Casper takes the bus. Awwww!
Less cute: Did you know that the Times of London has a dating site? Does that seem odd to you? I don't believe the New York Times does this. NYT does, however, print things like this at the bottom of movie reviews: “Funny People” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Penis, penis, penis!
Um. Weird. Anyway...
In political news, I was unaware of the existence of Irish Travellers (whom we Yanks might refer to as Gypsies), and I am flabbergasted. Proper Gypsies (of the Roma tribe) are still in the UK as well. I suspect there is less fortune-telling and more dealing with limited means than our fairy tales might have us believe, but still. No one hangs on to tradition like the British.
On a closely related topic, I was also unaware of the alleged curse of the Wandering Jew—but maybe the exceptional Susan Cooper WAS aware of said Wanderer, and maybe he appeared in the The Dark Is Rising as the Walker.
If you haven't read The Dark is Rising series, you really, really should. Cooper wrote it in the '60s and '70s, and certain things about it may ring familiar: Will, the unassuming English boy who comes into his magical own on the dawn of his eleventh birthday. Merriman, the powerful magician who must sacrifice the one for the many. The ultimate battle of good versus evil, waged on a grand scale. But the similarities end there. Cooper's relatively somber five books possess a L'Engle-esque cast of characters, different books following different groups of people who are tied together in one way or another. There is a holiday in a heavily superstitious town; there is a long visit to a cheerful family in the painfully gorgeous Welsh countryside; even Arthurian legend is looped into the fold of Cooper's tales. (Though no one ever says, "Merlin's pants!" Which is a shame, really.)
I read these when I was eleven, just like Will, and I used to wander down a path through the woods behind my house, pretending it was the Old Ones' Way and that I was Seeking the six signs. Because I wasn't a dork at all.
If you are a sucker for ultimate battles between good and evil (and I know you are, you Lord of the Rings–loving, Star Wars–watching, Harry Potter–devouring nuts), read these books. They're short-ish; you can knock them out in a few weeks. And book four, The Grey King, won a Newbery medal. So you KNOW it's fab. But for the love of all that is holy, avoid the offensively reworked film version, 2007's The Seeker. (I'm not providing a link for that. Sully your own computer, if you must, but I won't do it.)
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