Book Review: Bowling With Corpses by M. Mignola et al.

Bowling With Corpses and Other Strange Tales form Lands Unknown written and drawn by Mike Mignola, colors by Dave Stewart, and letters by Clem Robins

This collection of tales by Mike Mignola is a mixture of borrowed stuff from other folklore and his own creations. Like many stories, characters start out as simple folk seeking a larger life, if they be the young lad who leaves hearth and home to bowl with the undead or the young woman who doesn't want to marry her father's apprentice and stay in the same blacksmith shop for the rest of her life (she goes on to be a pirate). The tales are very fanciful and follow the typical visual style of Mignola, with a lot of dark hues and odds bits where normally there would be white space. I found the volume very entertaining (I have much fondness for Mignola's style as a writer and artist) though not particularly deep. It's not meant as a profound exploration of human nature or history, so no worries!

Recommend, highly for Mignola fans like me.

Random Florida Pics December 2019

We went south for Christmas this year, here are some pictures that didn't make their own post!

Here's a fun yard light display we saw.

Way to decorate an entrance

We took our daughter to the Stuart Ceramics Studio where we painted some pottery. It was a fun outing. We were so busy painting that we didn't take any shots of us painting. And the firing process took too long so we didn't pick our works up before we left to return home. The grandparents will bring it next time they visit.

Stuart Ceramics Shop

We saw a sign recruiting people for a model railroad group. We might have to recommend that to Grandpa.

Any takers?

I saw a crazy-big lizard on the house while I was helping cook the steaks on Christmas day.

Don't tell the kids, they won't want to stay here

We took our youngest out bowling. He had a great time. The alley had bumpers for him but not for his parents. He managed to squeak out a victory thanks to some skillful non-accuracy by his parents. We practiced for splits and spares even when we had full racks. Throwing the ball straight down a side of the lane is pretty hard.

Rolling the ball with all his might

Final scores--go team!

Frosty was at the bowling alley

The youngest child and our daughter teamed up to decorate a rice-crispy cake their granny made. She used a castle-mold which made a very fun shape.

Presenting their signature dessert

In all its glory

Sports were a fun activity at Granny and Grandpa's house. In addition to the ping pong table, our kids tried out some baseball and some swimming. Baseball we played by the garage with a wiffle bat and tennis balls.

This is where to pitch

A solid hit

Close up of the solid hit

 They have a pool in the back yard which our daughter wanted to swim in all the time. One time she fell in "by accident" with her clothes on! She didn't mind at all.

In deep water

Proving that she is in her street clothes

We did a lot of bicycle riding, though it is hard to take pictures in the act. My youngest started figuring out the scooter that seemed sized perfectly for him. 

About to crash into the photographer

Cute Kid Pix April 2019

More pictures that didn't make their own post...

The biggest event last month was Easter. As often happens, we were so busy celebrating that we didn't get many pictures. We did take some snaps before going to church in the morning.

All the kids, happy together

The youngest couldn't stay for more than one photo

One last shot

My son participated in Battle of the Books, an event co-sponsored by the local school system and the local library system. Each fifth-grade team had to read thirteen books before coming to a two-hour Friday night trivia contest. My son's team didn't win but they did have fun.

Teams entering

My son the standard-bearer

We went on a hike along the Patuxtent River near Savage Mill and enjoyed the spring weather and not-yet-lush scenery.

The roughest part of the river

A serious fellow

Side stream pouring into the river

We tried out duck pin bowling, which has smaller balls and smaller pins, but still the same size alley. The kids had fun though it was not so easy, even with an extra third throw. I had to remind them that it was our first time playing and we were just getting used to the different sizes. Our scores came out pretty close.

The youngest watches his ball

Not the greatest bowling ever

My son's saxophone needed some repairs. The day we picked it up, the weather was nice enough to do a little geocaching. We found A Stitch in Time, a fun urban cache. The kids weren't very patient and we looked at the hint very soon. Still, it was a fun find.

Ground zero for A Stitch in Time

Not far away is Short Line, a trail that was converted from old railroad tracks. This cache had no hints. I was a little worried because the area looked like it had undergone an undergrowth clearing, with several stumps from smaller trees visible. Thankfully the cache was still there and our youngest managed to find it first, to his great delight.

A happy geocacher

Another library story time saw us making a dinosaur puppet, just like the one from the Dinosaur vs. series by Bob Shea.

Gluing him together!

Finished product

Religious education for this academic year ended on the last Sunday of the month, with a crowning of Mary. Usually such crownings happen in May but since the parish is dedicated to Mary, it's appropriate anytime. The year typically ends with a May crowning, just this year the classed ended in April instead of May. We had the crowning indoors because the weather was ominous.

Crowning Mary

Bowling and Fondue with the Kids

We went to a birthday party for one of J's friends at a local bowling alley. The kids are too fast at bowling and all those pictures turned out blurry, but sitting around waiting for their turn was a better photo op.

L's drink might have been a little tart

Hanging at the alley!

Later that weekend, some friends of Mom and Dad came over and brought their fondue set. L had her first experience of dipping delight and was overcome with joy.

Yes, you are a cutie!

Where did the chocolate go? In there! (mostly)

More pictures later when we have more fun adventures!

Recent Fun with the Kids

We've had a lot of little events mixed in with the visit from Jacob's godparents, Sarah and Prior. More about them in another post. Here's a couple of snapshots of things that we did:

1. Going bowling--for some reason we only have pictures of Jacob and me when we went bowling. I'm afraid my moment of glory looks more like I am someone who is about to evolve into a homo sapien.

Jacob loves the ramp

Really, I can stand upright! I swear it's true!!

2. Opening mail--sounds boring, right? Except when you get packages from Granny and from Lucy's godparents! Granny sent us a wonderful Connect 4 game (which Jacob misses from school) and the godparents sent Lucy a cookie baking play set. Both have been used extensively in the past two days. We also received a bunch of other stuff in both packages.

Ready for fun, thanks Brian and Teresa!

3. Playground near the airport--after dropping off Sarah and Prior at the airport, Jacob asked to go back to the playground we went to after dropping off Emily. On our return visit we found a new piece of equipment and a new tea shop. The kids loved the spinner, though Jacob wanted it to go much faster than Lucy did.

Jacob pulls it to go faster

What's wrong with 3000 rpm?

3000 rpm makes Lucy unhappy

Lucy did get off and let Jacob go much faster. A good time was had by all.

Our Fifth Anniversary

It's time to celebrate another anniversary, not the blog's, but my wife's and mine. We have been married for five fabulous years. Unfortunately, it was a work day for my wife, so the celebrations started off with taking the children to a local playground. The playground is pretty awesome, with a wooden castle, a wooden plane, a wooden fort, many climbing/crawling structures, swings, tunnels, mini-golf, Frisbee golf, and oodles of other fun things to play with. The children loved it, as you can see:

Lucy poses at the top of a small climber with abacus

Lucy tries out a unique swing; too bad Jacob wasn't nearby to tri it out

Lucy peaks out of the fort climber

Jacob crosses a tricky bridge on a metal climber

Jacob peaks out of the castle climber

Wobbly stairs to the castle

During nap time, my wife and I signed a lease for a townhouse, so we are one step closer to moving into a place where we will stay for the next three years. We also did some shopping, including a shoe store, where we figured out our UK foot sizes, and the local comic shop, where I picked up the latest Hellboy, B.P.R.D., and Green Lantern issues. My wife went back to work and I to the cottage.

When the children woke up, we picked up my wife and headed to the local bowling alley for more fun. Jacob and Lucy had only bowled on the Wii till now, so it was a special experience for them. The bowling alley was very child friendly too. The lanes have automatic bumpers which you can assign to each player on the automated scorekeeper. When Jacob's or Lucy's turn came, they'd pop right up and then go back down when someone else bowled. The alley even provided special ramps for the wee ones to roll their balls down. The kids loved every minute of it. Check out these sweet pics!

Jacob shows how to use the automatic score keeper

Lucy bowls with bumpers and the ramp

Lucy celebrates her victory--touchdown!

Jacob's touchdown pose--must be a family trait.

Jacob loved the ball return too!

Fashionable feet

Lucy was the best cheerleader ever, as can been seen from this video:



The children have been asking to go bowling again. I think we have a family sport for the future. Sorry, cricket and soccer/football!

Dinner was pizza at the bowling alley. The kids were uninterested so they had chicken fingers. Everyone enjoyed their meal. I also tried Bulmer's Cider, which was wonderful. The only bad part was when Jacob asked to have a cookie for dessert. We went over to the cookie racks and they were all empty! Luckily, we had cookies at the cottage for them.

Angie's cousin stayed with the children after they went to bed. We went down the hill to the pub in town for dessert. We ordered two desserts: our favorite sticky toffee pudding and Tia Maria cheesecake. The sticky toffee pudding had the ice cream and the toffee on the side. This way of serving it seemed the best. You could make your own combination and the ice cream didn't melt right away. The cheesecake was great too. The crust was thick and crunchy and made a great contrast to the smooth and sweetly creamy cake. Both went well with our black tea and reminiscences of the past five years.

It was a great day and a fun celebration of our anniversary.