Review: Coco Before Chanel

Thanks to my pal Peg, I got to see Coco avant Chanel for free, which is particularly wonderful for a film that I would have paid to see. I have a love/hate relationship with fashion: it can be such a wonderful and practical art, yet so often the practitioners show little imagination when it comes to actually making the body more beautiful.

Not surprisingly, this was a very beautiful film. Audrey Tautou is of course wonderful, but the child they got to play Chanel in the first part of the film was very well chosen: her intense gaze was unnerving. The bitter little orphan grows into a rather prim young woman who is unimpressed by the world and particularly by love. She's ambitious but unfocused; unlike her sister Adrienne (Marie Gillain), who is madly in love with her duke, whom she's convinced will marry her. The sisters work as seamstresses and singers, but Gabrielle (AKA Coco) knows it is a dead end and surprises the baron (Benoît Poelvoorde) who took a shine to her by visiting his palatial country estate. The two eventually achieve a sort of grudging intimacy, that he comes to depend upon while Coco begins to develop her signature style in response to the frivolous frippery of the baron's loutish friends, particularly the dramatic diva who takes a fancy to her straw hats.

Everything changes when the hard-nosed Coco falls for Boy Capel, but in the end, it is her ambition that sustains her -- and that's the best thing about the film. While it tries to shoehorn this love affair into providing the impetus for Chanel's eventual triumph, what comes through clearly is that she was someone with vision and ambition who followed them both unapologetically. It's rare yet to see a film that shows a woman as ambitious without having to soften it somehow and make her more "acceptable" somehow. While the weird telescoping of time that ends the film made us both go "wha?!", in the end the gorgeous look of it, Tautou's and the other fine performances and the unapologetic ambition of Chanel made the film worthwhile.

BitchBuzz: Hoax News

My latest BitchBuzz column manages to slip in a Fast Show reference before turning to its topic of the lack of critical reading skills by seemingly everyone on the 'net. Part of the phenomenon comes from the universal lack of time and also the ease of forwarding what looks like an interesting/amusing/incendiary headline without actually reading what it says -- or from whom it comes:

Isn't the internet brilliant?

You can talk to friends around the world instantaneously. You can send files to your editor with the click of a button. You can watch videos of shows you can't be arsed to watch in real time—or at least the highlights because there's far too much filler in most programs (doubly or trebly so if we're talking about awards shows).

But it's not all frivolity.

Twittering during news events has become the norm: the first high profile was perhaps the Mumbai hotel hostage situation, but all too many emergencies and natural disasters have proved the usefulness and immediacy of Twitter coverage whether it's wildfires in Australia or election protests in Iran.

Other outlets, too, have been used to keep those in power slightly more honest, e.g. this week's embarrassing moment when intrepid investigative reporter comedian Jon Stewart demonstrated the faked footage in Sean Hannity's use of old footage of supposed protests against health-care. We're on to you, people in the public eye, and we're not idiots. We're here for the little guy!

As always, read the rest at BB HQ and forward the link -- LOL, if you agree with it and after you have read it!

Advisement Day

It's advisement day, so I am short on time, but as my of my friends and acquaintances are knee deep in NaNoWriMo, let me offer a little cheap writing advice (mostly) from my favourite site for writing quotes:

When fate's got it in for you, there's no limit to what you may have to put up with.
- Georgette Heyer

Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
- T. S. Eliot

I learned that you should feel when writing, not like Lord Byron on a mountain top, but like a child stringing beads in kindergarten - happy, absorbed and quietly putting one bead on after another.
- Brenda Ueland

You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.
- Mark Twain

The brain that doesn't feed itself, eats itself.
- Gore Vidal

Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer.
- Barbara Kingsolver

A writer never has a vacation. For a writer life consists of either writing or thinking about writing.
- Eugene Ionesco

Hello and Goodbye Again in Boston

I made a quick run to Boston today to meet up with my pal, Aalya, who was giving a paper at MAPACA on fan reception of horror film remakes. Aalya is another member of the Horror List and is currently writing a dissertation on horror (which I'm being allowed to read -- it's good!). Her colleague Sean also gave a paper on Let the Right One In, a fantastic Swedish film that I most highly recommend.

We all went out to lunch along with Lyz and Lance, who were also giving papers, and were eventually joined by Aalya's husband Dietrich and daughter, Sophia. Amazingly enough, the Hilton's pub actually had good beer (i.e. everything did not end with "lite" or "weiser") and my salmon was terrific (thanks, Aalya, for lunch! very kind). We had a good natter about horror and beer and this and that, before we all had to run off to other places. I saw a couple of folks I knew in the program, but they were all speaking much later in the day and I needed to be elsewhere.

My other place to go was Mount Auburn Cemetery, where I had a little duty of remembrance to perform. Little Maggie-Moo died while we were in Texas, but I wasn't going to leave my little Beantown cat behind there. I think she'll enjoy being home again. Mount Auburn is a lovely location: I've used it as a setting for a key scene in my next novel (and have plans to include it in another work as well).



I will not mention the white stuff I saw in the Berkshires: I can only assume it was dandruff...

BitchBuzz: Douglas Adams & Dolphins

My latest column for BitchBuzz was sparked by a story about dolphins and television. Seems they figured it out pretty quick, unlike simians who had to be coached in the ways of the box. I shudder to think how much they laughed to see what humans do with their non-nautical time:

At the moment of Earth's destruction, Douglas Adams tell us in the course of the five part trilogy of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the dolphins left the planet behind with a well-meaning and heartily kind words: so long and thanks for all the fish. The stunningly intelligent creatures were long dismissed by the hubristic humans because of their life style choices. Adams explains.

It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem. For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much -- the wheel, New York, wars and so on -- whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man -- for precisely the same reasons...

As always, read the rest at BB HQ and spread the wealth via Facebook, Twitter and so on.

Publication: Talking to Goddess

My sonnet for the goddess Kali makes another appearance, this time in a collection gathered by D'vorah Grenn of The Lilith Institute, called Talking to Goddess. The book is available in both print and digital formats, so you can decide which you need. I seem to recall that this came about in conjunction with the Women and the Divine Conference I attended in Liverpool a few years back, but I may be misremembering. I am still very proud of this poem, since 1) I seldom write poetry and 2) it captures this complex deity in all her awesome power and stature.

I've been so crazy busy for all of October and September, I still feel as if I am simply trying to catch up and draw breath. So many more things going on this month, that chimera of a respite may prove to be no more than a dream.

Halloween, Poe & Pals

I was going to entitle this "John Crowley Owes Me $5" but I only just met him this week and I'm not sure I can feel comfortable joshing about money with him; of course it does make for a funny story. My adventures for the weekend started with the kick off of the Poe Conference at UMass Amherst on Thursday night. My pal, the fabulous Liz Hand, was the primary draw, but as I ended up sitting next to Crowley at dinner, I had a chance to get to know him a bit more.

The $5 came about because we were all supposed to go out to dinner after the reading, courtesy of UMass and coordinator Chris Couch. I was driving Liz and Tristan, her son, but we didn't know where the restaurant was, so we were supposed to follow Crowley and his daughter Zoe who was a student there. However, they couldn't get out of the garage because he had no cash! So I gave him a fin and we were off. Good food was on offer and assessing the situation, Crowley ran out to get some wine ($5 investment paid in FULL!); since we had about a dozen folks there, Liz followed suit, so we had a good amount of beverage for the fine dinner (some yummy goat as well as rice and beans and plantains). Crowley and I ended up talking about all kinds of things like why he couldn't see the appeal of vampires (rotting corpses! think of the smell!), medieval revenants and even my film class about portrayals of writers, for which he had an additional suggestion I'd never heard of: "Youngblood Hawke" written by Herman Wouk and filmed in 1964.

Liz tried to convince me to stay in Amherst that night, but I'd brought no clothes or even a toothbrush ("You can use mine," she offered -- isn't she a sweetie?) but when dinner broke up around 11pm, I headed home. Too wired when I got home to go to sleep, I ended up pottering around until after 3am, so no way I was going back to Amherst in the morning. Sorry, Faye! I missed your panel, but heard about it afterward (and that it was enjoyed). Friday night I celebrated Samhaim with my pals and stuffed myself silly! Thought I might never eat again.

Sat dawned with an early rising to get to Amherst in time to see some of the presenters before my panel. My reading went well: I had fun talking about Poe's influence and then reading from "Palakainen" which seemed to go over well, too. Lunch offered an opportunity for chatting with folks, then Craig Shaw Gardner gave the keynote speech which -- of course! -- turned into a game show.

Then I jumped back in the car to head down to Willimantic and Miss Wendy's, where we had some tasty brisket, then prepped and headed down to New London to celebrate the day with the Queen and Johnny 10X, Marko and the Boojums (Cheryl is responsible for the photo above) at the Hygenic Park. I was dressed as Mater Tenebrarum (in case you can't tell) and we all had a lot of fun until it rained.

Some folks followed the bands to the Oasis (Marko told us later that we missed blood, 80 degree heat and a fight), some to the Bank Street (Flesh Hammer and D.O.T. were playing) and me, Miss Wendy, the Queen and Johnny 10X went to the Dutch, where we were fortunate to get a table from some friendly Phillies fans. I'm sure it looked odd enough to have Mater Tenebrarum, a Raven and the Scarecrow come in and sit down, but we got a chuckle when Batman came in and bellied up to the bar, sipping a cold one while he watched the game. We got home late and Miss Wendy and I sat up for a bit watching Halloweeny fare.

Even better, we had that extra hour from daylight savings and Miss Wendy made me breakfast -- eggs, bacon and bagels, yum! Why is breakfast always such a treat? I dunno, but it was delicious. Better yet, "I'm All Right, Jack" was playing on TCM so I had a lot of laughs with breakfast, too. Eventually I had to head home; it's such an easy drive with music playing and plenty of convenient places to stop if need be. Best thing today was being in the ladies room at one rest area and listening to a little girl sing "Lollipop" with her mom making the "pop" sound.

Home again to a happy Kipper, but no hot water! Maybe it's fixed now. Too busy catching up on things to check. Hope you all had fun this weekend!

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.

BitchBuzz: Exporting Halloween

The last of my Halloween-themed columns (probably!) deals with the fun of Halloween and veers off into Heyer-ville for no apparent reason. As I am re-thinking my costuming needs for the weekend, I feel absolutely devoid of imagination, so who knows what will happen. Heading off to the Poe conference tonight -- maybe I'll finally get a schedule of events. Back to UMass a couple more times and then down to Connecticut for Halloween itself. Let's hope I'll have made up my mind about my costume by then.

A disgruntled Guardian reader (is there really any other kind?) derided Halloween as a “ghastly American import” and moaned about the need to herd children around on their forays for candy. Considering the dire nature of most American imports (McDonald’s, baseball caps, L. Ron Hubbard), I think Halloween is a reason to celebrate.

Think of it: Pumpkins! Free candy! An excuse for parties! Dressing up!

Read the rest -- and a slew of interesting articles -- over at BitchBuzz HQ.

Blast from the Past: Wordgeryne

Just in time for the Halloween season, my dissertation and Cthulhu-inspired short story, "Wordgeryne" will be featured over at Unbound. The story originally appeared in Lovecraft's Weird Mysteries back in 2002. It's kind of a fun story (well, for horror, you know) because it combines a bunch of references that amuse me: of course, there's Cthulhu, but there's also a reference to my brother's favourite bad painting, "Brigitte" (she of the massive eyes), to Clive Barker's The Hellbound Heart (the novella that provided the script for Hellraiser), to The Bride of Frankenstein as well as a nod to my studies in Anglo-Saxon literature, culture and language in many details, including the title, a word not chosen at random but with special purpose. Enjoy!

“Take my hand!” I begged, but Brigitte’s wide eyes only stared back in mute terror. I inched further out the window, stepping gingerly onto the narrow ledge, trying to reach toward her hand. “Please!” There was an audible gulp, but no other response. She closed her eyes and lay her palms flat against the wall. Hope sprang up in my heart. Perhaps Brigitte had changed her mind. Her whole body suggested defeat, relinquishing. Give up this foolish plan, I urged silently, but aloud I repeated, “Please, take my hand.” Brigitte turned her head slowly and opened her eyes once more to meet my gaze. My tentative sense of hope disappeared at once and I could hear an increase of fearful whispering in the crowd below.

“I didn’t know,” my friend said softly, a single tear crawling down her cheek. “I didn’t believe…it. I’m sorry.” And before I could begin to puzzle the meaning of her words, Brigitte pushed herself away from the wall, the ledge and, arms wide, fell into the air... [read the rest at Unbound!]

Bill, Lenny & Bob

I headed down Thursday to Bard for a talk about Blake's quiet years that promised to fill in the missing details. I had been surprised to hear about an event at Bard before the actual day of the event, a rarity. However, when I got there and found the room, I also found a note saying the lecture was delayed. I decided not to wait around and went to Robert's, where he was making a tasty dinner -- much better. If the lecture's any good, it'll be published, right?

The next morning we headed down to the Cloisters to get a little medieval. If you haven't been there, the museum located in the lovely Fort Tryon Park offers a nice little taste of the Middle Ages in Manhattan with artifacts, bits of chapels, tombs and other treasures. After having a good wander around the grounds, we headed over to the New Leaf Café, which Robert informed me was run by Bette Midler, but we didn't see her in the kitchen, but we were able to enjoy a really good lunch while supporting the New York Restoration Project.

We took the A train downtown in order to get to the Morgan. As we passed through the 42nd Street station, Robert helpfully pointed out the tubes that were part of the internet, which as we all know is a system of tubes. Quite knowledgeable my brother. Why the Morgan? Well, they're having a Blake exhibit which more than made up for the missed lecture. It had so much more than I expected, not just pages from his books, but letters, manuscripts and watercolors. Wonderful!

Of course, the main event was seeing Leonard Cohen at Madison Square Garden. The sold out show featured most of his hits which pleased the crowd (full of an awful lot of balding heads we could see from our vantage point up near the top), but the energy and exuberance of Cohen and his band really impressed me. Although 75, he was dancing and skipping on and off stage during the 8pm show which lasted until 11.30. He seemed truly joyful, telling the audience, "I don’t know when we’ll be passing through here again, so I want to tell you that it is our intention to give you everything we’ve got tonight” -- and they did. Fantastic band all around, including his frequent collaborator, Sharon Robinson and an amazing Spanish guitarist. Everyone got a turn in the spotlight, but the crowd was there to see Cohen and he gave them everything, turning songs like "I'm Your Man" from intimate love songs to an offering to the thousands assembled. You can find videos for many of the songs like "So Long, Marianne", "Tower of Song", my fave "Famous Blue Raincoat" and the perennial fave, "Hallelujah" but I am so glad I was actually there. Some nights are just magical -- and this was one.

Of course getting back was less than magical -- not only was there a rail replacement bus for the A train uptown, but it was pouring and we had to drive back to Hudson. But we kept each other awake, listening to Peter Cook until we finally made it back to Robert's about 3.30am. Totally worth it.

A Taste of My Weekend

It's my long long day, so I'm not sure I'll get around to writing up all my adventures of the weekend, but here's a little taste of what I did and saw. An absolutely amazing concert!

BitchBuzz: Poe-tastic!

Yeah, it's that time again -- for both my weekly column and for the Poe-mania that October always brings, increased this year because it's the 200th anniversary of his birth. As I've mentioned, I'll be at the Poe conference that's going on at UMass Amherst the end of the month, but details are a bit vague at present.

October inevitably ends up being unofficial Poe month across the world as his dark tales get tied to the spooky Halloween season.

If he were still alive, Edgar would have turned 200 hundred in January, a nice round number for celebrations. I’m going to be part of a gathering at U-Mass Amherst focused on New England writers and artists and their relationship to the master of the macabre, but there are a wealth of possibilities out there...

As always, you can read the rest at BitchBuzz HQ as well as checking out all their other fascinating articles on tech, culture and fun.

Tonight I head down to Bard for a talk on Blake, then dinner with Robert. We're off to the city tomorrow to stop by the Cloisters and see Leonard Cohen at Madison Square Garden. Should be fun! (Ironically, Marko is playing "No Fun" right now, hee hee!)

Albacon Wrap-up

It was a crazy and fun-filled Albacon this year. Of course one of the most fun parts was having a chance to catch up with the wonderful Liz Hand. Fortunately, I'll see her the end of the month, too, at the Poe conference at UMass Amherst (no, I don't have many details to give -- one of the things we both hoped the other knew more about. Well, surprises can be nice, too). She read from her forthcoming story "The Maiden Voyage of Macauley's Bellerephon" which held the audience enraptured. I can't wait to read the whole thing.

Things kicked off Thursday night with a new event. Jackie Kessler (whom I'll be featuring on Prose at the Rose next week) hosted an editors and agent panel. It was informative and well-attended despite not being part of the "traditional" con. New and experienced writers found a lot of information and had questions a-plenty. Afterward, Debi Chowdhury and I hosted a tarot card reader party (thanks so much, Donna, for coming to read!). It was a lot of fun and we met lots of people.

Friday was also a new event: the writers conference. Brainstormed by Debi and coordinated and scheduled by the indefatigable Susan Hanniford Crowley, it featured all kinds of panels and workshops like Toni Andrews' "Five Fixes" for your manuscript, the fabulous Stella Price's "Promotion for the Author on a Budget" and Jackie Kessler's "How to Write a Query Letter" -- all of which went over very well with the eager writers and writers-to-be. I was on panels about Urban Fantasy and Using Mythology. There was a big signing at 3 o'clock, but that's when I had to run off to give my paper across town on Beowulf: Prince of Geats at the 24th International Conference on Medievalism over at Siena College.

I got back in time for dinner and then the ice cream social. Stayed up way too late yakking and having fun, meeting for the first time fellow writer Debra Hyde, whom I'd only known on-line. Saturday was a jam-packed day of panels and readings. Fortunately I was only on one panel, so I didn't have to be too bubbly after the craziness of the day before. It was perhaps not the thing to do for con com members to do, but some of us skipped the banquet and went to Plum Blossom for dinner and it was worth it. Debra and Debi and Susan and I hosted a reading in Debi's room that night which went on 'til quite late and everyone seemed to have a terrific time.

Sunday everyone was dragging a little bit, but there was a good showing for the panel appreciating Charles Brown. Liz, David Hartwell, Brett Cox and Ron Drummond reminisced about their own memories of Brown while explaining his importance to the field of speculative fiction as a whole, not just as editor of Locus, but as a cheerleader for the genres. Even after all the panels were done, we couldn't all drag ourselves away, so Ruth and Debi and I went out for sushi at Sushi Tei. Yum!

Master Class with Evelyn Glennie

I roused myself from my sick bed on a Sunday morning to head to campus to enjoy the rare opportunity of a master class led by world-renown percussionist, Dame Evelyn Glennie (soon to appear on Ready Steady Cook!). If you haven't heard her play or seen her fabulous film Touch the Music, you really need to check her out. Absolutely stunning work in all modes of percussion and drumming!

It was a treat to see her interact with the students and audience. Each student played a piece and the Glennie gave some encouragement and pointers for improvement. It was instructive to see how much focus she put on the physicality of playing, being grounded and balanced. "Try to be simple," she repeated a few times. While technique has to be there (and timing and accuracy), she also said it's important to "feel it here," smacking her belly. Because it was a master class, Glennie was working with students who were already excellent players, so she focused on improving the performance aspects of their technique. Clearly they had been spending long hours practicing, but Glennie exhorted them to see every opportunity as a performance and think about what they wanted to say with the piece they were inhabiting -- adjust to the room, respond to the audience.

Glennie looked so fit and chic in her silver top. She moved with energy but also a natural grace. It's amazing the power that she sends into the sticks when she plays, evident when she broke one of the students' mallets at the marimba when demonstrating a passage. "Oh, I'll replace that!" Glennie said at once while the audience laughed. "Tell me how much it was." She joked later about it being part of her Scots heritage to want to use every part of the bar while playing the instrument, demonstrating the different tones all along one bar.

Three students ended the class with John Beck's rousing "Episodes for Percussion" which really rang out in the fancy new performance hall of the Massry Center. Glennie finished by answering a few questions, including one about whether she would encourage young musicians to become performers. Not only did she talk about how she enjoyed the physicality of her work, but also spoke to the need to be a professional, not to wait for opportunity to come to you, but to go find it. The business is changing rapidly and you have to keep up.

Right now, I have to go make some more tea and take more cold medicine in the hopes that I will be ready for my twelve hour Monday. Wish me luck.

BitchBuzz: Unique Halloween Costumes

Okay, most of the readers here won't need this particular column, but others will, so be kind -- and share! Yes, I know it's been a week since I last posted, but between Albacon and the Medievalism conference AND too many meetings and teaching all day yesterday, I'm still getting caught up.

So here's my [hastily written] column on interesting Halloween costumes (is the Victorian Squid not the ginchiest costume ever?!):

It's that time of year again: fancy dress calls for the spooktacular season. Forget about the tired old superhero route, pirates have been done to death and no, you can't go as a naughty nurse again. You have to try to be a little bit imaginative.

If you want to be like the hip kids, then steampunk is a must. Jump on this bandwagon before the rest of the world does, because the costumes are totally awesome. Like the recent exhibit at Oxford's Museum of the History of Science, steampunk paraphernalia rocks because it is both elegant and wicked cool.

As always, read the rest at BitchBuzz.

And YES, I am working on the posts about the cons, so coming very soon!

BitchBuzz: Indy Horror

Hey kids, new BitchBuzz column -- and it's seasonal! Check out some indy horror including the wonderfully creepy House of Black Wings, created by friend o' the blog David Schmidt and the folks at Sword & Cloak Productions:

You know it's October when Maureen Dowd quotes Hannibal Lecter and the National Review has a Bush speech writer (fill in your own joke) waxing rhapsodic about anti-prejudice campaigner Rod Serling and his Twilight Zone [children please note, it has nothing to do with Bella and Edward].

The market forces are poised to get your cash, whether it's for ginchy Halloween decorations, naughty costumes or the latest over-hyped horror extravaganza, which would of course be Zombieland. But it's a good time to share the love with some of the hard working indy film makers who find it hard to get a foot into that lucrative Hollywood pipeline.

As always, read the rest over at BB. Don't forget to retweet it and link to the piece. Every bit helps!

Just a reminder I'll be at Albacon most of the weekend, so follow my tweets or just be patient until I have a chance to draw breath again.

Albacon!

You'll be hard pressed to catch up with me the next few days, because I will be marinating in Albacon, the local SF/F/H -- and this year, romance -- con. I somehow ended up on the planning committee which included (to my surprise) setting up the program book (eek!) as well as helping to publicise the con here and there.

Guest of honor is the every fabulous Liz Hand and artist guest of honor is Alan F. Beck. The band Igor's Egg is playing Friday night, and all day Friday there are writing workshops (yes, I'll be on a couple of panels). See the full list of participants and panels; you'll definitely want to be there!

Things kick off with an editors, agents and publishers gathering Thursday night about 6:30, hosted by the faboo Jackie Kessler, who I am featuring on the next episode of Prose at the Rose.

Of course, somehow I have to juggle this with the Medievalism conference that's taking place across town, where I'll be giving a paper on masculinity and Beowulf (and Beowulf: Prince of Geats!).

Madness -- but that's typical for me, eh?

Review: Bright Star

I headed off to see Jane Campion's latest film, Bright Star, with my intrepid fellow film reviewer, Peg, on Friday. Yes, it was another afternoon matinée, or what we have come to call the blue hair screening. It was also a particularly packed one, so there was nowhere to go to get away from the gentleman next to me emitting rather noisy, um, eruptions, nor to escape the man a row back who suddenly began snoring loudly upon the instant in which one of the characters mentioned needing to sleep (about two thirds of the way through the film).

Named for Keats' poem "Bright Star" the film follows the development of the attachment between Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish) and John Keats (Ben Wishaw) in the early nineteenth century. The cast is full of actors you recognize (well, if you watch a lot of small British films) and for the most part excellent and able to slip into their roles with ease. Paul Schneider as Charles Armitage Brown sometimes seems to be powering his Scottish accent with a bellows, nonetheless he has a terrific physical presence that makes much of the intricate intimate relationship between himself, Keats and Brawne. Wishaw brings a vulnerability to the poet, but also a wistful humour. His passionate reactions at times seems to be about to make his limbs fall apart. Cornish brilliantly conveys the awakening interest Brawne develops for this most unlikely man, and her transformation from hard-headed bon vivant to love-sick partner completely captivates.

The film is leisurely and episodic, as you might expect from Campion -- it's also incredibly gorgeous, making the most of both the period costumes and Brawne's fascination with fashion. The color is absolutely breathtaking in some scenes (yes, yes, the bluebells lavender [thanks, Chloë!]) and as enervating as a black hole in others. I can't recall the last time an entire audience stayed spellbound through the closing credits, but in our showing they did -- everyone listening to Wishaw's recital of "Ode to a Nightingale" as the music continued and the credits rolled by. Wonderful.

In Case You're Wondering

This is what a tenure package looks like; this is actually Kim's (who had loaned me hers as a model) because I only remembered that I was going to take a picture of it after I had turned it in. More or less like mine, though the tabbing is far neater. It contains the letter applying for tenure and promotion (the hardest part to produce), CV, all your year end reports, all your faculty data forms (another kind of end-of-year report), nine teaching observations, from other faculty members, and course evaluations from twelve different courses. The letter has to highlight what's important in the hundreds of pages of data included in the binder, so the committee gets a picture of who you are as a teacher, scholar and colleague (assuming they don't already know). I'm fortunate that at least a couple members of the committee know me personally and are acquainted with what I do. The problem of being a medievalist -- what you do seems odd and often obscure to others.

BitchBuzz: Mistress of Horror

My latest column gives some recommendations if you want to give a really good fright movie fest this month. Ah, the spooky season!

October! The season of the witch and all things creepy crawly. Sure, you're probably thinking about that big Halloween fright fest and chattering eagerly to your friends. But, what's this? They're rolling their eyes. Why?

Your films are lame.

What you need is to class up your offerings with some truly memorable films. God knows there are people willing to pay to see umpteen iterations of Saw, but you don't have to be one of them. Your friends will thank you.

For the early part of the evening, while the jelly-mould brain is setting up and the Real Lady Fingers are cooling, start out with atmospheric classics. You can't go wrong with the artsy Teutonic stylings of The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and Nosferatu. If your guests continue to gab through the screening, not to worry. Silent films create a stylish ambience and you will rise a few notches in the estimation of the connoisseurs.

Read the rest over at BB (though most of the readers of this blog will probably not need the recommendations).

Consummatum est

The tenure package has been submitted. Hallelujah. Now the five month or so wait...

Assessment

I dislike being assessed. Being judged and evaluated, measured against some abstract scale, always makes me resentful. I have my own measures of success and have no interest in conforming to anyone else's opinions of what is valuable.

Of course, when you choose to become part of academia, it's a non-stop parade of evaluation. As a student you're graded on what you write, what you say and what you do. When you become a faculty member, you're graded on your grading and general teaching, on your writing, as well as the publishing and presenting of that writing and its attendant research, as well as how many committees you sit on, organisations you join and contributions you bring. Bleh.

Everyone gets evaluated on their job; I should just get over myself. But I have a lot of material to gather together. I'll try to remember to take a picture of the tenure package before I deliver it. Nearly there. The letter is out to friends for scrutiny. Meanwhile, holes to punch. It may prove soothing after straining to pull meaningful but not too clever prose from my brain.

UPDATE: It also didn't help that I discovered that all of last year's course evaluations were missing. It turns out our departmental secretary has them (after assuring me this morning she did not); I would have gone to get them by now, but she's apparently left for the day.

Contrasts

So, my day started by waking up to this disturbing sight:



because I had stayed at Jenise's after celebrating her birthday with Cary Grant movies and some wine -- and then a little Hennessey. Yum! Of course it was more relaxing to know I didn't have to drive home that night and her guest room is quite comfortable and, as you can see, guests are carefully watched over.

Nonetheless I was up early to join friends for a day's retreat to relax and recharge at Universal Pathways. The lovely Mary Browne has created a gorgeous sanctuary in Berne, NY with acres and acres of countryside and forests, streams and a cave. We all wandered about in various locations then met up at the main building for lunch, then wandered off again, though many of us gravitated toward the cave for a little music.



While wandering through the woods I came across this tree that had been uprooted probably by high winds. There are ravens, turkeys, elk and more in the woods around Mary's. Pheasants too, I guess, though the only one we saw had been hit by a car on the road!



After wandering through the woods I came out into a wide field, still green, though the leaves have begun to change. I could see where the elk or deer had lain in the field, so with the midday sun shining bright I decided to do the same. There was hardly a cloud in the sky anywhere as I gazed up, and though the wind was cold, the sun was quite warm. It was like being ten again. Big smiles. Good day.

Fancy Meeting You

Yesterday on my morning walk I ran into this snapper at the edge of Buckingham Lake. It may be a bit difficult to gauge size, so I should mention her shell was about a foot long. Clearly not in a hurry: on my first lap around the lake, she had just got out of the water. On the second go-round, she was sitting on the path. Maybe she was just posing!

BitchBuzz: It Makes You Gay!

My column this week chuckles a bit at a Republican senator's Chief of staff, who told an audience that "pornography makes you gay" and was not kidding. Whatever your thoughts about pornography, surely you'll agree that it's a kind of goofy thing to suggest. But it's just one more strange piece of the puzzle that is Americans' attitudes toward sex in general. Sorting out the Puritan heritage of shame from the capitalist efforts to commodify the body can be difficult for anyone (even a highly placed Republican staffer, I suppose):

Derisive news outlets jumped with relish onto the statements of Sen. Tom Coburn's chief of staff Michael Schwartz who, taking his lead from the sexual insecurity of ten-year old boys, declared that, "All pornography is homosexual pornography, because all pornography turns your sexual drive inwards" and the best way to scare boys away from it was to tell them that porn makes you gay: "if you tell an 11-year-old boy about that, do you think he’s going to want to get a copy of Playboy? I’m pretty sure he’ll lose interest. That’s the last thing he wants!"

You have to admire a man so focused on time management that he wants to instill homophobia and body shame all in the same moment [you can watch his earnest declaration on YouTube].

Read the rest over at BitchBuzz.

Happy Birthday, Joan Jett

Yes, LOL -- thin on content yet again: tenure package is coming together, but I forgot that the reassigned time and professional grant requests are due Friday and must be signed by my department chair and dean before being submitted. Soon, soon, I will be able to breathe again. Two other non-fiction projects due this week as well, and as they are paid gigs, so they can't be set aside. Somehow it will all get done, right?

Some good news: a short story inspired by a chance remark from a pal has already been accepted for an anthology. The story is "A Case of Dead Faces" and is a mash-up of jazz, argot, tarot and the Buddha.

And I wonder why it's so hard to place my stories...

Arrr!

Avast, scalawags -- ye know what day it be!

BitchBuzz: National Cupcake Week

My editor, whose Twitter handle is CupCate, of course made much of the fact that it's National Cup Cake Week (at least in the UK) and asked us all to do what we could in that theme. Of course, I got a bit silly as I'm not much of a chef (okay, it's true I can actually bake, but I am incredibly lazy, too). So I wrote my "recipe" for Brandy Alexander cup cakes:

For a complicated recipe like this, it is always best to start with the essentials. Of course for these cupcakes, brandy is absolutely required – and not just any brandy, either.

I would recommend the Paulet Lallique or Pierre Ferrand Memoire Vintage Edition, (although the Pierre Ferrand Grande Champagne 1972 Vintage will do in a pinch). While tastes vary greatly, of course, it is advisable to secure the very best brandy in order to achieve the fine results this recipe ought to have.

Taste tests are the best way to determine this. Line up several snifters of various brands, so that the light catches the light of the globes. Candlelight is best, so light a candle and position it so that the light both warms the glass and illuminates the colour of the liqueur.

Here is where Alexander comes in handy. Your Alexander, like your brandy, will probably vary according to individual tastes, but for this recipe it is best if he is reasonably strong and particularly good at tasks like lighting small candles and pouring brandy...

Read the rest @BitchBuzz. Be sure to share the link!

Midpoint

I'm midway through the most stressful month of my academic career, so this is why I have been a little neglectful of the blog (though I've been on Facebook and Twitter plenty). I wish I could be as relaxed as Kipper, but in between teaching my classes (including a grad class and a team-taught course) I'm reorganizing the Women's Studies program with a new name, new certificate and some events to get us back in the public eye.

Then there's the whole tenure package: due October 1st, this includes all my evaluations from both faculty and students for my time at Saint Rose, my CV and a letter which explains why they should give me tenure and (in my case) promotion to Associate Professor. While much of the package is assembling things that I (hopefully) already have, that letter is a very difficult piece of writing that has to boil my twelve page CV down to the essentials for a committee of scholars who know nothing about the kind of work that I do and explain succinctly why it's important and what I've accomplished and why they should value my work -- without putting them to sleep with excessive length.

Easy, right? And if I fail -- well, I'll be looking for a new job.

Weekend Wanderings

I know, I know -- I keep falling behind in recapping my travels and activities (which is why you should be on Facebook ;-). It's the most stressful month of my academic career, so you're going to have to cut me a little slack until Oct 1. Today I'm off to the Medieval Festival at Sterup Square to talk about Medieval Magic and Harry Potter. Hope it's fun.

Rumor has it my folks may be arriving in NY tonight...

Last weekend, I headed off to Shakespeare and Co. I got there early for the behind-the-scenes tour, which was fascinating. They have a new theatre this year. In addition to the Founders Theatre and the Rose Footprint Theatre, there's now the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, built inside what was once a sports complex. It was great going behind the stage at Founders, seeing the cheat sheets, green room and what not.

Even more fun was the visit through the bustling props, costumes and weapons rooms in the Bernstein complex. In what had been the ice arena is now storage where they can have all the furniture grouped by type and visible. The prop building room, where there was a body under construction for Hound of the Baskervilles, was great fun to see and hear about; ditto the costume room. But I really adored seeing all the stored costumes; there was something delightful about seeing a big box labeled "Wings" and seeing a wall of crowns. In the shoe and hat room, I took this blurry photo of the "Good boaters" and there was vast array of shoes and hats that I just wanted to explore, but we had to keep moving along. The weapons room, too, had much to see -- we only got to hold one sword, but there were all kinds of wonderful pieces. There's a giant workshop for set building that has its own exhaust system to cut down on noise, and new rehearsal rooms for their education programs.

Shakespeare & Co is always looking for support: consider adding to the Kresge Foundation Challenge Grant!

The tour finished just in time for the matinee of Measure for Measure, one of the Bard's plays I have not seen in production. The cast came from the Summer Training Institute and were a great advertisement for the program. Some of the folks relegated to smaller roles made the most of the humour of the play and the principles were all confident and assured for the most part. Emily Hagburg made an appealing Isabella, Tom O'Keefe gave a measured air to the mostly diguised Duke (though he reminded me a little too much of Richard Branson in appearance); Gabriel Portuondo sometimes seemed a bit too stiff physically as the cruel Angelo, but loosened up when he played Mistress Overdone as a kind of vampy flapper. I would have liked to have seen more of Michael Dix Thomas who played Escalus -- very much a kind of Tom Wilkinson kind of assurance and manner. It was all thoroughly enjoyable -- as was the frosty Berkshire Ale available at the snack counter. The pizza for one, on the other hand, is better left alone.

It's great to have so many good theatres in the region!

BitchBuzz: Obsolete

My latest column for BitchBuzz takes on the latest wave of Beatlemania which has left me profoundly ambivalent. You know I love the Beatles, but I'm distressed a bit by the seemingly endless hype to repackage and resell them. I'm sure there's a lot to love in this latest version, but I just can't afford to keep shelling out for new improved versions that will only be of interest to real audiophiles. I loved the Anthology sets: new music! and significantly different versions of familiar songs. They were a gift. This feels like a gimmick.

Everybody on the net seemed to have jumped on board: everywhere you looked, 9/9/09 was Fab Four day, all day! Whether it was iTunes or Musician's Friend, Amazon or the New York Times, it was the day in which, as the NYTimes put it, "Everybody Reviews the Beatles" and their latest re-release (well, the Guardian got it out of the way earlier in the week so they could avoid looking like part of the pack, but the Times had a whole special section on the band).

Don't get me wrong: I'm a huge Beatles fan and will doubtless break down at some point and buy this latest extravaganza, but I'm a little put off by the endless reiterations of stuff we must have. While the 'net seems to be poised to wean us away from the need for ownership and possessions (want it? You can Google it and have it – and then let it go), it also seems to have become the place to spread the desperate zeal to BUY IT NOW! OMG YOU MUST HAVE IT!

[read the rest @ BB]

BitchBuzz: Social Media Disenchantment

My latest column for BitchBuzz, about the disenchantment toward social media by some people who had hoped it would make them rich. I'm particularly pleased that Cate used the picture from All About Eve, that I suggested. Love that film!

There's a great passage in Marilyn French's The Women's Room where her character Val captures the rhapsodic joy of falling in love, then just as devastatingly describes the discovery of your beloved's clay feet—and the sinking feeling that accompanies that discovery. It seems like a lot of people are experiencing that crushing loss of rhapsodic love for social media.

Or at least that's what people keep forwarding to me. The other day a friend tweeted a forwarded link for Svetlana Gladkova's post, "Blog Day Today: What Real Bloggers Never Tell the World Truth about". Gladkova has something she wants to get off her chest: "And since I am not really a professional full-time blogger but still happen to know the industry after working in it for 3 years, I wanted to share with you some things that no real blogger will ever tell you the truth about."

Read the rest at BitchBuzz!

Honest Scrap Award

In the midst of the swirl of the first week of classes, I was very charmed to be told by Jane Kennedy Sutton that she had selected me as one of the recipients of the Honest Scrap Award. You are so kind, Jane!

“The award rules are simple - pass the award to seven worthy bloggers who post from the heart, and list ten honest things about yourself.”

Well, here's the ten honest things about me:

1. I have a very ambiguous relationship with academia.
2. I do think Old English is the most beautiful language to speak.
3. I would generally rather be in London.
4. I don't think there is a greater pleasure than writing when it's going well.
5. There is no more disconcerting feeling than not being able to write.
6. At present I am inordinately irritated by not being able to get into Facebook.
7. Becoming a medievalist taught me there is nothing original: very freeing.
8. Now, Voyager always makes me blub.
9. Peter Cook is the genius I would most like to be, but I'm not funny enough.
10. Sometimes I fantasize about getting in my car and just disappearing, drifting from town to town, working jobs that pay in cash and just writing, writing, writing. But I don't think Kipper would like to live in my car (and where would I put the catbox?).

Now here are the seven bloggers I've chosen to pass this award to.

Elena Steier

The Raven's Ecritoire

Marja Leena Rathje

The New England Anomaly

Kim Clune

Dana Fredsti

Shades of Purple

Please stop by and visit these blogs. Consider leaving comments so they know you have shared their words. Thanks for stopping by here -- it's always appreciated.

The Next Big Thing

Perhaps -- it's big in Japan, anyway and may well be big here soon: text novels. Yep, that's right: a novel that's sent bit by bit to your phone or mobile device.

Charles Dickens, eat your heart out!

My pal, Saranna DeWylde, has a couple of novels begun there, and told me I really need to get on board with this. She's right, so I have started putting my serial The Mangrove Legacy up there. Even better, Dorchester Publishing is holding a contest between now and November so if you drop by, you can vote for my novel in the competition. I've listed it as Romance: Historical, but I added enough information to make sure people knew it had my surreal sense of humour, too. If they're expecting a serious gothic, I don't want them to be led astray.

Today I'm off to Shakespeare & Co for a behind the scenes tour and a matinee of Measure for Measure. Then it's off to Robert's to relax a little before I come back and yes, work some more.

Um...

I thought my BitchBuzz column would be up by now, but it's not, and I have been furiously busy this first week of classes -- and paying for my summer of idleness -- so here's the lovely video for Robyn Hitchcock's beautiful song, "I'm Falling" from the forthcoming film about Brian Epstein. Sigh -- he's appearing in London tonight.


More actual content soon!

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!

Back to School

Yes, the dread day has rolled around again -- the beginning of the semester. I'm half joking, of course. It's always good once it starts, but there's always so much nervousness about the semester before it starts -- how will the classes be? how will I be? have I lost my touch?

Add to the usual stress the fact that I am now officially director of Women's and Gender Studies (and all that entails, including a bunch of things that need doing now) and I am applying for tenure -- package due October 1! -- and well, it's a more heavily freighted first Monday than usual. This semester is all medieval, including my sophomore level gender in medieval course, the upper division course I'm team teaching with my History colleague, Jenise, and the grad medieval class.

So much to do!

Social Media Breakfast--Tech Valley

Yesterday morning, much too early, I headed downtown to the Capital Rep Theatre, host of that morning's Social Media Breakfast for the Tech Valley region. The lovely picture is from the CapRep stage: they're currently deep into Shear Madness. Great set, eh?

The featured speaker was Justin R. Levy, a PR/social media maven, who live-tweeted his own wedding. While his experiences were centered in business, there was a lot of useful info for everyone, including the most useful aspects of different social media -- e.g. how building relationships on Twitter is different from doing so on Facebook, but also how you need to use a mix of media not only to cast the widest net, but also to deal with glitches like the recent takedown of Twitter.

And yes, we're back to that sticky issue of branding, again. If you want to make the most of SEO, then you need to know what the search terms are that will lead to your virtual door. Once again I'm stymied by shoehorning my work into some kind of catch phrase. Perhaps one will come to me.

You can see a stream of the event (featuring the back of my head). The lovely Amy Mengel was our hostess and organizer (who's so on the ball she tweeted to tell me there was tea along with the coffee and bagels when I complained on Twitter that there was no tea). While I hold to Wilde's edict about breakfast and brilliance, it was worth getting up early to be there.

BitchBuzz: The New Puritans

My latest column for BitchBuzz responds to a recent trend in lit commentary, including Alan Bissett's book blog for the Guardian, the usual sort of 'things have gone too far, and now the pendulum must swing the other way' opinion. I think it's got a way to swing yet, particularly because this has become a very gendered discussion, meaning that it's women writers who have gone too far:

I was amused to read Alan Bissett's blog in the Guardian this week arguing that "Literature is due a new era of sexual modesty." It seems an odd pronouncement from a guy with a new book out on sexual addiction, but there seems to be a bit of this about.

It's not the least bit coincidental that this call comes from a male writer. While trumpeting the new frankness of sexual writing that calls body parts by their common names, i.e. the ones we all know rather than the ones the doctors use, he signals a desire to step back from this frankness. " Ironically, it is British men (and I'd have to include myself in this) who have been been more uptight about it all." He details a number of books (preseumably his own included) that portray men as sad, deluded victims of their own libidos, like Welsh's Porno and Stretch's Friction...

Read the rest at BitchBuzz.

Publication: Rothko Red

My flash fiction story, "Rothko Red", is published in the current issue of the FinNALA Newsletter. The Finnish North American Literature Association also publishes the lit mag Kippis, where my story "The Kantele" appeared.

There's nothing Finnish about this story other than of course the author's heritage. Well, perhaps the mood of melancholy could be seen as somewhat Scandinavian/Baltic (depending on where you fit Finland, opinions vary). I wrote this while sitting in the room with all the Rothkos at the Tate Modern (my favourite museum in the world) and thinking about the wonderful contemplative ambiance the paintings give and what sort of person might need that magic very much.

Some of the Rothkos are now over at the Tate Britain with the Turners to give a new perspective of that well-loved painter, especially his late work. So I spent more time at the Tate Britain this last visit -- there was a great Blake exhibit, too, that re-created his first exhibit.

And I nearly forgot: you can still hear the audio version of this story over at Radio Wombat.

Unikirja Reviewed!

Rie McGaha over at the Pagan and the Pen reviewed Unikirja and had some really wonderful things to say about it. In fact, I'm thinking my feet aren't quite touching the ground:

K. A. Laity has written a marvelous collection of stories that have the dreamlike quality of bedtime stories. I was mesmerized by these stories with their intelligence, simplicity and warmth. From the very first story with its simple message that life has its ups and downs for everyone, to the humor of Raising Lempi, you will want to savor every word, every page and read this book over and over. The warmth and peacefulness these stories bring to the reader feels like a big, comfortable blanket on a cold wintry day. I am just so impressed, I can’t say enough for Unikirja-Dream Book, except what a wonderful treat.

Wow, eh? It's makes all the hard work of writing worth it when you can have this kind of impact on a reader.

Be sure to drop by the Pagan and the Pen and check out all their book reviews and articles!

Pi-Con Bound

I'm off to Pi-Con today. All kinds of interesting things going on there, and interesting people including the guest of honor, Mary Doria Russell. I'm on a few panels, I will be signing books, too. Maybe I should bring a kantele to play just in case no one shows for the signing.

I'm also having lunch with my pal Dennis from grad school, which ought to be fun. We haven't seen each other except on Facebook for some time. After Pi-Con, I'll head down to Hartford for a slumber party at Elena's with the Queen and Miss Wendy. Whoo hoo!

Let's hope the weather stays reasonably clear -- look out, Hurricane Bill!

BitchBuzz: Vampire Cheese

My latest column for BitchBuzz on vampire shows to watch while waiting for the next installment of Twilight or True Blood, shows a little chutzpah considering my editor had tweeted earlier that same day that one of "the things we're all sick of" included vampires. Have I got timing or what? She still published it.

If you find yourself chewing on wax lips while waiting for the next episode of True Blood or the second Twilight film, there are a couple of series that might just ease those sanguine jones for a time, though they've tended to fall out of toothy fashion.

If you like your vamps as do-gooders, check out Forever Knight, the saga of detective Nick Knight, an 800 year old vampire with a conscience who works the night shift as a cop, cleaning up the streets of, er, Toronto. Okay, glamourous it's not. But there's a low budget charm to the show, helped immensely by a game cast... [continue reading at BitchBuzz].

Review: Ponyo

My pal Peg convinced me to run off for a matinee this week even though I have a million and one things to do what with the approaching semester. We saw the latest Ghibli film, Ponyo. I love Miyazai's films, so no surprise, I really enjoyed this one, too, though it doesn't rate with the best of his work. Pitched at a very young audience, it lacks the complex nuance of works like Mononoke Hime or Kiki. Peg thought it needed a lot more backstory on characters, too. But there is a mythic thread that underscores the fairly subtle environmental message (obvious enough in the sight of all the trash that fills the ocean) in this retelling of Andersen's Little Mermaid story.

I'm so accustomed to the soaring heights of Miyazaki's imagination, that it's odd to think of him doing an underwater film, yet water allows for the same fluid joyful movement. It also allows him to people the ocean with all manner of amazing creatures. Some are amazing because they're unusual sights: when the ocean becomes unbalanced by the "goldfish" Ponyo's attempt to become human and surges over much of the land, ancient fish (coelacanths!) swim down the streets of the town.

But even the less impressive creatures are a delight. I recall in particular an octopus sidling in the doorway behind Ponyo and Sosuke, the little boy who has befriended her, as they stare in wonder at the newly watery world around them. Miyazaki invests so much into these details. The whole of the screen comes alive with magic. The sheer delight of watching Ponyo run atop the waves is equally matched by her total captivation with the simple actions of making tea and noodles. Impossible not to smile.

The American voice cast is on the whole good. Considering the horrible effects that can have -- Mononoke was poorly served by its central voice actors -- this is praise indeed, with standouts Tina Fey, Cloris Leachman, Betty White, Lily Tomlin and Cate Blanchett as Ponyo's mother, the mère of the mere, who's described as "beautiful" but also big and a little bit frightening (which is quite wonderful -- the awesome power of the ocean goddess).

The only real Disney effect (apart from the tacked on logo, which we booed) was the horrible pop song at the end. The rest is pure Miyazaki. Not the best he has done, but still delightful.

Python Reunites!

The surviving Pythons will be reuniting in NYC on October 15th for the premiere of a new six-part doco series that will be airing on the IFC channel October 18th-23rd. In addition to the documentary and timed to 40th Anniversary of the creation of Monty Python, The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) will award The Pythons with a Special Award honoring their outstanding contribution to film and television.

“This is the documentary I always hoped would be made - something so complete and so faithful to the truth that I don't need to watch it,” said Terry Jones.

The complete Python troupe – John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and even the late Graham Chapman – will attend this official Python reunion event, which will include a screening of the theatrical version of the Original IFC documentary Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer’s Cut). Following the screening, all five surviving members of the Monty Python team will sit down for a Q&A discussion and will be presented with a Special Award from BAFTA to honor their outstanding contribution to film and television.

Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyer’s Cut) will be told in six parts, airing one-hour each night during IFC’s “Python-a-thon” beginning October 18, 2009 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. IFC will also air Python feature films including Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Monty Python’s Life of Brian, and Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl.

This six-part series features interviews with all the surviving Python members, along with archive representation for the late Graham Chapman. The Pythons tell their life story and reveal deeper truths alongside the more tried and tested Python history lessons. The documentary also features comedians and contemporaries including: Eddie Izzard, Olivia Harrison, Steven Merchant, Dan Aykroyd, Tim Roth, Lorne Michaels and Seth Green, among many others.

A select number of tickets will be available to fans online at www.IFC.com in mid-September.

[h/t to Todd! yes of COURSE I'm trying to get a pass to this]

At the Fair

My pal Jenise talked me into going to the fair last night; that's one of her pictures of the fine fowl on display there. At least by the evening the heat had abated somewhat and once the sun went down, things were actually comfortable. We ran into people we knew very quickly (yes, even me!). Jenise and Mary tried very hard to resist the Bengal kitties, which did look like miniature leopards. We ate unhealthy food (no fried dough for me), looked at a wide variety of livestock -- one of the horses had a sign, "Friend me on Facebook" so the fair ain't what it used to be. Nonetheless, I felt like an extra in Oklahoma! walking around the barns and the midway.

This morning it was so humid, mist rose right off the surface of the lake and wrapped the trees in diaphanous white gauze. I kept an eye peeled for Avalon, but nothing appeared through mist but ducks. Another hot day today: thinking of gazpacho, thanks to José mentioning it on Facebook.