Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Snow, Man...Snow!

2 storms inside of 4 days. Over a foot of snow and it looks like more in store before the Holiday. We are so glad we bought our new/used snowblower, it's come in quite handy these past few days. My back and the neighbors really appreciate it.

Cheers

Birthday Presents

So here it is a few hours later, I Am Legend is a memory, and a damn good one at that. Go see this movie! So when we returned home, the mail man had a nice package for me. My winning auction for a piece of Steve Bissette history has shown up. Here's a quote from Myrant, the SRB Blog:

This particular page was completed with an assist from Rick Veitch (look like Veitch laid it out and likely pencilled the first panel), who lettered the entire story. This is also one of a handful of pages in this story directly referencing the Marv Wolfman/Neal Adams origin of Dracula story from Marvel's Dracula Lives! black-and-white zine. This was the last Marvel gig I completed before John Totleben and I began work on Saga of the Swamp Thing, and my last wash comics creation for any publisher except Scholastic: the shoddy, inconsistent quality of printing in those days destroyed the work that went into these pages.

What an amazing piece and I'm proud to own it. I also received another wonderful gift from my dear wife Kathy. I'm a huge monkey fan, (animal not the band) and also a longtime fan of Godzilla movies. So she went ahead and created for me, a limited edition Sock Godzilla! Very cool. Order yours now while I can still con her into creating another one.

Thanks honey!

A moment in history

Today is my birthday. I'm a little bit grey'r and maybe a bit more wiser...so I hope the rest of it is OK too.
My birthday movie this year is I Am Legend. I've been a big fan of the original Matheson book and I will watch The Last Man On Earth and The Omega Man and not cringe too much. Will Smith stars in this new vision of the Matheson book and I've always liked everything he's done, but I'm not forgiving him for Wild Wild West. So I hope it's a good day, a good movie and great presents!!

Cheers

2 Words

Zombie Sneakers.

They fit right, they look great, and the price was perfect. What every Zombie fan should be wearing this season.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Converse-Chuck-Taylor-AllStar-World-Skulls-HiTops?sku=411229

Brains! Brains!

Memories

While going through some old artwork, I came across this piece by Ven Yann. Years ago, Ven, John Maruskin and myself made up the Star Press weekend crew doing page and ad design for Star Press in Holyoke. It was easy work and we all got along so it made the time go by fast and it made for a lot of laughs.

Update: As noted in the comments, I have been corrected on the true originator of this beautiful piece of art. It was indeed Mr. John Maruskin, the Curmudgeon himself who created this masterpiece. My truest apologies go out to him.


You can find Ven Yann here: http://www.covertstudio.com/
and read John Maruskins twisted viewpoint here:http://thecurmudgeongrowls.blogspot.com/

Dennis Lehane and the Boston Police Strike

Quite a few years ago, I was in Boston walking on Newbury Street and I stopped by the Spenser's Mystery Bookstore. Andy was there at the time and I asked him who's hot and in his humble opinion...has got it. Andy gave me two books; Darkness Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane and a mystery novel based on old-time radio. Needless to say I have forgotten the title of the radio mystery, and Dennis Lehane and his works have taken up residence in my house.

Recently I was joined by my wife Kathy and my old friend john Maruskin to hear Dennis Lehane present a reading at the Odyssey Bookstore in South Hadley, MA. Dennis is one of the most engaging, funny, totally honest people I've ever met. He's very humble about his work and even a bit shy when readers praise him. He spent the evening talking about his new book that is due out next September. It's about the years 1918 and 1919 and is centered around 2 men and the 1919 Boston Police Strike. A period piece? and yet he made it work. He gave us a long reading and it was well worth the wait since 2001's Shutter Island.

I highly recommend all of Dennis' books with highlights being, in my opinion, Darkness Take My Hand, Gone Baby Gone and Shutter Island. Run out and buy as much Lehane as you can.

Good reading!

6 Month Anniversary and lunch with the Bissette's

6 months have flown by since Kathy and I were married, so we decided we both needed time away from work and life so packed up and headed back up to Vermont. We enjoyed Quechee so much we decided to head back there and stayed a beautiful B&B called the AppleButter Inn in Woodstock, VT http://www.applebutterinn.com/index.html.
We had decided to re-visit Woodstock and the area and to also stop back in at the Quechee Antique Center on Route 4. If you like to roam through large flea markets, then this is the place for you. It's absolutely wonderful. Our friends Steve and Marge Bissette have a small booth there filled with Steve's eclectic collection of movies, books, comics and student published graphic novels. Marge has some personal items including a beautiful Celtic design pillow. The is the place to go to find the unusual and amazing. It was great to have a quick bite with Steve and Marge and to share our just married stories with there own experiences. For Steve's outlook on life, check out his blog, you'll be glad you did; http://srbissette.blogspot.com/
So our few days came to a close and ended with a couple of inches of snow, mostly to Kathy's chagrin. Here are some pictures of our trip, the AppleButter Inn during the snow, and me with my new Steve Bissette original Coffee Zombie mug that Kathy promised was for my Christmas present.

Cheers.

October Means Greyhounds

Greyhound Options recently celebrated our OktoberFest fund-raiser and adoption drive. We had 11 beautiful Greys and when all was done, 9 of these beauties were spoken for. I was helping out at the adoption kennel this time and even though I brought my face painting kit, I never had a chance to sit down and paint. Maybe in the Spring. Enjoy these wonderful shot from October 14 and check out that beautiful chocolate brown Katie. Spitting image of my buddy DeNiro.

Woof,
Mk

More From King Richard's Faire

KIng Richards Faire

So we made it down to King Richard's Faire in Carver, MA. Joining us were Kathy's sister Linda and her daughter Nikki and along the way we picked up my daughter LIndsay. The day was wonderful. The sun was warm but not too warm. All of the people were very nice with some amazing costumes. The joust was a lot of fun and the Wheel-O-Meat was...different. Enjoy these shots and if you find you need to get out and explore your inner Knight, this is the place for you.

Tally Ho!!!
Mk

My Blog called, it wants a divorce!

It's lonely because I haven't had the free time to post anything. Well...not too much to report. Married life is coming up on 4 months and we haven't killed each other yet so that's one for the win column. This weekend is the Belchertown Fair and I'm there for 2 days representing Greyhound Options. Today was a long day but the weathger was perfect, I got a nice sun burn and we had some interest from people wanting to adopt a Greyhound. One more day to go and it's the short day so it will be a little easier on these old bones of mine. October 14th is our Greyhound Options Oktoberfest. A big year-end fund raiser and adoption drive. 50-60 people checkin out Grey goods and good food and making raffle bids on some wonderful items while the70+ Greys there will be socializing and doing some major sniffing. And there will be Greys up for adoption so it's first come first adopt so come by early if you're really serios about adopting.

Glad to be writing again. Next week is King Richard Faire so I hope to have some news and pics.

Cheers,
Mk

We Did It, Part 2

May 19th, 2007. A day to go into the record books. Mark Masztal and Kathy Korovae are wed!!!!
It was a great day and we wanted to share some pics with you and to thank all of our families, friends and special guests who attended our ceremony and then our reception. We got major kudos for our handmade chocolate favors and Kathy's brother Mark thanked us mercifully for not having anyone dancing the Chicken Dance or taking someone eye out with the Bouquet Toss of Death.

Enjoy,
The Masztals

Wedding Day!!!

This is the day. Kathy and I are getting hitched. After 3 years together and purchasing our first home together 2 years ago. This is the day!!! We'd like to thank our families and friends who've been both supportive and essential.

Thanks,
Mark & Kathy

Sad Day

I've had two Greys these past 8 years. DeNiro, my first, was my best friend. I rescued him and he saved me. He passed away last June from complications with a mass in his chest. Losing him was terrible. I still tear up when I think about him, but I visit him in the backyard and we have our talks. Posie, the little dog with big attitude, brightened up my life and DeNiro's. I never saw two Greys get along as well as these two did. They knew they were meant to be together and they knew we were supposed to be a family. Posie passed away this morning. She was getting close to 15 years and that's amazing for a Greyhound. She hasn't been the same since DeNiro passed. She's been depressed and not herself these 8 months. She had developed arthritis in her rear legs and walking around was getting difficult for her. She had some problems last night and this morning and she and I decided it was time. She'll find a nice sunny spot next to DeNiro. I know she's running with DeNiro and all of their Grey buddies. And I know she's barking at me, wanting my full attention. I can almost hear her now.

Mark

DeNIro/Posie, I love you both and I miss you so much.

SunLord

And a piece of SunLord art just to round out the day.

Mk

Been Along Time...

Since I posted last. Where have all the months gone. Well the Holidays are past...the New Year was safe and quiet and wedding plans are on the way. May 19th is the big day and things are moving along. Rings are soon to be ordered, reception hall is set. The ceremony will be in our luscious back yard, the chairs and tent (which won't be necessary) are ready to go and it looks like I've got the invitations and reply cards all done. Besides that, I've kept in touch with a few of my old Tundra/Mirage friends including Steve Bissette (http://www.srbissette.com/theblog.html) and Eric Talbot (http://erictalbot.blogspot.com/). Also check out Craig Rousseau (http://www.craigrousseau.com/) who I met through the Forum at www.hellboy.com.
No new artwork to post, but I do have a picture of my wedding ring, so check it out and I'll check back in soon...I promise.

Off to watch Survivor Fiji and to catch up on LOST from the other evening.


Mark