dickhead interweb

i'd meant to set down just about anything and everything i can think of to say on A Scanner Darkly (the film) but what i'm optimistically assuming is the effect of the Taiwan quake combined with Holiday Interweb Congestion but may in fact be the best i can hope for of an interweb connection from now on now that i've given up access to the trusty (not so) ol' office broadband has put me out of the proper mood.

so instead, i will simply say that the local movie market sucks for not having allowed this masterpiece a chance in theaters; it sucks worse because the decision was probably the 'right one' to make in light of the potential marketability of this movie hereabouts.

that said, i *am* glad they got it out on dvd so quickly. i've seen the movie twice now, once without the commentary track and once with, and plan on seeing it at least one more time within the forseeable future. Richard Linklater has made an absolutely brilliant adaptation, possibly the best film adaptation of any literary work yet, bringing to life all the important bits, i.e.: the ones a reader is most likely to remember or want to remember or want to see brought to life after reading the book; the ones a reader is most likely not to remember but should be reminded of; and the ones a reader is most likely to have missed entirely during the reading but ought not to have for a thorough understanding of the story and the author's intentions for the story. Mr Linklater *does* take liberties with the adaptation, but the most startling, significant, potentially deal-breaking liberty he takes with the narrative actually *fits* into the original text despite being nowhere to be found in it.

if there is anything about the film that ought to have Philip K. Dick tossing and turning anxiously in his grave, it may well be that Linklater's adaptation has rendered actually reading the original book unnecessary. of course geeks like me know how utterly preposterous a supposition that is to make, but there is no higher praise i can think of for such a work as Mr Linklater has done for Mr Dick's book.

despite my disclaimer, i see i've managed to put down quite a bit of a ramble; still, that isn't everything: there's still a lot to say on the film, not least of which are some notes on the performances, and some things on the dvd itself: particularly on the commantary track provided by Mr Linklater, Jonathan Lethem, the lovely Isa Dick Hackett, and *gasp* (or more appropriately: *whoa*) Keanu Reeves...

but i think i'll hang it up for now and say this has to be my fave film for 2006. of course, it's probably best not to trust me on that just yet; i've only just seen it, after all, and so it's the film that is foremost on my mind at the moment. so (echoing Paul's review of the Itchyworms' Noontime Show): get yourself a copy and see for yourself.

*

whoops, hang on, there *is* one other thing i should probably mention: i read the book before i saw the movie, and at some point early in my first viewing, i began to wonder whether there was any point to watching the film after reading the book; the movie is just so *faithful* to the book, it didn't seem to offer anything new (even considering the beautiful rotoscoping, sharp dialogue and brilliant performances). at that point i thought it might not be amiss to either watch the film or read the book, and not both. i think i would have enjoyed the movie more if i had not known what a character was about to say or do...and then Mr Linklater threw me off with the simplest twist (the aforementioned liberty)...and, in retrospect, Mr Linklater *did* leave a few things out to create a tighter, more feature-length-film-appropriate narrative--things that feel like they really don't have a place in the movie but are nontheless integral to the *original* text...so now, yeah, i *would* recommend reading the book and seeing the movie...i just can't decide in which order it should be done.

Last Day

'Science fiction writers, I am sorry to say, really do not know anything. We can't talk about science, because our knowledge of it is limited and unofficial, and usually our fiction is dreadful. A few years ago, no college or university would ever have considered inviting one of us to speak. We were mercifully confined to lurid pulp magazines, impressing no one. In those days, friends would say me, "But are you writing anything serious?" meaning "Are you writing anything other than science fiction?" We longed to be accepted. We yearned to be noticed. Then, suddenly, the academic world noticed us, we were invited to give speeches and appear on panels — and immediately we made idiots of ourselves. The problem is simply this: What does a science fiction writer know about? On what topic is he an authority?'

-Philip K. Dick, 'How To Build a Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later', 1978.

read the whole thing here:

http://downlode.org/etext/how_to_build.html

(thanks, Paul for the link.)

'I have a secret love of chaos. There should be more of it. Do not believe — and I am dead serious when I say this — do not assume that order and stability are always good, in a society or in a universe. The old, the ossified, must always give way to new life and the birth of new things. Before the new things can be born the old must perish. This is a dangerous realization, because it tells us that we must eventually part with much of what is familiar to us. And that hurts. But that is part of the script of life. Unless we can psychologically accommodate change, we ourselves begin to die, inwardly. What I am saying is that objects, customs, habits, and ways of life must perish so that the authentic human being can live. And it is the authentic human being who matters most, the viable, elastic organism which can bounce back, absorb, and deal with the new.'

i can think of no better way to mark my transition as i move from one order of chaos to another.

(read the whole thing: there's some really crazy shit in there, i mean really crazy. it all makes *some kind* of weird sense...and some of it may be 'proved' in part by, among other things, Hal Duncan's Vellum.)

thing is my oyster

i find it oddly comforting and at the same time vaguely distressing to learn that other people do, in fact, sometimes, particularly when administered the same stimulus, think like i do:

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20060712/ai_n16528165

(the stimulus, by the by, in case it isn't clear, being Amelie.)

does anyone else, i wonder, find the implications of calling that particular part of the chicken the 'pope's' or 'parson's nose' (particularly given what *we* call it hereabouts) in any way amusing?

i've always been fascinated with the idea of a/the collective subconscious and how it might be possible to manipulate an individual, a population and/or an entire species through it; people as varied as Adolf Hitler, Carl Jung, castmembers of Saturday Night Live, Bob Dylan, Hugh Hefner, Philip K. Dick, William Gibson and Syd Mead, the Wachowski Brothers, producers of any one of the more commercially successful artists and television stations, Neil Gaiman, the Itchyworms and Mike Carey have all, in their own ways, profited from the idea.

synchronicity is another concept that's always been of particular fascination to me; in a half-assed attempt to employ the two ideas in a single entry (and, perhaps, provide something of a public service), i include this e-mail which i received as i was composing that bit on the collective subconscious:

If you should ever be forced by a robber to withdraw money from an ATM machine, you can notify the police by entering your PIN number in reverse order. For example if your pin number is 1234 then you would put in 4321. The ATM recognizes that your pin number is backwards from the ATM card you placed in the machine. The machine will still give you the money you requested, but unknown to the robber, the police will be immediately dispatched to help you. This information was recently broadcasted on TV and it states that it is seldom used because people don't know it exists. Please pass this along to everyone possible. If you should ever be forced by a robber to withdraw money from an ATM machine, you can notify the police by entering your PIN number in reverse order.

a response to which can be found here:

http://www.snopes.com/business/bank/pinalert.asp

last couple days on the office broadband. i really wish i had something more interesting to put on this blog.

*

further synchronicity: Paul just posted this review of the Itchyworms' ubercool Noontime Show over on his recently pimped blog.

nothing to blog about...

...but i really wanna capitalize on the office broadband while i've got access to it. so i thought i'd blog/rant, mostly about Nellie McKay, 'Princess of the Protest Ditty'.

caught an ep of Late Night with Conan O'Brien over the long weekend. more than 'an', actually (it was, after all, a 'long' weekend), though i refer only to one here. i'd started to realize how much i hated the life-numbing effect of having an actual television set in your home, with channels and cable and sofas and a remote control and everything, but coming home a couple nights ago i got gummed up on the sofa...true, Conan's stand up just keeps getting worse (imho), but he *does* have his moments, the show can be encouragingly bizarre (and funny. i personally miss Victory) and Max Weinberg is hands down the funniest talkshow sidekick on late night TV (don't get me started on that annoying Paul Schaeffer guy), and anyway, Michelle Trachtenberg was on the couch.

yes, i've said it before, i'll say it again: i have a thing for Ms Trachtenberg. i even sat through an ep of Punk'd once coz she was the vic. anyway, back to the Late Night ep, i was only too glad to have seen the House ep they were talking about, where she was beleaguered by, of all things, (SPOILER ALERT) cooties (whoops. too late, was it?) and i was delighted to learn she'd caused Hugh Laurie's 'huh' on that ep...well, enough spoilers. see for yourself what Ms Trachtenberg had to say:



(here, from youtube.)

but i digress. i'd meant to rant about Nellie McKay who i know next to nothing about, except that she's really, really good:



(here, from youtube.)

not the Late Night gig i caught, she seemed much more enjoyably unrestrained (banging away at the keys to make that delightfully wicked disjointed bang-tinkling sound) on Late Night playing with the Max Weinberg Seven, but really, really good nontheless.

here's her website:

http://www.nelliemckay.com/

nothing much on there, pretty much just a few newsbits and the mailing list, you can find out more about her here:

http://www.nelliemckay.org/

right. possibly more 'interesting' things later.

the world is flat

Eric Rosenfield, over on wetasphalt, says:

...I can't help but feel frustrated that the richness of different kinds of writing, with different ends and likewise different means, is not recognized by the critics, and by extension, the readers. Because if it was maybe we'd be producing a richer variety of work.

http://www.wetasphalt.com/?q=node/125

he was only talking about 'flat' versus 'round' characters, but i don't suppose it would hurt to expand his point to encompass other things.

his argument (particularly in the above quote) also raises red flags re:the inherent dangers in my posits for those 'other things', but what's life without a little danger, yeah?

thanks to Paul for the link.

and *this* is going to be so cool:

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/grindhouse_hd.html

(watch Quentin Tarantino rant about the flick over on youtube.)

well. it looks as though it's going to be so cool. the Transformers trailer is promising as well:

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/transformers.html

not quite the Transformers most of us know (and the pace of the trailer seems a bit wanting, imho), but hell, i reckon i'll bite.

damn movie ticket prices these days. particularly where i'll probably be when the movies hit. arg. 'As the philosopher Jagger once said: you can't always get what you want...'

Salad Fingers + Mr Peake

'oh. hello there chaps. you arrived earlier than i expected. and might i say, you are looking rather splendid this evening...'

http://www.fat-pie.com/salad.htm

'i like it when the red water comes out.

i like it when the red water comes out...'

thanks so much to Chris for pointing me in the right direction. i can't thank you enough...

brilliantly drawn, animated and voiced by David Firth. written by David Firth and Christian 'Crust' Pickup, with music by Boards of Canada and David Firth.

all the goodies are nice over at fat-pie.com:

http://www.fat-pie.com/

oh, and look...they have shirts:

http://www.cafepress.com/fatpie2

now i'm off...i must find the perfect spoon.

*

right, just wanted to add this, from the latest issue of Time Magazine:

http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/article/0,13005,901061211-1565505,00.html

With a career encompassing 25 years that included five novels, a handful of plays and thousands of drawings, paintings and sketches, why isn't Mervyn Peake a more celebrated English literary and artistic hero? A cult figure today, Peake is best known for Gormenghast, his bleak but compelling gothic fantasy trilogy published in the 1940s and '50s about the hierarchy of a fictional castle, Gormenghast, and the Machiavellian machinations of its inhabitants. But he was also an accomplished illustrator, painter and war artist. "If somebody's good at everything, then they're never taken seriously, are they?" muses Chris Beetles, owner of the eponymous gallery in St. James' in London that hosted a rare exhibition of Peake's art in October.

It is precisely this failure to acknowledge Peake's breadth of talent that Mervyn Peake: The Man and His Art, a new and comprehensive guide to his career, seeks to redress.

more info on the book can be found over at mervynpeake.org (run, i believe, by Mr Peake's son Sebastian Peake) here:

http://www.mervynpeake.org/artofpeake.html

click around the site for other Peake goodies.

Joel Meadows, who wrote the Time Magazine article, can be found here:

http://joelm1-joelmead.blogspot.com/

lots of interesting things on comics there as well.

i do hope this rustles up enough attention to bring more of Mr Peake's stuff to our shores. if the book doesn't hit our shores (and as an added service to Mr Peake's estate), you can order the book through Amazon.co.uk here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mervyn-Peake-Man-His-Art/dp/0720612845/sr=1-3/qid=1160122975?ie=UTF8&s=books&tag2=theestateofme-21

Mr Peake, in case you didn't know, is The Man. apart from the Titus Groan books, he also did lovely illustrations to such things as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, not to mention The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, as well as some of the wisest poetry i've ever read:

The vastest things are those we may not learn.
We are not taught to die, nor to be born,
Nor how to burn
With love.
How pitiful is our enforced return
To those small things we are the masters of.

-The Vastest Things are Those We May Not Learn, Mervyn Peake

and let's not forget his nonsense poems. of which, the following is (arguably) not an example:

'Each day I live in a glass room unless I break it with the thrusting of my senses and pass through the splintered walls to the great landscape.'

ex libris

no this isn't a list of my books. am way too disorganized (read: lazy) to do that sort of thing, make lists and things. however, of late, i *have* been consumed with the problem of how to organize my little Library of Chaos, and stumbled into this through Mr Gaiman's blog:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4182224

of course, it's far more likely i'll be putting everything in boxes any which way they'll fit (i'd start out neatly, almost obsessively, meticulously sorting books by author or genre or target audience or cover texture or probability of sticking or probability of getting a mildew infection or probability of spreading a mildew infection or general state of wear or size, but eventually digress into shoving them into every gap, corner and/or crawlspace available, i expect. i'm just that sort of guy), and ship them out of the apartment.

in other matters, Banzai Cat has put-up a free-for-all story idea, in case anyone's interested.

anyone at all interested in M. John Harrison would do well to check out Uncle Zip's Window. i'm now more or less convinced that the man has low latent inhibition, the same 'condition' that purportedly makes the Wentworth Miller character on Prison Break a 'genius'.

i find it interesting how both autism and low latent inhibition are thought to play a roll in that thing the rest of us call 'genius'. though i personally suspect that they aren't mutually exclusive (and perhaps i'm mistaken, my google investigations not really making me an expert on the matter), their definitions to my mind put them on opposite ends of the spectrum of subjective experience.

*

R.I.P.: Joseph Barbera, definitely one of the shapers of my life.

*

saw ep 3.3 of House ('Informed Consent', reviewed by Scott over on politedissent here) last night and the medicine is getting horrendously bad. despite everything i said a couple posts ago, am starting to feel exasperated meself with the 'medical mystery' angle of the show. you can only push the Star-Trek-technobabble-analogy so far; after all, House, unlike ST, has the burden of 'provable' and 'known' real-world facts weighing down on it...am on my way to see what Scott has to say now.

perhaps House's penchant for General Hospital is meant to be a sort of post-modern-ish comment on the show...soap operas *do* tend to abuse the 'average viewer's' lack of 'extensive medical knowledge', and House proves to be no exception, but, while it's simply dumb for shows like GH, i have to admit it seems plain irresponsible for a show that purports to be 'smart'. certainly, in its way, House is far more 'intellectually stimulating' than GH, but 'smart'...? more and more i find myself waiting for them to just drop the whole 'medical mystery' angle and go full-on with the soap opera side of the show...which, imho, won't be so bad. Scrubs, for instance, rarely delves into actual medicine, focusing on aspects of the *practice* itself and on the people, thereby managing to be 'truer-to-life' than most shows of the 'medical drama' genre i enjoy (imho).

will Dr Gregory House and his team redeem themselves in coming episodes? stay tuned...

MEME!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFCG3BVKTk0

House--MD?

House, MD's medical cred goes down with every episode. for all the people who'd rather not turn a blind eye to House's medical foibles, or for those who already have but nonetheless feel the burning need to see the light, check out this site:

http://www.politedissent.com/house_pd.html

and there is, apparently, a book which explores the 'science' of the show:

http://www.houseisright.com/2006/12/01/house-diagnoses-are-real/

though i expect the book to focus more on the things the show 'does right' than politedissent.

Mabel continues to be exasperated by the show. she is, after all, a practicing physician, and can see right through House's obfuscating jargon-juggling. me, i've long ago taken to the grain-of-salt approach to appreciating 'TV knowledge' (i take it as no different from the delightfully meaningless technobabble that informs, say, Star Trek or Doctor Who), and continue to watch House because, let's face it, he's just an interesting, funny bastard, whether or not his on-show 'brilliance' would hold water in the real world. (oh yes, as a nod to my friend Johnny, i should also mention that 'Dr Cameron' is hot.)

the tube's 'on' button is my brain's 'off' button, the Discovery Channel and Mythbusters notwithstanding.

besides, i do so love grotesques, and Hugh Laurie's misanthrope is as grotesque as you can get on TV. barring, perhaps, Dexter Morgan...

meanwhile, i know am yet again late coming to this, but i've only recently begun to develop a taste for Franz Ferdinand. i dig their 'post-punk rock girls can dance to', and honestly believe they do a better Beatles-impression than Oasis.

so, on the spinner: Franz Ferdinand's You Could Have It So Much Better.

and, for purposes of this post, i dug up the following review from The Guardian:

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,1580837,00.html

yeah, i know. a music review from The Guardian. whatever.

still, M. John Harrison more-or-less regularly does reviews for them. so sue me.

hedging

'You Can't Always Get What You Want'
by the Rolling Stones
(Jagger/Richards)

I saw her today at a reception
A glass of wine in her hand
I knew she would meet her connection
At her feet was her footloose man

No, you can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
And if you try sometime you find
You get what you need

I saw her today at the reception
A glass of wine in her hand
I knew she was gonna meet her connection
At her feet was her footloose man

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you might find
You get what you need

Oh yeah, hey hey hey, oh...

And I went down to the demonstration
To get my fair share of abuse
Singing, "We're gonna vent our frustration
If we don't we're gonna blow a 50-amp fuse"
Sing it to me now...

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes well you just might find
You get what you need
Oh baby, yeah, yeah!

I went down to the Chelsea drugstore
To get your prescription filled
I was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy
And man, did he look pretty ill
We decided that we would have a soda
My favorite flavor, cherry red
I sung my song to Mr. Jimmy
Yeah, and he said one word to me, and that was "dead"
I said to him

You can't always get what you want, no!
You can't always get what you want (tell ya baby)
You can't always get what you want (no)
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You get what you need
Oh yes! Woo!

You get what you need--yeah, oh baby!
Oh yeah!

I saw her today at the reception
In her glass was a bleeding man
She was practiced at the art of deception
Well I could tell by her blood-stained hands

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find
You get what you need

You can't always get what you want (no, no baby)
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find
You get what you need, ah yes..

cool.

(here. on youtube.)

i only wish coolasice14 would finish uploading the pilot ep already.

now pass the word around so it gets to the fellow, there's a good chap.

juggling

right, haven't quite felt like doing a coherent/comprehensive blog post in a while (still don't, really) so i thought i'd just throw some ideas out there and use the 'bullit' function for once. i'll call this list 'PKD wrote really good SF (however you read "SF")':

• All SF (or, as others might have it, all 'literature') is really about the present. (?) in truth, it seems to me that this may have more to do with the *process* of writing, and maybe the effect it will have on a particular work in terms of the way it is 'accepted' by society. case in point:
  
• PKD wrote about *our* present. true, his work was based on his experiences of his *own* (in his mind probably writing about his present), but this is in part belied by the fact that the people of his time weren't quite able to see the relevance of his philosophies. (true, marketing plays a role in this as well...PKD refused moves to better market his work, but that's another thing altogether.) offshoot: this has led to the appreciation of PKD *today*, in retrospect, and not in his day. his work may feel 'dated' when read superficially, but the underlying philosophies of his work are more relevant today than they *appeared* to the people of his time; their relevance to our future, of course, remains to be seen, but at this point, given the direction mankind and technology appear to be headed, it seems logical to assume that the relevance will only grow.
  
• PKD's philosophies were, in a way, a reaction to the 'technological optimism' informing his world. note: the same sort of 'reaction to optimism' informs sub-genres such as cyberpunk (reaction to the optimism for the 'information age', the death of which was already imminent at the time of that particular sub-genre's birth--in essence, cyberpunk *was* about the present, the disillusion and suspicion that had already crept into the collective subconscious).
  
• ergo, PKD's work proceeding in this manner (following a present concept/thought pattern through to its conclusions re: his future--our present) epitomized the concept of 'speculation' in fiction. the dude was a prophet.
  
• SF, as a 'genre' (or at least that part of it which is supposedly concerned with such things...see later), ought to be good at the sort of thing PKD did (and 'does'); better, in fact, than any other 'literary field' or 'genre'.
• the movement of SF as 'speculative fiction' is ultimately to either tear down 'genre boundaries' (liberating writers from the marginalizing [and often *stigmatizing*] effect of working 'within' the genre) or 'reappropriate' fiction that, for one reason or another, has been taken out of the 'SF canon' but, with a broader definition, 'belongs' conceptually to the genre.
  
• this movement, while it has its merits, appears to be (whether as part of its intentions or as a kind of subconscious side effect) taking the focus away from what (part of) the genre--in the 'outdated' incarnation of 'science fiction'--was (arguably) all about.

(on a side note, i find it baffling that these concepts of 'marginalization' and 'reappropriation' are such a major concern for SF writers, when other genres [e.g., mystery and crime fic, romance and even, to a certain extent, horror] do not appear *quite* so hung-up on them. well, perhaps not so baffling; these other 'genres' have always enjoyed a relatively broader acceptance, as exemplified by 'bestsellers' lists, despite SF having formidable 'real estate' in the modern bookstore or library.)

which, i suppose, brings me back to ideacentricity--focus on the 'intellectualization' of literature. SF (as 'sci fi') didn't previously need an advocate for ideacentricity--that was one of the things that pigeonholed SF ('sci fi') writers in the first place and so 'marginalized' the genre. 'speculative fiction' is a good title for what the genre is supposed to be capable of (read, imho: what it's supposed to do), but given the application this revised 'SF' terminology is being put to, the word choice doesn't seem quite so appropriate, leading me to agree with Michael Co when he stated in earlier discussions his preference for 'science fiction'.

i realize, of course, that 'spec fic' is meant to be an umbrella term that *includes* science fiction, but the conceptual interchangeability of 'sci fi' and 'spec fic' seems an unfortunate inevitability, given that the term was born of that particular combination of the letters S and F.

right, allow me now, if you will, to make this pretentious statement: even if you advocate 'breaking down the boundaries', keep in mind that 'science fiction' is an integral part of 'speculative fiction', and try to remember what 'science fiction' is all about.

(all this thinking has also lead me to wonder: who among today's writers might be doing what PKD did in his time?)

caveat: i tend to be a moody bastard. take what you will from all that's been said here, but be warned that this is all from the perspective of a *personal aesthetic*...as such, expect no consistency from me when it comes to this sort of thing.

also: should you expect this sort of output from me? hell no. well, not necessarily. i write what i want to write, what i feel like writing at any particular time, keeping no such 'higher ideals' in mind when i do. which i suppose is one reason why my crap has thus far been unpublishable.

apart from the fact that it's all crap, of course. ha.

who wants to write SF?

writing about pirates is not something i expect to be doing again anytime soon. in fact, i'm beginning to wonder what sort of thing i *really* want to be writing.

that story, reading M. John Harrison and my debate with zoneseek re: PKD over on his message board (currently dubbed Bookjunkies, but it's changed enough times that i'd expect anything) had me thinking a lot about the whole 'sci-fi/fantasy' vs. 'spec fic' thing over the weekend, what 'sci-fi' should do and why 'spec fic' seems iffy to me and all that thinking brought me to some rather unsavory, probably antiprogressive ideas on the genre that i thought i might talk about here.

only i don't really feel like getting into it right now.

so, instead, here's Brittany Murphy (and, er, Paul Oakenfold):



(here, from youtube.)

she scores points not just for actually being able to sing, but for being uber-hot in Sin City. and yes, i do dig the song.

*

i would've stopped there, but then i found this. here's an alt video, just for kicks:



(here, from youtube.)

right. Monday's great, ennit?

Motion Picture Soundtrack

damn memes. chris, this is all your fault. though i'll admit, they're great for procrastinating.

am currently listening to the 'soundtrack of my life', with the following track list:

Opening Credits: the saga begins (Weird Al)
Waking Up: your love is king (Will Young)
First Day of School: Mental Tan (Devin Townsend)
Falling in Love: Untitled Track from Synchestra, aka Sunshine and Happiness (Devin Townsend)
Fight Song: Pink Triangle (Weezer)
Breaking Up: Boomerang (Kjwan)
Prom: No Names (Kate Rusby)
Life's just ok: Time (Tom Waits)
Mental Breakdown: Wraith Pinned to the Mist (and Other Games) (Of Montreal)
Driving: Banquet (Bloc Party)
Flashback: Milktoast (Helmet)
Getting Back Together: Murder (or a Heart Attack) (Old ‘97’s, live)
Birth of Child: 2:1 (Elastica)
Wedding: Pag-Ibig (Kitchie Nadal version of the APO HS classic)
Finale Battle: My Waltz for Newk (Iain Ballamy, Mirrormask Soundtrack! best Battle scene song ever! ha!)
Death Scene: Save Me (Aimee Mann)
Funeral Song: 2/1 (Brian Eno, from Ambient 1: Music for Airports. hmm. wouldn't mind attending me own funeral then.)
End Credits: Requiem from O.M.M.2 (Of Montreal) (followed, if i may add, by These are Days – 10,000 Maniacs)

google the licks for a good laugh. i'd put up links and upload the tracks, but i've said it once, i'll say it again: except for the fact that i talk too much on these blogs, i'm a lazy-ass blogger basturd.

r[a]viewing M. John Harrison

i'm trying very hard not to read Abigail Nussbaum's review of Nova Swing over at Strange Horizons. it isn't that i don't like her reviews; although i have disagreed with a lot of her opinions and analyses, it isn't because any of it was not done with intelligence, and i actually enjoy reading opinions at variance with my own. that said, however, and although i realize it may seem disingenuous for me to be doing my own review-type things at on an other life and then go on to say this, here i go anyway: i actually think that reading M. John Harrison is best done with as fresh a set of eyes as you can manage to get yourself before dipping in; Ms Nussbaum may have tainted the experience of reading Signs of Life for me with this really old review over on her blog, Asking the Wrong Questions. knowing where the story was going killed part of the pleasure for me, not because 'i knew where it was going' but because it made me too impatient to get through everything else to see how it happens or how Mr Harrison handles the weirder material--M. John Harrison's works, you see, need to be savored 'held in the mouth like a flower' to paraphrase a favorite line of mine from The Last Unicorn (no relevance, just felt like throwing that in); of course, with an M. John Harrison book, that's never more than a tiny jag on the tip of the iceberg, and i still look forward to the time i feel my eyes have been 'refreshed' enough to go back.

normally i like to know what i'm getting into with the books i read, but i find there is no better guide to and through Mr Harrison's fictions than the narrator he chooses himself to tell the story. it may sound like disingenuous grape thingies, but that fact honestly makes me glad that the particular edition of Things That Never Happen i got my grubby little fingers on does not have China Mieville's introduction.

i really ought to stop here, as all this is really the sort of thing that i ought to put up in on an other life (look, i had Fun With Prepositions! and Vowels!) and not here, but let me just add: M. John Harrison writes fiction that is not afraid to make you think rather than necessarily feel. and while his works fall outside the boundaries of any genre, it's one of the things i feel really good genre SF should be brave enough to do as well.

oh, and one more definitely final thing before i get to work: given that in my mind the single greatest trick a writer can pull is to convince a reader that a story can be written in absolutely no other way, whether or not said reader actually likes the chosen style, M. John Harrison is absolutely brilliant.

phew. that was a bloody ramble. and i haven't even had me coffee yet.

inspired by Light

clicking about the site at the end of this link from Mr Gaiman's blog, i came across this article:

http://www.forbes.com/2006/11/30/book-burnings-potter-tech-media_cz_ds_books06_1201burn.html

of course, the bit i found most interesting was the idea that William Tyndale 'coined' the phrase 'Let there be Light.'

trusty ol' wikipedia has this to say:

In translating the Bible, Tyndale introduced new words into the English language:

• Jehovah (from a transliterated Hebrew construction in the Old Testament; composed from the tetragrammaton YHWH and the vowels of adonai: YaHoWaH)
• Passover (as the name for the Jewish holiday, Pesach or Pesah),
• Atonement (= at + onement), which goes beyond mere "reconciliation" to mean "to unite" or "to cover", which springs from the Hebrew kippur, the Old Testament version of kippur being the covering of doorposts with blood, or "Day of Atonement".
• scapegoat (the goat that bears the sins and iniquities of the people in Leviticus Chapter 16)

He also coined such familiar phrases as:

• let there be light
• the powers that be
• my brother's keeper
• the salt of the earth
• a law unto themselves

Is [sic] should also be noted that Tyndale's translation was notoriously bad. St. Thomas More commented that searching for errors in the Tyndale Bible was similar to searching for water in the sea. Tyndale translated the term baptism into "washing;" Scripture into "writing;" Holy Ghost into "Holy Wind," Bishop into "Overseer," Priest into "Elder," Deacon into "Minister;" heresy into "choice;" martyr into "witness;" evangelist into "bearer of good news;" etc., etc. Many of his footnotes were vicious. For instance, Tyndale referred to the occupant of the Chair of Peter, as "that great idol, the whore of Babylon, the anti-Christ of Rome."

(here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tyndale.)

admittedly, i myself never imagined the Whore of Babylon as looking anything like Pope Benedict XVI. on that note, 'that great idol' brings someone more like this to mind (yes, that was rather gratuitous, wasn't it? at least i chose a relatively 'family-friendly' link, so don't go burning blogs just yet, there's a good chap).

then again, what do i know, yeah? (definitely not, prior to some more clicking about the nifty ol' interweb, this.)

it should, however, be noted that ultimately it is Steven Colbert who has dibs on the Word.

still knocking about in here

hmm...that's odd. maybe this beta blogger thing doesn't work too well with dial-up after all; working with broadband now, and everything looks pretty much the same as it did pre-beta...

here's another test run, using Hot Fuzz!:

http://www.workingtitlefilms.com/trailers/hotfuzz_trailer_xlarge.php

yes, everything looks almost all dandy now.

here's the link to the post i was trying to link to with my last post when this 'create post' page went wonky and lost the link button right after i made the switch to blogger:

http://skinnyblogcladdink2-0.blogspot.com/2006/11/nostalgia.html

right. now if only there was something i felt like posting about...

whoops. your ludd is showing.

an anonymous poster posted on me Michelle Trachtenberg/Pete and Pete inspired post to point out that i'd miscredited Polaris as 'Mike Mulcahy' when it ought to be 'Mark Mulcahy'. my bad.

rather than cleaning up my mistake, i thought i'd create another post to try out this whole 'beta' thing...hmm. doesn't look all that different. seems cozy enough, only...hey, where's the link clicky-button-thingy that lets you do link-thingies with your text? and the picture-posty thingy? is this the html or regular 'compost' page-thing?

gah. what have i done?

whoa.

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/map/RPXX0017?name=index_large_animated&from=LAPmaps&day=1

Click-by link dropping

just clicking-by to link to Ms Maddy interviewing Mr Neil:

http://www.iamplify.com/

(it's in the top ten downloads list, but you'll need to make an account if you haven't got one, or sign in if you do. neither of which is as bad as it sounds, really. and it's free.)

Unmasked: Update, with a few non-updates

here, i just learned, is what the lovely Ms Lala Gallardo, who illustrated the awesomely bizarrely The Sad, Mad, Incredible but True Adventures of Hika Girl for the Neil Gaiman contesty thingie a while back:



this 'flyer/poster' can be traced back to Turn, Turn, Turn, who call Ms Gallardo their 'favorite painter'.

if yer in the area, check it out.

googling reveals she was also part of The Coaster Project some of you may remember from a while back:

As part of a public outreach program with the Fuller Museum of Art, in the spirit of artistic independence and good will, between March 9 and May 19, 2002, TransCultural Exchange has organized this current “The Coaster Project, Destination: The World” in which 99 artists, working together, have transcended geographic, political and cultural boundaries to stage 99 trans-global exhibitions, culminating in over 10,000 art works freely given away around the globe. The aim of the effort is to create an international, public forum through these exhibitions and related events where people from all parts of the world can realize that not only can positive things happen when people work together, but that art can act as a reflection of the common denominator that unites us all—the basic human desire to express ourselves through images.

see if you can pick out Ms Gallardo's coaster on this page:


http://www.transculturalexchange.org/coasterproject/artistpages/index.htm


finally, am not sure if i'd mentioned this before, but my reviews of Hika Girl and one or two other entries to the comics category (i remember Splat being such a victim) was sadly unjustly and just plain wrongly influenced by being unintentionally, mistakenly and just as wrongly abridged during the conversion to .pdf. the versions posted during the thing, Unmasking, made it all right.

except for Mike Co's story coming out in Dean Alfar's Spec Fic Anthology, i have no idea how anyone else is doing. though it would be interesting to find out, hint hint. (apparently, Google does have its limitations. particularly if yer a lazy bum.)

right. too early. said too much already. be getting back to me tabs now. and just realized i forgot to put Mr Waits on...

Got behind the Mule...

...but taking a break because i love Tom Waits, have recently re-buried myself back in 1999's Mule Variations and think you should too and found this over on youtube:



(here.)

Tom Waits' 'What's He Building?' from Mule Variations.

right. time to get back behind the mule...

Double O

saw the new Bond flick. honestly, the campness of the whole series had me quite turned off--it was entertaining, sure, but tiresomely redundant, and when they tried to move it away from the camp (just a tad) with the Brosnan incarnation, it just didn't work for me...then they re-boot the whole darn thing with this.

i'm not quite sure i'm comfortable seeing Daniel Craig do the romantic scenes; his acting somehow feels clunky to me, particularly when he delivers the cheesiest lines of the entire film...still, elsewhere, there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that he pulls it off.

also, seeing Sebastien Foucan pull a wallclimber makes me think Spiderman a fag.

er, i don't mean that in the good way i usually do.

and aintitcoolnews finally pull off a review, courtesy of Harry, that to my mind is just about spot on my own opinions:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/30746

this film still needs you to accomodate cinema-logic in quite a few places, but as it's a Bond movie, i found the concessions rather easy to make. and, in the harsh black light of the rest of the film, pulling the focus back on Mr Bond's License to Kill, a lot of fun as well.

oh yes, and Chris Cornell's song works surprisingly well with the uber-cool kaleidoscopic Bond-in-Wonderland gambler-psychedelic opening titles.

and here it is, thanks to the pirating skills of youtubers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_cLe1TQ0MU

(as i doubt it's anywhere near legal--see the camera-in-my-shoe-or-the-popcorn-as-i-sit-with-the-audience or maybe just-snuck-in-the-projection-booth quality of the video--and may be pulled from the web anytime leaving a gaping black hole in me blog, i've decided against embedding the video, and post the link instead. search for it or maybe better copies off youtube.)

and yes, Paul, Eva Green was off-the-scale HOT. good job they got her instead of, say, Angelina Jolie, who is hot herself, but i doubt would've been anywhere near as right as Ms Green as Vesper Lynd.

Irene

i've been meaning to post this, but somehow kept forgetting:

http://threelogyvideo.com/blog/?p=93

i've known Irene significantly more than ten years now, got to know her in high school, got to know her even better after. everyone seems to know her as Apple these days, though to be fair, she's always had that nickname--i just somehow never picked-up on it.

she got married on October 28, 2006. (yes, i know how late this is. my apologies, i have no excuse for it.)

i hate going to weddings, but 'Val & Apple' certainly set a new standard for wedding receptions in my mind. theirs was arguably the most entertaining (yet still heartfelt and sweet and all that with just a hint of cinnamony goodness) wedding i've ever been to.

and yes, theirs *was* the greatest First Dance i've ever seen as well. though you won't see it in these videos. i'll try to see if i can weasel a copy from Irene to put up here once they've got a full viddy of the wedding.

right. Best Wishes, Irene and Val.

Kiwi

here, from youtube, or:

http://www.donysanimation.com/

http://www.isfat.com/happyjunk/kiwi.php

woohoos at 19 East; the Eye

Mabel and i spent the evening at 19 East with the bubbly Monique Rae and Bamboo.

Mabel called Monique Rae (woohoo--er, you had to be there) an uber girlie-girl (i added the uber in case you couldn't tell) early on, just as Monique took the stage, and she proved Mabel right in my mind by filling her set with 'chick-rock' things.

Bamboo were tighter and yet also more organic than the last time i saw them onstage. (i'm pretty sure i posted about that here, but google can't seem to find the post. go figure. maybe it was on me old blog. or maybe i imagined the whole thing. oh well.)

also funnier. and plain funner.

was only mildly disappointed that the one song they played from their upcoming album was a cover (Paul Simon's 50 Ways...which you can learn more about here, things like how the song was preceded by the Ohio Players' Love Rollercoaster and succeeded by Rhythm Heritage's Theme from S.W.A.T. as the number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976. or ignore that altogether and find out who 'shot' the uber cool Muse video i put up yesterday instead).

it was, after all, a really cool cover, and the band's arrangement brought to bear all the best things about their signature sound, imho. from that point, they just kept amping up the wattage of the whole place until, in typical Bamboo manner, they pretty much just stopped playing, ending with Masaya and its soulful bass solo by Nathan. no encores.

a note on that bass solo--just when i was starting to think Nathan could get real soulful on the bass after all, focusing on the play of his fingers over the fret board and even bowing his head and closing his eyes, someone from the audience makes some incoherent comment. his eyes immediately pop open, turn and fix on said audience member, and he says: Ha?--all without skipping a beat on his solo.

did i mention this band is brilliant?

loads of fun had. also chicken livers wrapped in bacon and cheesesticks. and three beers. great music all night. and some kid named Noel sitting right in front of us got real lucky. wonder what he'll grow up to be now? one suspects this may have been one of those nights that alters the course of one life for all eternity.

or not.

*

i've been searching on and off for a copy of Chrissie Hynde's version of I Wish You Love, which i first heard playing over the end credits of Stephan Elliot's film adaptation of Marc Behm's Eye of the Beholder. (ultimately flawed, most people hate it, but me, i love it. the book is surprisingly good as well. didn't even bother me that a car blows up for no apparent reason at the end of it.)

i used to have it on mp3, when Napster was still legally free. now i just browse blogger or surf the net for downloads that don't need a dedicated file sharing program.

at last, i found this site:

http://blog.sina.com.tw/8472/article.php?pbgid=8472&entryid=9921

i have absolutely no idea what's being said on that site, but now, hearing the audio tracks that automatically play when you visit the site, am starting to feel vague and sappy.

also, it has this link:

http://home.hanmir.com/~opart2/track/EyeoftheBeholder_IWish.rm

by which you can download a real media version of the song. enjoy.

nostalgia

a week or so ago, i kept catching Eurotrip on HBO, and i totally dig Michelle Trachtenberg (yeah, yeah, whatever), so that got me thinking of The Adventures of Pete and Pete, which i totally dug watching (reruns and all, possibly proving the two-season/reruns theory those idjit corp analysts used as an excuse to save cash and have the show cancelled) when all two seasons were on regular rotation on Nickelodeon...

details on the show can be found here:

http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~jfrens/pete-and-pete/

to be honest, at the time, Ms Trachtenberg as Nona was way too much of a kid to catch my fancy, and i was more inclined to oggle over the in-retrospect-rather-plain-and-uninteresting-but-somehow-still-mysteriously-attractive Alison Fanelli's Ellen. so when i saw Eurotrip...well, if you saw that movie, i had the exact same reaction the guys had on the nude beach. even though Ms Trachtenberg was showing more ribs than was probably necessary.

Pete and Pete may have been kiddier (what with that uber dorky but nonetheless endearing Artie), but it was also geekier (ergo, 'cooler') than the commercially successful Wonder Years, complete with off-kilter guests (like Michael Stipe, Juliana Hatfield, and, coolest of them all, the semi-regular Steve Buscemi as Ellen's dad), and a cool indie soundtrack.

here, check out the theme, Hey Sandy by Mike Mulcahy of Polaris:

http://www.one26.com/guts/polaris-hey-sandy/

if anyone can point me to a downloadable audiofile of that i'd be much obliged.

right. so much for trippin' on the past.

and yes, though i wasn't before, i am now aware that Ms Trachtenberg was on Buffy, but am willing to overlook that little oversight, as the hothothot Alyson Hannigan was also on that show.

*

well, what do you know...it wasn't that hard to find after all. download a couple Polaris tracks, including Hey Sandy, from here:

http://just-pretend.blogspot.com/2006/10/song-of-day-10106.html

as i become confronted with more 'adult' concerns, am finding it harder not to empathize with romanticists who insist on the past as a 'better time'...

what have i gotten into now?

Sing for Absolution!

i'm posting for no other reason than to put this up:



possibly one of the coolest videos *ever*, picked-up here, from youtube, but also viewable at the official Muse site:

http://www.muse.mu/index.php

yeah, yeah, it's old, but i've only just discovered it, so sue me.

i miss SF flicks that have this kind of uber-cool visual appeal. it's all the space opera cliches jammed together into one 4+ minute package, i know, but hey, it *resonates*. the Planet of the Apes redux style ending doesn't hurt either.

D'Oh

so the new version of blogger is ready, eh? well, slap me silly and call me 'luddy', but i think i'll wait till i ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO make the shift.

i hear Alan Moore's going to be on the Simpsons. i suppose i'd be more excited if i actually had a TV. ah well, there's always youtube.

who, incidentally, have this in several versions:



(also here, or search youtube.)

the full trailer can now be viewed, in regular Quicktime or HD, at the official site, here:

http://www.thesimpsons.com/

meanwhile, am totally digging The Magnetic Fields. i've heard the Stephen Merrit stuff from the Coraline audiobook, and some bits of things via Lemony Snicket, but i've always avoided actively seeking out samples, afraid of finding a new hole in me wallet. (i remember finding a copy of 69 Love Songs a few years ago, and thought it too expensive a leap to make--particularly for a band i'd only heard mention of in interviews and articles and whatnot with Neil Gaiman, and never actually heard--though probably not, if you really get down to it, for 69 songs.)

well, thanks to blogger and Paul, i finally gave in.

on the spinner: The Magnetic Fields, i.

So you're brilliant gorgeous and
Ampersand after ampersand
You think I just don't understand
But I don't believe you.

absolutely brilliant, gorgeous and ampersand after ampersand stuff.

incidentally, just so you know, and please, everybody, keep it down: i have finally decided to welcome the Spore.

we'll see how it all pans out. eventually.

Things That Get Old

honestly, this whole blogging-thing is getting a bit old for me. and yet, like a big old mindless rock hurtling through space (heavens to murgatroyd, it's bound to hit something eventually and blow itself to teeny tiny bitty smithereen thingies, but until then), i just keep coming back to it.

in fact, oozing disgusting uber-fanboyishness, i literally just now created a livejournal account just so i can post me own 'happy birthday hizzonnah' message over at Mr Gaiman's livejournal feed thingy:

http://syndicated.livejournal.com/officialgaiman/

i'm late, i know, but, like i said in my post on that thread: thing. or did i say 'things'? ah well. you see what i mean, i hope.

last week also saw release of Mr M. John Harrison's Nova Swing. however, despite all my best hopes and efforts, i was unable to get my hands on a copy. still, i'm happy enough to have gotten my grubby little paws on a copy of his Things That Never Happen. i've only read the first story and the first bits of the second, but already i'm thinking of calling this my fave short story collection ever.

i've never thought of calling a short story collection one of my 'favorite books' before; this book changes all that.

finally for now, more book loverliness to be had over at Jeff VanderMeer's blog:

http://vanderworld.blogspot.com/2006/11/leena-krohns-tainaron-special-offer.html#comments

bless people like Jeff and Ann for doing things like this. now if only they'd send me free copies of those books for advertising on me blog.

ha. as if.

right. peas out.

Stories; back in...black?

was really honestly dreading it, but i actually had loads of fun working with Kenneth Yu over at Philippine Genre Stories.

of course, it was real *work* for him. sorry bout that, Kenneth.

fingers crossed i don't spread reek on your publication, yeah?

in case you haven't yet heard of them, PGS are a small publication with big ideas for, as the name suggests, 'genre' fiction in the country. as Kenneth puts it:

I have a vision for PGS, and a lot of factors will determine if it succeeds or not. It's clearly an uphill battle, but if it fails I at least will have fun trying.

My vision is that PGS will start as a digest that addresses the genre niche in the RP, providing the readers and writers of that niche with an outlet for their reading and writing needs. From there, maybe other kinds of Digests can be developed, but first this one has to self-sustain, and for that I hope enough people will buy--and read, perhaps even write and contribute-- to it. Better to turn a profit than just self-sustain; that way I can pay my writers more, have better binding, use better plates and film, etc.

right. done my bit for advertising. now maybe all three or four readers of this blog (way too many for me to keep track of) will go out and buy it when it comes out. ha.

*

gah. hadn't realized i was still in pink. hmm. think i'll try something different...

remember, remember, it's frickin' November

if only i had the time or the energy, i would soon be burning effigies of Guy Fawkes, or, being in entirely the wrong geographical location, and if i were a 'teacher, librarian, student, or under 13', i'd join this:

http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/

well, whadd'ya know. you don't have to be a 'teacher, librarian, student, or under 13' after all. my bad. now, if only i had the time or the energy...or a frickin' Guy Fawkes effigy and some matches...

quick one; probably keeping the pink

no Halloween rituals this year, though over the last couple days i *finally* got myself to sit through the entirety of Michael Mann's Manhunter (not bad, just haven't *quite* been in the mood for it until recently), finished a draft for a story which i really ought to force edits on but is stubbornly sticking to its current form and may end up getting sent for the usual round of rejections as it is, saw Christopher Nolan's The Prestige in a theater set to sub-zero temperatures ostensibly to lower brain activity and distract the audience from wondering whether they were being entertained or not and actually deciding whether or not they like the film itself (thankfully, though the theater conditions gave me a headache that would last me for the rest of the night, the film was still good enough for me and got me to dig up me old copy of Christopher Priest's The Prestige), and finally found a copy of Mark Danielewski's House of Leaves, which has led me to part with more cash than is good for me pocket, and is making me want to drop writing for a while so i can get back to 'seriously' reading, as i've still got Alan Moore's Voice of the Fire hanging about me head, with The Unconsoled and The End (and now House and The Prestige among countless others) waiting in the wings.

and yes, the pink stays. for now.

Requisite *Best Non-Holiday Ever* Post

right. Halloween. too busy to make a truly sensible post (which i never do anyway), but, thanks to the wonders of blogger, not too busy to play around with the blog itself.

so, to celebrate Halloween, the one 'regular' day of the year i don't mind getting into something that isn't black (which i failed to do today, so sue me), and i get the chance to put on me loverly Headwear Formerly Known As Me Halloween Hat (an Alice Cooperish felt 'top hat', which i'm pretty sure isn't really a top hat, but i haven't a clue what it ought to be called--and which i get to put on whenever i write back home anyway, hence Mabel having renamed it me 'Writing Hat'), for this day only (and maybe tomorrow. and thursday. and friday. depending on when i remember to change it back), enjoy Zen in Darkness in UBER-PERKY PINK!!!?!

that's right, complete with exxtrreeeme exclamation marks!!! and interrrrobbbanggggs!?!

right. back to work.

Nine versus Ten

the more i see of David Tennant as Doctor Number Ten, the more i miss Christopher Eccleston's Doctor Number Nine. sure, Tennant is incredibly expressive, and 'unpredictable', but Eccleston has class. here's an unaired clip of Rose meeting the Tenth Doctor, shown only on BBC's Children in Need 2005, and posted on youtube:



(or, as usual, here.)

the clip serves as a kind of prologue, and directly connects 2005's The Parting of Ways with The Christmas Invasion.

Eccleston, by comparison, is far more subtle, switching from dark to manic in a blink without being quite as hysterical as Tennant.



(or here.)

compare that with the Tennant bits in the Series 2 trailer i put up a few posts ago, or see him in the Christmas Invasion. Eccleston is just so much cooler. imho.

i'm tempted to make a comment on the British apparently being impressed by 'unsubtlety' as a by-product of the repressive 'stiff-upper-lip' culture, as a lot of Brits seem to dig Billie Piper's annoying hystrionics, and, now, seem to prefer Tennant's acting to Eccleston's...oh, well, there you go, i just did.

here are a few more Eccleston goodies c/o youtube:

a bit where he's interviewed by a kid who went on BBC's Mastermind as a Doctor Who expert:



(here)

and a Dead Ringers sketch on why Christopher Eccleston quit after only one season (series) of Doctor Who, riffing off SF culture cliches:



(and here.)

ah, the fruits of 'working' on a Saturday. right. i'm off to do some writing.

Saturday, ennit?

right. Saturday. office. work. groan.

racing against all sorts of deadlines now.

'And you still have time to post on yer blog?'

touche.

hang on, was that some sort of Evil Monkey just now?

good grief, now this blog is starting to hear voices. and after all the youtube videos and the 'closing tabs' rip-off, may be coming dangerously close to copyright infringement or something.

right. Saturday. office. work. groan.

Closure

picking-up (i.e., stealing an idea) from Neil Gaiman's tab closing posts, i thought it would be a good way to 'bookmark' some interesting things for the weekend.

first is an interview with Chuck Palahniuk over at strangehorizons, with bits about his upcoming SF novel, Rant:

http://www.strangehorizons.com/2006/20061016/palahniuk-int-a.shtml

the first details of the book went-up on The Cult:

http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/community/showthread.php?threadid=26460

a not-exactly-news bit on string theory i'm not sure i've posted before:

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1890340,00.html

got around to watching The Christmas Invasion through youtube during my lunchbreak, and i have to say, it was ok, had some uber cinematic pretty-if-cliched SF moments, but watching the Doctor pick-up a sword and duel with an alien doesn't quite sit well with me. however, the trailer for series 2 on the BBC site looks promising:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/doctorwho/ram/trail2006?size=16x9&bgc=CC0000&nbram=1&bbram=1&nbwm=1&bbwm=1

so yeah, i'll still be waiting for the DVDs to come out hereabouts.

and finally (no links, as i've really got to fly), i may have found my personal pick for best CD release for this year in The Mars Volta's Amputechture. the first two full albums didn't really catch my fancy, as i wasn't particularly drawn by the radio releases of those albums, and i had no other exposure to the band. but after hearing Viscera Eyes on the radio, i just knew i had to check the album out, and boy, i'm utterly sold.

more on the CD when i have more time, or when i feel like saying more.

ah, what the hell. here's the band's official site:

http://www.themarsvolta.com/

anyway, that's it for this week, unless i decide to pull overtime tomorrow. not an idea i exactly relish, but may be necessary given that i haven't exactly been at my most productive this week.

right. time to fly.

*Something* Rising

a quick one before i tuck into work (possibly, and to indulge myself in the theme of this post, with some fava beans and a light chianti)...

Ain't It Cool News has posted this review of the up-coming Hannibal Rising (there's also a prerelease wiki over on wikipedia:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/30447

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_Rising

possibly to my discredit, i actually liked Hannibal, *both* the book and the Ridley Scott film. i see the book as a Gothic Romance more than anything, and an extreme departure from the previous books in the 'Lecter Canon'. and though i utterly hate it when writers try to create sympathy for characters who neither particularly deserve or require it (whether for moral or aesthetic reasons, both of which apply to Hannibal Lecter) by providing a cliched backstory (typically involving a disturbed childhood), and Harris did fall into that trap with the book, Harris thankfully dips relatively lightly into it.

Scott's film, the sweet but undeniably wuss-out ending notwithstanding, was, to my mind, a well done adaptation, translating its dark essence, the feel of the book, into something that is both visually pleasing and downright nasty-to-behold.

true, it's difficult to feel any sort of sympathy for any of the characters, but to me, that just goes with the whole 'seen from the perspective of the uber-sociopath' thing that Hannibal is all about.

Hannibal Rising's basic premise leaves me cold, (falling even deeper into the trap and virtually beating us over the head with the disturbed childhood thing) but i will be seeing this film, as it promises to be, at the very least, a dark piece of cinematic entertainment.

but what is up with that 'way of the samurai' shit? i almost expect Liam Neeson to do a cameo on this one. but i guess we'll have to wait and see.

youtube (i <3 style="font-style: italic;">Hannibal:



whoops, not that one. here:



(or click here and here, respectively)

and surfing youtube some more, i find myself regretting that i never got a copy of the Taymor cinematic adaptation of Shakespeare's ultraviolent Titus Andronicus when it was still relatively easy to find hereabouts, given the sheer majesty of the movie's trailer:



(and here)

right. as a few snarks over at AICN have said of Lecter, enough of Sir Anthony Hopkins.

ta ta.
c

The Inhibitors are Coming

this is uber-geeky, but i just had to drop by with this:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061017/sc_nm/space_galaxy_dc

and here's the image, which you can find here:




i know, the more vigilant among you will say it isn't anything new, but i, admittedly, haven't been paying as much attention to current events as i should.

also, found out that there is, in fact, a full version of The Christmas Invasion on youtube, but i haven't been able to download the video despite our being on broadband, so i'm posting the link so as not to tax me blog. i still recommend the 10 min bits (i've already gone through 3 of 'em during me lunch break), but the adamant can go ahead and click the link below. good luck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXzN-moFy_A

right. back to work.

Guignol

Harry Knowles' interview with Tim Burton over at Ain't It Cool News finally got me maximizing YouTube's potential. something i've always been meaning to look up on the net was Sweeney Todd, and there's about a ton of videos you can find over there. including the opening scene:



you can find and read the script and libretto for the Stephen Sondheim musical here, or click on the links below:

http://libretto.musicals.ru/text.php?textid=516&language=1

http://libretto.musicals.ru/text.php?textid=334&language=1

youtube also provided me with a much needed Doctor Who fix (as the DVD collection of series 2 isn't due until Jan 2007). it seems you can find The Christmas Invasion (technically still part of 2005 schedule, methinks, a cross-over between series 1 and 2 and the first adventure with Doctor Number Ten--David Tennant--having just regenerated from the Christopher Eccleston incarnation in The Parting of the Ways) in its entirety, albeit in ten minute bits. here's bit one:



i seem to be coming too late to these things, as Outpost Gallifrey is apparently about to undergo a Time-Lord-style 'regeneration'. well, maybe not quite Time-Lord-style: while it isn't quite going the way of Emerald City (leaving behind the Forum, the Conventions, Episode and Canon Keeper's Guides and their Convention and Events Calendar), one can't help but draw parallels between what Gallifrey's Shaun Lyon and EC's Cheryl Morgan are saying.

more sadly still, i really must get work out of the way before i can fully enjoy any of the fruits of my trawling.

right. on with the motley.

*

whoops. turns out there's a full version of The Christmas Invasion over on youtube. so as not to tax me blog, click on the link to see it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXzN-moFy_A

The Great Gonzo Will Rule The World

anything with the Muppets is cool. in my mind, the Muppets are the uber cultural subversives. rebels to reason and unreason both. the antihumanity of the modern world. scathingly opinionated and yet jarringly apolitical, adhering to their own drug-addled logic and SFX-altered perceptions of reality, and yet the fucked-in-the-headness of them so artfully subtle that they can pass themselves off as 'good, clean family fun'.

nah, that's all just made-up-to-sound-pretentious drivel. i am by no means trying to warn anybody of an impending threat to the world, especially not specifically one to the human race. pretend i didn't say anything after 'anything with the Muppets is cool'.

Pia has posted something with Muppets over on her blog.

not exactly scathingly opinionated or jarringly apolitical, nor drug-addled or SFX-altered, and certainly not fucked-in-the-head. but i'm sure you see my point.

on rotation with Elvis Costello on the spinner: Muse's Black Holes and Revelations and The Mars Volta's Amputechture.

i really had meant to say more, mainly about the progged-up-Led-Zeppishness of The Mars Volta on Amputechture, and how you absolutely must listen to the CD with cranked-up headphones, but have lost my motivation in all that Muppetness. and though i had more to say about The Mars Volta than Muse, here's something you must see, the Knights of Cydonia:



(also here, on youtube, and there's a cool contest with the video somewhere, but our connection is being annoyingly turtlish and i'm too lazy to dredge it up at the moment, and, anyway, i really ought to be working. but i'm sure google will help you out.)

(ah, what the hell. found it for you, anyway. here it is.)

right. to work.

The End...again

Mabel found, and, yes, far more importantly, got me the last copy, possibly anywhere, except for the ones in those 'Complete Wreck' box sets, and excluding the uber-expensive audio versions, and not counting the ones we haven't found, of Lemony Snicket's The End.

it now sits in a stack in my apartment in all its shrink-wrapped glory.

i've decided to keep it in its wraps for the moment so i wouldn't get (/unless Mabel decides to read it first, which would be alright since if she were reading it, even though the book would no longer be sealed, i wouldn't get) conflicted, as i'm finally reading again, with my nose, prodigious as it is, completely buried nightly in the words, words, words of Alan Moore's Voice of the Fire. (of which i'm currently doing an embarrassingly badly-written real-time review.)

mixed feelings about the reading. i'm enjoying Voice immensely, and the sooner i get through it, the sooner i get to The End, so to speak, and reading, reading, reading is, in theory, good for my writing. in general. but it usually means i won't be writing as much, and with five stories i was hoping to finish by the end of the year (well, four--one of them may turn into a novella/novel that will take much longer to write), and the uber-non-holiday Halloween already at our doorstep...

true, it's a pointless, self-imposed deadline, but i would rather get them down while they're hot, or at least, a few degrees over lukewarm, in my head.

and here i am rambling, instead. ah well. i'm supposed to be working, anyway, so no writing at the moment. ha.

on the spinner: Elvis Costello, live with the Metropole Orkest, My Flame Burns Blue. ah, yes. jazz.

The End has come…and gone: or, 10/13, after the fact

To Whom It Is Of No Concern,

The 13th of October is a positively lovely date. The very idea (and, now, the memory) of the date falling on a Friday fills me with an indescribable joy that simply can not be described.

My head was so filled with the concerns of the day that it was not until long after the fact (and therefore, as it turns out, too late) that I realized i’d neglected something important.

Fortunately, it wasn’t Mabel’s birthday I had forgotten. (At the very least, I suspect, this shows that I still have some of my priorities straight, or, perhaps, not as obviously deviated as the rest of them.)

Rather, it was the fate of the Baudelaires I’d neglected to attend to. While it fills me with joy that so many have decided to partake in The End of their misery (or, perhaps, only the beginning…), it positively rankles in my blood that no one thought to leave me a copy.

Ah, well. Revenge, after all, is a dish best served cold. And it is very cold…

-an Open Letter to the Public and Other Things At Large from a Mysterious Figure In The Shadows Who May Or May Not Have A Tattoo Of An Eye On His Ankle

pick my self up

(credits, titles, other jazz from youtube, here and here. or google it, damnit.)

weird kingdom

i saw a few eps of Kingdom Hospital over the weekend. not everything about the show works for me. the title sequence, and the theme by Ivy, are a few of the things that do:



(or here, on youtube.)

the series works best when it's being utterly weird, which, ironically, is mostly during the scenes involving the living rather than the dead. except for the Underground Kingdom and a few elements such as the old driverless ambulance, the treatment of the supernatural (i.e., ghosts) is tedious, humdrum and oh so very conventional (and i just can't get over century-and-a-half year old ghosts using phrases like "butt-out"--that could just be me; it could be a valid expression in America at the time, but still). i have a particular aversion to the good/evil polarization that characterizes the Western take on supernatural horror.

plus, the talking animals, though weird in their own right, don't quite work, and good god Peter Rickman's wife is annoying.

the Underground Kingdom is actually still pretty conventional, but it has a pretty, right-out-of-the-Cabinet (of Dr. Caligari) look to it that i totally dig.

perhaps the worst thing i can say about the show is i don't find it scary at all, but, again, that could just be me, having been desensitized by the Eastern take (i.e., Hideo Nakata, Takashi Shimizu, et al.) on this kind of weird horror. i haven't seen the Lars von Trier original, but i've seen trailers online (again on youtube), and while the production for the US version is definitely slicker and visually darker, i get the feeling the sober, relatively unstylized and mundane look of the original ups the scare factor considerably.

the US version is, however, aptly atmospheric, and atmosphere is what the show is all about for me. and is probably why, despite all the things about it that i simply do not care for, i can't seem to stop watching it.