I'm back and ready to post again

Finally it feels like all the big social engagements of the year are over. OK, I have a few other weekends away planned but all the big, regular events feel like they they're over.

My sister's wedding was great, it was a beautiful sunny day and apart from her taxi turning up half an hour late everything went swimmingly. This just meant that the groom sweated a bit longer, which I believe is traditional. She walked down the aisle to Be my Baby from Dirty dancing and had her first dance to In Your Arms by Bon Jovi. My sister is soft. The venue was awesome - a castle in fact, with spectacular views to the sea. My dad did a lovely speech and the groom did the traditional embarrassing speech, my mum cried as did several other women folk there. I however didn't, being a bridesmaid I was far too nervous and terrified I'd somehow fuck it all up so felt disengaged for the first part of the day. I now feel really proud of my sister, she organised a fantastic day and everyone loved it. Now you'll just have to put up with a few photos:
The venue itself:


View from the venue to the coast:

Isn't Kent countryside lush? Just avoid the towns.

My bouquet:

Pretty pretty pretty! Unfortunately I had to leave the flowers at my dad's as they wouldn't survive the 5 hour train journey back home.

My sister also gave all the bridesmaid gifts, the others got vouchers for use at a body pampering place, but for me she got me something slightly different. Knowing I'm not too girly but not knowing exactly my taste in comics, she got me a voucher from the local comics shop, Abstract Sprocket. the shop doesn't even DO vouchers! She rang them up, explained the wedding and needing a gift thing, and asked what they could do. What I've got is a letter from one of the staff saying it's to the value of #30 for spending on whatever. This means the shop is even more awesome than I thought, and that my sister is triply awesome because she's thought about what I like and gone to the effort to get me something special. Which means a hell of a lot.

So I thought I'd see if I could get this Wonder Woman statue:



Battled armoured up and very kick ass! Has anyone got it? Is it good in the flesh? I love the tiara protecting her cheeks, her boots, the shield, the shoulder protectors and the sword. In fact all of it. I wish it were poseable, but that's not the end of the world.

Aside from attending weddings and after wedding parties I have also been doing a lot of reading.

I got through 4 volumes of Preacher and got a lot of mileage out of the word 'wanker'. I think Jesse is a bit of a prick himself, the way he treats Tulip, but overall he is still pretty charming. Tulip is much more endearing on the second reading.

I read the Who Is Superwoman finale in Supergirl. Man that was not who I expected. very interesting, I shall await with bated breath to find out why she donned the suit and how she got the powers.

I missed Free Comic Book day, which is a pain, but I guess I can find scans online. Bit gutted about not getting the Green Lantern issue.

The previous week, before the wedding, I read Marvel's Secret Invasion trade, I believe collected from a webcomic, and thought that it would probably be a pretty good introduction to comics and the Marvel universe for someone who had never read any marvel before. A decent stand alone story.

The Hawkman: Endless Flight trade was also good. I'm looking forward to sitting down and reading the Hawkman/girl ongoing. Notable memories are a discussion about burgers and both Carter and Kendra nutting the bad guys in the face and introducing their knee to a villain's nose.

Batman: Fortunate Son is shit. Avoid like the plague. Bruce comes across like the biggest (and stupidest) knob in the world.

Batman: Death and the Maidens however, is pretty compelling. Ra's Al Ghul enlists Batmans' help to access the last Lazarus pit and in so doing Bats get to meet his mother and then his father again. Their reactions and attitudes were not what I expected. Is this story arc in continuity? If so did we see any ramifications from this meeting?

Moving away from superheroes I also read The Last Tempation, written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Michael Zulli. based on the Alice Cooper concept album, also plotted and written (in part) by Neil Gaiman. Definitely recommended. Delicious and creepy. I reckon this would also make a good introduction to comics for new readers.

And moving to the pure written word, I'm getting through George R R Martin's Dream Workers, volume 2. Mr Martin is evidently a cat person (read the Haviland Tuf stories) , which gives him points, but more to the point the stories from the Wild Cards books are pretty intriguing. Anyone read the Wild Cards comics? His Twilight Zone screen plays looked very promising, if a little obvious.

I will be picking up last week's comics this Friday, along with this week's stuff, thereafter I expect to be broke.