If you love books and you love vampires, and you find that a British accent never hurts, then you’re probably with me in loving Giles, the vampire-fighting librarian on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, played by Anthony Stewart Head. I loved Giles since Day One, but once he started singing in Season 4, it was all over.

After the snippet where he sang The Who’s Behind Blue Eyes, a little quest to find the full song (it doesn’t exist) led to a little cyberstalking of Anthony Head. Never found the song, but I did find a section on his official website labeled “Foster Animals,” with some ridiculously cute pit bull puppy pictures. With his wife, Sarah Fisher (who runs Tilley Farm, a TTouch center) he rescues horses, dogs and other assorted animals.

As if that wasn’t enough to make him my favorite person, Tony (because now we’re on a first name basis, of course) has a whole list of animal welfare charity work that he’s done. The latest addition to his list of good animal deeds is his adoption of a chimpanzee named Naika. Through Care for the Wild International, he sponsored a chimp who was rescued from a circus and now gets to live out her life in Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Kenya. Tony just keeps getting better.

And now I find out he’s vegetarian, too … Why are all the good soulmates already taken?

p.s. My initial cyberstalking is also what brought me to the joys of Repo! The Genetic Opera, a wonderfully twisted rock opera meets horror meets graphic novel. The unlikely cast not only stars Tony and his amazing voice, but also Sarah Brightman of Phantom of the Opera fame and Ogre from the band Skinny Puppy. I’ve included the trailer for your viewing pleasure:

photo credit: vagueonthehow

David Wroblewski, author of “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle” was at Nicola’s Books last night. As he was discussing various threads that run through his book about dogs and language, at one point he cited the surveys that ask people which family member they’re closest to and how the dog consistently ranks at, or near, the top. He said our relationship with our dogs is so strong in spite of, or perhaps because of, our inability to use words.

This isn’t news in terms of dog training. Dogs are more fluent in our body language than we are – it’s the verbal commands that they need to learn (and we humans need to learn what our bodies are saying to them) – so the concept of a mute boy working dogs the way Edgar Sawtelle does in the book isn’t a far reach at all. But a writer talking, or writing, about words getting in the way of communication seems a bit ironic.

It’s not. Some of the most effective, powerful books are the ones where the writing seems to “disappear” and you can fully absorb the story. Or think about the mantra “show, don’t tell.” What is “telling” but using words that are nothing more than words, instead of “showing” with image-painting language.

A couple more examples of Words vs. Communication:

1) Politicians. Need I say more?

2) Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 4, the Emmy-nominated episode Hush where “The Gentleman” steal everyone’s voices, so they all have to communicate with gestures and expressions. You can’t find this episode online (at least not legally), so if you haven’t seen it, go get your hands on Season 4 now. It’s amazing.