Comics, podcasts, and iPad apps

Apparently, this Saturday is International Read Comics in Public Day. I think this is a good idea. Reading anything in public is a good idea, so why not comics? I have a small collection of comics and graphic novels in the library and they are immensely popular! And for anyone who thinks that comics are not a legitimate art form, I challenge you to read The Arrival by Shaun Tan - I say read but it is actually wordless. It is absolutely stunning! In fact, I might just make it Book of the Week next week.

Now, I'm not a big comics reader, I get a bit overwhelmed by the pictures and tend to just read the words and skip the pictures which means I lose a lot of the story. But I do understand their appeal, after all, a good story is a good story regardless of delivery system. When I have taken the time to pore over the pictures, like when I 'read' The Arrival, I do find they can be enjoyable. I'm just always in to much of a hurry!
Speaking of comics, over the summer I downloaded the DC Comics app to my iPad. The app was free and some of the comics are free so I thought I'd check it out. Well, this turns out to be a great way for me to read comics! The app has a feature where it will either display a whole page at once or you can scroll pane by pane through the page. This helps me not get so overwhelmed by the pictures and helps me navigate through the panes without getting confused. I really like it! I've been reading mostly grown-up comics though, which also makes it more enjoyable!
I've also been using my iPad to read books - can you imagine!? I've bought a few books from the iBook store but I've also downloaded a ton of free books on my Free Books app. These are books that are out of copyright and have been digitized by Project Gutenberg. Lots of great old books. I'm reading one now by E. Nesbit called The Five Children and It from 1905. It's about a group of siblings who find a sand fairy who grants them wishes. It's very english and very old fashioned and very charming.
And speaking of delivery systems, you know I've been listening to audiobooks all summer, but I also like to listen to podcasts. Mr. Richards and I have been listening to old Jack Benny radio shows and Mr. Richards has discovered an old science fiction radio show called Dimension X. These shows are from the '40's and '50's but are still very entertaining. I've also been listening to the Pinkwater Podcast. Earlier in the summer, I listened to The Neddiad by Daniel Pinkwater and then I discovered he produces a weekly podcast in which he reads from his books and essays. Through listening to his essays, you can hear how his personal experiences become part of the stories he writes.

So tell me what you've been listening to.

Of Duct Tape and Turtles

Okay, so, in my last post, I said I had some projects to finish and that I would be reading The Doom Machine by Mark Teague. Well, I finished two of projects plus another thing, and I started The Doom Machine but couldn't get into it, so I set it aside and picked up The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch. This book hooked me but, unfortunately, half-way through it, I started an audio book called The Neddiad: How Neddie Took the Train, Went to Hollywood, and Saved Civilization by Daniel Pinkwater, read by the author. Well, this was so good I couldn't stop listening to it and since I can get other things done while listening to books, that is what I did and I finished it this morning.

The story starts out simply enough, it takes place in a very nostalgic early fifties. Neddie's eccentric shoe-lace magnate father decides to move the family from Chicago to Los Angeles so they can eat at the Brown Derby restaurant. But when Neddie mistakenly gets off the train at the wrong stop and is left behind, his adventure begins to get very strange. He meets a shaman named Melvin who gives him a small, stone turtle and tells him that it's important and to take good care of it. He makes friends with a ghost and the son of a movie star who offer to drive him the rest of the way to Los Angeles. Once in Los Angeles, he meets more ghosts, a girl named Yggdrasil - which is the name of the world tree from norse mythology - and finds out that the turtle he's been given is the key to saving the world from devolution. The characters that Neddie meets on his journey are all quirky in their own special way, especially Melvin the shaman. Neddie's description of his childhood in Chicago and 1950's Los Angeles are romanticized. There is great humor in the telling of this story and it moves along at a very fast pace. My only complaint about the audiobook is that the author reads too fast. I would highly recommend this book.

And I promised pictures of my finished knitting projects, I finished these before listening to the Neddiad but I'm kind of in between projects at the moment.

These fingerless gloves go up past my elbows, very dramatic! It's the first time I've knitted something with fingers in it, even though there's no fingertips, the extra work in separating for fingers is the same. It was fun though, I'd like to make a shorter pair with full fingers.

This the sweater that needed buttons, and as you can see, the buttons are on, so that is done. Also, the duct tape in the title of this blog comes in to play here. That thing that my sweater is being displayed on is a duct tape dress form. It's a 3-d representation of me in duct tape. Pretty awesome, huh? Have you ever seen what the Mythbusters do with duct tape? I love the stuff! Truly a miracle product! As for the sock I mentioned last time, it's still waiting for a mate.

So that is all for now. Tomorrow I'm off to my parent's house in Tehachapi for 4th of July celebrations and that is sure to be a good time. I hope you all have a great time, too!