Vampifan's Views 16 My Monthly Musings part 4

Vampirella by Joe Jusko. How perfect is that lion's head?

Monday the 28th of November was the day of my dad's funeral and he couldn't have asked for a better send off. Everything went so smoothly on the day and everyone was so kind. His funeral service was attended by over 200 people, a sure indication of just how well-liked and respected he was. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who left me messages of sympathy and support.
There is never a good time for anyone to die, but what made the timing of my dad's death particularly poignant is that he died on the day of his brother's birthday (sadly long dead) and it was also my birthday less than a week after he died. So this was a memorable birthday for me, but alas, for all the wrong reasons. Still, I have no complaints about the presents I received. My mum just gave me money for my birthday, so that I could buy what I wanted. I've already spent it on a big order to Miniature Heroes for a bunch of Reaper 28mm scale Chronoscape figures (9 civilians, 9 zombies and 2 killer clowns). My brother bought me the Bones series 6 DVD set. I'm a big fan of the show and of the novels by Kathy Reichs. I'd ordered a few zombie-related items for myself and they arrived shortly before my birthday. They consisted of two books and a DVD. The books were The Walking Dead Chronicles by Paul Ruditis and The Official Zombie Handbook (UK) by Sean T. Page. The DVD was of my all-time favourite zombie film - Dawn of the Dead by George A. Romero. Yes, I did already own a copy of this film, but when I was browsing on Amazon, I saw what has to be the ultimate version of this film - a four disc boxed set, containing the theatrical version of the film, the director's cut and the Dario Argento cut (all varying in length, with the director's cut being the most complete version). In addition, there are over 11 hours of extras on the discs (awesome!), including some very long documentaries about the film. There is also a poster and booklet included. In short, it is a fanboy's must have item and I certainly had to have it.
Obviously, a lot of my hobby work ground to a halt during the latter part of this month, but I still got a fair bit done prior to my dad's death. On the figure painting front, I finished painting 9 Studio Miniatures 28mm scale zombies from their Wedding Party and Halloween boxed sets, and 11 Foundry 28mm scale zombies, 5 of which I converted to corpses. Expect reviews of them soon. At the moment I am painting 20 Recreational Conflict 28mm scale contemporary figures - 12 civilians and 8 survivors.
I am busy working on furnishing the evidence room room for my WWG 28mm scale Mayhem City Police Station. I hope to get that room finished very soon. Next in line will be the toilets for the police station.
For the second month running I failed to get to the cinema. Ho-hum! Still, I have plenty of DVDs to watch.
I finished reading a couple of zombie novels this month. First up was Rise of the Governor by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga. This was a tie-in to The Walking Dead comic series. If you've only seen the TV show, this will make little sense to you as the Governor has yet to appear. I'm thinking he'll probably appear in series 3. It was a fairly good novel right up until the last page, when the rug is pulled from under your feet. I won't spoil how it ended but it left me feeling somewhat bewildered, knowing what I do about the Governor. He is an evil and sadistic son of a bitch, with a quick temper and an unhealthy relationship with his daughter. This is primarily a book for fans of the comic.
The second book that I read was Fighting to Survive by Rhiannon Frater and it was excellent. This was part two of her As the World Dies trilogy and I'll do a full review of it very soon.
I am currently reading Dead of Night by Jonathan Maberry, one of my favourite authors. It's a zombie novel but it is not part of the Joe Ledger series.
Earlier this month I bought and downloaded about 20 Microtactix 28mm scale card buildings from their Twilight Streets sets. Yet more buildings to add to my Mayhem City project. When will I find the time to make them all? I also received a fantastic offer from Robert, one of my followers from Germany, which I'd like to talk about at some length in a future post. I've mentioned the kindness of others before but this offer may just be the most amazing yet. Robert, if you're reading this, thanks very much. I still can't get over what you sent me!
On that happy but somewhat cryptic note, I'll wrap up. It is great to get back to blogging again but I know you'll understand why I had to take an enforced break.