never, ever...
does it fucking end...

I was out Saturday afternoon visiting with a group of very nice, polite, tattooed, pierced and otherwise punked out young ladies, who are starting up a roller derby league in North Jersey. As I was headed home it started to snow a bit and I decided that, before it started on in earnest, I'd head on over to Barnes and Noble for something to curl up with before the fire (Mrs. SOG not withstanding, I might say...) and picked up Stephen King's latest, "Cell". I had read some good reviews of it recently and, since I'm a sucker for zombies and being of that ilk, I thought it might be something I'd enjoy. So, I dropped down a double sawbuck and headed on home through the increasing dusting of flakes. Early in the evening I settled down with my favorite highball glass, some ice and my bottle of Bushmills and started reading. Unlike most of King's works, where he spends three hundred building characters and setting scenes, he delved right into the thick of it by the third page, and, I might add, in a most surprisingly and un-King like splash of gore, that never really ended throughout the book. I finished it last night. I enjoyed it, for the most part, except for three things; three little instances spaced throughout the book, where he just couldn't help himself but trash Bush, the administration and FEMA. Just three little one-line, throw away comments by characters in the book, but pissed me off, just the same. Is there no writer, no actor, no performer who can put aside their particular political leanings (right or left, it's all the same) and just ply their trade for the sake of doing what they do best? This was probably his best work in the past ten years and he ruined it for me by not being able to control his politics. I don't want to plunk down my hard earned money to be preached to by anyone without fair warning. I'm beginning to think that books need warning stickers on them, like the "Adult Content" stickers on CDs. Perhaps something like "Caution: This tome contains bellicose blather of a political nature, that may or may not have something to do with the story, but may insult you just the same. If you are of a sensitive nature or just want something mindless to read to pass away a snowy afternoon, please look elsewhere. If you pay your money, you take your chances". Well, maybe not that wordy, but you get the idea. If I want to listen to the belching of the political pundits, there's NPR, CNN and The NY Times. If I want to read a book about zombies, I want to read about zombies. Nothing more, nothing less.
Anyway, if you have any desire to read this work, especially if you like the undead, and especially if you are a bit nervous about our techno-addicted world, please do. Just be warned.
Have a warm and wonderful evening, fellow wanderers. Fare thee well.

what say you..?