Trashed

A stray sighting in the debris of a hospital undergoing demolition...

Meet my monsters

Proud to announce that part of my own collection of Frankensteiniana forms the core of the new exhibition hosted by the University of Virginia's Rare Book School in . . . drum roll, please . . . the Dome Room of Mr. Jefferson's Rotunda.

Good company. Graduating fourth-year student Shannon Gorman is the curator.

It's called "The Monster Among Us: Frankenstein from Mary Shelley to Mel Brooks," and it's open to the public, 9 to 4:45, seven days a week. The exhibition will be in the Dome Room through next October.

Cat out of the hat

It has long amused me that a novel once considered censorable not only for children but for adults has in the past two centuries spawned dozens if not hundreds of children's books. There are easy reader versions of the novel and picture books taking the monster on many adventures. At the same time, the monster has appeared in one cartoon show after another -- first as a guest star with such animation greats as Mickey Mouse, Mighty Mouse, Mister Magoo, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Scooby Doo, then in variations on his own theme, chief among them the lovable Hanna Barbera Frankenstein Jr.

Well here comes the feline version, based on a picture book by Curt Jobling (already rich and famous because he created Bob the Builder), now making its way into the Saturday morning lineup via UK TV. Meet FRANKENSTEIN'S CAT.

Stitching together the various parts

My monster alerts carried me to this amusing YouTube creation. Take a few body parts from one Democratic presidential candidate and a few from the other, and you get --- is it a monster or a dream vision come true? Take a look.

Swing, batter

Ooooh, I like this one.

One of my hobby-horses involves finding new analogies that connect the monster to new realms -- and I like this one.

Roger Clemens, alias Dr. Clemenstein, who started out a man and made himself a monster, an all-star monster at that, by taking performance-enhancing steroids.

That's the terminology chosen by commentator Robert Lipsyte on CommonDreams.org.

"The drugs went in and the soul came out. . . . We'll see him go down," writes Lipsyte melodramatically.

All we need is a burning windmill.

Winter's monster may rebound

In among mentions of the motorcycle rallies where he plays live these days comes news that Edgar Winter is writing a musical based on his history-making rock classic, "Frankenstein."

"Part of what I've tried to do throughout my career is broaden musical horizons and play a really wide variety of music," a Washington, PA, reporter quotes him as saying. "I'm primarily thought of as a rocker, but I really do love jazz and classical." The occasion for the article is a live performance this weekend by Winter at—don't you love it?—the Pepsi Cola Roadhouse in Burgettstown, PA.

Move over, Mel Brooks. Here comes someone who has had his finger on the pulse of the monster for as long as you have.

Election allusions

It's bound to happen. You can't have an election in the United States without someone finding some way—or many people finding many ways—to bring the monster into the conversation.

Today it's Mike Garibaldi-Frick, commenting on the flak Hillary is taking for being a woman with a strong presence. "If the mob is flocking to Obama while launching vicious attacks on the Clinton Frankenstein monster with 'crazy eyes,'" he wrote, "I'll feel compassion to help Frankenstein."

Mary Shelley is settling down a little more comfortably in her grave. If she were alive, who would she be campaigning for?