Figuring Out My Mummy Issues

It's a definite truism - and a meme - that as you grow older people are less inclined to ask you your favourite dinosaur (it's a diplodocus, by the way) but I've realised the same is true for your favourite monster. Specifically the original Universal Monsters.

I've been thinking about this a lot recently. Not sure exactly why. 

I'm pretty certain my friend, the author Charles R Rutledge would say Dracula, but I really had to put my thinking head on before it struck me which monster I'm most fascinated by.

The Mummy.

Although my favourite old Universal monster movie is, of course, the marvellous Bride of Frankenstein, the actual Bride is only really on-screen for around five minutes.

However, The Mummy is ubiquitous in films, comics, games etc. 

I even did a whole series of Show Me The Mummy movie reviews... and am planning a second such collection of write-ups in due course.

The Mummy was also a key antagonist in both issues of my DIY comic, Monster Mag, that I created as a youngling. For instance, in the first issue it easily defeated the Hulk! You can find issue one here and issue two here. 

From the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
Monster Manual, pg 72

And I've always been a fan of mummies as monsters in the old school Dungeons & Dragons games of my youth (really must bring them back at some point!).

There were some grand pyramid-themed dungeons in old issues of the Judges Guild magazines around at the time.

But all this has culminated in Rachel buying me a most incredible present the other day: the Ultimate Mummy action figure of Boris Karloff's portrayal in the the original 1932 film.

After thanking her profusely, I excitedly told her I now had an excuse to pick up the Ardath Bey figure and the sarcophagus accessory pack!

There is a rule (well, more of a guideline) in this house that my action figures are "tolerated" as long as they are not kept in their boxes, but put out on display.

However, at the moment, I'm so in awe of my Mummy figure that I can't bring myself to open it quite yet.

I also think I might have a new idea for a theme for my protracted castle tower project as well (inspired by the Egyptian Collection at Lord Carnarvon's Highclere Castle [aka Downtown Abbey])! 

"NANU NANU" AND HOPPY EASTER!!!

As part of my current "get fit" kick, I was quite adamant that I didn't want chocolate for Easter, so Rachel and I exchanged non-edible gifts this morning before heading out for an Easter Egg hunt event.

I got Rachel a beautiful, tiny (and working) ceiling lamp for her latest dolls house project, while she got me a box set of Mork & Mindy DVDs (it has an egg on the cover!) and a miniature table tennis set.

Rachel confessed that when the ping pong set was ordered, she hadn't realised quite how small it was!

Knowing my "no chocolate or sweets" request - and my poor willpower when it comes to such treats - Rachel's parents got us some delightful Easter socks instead, which we wore today on our exhausting adventure.

I'll tell you more about that - and share of pictures of the 'celebrities' we met - later on, when we're not so tired out. 

Please be aware that Rachel, Alice, and I were not participating in the egg hunt, just the other fun activities that were going on around it.

Eggs-ellent Easter Socks

DO YOU WANT TO JOIN MY POSSE?

Photo by Alex Moliski

As this new blog continues to grow (out of the detritus and chaos left by my previous near twenty years of blogging), I'm always looking to develop my hardcore band of followers - my posse, if you will.

Look to the right and you will see in the side column (below the current 'featured article') a widget entitled Join The Posse. Under avatars for my current followers is a button marked Follow.

Simply press that and - all being well - your avatar will join the ranks of this group of brave heroes.

I do think you'll need a Google account for this to work (Blogger, after all, is a Google thing).

Not only does this mean, my expertly crafted prose will appear in your Google "Reading List" but it demonstrates to me that you're interested in my waffle and support what I'm doing (without having to part with a single red cent, sign up to a Patreon, or back my Kickstarter).

In recent weeks, the posse has attracted three new members: my good lady wife, Rachel (who blogs about dolls houses at Miniatures Make Me Happy); my dear Canadian friend Norm Collins; and the "witch-king of gaming" Timothy S Brannan (who blogs about roleplaying games and witches, and witches in roleplaying games, over on The Other Side).

You're already here, reading this, so why wouldn't you want to join them?

• Of course, honestly, the best way to follow the action on Cowboys, Capes, and Claws is to add this blog to your Feedly aggregator or similar RSS feed reader application (it almost sounds as though I know what I'm doing!)

There's Rock Solid Movement At The Tower

 

Work has - sort of - begun on my 1:12th scale castle tower. A big sticking point in my mind has always been how I would "decorate" the exterior. I wanted a degree of texture, rather than just wallpaper with pictures of stones on!

Rachel came back from Miniatura the other day with three sample packets of cut stone to experiment with.

I really liked this in principle, but Rachel's dad - who has a better eye for these things than I do and is less inclined to launch into a project without a detailed plan - thought these might actually be too fiddly for such a large structure.

The current top contender for my brickwork is looking like embossed card, although, while I've found the right scale on eBay, I'm not sure if I'll be able to find exactly the design that I have pictured in my head.

I've ordered a single sheet of "old wall", so we can see what it's like "in the flesh" and make a decision.

It's not a major step forward, but, at least, things are moving, and I'm starting to formulate solid plans rather than just vague ideas.

Rachel's Making A Big Investment In Little Things

Rachel's current dolls house project is home to a family of craftspeople

My good lady wife spent the weekend - with her mum - at the biggest miniatures show in the country (if not the world), stocking up on tiny things to populate her latest dolls house project with.

You can read all about Rachel's expedition to Miniatura, and what she found there, in the latest post on her occasional blog, Miniatures Make Me Happy. 

"Through Dangers Untold, and Hardships Unnumbered..."

It's Valentine's Day once more. Rachel and I both surprised each other this lunchtime with wonderful cards (mine's the Baby Yoda card and I gave Rachel the photo card) and appropriate presents.

I got her the book of Winnie The Pooh book of  quotes, affirmations, and observations as well as the miniature sideboard for her current dolls house project.

Rachel gave me the gloriously illustrated Bestiary for Jim Henson's Labyrinth, which - as well as being a beautiful insight into this world - I reckon could also serve as inspiration for my upcoming (possibly) Twilight Sword campaign.

Here are a couple of the gorgeous spreads from the book, illustrated by Iris Compiet (in a very Brian Froud style, as he was the original concept artist on the movie) with text by S.T. Bende:

ASPIRATIONS FOR 2026

Don't Want To Rush These Things: After 19 years, work shall begin on my castle

As we reach the end of January (which seems to have dragged on for about 30 weeks) I thought it was about time to lock in some aspirations for 2026.

HEALTH

Obviously after last year's health debacle (losing about seven months of the year because my legs stopped working properly and being in a great deal of discomfort), I want to get better this year.

More exercise and a healthier (urrgghhh!) diet are key. Hopefully, at the very least, I can bring my blood sugar levels down so I can get the steroid injections in my spine that will allow me the freedom to do more beneficial exercises.

READING

I've already stated that I want to get back into reading more this year (eyes willing), both novels and comic books, as both have slipped in the last seven or eight months.

I'm hoping to dig into my collection of recent Conan the Barbarian pastiche hardbacks, as well as the upcoming new Philip Reeve novel, and a random assortment of other books that either I've purchased for myself or were gifts.

I also have a massive backlog of comics to get through. Even though my pull-list continues to shrink, fresh issues keep arriving every month and I keep getting further and further behind.

My Read Judge Dredd Every Day is going... okay. I read either a story from volume one of the Complete Case Files or fresh material from current issues of the weekly 2000AD or the monthly Megazine pretty much every day. Pretty much.

CASTLE

For my 40th birthday (god, I can't believe it's been that long), Rachel's dad built me a tower that I could then decorate - along the line's of Rachel's dolls house hobby - and while I've collected a lot of "bits" to go inside it, two decades on and I still haven't started proper work on it. 

I keep flip-flopping on the theme of the tower in my mind (sometimes it's a superhero HQ, sometimes it's a U.N.I.T. base from Doctor Who, and sometimes it's even a Dungeons & Dragons-inspired fantasy castle!). This year I really must get on with it.

I'D RATHER BE KILLING MONSTERS

The tabletop roleplaying Facebook group I started over six years ago, I'd Rather Be Killing Monsters, is ticking over nicely, with almost 460 members but I'd really like to kick it up a gear.

I want to make the group more interactive, get more conversations flowing.

At the moment it feels as though there's about a dozen of us doing all the heavy-lifting. I'd like to get more members of the group engaged and talking about their own games, the campaigns they're running or playing in, monster/treasure/trap ideas etc

And, of course, I'd always like to increase the membership.

PROJECT 60

This is the big one for me, my core focus for the geeky projects I want to have in place before I turn 60 at the end of this year. Yes, it includes everything I've set in stone above but the two major things I'm channelling my energies into are establishing a singular roleplaying campaign for me to run - that will have legs - and a (skirmish) wargame with painted miniatures and terrain that I can play solo or invite friends over to play.

The current top contender for a roleplaying game is the anime fantasy Twilight Sword.

When it comes to skirmish games, for a while I was spreading myself a bit thin by embracing several genres and settings, but I've finally decided that I need to concentrate on just the Western game Dead Man's Hand.

I'd hoped to get started on terrain building and painting last year, but my osteoarthritis put the kibosh on that. This year I will make up for that.

Miniatures Make My Wife Happy

I'm delighted - and proud - to report that Rachel's occasional blog, Miniatures Make Me Happy, has awoken from hibernation.

The primary focus of the blog is Rachel's obsession with decorating 1:12 scale dolls houses.

She kicked off with a pre-Christmas post about the quality Christmas tree she had purchased (and that we used in our digital card this year).

This was then followed by a trio of posts about her current "big project": a modern Malibu Beach House (pictured above). Over the holidays, with some help from her talented dad and no help from clumsy me, Rachel has painted the accent colour on the outside of the house, scratch-built a statement chandelier, and started on the flooring.

The latest mini-project involves assembling the shower unit (which included several hilarious superglue-related moments), but requires the purchase of some tiles to complete.

Now the holidays are over and Rachel is back to work I hope she can still make time to squeeze in more miniature work, as I know how satisfied it makes her feel.

With my back getting better, allowing me to resume the majority of the chores I used to do and Rachel not having to wait on me quite so much, that should free up some time for her in her manic schedule.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS - FROM MYSELF, RACHEL & ALICE

As usual, in lieu of mailing out Christmas cards, we've donated two places to Crisis at Christmas and sent out digital cards instead.

The picture for this year's "electronic card" shows off Rachel's new doll's house Christmas tree, with her 1/12th version of Alice next to it, along with some tiny treats, presents and baubles.

I hope, wherever you are, the holidays are treating you well and letting you recharge your batteries for whatever 2026 has to test us with.