading, gardening, and daydreaming about future husbands-until a funeral at the local parish goes strangely and horribly awry.

Suddenly corpses are springing form the soft earth-and only one family can stop them.  As the bodies pile up, we watch Elizabeth Bennet evolve from a naive young teenager into a savage slayer of the undead.  Along the way, two men vie for her affections: Master Hawksworth is the powerful warrior who trains her to kill, while thoughful Dr. Keckilpenny seeks to conquer the walking dead using science instead of strength.  Will either man win the pirze of Elizabeth's heart:  Or will their hearts be feasted upon by the hoardes of zombies?

When I first heard about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies I was listening to Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me on NPR and while they were making fun of it quite a bit I found myself getting a little giddy in the car.  So when that first book finally came out a few months later I was lining up in the store to get my hands on it.  For the most part the book lived up to what I wanted it to be.  It took a book, Pride and Prejudice, that for what ever reason I found myself falling asleep every time I read it and made it come alive for me.  The book that once bored me to tears gave me goose bumps.  Now I wasn't totally in love with it because it still held the language that I can't get through and not enough zombie action (blame it on the fact I'm a guy).

Fastforward in time to a few weeks ago when I saw someone posting about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls coming out and that same feeling of euphoria overtook me once again. I was so excited to see that it would be a prequel to PPZ and since Jane Austen never wrote such a book, it would be all new. I was bouncing up and down in my chair so hard I think I almost broke the poor thing and I had to get on twitter right away so express my glee. Little did I know that my tweet would be spotted by the wonderfully kind Melissa Monachello from the publisher, Quirk Books, who would then offer me a copy of the book. When I got that tweet, I almost fell on the ground. For the next few days I waited for the book to arrive and once I did it took all the self control I had to set it aside so I could finish the books I had already started.

Now I have finally finished the book and I must point out that this prequel was everything I wanted to PPZ to be. It had more brain eating, limb dismemberment, and gut spillage than the first plus a host of new characters to get to know. The book starts off with one of dryest tongue-in-cheek opening lines I've read in a long time:

"Walking out in the middle of a funeral would be, of course, bad form.  So attempting to walk out on one's own was beyond the pale."

That line promised good things to come.  The book is full of witty dialogue and a wry sense of humor that I find refreshing.  Most books that feature zombies or other such nasties tend to be in the strict horror genre or in the "urban paranormal", "urban fantasy", "paranormal fantasy" or what ever else you want to call it.  Now there is nothing wrong with that last genre, I just find it tends to "sex" up such creatures, which can get rather tedious after a while.  This book, at least for me, played the horror card well but never took itself to seriously.  The bordering on sarcastic sense of humor is what made this book great for me.  It was used to point out the flaws that existed in society at the time as well as looking at male/female relationships and their respective roles in a world gone crazy.

Now I know some of you, the Jane Austen purists to name a few, will probably not even give this book a chance, either because it plays around in the universe created by a beloved author or for the simple fact pleny of innards are spilled and devoured.  I would only ask that before you reject it out of hand, you give it a thought or two to see if you could maybe find yourself laughing aloud, while being horrified at the same time.

The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie

Synopsis From Back Cover:

Reclusive tycoon Sir Oswald Coote and his melancholy wife, Lady Coote, have hit upon the ideal plan to spice up their quiet lives.  They'll host a lavish weekend part at Chimneys, their isolated estate, and invite only "bright young things."  But the festive mood is clouded by doom.  A practical joke involving seven clocks and a sleeping guest has ended in accidental death-and cuase for alarm.  For the guests may not be all that they appear.  And as whispers of a strange clube called Seven Dials echo through the halls of Chimneys, all hands will be pointing to murder....

First of all I have to say I loved this book and I'm going to have to put it up near the top of my favorite Christie books.  This book brought back a fun loving character from a previous books, "Bundle" Brent who first appeared in The Secret of Chimneys, she shines in this one.  Like most of Dame Agatha's female characters, Bundle is a strong minded woman who not only solves the case but finds love all at the same time. 

I really can't get into too much of the overall storyline as it would give too much away but I will say while there are a few murders, this book reads more like a spy vs. spy read though you aren't sure which incidents are really red herrings that are leading the reader down a path that really doesn't exist.  I have to say I was surprised by the ending and I wouldn't have had it any other way.  This was a affirmation for me of how good Agatha Christie really was at mapping out plot line that has twists, turns, and false paths that all make sense at the end.

This book qualified for both the Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge 2010 and the Typically British Reading Challenge 2010 both of which are hosted by Carolyn of Book Chick City.

Mailbox Monday for 03/29/2010

Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Marica at The Printed Page

Now I have already broke my book buying ban, I'm such a bad boy.

I bought A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen from Barnes & Noble

I won Black Hills by Dan Simmons in hardcover from Nely over at All About {n}

I got 12 by Jeffrey Marcus Oshins from Goodreads giveaway program

I made a trip to the library and stopped in the Friends of the Library Bookstore and walked out with 5 books.  I bought The Terror by Dan Simmons, Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood, and The Married Man by Edmund White all in trade paperback for $.75 each.  I also got The Elder Gods by David & Leigh Eddings and Into Darkness by Barbara Michaels both in hardcover for a $1 each.

The Jets: The Best Band Of All Time

Ok, they really aren't the best band of all time but they are my favorite.  The first year we were with the carnival I saw them in concert about 8 times at different country fairs in Minnesota.  So for those of you who may not remember them, here is a few of their videos.











Sorry, it's a lot of videos but I couldn't narrow it down any further.

A Film Meme, Now For The Second Time

I was tagged by Ceri form Not in the Pink for this one and since I love movies as much as books I said what the heck, lets do it.  Now I had already done a version of this meme on August 3rd of last year, so I will try to expand on my answers and not repeat myself.  Now a few of the questions are different but most are the same.

Name a film that you have seen more than 10 times.

The Thin Man would be one I've seen over and over and over and over and over again.

Name a film that you’ve seen multiple times in the cinema.

I'm not a big lets go to the theater to see it over and over kind of guy.  Now because of a past relationship I do remember seeing The Cell with Jennifer Lopez and Mission Impossile 2 in the theater twice each.

Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a film.

Parker Posey

Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a film.

Nicholas Cage

Name a film that you can and do quote from.

Monster Squad. "Kick him in the nards, kick him in the nards.......the Wolfman  does have nards!"

Name a film musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs.

The Phantom of the Opera, only because I loved the stage musical first.

Name a film that you would recommend everyone see.

To name a few I didn't name last time:  Gosford Park, The Thin Man series, Gremlins, The Last Starfighter, The Orphanage, Pan's Labyrinth, and I will end it there otherwise the list will never end.

Ever walked out of a film?

Another movie I walked out of was 12 Monekeys.

Name a film that made you cry in the cinema.

Ok I have to give a different answer from last time and since I mentioned two of them then, the first movie that comes to mind this time is Evita.  All I ask is that you keep the snickering to a minimum.

Popcorn?

The more butter the better.

How often do you go to the cinema (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?

Not as much as I used to.  It's about a few times a month now.  It used to be once or twice a week.

What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?

I'm not sure but the last few movies I've seen in the theater are: Ninja Assassins, The Road, Precious, and I know I have seen movies since then but my mind is drawing a blank right now.

What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?

My second favorite would be mystery.  I can never get enough of a good murder.

What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?

I also remember seeing pretty early in life: The Creep Show, Dawn of the Dead, and The Sword in the Stone.

What film do you wish you had never seen?

Twilight.  I finally broke down and saw the first movie and I've been kicking myself ever since.

What is the scariest film you’ve seen?

After Halloween it would have to be The Blair Witch Project, that ending scared the hell out of me.

If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?

Zorro or Tarzan.  It would be so cool to be either character, The Lone Ranger comes to mind as well.

Total number of films you own on DVD and video.

137 plus another 25 seasons of different TV shows

Last film you bought.

I bought Snow White, Poltergeist, Mannequin and Mannequin 2: On The Move all at the same time.

Last film you watched.

I rented The Hurt Locker and I loved it as much as I did in the theater.  The last movie I watched off of TV was Them! which I had on my DVR from TCM.

Five films that mean a lot to you.

I tackled this thinking if I could only watch 5 movies for the rest of my life, what would they be?  So I chose; The Women, Auntie Mame, The Thin Man, Halloween, and Christmas in Connecticut.

Winner of Raven Stole The Moon by Garth Stein

Now is the time to announce the lucky winner of Raven Stole The Moon by Garth Stein.  Using random.org  the winner was:

Krista

I will be sending an email shortly and Krista will have 8 hours to forward me her shipping info or a new winner will be picked.