For those who perhaps are not familiar with him, I just wanted to do my bit to make sure that the whole world learns about the venerable English author, Terry Pratchett.  He’s one of the most prolific, talented, and astute observers of human behavior who is writing today. If you have anything approximating a sense of humor, you will find something to enjoy in his extensive catalog.

Initially made famous for his Discworld novels, which are set on a mythical yet suspiciously familiar disc-shaped world, Pratchett’s work has now in several instances been made into film. Some of you may have seen “Hogfather” which aired fairly recently on American cable television. 

 Unfortunately reading books has to a degree fallen out of fashion, and of course many people are so busy working three or four jobs to make ends meet, that collapsing in front of a television set is the best many of us can do after an eighteen hour day.  Like just about every other instance you can think of, Pratchett’s books have a richness of detail that cannot possibly be translated to a movie… but they’ve certainly given it the old college try and not come up wanting.  (The aforementioned Hogfather was incredibly nicely done….how can you miss, when you cast David Jason as Rincewind? But I digress.)

So, whether you read Pratchett’s books, or watch the available films, if you’ve never heard of him, by all means, step on out and treat yourself, and your family. I would think that any of Pratchett’s books would be suitable for children from about the age of twelve on up, but of course, your mileage may vary. Children younger than that will have some of the jokes sailing over their heads, but they still will enjoy the stories. He’s a master storyteller, and laugh-out-loud funny.

Pratchett writes for adults, however. Anyway, just trust me. If you don’t know Pratchett, I HIGHLY recommend his work, especially his books, especially the discworld novels. Pratchett is a galactic treasure. If we’re rating humorous, imaginative writers on a scale of one to ten, I’d say Pratchett is an eleven! Read him, and thank me later!

100. IT (1990, Directed by Tommy Lee Wallace)
99. The Beyond (1981, Directed by Lucio Fulci)
98. Cloverfield
97. Don’t Look Now (1973, Directed by Nocolas Roeg)
96. Night of the Creeps (1986, Written and Directed by Fred Dekker)
95. Dead Ringers (1988, Directed by David Cronenberg)
94. Return of the Living Dead (1985, Written & Directed by Dan O’Bannon)
93. Scream (1996, Directed by Wes Craven)
92. Final Destination (2000, Directed by James Wong)
91. Re-Animator (1985, Directed by Stuart Gordon)
90. The Descent (2005, Directed by Neil Marshall)
89. The Ring (2002, Directed by Gore Verbinski)
88. Puppet Master (1989, Directed by David Schmoeller)
87. Salem’s Lot (1979, Directed by Tobe Hooper)
86. Seven (1995, Directed by David Fincher)
85. Hostel (2005, Directed by Eli Roth)
84. Jason X
83. May (2002, Written and Directed by Lucky McKee)
82. Sweeney Todd
81. From Beyond (1986, Directed by Stuart Gordon)
80. Jacobs’ Ladder (1990, Directed by Adrian Lyne)
79. Suspiria (1977, Directed by Dario Argento)
78. Ginger Snaps (2000, Directed by John Fawcett)
77. Altered States (1980, Directed by Ken Russell)
76. Videodrome (1983, Written and Directed by David Cronenberg)
75. Pet Semetary (1989, Directed by Mary Lambert)
74. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981, Directed by Steve Miner)
73. The Host (2006, Directed by Joon-ho Bong)
72. Halloween 2 (1981, Directed by Rick Rosenthal)
71. Event Horizon (1997, Directed by Paul Anderson)
70. Alien Vs. Predator
69. Resident Evil
68. 1408
67. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006, Directed by Scott Glosserman)
66. 28 Weeks Later (2007, Directed By Juan Carlos Fresnadillo)
65. Army of Darkness (1992, Directed by Sam Raimi)
64. The Lost Boys (1987, Directed by Joel Schumacher)
63. The Zombie Diaries
62. A Tale of Two Sisters (2003, Directed by Ji-woon Kim)
61. Day Watch (2006, Directed By Timur Bekmambetov)
60. The Deaths Of Ian Stone
59. Crazy Eights
58. Resident Evil 3
57. Frontiers
56. The Orphanage (2007, Directed by J.A. Bayona)
55. The Omen (1976, Directed by Richard Donner)
54. Day of the Dead (1985, Written and Directed by George A. Romero)
53. Amityville Horror (1979, Directed by Stuart Rosenberg)
52. The Sixth Sense (1999, Directed by M. Night Shyamalan)
51. Diary Of The Dead
50. Day Of The Dead: The Need To Feed
49. High Tension (2005, Directed by Alexandre Aja)
48. Man Bites Dog (1992, Directed By Remy Belvaux)
47. The Thing (1982, Directed by John Carpenter)
46. Resident Evil 2
45. Poltergeist (1982, Directed by Tobe Hooper)
44. Rosemary’s Baby (1968, Directed by Roman Polanski)
43. The Blair Witch Project (1999, Directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez)
42. Trackman
41. Cemetary Man (1994, Directed by Michele Soavil)
40. 30 Days Of Night
39. Night Watch (2004, Directed By Timur Bekmambetov)
38. Ju-On (2000, Written and Directed by Takashi Shimizu)
37. Wolf Creek (2005, Directed By Greg McLean)
36. Dawn of the Dead 2004 (2004, Directed by Zack Snyder)
35. Nightmare on Elm Street (1984, Directed by Wes Craven)
34. Dawn of the Dead (1978, Written and Directed by George A. Romero)
33. The Howling (1981, Directed by Joe Dante)
32. Frailty (2001, Directed by Bill Paxton)
31. Dead Alive (1992, Directed by Peter Jackson)
30. Black Sheep
29. Phantasm (1979, Directed by Don Coscarelli)
28. Death Note II: The Last Name (2007, Directed By Shusuke Kaneko)
27. Death Note (2006, Directed By Shusuke Kaneko)
26. Hell Raiser (1987, Directed by Clive Barker)
25. Grindhouse (2007, Directed by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez)
24. Evil Dead (1981, Directed by Sam Raimi)
23. Trailer Park Of Terror (2008, Directed By Steven Goldmann)
22. Darkness Falls (2003, Directed by Jonathan Liebesman)
21. Feast (2005, Directed by John Gulager)
20. Friday the 13th (1980, Directed by Sean S. Cunningham)
19. Audition (1999, Directed by Takashi Miike)
18. Jaws (1975, Directed by Steven Spielberg)
17. The Shining (1980, Directed by Stanley Kubrick)
16. Kingdom Hospital
15. Exorcist III
14. Reincarnation
13. Ringu (1998, Directed by Hideo Nakata)
12. Dog Soldiers (2002, Written and Directed by Neil Marshall)
11. Silence of the Lambs (1991, Directed by Jonathan Demme)
10. The Mist (2007, Directed by Frank Darabont)
9. Let The Right One In (2008, Directed By Tomas Alfredson)
8. Shaun of the Dead (2004, Directed by Edgar Wright)
7. Halloween (1978, Directed by John Carpenter)
6. Cube (1997, Directed By Vincenzo Natali)
5. 28 Days Later (2002, Directed by Danny Boyle)
4. Aliens (Special Edition) (1986, Directed by James Cameron)
3. Carrie (Special Edition) (1976, Directed by Brian De Palma)
2. Alien (1979, Directed by Ridley Scott)
1. The Exorcist (The Version You’ve Never Seen) (2002, Directed by William Friedkin)

Rancho de Chimayo

Many years ago (1973 to be exact) I was temporarily living in the US with my parents while my father was working over here. I was 18 and we had the opportunity that summer to travel around a little. We were living in Oklahoma City at the time so our trip basically included exploring Texas and New Mexico. Although I enjoyed Texas it was New Mexico that really stuck in my mind as I think it did with all of us.

On one of those days around lunchtime we happened to chance upon a restaurant in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. We’d been taking back roads as they’re always more interesting than highways. We decided to stop for lunch. The name of the restaurant was the Rancho de Chimayo. The food was excellent and after lunch we went on our way.

I didn’t realize st the time that this would be the last family trip I would ever take with my father as I left home and married not much later and he died at the age of 50 not long after my first son was born.

I am now married to an American girl and living in the US. The year before last we decided on a trip to Chimayo after I explained how strong my memories were of the place. The restaurant has expanded and is now much better known than it was when I first went and deservedly so. The food is awesome. For all of you who think you know what Mexican cuisine is like having visited any of the many big franchises spread across the US think again. There really is no comparison. It’s like comparing MickeyD with a 5 star restaurant.

The Rancho now has limited accomodation across the road from the reastaurant and so we stayed there as the center of the trip. We explored many of the places that I had originally been to in 1973 and the feeling was really weird. The last time I had stood in that spot my father had stood alongside me. Happy and sad memories all at the same time.

It’s a fact of life, I guess, that when our parents are alive and we’re still growing into adulthood that we never think of them “not being there.” But of course sometimes they do pass on and unexpectedly so. Standing in those same places from the past made me think of all the things I should have said to him and didn’t. My father knew I loved him as I knew he loved me. But did I ever tell him that as much as I should have? No. Almost certainly not.

As the words of the song say… “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.”

Never pass by the opportunity to tell someone you love them.