Alas, Poor Yorick or The Skull of Truth (and a chance to burp the alphabet or wield a light saber!)

Hey, guys in blogland, it's Carl. First off, let me give an ENORMOUS shout-out to Nicholas, who recited the Gettysburg Address at the Matthews library for Master Jedi Zack. (Look at the post beneath this one) That took a lot of guts, Nicholas--and brains too!! That speech is short, but it's in that old-style language that can be hard to memorize. To be fair and honest, I was in the 5th grade before I had to memeorize it (and, yes, back in my day, EVERYONE had to memorize it in the 5th grade). But you did it, Nicholas, and we are all very proud of you!! This speech is important, guys!!! If you undrstand this speech, you'll understand why this country isn't ruled by some two-bit dictator, like so many countires are in this world. Therefore, the CARLMAN has decided to extend the offer of coupons for 2 free slices at the Fuel Pizza at 6th and College Streets for any guy who' ll recite the Address. The offer is good until the end of December. Call Zack (704-416-5000 ) or Bill or me (704-973-2720) to set up a time before December 31.

BUT--if you don't think you're up to this, well, we have another offer for you. On 12-9, we posted a note from Ms. Yingling, a middle-school librarian, who told us about being made an Honorary Guy:

I'll let my students know about my Honorary Guyhood. As long as I don't have to burp the alphabet or wield a light saber, I think I will not disappoint you.

To which I said:

Well, we are so glad that you like being an Honorary Guy and our blog and will spread the word about us. Say---CAN any of you guys burp the alphabet??? Or wield a light saber??? Come down to Imaginon or Matthews and let me or Bill or Zack video you!! I'll put it on the blog!!!! (But call first at 704-973-2720 or 704-416-5000 so we'll be ready!!!)

So, if you can burp the alphabet or wield a light saber, call Zack or Bill or me and set up a time to let us video you! For performing such an amazing feat, we'll give you a free book! If you can do both, you'll get a free book and a coupon for 2 free slices! If you can do all 3, (burp the alphabet, wield a light saber, and recite the Address) you'll get a coupon, a free book, and a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt!!

And here's a new review from cyber kid 303:

THE SKULL OF TRUTH by Bruce Coville is all about Charlie Eggleston who cuts through a swamp to avoid getting beaten up. He walks into a magic shop and then steals a skull. He finds out this is the Skull of Truth and while he has it, he can only tell the truth. A lot of different things happen because of this. The skull is Yorick's skull from Shakespeare's play, Hamlet. You would be best off knowing about the play Hamlet before you read this book. I liked the book because it had lots of adventure in it.

Thanks, cyber kid! You're the first one to review a Bruce Coville book. He's a great guy writer. I hope we hear about more of his books. I got to talk with him when he came to Novello and he told me about bringing Stan Lee to Duke when Bruce was in college there!

(PS--Did you read Shakespeare's play, cyber kid, or seen a movie of it? If you guys haven't, go out and read a summary of the play. The language takes some getting used to. But, once you do, wow, is it good!!!! I'll tell you this much--Hamlet and his friend Horatio see a couple of gravediggers at work. One of the gravediggers hands a skull up to Hamlet; Hamlet recognizes it as Yorick, his old court jester. Hamlet says, "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him well, Horatio.")