Cape May Countdown: 3 days

That's three days until Friday's day of fun and birding!

I've been working on a new project lately: getting photographs of every lifebird I've gotten. I've had to search back through the blog for some photos, as I don't have any of the photographs I took from 2006-2008 (they were on Kat's computer), and I either haven't always been able to get photos of other birds I've seen or I must've put them on my old Macintosh computer that's in Texas, so I don't have access to them right now. Still, I'm working on compiling and organizing. I don't have an exact count just yet but I working on it.

I'm also getting the eBird "needs alert" from Cape May, and if I'm lucky I'll be able to not only get some lifers but add some more lifer photographs to my file. So that will be an added challenge!

I'm hoping that AB can reschedule a late Thursday afternoon meeting so we can leave earlier. Can't wait to get there!

Rev Theory - Voices

Toca hoy una canción tremebunda del grupo de Massachusetts de hard rock Rev Theory. La canción es "Voices" y me encanta no sólo por la calidad musical, sino también por la magnífica letra. En ella Rich Luzzi narra como oye voces en su cabeza que le dicen las cosas que debe hacer.
A todos nos habla esa voz a veces, acercándonos un poco más a la locura y que nos "obliga" a hacer cosas que no queremos, condicionados por el momento de locura mental transitoria.
Este grupo es poco conocido por España por eso hoy os muestro esta extraordinaria obra, con la esperanza que os intereseis por la banda americana. Aquí os queda "Voices":

The Dead Boys by Royce Buckingham

Synopsis From Back Cover:

When Teddy Mathews moves to Richland, his main concern is making new friends.  But something is not right about this quiet desert town:  All the boys he meets seem to vanish before hie eyes, while the imposing shadows of the giant tree outside his home appear to be hiding more than darkness.

With the branches of the massive sycamore scratching at his window, Teddy's life becomes a waking nightmare that no one else believes.  Can Teddy escape the tree's terrifying grasp and solve the mystery of the missing boys before he becomes the next boy to disappear?

I've been debating whether or not I wanted to stop reviewing YA until my son is a little older to read them.  It seems that for the most part I either really like them or can do without.  I think I'm going to have to keep reading them if they are anything like The Dead Boys.

This book is only 201 pages, but where it lacks in length it more than makes it up in storytelling.  It's not every boy that can move to a new town and deal with a tree that is trying to eat him.  Teddy is a strong young man who rather than hiding and being scared by the events surrounding him, decides to get to the bottom of it.  From his first encounter with one of the missing boys, Teddy is determined to figure out why his new "friends" keep disappearing and why things don't quite add up.

Part of the reason why I wanted to read this book was because I've always been rather fascinated by "vampire" stories that don't quite fit into the typical mold.  Two of my favorite short stories are about trees, "The Man-Eating Tree" by Phil Robinson and "The Sumach" by Ulric Daubeny both feature trees that feed off non traditional sources.  The Dead Boys smoothly fits into that tradition and I'm looking forward to the day Aidan reads this all by himself.

This book is going to qualify for 2 different challenge; R.I.P V Challenge hosted by Stainless Steel Dropping and the Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge 2010 hosted by Book Chick City.