Never Say Never

If you are a fan of Neil Gaiman's work, then I'm sure you have a well-worn copy of Neverwhere someplace that has been read about a thousand times.

If you haven't, then you should get one, or ask a friend for it as a gift at your next natal holiday or mitzvah.

If you like comic books as an artistic medium, which it most definitely is a most viable and vital example of, then you may be happy to know that the cool label of DC Comics, Vertigo, is currently producing a comic book adaptation of Neverwhere in a nine issue series.

I know that was a hella run-on sentance, and I don't care.

The art fits the mood of the story, even if I'm not crazy about the cover images(with the exception of this one). The interior work is much more in line with what I would expect.

If you'd like a visual alternative to the BBC production, then you could do much worse than checking it out. I've attached the cover shot of issue #1. I hope that I can snag these comics once they're all wrapped up, or maybe grab them as a trade paperback after the fact.

There's a sample of the first few pages yonder...

Summer In The City

My company picnic was held at Dorney Park this year. Since I'm a sucker for roller coasters, I was definitely down.

Although the tickets and parking were free, the planning department didn't make any thoughts about the weather. The day was Saturday, and it broke records for heat in some areas around here. Of my company's attendee's, approximately 15 people suffered from one flavor of heat stroke or another.

Aside from being a bit warm towards the end of the day, and being baked a lovely shade of red for being so pale, I had a great time.

Amena and I hit all their coasters several times, and really enjoyed the Talon. Although Hydra is their newest coaster, it just didn't have the punch (or the "G's)that Talon did.

We skipped the water park entirely. Largely due to the fact that we knew that everyone else would be there with the mercury being what it was. From the reports of my peers that did go that route, I'm quite glad we weren't there. Wildwater Kingdom sported waiting in line for 45 minutes on the small attractions.

We were hitting a coaster, and then getting back in line again. We rode in the front of each of the coasters there at least once. The preferred back seat on Steel Force for the camelback whipping action too.

There were only two down sides to the day as a whole. The first was the construction on 476 that made the trip an hour longer than it should have been. The second was a mild asthma attack late in the day that sidelined Amena, and forced us to bow out of the renaissance faire the following day.

Other than that, a whole lot of fun. Now, I just have to get a day at Six Flags, so I can ride their new record holding coaster Kingda Ka...

Shake Hands With Beef

This Sunday found me engaged in one of my favorite pursuits - entertaining guests. More specifically, cooking for said guests. They happened to be friends from my wife's job, and I started them off with simple family fare of a roast beef dinner.

It seemed to come off without a hitch, and several helpings were had by all. We talked and laughed and grubbed over a bottle of shiraz, and then retired to the dungeon for viewing pleasure.

Jason and Kaylee decided upon Samurai Champloo volume one, and we settled in for some anime goodness. Midway through, we attacked some very yummy dessert prepared by Kaylee (a wonderful cheesecake-brownie amalgam that almost tastes like peanut butter together, but so much more).

We parted with the promise to come over their place next time. I double checked with Amena that I hadn't embarrassed her in any way, and she was still on speaking terms with Jason at work the next day. I passed with flying colors.

I do enjoy a good get together, and with as few friends as I have, it's always nice to meet new people. Not that I'm all about quantity over quality though. The friends that I do have today are worth their weight in gold.