Monday, June 15, 2009
Haaaallulujah!
Boy. Old Leonard's really gave people their money's worth on his latest tour. (This is I assume from the dvd/album currently for sale.)
Saturday, June 13, 2009
What books should take from movies:
(Excerpted from cracked.com)
1. Sequels: Sequels are like a license to print small bills just so you can spit on them and throw them at poor people. If publishers take up this practice as well, think of all the great works we could be reading right now! We could be perusing the action-packed Dickensian sequel we’ve all wanted to read, 2 Cities 2 Furious. Or laughing it up to The Retard, the light-hearted follow-up to Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot.
2. Explosions: Put your skills to work where they’re wanted, novelists. Nobody gives a shit how ethereal the morning dew is, but write us some explosion porn and they’ll name the Pulitzer Prize after you (as opposed to whoever it’s named for now).
3. A soundtrack: You’ve probably seen Spielberg’s classic horror film, Jaws, right? Have you ever tried watching it on mute? Without his titular theme song, Jaws (that’s the shark’s name) doesn’t look ominous; he looks lost. When seen in utter silence, Jaws isn’t scary. It watches more like the tragic story of a shark with autism just trying to find his way home.
4. Celebrity cameos:
1. Sequels: Sequels are like a license to print small bills just so you can spit on them and throw them at poor people. If publishers take up this practice as well, think of all the great works we could be reading right now! We could be perusing the action-packed Dickensian sequel we’ve all wanted to read, 2 Cities 2 Furious. Or laughing it up to The Retard, the light-hearted follow-up to Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot.
2. Explosions: Put your skills to work where they’re wanted, novelists. Nobody gives a shit how ethereal the morning dew is, but write us some explosion porn and they’ll name the Pulitzer Prize after you (as opposed to whoever it’s named for now).
3. A soundtrack: You’ve probably seen Spielberg’s classic horror film, Jaws, right? Have you ever tried watching it on mute? Without his titular theme song, Jaws (that’s the shark’s name) doesn’t look ominous; he looks lost. When seen in utter silence, Jaws isn’t scary. It watches more like the tragic story of a shark with autism just trying to find his way home.
4. Celebrity cameos:
An example of how a celebrity cameo could potentially liven up an existing classic:
“These women do prattle so, do they not Mr. Baracus?” Mr. Darcy said, leaning in casual repose against the door.
“Indeed, sir,” replied Mr. Baracus. “They are quite foolish in their way, and I for one do not suffer fools lightly. Actually, it is quite the pity they inspire in me.”
5. Slow motion: For example, here’s what the Matrix could be like, in novel form:
He takes a step, and then another and another. Now there’s another step. Now it’s only half a step, and he starts to lift off the ground just a little bit. Now he’s kind of in the air but not really. Now he’s more in the air. Now he’s totally in the air and seriously about to kick a guy in the face.
Neo is kicking a guy in the face.
Neo is still kicking a guy in the face.
His trenchcoat is flapping. Flap. Flaaaap. Flaaaaaaaaap.
….Flaaaaaaaaaap.
OMD (oh my days)
Kanye West is SO weird, I just love him. Excerpt from an open letter to KW: (I recommend you read the whole letter, it's very clever.)
These are your words that you employed, oddly enough, while promoting your own forthcoming book, Thank You and You're Welcome. This tome of "theories" is reportedly composed of 52 pages and possibly fewer words, since many pages contain only a single almost-sentence, and others are left blank - perhaps a nod toward your blank sense of responsibility for those who pay attention to what you say.
Dear Mr. West,
On behalf of my daughter, who is due on October 8th and so thus far has been shielded by the womb from the loud, generally vacuous remarks of all current celebrity-cum-philosophers - and on behalf of every child living in America who has ever been negatively influenced by a "Kanye-ism" - I would just like to say: Shame on you, 'Ye.
Sometimes people write novels and they just be so wordy and so self-absorbed. I am not a fan of books. I would never want a book's autograph. I am a proud non-reader of books. I like to get information from doing stuff like actually talking to people and living real life.
These are your words that you employed, oddly enough, while promoting your own forthcoming book, Thank You and You're Welcome. This tome of "theories" is reportedly composed of 52 pages and possibly fewer words, since many pages contain only a single almost-sentence, and others are left blank - perhaps a nod toward your blank sense of responsibility for those who pay attention to what you say.
Ahh the rites of spring...
The first spring my present store was open, I remember my fellow Fiction staffer telling me it was his favourite time of the year. Why? Because this is when all the girls come out of their winter clothes and start wearing skirts and small tops again.Years later one of my manager friends downtown described to me the lunchtime scene one day, when he stepped out of the store to enjoy the spring sun and enjoy the women walking by. And when he looked up and down Ste. Catherine's Street, he saw men up and down the street doing the same thing.
Just now I was reading an essay by a woman who went to school with Leonard Cohen in the 1950s, and she tells this story:
One day I saw him standing with his closest buddy, Morty Rosengarten, on the corner of Sherbrooke Street. "Where are you going?" asked I, who was always on my way somewhere. "We're watching the girls come out for spring," he said, just standing there.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Racefail 09
Fernando is going to Worldcon this August--the sci fi-fantasy convention where they give out the Hugos. But I realized I'd better catch him up on Racefail 09 in case it comes up in panel discussions and such.
Racefail 09 is the most common term used to describe a huge and wide-ranging online discussion on Live Journal and people's blogs about writing about race in Sci Fi Fantasy. I first learned of it in February, when I lost many days reading the posts and thinking about my own writing. I didn't realize it took on some new dimensions right up til March, when it seems to have died down.
It's hard to summarize but basically a well-known white fantasy author wrote a blog post about how to write about race. A blogger posted an open response to it, critiquing Bear's own writing about race, and her general attitude. And then the comments started to fly and it went on for 3 months. The heart of the debate:
- After the race critique of one of Bear's books, she basically defended herself by saying: Oh but I was raised in this New Age alternative community where POCs were considered better than white people, so I'm not racist, and if anything I understand what it's like to be discriminated against.
- many People of Color (POC) were offended/annoyed by Bear's attitude. They tried to explain the following: That no matter what your upbringing is, or what you think or feel in your head, if you live in a majority white society you will be treated better in a hundred different subtle ways. You're privileged, even if you can't see it. So: Yes, it's good to attempt to grapple with race in your writing, but you need to be open to the criticism that may follow, and learn from it.
- Bear, and many others, over the course of months and many posts, just couldn't get this point
- And mixed in here a lot was the issue that POCs don't feel comfortable or welcome in Sfi Fi Fantasy land (blogs, conventions, publishing industry, etc.)
There are many other highlights and exciting twists, but that was the origin of the discussion, as I remember it. My fave *new twists* which I hadn't read about til today were:
- One white writer who said: Well now I'm too paranoid to write about POCs. Is this what you wanted?
- One blogger who seemed to *get* what people were trying to tell her, and then went on her blog and said: I only agreed with these people because they bullied me into it, because I was an abused child and I have trouble recognizing when people are abusing me.
OMG the fascinating train wreckiness of it all.
You can read a longer summary by the woman who wrote the original critique here.
Racefail 09 is the most common term used to describe a huge and wide-ranging online discussion on Live Journal and people's blogs about writing about race in Sci Fi Fantasy. I first learned of it in February, when I lost many days reading the posts and thinking about my own writing. I didn't realize it took on some new dimensions right up til March, when it seems to have died down.
It's hard to summarize but basically a well-known white fantasy author wrote a blog post about how to write about race. A blogger posted an open response to it, critiquing Bear's own writing about race, and her general attitude. And then the comments started to fly and it went on for 3 months. The heart of the debate:
- After the race critique of one of Bear's books, she basically defended herself by saying: Oh but I was raised in this New Age alternative community where POCs were considered better than white people, so I'm not racist, and if anything I understand what it's like to be discriminated against.
- many People of Color (POC) were offended/annoyed by Bear's attitude. They tried to explain the following: That no matter what your upbringing is, or what you think or feel in your head, if you live in a majority white society you will be treated better in a hundred different subtle ways. You're privileged, even if you can't see it. So: Yes, it's good to attempt to grapple with race in your writing, but you need to be open to the criticism that may follow, and learn from it.
- Bear, and many others, over the course of months and many posts, just couldn't get this point
- And mixed in here a lot was the issue that POCs don't feel comfortable or welcome in Sfi Fi Fantasy land (blogs, conventions, publishing industry, etc.)
There are many other highlights and exciting twists, but that was the origin of the discussion, as I remember it. My fave *new twists* which I hadn't read about til today were:
- One white writer who said: Well now I'm too paranoid to write about POCs. Is this what you wanted?
- One blogger who seemed to *get* what people were trying to tell her, and then went on her blog and said: I only agreed with these people because they bullied me into it, because I was an abused child and I have trouble recognizing when people are abusing me.
OMG the fascinating train wreckiness of it all.
You can read a longer summary by the woman who wrote the original critique here.
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