Month of Joy: Ramblings on Biology Simple and Profound by Daniel Haeusser
It has taken me all of this month to figure out what to write. It often seemed like joy has been eluding me, what with the dire and painful state of so much sociopolitically in the world. It took me awhile to step back and remember just how much joy there is, all around. The Earth teems with it. When I was a younger reader I discovered books on the topic of cryptozoology, ones by Ivan T. Sanderson on through modern authors. The lure behind the idea that there might still be fantastic beasts out there in the world to discover fueled my excitement, hope, and imagination. But finding these cryptids, if they did exist, would certainly not be easy, and I was no Newt Scamander. However, one of the creatures the authors of these books brought up had been ‘discovered’ and scientifically recognized, despite first thought a myth by Europeans. That animal is the okapi, a half-zebra-half-giraffe animal from the dense jungles of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The okapi stuck in my mind as something rare and miraculous, a fantastic beast that I might actually be able to see.
Month of Joy: The Comforting Embrace of Horror by David Annandale
For my contribution to the theme of this month, I was originally going to put together a short list. But the more I thought about one of the entries on that list, the more I felt I had to devote the entire post to this one book, and even that would fall short of doing it justice. Because if there is one book that has brought me more joy than any other, it would have to be Denis Gifford’s A Pictorial History of Horror Movies. Gifford’s tome came into my life in March of 1976, and it changed everything. I was already obsessed with monsters and dinosaurs, and I bought the book because it had pictures of the biggest dinosaur I had ever seen: Godzilla. Gifford’s text introduced me to the wonders of the cinema of Georges Méliès and James Whale and Val Lewton, to German Expressionism, to Lon Chaney and Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, and in short defined the academic, creative and professional paths the rest of my life would take.
Month of Joy: Oyster Fritters by Joyce Chng
In a lot of my stories, you will find recipes and cooking tips. Why? Because cooking brings me joy. Reading a recipe book is visual pleasure for me. I love going through my mom’s collection of recipe books, some of which date back from the 1970s. (Note: SFF writers, read widely — recipe books are legit reading and world-building material). So… my Month of Joy post will focus on… oyster fritters. In some places, we also call them oyster cakes. My dad got me into it and for years now, we love the sheer pleasure of biting into a piping hot oyster shaped like a disc or UFO.
Poll: What should we rename the Shoot the WISB Movie and TV Podcasts?
It’s time. We’re changing the name of the Shoot the WISB podcasts to better fit our little media collective, and everyone who participates in or listens to this show gets a vote. We took suggestions from our crew and our listeners and ended up with about 20 names (thanks for the suggestions!). From that massive list, we narrowed things down to two manageable polls: one for movies and one for television.
