Recommended Reads for September 2013
Recommended Reads is a monthly feature in which the Skiffy and Fanty crew tell you about one thing they recently read that they think you might like too. Here goes:
Recommended Reads is a monthly feature in which the Skiffy and Fanty crew tell you about one thing they recently read that they think you might like too. Here goes:
I just finished re-watching Groundhog Day (1993) (the Blu-ray 15th Anniversary edition, if you must know). One of the things that makes this film so fascinating, even upon seeing it more than once, is its remarkably bizarre narrative. You might say it is positively surreal in form, dragging us, and the main character, Phil, into repetitious situations without any way to ground ourselves in the real (pun not intended). There are no fancy explanations for Phil’s “curse,” and in the process of watching him struggle with his identity in this new world order, we get a glimpse into a part of the human spirit that perhaps gets lost in the day-to-day hustle of life, just as Phil does at the start. What may seem monotonous can be changed by human action: we can change what we do,
It’s that time again! You know the drill. Vote!
I Am Pusheen the Cat by Claire Belton Padhusheen Singh — Pusheen to her friends — starts the day like any other: realizing that she will be late for class. What makes this day different? She is scheduled to present her dissertation on phytoquantum felineconomics in fifteen minutes! Grabbing the bag that contains her experiment, Pusheen jumps on her cherry Vespa motorscooter and jams it into top gear. She slaloms through traffic like Peekaboo Streak. As the college comes into view, she glances down at her Hello Kitty watch. She’s going to make it in time! Pusheen doesn’t see the cement mixer until its too late. Lifting into the air, Pusheen clutches her bag and waits for the ground to send her to the reincarnation bingo hall (or however the gods do it; she was never very orthodox). Click. In a haze of strange quarks, she activates her experiment. A moment later, she is twisting through the air to land safely on the ground…on all four of her paws. I Am Pusheen the Cat puts readers inside the bell on Pusheen’s collar while she tries to negotiate school, life, and love as a woman-sized cat. While Pusheen is a chubby, cuddly-wuddly striped gray kitty on the outside, inside she’s your typical twenty-something Indian-American. Just because she’s as adorable as a newborn baby in a suit of teddy bears doesn’t mean she can miss her shift at Pizza Moat (“Can I get a supreme, but hold the hairballs please.”) or stand Chet the Quarterback up on Friday night (“You’re lucky I’m a Furry.”) No, life as a one hundred sixty pound cat with the mind of a Ph. D. student isn’t easy, but it is interesting. ——————————————————————— A Book By Its Cover comedically (re)imagines stories, plots, and characters of books based entirely on the cover.
I saw Insidious Chapter 2 last weekend. When discussing the film industry, and particularly the horror film industry, complaining about sequels is about as useful an endeavor as seeking to arrest the rotation of the earth. Given that Insidious was one of the most profitable movies of 2011, a follow-up wasn’t just inevitable, it was a command from God Almighty. According to Box Office Mojo, on a paltry $1.5 million budget, the film brought in a take (world-wide) of $97 million. For say, Iron Man 3 to have been similarly profitable, it would have had to make over $13 billion. So, of course, Chapter 2 has come along, and its more-generous-but-still-chump-change $5 million has already turned into over $70 million, and counting. Obviously, more is on the way. Almost as inevitable as its existence is the fact that Insidious Chapter 2 is a disappointment. While it has a few effectively chilling jump scares, and some nice
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode168SarahZettelAndMikeReevesMcMillan/SandF%20–%20Episode%20168%20–%20Sarah%20Zettel%20and%20Mike%20Reeves-McMillan.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSScience fiction past, present, and future, oh my! Authors Sarah Zettel and Mike Reeves-McMillan join Stina Leicht and Shaun Duke to talk about how they perceive science fiction to have changed since their younger days. They talk zombies, narrative traditions, the cyclical nature of isms in SF/F, and mountains more! We hope you enjoy the episode! 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 168 — Download (MP3) Intro and Discussion (0:00 – 1:17:06) Sarah’s Website Mike’s Website Indie Books Worth Reading Book View Cafe You can also support this podcast by signing up for a one month free trial at Audible. Doing so helps us, gives you a change to try out Audible’s service, and brings joy to everyone. 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.