The Explorers Club
№ CCLXVI - The ancient White Horse of Uffington.







Urbi et Orbi | The Savage Wars of Peace
Father Gary opened Mass today with a minute of silent reflection upon the "end of the Iraq War." Father Gary is a great old hippie priest, whose beliefs run far to the left of mainstream Catholic opinion, though he's so pacifistic I know he'd never join with those murderous lunatics who preach so-called "liberation theology" (a.k.a. "Catholic" Marxism). I know that Father Gary is in earnest in his wish for peace, & he was both morally & politically opposed to the war from the beginning, but I am puzzled by his celebration of the war's end, as I was all last week by the Forth Estate's celebrations of same. The war's over? Really? Tell that to the Iraqis who perish in the ongoing terrorist violence, the smoldering sectarian strife. Iraq's come a long way since the worst days of 2006-2007, but the fighting continues. The war is only over for America's fighting men & women, yet it continues for the Iraqis, the Iranians, & the foreign fighters who still enter the country seeking martyrdom. The war is over. How unpardonably insular of us, to think that if a war isn't killing our boys than it must not be happening at all. This attitude on the part of the press doesn't surprise me in the least, those jackals think of nothing beyond themselves, but I am surprised & a little disappointed that a man as concerned about the whole of Mankind as Father Gary would fall prey to that same nationalistic blindness.

The Queue
I'm tempted to read Christopher Moore's non-vampire novel A Dirty Job, set in the same continuity as the A Love Story series & involving some of the same characters (I freely admit I'm a sucker for a shared universe), but I've been dissuaded by the diminished rôle of the characters Jody Stroud & Tommy Flood & the usurpation of their pages by the far less interesting character Abby Normal. So, we move on.

I am uncertain what to read once the New Year arrives & Project PARAFFIN is upon us. Should I continue to read of the supernatural to keep me in the right frame of mind? Is that even the right frame of mind? Or with my writing focusing on vampires & the profane, should I look for something else in my reading, such as the splendid escapism of spy fiction? Perhaps I should re-read Dracula & Hellboy: Wake the Devil, the two best vampire stories I've encountered, the former having the added bonus of being an example of the epistolary form. Maybe I should read more Poe, to get a better sense of horror? The Moonstone, an early work of detective fiction & thus outside our bailiwick, but also another epistolary example? I must read whatever it takes, including next to nothing at all if it should come to that, to make a success of PARAFFIN.

Recently
Guillermo del Toro, Christopher Golden, & Troy Nixey, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark: Blackwood's Guide to Dangerous Fairies
John le Carré, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
Christopher Moore, You Suck: A Love Story

Currently
Christopher Moore, Bite Me: A Love Story

Presently
Mike Mignola & Christopher Golden, Baltimore; or, The Steadfast Tin Solder and the Vampire
David Ignatius, Body of Lies
Len Deighton, City of Gold

The Rebel Black Dot Christmas Songs of the Day
Sufjan Stevens, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" from Songs for Christmas (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: 'Tis the fourth & final Sunday of Advent, the Christmastide is nearly upon us. Another baptism at today's Mass, another prayer that the Holy Ghost will soften The L.A.W.'s & Brother-in-L.A.W.'s hearts so that The Squeak might be baptized into the Body of Christ, for the redemption of her immortal soul.

"O come, o come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel."

Samstag, 17 Dezember
Ella Fitzgerald, "Sleigh Ride" from Elf: Music from the Motion Picture (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary:

"It's lovely weather
For a sleigh ride together
With you."

If only 'twas so. Last night was a miserable night to be out & about, as proved by my sojourn through windblown snow along icy roads to take The M.A.P. & his wife home after they had been in a traffic collision, their motorcar having spun on the ice & crashed into a barrier on the expressway. On their wedding anniversary, no less! I'd never before been so far into the wilderness of Genesee County as to reach Otisville, & 'twas very nearly the worst possible night for such a trip. That said, they needed my help; what other choice was there but to help, despite the peril? 'Twas an adventure.

Freitag, 16 Dezember
The Klezmonauts, "Jingle Bells" from Oy to the World: A Klezmer Christmas (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: Sung in, I assume, Yiddish.