Fantasmisomething

First of all, a deep and heartfelt thank you to all friends and family who reached out yesterday to extend sympathy to my wife for the loss of her aunt. She received each and every message and was truly touched. Life in its incredible variety assuaged some of the grief yesterday with the long awaited marriage of my sister. She’s one of the nicest, most kind hearted people around but was cursed with incredibly bad luck in men. That all changed a couple years ago when she finally got around to meeting her soul mate. It’s been fun to see their romance soar as they found exactly what each of them needed in each other. Yesterday they charged up to city hall and made it official. It’s so cool that my little sister is finally, at long last, with someone who truly appreciates what a special lady she is. Congrats to the Newlyweds!

The Newlyweds!

In other soul lifting news the Cali-Daughter called in to check up on her mother and provided an Ikea bound update on the progress of the first blog reader. We’re a little over a week away from her last visit to the right coast before the November arrival. My wife is in serious dance mode getting ready for the baby shower she’s throwing on that Saturday. Wingman was on station last night and my daughter had that special lilt in her voice letting me know she was content having her far roving spouse at her side.

Cali-Daughter's Latest Update

Date night last night was the movie Fantastic Four, the latest in the Marvel juggernaut. This movie has been skewered relentlessly on the internet but there was no way I was going to miss it. I can understand the criticism because it is a seriously flawed movie but I didn’t hate it. I think some people invest too heavily in the traditions of the source material without giving a new view a choice. The Fantastic Four should be one of the easiest of the comic book legends to make a bankable movie about; but this has to be listed as a stumble.

No time was spent developing the relationships between several of the four and the pacing was pathetic. I guess this is one of those directors who has a dark vision and thinks that will sell. We go to see superhero movies to be inspired, not depressed. The actors were fine and did everything they could with the material. There was a side trip to Panama included which helped out with the fidgeting wife at my side. It hurt to keep all the limited action scenes in the wilderness or an interdimensional barren planet. There was no connection with the audience which should be a Fantastic Four strength. The final confrontation was laughably short and Delmar from Oh Brother Where Art thou as an evil mastermind was a bit of a stretch. I half expected him to break out in “Man of Constant Sorrow” at some point. All this though couldn’t distract totally from a fair to middling Sci Fi adventure, even if the “Four” deserved better.

I rushed through the next in my scorched earth campaign through Lawrence Block’s excellent Matt Scudder novels with In the Midst of Death. I am now genuinely concerned about losing time when I start one of these novels. Scudder is rapidly becoming the heir apparent to Travis McGee in my book which is as lofty praise as I am capable of. Scudder is hired by a fame seeking policeman who’s testifying against fellow cops and finds himself framed for murder (who saw that coming).

Scudder’s workmanlike, but inspired dogged pursuit of the truth was impossible to put down. I like that he doesn’t share everything with the reader, just enough to let us figure some things out for ourselves. It is funny to see the New York City (always a primary character in and of itself in Scudder novels) of the 1970s portrayed and comparing it to its present state. While Scudder has McGee’s tragic luck with the females of the species, there’s a level of humanity in his detective work that is truly compelling. I’ll be delayed a few days as a couple of other favorite authors popped up with new work on my Kindle while I was reading this latest but I’ll return to Scudder as soon as possible.