culture consumed (January, 2024)

[hermionesviolin]

fanvids

• on stultiloquentia's rec: Superstar by sandalwoodbox (Nimona 2023) [from FanworksCon 2023] Tegan & Sara!
• I also then watched here's luck's Buffy/Faith fanvid to the same song (from 20 years prior).
• rewatched Melina & Shalott/astolat's "The Mountain" [YouTube link] because Tracy Grammer is playing Passim in April

books

• read Abby ~10 picturebooks & skim-read ~14 picturebooks myself
• [feminist sff book club] The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia -- and the short story retelling "Nothing Less than Bones" (available if you sign up for their newsletter)

  When I wrote this story, I was simultaneously working on a novella version, which fleshed out not only the events but the themes, characters, and frictions. That version, The Bruising of Qilwa, is out August 9, 2022, from Tachyon Publications. While the following is not a summary of the novella, it does follow the general idea of it, including the conflict, stakes, and general consequences, and includes three of the major characters. If you like “Nothing Less Than Bones,” I hope you will consider picking up The Bruising of Qilwa, to see the story as I originally intended.

  However, I would encourage reading this story after reading the novella for a view of an alternative universe or telling of the events in Qilwa. Some of the ideas within are what I originally planned for the story. "Nothing Less Than Bones" was originally published on Aurelia Leo Originals, a subscription blog from Pride Book Cafe.

  
  
• [local library climate change book club] The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis by Christiana Figueres & Tom Rivett-Carnac
• When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar (because Abby)
  
• [novella] The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark
• [non-fiction] Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender by Kit Heyam

MCU

• Marvel Studios' Echo - Official 'This is Choctaw' Behind The Scenes Trailer
• the 5-episode Echo miniseries dropped on Tues. Jan 9 (a date night), but not until 9pm :( so Abby and I didn't watch it that night (because bedtime), but did watch the Native American What If...? (2.06 "What If... Kahhori Reshaped the World?")
• Echo 1.01-1.03 [we probably would have finished the miniseries in January, but Abby got covid, so we didn't see each other for a week, and then we had a very full weekend]
• I watched part of [The Daily Moth] Interview with Douglas Ridloff and Toj Mora on “Echo”
  a friend from Institute on Theology & Disability sent me the FB link, which had this blurb:

  Interview with two Deaf professionals behind the scenes of “Echo” – Douglas Ridloff and Toj Mora. Douglas was a consulting producer and the ASL master. Toj was a second assistant editor. Both describe the important work they did to ensure the show’s presentation of ASL went smoothly.

  It's about 10 minutes long and pretty broad, but I paused it around minute 6, because it felt like it was gonna get spoilery (about how different characters sign and why).

trailers

• An Avocado Pit

  Per the LGBTQ Nation article:

  The 19-minute film, An Avocado Pit, is making Oscars history. It has been shortlisted in the “Best Live Action Short Film” category.

  Produced by Elliot Page and Pageboy Productions, and directed by Ary [Zara], it’s the first film directed by a transgender person to be considered for the prestigious award. It stars Gaya Medeiros, a trans woman.

  Unlike the all-too-common trauma fare of most modern films centered around trans people, An Avocado Pit is wholeheartedly positive and affirming.

  Star (trans woman) is from Brazil, and director (non-binary trans person) is from Portugal.
  
  
• Love Lies Bleeding (someone in a Discord I'm in said, "I don’t even care if this movie turns out to be terrible, I will just watch it on mute. Kristen Stewart and Katy O’ Brian are my star crushes.")

  and then, not a trailer, but "Does Kristen Stewart Know Her Lines from Her Most Famous Movies?" from from an Autostraddle article FB suggested to me about KStew's Variety interview

music

• Mizna 2024 Staff Playlist !

speeches

• MLK's Beyond Vietnam (April 4, 1967)

theatr

• [Plexus Polaire] Moby Dick with Abby and Allie

  Allie had to bail ~last-minute.  I ended up giving my extra ticket back at the box office about 15 minutes before showtime, and a college student (?) who was very excited about life-size puppets got the ticket, so I'm glad it went to a good home.

  I personally was expecting more life-size puppets, so felt the puppet aspect was oversold, but the video projection was phenomenal.  And some of the other puppetry was really cool -- e.g., the little boats that looked practically matchstick-sized hunting whales.

  Official blurb:

  The classic story told anew in this radiant visual feast
  
  Herman Melville’s immeasurably influential novel is brought to life in this radiant stage production featuring seven actors, fifty puppets, video projections, a drowned orchestra and a life-sized whale. Renowned director Yngvild Aspeli stages this eye-popping visual adaptation of Melville’s classic book with the help of the endlessly inventive Norwegian theater company, Plexus Polaire.

  Moby Dick is, on its surface, the simple tale of a whaling expedition, but the story’s haunting themes of unparalleled obsession lead us all to question the unexplained mysteries of life and of the human heart. In this groundbreaking production, the classic is reborn with a freshness and urgency that makes it truly unforgettable.

  (Digital program brochure here.)

  There was a post-show discussion, which we stayed for.

  The cast is international (French, Australian, etc.), and one of the puppeteers said that they only translate some of the show, and the rest is subtitled, so the audience is much less responsive, since their visual attention is divided between the stage and the captions -- "They don't laugh at our jokes!"  This same person also noted that when they do the show in the USA, audiences already know the gist of the novel -- whereas when they do the show elsewhere, no one comes in with pre-familiarity.  Which isn't a thing I had thought about, but which makes sense.

  The show is only about an hour and a half long, and it's largely vibes.  They do retain the Pip chapter, though, which I appreciated.  (Yes, I'm kind of impressed that I know this, given that most of my Moby Dick knowledge is osmosis from rydra_wong and whaleweekly.)
  
  Edit: I somehow missed skygiants' review until we watched a fanvid that uses clips of this show [link -- it's "#teamwhale"] and we got curious about whether a recording of the production is available somewhere (it isn't, alas; clips are from the trailer, as we had thought might be true), but as Abby said after I sent it to her, "This is a correct review." /edit
  

***

Currently reading: 

I literally just finished Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender by Kit Heyam last night and haven't started anything else yet.

Reading next: 

Abby has been wanting me to read Sabrina Imbler's How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures since she finished it in early January.  I got work book club to agree to read it for February (as a follow-up to the novel Remarkably Bright Creatures, which has an octopus as one of its POV characters).

This month's feminist sff book club book is another novella: Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather, so a library copy is on its way to me (along with its sequel, Sisters of the Forsaken Stars). Lesbian nuns in space? A living spaceship.

Comments

[lunabee34]

Dylan can relate. They have a massive celeb crush on KStew.