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.

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!

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!

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!

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.

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

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!

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!