Place and Space

"Place is not only coadunative but also...deconstructive -- deconstructive of oppositions that it brings and holds together within its own ambience.  These oppositions include binary pairs of terms that have enjoyed hegemonic power in Western epistemology and metaphysics.  I am thinking of such dichotomies as subject and object, self and other, formal and substantive, mind and body, inner and outer, perception and imagination (or memory), and nature and culture themselves."

-- Edward S. Casey. 1997.   "How to get from space to place in a fairly short stretch of time: Phenomenological prolegomena"  (36)

Play and Repeat

Wow, this explains soo much!

Karl Hyde (Underworld) - music he listens to over and over again:

2001: A Space Odyssey: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1968 LP)
When I was 11 I locked myself in a wardrobe for two weeks with a record player and the soundtrack to 2001. I took dad's torch to be alone reliving the sensations I'd experienced in the Kidderminster Odeon. It was György Ligeti's work that I felt instant empathy with. It gave me my first insight into the beauty concealed in the union of discordant harmonies. Images of virtual spaces and conceptual rooms floated through my 11-year-old head, rewiring a provincial imagination. The road to a life beyond Worcestershire slowly opened. Thirty-eight years later, working on the score to Danny Boyle's Sunshine, I was shaking, excited, eager to reignite a memory. It felt like coming home, drawing on the experience of that first encounter with a soundtrack that altered the entire course of my life.

Source

Did You Say 'Winter?'

Note

The phenomenological world is not the bringing to explicit expression of a pre-existing being, but the laying down of being.  Philosophy is not the reflection of a pre-existing truth, but, like art, the act of bringing truth into being.
The Phenomenology of Perception Merleau-Ponty

2011 Book Challenge

 1.         1. Ukrainian

         1.

                         2. Theory/Philosophy

           1.

           2.

3.   Tomes

      1. War and Peace

      2. Don Quixote

      3. Drood

4.   Books from the Family

      1. Decolonizing the Mind

      2. Wizard of the Crow

      3. Parlor Politics

      4. Planning the Past or the Invasion Within

5.   Left Behind

      1. The Brothers Karamazov

      2. Dead Souls

      3.The Windup Girl

      4. Landscape Painted with Tea

      5.

6.   Listed

      1. Iron Council

      2. Ash

      3. Life of Pi

      4. Gulag Archipelago

      5. Beloved, Morrison

      6.

7.   South

      1. Sound of Building Coffins

      2. One Hundred Years of Solitude

      3. North and South, Gaskell

      4. A Confederacy of Dunces

      5. Antarctica, Robinson

      6. Zeitoun, Dave Eggers

      7.

8.   Its New to Me

      1.

      2.

      3.

      4.

      5.

      6.

      7.

      8.

9.   Science Fiction/Fantasy

      1. Vivia, Tanith Lee

      2.

      3.

      4.

      5.

      6.

      7.

      8.

      9.

10.  You Tell Me

      1. The Yawning Heights

      2. Pastel City, Harrison

      3.The Fool's Progress by Edward Abbey

      4. The Book Thief

      5. World War Z

      6. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Kundera

      7. 2666, Bolano

      8. Detective Story by Imre Kertesz

      9. Lady Oracle, Atwood

      10.

11. Ongoing Faulkner Challenge

      1. Pylon

      2. Absalom Absalom

      3. The Unvanquished

      4. If I forget Thee Jerusalem

      5. The Hamlet

      6. Go Down Moses

      7. Intruder in the Dust

      8. Requim for a Nun

      9. A Fable

      10. The Town

      11. The Mansion

Explanations:

1. Ukrainian: Read a book in Ukrainian, this will take me all year

2. Theory/Philosophy: General Philosophy or some Anthropology theorist I should have already read

3. Tomes: Is it huge? I'm gonna read it! (But only three).

4. Book from the Family: Actually just books from my brother, I am embarrassed by the number of books he has bought me that I have not read.

5. Left Behind: Books I started, but never finished.

6. Listed: If its on a list -- of any kind -- it goes here.

7. South: Everywhere is south of somewhere, right? But really focused on the U.S. South and South America.

8. Its New to Me: New in 2011, or new author.

9. Science Fiction/Fantasy:

10. You Tell Me: Recommendations? I'll just pick books to read for this category based on any sort of recommendation - personal, Amazon, LT, blog, etc.

11. Ongoing Faulkner Challenge: Once upon a time I was supposed to read 8 Faulkner novels for 2008. That didn't happen, so now I'm just going to read all of them.

NOLA - In Pictures

Just a few tidbits for now, will post more later.  Had a great time, saw some great and not-so-great presentations, ate a lot of food, and hung out with some locals -- but the last is definitely a story for when I have more time.
(p.s. below slideshow seems to work better when you click on the pictures and move them, rather than using the arrows at bottom)

The conference that was a vacation

Today is the big day.  In other words, off to N.O. for the AAA!! Panel is done tomorrow around 4pm, and then time for awesome food, music, and well free time.  At some point, I suppose I will actually attend the conference that I paid a ridiculous amount of money to go to (just talking about fees here,  if you include airfare, food, hotels...actually I don't want to think about it).

But isn't the point of the AAA that students are supposed to mingle and make professional connections? Well yeah, but I know I told you about the time that some grad student tried to talk to Maurice Bloch....

I will just take lots of pictures, especially of the sunshine.  B/c down South they have this thing called "the sun."  It is really hard to see up here in the tundra, especially when it is dark at 4pm.

Mostly I am happy to be finished with grants, turned in the last one yesterday! And to not be teaching for a few days, or worrying about school.  Though of course, when I get back I will have tons of catching up to do.  Like transcribing 2 hours of interviews!

Prisencolinensinainciusol

Prisencolinensinainciusol (watch video)

In de col men seivuan
Prisencolinensinainciusol ol rait

...Uis de seim cius nau op de seim
Ol uait men in de colobos dai
Trrr - ciak is e maind beghin de col
Bebi stei ye push yo oh

Uis de seim cius nau op de seim
Ol uoit men in de colobos dai
Not s de seim laikiu de promisdin
Iu nau in trabol lovgiai ciu gen

In do camo not cius no bai for lov so
Op op giast cam lau ue cam lov ai
Oping tu stei laik cius go mo men
Iu bicos tue men cold dobrei goris
Oh sandei

Ai ai smai sesler
Eni els so co uil piso ai
In de col men seivuan
Prisencolinensinainciusol ol rait

Ai ai smai senflecs
Eni go for doing peso ai
Prisencolinensinainciusol ol rait

Uel ai sint no ai giv de sint
Laik de cius nobodi oh gud taim lev feis go
Uis de seim et seim cius go no ben
Let de cius end kai for not de gai giast stei

Ai ai smai senflecs
Eni go for doing peso ai
In de col mein seivuan
Prisencolinensinainciusol ol rait

Lu nei si not sicidor
Ah es la bebi la dai big iour

Ai aismai senflecs
Eni go for doing peso ai
In de col mein seivuan
Prisencolinensinainciusol ol rait

Lu nei si not sicodor
Ah es la bebi la dai big iour

October Roundup

Not sure what happened to this month.  I can't believe it is Week 10 of the semester.  I have been busy reading, and writing, and revising.  OH, and I made Halloween costumes.  Pictures forthcoming as soon as I find my camera and upload pictures onto my computer.  It was EPIC.  Especially when one of your friends is willing to dress up as the Labyrinth.

No, not a Labyrinth, but the one and only David Bowie/Goblin King Labyrinth.

I would like to point out that this year I did, in fact, complete the RIP challenge.  You just don't know it b/c I didn't post that fourth review.  And I ain't gonna.  No time, no time.  Besides, how am I supposed to review the first gothic novel ever written - The Castle of Otranto?  However, I like to have completed some goals in life, even if in the grand scheme of things they aren't important.

I also importantly submitted not one but two grant applications.  Neither are very good, but at least I turned them in.  Another due on Wednesday, a paper due on Friday.... and then a small breather as we all gear up for the big AAA conference in the Big Easy (New Orleans that is).  Maybe this year will inspire me to write another poem.  The AAA in S.F created an ode to Talal Asad (which I won't dredge up as it was awful).  He is my academic anti-hero. 

Much love and happiness to you all, and happy November.

The Haunting of Hill House

Spoilers

Basic plot summary, four people move into a haunted house for the summer; Eleanor, Theodora, Luke, and Dr. Montague.  I loved this book and I am so very sad that I saw the movie first many years ago.  The entire time I was reading I saw Catherine Zeta-Jones in my head as Theodora.

If I were going to be a horror writer, I would want to write like Shirley Jackson. Her descriptions of the house and her creation of atmosphere, of psychological and emotional tension are all superb. In fact, the beginning of this book might be one of the best I have ever read.

No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within...

This next line also spoke to me. "Hill House, she thought, you're as hard to get into as heaven." There is something subtly creepy about this sentence. We know the house is evil already (by pg 29), we know from pg 1 that it is not sane, and yet, Eleanor's reaction is a comparison to heaven. An example of antithetic parallelism if I have ever seen one (even if we aren't strictly reading poetry).

Another example of how opposition creates horror in this little book.

Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut.

This is a description of a house in order, of an aura of rightness, of correctness. Instead, inside is chaos and madness -- the order itself, the architecture, the clean lines we soon learn are a bit off.  Not skewed in any obvious way, but faintly almost indistinctly except on a subconscious level.  Askew in a way that is perhaps uncanny or to reference Freud more directly un-home-ly:

An instance where something can be familiar, yet foreign at the same time, resulting in a feeling of it being uncomfortably strange

Actually, I find the dialogue in this book to be quite uncanny also.  It often seemed as if the characters were having a normal conversation, just chatting among friends, but in fact the things they would say were so very strange, not quite right but not quite nonsense. 

However, I did find the end to be rather flat.  I am perfectly thrilled to be horrified sans blood, gore, and guts, but I came upon the last words thinking "oh, so this is the end."  I do like how Jackson concludes with the paragraph that began the novel, bringing the book and the house full circle.  What has stood for 80 years will continue to stand for 80 more.  I get that.  I also sense that the title of the book could easily be The Haunting of Eleanor Vance.  I just wish Eleanor had devolved in a more dramatic way.  Clearly, for the last 100 pages or so (well, half the book I suppose), Eleanor is losing her mind.  However, it is all so surreal that, for me, the moment of her death did not quite leave an impact (no pun intended) upon me.  Alas, I fear I am not explaining myself very well.  

Finally, I could have done without Mrs. Montague.  She interrupted the flow of the story.  If I thought about this more -- I literally finished the book about 30 minutes ago -- I might be inclined to forgive Jackson for this.  Perhaps, Mrs. Montague's disruptive influence served a narrative purpose.  I hesitate to think she was just there as a plot device to piss off the ghosts, but that is how I am feeling at the moment.  

But those are minor issues.  Shirley Jackson is an amazing writer, and I am also very sad that I have not read her in more depth before this moment (my only previous encounter being The Lottery).  

Checking In or Checking Out

Must. Read. Shirley. Jackson.

I will, really, I promise.

I finished a draft of my paper and sent it to professors, thought about writing a draft of that pesky conference paper, thought of some good ideas for making my Halloween costume, got pissed off about Yanukovych-related-news in Ukraine, thought about reading for classes next week, and ...

Clearly I've been doing way more "thinking" about things than actually "doing."  But hey, I figure that is a step in the right direction. 

(Sorry all recent post are inane, but then again I remind myself (and you all) that posting total random nonsense was built into the blog concept from the beginning.  And besides we can't all be as cool as China Mieville). 

Do Not Write These Stories

So while I should be doing a thousand other things, I got a little distracted clicking through various blogs I sometimes (i.e. everyday) read as a form of procrastination.

During said process, I came across this page: Horror Stories We Have Seen Too Often.  "This list is part of the submission guidelines for Strange Horizons, an online speculative fiction magazine." Basically a list of plots and subplots that this magazine feels is over done.  Some of these I also think I have seen too often, and I'm not even in the business of reading through hundreds of story submissions.

1. Serial killer or vampire stalks and slays victim(s). --  Now I do like serial killer and vampire stories, but yeah market is the definition of oversaturated right now. 
2. Alien creature lays eggs under the skin of a human (#12 on their list) -- Uh, yeah b/c it is gross and creepy.  I don't think personally I have read too many such stories, but I can see why it is on their list.

But ok, that isn't actually the point of the post; the point (if there is one at all) is about #3:

Protagonist sits around for a while.

1. In the end, it turns out protagonist is dead.
2. In the end, it turns out protagonist is a serial killer.

Seriously?  People have written so many "protagonist sits around for a while" stories that it is now on a list of "things not to do."?  How could anyone ever think that was a good idea for a storyline?
__________________________________

R.I.P news:  Reading The Haunting of Hill House. Wow is this ever one of those instances where Hollywood should have left the book alone.  Shirley Jackson's writing is amazing.  More on this book soon. 

Oh and I have read book #3, but I have to figure out how to review it.  I finished (weeks ago) The Castle of Otranto, but I'm not sure what I have to say that hasn't already been said-- seeing as how it was written in 1764.  It is also, supposedly, the first Gothic novel. 

____________________________

Ok ok, so sorry this post is random, I just have to add something this list is much funnier. Especially:

35. Twee little fairies with wings fly around being twee. 

Proof of Life

I'm around, just haven't been posting, but here are some of the things I have been up to (not in chronological order):

• Saw Obama speak, well sort of, I guess I heard him over speakers with about a block in between us. So I didn't get to see his sparkly charismatic eyes (sorry the latter being a random inside joke).

• Finished a presentation that I was conned into giving.  I think it will be good, or at least sort of entertaining, since a large part of it is me forcing people to listen to Ukrainian folk music.  And also it will be good if I can get all the tech stuff right.  I am honestly hopeless. 

• Gave up Facebook.  Sort of.  I broke my ban to post about my crazy neighbors who may have actually been ghosts that live in the terrifying closet inside of my closet (long story).

• Mustered up the energy to at least look at my grant proposal.  How the hell does one go from a 6 page bibliography to a 2 pg one?  For one second being deadly serious - if anyone has advice on this point I am all ears.

• Checked out ten gazillion books from the library, and started them all.  This is actually linked to the above point.  I have serious school avoidance issues right now probably linked to anxiety.

• Watched Paranormal Activity.  I wasn't impressed.  Well, I was sort of, but lets be honest, I am a sucker for hauntings.  All such movies even bad ones scare me.  I recognize this, still watch them, and yet I think am still aware enough of the ridiculousness of my reaction to be able to say that P.A wasn't a particularly good movie.  (Does that last sentence even make sense?)

• learned a new word, which I really want to find a way to use in random conversation: contumely: insolent or insulting language or treatment; rudeness or contempt arising from arrogance

That is my life recently in a nutshell.  There is a longer list of things I haven't managed to accomplish, but  hey I am trying optimism (sort of) today.  So, what have all the rest of you been up to?

Review: Berserk

By Tim Lebbon
(mostly spoiler free except where noted)

Summary:  Tom has lost his son to a military training exercise 10 years before the book begins.  Near the anniversary of his son's - Steven - death, Tom overhears a conversation that renews his uneasiness about the government's story regarding the "accident" that supposedly killed Steven.  He pursues a vague set of clues and rumors that lead him to a military cover up, a horrifying secret, and new information about his son's fate.

What I Liked:  After a slightly slow beginning the pace of the story picked up - it was quite an action packed adventure.  Some of the ideas in the book were fairly creative, especially the background information.  The writing wasn't the worst and Lebbon is decent at conveying visuals to the reader.  The ending wasn't totally obvious and there were a few unexpected twists.

Now then, why are all my positive comments so trivial?

Things that Annoyed Me:  Foremost, at the beginning, the "interrupting narrator" voice (maybe there is a more technical term for this?).  By way of example, I mean the foreshadowing of horror to come, "But if he had only known then what was to come later..."  In small doses fine, I guess the technique serves to build atmosphere.  However, Lebbon over did it a bit and several times bordered on the melodramatic.  Thankfully this was only a problem for the first quarter or so of the book.

The main character Tom is seriously lame.  He spent a lot of time whining, saying "Oh God" or "I am confused."  You might count the times someone in that book says "confused" and come up with a ridiculously high number.  Find another word please.  At the opposite end where Tom is pathetic and annoying, Cole - the main antagonist (sort of) - is too much of a bad ass.  He gets away with unbelievably crazy behavior, not sure how he made it to the end of the book.  I will admit that Lebbon did try to give both characters some depth, but I don't think he succeeded very well.  In fact, many of the characters in Berserker had inconsistent personalities especially Natasha - another main character who has a rather ambiguous role in Lebbon's story.

Spoilerish problems:

There is this thing with categories.  I am all for blurring boundaries, being creative, rethinking old cliches, but the author tried way too hard to create a monster that was everything scary he could possibly think of; traits of vampires, werewolves, and ghosts.  In addition, he threw in scary science gone wrong, psychic powers, mind control, and viruses in combination with creepy military programs and conspiracy theories.  Not to mention psychotic/terrifying children (see cover).  My Quote of the Moment (top to your right) is rather perfect here.  Honestly, there were just too many things going on for it to be enjoyable. 

Finally, if you are going to use "science" to explain away the supernatural, I need to be convinced.  This might merely be a personal problem, but the vagueness of some sort of man made super-monster turned into infectious vampire creating machine seems like a cop out to me.  A random reference here and there to syringes and military secret programs gone wrong is not enough.  I want to know more about where these creatures came from.  And here is where I think the background story was more interesting than the one Lebbon actually told.  I think had he backed the story up and not done the "10 years after" thing, I might have liked it a lot more.

3/5
(btw, I am probably way more generous with stars when it comes to horror than with other genres)

You Should Watch This

By now most of you probably know about my semi-obsession with the band DakhaBrakha.  I personally think they are the most amazing Ukrainian band I have ever heard.*  They play mostly what I would call "folk" music, but what they refer to as "ethno-chaos."  I wrote a paper about them for my ethnomusicology class, so I have both an academic and a personal interest. 

Anyway, the point of all of this is to say that you should watch this video:
http://vimeo.com/14950124

The song and the video are both beautiful.  Sorry, I don't off the top of my head have a translation for the title, nor can I tell you what the song is about exactly.  If I thought about it more I would tell you about how the imagery and the lyrics (in other songs) have clear connections to Romantic Nationalism, modernity, nostalgia, and avant garde**.  But not today.  I will add, however, that I find the video a tad bit creepy, especially starting around 4:50. 

Enjoy!!

*But never seen - they have a tendency to be in places either right before or right after I am there.  It is very sad.  Although, I did see Nina (if you watch the video she is the girl with the braids) in L'viv during the summer. 
**The band originated at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Kyiv (DAKH). 

Review: Daybreakers

I am going to keep this short.*  I really liked this movie.  I know pop culture is over saturated with vampires these days in all forms - sparkly, law enforcing, vicious, loveable, children, etc.  But here is what I loved about Daybreakers.

It shamelessly exploits every vampire myth you ever heard of.  Stab them through their heart - check.  Sunlight is deadly - check.  Can't see one in the mirror - check.  Cut off their heads - check.  However, it takes all these predictable elements and wraps them up in an almost Marxian social commentary mixed with some original characteristics that you would have never thought of.**

Things I didn't like***: the bloodbath scenes that were utterly unnecessary; the fact that there will almost definitely be a sequel; the lack of a back-story -- how did all those people become vampires in the first place?  What sort of disease/epidemic causes vampirism? 

4/5 Stars


*mostly b/c I suck at writing reviews.
** or at least I wouldn't have, but I'm not a writer
*** in order from most annoying to least

Saving the World Through Psychedelics...

Yesterday I had the "pleasure" of going to a football game.  This was only my second ever, and both times have been fairly lackluster.  First time the band - one of the highlights of our school's football matches - was suspended, and yesterday there was a serious lack of competition.  If we had lost...well, I don't think we could have lost.  I was however all psyched up for the drunken undergrads figuring I would see some interesting sights and rather happy that I couldn't yet recognize my students.

But really, they were all pretty chill.  Nothing super extraordinary happened.  One girl almost fell down the concrete stairs due to her drunken stupor, but was helped by a very nice gentleman.  And someone before the game told me that he was "saving the world from nukes through psychedelics."  Only other extraordinary sight was the girl whose boots looked more like Furbies wrapped around her ankles than actual shoes.  I wish I had a picture b/c they might have been the ugliest shoes I have ever seen (in the U.S. at least). 

Despite the lack of excitement, I did have a good time especially as the day was sort of a post-birthday celebration.  I have not been having the best few weeks since around mid-August and didn't really do much on my actual b-day, so it was nice to socialize a bit.  I also discovered my new favorite vodka.  Wish I knew where to buy a bottle.  It was flavored with blood oranges!! A bit sweet, but I like sweet drinks so it was perfect for me. 

Oh, and I am ABD now, I finished my scarf/wrap thingy, and ... I was trying to think of some more good news, but drawing a blank.  How sad. 

Review: Horns

One of the signs for me of a good book is if it compels me to sit still and read it in large chunks, maybe even all at once.  Now granted, I don't always have time to do this since grad school, and furthermore compulsive reading is not the only sign of greatness; otherwise, I would have to condemn Kraken to mediocrity since I have been slowly plodding through it since late July. 

The point, however, is to say that Horns was one of the most engaging reads I have recently come across.  It is a tale of transformation on multiple levels.  The premise is that Ignatius Perrish (Ig) wakes up one morning after a less than wise night out to find a pair of horns growing from his head.  However, he does not just change physically, but also mentally and emotionally as the story unfolds - although not always in a positive way. 

I did notfind Horns outright horrifying even though there are some cruel acts of violence.  The book was disturbing more on a psychological level.  Ultimately, I think the author Joe Hill has a rather pessimistic view of humanity.  The characters in this book express some pretty deviant desires and fantasies.  I didn't find that any of them had truly redeeming qualities.  No doubt if you have read the book you will adamently disagree right about now.

But wait, you say, isn't the novel also about love?! What about Merrin Ig's girlfriend?  Isn't their story a beautiful if tragic tale of love and redemption?  Well, personally I think it could have been.  Maybe Merrin was supposed to embody the good in humanity, but she was not quite developed enough as a character, and I simply was not convinced.

Furthermore, the climax at the end lost some of its power due to Hill's movement from writing dark humor to camp.  Franky, the last third of the book was a bit too much.  Some "lighter" moments, rather than lifting the somber mood a bit with laughter, just became quite ridiculous.

Despite these rather critical reflections, I actually did enjoy Horns.  The first half was definitely stronger, powerful enough that I kept reading to see what would happen to Ig despite my problems with the ultimate resolution.  4/5 Stars

____________________________

As for the film challenge, I watched Daybreakers. I will write a review soon.  I have checked out too many books from the library as usual.  This habit is atrocious as I end up overwhelmed with choices.  I don't know what to read next.

I also read a few short stories from some anthology that is at present lost under my bed (?) and unfortunately I don't remember the name of it.  For a fact however, it should not be called a "horror" collection.  The first three selections are exceedingly boring and I probably won't finish the rest.  

Finally, I also might not read Berserk by Tim Lebbon for a semi-stupid reason.  I can't look at the cover - even during the day time.  I think the front of that book might be the most terrifying one I have ever seen. 

Barely Contained Excitement

Maybe I should be posting this on the other blog, but whatever, I don't even remember why I have two.  The point is:

I bought a plane ticket to Toronto!!

And actually the plan this year is to not spend the entire time following "the band" around, or so I hear.*  Maybe, finally, I will get to see more of Toronto than simply Bloor Street.**  The excuse as always is the Ukrainian festival.  However, I also get to see all my lovely amazing Canadian friends (and an Ohian*** too). 

In book news, I read Horns by Joe Hill.  When I get around to writing a review I will tell you all about how much I loved it; 4/5 starts at least.  Also, currently reading The Left Hand of God, which is equally good, but I don't like the main character much. 

In movie news, I watched a million British pre-20th century period romances.  Why? I have all of no idea.  Seriously.  And From Paris With Love, which is utterly stupid.  But I needed to watch it so I can send it back.  Next up for "Peril on the Screen" is Daybreakers. 

And did I mention how excited I am about Toronto?!

*I love Ludy Dobri, both musically and as people, but last year was annoying (not the show, just the "groupy-ness" of it all).
** I exaggerate I have been a few other places in the city.
*** As in a person from Ohio, not sure what else to call them. 

Review: The Horsemen

The Horsemen (2009) starring Dennis Quaid
Minor Spoilers

An apocalyptic biblical themed serial killer movie.  Sounds exciting right? Well, you will be disappointed, or least I was.  The first hour of the movie is boring, and the second half fails to tear at your heartstrings. 

We have your stereotypical overworked dad/detective trying to raise his children after their mother died.  Yeah, sounds familiar I know, even Stargate Universe used it*. He is plodding along and gets involved in a murder case because he has "special knowledge" - the murder was tailor made for him (or was it....?).   In the midst of police procedures or other mundane activities the camera flashes to something bloody.  The directors tried to liven things up with gratuitous images of bloody body parts, but I was not impressed.  I don't mind blood and gore, but it should serve some purpose in the film rather than trying to cover up your pathetic attempts at a thriller. 

I could drag out a long list of things I didn't like about this movie, but I will stick to the main problem.  The film employs absurd plot furthering devices to get the story moving along.  The sudden insights of knowledge, those ah ha moments that worked for Downey Jr. in Sherlock Holmes, they just aren't believable here.  A man who isn't religious** has this amazing biblical revelation?***  It seemed random.  In another part, the detective has an intimate heartfelt conversation with the daughter of one of the victims, and then suddenly....

Well, I won't tell you what happened, but the point is, it shouldn't have happened, because I cannot believe that a detective would ditch his kids to go meet with some victim's daughter and divulge his soul to her.  Really? The writers couldn't think of any other way to get to the next chapter?!

Finally, the acting was just bad.  I never sympathized with any of the characters.  I wasn't horrified by the evil villain (nor did I feel sorry for this person).  I wasn't moved by the morality speech at the end.  As another review put it, I was really glad when the movie was over.  Oh, and the "surprise" ending? The plot "twists"?  Guessed them all.  Usually I am really bad at this, but these were all based on pretty generic stereotypes, so that made it easier. 

2/5 Stars because I did actually finish watching the movie. 

*I am exaggerating a bit, but there is a character in S.G.U. whose wife died of cancer.
** Though his wife was and he is seen at church he felt more of a "dutiful" church goer than a faithful one. 
*** Pun intended

R.I.P. Challenge: Peril the First

Read four books in any of the following categories (or whatever you might think is "scary"):

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

Despite advice (sorry Carl) to just read one book, I can't help it, I have to go with the 4 book challenge.  I have a few scattered wishlists on various sites, so I decided to go through them to compile pool of potential reads.  

 

Serial killers? Sounds like Halloween to me.

I have heard a lot about this one from various people, and I like many of her other books, so I am hoping it will be as good as everyone has said it is. 

Last year I had City of Saints and Madmen on the list.  I never managed to read it.  I am determined to read Vandermeer one day.

This one is at my house right now, so it is a pretty likely candidate.  Also another book I have heard a lot about. 








Berserk by Tim Lebbon: Not posting the cover because it is too creepy and too late at night right now for me to look at it.  Probably makes it a good choice.

Not sure if this one totally counts, but then again it is a mystery and there are some seriously evil bad guys.  On the other hand, I did start it before the challenge, so maybe that is cheating. 






And as for Peril on Screen, the movie challenge, the next film up on my queue is Daybreakers.

R.I.P Challenge

I fail miserably at this every year.  I never finish reading the books I say I am going to read.  But this year, oh yes, this year I will do it!!  In between the teaching, grant writing, and coursework of course.  But actually this year there is a new film challenge in addition to the book challenge.  I really like scary movies. 

Here is the website that hosts the annual event.

As of right now, I am undecided on which Peril I will go for.  Or even which books I want to read.  But as we know (and you can check the previous RIP posts) I never read the things I say I will read.  So, I might not even make a list this year.  

Cyanide and Michael Jackson

I was poisoned!! I swear this is a true story. I was talked into going to a 80s vs 90s dance party Michael Jackson Birthday Extravaganza.  Before that we met for some beers.  And my friend had this "beef jerky" but it was Chinese.  Well, he had eaten a lot and said it was good, so I thought I would be adventurous and try some.  It tasted like dog food - and I'm not even trying to make some sort of horribly wrong racist joke, it really tasted like dog food mixed with Sweet n Low or some sort of fake sugar.  After I had eaten a small piece, friends decide to look at the ingredients.  One of them was cyanide.  I do not jest.  

Apparently, I have not died yet.  Unless the 80s vs 90s dance party was some sort of contrapasso made especially for me, and I am in fact dead, and that was my hell.  Maybe, since I did end up singing Happy Birthday to Michael Jackson along w/about 100 other people.  And watched several poor souls attempt and FAIL miserably at the moonwalk.  Sad, so sad they were.  However, I have concluded my feet do not hurt enough for that to have been hell.  And I didn't get any beer or other liquid spilled on me. 

Although, isn't cyanide a slow killer?...

In other randomness, words I learned recently:

numismatics: the study of currency

eidolon: a living person's astral double

Arts and Crafts

I remembered yesterday that I know how to crochet.  So now I am trying to finish this scarf/shawl thing I started eons ago.  When finished I promise to post a picture.  Correction - if I finish.

Otherwise, I really like the pattern I created today:


Color by COLOURlovers

New Music Moment

As always by "new" I mean new to me, but in this case fairly new - 2008 I think.

Time to Pretend - MGMT


I'm feeling rough I'm feeling raw
I'm in the prime of my life
Let's make some music, make some money
Find some models for wives
I'll move to Paris shoot some heroin
And fuck with the stars
You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars

This is our decision
To live fast and die young
We've got the vision
Now lets have some fun

Yeah, it's overwhelming
But what else can we do?
Get jobs in offices
And wake up for the morning commute?
Forget about our mothers and our friends
We're fated to pretend
To pretend
We're fated to pretend
To pretend

I'll miss the playgrounds
And the animals and digging up worms
I'll miss the comfort of my mother and
The weight of the world
I'll miss my sister miss my father
Miss my dog and my home
Yeah, I'll miss the boredom and the freedom
And the time spent alone

But there is really nothing
Nothing we can do
Love must be forgotten
Life can always start off anew

The models will have children
We'll get a divorce
We'll find some more models
Everything must run its course
We'll choke on our vomit
That will be the end
We were fated to pretend
To pretend
We're fated to pretend
To pretend
I said yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah

Words I Learned Today

1) susurrate: to issue soft noises

2)benthic: of, relating to, or occurring in the bottom of the ocean (or other body of water)

New Louisiana Laws

I just have to say something about this.

Gun restrictions will loosen, allowing concealed weapons in some churches and near most schoolyards and permitting firearms at state parks and historic sites.

BUT A ban on texting while driving will get tougher.

AND Grand Isle residents will no longer have to pay a toll to cross the bridge to their home.

Starting backwards, why the hell did Grand Isle residents ever have to pay a toll to get home. That is just stupid. Glad someone figured that out.

More importantly:

Go ahead and bring your gun to church grandma, but for god's sake don't text!


I do get that texting while driving is dangerous. I am not against that law, but the irony kills me. You are apparently worried about people injuring others while texting in the car, but you loosen gun restrictions!! Near schools and churches and parks! My mind is blown. And by the way, what does "some" churches mean?

Where are people's priorities?

Oh, Rapture!

Rapture

• a state or experience of being carried away by overwhelming emotion

• the end times in Christian theology

Regarding the first, I turned in the stupid paper that I have been working on sort of constantly since I got back from the FSU. Hurray! It is officially out of my hands. I don't think there was anything else to do with. I mean the paper has 9 pages of references. I just kept reading things that I thought were relevant. But it had to stop.

The second is regarding random articles about end of empires, end of the world weather, and apocalyptic books. It is all around us... beware*
____


Color by COLOURlovers


*Mostly kidding.

Two Things

Flathead by The Fratellis


Just because she feeds me well
and she made me talk dirty in a pink hotel
doesn't mean she's got eyes for me
she might just want my bones you see

hey flathead don't you get mean
she's the second best killer that I have ever seen
they don't come much more sick than you
I could go on if you want me to

it's just so wrong so very nice I told you
once and you killed me twice

I saw you one time at the back of the
club chewing on glass and a ticket stub
I heard they kicked the boy till he bled
then stood and said oh my god till she said

bara bap bara ra ra bara bap bara ra ra ra...

everybody knows you're the one to call
when the girls get ugly at the back of the wall
Josephine says you got a bleeding nose
so taking it with her wherever she goes

hey flathead don't check me in
well hers is a tonic and mine is a gin
they don't come much more slick
than you I'd drive your car if you ask me to

said the boy's not right in the head
so he stood and got a kicking instead till she said
bara bap bara ra ra bara bap bara ra ra ra...

And she said the boy's not right in the head
And you stood and said oh my god till she said
bara bap bara ra ra bara bap bara ra ra ra..


Supernova by Me

Color by COLOURlovers

Remember Me?

Oh hi,yes, I am still around. Came back from summer-fun-with-language, and have sort of been working on finishing those pesky prelim papers.

In other news, I am hopelessly distracted by this site. Why is it so much fun? Who knows...It doesn't take much to distract me anymore btw. Basically you create colors, palettes, and patterns and then people rate them. This is like the online version of coloring for me, which I must admit even up until grad school I used to do quite often. I like colors, and new colors, and learning new color words. Yeah, I know, weird hobby.

But actually you get to make things like this:

Color by COLOURlovers

I have also been reading the new China Mieville book. Called Kraken. If you have never heard of this writer, I suggest at least reading this book. It is about cult conspiracies in London, the end of the world, and giant squid deities. How awesome is that! (Please note connection to this paragraph and the thing right above :).

Apology

So sorry that I subjected you all to that naked mole rat picture for so long. I apologize.

I have to pack right now, but hey maybe later I will post some better pictures - of flowers, and sunshine, and summer in La.

That is if I figure out how to squeeze all the stuff I want to take into one suitcase. Third summer I have done this and I still can't pack light. I truly need everything.

Totally Random

Learned about this creature today. One of the most hideous things I have ever seen. You should watch the video on BBC. They had the dumbest headline "Saber Toothed Sausage" which of course made me want to see what the hell they were talking about. It was the Naked Mole Rat. Interesting creature, but I am utterly turned off by its appearance.

And yes, I do have better things to be doing. But whatever...

Adventures on Metro Transit and Zombies

I actually think I need a blog solely devoted to the nonsense that happens to me on the buses in this city. First it was the bus that skipped half of its route. Then it was the driver w/a serious nicotine problem - he would speed super fast to make up time then stop at every 4th or so bus stop to have a few quick puffs. Oh and the driver who used his loud speaker to yell at a girl across 4 lanes of traffic, the same driver who backed up a block to pick up some person (this would be a good deed except it was on a major highway).

And today a driver clearly was paying zero attention to anything. Stopped at a light, I noticed from the back of the bus, that the road ahead was blocked. Common occurrence during the weekend in this part of town, the thing to do is take that right at the light we were stopped at. He kept going. And didn't realized until nearly upon the road blocks that he could not get through and began cursing loudly. Idiot. I just laughed at him for a bit, and then laughed even more as he attempted to turn the bus around (these things are huge btw) in a narrow street b/c a potential left turn he might have taken to get out of the mess was also blocked off due to construction.

Oh and by the way, all of this shit happens on the SAME ROUTE. Yes, the very same #. Maybe other routes have drama, but clearly the people they hire for this one are insane/morons/crackheads.

I also need to start a blog dedicated to the stupidity I see in the book store. Or maybe stupidity is too harsh. Things that annoy me in the campus book store. Now obviously these books are not the fault of the store, but rather the fault of America and publishing companies, and stupid people who create the market for these sort of books.

#1 on my list of annoyances recently is the book called Obama's Zombies about how the Obama campaign brainwashed the iPod generation via Twitter, email, and Facebook. Written by a "new young conservative" this book has made its way onto the bestseller list. I almost bought it, just to see how truly terrible it was, but thankfully resisted that rather masochistic urge. #2 The zombie/monster rewrites. One was fine, two was ok, but now it is annoying. There is a zombie prequel to Austin's Pride and Prejudice. This fad in books will be milked by publishers until it is utterly beyond the point of ridiculousness. #3 Saw this book of poetry. Apparently whomever is in charge of writing the blurbs on the back thought it was super important to classify the book as "pre-Katrina" since it was about New Orleans. This belongs in the realm of a larger peeve of mine, which I will not go into right now.

On a happy note - the semester is almost over!! Hurray!! Hurray!! :)

Computer Misery

So, this is the story of how I made my life miserable. Simply b/c I have to type 9000 things this semester, I decided to be careless with my computer and drop it. Now luckily I caught it. Not so luckily I broke one of the keys off. I thought maybe it would just go back on. So I enlisted the help of my friends who tried to put it back on. And I then left my computer in the company of one person, while I went to a meeting. When I came back, two keys were off.

Good news, the comparison between the W key I broke and the E key my friend removed revealed that I needed replacement parts. This is good to know, since we could see that a bit of plastic was missing.

Bad news, the E isn't really working properly now, so potentially random intentional removal resulted in damage to the key sensor, not just the plastic.

Yeah I know I am typing here, but it is slow b/c I have to repeatedly hit the E key or backspace to add it. Annoying. Especially while writing long papers, and when I want to type fast not at a snail's pace.

Even worse news, Toshiba doesn't sell the bit of plastic to "end-users" which I guess means me. They only sell the entire keyboard.

In other misery related news, see other blog.

Painting

In case no one knew, I actually enjoy painting, so below is a picture of the room I helped paint yesterday! It was a good choice, and I admit to being wrong in initially not liking the color (before it was on the wall). It is rather hard to tell the color in this picture, sorry, but it is a pretty green.
My break from Spring Break work also included cheesecake, awesome chocolate, Project Runway, and ANTM. :)

Today I...

wrote a paper. Sort of. I mean I did write the paper, but it is not very good. And it isn't actually done b/c I mean I literally wrote the paper, i.e. with a pen. So it isn't typed, so I have to type it. And add all the sections where I said "see star" or "see pg one" or "see quote" or "see other introduction." In other words, it is not assembled and the pieces are all over my room, might be a few outside too (on the porch).

Oh and I uh did not write (or even type, or really think about) the paper that is due TOMORROW. Funny how that was a self-imposed deadline. Hi, prof I NEED a deadline to function. Ok, how about March 31st? Great! And the email tomorrow will read, sorry but I really haven't had time to even look at your paper.

Spring Break

Yep, it is Spring Break, so I have next week off, but won't be doing much but reading.* I am probably helping a friend paint, which will be fun since I actually like painting. Might eat a lot of candy since apparently my mom is sending me a box full.

Saw Alice by the way. Liked it, but there was something off. Burton are you losing your edge? The ending just did not work at all. A local newspaper gave it a C+ while giving that stupid new New Orleans movie an A. I wouldn't say it was that bad (or the other was even remotely that good.** Maybe a B or even B+, b/c really the only annoyance was the ending. You can't trust those reviewers, I swear!

In other news, here is my summary of recent grad school drama. In case you care to know.

Oh and this is what I want for my birthday. Well tickets I should say. If you start a fundraiser right now, maybe we can raise enough money for me to go.

I have zero other news. Seriously. I can't even complain about my sections b/c they are pretty standard and drama free this semester. Thank God. One less stressor is always welcome.

One last thing. this is happening soon. I have a couple of movies picked out in case I have time to go, and considering last year's fiasco I will definitely buy tickets before the day of the film.


*And yes, I am updating my blog despite my promise to do "nothing but work." I read a million articles this morning. I am done reading for this paper. It is already too long, so I am just going to write the rest of this evening.
** No, I haven't seen it, but I refuse too. Just like the Frog Princess Disney thing.

Oh, Alice!

Did I ever mention how much I love Johnny Depp... and Tim Burton....and Alan Rickman....and Lewis Carroll....

Aren't I lucky that all of my favorite things happen to be in a movie that is coming out on Friday?

Aren't I even more lucky that my friends want to go see a movie that I want to see? This rarely happens.

Hot Chocolate Induced Insomnia

Seriously what the hell? I know that it was rich thick amazing chocolate, but I cannot actually believe that I am still awake. While this does give me an opportunity to pretend that I have a blog that I update, I do need to be productive tomorrow, which means I need to go to sleep now. Not likely to happen any time soon :(

Also not likely b/c my friend is on Skype and we decided to relive the funny terrifying moments spent in the convent in Ukraine this summer. As most people know, we didn't actually live in the convent, but in converted apartments in the courtyard. A key moment being when the mirror crashed to the floor around midnight scaring us to death: my roommate said "call 911" and I grabbed a vase for "protection." Not a good moment for either of us :)

But otherwise...what have I been up to since the SuperBowl? Well nothing. Went out for Valentine's Day, had fun dancing, became even more addicted to a certain band, applied for funding and stuff, wrote a few pages, read a few books, had an existential (or maybe theoretical) crisis, became involved in random department drama. And to add one thing more:

Started a secessionist movement - that is crucial and defining. Long live the Republic of West Florida!!

But sadly the people (person?) who reads this already knew all of that. Bleh.

Geaux Saints

Who dat won the SuperBowl?!! The Saints, the Saints!!

Ok, I am done. Just a moment of euphoria for the boys back home.

I might decide to wear Saint's colors tomorrow, some random combination of black and gold. To make things more interesting (and tacky) how about gold Mardi Gras beads? Hm....

Urban Fantasy

Please do me the favor of clicking on the below link and telling me what all those books have in common.

New Releases in Fantasy/SF

Notice something similar in the topic, or perhaps in the covers?

Not that I really begrudge anyone their success, b/c honestly these authors make waaay more money than me. I am just overwhelmed.

Wandering around in University Bookstore the other day, took a glance at the so-called "Horror" section. What did I see? Basically all supernatural romances that involve vampires, were-wolves, demons, or angels of the exact same variety overwhelmingly represented in the Amazon new releases above.

I just don't get it. I have nothing against books on vampires or dark fantasy or whatever (love Tanith Lee, love Storm Constantine, loved early PZB, liked early Anne Rice), but I just get a sense that the books coming out right now are all taken from the same mold. And then made into movies, or t.v. shows, or t-shirts, which means that they are everywhere.

I know, I am being unfair. I do realize this, but I was annoyed. Especially b/c I was in search of some new interesting book. I was potentially going to buy something. But alas, not today, b/c I am discouraged by the state of the genre at the moment.

On the other hand, if anyone has suggestions of things that I might like to read, please let me know.

Football Madness

As if everyone didn't already know - yes, the Saints for the first time ever are going to the Superbowl.

But I'm not going to tell you about that. The funnier story is how I have thought for the past year that my t.v. didn't work, but actually it does. I really am just a moron.

So, there was that stupid "digital t.v." nonsense, and I got a converter box. And I thought I followed the instructions, but apparently I am illiterate (though what would the word be if you can't read/understand pictorial instructions?).

I was talking to my mom about my lack of t.v., looked some up at a few stores on line, realized how expensive they were now, and decided not to worry about it. However, over the phone I should point out, mom was all like did you do x, y, z. And I was all like "my t.v. doesn't have that"....."oh, wait, yes it does." Mom - you should connect blah blah blah. Me "if this works you are not allowed to make fun of me." It worked of course. Mom- in the background trying oh so hard to pretend that she wasn't laughing hysterically b/c to make sure you understand I must point out that she has never seen my t.v. or this converter box thing.

On the positive side, I was all set to watch the Saints game (but actually watched it elsewhere and embarrassed myself even more by failing at a Wii game). On the negative side, watched random t.v. shows all afternoon. At least, I did get to see The Big Bang Theory, which is the funniest show EVER (no, I don't care if you disagree). And now I can see new episodes of Criminal Minds considering I became addicted over break. More ways to procrastinate - not a good start to a fun filled semester of supposedly writing 90+ pages. But it never is....

Random Pictures

Went to a famous local restaurant that supposedly has the best mufalettas, Liuzza's. The above drink was called a BushWhacker that consists of a "stealthy" concoction of alcohols. Three out of three of us agreed that it was basically a White Russian with some sort of coconut rum, probably Malibu. It was superb.

The above photo is the sandwich. Actually not a traditional mufaletta b/c it is made on French bread - thus, a frenchaletta. It was HUGE. But amazingly warm and delicious, and I think I gained about 10 pounds eating it in conjuction with that drink and some savory onion rings.

The demon cat Hermione.

Waiting for food. I love this picture.

Random tree outside of my mom's work place.

The Piney Woods.

Winter Break

In case you were curious, what have I been up to? Oh, nothing. I watch tv all day, especially Criminal Minds, which I have become addicted to. In May, when I was here last, it was NCIS, and before that it was Stargate. Clearly, I have a problem. But whatever, I don't have tv back up north, I get distracted enough by Netflix.

I managed to read one book. I didn't like it, and I haven't been doing anything productive (like reading or preparing for prelims), but one book is better than nothing I guess. Anyway it was The Nun by Diderot. My brother threw it at me (literally) when I asked for "light" reading. It isn't really, at least not in my opinion. The book is about some girl whose parents hate her and send her to some convent where she is miserable and tries to leave and is tortured by all these Mother Superiors. (yes, that was a runon sentence). Whatever was sort of my attitude upon finishing it. Oh, and I just recalled that I read another book whilst stranded in the airport for 15 hours on Christmas Eve, but I cannot find it right now and I don't remember the title. It was good (better than The Nun), except for the ending, which sort of ruined my entire experience with it. Yes, I know annoying that I am talking about a nameless book so that you have absolutely no reference point for my comments. Sorry.

My sister just said the best thing ever, "It is like there is nothing to do except go to sleep!" I actually totally agree except that Criminal Minds comes on for 2 hours pretty soon. It is the only thing that keeps me going (totally just kidding I promise).

Hm...what else? Well, I went to see Sherlock Holmes, it is now officially on my very short list of favorite movies. I enjoyed every second of it; Robert and Jude were perfect, their ridiculous bickering and sarcastic comments were endlessly entertaining to me :) For at least this once, I wouldn't mind a sequel (and I really really hate useless inferior sequels to amazing movies - i.e Pirates of the Caribbean). Tomorrow, ooohh, tomorrow Daybreakers comes out. It is another vampire movie to add to the, at this point, annoying vampire craze, but at least it isn't a pre-teen romance movie about bloodsuckers. Luckily I have my sister and mother to go see it with me. I think I have used all of my horror movie passes up with my friends in the tundra. After forcing various people to see 30 Days of Night, A Haunting in Connecticut, and Fourth Kind they might refuse to go see any movie with me ever again. Which means that I will not get to see Paranormal State (which is still playing in random theaters), Antichrist, or Legion. So sad.

And folks, I think that is about all that has been happening here. Went shopping, met up with some friends, celebrated a few holidays...yep, that is everything. Hope everyone else's breaks were restful and/or entertaining.