Tuesday 31 December 2013

American Hustle Review

One of the things I love about Christmas vacation is doing normal people things, like sleeping in, staying up late and eating chocolate for breakfast. When your days are spent in an office from 8-4, it's easy to forget that there is a whole other world out there! Mom gave us movie passes that expired today, so it felt like playing hooky when we took off for the theatre last week. We had planned to see the only showing of non 3D Thor: The Dark World, but got there just too late. The Mister has a lazy eye which means 3D turns into headache vision.

But we were just in time to watch American Hustle, and after a quick check of Rotten Tomatoes, we sat down with a feedbag sized popcorn. Sometimes the best movies are the ones you know nothing about (I didn't even recognize Christian Bale) - and it's easy to see why American Hustle scored so high. The movie is drenched in the sights and sounds of the late 70s, and the cast is just superb in this fictional retelling of the ABSCAM scandal. If you like heist capers, you'll love the convoluted and complicated world of Irving Rosenfeld (Bale) and his partner/mistress, "Lady" Edith (Amy Adams), as they play federal agents and politicians, and each other too.

Overall, American Hustle felt like a toned down version of Goodfellas or Casino. There's very little violence for a crime caper, and I enjoyed the relationships between the characters. It's also very funny. There's a kind of beauty as the characters want to believe things about themselves and others - and convince others to do so as well (Edith is not British, but from New Mexico!). Irving's friendship with the mayor of Camden, Carmine, is surprisingly touching, and gets complicated when Irving realizes he's never had a real, sincere friend before. My favourite moment had to be a big reveal about Bradley Cooper's FBI agent, Richard DiMaso's personal life that I won't spoil here. Really, American Hustle is easily spoiled by the smallest details, so just get out there and see it :-) You won't regret it.

A lot of the acting was improvised, which showed - the acting was surprisingly real, adding another layer to the whole real/fake theme. Jennifer Lawrence was amazing as Irving's neglected and unstable wife, Roslyn. She was really channelling a spurned woman, and you just know that it's coming from a very personal place. After being confronted by Edith in the ladies room when the two accidentally meet, she plants a big kiss on Edith. There was no faking Amy Adams' shocked reaction! The crazier the scheme gets, the more stressed Irving becomes - and I was even beginning to feel stressed from watching Christian Bale.

My only complaint about the movie is that the ending wraps up a little too neatly after all the messiness, but at 138 minutes, it just ran out of time (as almost did my bladder). We definitely want to see it again, as there were a few places where all the plots, double crosses and characters left us trying to remember how it all connected afterwards.

Saturday 21 December 2013

70s Saturday Sci-Fi Scans

I was pretty sure there would be something Christmas themed in our collection - no luck. Not even a cheesy kids book where Santa saves Martian reindeer or something like that. But I did remember a cheesy kids Christmas special from the 70s. Hint: trivia ahead!

It's all too easy to link to the fabled Star Wars Christmas special (just like that!). Truly an awful, unwatchable show. The one part of the special that is often praised is the cartoon that introduces Boba Fett. Han Solo's squished in face aside, do you know why it's the best part? Because it's Canadian! The ten minute short was made by Nelvana, a studio notable for producing lots of service cartoons like Babar, Care Bears and more in the 1980s. But as I said before, there won't be a groovier time again like 1970s, when creative people had incredibly free rein. There's no other way to explain the existence of...

A Cosmic Christmas



There's no Santa, but there are a trio of intergalactic wise men who come to Earth to learn about the meaning of Christmas. Rendered in mostly black and blue, it's not very festive, it's actually kind of strange, but at least the sweet voice of Sylvia Tyson chimes in for a couple of short songs. I didn't watch it enough to feel nostalgic about it as an adult, but if it weren't for YouTube, I would have thought it was something I just totally imagined as a five year old!

Saturday 14 December 2013

70s Saturday Sci-Fi Scans

Today we have another on the cusp book, from 1968 that I just couldn't pass up (and for 60 cents, who wouldn't!). Let's look at...

The Planet of the Blind


Eyes to see with...

Eyes to flee with...

What would happen to an intelligent, sighted inhabitant of Earth marooned on a planet inhabited by unsighted people with a technology equal or superior to his? Further, let us suppose that this man heads a world organization that controls the now expanding field of tests and testing - Mr. Test himself. How would he fare on this PLANET OF THE BLIND? This is the story of Dr. Thur Stone in just such a situation.



Unfortunately the writing is just as stilted as the back cover copy and I didn't get far into the book despite it being a quick read. Dr. Stone is roaming around the universe in his spacerover for some rest and relaxation when he lands on Grenda. He quickly discovers that the people are blind - but animals are not. Convincing the Grendans that he's not an animal is going to be tricky!

Once he discovers his predicament, he realizes how flawed his own testing methods have been. He's the director of Terra-Testing, known as Mr. Test, with the power to determine the fate of others with his testing methods. Having the tables turned on the doctor should make an exciting adventure, but the rambling, stream of consciousness style cries out for an editor. And while this book is Corey's first science fiction novel, it wasn't his first book at all. He is best known for a series about farming in Iowa called The Mantz Trilogy.

Nothing is ever produced in a vacuum, however, and the cover suits the book well. Psychological testing and abstract art were pretty new and interesting back in the 1950s and 1960s,and just like space, another realm to explore!

Tuesday 10 December 2013

Tea for Tuesday

Yup, definitely a snow day today! And what better way to spend a snow day than with 24 ounces of hot tea. I bought this fabulous mug last week from David's Tea while waiting out the weather at a mall near Mr. Potenti's workplace. It's far more fun to hang around the mall for a couple of hours than being crammed on a bus.

Love love love the pattern and colour - it will look great any time of year. Let me tell you too, 24 ounces of tea is a lot - you could eat cereal out of this thing :-D

Thursday 5 December 2013

Welcome to Winter!

Well, you now have my permission to believe every stereotype about Canadian winters you've heard. A blizzard passed through town on Monday, dumped three or four feet of snow (unevenly, mind you) and went on its way, leaving chaos behind. It's taking two hours to get to work and two hours to get home. Thank goodness a delicious beef roast waited in the slow cooker on Monday, because we've been nibbling away on that all week. Tonight it's going to "feel like" -39 C. This is not a time for the furnace to fail either :-D


 That north west wind goes where it wants! Source: Gord Gilles

The blizzard reminded me that I should get a move on and finish a story I'm working on for the next batch of stories. It's tentatively titled "A Cold, Cold Country". It's based on my experience during a flash spring ice storm that I was ill prepared for. The storm came in so fast that the street I was walking on turned into ice instantly and visibility was poor. Naturally I was walking because twenty minutes earlier the bus I was on had become stuck at the top of the hill. Three years later, I can't remember what made me walk to find another bus route - it was a foolish decision because I lacked winter clothing and the neighbourhood had almost no stores or restaurants. Almost none, except for a little pizza joint where I waited six hours for Mr. Potenti to come pick me up. If I recall right, a half hour drive took him almost four hours due to accidents. Anything is possible when Mother Nature has a mood swing.

The freshness of the memory has come back every night that I wait for a bus that doesn't come, and trudge home in the dark. Last night I couldn't get a bus into my neighbourhood. Normally it's a quick little walk from the main drag to our house, but it was agonizing as my feet plunged into the soft snow. Ice crystals stung my face as I was forced to walk into the wind. Every moment was excruciating because my fingers froze despite warm, double lined gloves. Once inside I stripped everything off and made some tea, stat!


Drifts are deeper than they appear...this goes up to my knee!

Winter is really no joke in Canada. My granny's first husband succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning when his truck became stuck in a snow bank way back in the 1960s. This knowledge forever colours how I perceive winter, because all it takes is a slick road or forgotten house keys to get into real trouble. It's said by literary scholars that Canadians have a garrison mentality "that fears the emptiness of the Canadian landscape". When you're in the middle of nowhere, with snow drifts making every feature and landmark indistinguishable, nothing but purple sky all around - that fear becomes very real. Now I just need to put all those things into a finished story :-)

Saturday 30 November 2013

70s Saturday Sci-Fi Scans

Whoops, today's book is actually from 1983, but I just love the cover so much! It's funny how every decade has it's own tell-tale style, but the author, Ardath Mayhar, started writing science fiction in the 70s and perhaps that's when she found her own...

Khi to Freedom





For Hale Enbo, servitude promised freedom! He loved his life as a planetary scout, indentured to the alien Ginli, travelling throughout the universe, finding and befriending the myriads of intelligent life forms.

Until he discovered what his masters were really after.

Until he found one of his new friends staked out on the Ginli vivisection table...









Eeek! I'm keeping this one out to read because it looks very promising. In case you're thinking that Ardath Mayhar is the most made up name ever, it's not. It does fit the SF&F checklist though: punny title, fantastic sounding name, exotic female alien life forms. Cover artist Steve Hickman even managed to sneak a breast in there. Really though, this is the kind of cover that makes an art teacher swell with pride. At least one of my students was paying attention. he or she might think. I love how the arms of Hale, alien and the tree match, just as the two also match with her tail. Warm colours advance, and a little yellow and purple make some interesting browns. See, I paid attention too in class!

Thursday 28 November 2013

Escape From The Television Trap

Last week while I was sick I didn't actually watch any daytime TV because we don't have a television service. As I braved a trip to the mall to find some Emergen C, I cheerfully waved away a nice young man trying to sell the latest digital TV thingamabob from the phone company.

"We kicked the habit!" I chirped at him and a small part of him probably died inside as I walked on by. Such is the way of colds - filters are down along with your immune system. But almost six years ago we gave up our satellite TV. It was getting hard to justify spending $70 a month on the three channels we watched - Discovery, Teletoon and Animal Planet. Even a PVR and skipping commercials couldn’t keep us interested - TV piled up like laundry in a corner.

Consuming media had become a chore!

Sometimes it takes people aback, as if shunning TV makes one an instant snob, but the fragmented state of today's media means that something has to give. When I was a kid, I couldn't imagine giving up TV, even if it was peasantvision's eleven channel world (twelve, if you understood French, which we didn't). TV was the only currency the nerdiest child had in the playground, and missing an episode of Full House or Perfect Strangers was practically spending a night in Squaresville. Occasionally the local paper would run a story about some cute kid holding a fan of crisp new bills - their reward for giving up the idiot box. It's just a lesson that took a long time to learn, I guess.

Of course these days we have a better distraction, the Internet, and we pay $60 a month for that. At one of my past temp jobs, a visitor to the office asked me "what I did all night" if TV wasn't on the menu. Uh...read? Exercise? Visit my friends? Spend time with my husband? The rare time that we do watch TV has made it special again - commercials are actually interesting instead of annoying. But I look at it this way...

What am I gaining?

Time!
$840 a year!
Peace and quiet!
Hours to read!
More movies!

And suddenly the advantages start to outweigh being caught up on the latest thing to chat about around the water cooler. TV is such a constant presence, but one can grow to appreciate it's absence, like so much stuff from the basement.

Now if you really want to know how people in the past thought TV was a trap, watch this 1936 movie called Trapped by Television. It's not much different from the way we try to imagine technology in our lives today.

Tuesday 19 November 2013

Tea for Tuesday

It's so strange - for the past ten years or so a big fall cold strikes me down. Cools my jets! Relegates me to the couch to watch daytime TV! It happens so predictably that there's no avoiding it. But, I'll settle for this little fall cold. Besides the modern miracle that is Nyquil, I'm thankful for Cold 911 made by the good people at David's Tea. It's not just peppermint tea, it's peppermint tea with juniper berries, eucalyptus and orange peels. It is so delicious and satisfying. Time to make another pot!

Cold 911

Saturday 16 November 2013

70s Saturday Sci-Fi Scans

Fending off a cold this week as well as the craft sale craziness, so here's a book that doesn't need too much explanation except...

Spaaaaaaaace Pope!




I bet the artist had a lot of fun with this one! Now back to chugging Cold 911 from David's Tea :-D

Saturday 9 November 2013

70s Saturday Sci-Fi Scans

To be honest, I'm not sure why I picked today's cover. It reminds me of one of those times in art college where myself or a classmate had to pin up a particular dud of a work. Either the class struggled to find something to say or the student stumbled through a poorly thought out explanation. Which is how I, as humble blogger, feel about...

Twilight at the Well of Souls


Twilight at the Well of Souls


This is the way the world will end...

The rift in the fabric of space was fast approaching the Well World, and time was running out. Troops all over the planet were gathering for the final battle.

Nathan Brazil and Mavra Chang somehow had to reach the Well of Souls in time to save the universe before any of the hostile natives managed to kill them.

At best, a difficult mission. At worst, impossible - especially since there was a price on Brazil's head and many would-be claimants! For Brazil, the difficult was but the work of a moment - the impossible would take a little longer!



Well, it has orange and blue. It has a sphere...am I supposed to be looking down at a pit or is something exploding? Another thing I remember from art college is my crazy drawing teacher who occasionally said one sane thing for every five insane things. One of her sane tips was that artists can't always be standing by their work, ready to deconstruct it for every viewer. Same goes for books that want to be sold. If I didn't know who Jack Chalker was, I would totally judge this book by the cover and pass.

Thursday 7 November 2013

Tales of the Unexpected

It's the rattle of the ticket machine that gets my attention, and the way the man pokes fruitlessly at the display. I had gone into Yuppietown to get dandelion leaves from the organic market, and now I was waiting for the train, dandelion leaves, raspberries and oranges cradled in my arms because I was too cheap to buy a reusable bag, and my wallet tucked under my left armpit. It's never just the one thing! Jill Potenti is sympathetic to people held hostage by the whims of machines, so I ambled over and asked, "Is it not giving you a ticket?"

"Nope."

"Hmm..."

"It says push any button. I am doing this right, aren't I?"

It's been ages since I had to buy a ticket, but we walk through the process, just in case. "Durn thing took my three dollars!" His accent is amusing; I would have thought he was from Ontario if he didn't say Nova Scotia. He has a wide. friendly face and a bushy mustache.

"I would just call the transit info line and maybe they'll send you more tickets."

"This is great. I only been here a few days. Not that I want to be. My brother is dying."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Jill Potenti is also sympathetic to those suffering the whims of fate.

"Yeah, I was gonna go see him. He's at the F----------. Don't know how I'm gonna get there."

"Well, I would just go one stop over. Get off at the mall and tell the bus driver the machine ate your money."

"They told me to get off at L----- and catch a bus."

"Oh no no. There's no buses that stop there. You can catch two buses to the hospital from the mall. But it's not just getting there. It's getting back. One bus has the same number, but it goes in different directions. If you take it in the wrong direction, like I did, you go all over the northwest. But I would do that, when my dad had a stroke, that's what I did."

My transit knowledge impresses him; the train arrives just as I was going give more advice so he won't suffer the whims of a fickle transit system. I expect him to get on with me, but he doesn't. "You have a really nice day, thanks, you're a real sweetheart." He touches me on my left arm and smiles before he goes.

I shuffle over on the train, and then the panic hits me after the door closes - I was just the world's worst mark. I squeeze my arm and my wallet is still there. I have a sudden urge to check my pockets even if it means oranges rolling all around the train. What was it about his casual, friendly manner that now makes me think it was a smooth, practiced pantomine? Why do I now think he was patiently waiting for me to say "Oh, here's three dollars I can give you," at so many points in the conversation? And instead all I could give him was free advice! Duh!

Mr. Potenti rolls his eyes as I recount the conversation for him. "Riiiiiight." he says more than once. Grifting three dollars from transit riders probably adds up fast. Thinking the worst of the fellow makes me feel guilty, because I like thinking the best of people. Maybe he is new in town. Maybe he really does have a dying brother. And goodness knows those ticket machines break down a lot. But maybe too, when I mentioned that my dad had had a stroke, he changed his mind, humoured me for a few minutes and moved on to find someone that would make him feel less guilty about taking three dollars. I'll never know for sure. I jot down these little stories because they're always fodder for larger ones. The banal can be oddly interesting. Someone once said that writing is forgetting, but for me, writing is remembering, as well as sometimes an exercise in giving the benefit of the doubt.

Sunday 3 November 2013

Ender's Game Review

I came out of yesterday afternoon's showing of Ender's Game with a huge headache and feeling very confused. I even said so to Mr. Potenti. He started to helpfully explain what the entire movie was about. "No, no, no," I protested wearily. "not confused like that, but, confused." You know you have to be pretty confused when you don't even know why! 

The wild differences in reviews made us waffle about wanting to see it. People either love it or hate it. Some said it was close to the book, while others said chunks had been left out. But with nothing else to do but watch the snow fall, we were among the few who trekked out to the theatre - it was only half full. Neither of us have read the book, surprisingly enough, and it isn't hiding on the bookshelf. We went in with low expectations and none of that "Will the book be better than the movie?" baggage.

If you haven't read the book, it's about a young boy, Ender Wiggin, who demonstrates the skill and savvy to be a great battle commander against Earth's ant like enemies, the Formics. The Formics haven't attacked Earth for 50 years, but it won't stop the International Fleet from letting it happen again. Gifted children are trained in the ways of war and it is kind of painful to see them manipulated by a larger war machine against an enemy from a different generation. The world is so joyless for them. Heck, even in the first ten minutes we see Ender brutally beat up a kid who threatened him. Some reviewers have noted that the violence was toned down to make the children more acceptable to audiences. Ender's siblings, Peter and Valentine, flunked out of Battle School for not having the right stuff.

The story of an exceptionally skilled chosen child is a pretty standard one, and there are some that even accused JK Rowling of stealing from Ender's Game. In these stories the reader or viewer enjoys the growth of the character from orphan/deck scrubber/thief to president/admiral/CEO. Maybe that's what was wrong - Ender is quickly promoted through the ranks and there really is no sense of time passing. He comes out on the other end looking exactly the same (in the book it takes years). This is one of the reasons why I don't feel it's a movie for young people - there's no emotional or physical growth to Ender.

I rewatched the trailers, and still don't understand what I saw. There's no romance between Petra and Ender, and to be honest, the two trailers kind of give a lot a way :\. Graff makes the other children hate Ender, but he ends up making friends. Graff says he plans to isolate him, but he never seems to be that way - there's no sense that the geeky Ender is lonely, just a loner.

The special effects, set designs and battle scenes were pretty good, although not really thrilling. One could almost wait for the DVD because there aren't any eye popping effects. The design of the Formic ships were cool, although the constant blue grey tone of Battle School felt oppressive at times. Maybe that's what gave me the headache! The cast was stellar and has too much talent to fail, although Ben Kingsley gets such a small role. The cast was racially diverse and Asa Butterfield was simply stellar as Ender. And although Harrison Ford played Hyram Graff lazily, he pulled off grumpy old warmonger pretty well. It would seem that Ender's Game is just a technically well done movie without the heart and story to go along with it. The movie starts out decently, but gets choppier and choppier in the second half trying to cram more and more in (and it's 114 minutes by the way). Maybe the reason I felt so beat up by the end was that it was too hard to suspend my disbelief - every scene change and little inconsistency wore my brain down. Despite being an opening weekend, the audience lacked the usual buzz and energy, so maybe it just wasn't me. When Ender triumphs, the feeling just wasn't there in the theatre. I left without feeling entertained, unsure of the point of the film and confused about what it was trying to accomplish. Ender's Game would have been better served by being released in two parts, but no studio would want to take a chance on that. Some have said that it was an unfilmable, but it's just a story not well-told :\

Yesteday I remarked how I was glad that the movie wasn't made in the 80s - it would have looked awful! Today we joked that we don't own a copy of 1984's The Last Starfighter, where a teenager is recruited for his video game prowess. It runs about the same time as Ender's Game, but even with its cheap effects and dorky haircuts, it would seem a vastly superior and well-told story about the militarization of young people.

Saturday 26 October 2013

70s Saturday Sci-Fi Scans

All rightey, I have put down the pen and the spirograph and am back in fine form. This week's entry is a doozy! Science fiction isn't just about imagining the future or imbuing it with fantasy - sometimes it's about one man's manly science fiction fantasies, such as...

Hook: The Virility Gene

The illuminated cube lit up with the scattered lights, looking like a handful of diamonds strewn carelessly across a velvet backdrop. Hook easily picked out the Jarhed system - any almost normal F-type sun and ten planets, with only three suitable for human habitation: Rondelle, Pheruchia, and Shyle.

Within that system, specifically on Shyle, Ryder Hook knew an inter-galatic "gold rush" was happening. The virility gene - once highly prized and more precious than any other substance in the universe - was being claimed and mined by all takers. Its source, once intensely guarded, and now, revealed, was being ravaged. Every form of intelligent life knew that the virility gene not only increased, but also prolonged, sexual pleasure.

Hook eagerly journeyed to this weird planet to stake a claim. But the joyous, potentially profitable events took a disastrous turn for the worse when he uncovered the gene's true source - and his arch-enemies, the Boosted Men, arrived to manipulate the powerful secret of the gene for their own evil ends.


I wish this cover was in better shape, and I suppose the title alone made it well read. I have to wonder if this 1975 book is a nod to 1967's Logan's Run - in the book version, Logan is tormented by women who give him a dose of something called Everlove. At least it's communicating all the right things - action! space! babes! Now if you're thinking Tully Zetford is the least manly name ever, it actually belonged to Kenneth Bulmer, who passed away in 2005. Apparently he was quite fond of pseudonyms as Wikipedia lists just over a dozen. It's easy to see why, because not only is this book has clunky named things, it also has bad steamy prose:
He stopped by a damak-velour couch. He did not release his hold upon Iola. She stood looking up at him, her eyes meeting his, her breath soft and sweet. Slowly, feeling the magnitude of the occasion, Hook bent. He kissed her. He kissed her and he felt the fires flickering all along his limbs and devouring his body. She responded. She was the flame. He held her to him and put a hand on her white gown and she put her slender hand on him and pressed. He could feel her heart beating. She moaned and her lips grew hot and soft under his.

Snortle!

Wednesday 23 October 2013

World of Whirls

This blog may need to be retitled if this keeps up. I have been more absorbed in making spirals than gazing at my navel this past week. Maybe it's because the drawings gaze back. Behold! 


I think this one is definitely book cover material:


The right tools make all the difference, and fancy art paper and all my pointy felt pens produced awesome results. The only downside is overlapping an area too much with a marker wets and wears the paper. I didn't have to hold the frame down so hard though as the pens swept along the shapes. Part of it is that I'm a lefty - lefties push the pen against the paper instead of pulling it across like righties. So I swung by a stationary store and bought some Papermate Inkjoy pens. A bag was ridiculously cheap ($1.99!) and they flow so sweetly. I would have killed for these pens as a teenage doodler, because nothing says "Math sucks!!" like "Math sucks!!" written in eight different colours in the margins :-D

Saturday 19 October 2013

70s Saturday Sci-Fi Scans

Well, I think I used up all my silly for the week in Wednesday's post, so I'll see what I can work up for today. One of the amazing things science fiction is that it is such an open framework, and if you want to add some fantasy to it, go right on ahead. No one says you can't, such as in 1978 when barbarian fantasy was all the rage. Conan, He-Man, Vardeman?

The Sandcats of Rhyl






SPACEPEDITION!

Nightwind and his cyborg companion were an unlikely team, by galatic standards, but they shared a fierce drive for independence and adventure. When they heard about the lost civilization, and its untapped treasures, they wasted no time to search for it. But Rhyl was a barren, unrelenting planet, covered with endless deserts, and deadly sciroccos. They were prepared for that hardship, but not for the beasts - sandcats of Hell!
This book sounds like it has it all, and it should, because Robert Vardeman is a prolific writer of space operas and at least one Star Trek novel. Just another book on the shelf that I haven't gotten around to reading, I think this would be a good one...it seems the sandcats are telepathic. The best thing I like, of course, is the cover. My gut is telling me that the artist is not Frank Frazetta, but heavily inspired by him. Here's to you, unknown book cover artist!

Wednesday 16 October 2013

The Klutz Spiral Draw Book Review

Every year I get myself a birthday and a Christmas gift, and I encourage you to do the same. Nothing is quite as awesome as opening your gift, giving yourself the thumbs up in the mirror and saying "It's just what I wanted. Thank you, me!"

Just kidding, I don't go that far. This year I bought myself the Klutz Spiral Draw Book, mostly so I could get birthday bonus points on my Indigo book club card. Klutz books are great because they come with everything you need to get started right away and the materials are good quality, plus, they're just fun. It comes with a drawing book, a spiffy six colour pen and the drawing gears. Perfect for the impatient child or adult. Amazon has a picture of the older version, which was spiral bound and had three gel pens with it.

Spiral Draw
No batteries, AC Adapter or expansion set required!
Right way I began making these masterpieces. Clearly, the cover of my next book is going to have a lot of spirals.
spirals

Even though this book is Klutz proof, it's not without a couple of flaws. First of all, I didn't even realize the book came out of the package! Doh! Secondly, the frame needs to be held down quite firmly and the paper needs to be as flat as possible, so don't be afraid to bend the book open. I could see this being a challenge for younger children. On more than one occasion the gear slipped under the frame (woe!) and then when drawing near the binding of the book, the gear wouldn't turn all the way. No problem though, because the drawings don't need to be perfect. In fact, you don't even have to make a whole circle to make a cool picture.
spirals
It would have been nice to see some blank pages in the book, as it is illustrated with cartoon characters throughout. The Klutz editors were very thoughtful though in making it appealing to girls and boys and adults.

There's a zen quality in creating for the sake of it, especially when the results are so random. Nowadays people tend to plan everything down to the tiniest detail, so happy accidents were just that. I found myself absorbed in making round after multicolored round of shapes, so much so that I barely noticed the time passing. That kind of relaxing, imaginative play is the most priceless gift of all.

Saturday 12 October 2013

70s Saturday Sci-Fi Scans

It surprises me how quickly I run out of queued up posts, but at least I will not run out of books! I'll be photographing a whole bunch to show off in the coming Saturdays in between dashing to a couple of Thanksgiving dinners this weekend. Today I picked a book that I am quite fond of, Larry Niven's 1971 short story collection...

All The Myriad Ways





This collection contains some of Niven's most famous stories such as "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex" which makes a clear case for why a relationship between Lois Lane and Superman is ultimately doomed, and one of my favourites, "Wait It Out", about astronauts stranded on Pluto. If I remember right, the cover depicts "Inconstant Moon", as illustrated by Dean Ellis. Niven toys with hard science fiction, humour and speculation in a very carefully crafted way. I really prefer short stories over novels, and not just because they are quicker to read. The format gives the author room to zoom in on a few ideas and a few characters, instead of adding more and more. Filler in books is just as unappetizing as filler in sausages. But I guess really this post is filler too :-D Have a great Thanksgiving if you're in Canada, and enjoy your long weekend if you are American!

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Tea for Tuesday

Much like the several farmer's markets around town, we are total suckers for import stores. We always end up spending too much, but it always seems like money well spent for the pleasures they bring. Whether it's the big Asian supermarket or the quaint German store with schnitzel to die for, we can't resist. A couple of weeks ago we paid our first visit to a long running Italian store called Lina's, which has a cozy cafeteria. It was hopping and all the tables were covered in crumbs from crusty buns. We had homemade lasagna and Oraginas, and after that, a giant focaccia, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and jam found their way into the cart.Then I found heaven- the smart people at Lina's stocked the tea and biscuits next to each other!

Tea time isn't complete without a little something something. Most mass made cookies are pretty pathetic these days. Peek Freans haven't tasted good since Kraft took over and cheapened them. But these Trancetto cakes I found at Lina's were lovely, just perfect and not overly sweet. Clipper's Earl Grey tea by Clipper is a bit too citrus for my taste, but still pleasant. I just add a bit of Yorkshire Gold to give it more body.

These new treats required the most special tea cup in my collection. It was part of a set that was a gift to my granny from her first husband - apparently he walked miles to get it for her. The set has blue, green and yellow siblings; all four now belong to a granddaughter. It's so dainty and probably stronger than it looks, but I still have to be careful that it doesn't end up in the dishwasher by accident!

Saturday 5 October 2013

70s Saturday Sci-Fi Scans

Science fiction is regarded as the realm of "adventures in which you'll live in a million could-be years on a thousand may-be worlds" to quote the introduction of the old time radio program X Minus One. What iffing comes naturally to people, so much so that there is a whole genre of alternate history works, cousin to the time travel trope. An author doesn't have to imagine merely historical outcomes - they can have a fantastical element such as...

Baphomet's Meteor


CRUSADERS OF THE ATOM

Are there parallel dimensions in which history turned out differently? Are there other universes with other Earths where the alternates become the realities? Here is an exciting science fiction novel of such an historical by-pass. Told with the color and romance of the Crusades, reminiscent of the work of Harold Lamb and L. Sprague de Camp, what would have happened had the Knights Templars really made the demonic alliance claimed by their royal rivals?

The "demon" was Baphomet - a stranded extra-terrestrial - and his alliance gave the Templars the atomic arms and scientific equipment to create the empire Baphomet needed for his own outer-space motives.

Pierre Barnet, one of the Old World's most popular science fiction authors, has created a fascinating and authentically researched novel of the empire upon which our sun never rose.



First of all, I love this book, just for the delicate scent of its 41 year old paper. It takes me back to my junior high library full of thirty year old (or older still) books. You can bet in 1991 that my homework was written with the most up to date information from the 1967 Book of Knowledge encyclopedias.

But lest I become nostalgic for my teenage self, let's look at how all the elements in the cover painting by Karen Thole are simply awesome. No slick airbrushing here - her painterly strokes bring out the whoomph of the nuclear explosion behind Baphomet. And look, look what she did there by cleverly showing the demon-knight alliance. "Here," Baphomet says, "I give you great power," and the knight is all "Oh yeah, baby! 25 kilotons of TNT, that's what I'm talking about."

The simple contrast of black and white and the pentagram and cross keep this cover from being overcomplicated. Limiting the colour palette was a smart move, but there's almost no room for the title. You can feel the relief of the layout artist as she or he discovers there's just a few millimetres of space between the top of the horn and the author's name. Whew, crisis averted!

Baphomet's Meteor was translated from French by the way. The author, Pierre Barbet, was a pseudonym for a pharmacist (the book notes that he is a "distinguished doctor of pharmacology"). It seems that when he wasn't filling prescriptions, he was prolifically writing space operas. Just proof that those who daydream, "What if I was an author?" can make it happen!

Saturday 28 September 2013

The Time, It Flies!

It's so refreshing just to be able to sit here and type away. While dodging time traps, the Potentis have been spending a lot of time with friends and family. Birthdays abound at the end of September (tee hee, we know what your parents were doing in December) and it was also our ninth wedding anniversary. Nine years!

It's easy to not find time for reflection on the past when one is so busy living in the present and thinking about the future. At the eight year mark our wedding photos finally found their way out of a shoebox and into an album! Life is so comfortable now that it's easy to forget how hard it was ten years ago we went for broke to buy our house. I was on the verge of being laid off, Jack had already been laid off. We looked at each other, realized our nerd love was strong enough to withstand anything, and took up our new hobby of riding life's rollercoasters. Sorry, that was a really bad metaphor. We actually bought our house on Valentine's Day while we both had colds. I remember lying in bed afterwards, waiting for Nyquil to kick in, and feeling dizzy. Had we done the right thing? Was this the right house? We weren't even married!

My parents, being the Old Country type, had thought it was a big mistake. I was ruining my life and throwing away my money. It caused a lot of tension because I was still living at home. My Dad poorly translated an idiom that resulted in Jack being called a bread basket almost constantly ("What does that even mean?" "I have no idea!"). Their fear was understandable. Trusting someone with your heart and your savings is every parent's worst nightmare. Instead of seeing the Big Adult Decision you are embarking on, they picture headlines involving cheating hearts and bankruptcy. Then, around the same time we were pledging our love, Mr. Potenti's own parents were getting a divorce after 33 years. Would we end up like them? A tub of Rolaids couldn't soothe our jitters.

It's not possible to predict the future. If it was, well...we'd all be Microsoft millionaires and we would forgo that extra burrito at Taco Bell. We can only make the best choices possible at the time when they are made - and continue to work hard to keep them on track. And if it turns out to be a mistake - well, it's something learned. Sometimes you have to go through the bad to get to the good. And the shocking thing is that most of the bad is pretty temporary - we both found new jobs within two years and the days of eating hot dogs and beans slid by. My in-laws married new partners and are happier than before. "Bread basket" hasn't been heard since 2005. That whole period of our lives seems so strange, and hard to believe it happened.

It took another year after buying our home to make our love official with $250 worth of rings and a $75 piece of paper. My wedding dress was $50 off the discount rack at Sears, our place of vows a public garden rented for $300. The cake was just a sheet cake from Costco. An old co-worker took the photos and a talented friend played the keyboard. My mother cried and our friends were happy for us. It wasn't fancy, but it did the job - and nine years later I love my husband more than ever.

I couldn't even afford a manicure then...ah well.

Saturday 21 September 2013

70s Saturday Sci-Fi Scans

It's a fact that people love what they know, which explains why most new movies are sequels or remakes and books must have a minimum of three volumes. Nothing is a bigger bummer than missing out on the first book in a series, but maybe when I was in luck when I found...

The Coming of Steeleye


Steeleye - a new Man Challenging an Old Empire

By the 99th Century the Sylvan Empire had achieved several centuries of peaceful repression, known to history as 'The Lull'. But now the end was in sight. The Eumigs, a gentle race of huge Androids from the planet Zrost, were plotting to join the Sylvan Federation. To achieve membership they must first prove that natural life existed on their planet. To produce a child they must have a mother. Thus, after long study, the Eumigs built the beautiful Chaos, to the same specifications as the now-extinct race of Man.

And then there was her mate, Steeleye the magnificent. Steeleye, whose creation was the accidental result of a jealous rivalry. Steeleye, who was nearly nine feet tall, a Man with perfect features, a superb and invincible body and a high-voltage brain. But he was also a superman with a steel eye which could devastate his enemies with its inbuilt atomic heat blaster. All in all, Steeleye was a very dangerous Man...



Wow! The back cover copy goes on and on and I can't pretend to understand any of it. The cover is strangely unappealing - this Steeleye fellow doesn't look very heroic or nice. Steeleye sounds like the creation of an eight year old and the author merely typed away as his kid went on and on: "He's nine feet tall because he's better than everyone, and then he's got this eye, this eye can kill people and go pew pew!" Far be it for me to discourage the imaginations of wee ones, the first of a three book saga, Steeleye actually is more like it was written by an eight year old's oldest brother. It has the feel of fan fiction - check out part of the sample passage inside:

Reaching the space where the guard still stood, watching for his quarry, Steeleye drew up to his full height, and without warning sent a single streak of fire from his head and levelled the Sylvan guard to the ground. In a three step movement he turned and knocked out two other groups of guards, turning again he lifted another in his huge hand, dashing his helpless body against the wall.

Fan fiction authors are aware of a character named Mary Sue who saves the day: the male version is Marty Stu. Steeleye is a whole lot of wish fulfillment in a nine foot tall package. Sadly, I couldn't find much information on Saul Dunn, other than this entry on SF Encyclopedia. He also wrote write another three part saga called Cabal. I assumed that perhaps Dunn had found another calling by the time the 1980s rolled around, it seems he just ran into financial problems instead. The mystery of Saul Dunn is forever ruined for me!

Saturday 14 September 2013

70s Saturday Sci-Fi Scans

Today's gem is actually from my own collection, and I found it at the diviest, funky smellingest used bookstore ever. Really, there is no getting away from the scent of aging paper, which also takes on any scents in the home. Do used bookstore clerks suffer from "paperback lung"?

I don't really remember growing up in the seventies - just born that bit too late - but I can tell it was an awesome time of experimentation, ideas and technology. Society was not quite where it is today - it's hard to believe some of Mom's stories aren't crazy talk. What? You couldn't get a credit card because you weren't married? No way! Thirty some years later, we're still not a perfect world, but back in 1975 there was...

More Women of Wonder


One of science fiction's great appeals has always been that it both reflects the age in which it was written and forecasts the future. For many years, its women characters appeared only in the traditional roles of damsels in distress, wives and mothers, or occasionally tempters. Today women writers are producing some of the best science fiction - with women protagonists. In this new collection of stories, seven women writers use the literary form of the novelette to explore feminist themes in science fiction.

CL Moore: "Jirel Meets Magic"
Leigh Brackett: "The Lake of the Gone Forever"
Johanna Russ: "The Second Inquisition"
Josephine Saxton: "The Power of Time"
Kate Wilhelm: "The Funeral"
Joan D. Vinge: "Tin Soldier"
Ursula K. Le Guin: "The Day Before the Revolution"


Compared to the other books profiled here each Saturday, the cover and back copy aren't really selling it. The cover has a remarkable sense of constraint. It is a nice change from the anti-gravity boob babes often found on SF covers, but it doesn't really convey excitement and adventure. The back cover copy is so, so serious, almost academic. What are the women of wonder actually doing? Why should I buy this? I actually bought this more for Pamela Sargent's introduction, which is an invaluable history of women and science fiction.

Last night I reread the last three stories, because they are also my favourites, especially "The Funeral". It's a science fiction story tinged with Victorian horror. I still don't quite understand the story, but I do understand the sense of dread that fills young Carla as her own life is beyond her control. The breadth of subjects in this volume make it unique because they're not really about science fiction or fantasy, but oftentimes about human relationships, such as in "Tin Soldier", when a gruff bartender falls in love with a space cadet. Many a SF saga revolves around social movements - crushing an evil empire for example - but Ursula K. Le Guin looks at the "woman behind the revolutionary man" instead.

As writers still continue to fall back on lazy female tropes such as the damsel in distress, creators need constant reminding that women can do a lot more than just look pretty, be strong or need rescuing. To be honest, when I put my book up on Smashwords back in December, I didn’t know if I should use my first name. So I just put a J on the cover. I kind of assumed no one would want to read science fiction written by a woman, otherwise James Tiptree wouldn’t exist as a nom de plume. But everyone has a story to tell and it's not my problem if someone cares more about the gender of my name than the ideas in my head!

Wednesday 11 September 2013

Tales of the Unexpected!

"Unexpected" sounds a lot less judgemental than "weird", don't you think? Today reminded me of one of those unexpected times as I helped Mom register for Christmas craft sales like we do every fall. Some you can sign up online for, others you have to wait in a sign up line. It's something fun we do together, and make friends along with some pin money.

Mom knits old fashioned baby sets - usually a little poncho and booties, bonnet, mitts or some combination thereof. It's a classic look - I had quite a few and you probably did too! I bet you were a cutie wootie angel pie, all dressed up like a doll. Alas, if my older brother hadn't ripped up my baby book, I would have such a picture to share instead of finding one online. For years I wondered why my book was so empty - Mom could only shrug. It's not like she could just go to the computer and print off some new ones, something we take for granted now. Since there aren't any little Potentis running around, Mom loves knowing that some little kid will be wearing her clothing.

Now, there are always one or two items every year that are hard to sell. We try raising the price, lowering the price, and offering the customer a special price, but no luck. Shoppers pick it up, stretch it out, fondle it and hold it this way and that. Sometimes it takes a couple of years for a particular set to sell.

Such was the fate of one gender neutral set in soft pastel yellow and green. "I wish someone would buy it," Mom said sadly after every sale. There was nothing wrong with it, the right buyer just hadn't found it yet. Then one day - it happened! At our very last sale for the year, a customer took an interest in it. She picked it up, stretched it out, fondled it and held it this way and that. But instead of putting it back down on the table, she said "I'll take it!"

Mom was so thrilled she could barely count the change as I bagged it up. "I'm glad you like it!" I chirped.

"Is it for a little boy or a little girl?" Mom asked. Some shoppers prefer their friendly banter post-sale instead of pre-sale.

"Neither!" the customer replied. "It's for my monkey!"

"Oh cool!" I said, giving Mom a chance to regain her composure. After seeing it all in forty five years of retail, Mom couldn't cough up a smile or a little chuckle. Shock had rendered her speechless!

"It's going to fit perfectly! I love it!"

"That's great!" I continued on. "Thanks so much for buying it. Have a good Christmas!" Mom might have all the retail experience, but frequent strange encounters have made me the better actress.

I waved after the happy shopper and turned back to Mom, who had sat down and gripped the other chair for support. "A monkey! Can you believe that, a monkey!" she gasped and stared at me with a look I won't forget. Someone might as well have spilled coffee all over our table. For the rest of the sale she just shook her head and muttered the phrase over and over when there were no customers.

Thus Mom learned that the universe of the unexpected has no boundaries. Each individual makes our world that much more unique, sometimes with a story in it to tell. If smartphones were around then, I would have made the customer promise to send a photo of her furry little friend. But ah, Mom would have been traumatized all over again. I don't know, but the monkey is still probably someone's cutie wootie angel pie, and probably hasn't outgrown the set either!

Sunday 8 September 2013

Riddick Review

I'm not sure where to start with a review of Riddick, which we watched last night in a packed theatre. There were no drink fumblers this time and no talkers. Although, at the quietest, most tense part of the movie, there was a bag crinkler! The bottom line is, was I entertained? Yes. Did I think the movie was good? Yes. Did the movie have flaws? Yes. Was it a waste of $16? Nope! 

It is an R-rated movie, so the language is naughty, the violence squishy and red (think Robocop), and there's some briefly frontal female nudity, so be warned. Also, mild spoilers ahead.

I am shameless in my affection for Vin Diesel, so that was a big plus for me right there. I'd watch a movie of the man reading the phone book (even better if Matt Damon co-starred). The Riddick character is unique too, being neither all good or all bad. 

The beginning of the movie catches up with Riddick as he waits for his leg to heal after being deposed as Lord Marshall of the Necromongers - it turns out he wasn't doing that great a job. It does help to see the first two movies because the third contains a lot of references to them. After the success of Pitch Black, Chronicles of Riddick was an overblown CGI fest that kind of tanked the series for nine years. So just as Riddick tries to find his earlier success by becoming uncivilized again, so too does the movie with a bare bones budget and setting. It is similar enough to Pitch Black without being a complete remake. Riddick thankfully abandons the cheesy red, yellow and blue filters and is mostly yellow in hue. This is a nice change from the blue/orange colour schemes newer movies are bathed in.

Realizing his only hope to get off planet is to bring a ship to him, he activates an emergency beacon and then waits for the mercenary murder spree to begin. This middle part was my favourite and done really well - the mercenaries are jumpy, but overconfident. They are a brutal, ragtag bunch who are disgusting in their awfulness. It's easier to write a hero part than a villain, but their leader, Santana, is as gritty and ugly as they come. Maybe just a few notches down from Angel Eyes in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, if you need a comparison. They are joined by another mercenary group, who have all the trappings of being good. Meanwhile Riddick haunts the place, and yes, there's even a shower scene. Such little nods to horror films abound. The movie trips and falls in the last act, however. Endings seem to be a problem for Hollywood lately. The ending to Elysium could have been less ham handed, for example. Skyfall and Star Trek: Into Darkness made viewers sit through multiple possible endings.

It is possible to still enjoy a flawed movie though. Riddick reminded me of Aliens and Predator and had that gleeful violence and deadpan humour that 80s movies are known for. The scene with the Necromongers at the beginning could have been cut along with a few characters. In trying to be faithful to Pitch Black, it feels all over the place.

Riddick is the kind of movie where thinking too much about it will drive you crazy. There were a lot of odd choices in the movie that could have definitely been done better, especially in the dialogue between Riddick and Dahl (Katee Sackhoff). Dahl is never a damsel in distress, and I loved how she kicked butt. 

Yet I'm not ready to write Riddick off as completely brainless either with thoughtful set choices and minor details. The gritty, rusty mercenary outpost was a nice change from the bright and sleek sets found in other movies, and I liked how the motorcycles had English horse saddles for seats. One ship sports a heraldic shield, suggesting valiance, honour and a family history. Early on, Riddick comes across the last vestiges of a civilization and makes a tomb like sleeping place there. There's a nod to the resurrection later when he has escaped from it. The problem with Riddick, maybe, is that there was far too much choice for the filmmakers. They didn't want to save things - scenes, characters or dialog - for another movie. They threw it all in a pot and hoped for the best. The end result is palatable and pleasing, but not quite gourmet.

But don't take just my word for it - Rotten Tomatoes has plenty more opinions, from critics and average folks alike.

Saturday 7 September 2013

70s Saturday Sci-Fi Scans

Today we visit a place that has knocked around in the human head for a long, long time - the utopia! The hard, sad truth is that utopias can't exist; even the word means "no place". However, that hasn't stopped people with very good intentions from giving it a shot for a long, long time with variable success. With the counterculture wave of the sixties and fallout from political corruption in the seventies, it makes sense that Ernest Callenbach came up with...

Ecotopia

Ecotopia cover

Imagine a future that works!
We are in the year 1999. Since 1980, Ecotopia has been isolated, Chinese fashion. Now, finally, an official visitor is admitted. He is Will Weston, crack investigative reporter. Like a modern Gulliver, Will is sometimes horrified, sometimes overwhelmed by strange practices and sensual encounters. He discovers a nation which, in lucky circumstances, has taken charge of its own biological destiny. As Will becomes deeply involved with a sexually forthright Ecotopian woman, ritual war games and a female-dominated "stable-state" government, his confusion of values intensifies and reaches a startling climax. The novel of your future.


I could stare at the cover all day. The slightly off center circle seems to signal that everything is not all right in Ecotopia, not to mention the "square peg in a round hole" metaphor going on. The fleshed out faces of the two women pull off a neat illusion, and the way the hands connect and interplay is very subtle (the yellow fist on the right might be a bit hard to see). The psychological nature of this image almost betrays the back cover copy of sexual forthrightness. Even the miltiant, stencilled title is a giveaway.

How far off 1999 must have seemed in 1975! I was 22 in 1999 and even that seems a long time ago now. I missed out on a lot of the trends that lead up to this novel, but I'm going to guess that Callenbach was spot on in picking trends and societal changes to include in the book, especially since he lived in Berkeley, California. Good writers always have their thumb on the now, even if it seems dated later. Presented in diary format, Will chronicles the day to day life of Ecotopia, its government and industry.

As readers and viewers, we've come to expect that there's always something sinister with perfect societies, otherwise utopias would be boring as heck. But, sometimes these sinister ends play out in real life too. If one can feel a little jaded and disappointed about utopias, we can at least thank them for one of the biggest trends of the past ten years - dystopias!

Tuesday 3 September 2013

Tea for Tuesday

Do you like things that are cold, delicious and quick to make? Do you think that you'll have to pick two? As I discovered on the Tea Lovers G+ community, you can have all three with this lovely chai drink from Willow Arlen. It didn't take much detective work to track Willow down, and she kindly gave me permission to use her photo.

I made my ice cubes with Teavana's Samurai Chai Mate, which has a nice cinnamon kick to it. August has been horribly hot, especially as our house is so good at trapping heat. Despite this, my ice cubes didn't melt as fast as one would have thought, and I finally got the full effect on the second glass of milk. Thank you Willow for sharing your idea!

Saturday 31 August 2013

70s Saturday Sci-Fi Scans

If you have spent any time browsing Wikipedia, you know of the Wikipedia Effect - that is, you quickly look up some fact on Wikipedia (say, the year Wayne Gretzky joined the Oilers) and three hours later you're six degrees of separation away (say, the history of nylon). Unfortunately there's a wiki out there that is eleventy times worse for this, TV Tropes. Let me warn you, clicking on that link will suck up your entire Labour Day weekend!

Despite the name, TV Tropes covers movies and books and catalogs all sorts of archetypes, metaphors and literary devices creators use. Just take a look at....

Citizen of the Galaxy

SLAVE

Brought to Sargon in chains as a child - unwanted by all save a one-legged beggar - Thorby learned well the wiles of the street people and the mysterious ways of his crippled master...

OUTLAW

Hunted by the police for some unknown treasonous acts committed by his beloved owner, Thorby risked his life to deliver a dead man's message and found himself both guest and prisoner aboard an alien spaceship...

CITIZEN

Unaware of his role in an on-going intrigue, Thorby became one of the freest of the free in the entire galaxy as the adopted son of a noble space captain...until he became a captive in an interstellar prison that offered everything but the hope of escape!



I wouldn't call myself a huge Heinlein fan. Some of my favourite works were those that were adapted for old time radio, such as "Journey" and "Green Hills of Earth". Starship Troopers, the movie, is still on my bucket list, I abandoned The Moon is a Harsh Mistress three quarters of the way through, and am still A Stranger in a Strange Land virgin. 

The back cover copy was irresistible, though. Citizen of the Galaxy is so full of tropes that I wonder how many went over my head when I first read it years ago. The trouble with reading is that one can read a writerly work in a readerly way - sort of a Point A to Point B - where the more writerly approach is more thinky, for lack of a technical term. You know it's happened when you read reviews about a book or movie that you loved for its ideas, only to find others were puzzled because it didn't deliver the readerly experience. A writerly work will have layers of meaning to uncover, as the book's TV Tropes page lists. It's also a good reminder that even with all the cliches and archetypes out there, not to get discouraged because an idea has been "done before". It's all been "done before" as long as people have been making stories :-) 


Bonus trivia: The cover art was created by Darrel K. Sweet, and I'll send you to yet another database to discover his decades of SF&F cover art. Don't lose track of time now!