Antiquing

Over the weekend, Handsome and I went antique shopping. It is a funny thing, but we love to dig through old knick-knacks and junk and dance to the oldies as we meander from booth to booth.

One day, I am hoping to -scratch that- I am determined to stumble upon the greatest rocking chairs ever seen or heard or sat upon.

Sadly, Saturday, we did not find any rocking chairs, but we did find lots of other great stuff. We actually found a pair of green-glass, owl bookends that were SO cute... but they were also eighty bucks. EIGHTY BUCKS! So we left 'em. Sorry, no bookends are THAT cute. I went home with an empty shopping bag, but Handsome found this...

BLUE STREAK
and
Doctor Medusa

For fun, Handsome has been reading excerpts from his new, old book to me at night. Also, sometimes, I have trouble settling down from the day, and the sound of his voice often soothes me right to sleep.

But this book has been action packed!
That is the Blue Streak swooping in to save the day!

Who can sleep with this kind of action unfolding?

"The Blue Streak Whirled and Charged!"

Okay, I did - I do fall asleep as Handsome reads this story.

But I can also tell you that the Blue Streak is the good guy and that Dr. Medusa is the villain.

With a name like Medusa, he would have to be the bad guy, right? And he really is so bad!

"His black eyes stabbed each face!" That is a direct quote.

That is a mean guy! He has an evil and dastardly plan to turn people into crystal statues and to take all their money! No wait, that's not it ... To take their money and THEN turn them into statues. Which is worse, of course, because it is more insulting that way.

With all the statues and a Medusa, it is a little Narnia meets Clash of the Titans.
Our hero is pictured above in his signature mask and tights . He's a bit scrawny and funny looking, but he gets the job done with his super hearing and super vision and super strength and bullet-proof vest (eh, not so super).

He is a ventriloquist too. Ventriloquism is very handy for fighting crime ... so it would seem.

Who knew?

Count Luggar is also bad and is working for Doctor Medusa. He is the guy in the picture below. The guy with the mustache. Probably got in with the wrong crowd in his early teens and just sorta spiraled into crime from there. He is also a fake count for some reason which has not yet been explained, and since we are nearing the end of the story, I am starting to think that it might never be explained. It is probably a fake mustache regardless, wouldn't you think so?

"Louie and Baby Face Taunted Luggar"

Baby Face? Really?

This is just about where we left off with the Blue Streak last night. Or, eh, I fell asleep.

"Hang on Tight, Bess"

Really! Can you see the picture?

Later in the story, Bess, our beautiful, although spoiled rotten, heiress/damsel in distress tells us, "[The Blue Streak] carried me fifteen miles. He certainly makes a fine saddle horse."

Ha!

Can you imagine? He just finished carrying her all that way, and instead of calling him a hero, she called him a horse!

Snicker! This book cracks me up!

Only, I shouldn't scoff too loudly 'cause I like being read too. Shhh, don't tell Handsome I have been giggling at his literature.

Oh, but I have to tell you this too...

During the story, Bess has "flashed her eyes" more times than I would care to count and even "tossed her head." I am not kidding. That's what it said on the page. You might expect her to "toss her hair" or "shake her hair" or even "loose her head ... and do something foolish," but oh no, not this girl, she "tossed her head."

Think about it.

Kinda give you the creeps too? Mostly makes me think of ol' Ichabod Crane and that Headless Horseman friend of his. But then, what is a book if not a means of sparking imagination? And who am I to criticize after all? She might have had a really good reason for tossing her head. But, I don't think I'd recommend it.

Speaking of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and smashing pumpkins and all that, tomorrow I am gonna try a new, pumpkin type of recipe. Or rather, I should say that I am gonna try a new spin on an old recipe. Truthfully, I am gonna go try it right now and hopefully tell you all about it tomorrow.

I wish that you were here to help me in the kitchen. Or better yet, that one of us could read aloud the final, few, gripping chapters of the BLUE STREAK while the other baked so that we could know once and for all how the Blue Streak will outwit Dr. Medusa and save the day!

Since you can't be here, this is us -me and Bentley- waiting for Handsome to come home and finish the story.

Blue Streak and Doctor Medusa was written by Art Elder in 1946 and illustrated by Francis Kirn.

You might have to go antiquing to find a copy, but it will be well worth the hunt.