Thanks

     Once you get beyond the things you're really thankful for -- the wonderful dinner, the family and friends you're sharing it with, the opportunities life has afforded you -- you come to the less vast but still significant things, the art and stories that lighten and enrich our days on a smaller scale.  Here are a couple of those things I'm thankful for right now:

The Binscombe Tales by John Whitbourn - I haven't started them yet, but these short stories about a small English village where people find themselves tormented by whispering voices or spend their entire lives waiting for a bus  sound very weird, and I do like weird.

Avengers Academy - It can be difficult to find something fresh in mainstream superhero comics, but this story of a troubled bunch of teenagers struggling through training with the world's premiere super-group has deep (and often dark) characterizations and dazzling intrigue.

The Descendents - George Clooney's new film about a family in turmoil is wonderful all around but also has the most beautiful last scene I've ever seen in a movie.

12 Angry Men on Blue Ray - About humanity and having the integrity to stand up for it.  Surely one of the best movies ever made.

     Happy Thanksgiving.  Don't let it pass you by without a good turkey joke.