Website Found: Anthem, the Musical
The wonderful thing about randomly surfing the interwebs is that sometimes you find something so cool it’s hard to believe it exists. Case in point is this website for Anthem, the Musical. What is it?You know that book by Ayn Rand called Anthem? Well, apparently somebody thought it would be a good idea to turn it into a musical, and this website is all about it. Why is it cool?Well, what isn’t cool about it? It’s a website all about a musical version of Ayn Rand’s Anthem. It doesn’t get much cooler than that, right? Okay, so maybe you don’t know what book I’m talking about; if that is the case, then just take note that someone loved a single book enough to turn it into a musical.The website has sample audio to listen to, which has a sort of 80s rock sound in to vocals, which is interesting, and several pages with information about the musical, including: The Story, The Characters, Creative Team, Media, and Contact pages. If you like Ayn Rand’s work, this website could change your life (maybe, or maybe not). If you don’t know Ayn Rand’s work (I’ve never read any), then this page should be a testament to the awesomeness of literature, because only a book (the musical Wicked was also based on a book, by the way) could bring something like this to life. Or someone who really likes musicals (or both). Enjoy!
The Haul of Books Volume One
Well, I’ve decided to start calling this feature “The Haul of Books,” because it seems to fit as a clever manipulation of words. So, to start off with a bang, I have a little story! UC Santa Cruz is having a fantastic set of readings this quarter from science fiction and fantasy authors and last Wednesday I had the chance to meet Kim Stanley Robinson and Karen Joy Fowler. After their readings, they answered several questions from the audience and then signed books (while answering more questions). It was a fantastic experience. I don’t get the opportunity to see a lot of interesting science fiction or fantasy authors in Santa Cruz. Unfortunately, all of the good readings are in San Francisco (with the exception of Salmon Rushdie and William Gibson, who visited Santa Cruz not too long ago).And as author readings would have it, I managed to get a few books signed (new books, since I was an idiot and left all my Robinson at home).Firstly, here are the books–The Sweetheart Season by Karen Joy Fowler and The Years of Rice and Saltby Kim Stanley Robinson.And here are the signed sections: On top of that are the following books. Shambling Towards Hiroshima by James Morrow is a book sent to me from Tachyon Publications for review, which looks really good. Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want by Obert Skye I bought at Borders recently with $5.00 I had in Borders Bucks (I love this series, by the way). The last one is So Long Been Dreaming (Postcolonial Science Fiction and Fantasy) edited by Nalo Hopkinson and Uppinder Mehan, which I got some time ago along with a book to help me study for the GRE (for the free shipping on Amazon, of course). I found out not too long after buying that last book that one of my favorite authors has a story in it (Tobias S. Buckell with “Necahual”) and I will be using it for my research project, I’m sure.And there you have it. This is the first edition of “The Haul of Books” and I suspect there will be many more in the near future (actually, I can guarantee it, because I just stole a bunch of books off of a friend). Anywho!