January 2009

World in the Satin Bag

Website Found: Secret and Complex Literatures

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I had at one point been mulling around in my head an idea for a young adult fantasy/science fiction novel centered around the Voynich Manuscript, a mysterious collection of pages written in an unknown and undecipherable language accompanied by bizarre illustrations. Presumably it’s one of those incredibly clever creations that we’ll likely never understand, since the person who wrote it died before it was found. The problem for me was finding a book that put all of the pages of the Voynich Manuscript into one place, but without all the writing of an author discussing it crammed between the pages or in the margins. With that in mind, I present to you Secret and Complex Literatures. What is it?Secret and Complex Literatures, which needs a different name, by the way, is a fascinating site filled with ancient texts, strange invented languages/alphabets, obscure and relatively forgotten elements of ancient writing, and, of course, the Voynich Manuscript. If you’re interested in invented languages by people other than Tolkien, particularly people you might not have known had invented languages, this is certainly a site for you. Why is it cool?Well, aside from the fact that it’s a site that puts all this wonderful stuff right in front of your face, it includes a section of thirty-six beautiful manuscripts, a page of ambigrams, a page of calligraphies/micrographies/calligrams, six palimpsest manuscripts, twenty-three variations of secret writings and invented languages, and much more (Voynich, for example). It’s all there. Fantasy fans will love this site, I imagine, because it puts all this wonderful stuff in one place; no need to Google search it (unless you want to know more about a particular item). The only downside is that much of the site is written in French, but that shouldn’t deter you. Give this site a look and let me know what you think!

World in the Satin Bag

Show Review: Stream Episode One

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I’ve been fascinated by the push for web-based television shows (not web-extensions of TV shows, but original works placed on the web in small 3-5 minute episodes). The recent incarnation is Whoopi Goldberg vehicle Stream. The show has only one episode up at the moment, which is the one I’m reviewing, but the description of the show is quite intriguing: Thanks to a drug she took when she was seventeen, moments from various points in Jodi’s life become intertwined, effectively letting her experience two moments at once.Jodi has spoken with her future husband; she’s visited the psychiatric ward where she will reside in her twenties, and she has come face to face with a vision that will haunt her throughout her life.Ultimately, Stream is about a woman who spends a lifetime wrestling with her personal demons, and gathering the strength to face her worst fears.Stream snaps back and forth through three phases of Jodi’s life: her past as an intelligent but headstrong teen; her present in a psychiatric facility, and her future as an adult clinging to a normal life after years of tribulation.The story unfolds in and around New York City, as we travel with Jodi from the wealthy suburban home of her youth to the nebulous world of an institution, and the unforgiving streets of the South Bronx. The first episode of this mind-bending psycho-thriller clocks in at three minutes and thirty seconds, but immediately establishes, or tries to at least, the basic premise: that Jodi can experience time as if it were stationary; she can experience her past and her future together.The production quality is decent and thankfully aims for a more minimalist approach than a clouded CG-infested approach. It also seems like this is a series that is well cast, what with Whoopi Goldberg at the head and a collection of unknown, but seemingly capable actors and actresses supporting her.I should say that I’m a Whoopi fan. I don’t know why, but I enjoy Goldberg’s movies. Stream is, for me, another of her projects I intend to stick with. It’s hard to judge this series effectively on one episode, but after seeing it I can say that I am interested. I want to know more about Jodi, about how she ended up the way she is, and where she will end up when this is all over.Give the first episode a look and let me know what you think. It’s only a few minutes out of your day and you might find yourself as interested as I am in the end.

World in the Satin Bag

The Haul of Books Volume Three

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I have more books to show the world. The books in this post are part of the huge box my friend gave me while she was packing to move, and there should be two or so posts more of this stuff before I run out of the freebee books. Of course, with school already started I have plenty of other books to show you all, but that will come at another time. For now, here’s this edition’s haul:First up are Starman by Sara Douglass and Broken Blade, King of Shadows, The Western King, and Kingmaker’s Sword by Ann Marston. The latter group are apparently Scottish semi-fantasy, which sounds interesting to me!And then there are March Upcountry by John Ringo and David Weber, Requiem For the Sun and Prophecy by Elizabeth Haydon, and The Woad to Wuin by Peter David. If you look closely in this picture you can actually see the edge of the box from whence these books came.Thoughts on any of these books are certainly welcome!Expect at some point in the relatively near future–once my last school book comes in from wherever it’s coming from–there will be a collection of posts dedicated to my reading list for this quarter. I thought last quarter was bad, but this quarter is certainly kicking my butt. Twenty-eight books to be read in about ten weeks. You do the math…

World in the Satin Bag

To Market, To Market?

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I was looking at where to submit my latest story today, and I began thinking, What criteria does a writer use to select which markets to submit to? Is it just payment? Well, no. I’ve known established writers to submit to non-paying markets simply because they liked the look of them. I myself have occasionally seen a market and, becoming obsessed with it, written a story specifically, despite the pay. Of course, professional paying markets matter if you live off your short fiction or you want to apply to the SFWA/HWA, but not if you write simply for the love of it. Is it exposure? This, too, is a difficult one, because a short story magazine with a distribution of 1000 or so doesn’t provide much exposure to someone like Clive Barker. Furthermore, why would he need further exposure anyway? Surely his readers know of him and new readers who’re looking for genre work will know to consider him. Perhaps it’s being ‘part of the club’. If you’re published at a given venue, you become part of a cabal of writers who have all been published there. Appearing alongside writers you admire, or in a beautifully designed and highly selective magazine is always a good thrill, whether or not you need the exposure. So perhaps all writing is selfish and all publishing is vanity, but this probably comes as no news to most writers, who’ve secretly been hiding this info from the rest of the world and making them dependend on us for, well, everything 😀

World in the Satin Bag

Website Found: Blade Runner Insight

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I’m a Philip K. Dick fan, to say the least, and while I don’t consider Blade Runner to be an entertaining film, I think as far as aesthetic value is concerned, it is top notch. Blade Runner Insight is a website I stumbled onto a while ago and I’ve been meaning to put it up in my Website Found feature. What is it?Blade Runner Insight is a website dedicated to the analysis of the film. It’s not a fan site, per se–certainly not in the sense that you will find gushing fan raves over the latest director’s edition or anything of that sort–but it is a site with a mission to expand upon the already well-rehearsed criticism of the film. Why is it cool?Well, if you’re interested in reading and commenting on deeper discussions of the Blade Runner film, then this site is definitely for you. The site is run partly as a blog (with news and information added into the mix) and partly as a forum (not an actual forum, but as a forum) for the authors to present their arguments and thoughts. The archives are considerably extensive, thus providing, I think, plenty of material to keep you interested during their occasional lulls in posting. Check out this fascinating site and satiate that Blade Runner hunger you have in your lower intestine (because it’s much more interesting to think of hunger in your lower intestine than in your stomach).

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