Something's up with Narnia.
It's just come up way too many times in a coincidental way in the last few weeks. First, there's the whole Lev Grossman The Magician King connection. If you haven't read the Magician King, it's the excellent sequel to The Magicians. The series is sort of like Chronicles of Narnia meets Harry Potter meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a little John Dies at the End sensibility. Really enjoyed the new one. Then, of course, there's the Axe Cop tie in. Axe Cop goes to Narnia and battles the White Witch. If you haven't read Axe Cop, you are really missing something good. Axe Cop is written by 5-year-old Malachai Nicolle and illustrated by his 29-year-old brother Ethan Nicolle. And it's awesome. Kind of like a cop with an axe meets a 5-year-old's outlook on life. Anyway, both The Magician King and Axe Cop have got Narnia on my mind.
Well, they got Narnia on my mind in a different way than it already was. See, I've been reading all of the Narnia books to my five-year-old for the last several months, so Narnia was already on my mind. But The Magician King and Axe Cop messed with that. And then, last night, my daughter and I finished The Last Battle.
I don't know when the last time was that you read The Last Battle, but there's a lot of weird and intense metaphoric stuff going on in there that makes you just think, "hmmmmmm". So, I expect something Narnian is going to happen any minute now. I hope Aslan doesn't claw me for writing The Helm. He's not a tame lion, you know.
Anyway, let me know if anything Narnian happens to you over the next few days.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
REQUIRED READING: ENGLISH 406 Literature for Young Adults
Sometimes I google The Helm to see if anyone is posting anything interesting about it.
Yes, that's kind of self-infatuated behavior, but I never said I wasn't self-infatuated. And if I don't google it, I don't think anyone else will. The Helm's not going to just google itself, you know. Anyway, today I got a link to a college syllabus that features The Helm as required reading! Required Reading!! Whoo Hoooo! People are being forced to read The Helm!!! For college!!!
The class is called Literature for Young Adults: Postmodern Adolescence and it's worth 3 credit hours. The Helm is on the same list as books by Neil Gaimen (Death, the High Cost of Living) and Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games), which is pretty cool. At least, it's pretty cool for me. I don't know how Neil and Suzanne feel about it.
Okay, so there's also a book by Stephenie Meyer (Breaking Dawn) on the list. I haven't actually read any of the Twilight books, but I have seen the movies and I like two of them.
Stephenie Meyer, I know you read this blog religiously and I'm sorry if I've surprised you by revealing on such a public forum, read by millions, that I didn't like one of your Twilight movies and that I haven't read your books. I have simply been too busy googling The Helm and The Creature from Lake Michigan and my various other wildly successful intellectual properties to get to them. I will strive to do better in the future.
Yes, that's kind of self-infatuated behavior, but I never said I wasn't self-infatuated. And if I don't google it, I don't think anyone else will. The Helm's not going to just google itself, you know. Anyway, today I got a link to a college syllabus that features The Helm as required reading! Required Reading!! Whoo Hoooo! People are being forced to read The Helm!!! For college!!!
The class is called Literature for Young Adults: Postmodern Adolescence and it's worth 3 credit hours. The Helm is on the same list as books by Neil Gaimen (Death, the High Cost of Living) and Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games), which is pretty cool. At least, it's pretty cool for me. I don't know how Neil and Suzanne feel about it.
Okay, so there's also a book by Stephenie Meyer (Breaking Dawn) on the list. I haven't actually read any of the Twilight books, but I have seen the movies and I like two of them.
Stephenie Meyer, I know you read this blog religiously and I'm sorry if I've surprised you by revealing on such a public forum, read by millions, that I didn't like one of your Twilight movies and that I haven't read your books. I have simply been too busy googling The Helm and The Creature from Lake Michigan and my various other wildly successful intellectual properties to get to them. I will strive to do better in the future.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Suggested Chewbaccas
Well, the Chewbacca suggestions keep rolling in and Mathew keeps whipping them up. Betty Chew Crocka was suggested by Nick C., Lady Chewgaga was suggested by Sara K., Lucy LuiBacca was suggested by Jim B. and Abaccaham Lincoln was suggested by Susan.
Keep the suggestions coming and Mathew will keep the mashups flowing! Thanks!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Chewbacca Shocka
Well, Mathew was kind of surprised to find the Chewbacca page getting so many hits! He's not normally used to anyone paying any attention to his artistic endeavors, unless it's his mother, yelling at him because he's playing his Gibson Corvus too loud. The Helm even thought it was a mistake, but the visitors keep coming.
Anyway, Mathew wanted me to post a blog entry to invite anyone who is interested to submit their own ideas for Chewbacca mashups which he will use his clumsy Photoshop skills to try to realize to the degree he thinks they're funny. He'll even list your name if it was your idea. Just post a comment to this blog entry with your suggestion.
He also wanted me to remind everyone that he is still busily working on his rock-opera/concept album Master Beastie .
Anyway.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
The Helm Banned in China! Well... probably
Apparently, the Chinese government just issued new entertainment guidelines meant to discourage "fantasy, time-travel, random compilations of mythical stories, bizarre plots, absurd techniques, even propagating feudal superstitions, fatalism and reincarnation, ambiguous moral lessons, and a lack of positive thinking."
Now, while this announcement has left a lot of people scratching their heads and wondering what the Chinese are doing, it seems perfectly clear to me that this is a well disguised attempt to specifically block The Helm from reaching China and transforming their civilization with its amazing power. I'm pretty sure that they heard that The Helm was getting published in France and became very concerned that their country was next.
Apart from the time travel bit, they've pretty much covered all of The Helm's bases! Those Chinese are thorough!
Now, while this announcement has left a lot of people scratching their heads and wondering what the Chinese are doing, it seems perfectly clear to me that this is a well disguised attempt to specifically block The Helm from reaching China and transforming their civilization with its amazing power. I'm pretty sure that they heard that The Helm was getting published in France and became very concerned that their country was next.
Apart from the time travel bit, they've pretty much covered all of The Helm's bases! Those Chinese are thorough!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Misplaced Priorities and Bart Sears
I just posted a new movie review on the Flaming Sword page of the Helm site and realized that it's been months since I've seen a movie on the big screen and even longer since I've reviewed one on the Helm site! Holy Crap! I have my priorities all wrong! I guess I should make a current year's resolution to see more movies, write more movie reviews and generally consume more pop culture while I am still young enough to enjoy it.
In other news, Bart Sears was kind enough to give me the original cover art work for the Helm #1 as a gift! Not only is the guy an amazing artist, but apparently a pretty nice guy too. He's doing some really cool things over at his new gig Ominous Studios. Check out his site at http://www.ominousstudios.com/index.html
Okay, I suppose that's it for today.
In other news, Bart Sears was kind enough to give me the original cover art work for the Helm #1 as a gift! Not only is the guy an amazing artist, but apparently a pretty nice guy too. He's doing some really cool things over at his new gig Ominous Studios. Check out his site at http://www.ominousstudios.com/index.html
Okay, I suppose that's it for today.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Bulls Eye
Well, I haven't blogged any Helm stuff since January, so it seemed like time to post something. Conveniently, I just happened to notice this morning that The Helm is for sale at Target. Well, at target.com anyway.
I was surprised to see The Helm at Target because... well... it's Target. That would be like finding the Helm available at Walmart. Thinking about that caused me to search the Walmart website to see if The Helm actually was available there. Nope. But the Walmart website was so kind as to refer me to the website for Barnes and Noble. On the Barnes and Noble site, The Helm is cheaper by $2.18! Now that's some savings!
That got me wondering how the B&N price stacked up against the price at Amazon. They were the same--which isn't all that interesting except that they are both cheaper than the listing at Things from Another World. Cheaper by $2.93! That is surprising because TFAW is the retail outlet for Dark Horse comics, publisher of The Helm--where I guess I would have expected to get the best price anywhere.
What does all of this mean? Nothing really except that I have work to do and that the internet is the most dangerous invention ever created as far as writers are concerned.
I was surprised to see The Helm at Target because... well... it's Target. That would be like finding the Helm available at Walmart. Thinking about that caused me to search the Walmart website to see if The Helm actually was available there. Nope. But the Walmart website was so kind as to refer me to the website for Barnes and Noble. On the Barnes and Noble site, The Helm is cheaper by $2.18! Now that's some savings!
That got me wondering how the B&N price stacked up against the price at Amazon. They were the same--which isn't all that interesting except that they are both cheaper than the listing at Things from Another World. Cheaper by $2.93! That is surprising because TFAW is the retail outlet for Dark Horse comics, publisher of The Helm--where I guess I would have expected to get the best price anywhere.
What does all of this mean? Nothing really except that I have work to do and that the internet is the most dangerous invention ever created as far as writers are concerned.
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