Episode 76 — Torture Literature Meets Modelland by Tyra Banks
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/www.archive.org/download/TheSkiffyAndFantyShow6.3–TortureLiteratureMeetsModellandByTyra/Sandf–Episode6.3–TortureLiteratureMeetsModellandByTyraBanks.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSThis week marks our first ever Torture Literature show. And you’re definitely in for a treat. We decided months and months ago that we would read and review Modelland by Tyra Banks. Why would we do this to ourselves? Because we think punishing ourselves is a great way to entertain all of you. So sit back, turn on the episode, and enjoy! Note: If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 76 — Download (MP3) Intro and Torture Cinema Meets Modelland by Tyra Banks (0:00 – 45:01) Modelland on Amazon (Save yourself and don’t read it…) Tyra Banks’ Website Some extra goodies for you all: And now some tweets (from Shaun)(read them from the bottom up): Also: having your 1st period in #Modelland is superseded by how interested you are in your roommate’s toothbrush. Foh real. Staying on menstruation in #Modelland — protagonist’s 1st period takes up less than 1pg. Because clearly it’s important for young girls. It’s apparently important to remind us that women naturally synch their menstrual cycles. Instantly in #Modelland. Thanks, Tyra. GTK. Smart people in #Modelland know algorithmic statistics (but never show it) and put together jigsaw puzzles w/ 30 pieces. Yeah… I’m glad someone is getting joy out of my #Modelland troubles.@actuallyaisha Heaven knows I’m dying right now… Because calling something the Common Room would be too obvious, Tyra came up with UnCommon Room. *snort* #Modelland I don’t think I can do this anymore. #Modelland is so bad it’s actually giving me the shakes. And I can’t throw an ebook at the wall… Skimming #Modelland doesn’t help with the reading experience. You end up focusing only on the really bad parts. Ugh. Apparently Yorkshire terriers exist in the world of #Modelland, even though it’s not clear whether England does. #WorldbuildingGaps Not related to reading: Tim Tebow = most annoying football player since T.O. Like watching Jesus Camp over and over…and over… Let’s get one thing straight: Tyra Banks is not going to be a legitimate poet anytime soon… #Modelland #awfulpoetry #Modelland Poetry Anthology: “Modelland is your new HOME / Welcome to the superDOME / For you XX-chromoSOMED / Modelland is your new home” #Modelland Dictionary — Mannecant (n): a servant to the BellaDonna of Modelland. Derived from servant (n) and mannequin (n). #eyeroll Mythology from #Modelland: “Long, long ago, the battle raged between the Muses and the nail polish remover.” <–Actual quote… For some reason, becoming an Intoxibella (Tyra’s version of a super model with magic power) requires an obstacle course w/ fire #Modelland The basic plot of #Modelland is almost exactly like Harry Potter. Run the basics through your head, turn “wizards” into “models.” Done… .@Dhympna I’m reading it for @skiffyandfanty — We’re recording tonight. Torture Literature. First episode. Released tomorrow #Modelland If you guessed Bestosterone (the name of the academy) and ManAttack (the name of the class), you are correct. #Modelland Can you guess the name of the male modeling academy in Modelland? How about one of its classes? Go on, guess. I really should have been tweeting about Modelland *while reading it.* Because this book is fucking awful… —————————————————————————– Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks! Thanks for listening. See you next week.
Breaking News: Film Rights for Zoo City (@laurenbeukes) Picked Up by Helena Spring
I’ll let the Angry Robot press release do all the talking: TOP SOUTH AFRICAN PRODUCER WINS COVETED FILM RIGHTS IN INTERNATIONAL ‘BID FEST’ TO MULTIPLE AWARD-WINNING AND BESTELLING NOVEL “ZOO CITY” by SOUTH AFRICAN AUTHOR LAUREN BEUKES “Beukes’ energetic noir phantasmagoria, the winner of this year’s Arthur C. Clarke Award, crackles with original ideas.” – (Jeff VanderMeer, New York Times Book Review) Helena Spring, widely regarded as one of South Africa’s most accomplished motion picture producers, has just been awarded the highly sought-after film rights to Zoo City, the Sci-Fi thriller penned by South African author Lauren Beukes – who garnered the 2011 Arthur C. Clarke Award for best Science Fiction novel. In the wake of whopping sales figures, multiple awards and critical acclaim Beukes’ book generated fierce interest from numerous bidders in the entertainment industry, putting Spring alongside major US and UK producers eager to tell Beukes’ unique tale. Zoo City was published first in South Africa by Jacana Media and thereafter internationally by by Angry Robot. The urban fantasy is set in a futuristic, gritty and hard-core Johannesburg where the eponymous ghetto has been colonised by society’s outcasts – like criminals, drug-dealers and psychopaths, and their animal companions. Like the other residents of the Zoo City slum, Zinzi, the anti-heroine, is “animalled”, but she is also a shrewd, street-smart girl with the gift (or burden) of finding lost things. Zinzi wears her power animal, a sloth, on her back. When she is hired to find a missing teenybopper star, she hopes that it will be her ticket out of Hell’s waiting room. “I’m delighted to have secured the film and television rights for Zoo City,” commented Helena Spring. “It is a groundbreaking, magical novel begging for a life on the big screen. Lauren’s storytelling is masterful – edgy and futuristic, unique yet universal. It is high in entertainment value yet emotionally charged, a dream project for any producer.” Beukes positively acknowledges the choice of the winning producer. “Every novelist dreams of a movie deal – but you actually want more than that. You want to find a producer of great vision and integrity and experience who fundamentally gets the book and understands how to transform it into an entirely different creature based on the same genetic material. I’m thrilled that it’s being produced in South Africa – for an international audience.” Spring’s career in the entertainment industry spans nearly three decades, during which time she has produced over twenty motion pictures – including the first ever South African film to receive recognition at the Academy Awards®: Darrell Roodt’s Yesterday earned a Best Foreign Picture nomination in 2004. Spring, who has worked with some of the foremost filmmakers in the world – such as Paul Greengrass who helmed the box office smash hits The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, and Academy Award® winner, Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech), will soon be putting the project out to a select party of directors, while Beukes has first look as screenwriter to adapt her novel for the screen. “Lauren is perfectly placed to do this. The characters are alive inside her,” says Spring. Julian Friedmann of Blake Friedmann (the literary agency that reps Beukes), says that: “Helena outbid all the others in a spirited auction for film rights to this extraordinary book. She had an extremely proactive, writer-friendly approach to working with Lauren and offered an imaginative and creative proposal that was irresistible.” Lauren Beukes’ meteoric rise seems unstoppable and recently a new megabucks book deal was announced. The working titles of the two novels – due in 2013 and 2014 – are The Shining Girls and Broken Monsters. They were picked up by publishers in the US, the UK, South Africa, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany. Congrats to Lauren! This is incredible news. We can’t wait to see Zoo City on the big screen (or any screen, for that matter). (You can check out our interview with Lauren here.)
