| plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose |
[Jun. 30th, 2009|10:53 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  bemused | ] |
Decades ago I watched hard-to-see, grainy, indistinct videos of Dr Who episodes that had been shot with a video camera pointed at a British TV screen (I'm not making this up), transferred from PAL into NTSC format and copied again at least once, because THAT'S ALL THERE WAS and we were grateful to see it. Don't even talk to me about the time we watched a THIRD generation camera-copy episode of Blake's 7. Thinking about it still makes my eyes water.
That was back before DVDs had been invented, when not everyone even had a VCR yet (we sure didn't), and there was no Internet (as such), so if you missed an episode of anything, it was gone. If you were lucky, you'd catch it in reruns. Not that it mattered in the case of Dr. Who, because it wasn't playing on Canadian airwaves at that time anyway.
So we gathered, we intrepid Whovians, in living rooms across Canada, feeding our addiction and, I'm sure, ruining our eyesight. There was a strong sense of belonging to a dedicated community willing to go the distance for our shared obsession. I'd have been so happy if I'd known then that someday I'd be able to rent really clear copies from the video store and even (gasp) one day buy it on DVD. Such clarity. Such freedom. Such luxury.
Tonight, I found myself on youtube, watching hard-to-see, jumpy, indistinct footage of the Britain's Got Talent Tour, captured for all the world to try to see on a cell phone held up by someone at the back of the concert hall. I squinted as Diversity leapt about on stage, blurry and often obscured by the glare from the set's pyrotechnics, and I thought, this seems oddly familiar.
It's making me feel nostalgic for the good ol' days. Maybe I should look for that Blake's 7 episode on DVD, and finally find out what was really happening on screen. But first, there's just one more thing I wanted to look up on youtube...
[Added later: haha, Blake's 7 is on youtube!] |
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| our end of term concert is here! |
[Jun. 23rd, 2009|10:49 pm] |
Luckily we're only doing 8 songs this time, as we're a much smaller group than usual. I like them, though, even the (cough cough) religious ones. Or maybe I just like the excuse to finally use my Latin!
We're doing "Welcome, Spring" (a bit late, but it's a pretty song), Let's Imitate Her Note Above (Handel), Evening, Always There (arranged by Althouse), Obwisana (Goin' to Ghana, a folk song from Ghana), Deh Prendi un dolce amplesso (Mozart, "Ah, Let me hold you closely. These things ALWAYS sound better in Italian.), Cantate Domino (Latin), and Cantar! (Spanish). The last is very perky.
Here's the poster rf made for us:
Very beautiful, no?
If you want to hear a professional choir doing the last song, here's one (from Krakow??) doing the same arrangement we're doing. Except we don't do it quite so quickly :)
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| I want to take this course! |
[Jun. 20th, 2009|10:34 pm] |
found via Will Shetterly's blog (where he posted a link to some music done by a band Emma Bull was in), some comments from a fellow who's teaching what sounds like a great fantasy lit course! The closest we came at UVic when I was there was a course on the Inklings, which sounded pretty great.
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Am teaching War for the Oaks right now, so it’s nice to be able to point my students to the “soundtrack” of the novel. Did Cats Laughing ever record the songs on pp. 130-31 (beginning “Neon on the frontage road”) and pp. 315-17 (beginning “Fire coming down the sky”) of the Orb edition?
by Rob Barrett April 7, 2008 at 1:14 am
Reply
Rob, where are you teaching it? Those two were never recorded by the Cats. There is a DAT tape of the second that was done in the studio with some of the Cats, but I don’t have anything that’ll play it, alas. Maybe this’ll nudge me to find a way to make it available.
In, uh, my copious spare time, of course!
by will shetterly April 7, 2008 at 2:05 am
Reply
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Will. I’m the chap who ran the Inklings/Scribblies class back in Fall 2002 that you and the others took part in. (Thanks again for doing so!) This semester I’m taking a more or less straightforward survey approach to the fantasy class: we’ve covered Dunsany, Howard, Tolkien, Moorcock, and Le Guin. We’re currently reading Emma, and we’ll end the course with China Miéville’s The Scar.
by Rob Barrett April 7, 2008 at 3:47 am
Reply
Rob, Emma thinks it’s funny that she’s a precursor to China Mieville (funny in a good way!), but that she would like that reading list. And so would I. Good luck with the class!
by will shetterly April 7, 2008 at 4:14 am
Reply
Will, Emma’s on the syllabus due to her status as one of the paradigmatic urban fantasists of the 1980s. China follows her as the most prominent instance of the New Weird. Both represent the turn away from pastoral in the last 30 years or so of “cutting edge” fantasy writing. Emma is also on the reading list as a modern, feminist counterpart to Lord Dunsany and his King of Elfland’s Daughter (most of the books on the syllabus are in deliberate dialogue with one another). I’ve mentioned this site to my students, so some of them will probably be by to listen to the music.
P. S. Emma’s “A Bird that Whistles” is one of the three stories students can write about for Essay #2.
by Rob Barrett April 7, 2008 at 7:28 pm |
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| thrift shop horrors |
[Jun. 12th, 2009|11:14 am] |
so every once in a while I click on the community links that they highlight on the livejournal landing page. And I'm usually glad I did.
Take, for instance, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) thrifthorror
Go, look for the naked barbie aquarium. Or the dead-parrakeet cage. Just turn left at the disembodied granny head.
[Added later: I think the zombie duck is my favourite.] |
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| a cool book I found at the library |
[Jun. 4th, 2009|10:42 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | intrigued | ] |
The Raven King : Matthias Corvinus and the fate of his lost library / Marcus Tanner.
Synopsis:
Seizing the Hungarian throne at the age of fifteen, Matthias Corvinus, the "Raven King, was an effervescent presence on the fifteenth-century stage. A successful warrior and munificent art patron, he sought to leave as symbols of his strategic and humanist ambitions a strong, unified country, splendid palaces, and the most magnificent library in Christendom. But Hungary, invaded by Turkey after Matthias's death in 1490, yielded its treasures, and the Raven Kings exquisite library of two thousand volumes, witness to a golden cultural age, was dispersed first across Europe and then the world.The quest to recover this collection of sumptuously illuminated scripts provoked and tantalized generations of princes, cardinals, collectors, and scholars and imbued Hungarians with the mythical conviction that the restoration of the lost library would seal their country's rebirth. In this thrilling and absorbing account, drawing on a wealth of original sources in several languages, Marcus Tanner tracks the destiny of the Raven King and his magnificent bequest, uncovering the remarkable story of a life and library almost lost to history.
and some bibliographic stuff for those who care about such stuff:
Local Call No. 943.9 TAN
Author Tanner, Marcus.
Title The Raven King :|bMatthias Corvinus and the fate of his lost
library /Marcus Tanner.
Publication Info. New Haven [Conn.] ;London; Yale University Press, 2008.
Description 265 p; 25 cm.
Note Includes bibliographical references (p. [245]-252) and index.
Subject Matthias|King of Hungary,|d1443-1490.
Subject Matthias|King of Hungary,|d1443-1490|Library.
Subject Hungary|Kings and rulers|Biography.
Subject Hungary|History|Matthias I, 1458-1490. |
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| WTF? |
[Jun. 4th, 2009|09:02 pm] |
see more Fail Blog
Where? Why? What?
Why would you commission a sculpture to look like this? Is it an homage to a famous fantasy novel? Some deeply significant cultural images? Enquiring minds want to know! |
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| teaser trailer |
[May. 26th, 2009|10:27 pm] |
Okay, go to hereand watch the trailer, which is awesome.
And then cry, because it isn't true. |
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| Star Trekkin' across the universe |
[May. 23rd, 2009|11:42 pm] |
Okay, that was awesome. I loved the movie. I think they did a grand job of meshing the old with the new, and I loved (mostly) the new actors for the old roles. Though I did find myself wondering what it would have been like if they'd "starbucked" one of the male characters - made one of them female instead, to give some gender balance to the film. Checkhov, maybe?
I thought the conflict between Spock and Kirk was, well, fascinating :) - tragic but believable and not overblown.
Hmmm, I think I liked a lot of the new elements (such as that one) because they were new and therefore unexpected, while still being in keeping with the spirit and flavour of the original series. Hats off to the writers, Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman.
Weirdly enough, while watching the trailers at the beginning of the film, I found myself wanting to see Transformers. Not sure what about it caught my eye, as it's not my usual fare. (And the TV series was after my time, so I don't have that draw.) (Yes, I really am that old. Shut up.) |
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| WTF, BC?! |
[May. 13th, 2009|10:28 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  scared and bitter | ] |
And again I say, WTF???!!! Eight years wasn't enough?! You need more proof??
46% of the popular vote (vs 42% for the opposition) = unassailable power to do whatever they want for ANOTHER 4 years. No transparency. No accountability. No actual care or concern for quality of life for the majority of their constituents, unless they are Just Like Them. No social support system to speak of. Don't expect an overnight stay in the hospital if you've had surgery, or home care from nurses once you get home even if you need it. Don't expect emergency rooms that can take you. Don't expect schools for your children. Don't expect help for those children who need protection from their own imperfect parents. Don't expect a living wage. Hell, don't expect a job.
But hey, at least we're having a party! Well, some of us are. Those of us who count. You know who you are.
Welcome to our nightmare. |
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| yee haw! |
[May. 6th, 2009|11:27 pm] |
This is what Maine's Governor said when signing gay marriage into law:
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro via msn
"Maine's Gov. John Baldacci signed a bill into law allowing same-sex marriage in his state. Maine becomes the fifth state to do so. The other four: Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont.
'In the past, I opposed gay marriage while supporting the idea of civil unions,' Baldacci said in a statement. 'I have come to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law, and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage.'"
YES. My point exactly!
The article went on to say:
"There is serious legislative activity to approve gay marriage in DC (where last night the city council voted to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere), New Jersey, New Hampshire and New York.
Also, in California, there’s a state Supreme Court challenge to Prop. 8."
I'm glad it's federally signed into law in Canada :)
you can read the whole article at:
firstread.msnbc.msn.com |
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| one of my user icons says "on the whole, I preferred the coma" |
[May. 5th, 2009|07:59 pm] |
at least that way I'd BE ABLE TO SLEEP. As it is, I'm coughing so much I can't.
My maternal grandmother gargled every day with salt water, and never had a sore throat. I know this. I've known this for years. It's not high-tech or complicated. Yet I choose not to do this simple thing, and end up with razor blades in the throat. Why? Why?
Grumpy. Icky. Damp, hacking, side-splitting (or at least pummeling) coughs, sore neck, shoulders, back, front. Upset stomach, yet still craving weird food (or at least, not stuff I normally want to eat when I'm sick.) Tired.
WTF? Do I LOOK like I need another bug? (don't answer that) |
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| and while we're at it |
[May. 3rd, 2009|04:36 pm] |
 Mind the Gap by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon
My review
If you liked Gaiman's "Neverwhere", then you'll enjoy this one.
Running from men she knows only as "the Uncles", who have just murdered her mum, Jazz finds a haven of sorts under London when she's taken in by a modern-day but kindly Fagin and his band of lost souls. But the abandoned tunnels of the London underground harbour their own ghostly dangers, and something hidden wants to draw Jazz back to the life she left behind.
View all my reviews. |
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| request from Sharon Ashwood |
[May. 2nd, 2009|07:08 pm] |
Whee, here’s a piece of great news!
Bitten by Books, a dark paranormal romance review site, has nominated RAVENOUS (among others) for the milestone 1000th review. It’s huge to be a nominee in such good company! For those who drop by, vote and comment, there is a draw for a bagful of swag and goodies.
Go to BittenByBooks.com and scroll down the page to find the poll on the right hand side of the page [not too far down].
The polling ends this Sunday evening, 5/3/09.
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I just did, and so far Ravenous is second place! Not far to go! - inlandsea |
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| youtube one-up-manship (in a good way) |
[Apr. 17th, 2009|04:21 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  pleased | ] |
My friend Becca responded to the "Stavros Flatly" video with this message:
Hilarious! Even got Simon smiling. How about getting him on his FEET? Have you seen
this one?
It's pretty awesome! |
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| for all dance fans |
[Apr. 17th, 2009|12:01 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | amused | ] |
especially those who have seen Michael Flatly's Lord of the Dance
Click here. Be warned. Sometimes laughter hurts. |
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