Saturday, July 01, 2006

Going to the Dogs




This marks a big month for the Wildcat’s Lair. Later this month, on July 9th to be exact, the Lair will celebrate its first anniversary. What started as just a journal to record my thoughts about the books I’m currently reading has turned into something much more. I’ll save my thoughts on that for the actual anniversary entry. For now, my usual sneak peak at what you can expect from this month’s entries in the Lair.

Perhaps the most fun this month will be a look at the mascot that might have been. That’s right. Frank “Skywhips” Orion is a lot of fun and occasionally a real pain in the arse (although always entertaining), but he was nearly beaten out for the role of mascot by another furry critter. To add insult to injury, said critter isn’t even a cat but a dog! I’ll introduce you to this dog and explain why she would have made such a great mascot for the Wildcat’s Lair.

As for my “Dust Jackets” entries, I do have a rather interesting theme for the month: orphaned books. I’m talking about those books that I started and for one reasonor another just never finished. I don’t consider any of these bad books either. So why didn’t I finish them? You’ll just have to wait to find out. Some of the books will include The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks, Cold Hit by Linda Fairstein and Storm Front by Jim Butcher. I’ll even have an orphaned series, a “Star Wars” trilogy, but you’ll have to wait to find out which one.



Another theme I’ll play out this month is devoted to my wife. The Dragon Queen, as I like to call her, loves movies that have “cool guys with swords.” Yes, I love these movies, too… especially if there are cool women with swords in there, too. Anyway, I plan to highlight some scores that accompany these films. The scores I plan to highlight will be “Gladiator,” “The Last Samurai” and “Die Another Day.”



I’m hoping to let Frank get into quite a bit of mischief this month. Best of all, Frank and I will be going on vacation. That’s right, folks. Later this month, Frank and I are going to the beach. This will be his first trip ever to see the Atlantic Ocean. I’m sure he’ll be on his usual “best behavior.” God help me. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until August to see how the beach trip turns out for Frank.

My aforementioned anniversary entry will offer a look back at the first year of the Wildcat’s Lair. I’ll pick out some of the highlights and lowlights (Lowlights? Surely not!) from year one of my blog. There’s also the entry that’s shocked the hell out of me by getting replies even months after it was posted; you’ll find out which one.

5 comments:

DesLily said...

oh wow.. pretty cool that your blog has grown so much in a year!!! I'll be looking forward to your "celebration"!!

so.. why did you never finish The Elfstones of Shannara? (being the middle of a trilogy it's odd you would stop there) The first time I ever read that series, and mainly the first book, I thought this guy just made new character names and was "rewriting" The Hobbit!.. but I came to enjoy his series none the less. No, he's not as great as Tolkien, but his characters did take on life.. and that's what always grabs me into Fantasy books lol..

So.. Frank is going to the beach huh? heh.. last time I saw a cat that enjoyed water was........ well.. never! (ok so I did see Tigers that like water!... but Frank would never let his tootsies get wet!!)

Sandra Ruttan said...

I look forward to your orphaned books post! And a whole year?! Wow! I'm not there yet myself!

Bill, the Wildcat said...

Pat, you'll just have to wait for the post to find out. hehe But I will tell you that it wasn't so much for any fault of the book, a fact which will prove true for most of these "orphans." I can tell you that ELFSTONES was one of the main reasons I thought of doing this month's "Dust Jackets" theme.

Sandra, I'm surprised my blog has lasted so long. The anniversary kind of snuck up on me. I can definitely say my blog wasn't quite as demanding when I started it, but I'll get into that when I do the anniversary post.

Kiyotoe said...

I'm starting to realize that it isn't just me that has an affinity for movie scores/soundtracks. I learned maybe 6 years ago how much they inspire me and get the creative juices flowing.

Last Samurai is by far my favorite that I own right now (may have something to do with my interest in that culture also).

Bill, the Wildcat said...

Kiyotoe, glad to have you visit the Lair. This is probably giving away my review, but I have to say that "The Last Samurai" is one of my favorite scores by Hans Zimmer. Loved the movie, too. I know some want to write off Tom Cruise for a nut job, and however true that might be, he gave an Oscar worthy performance in that film.