What I'm reading right now:

- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick - I can't believe I've waited this long to read PKD. I'm a little more than half-way through, and I love it. (For those who don't know, the movie Blade Runner was based on this novel.) The book's ending is supposed to be great so I'm really looking forward to it. I don't own any more PKD, but I'll have to think about what to read next. However, the Arthur C. Clarke novels came in yesterday, and I don't need to buy any additional sci-fi right now.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. My wife got me some nice chocolates at a local "chocolate bar" and a book on cheese. (Yes, seriously...I really wanted one. For all holidays, I want presents that I know I want. I couldn't have been happier!) I got my wife some locally-made "exotic" chocolate from a place called Vosges. After she made dinner (steaks, potatoes, etc.), we sampled the sweets with a nice petite sirah port from Imagery Estate Winery, where we're part of the club. I also got her a spa package at Michael Anthony on Belmont. She'll get a manny, peddy, facial and massage whenever she wants to book some time with her friend who likes to go to MA, too.

For our daughter, we got her a "first V-day" card and some yogurt and Cheeries because those foods are her favorite things! She chewed on the card and threw it down to the ground, which is a sign that she liked it. ; )

The blog has a new look (like my brother's...sort of a Tacik branding effort) and new title, but I'm keeping "consult this" as the address. I always liked how it's typed out: consult...this...blogspot.com

Well, back to business...how about some writers that influenced Mike Mignola, the creator of Hellboy:

HP Lovecraft
Robert E. Howard
M.R. James
Seabury Quinn - mostly his character, Jules De Grandin
William Hope Hodgson
Manly Wade Wellman
Clark Ashton Smith
August Derleth
Edgar Rice Burroughs
World folklore
World mythology

How about writers whom HP Lovecraft admired:

Edgar Allen Poe
Robert E. Howard
Arthur Munchen
M.R. James
Lord Dunsany
Algernon Blackwood

I'm trying to read all of Mignola, all of Lovecraft, and everyone who influenced both of these guys.

Consult this blogspot says go to this link: Huh?

And this one: Big Time Consulting

Consult this blog reminds you:

1. I told you the Steelers would win the Super Bowl - The best part of Sunday was watching the game with an old high school friend and then receiving calls from family and old friends all across the country. And even some texts from Li'l Bro in NZ. It was so much fun. Finally, Pittsburgh gets one for the thumb.

2. Ghost stories - I mentioned these a few entries ago. Mignola was influenced by M.R. James, and I'm interested in Algernon Blackwood because he's referenced by Lovecraft here and there. I recently picked up Casting the Runes and Other Ghost Stories by James and Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood edited by E.F. Bleiler.

3. Arthur C. Clarke - I'm on the cusp of taking advantage of Amazon's "4 for 3" promotion by buying four Clarke Sci-Fi novels: 2001, 2010, Rendezvous with Rama, and Childhood's End. Back in college, I read 2061 without reading 2001 or 2010--a mistake. Rendezvous was recommeded to me by a high school buddy when we were both freshmen. I never read it so now's the time to do it. I chose Childhood's End as the fourth because it's a masterpiece, so say the critics. I'll do the clicks later this week.

4. P.D. Ouspensky & G.J. Gurdjieff - Back in the old Beehive days in Pittsburgh, I met this ne'er-do-well who frequented the South Side store. I can't remember his name--it was a singular like Madonna or Moliere--but he mentioned The Fourth Way and In Search of the Miraculous to me. I was 17 and absorbing everything these caffeine creatures had to say. What did I know? I was impressionable, idealistic, intellectual, and thirsty for new ideas to explore. Truth: I don't really know what The Fourth Way is about, and I never did read Ouspensky or Gurdjieff. Well, I think now's the time to get them in the collection, at least. Do some thumb-flipping here and there to catch a whiff of what this coffeehouse bum was so enthralled by. Tune in later for more...

5. David Bohm - His implicate realities were mentioned in (a big part of?) Grant Morrison's third volume of his run on Animal Man, Deus Ex Machina. I think that Morrison tried his best to represent Bohm's theories graphically through the Animal Man storyline. I don't know if he succeeed because I haven't read Bohm (well, yet, because I plan to purchase a reader with the Clarke novels). But, what I do know is that Vol. 3 was great, totally lived up to the hype. This was completely unique story-telling as far as I've seen. Good stuff, and you don't even need to read Vols. 1 or 2. I didn't.

Consult this blogspot says go check out:

1. HP Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life by Michel Houellebecq- After reading this, I concluded two things: 1) This is a good, very pro HPL intro for newbies 2) I must read more Houellebecq (which I'll do, because I bought Elementary Particles/Atomized, too). The link takes you to a Counterpunch review of the English translation. The reviewer is a fan of HPL and weird fiction in general, but he's fairly critical--but not overboard--of Houellebeq's book. Whatever, I enjoyed Contre le Monde... immensely.

2. S.T. Joshi - For all things Lovecraft, this is the scholar to read. As my first post-Mignola foray into HPL, I cranked out an annotated compilation that Joshi edited and, truly, got the crash course. I appreciate scholars because I know that I don't have the requisite patience and attention to detail to be one. (He selected Brown University for his undergrad, basically, because he knew they had the best collection of HPL manuscripts and other arcana. Jeez, talk about planning ahead.) If you want to learn about or read HPL, grab anything that this guy edited, and you'll be fine.

3. Skype - My bro lives in NZ now, and, not to forget that he exists, I use it. This software is a free, fast download and very simple to use. Just grab a headset with a mic, be familiar with IM technology, and you're on your way to free int'l calls...zoom, zoom, zoom, baby

4. The Steelers will win Super Bow XL. Nuff said.

I'm outta here!

I thought I'd stop being the "I'm too cool for school" guy and show pix of the family.

I'm the one with the round head and growing forehead.

Wife Beth is the one with the look on her face, "Why am I still with this guy?"

Daughter Olivia is the cutie in Mrs. Clause outfit.

I'll find more solo pix of the kid. Those'll be of interest, unlike pictures of me.

Later on, Megatron...

Consult this blog tells you to look into:

1. Hellboy: Makoma - First new Hellboy story since The Island Part 2...good stuff, I really enjoyed the African folklore and mythology woven into the Hellboy mythology

2. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - I finished it yesterday...sooooo different than the cinematic or pop culture version of the Monster...Shelley's writing drove me nuts, but, when I went to SparkNotes after finishing the novel, I read more about Romantic novels of the early 19th century, and it made sense. Still, in today's craft, that book would have been cranked out in 90 pages or less.

3. Doc Frankenstein by the Wachowski Bros. - This comic book from Burlyman Entertainment (the lit house of Wach Bros.) now makes much more sense. If you read the last few chapters of Shelley's Frankenstein and then leap into Doc Frank's four issues, it sort of bridges if you use your imagination.

Now go in peace, to love and serve Mike Mignola...