Happy Birthday, Joey!

If I had remembered in time, I would have sent a card :-( Without my computer to remind me I remember nothing. Shall I just get you this? Hope your day is wonderful.

Happy St. Nick's Day

Or did you get the Krampus instead? Well, my lovely Krampus chapbook designed by The joey Zone is out of print, but you can hear me read it as a podcast. I hope to scan it and get an electronic version available soon, but things are just so hectic (when is that not true?).

I had a lovely lovely time in Connecticut with all the crew. It was great fun that didn't last nearly long enough because I had to come home. Thanks so much to the Queen of Everything for being such a fabulous hostess, my birthday twin Marko and everybody who came. Thanks too to Elena for giving me lunch the next day and -- whoohoo -- knocking out an idea for a new Jane Quiet story! Fingers crossed she gets time to start drawing this week: an Egyptian theme -- how's that sound?

I got my author copy of the collection Exposure from Cinnamon Press that has my short story "Rothko Red" in it. Quite a lovely little volume. I also got notice that I have three items in the new issue of Femspec, reviews of King Kong Theory, Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy and Women and the Divine. Yes, it had been so long since they were submitted that I had completely forgotten about them. Guess I better remind myself to add them to the CV. This is why I need minions!

All right: back to grading. The end is near! I should have all my grading done and submitted before my birthday -- whoohoo!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween and Maith Samhain! I didn't get cards out this year, so this will have to do. Thanks to The joey Zone for passing along this lovely Levy-Dhurmer illo.

Good Stuff

Thanks to Lisa and Lori, I had my first visit to Capital Q Smokehouse, home of great BBQ in the capital region after the usual Tuesday at Mahar's (the best bar in the world). Wow -- some very tasty brisket, cornbread, coleslaw and home fries. Good sauce, too. Huge portions, of course, so there's a lot left over for tonight, too. Lori is returning to North Carolina the end of the week, so she will be missed -- although we will probably have months of continuing to chuckle over Lisa's "rack" remark...

And ages ago I meant to put up this picture of the lovely finger puppet The joey Zone sent me of the fabulous Oliver Reed from the Hammer film The Curse of the Werewolf. Gorgeous, ain't it?

Second day of teaching: the bookstore did not get my texts in for the sophmore medieval course and now I find there's a new edition of the Broadview anthology due to come out the middle of this month. Argh! Meanwhile deadlines continue to nag at me -- just grateful Monday is a holiday. I know the semester's just started, but I need it!

Jaws of Suspiria

I already wrote a bit about Jaws and my long connection to it, but I don't think I've yet got around to the student reactions. It's hard to keep track of things in the midst of the mad swirl of the summer intensive. I've made things even tighter by planning to run down to Connecticut this weekend to see folks before I go off to the UK June 1. The quick Connecticut dash is meant to include a quick hello to Marko at the Punk Rock Jukebox, girlie night with Miss Wendy and the Queen of Everything, Saturday lunch or something with Miss Wendy and Elena, then Sunday brunch with the Boojums.

It will be more relaxing than it sounds.

Okay, Jaws: the students were not accustomed to thinking of this as a horror film, since most of them saw it as kids. The music has become so iconic, it's hard to imagine hearing it the first time or the impact it had (all kinds of impacts). The two halves of the movie complement each other so well, yet are completely different: we go from the crowded beaches of Amity to the endless ocean, from a whole town of people to just the three men and yet you don't feel that transition as a jarring change. It's a well-constructed film. Good thing they had so much trouble with Bruce the shark and had to keep him out sight for longer than they planned. It works.

Suspiria, on the other hand, is a spectacle but a far less coherent narrative on the whole. I expected to have a bit of trouble getting the students to appreciate it, so I was pleasantly surprised to have spontaneous expressions of appreciation for it. It's a Technicolor feast, it's an expressionist blood bath, where the glory of the gory explodes all over the screen -- often at the cost of logic or reason (not to mention the often utilitarian dialogue) and of course, the true crime of dubbing Udo's voice with some bland American's. Nonetheless, the students appreciated it. I think they're getting to be real connoisseurs, which is very cool.

Today it's body/queer horror with Clive Barker and a little bit o' Cronenberg.

Who's a Fool?

Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote
The droghte of Marche hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours y-ronne,
And smale fowles maken melodye,
That slepen al the night with open ye,
(So priketh hem nature in hir corages:
Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages...

Must be spring! [h/t ThejoeyZone]

Women's Month Interviews: Cheryl

The one, the only: Cheryl!

How do we know each other?
If I remember correctly, George King IV introduced us many years back when you and Gene were grad students at UCONN.

How would you describe yourself?
Not boring! Haha! A smart, talented, and self-reliant person who knows how to take care of things…a person who is not afraid of a little adventure. Yes, I can be loud and opinionated, but that’s half the fun of being me…I don’t hold back when enjoying myself or living life as I see fit.

In what part of the world are you located?
New England.

Where can we find you on the web?
The New England Anomaly

What don't people know about you that they ought to know?
I’m a self-made woman, who put herself through college (and graduated with honors). I am well-versed in many different subjects such as regional history, folklore, material culture, and pop culture. I am also a rock & roll fan (pre-‘95). I am very knowledgeable about current events and read everyday.

What's the most common mistake people make about you?
That I am “just” a secretary (it’s my day job while I finish my grad degree). Because I am animated and “loud” or because I wear flashy fashion, have tattoos, and I’m big busted (I don’t have any control over how big my tits are…they grew there!) then I must be stupid. You would not believe the amount of people who just write me off based on my personality or how I look. Screw them…I am proud to be loud!

What are you most proud of having accomplished so far?
I’m a self-made woman, who put herself through college (and graduated with honors). That I am living practically debt free (no credit cards here!). Also, overcoming some major socio-economic and personal hurtles to get where I am today.

What ambitions do you have ahead of you?
To make a name for myself.

What's the best compliment you've ever received?
I am a vain creature…especially as I grow older. So I like when people say I don’t look my age…that I look much younger than I am (and act it, too).

If something great happens to you, how do you celebrate?
I’m an extrovert, so I tell EVERYBODY!!!

What's your best method for coping with stress?
Screaming, yelling, swearing, crying…I feel much better when I let it all out. I am an emotional person. Then once it’s out of my system, I can get to work and get done what needs to be done. Unfortunately, other people don’t like my drama…but hey, it works for me.

What makes you laugh?
Clever jokes, word play, a witty reference, and some slapstick…also stuff that’s “blue,” naughty but not disgusting. Every once in a while, something crass will be said and done, and if I’m in the right mood, I will think it’s hilarious while most people will be offended. That’s my “biker chick” persona coming out.

What makes you cry?
Hormones…seriously. I cry at the drop of a hat for no reason. And it has been getting worse as menopause sets in.

What do you love?
Joey! He’s one of the best things that ever happened to me. I also love a sense of accomplishment, especially when doing something I enjoy. And cats. I love cats….one of my goals is to be a crazy cat lady.

What do you loathe?
Green beans. Screaming kids…especially babies (I REALLY don’t like babies.) Chauvinists, racists, and homophobes. Snooty yuppies. Organized religion…in fact, I have little use for religion in general.

What's sexy?
Hairy-chested men!!! Especially if they’re naked! Yeah!!! :-D Don’t show me some young guy with no hair on their bodies…they look like little boys, and I DON’T like little boys. I like mature men…REAL MEN! And real men have hair on their chest. Gimme…Hugh Jackman!!!

Hey, you asked! ;-)

What's the best advice you were ever given?
To be honest…I can’t recall any. I use advice as I go along, but usually follow the beat of my own drum.

How should people be spending their money?
People can spend their money anyway they want, but personally, I have a real problem with excessiveness. While there’s nothing wrong with a little indulgence, do people really need 30-plus room mansions or multiple private jets? Shouldn’t that much extra money be used for philanthropy or something?

Which woman/women have inspired you?
This is a hard question. When I look up to someone or am inspired by someone, it’s usually for something they do or did…not because of their gender. And most of the people who are my heroes are men, because they just happened to do something I am interested in or I think is cool. I never think in terms of gender until someone points it out. And it’s not because women can’t or don’t or won’t do what I like…it’s because what I like or am interested in, just happens to usually be done by a man first.

It was always that way when I was growing up. I would see or hear of something that’s cool and think, “I want to do that!” But then my mother or someone else (my mother was one of the worse perpetrators of this) would say, “You can’t do that, you’re a girl. Girls don’t do that.” My attitude was always, “Why can’t I? What does my gender have to do with it?” And then I would go and do it anyway. Of course, along the way, I would meet or hear about other WOMEN who were doing the same thing, which was cool and made me feel I wasn’t alone. But by then, since *I* was already doing it, why would I hero-worship some other woman? So, my final analysis is, I inspire myself the most.

Having said that, there are women I do admire:
Joan Jett and Wendy O. Williams. Two rock & roll women who did what they wanted and didn’t care what others thought. They ROCK!

Elena Steier. There are a lot of women cartoonists out there, but to actually meet a woman doing what I used to dream of as a kid and count her as a friend, has me a little awe-struck.

My Memèré (grandmother). She wasn’t the nicest person in the world and was too religious for my taste, but my self reliance comes from her. She is the one who taught me, “…to make do.” Use what is on hand, and fix and repair what you have. Don’t know how? Then learn. Swinging a hammer is not rocket science, neither is mending a shirt. All that I learned from Memèré…“You make do.” I know it is suddenly “trendy” to be frugal because the economy is tanking, but I was always like this! Ask my husband, he’ll tell you! He and I got through some hard times because of what Memèré taught me.


If I gave you a million dollars, what would you do?
Practical stuff…buy a house, finish school, pay off bills, give a little to my favorite causes, take a trip or two to visit friends in a part of the country I haven’t been to, and sock the rest away for retirement. Of course, I would indulge a little (I love dresses!), but for the most part, I’m too practical to get ridiculous about how money is spent.

Thank you so much for being part of this celebration: you rock!

Happy Anniversary, Boojums!

No Krampus!

Well, this is phenomenally bad timing, but just in time for the holiday season I regret to announce that we have sold out of the Krampus chapbooks! I have had to refund Paypal payments. Will there be a second print run? Yes, if we can figure out a better way to do it. I want to do full justice to Joey's terrific artwork.

The first printing were all hand-assembled chapbooks and I went to a lot of printers all around Houston to find a way to afford making the gorgeous red covers and two-color lettering. I hate to have this go the way of Three Penny Dreadfuls, however, and will find some way to get it back in print in an affordable form. I'd also like to see the cover re-scanned and colored better. We had relatively 'primitive' technology at the time and we can do it justice now, but there's a backlog of work to get through first. As little Joe says, "Next year!" for sure.

In the meantime, please enjoy the podcast version of this seasonal poem.

When Little Joe the Krampus Met

Hop on over to Radio Wombat for the latest podcast, "When Little Joe the Krampus Met" which is also available in a quieter version as a chapbook if you prefer. Perfect for holiday gifts, unless you want to go totally BISON for the season (and who doesn't?).

It's barely registered with me that it's December already. So much to do -- grading to finish and more to come next week. Lots of other work in between those papers as well. Somehow it will all get done, eh? Isn't that what I always say? Hope I'm right!

Melville Marathon

Read the enthralling account of The joey Zone's participation in the marathon reading of Moby Dick last week (it's slightly shorter than the novel ;-) It is brought to you by the New England Anomaly, your home for weirdness.

The Old Man and the Seaport

The Moby Dick reading marathon ends at noon today, with a big birthday cake for Melville. The joey Zone is in the thick of it down on the decks of the Charles W. Morgan in Mystic Seaport. His chapter was read in the middle of the night, I think (but I could be mis-remembering). It's a free event, so there's time yet to catch the reading of the last few chapters. To the left here's some scrimshaw carved by Robert Weiss of Queequeg, Ishmael's pal.

So, of course these nautical adventures remind me upon waking of a Spike Milligan poem that I can't quite remember right (of course, as we all know too well, I'm constitutionally incapable of remembering anything quite right):

Let's sail away on a gravy boat,
You and me and Franklin the stoat.
We'll live our lives on the Caspian Sea,
And eat nothing but jellyfish for our tea.

Or something like that...

Is it really August?! No, no -- can't be. Surely.

Walpurgisnacht

Teaching is done for the semester, just finals to go. I was sad to see the back of my film class, but they were more than ready to move on to finals and summer and graduation. It's Walpurgisnacht, so bonfires are burning -- and in Finland people are probably already drinking sima for Vappu (and getting ready to fry tippaleipä). We're off to see the Jesus of Cool. No doubt, I'll be writing up the sold-out concert tomorrow.

The joey Zone sends along this oddity: an impressionistic film of Peer Gynt from 1941, starring a teenage Chuck Heston. Seems appropriate for this wild night.

Boojum Blast

We headed out in time to arrive to help set up the hall for the circus. Perilous Cheryl had a vision and we carried it out (as best we could with our limited skills). Fortunately, the Queen and Johnny 10X arrived with a batch of scary clown pictures which dressed up the venue immensely. John Schwenk arrived for sound check and Gene got to reminisce about those Appendix days, playing roadie. Before we knew it, the peeps began to arrive. It wasn't a garden party, but everyone was there (well, anyone worth knowing). Yes, Elena was there in fine Pirateer form and Rod with his ironic (I hope!) Beetle Bailey hat. Ringmaster Cheryl kept everyone in line with her big black whip, and Joey of course looked smashing in his white tie, tails and fez (Gene's going to link to the Flikr photos, right?)

Miss Wendy arrived right on time, just about when Marko was ducking out -- too many commitments on one night but oh, choose wisely! You know we're going to talk about you when you're gone. We saw folks we hadn't seen in ages, some seen recently but not enough. 9th Wave started things off with groovin' surf tunes and the Gamma Rays rocked the joint hard with rockabilly tunes (including a ripping rendition of "Ring of Fire"). We were sweat-soaked and beer-fueled ($1.25 Longtrails!). In between, I gave in to my taste for doggerel and presented my birthday poem for The joey Zone, a Carrollian pastiche that went like this:

The Birthday of the Boojum:
A Celebration in Five Decades

“Just the time for a clown,” the wombat cried,
as she swallowed some amber brew;
The pair had arrived from a two hour ride
And knew what they all had to do.

“Just the time for a clown; I have said it twice,
That alone should enliven our crew.
Just the time for a clown, now I’ve said it thrice!
What I tell you three times must be true.

“’Tis a most special day, and all in this place
have come here to honor this Snark:
With thimbles and forks and presents and more,
We gather at this veteran’s park.

“The Butcher, the Baker, the Beaver, the Bellman
All have arrived here together;
And rumors abound of the various clowns
Who will join us (depending on weather).

“For the Boojum’s a creature who simply cannot
Be praised in a commonplace way.
So please all raise your jugs for this lovable mug,
Not a chance must be wasted to-day!”

Much was eaten, much spoken, shouted and hoarsely called, gifts given (and yes, opened the next day over the ensuing hours which made Gene ask, "are you sure there's a zero after the five in his age?"). Clean up of the hall was a breeze, many hands making light work, and we collapsed at chez Boojum, exhausted but happy, to awake under the eye of the Zuni fetish doll (to say nothing of the two Munchkins!).

Argh -- back this afternoon, a million and one things to do. Not quite packed, but getting up early. Hard to believe I'm off to England once more tomorrow, with a bunch of students to boot. Ay yi yi; how do I convince myself to do these things? As Ollie sez, "You get so weak from eating pears that you fall down, and then they come and take you away on a stretcher." Here's to eating pears!

Boojum Bound

We're running away to join the circus! Well, The joey Zone's circus birthday party, that is. Whoo hooo! This will be fun. After the stress of the last few days, it will be welcome fun to see everyone.

As verse 621 of the Tirukural reminds us, "Laugh when troubles come your way. Nothing conquers calamity better than that." Of course, if you want laughs you can always check out Elena's Goth Scout strip. Collect your merit badges and amaze your friends! Always fun -- and with luck, we'll see Elena and Rod today along with all the other of our gaggle of pals in Connecticut (yes, Miss Wendy, I'm bringing my checkbook!)

Funny hats, check! Sense of humor, check! Gifts for Joey, check! Not quite awake yet, but soon we'll be on our way to the dark carnival.

Good News!

My abstract has been accepted for the "Forging Folklore: Witches, Pagans and Neo-Tribal Cultures" conference at Harvard May 3-5, 2007. I'll be speaking on Finnish magic and music which ought to be entertaining. Of course, I'll find an excuse to bring my kantele along as well. I had planned to attend the conference anyway as it has a great set of folks, including Ronald Hutton who will be keynote speaker Thursday night of the conference.

[image © Timo Kervinen]


The Joey Zone is happy: he got name-checked in Elena's Goth Scout strip on Sunday!

Less good: lack of plowing on campus (and Albany streets) meant I could not find a place to park today, so I finally gave up and came home to work. Good thing I can do almost all my work from home -- except for the office hours. Sorry, students! At least I don't have any meetings scheduled today. Besides, I would have had to leave early for my doctor's appointment anyway. Perhaps tomorrow I need to bring the snow shovel and dig out a parking space for myself. Let's hope the melting starts soon!

Neighborly

We got about a foot of snow since yesterday. I volunteered to go out first and start the shoveling (mostly so Gene could finish it ;-) but we got really fortunate that one of our neighbors was passing by with his snow blower, saw me shoveling and ran a couple of paths each side of the car and then up to the steps where I was shoveling. Made things a lot easier -- what a nice guy!



I was also lucky enough to have the Joey Zone sing his new shoveling-on-St. Patrick's-day song over the phone (no, I can't do it justice here; you'll have to wait for the MP3). Guess I have the luck of the Irish today (the good kind, that is)!