Angels and Violence

I was thinking of this for two days and I noticed that Mirror has also commented upon it. The Guardian Angels are back in town in response to a series of violent shootings in the south part of Boston (where I never go). I remember some 12 or 13 years ago on a day trip to Boston, wondering in Chinatown around 8pm and being approached by a young man in a red beret who asked if we needed directions because, "This was a rather unsafe neighborhood, especially at night." We assured him that we knew where we were and that we were on our way home. I felt quite comforted by him, although I really didn't know (and still don't know) much about the Angels as an organization. After we moved to Boston in the mid-90's there was the supposed clean-up and I rode the train from Chinatown regularly late at night after shows without much fear or concern, but like I said a few posts ago, I held onto my bag, I did not become immersed in a book, I looked around and tried to ride and stay with mixed groups of people. It's sad to me that Boston should have this need again.

Neil Gaiman (author of a collection called Angels and Visitations--how's that for a segue?) is auctioning off the keyboard upon which he made his reputation with Sandman. He also has a short story up for a Hugo, but I really dislike the story. I think it's one of his weakest, but it has an obliqueness that I can see would be appealing to judges. He also mentions that the Dr.Who episode, The Girl in the Fireplace, is up for one as well--I could see that, but the new Dr.Who has a lot of great stories.