New to Me: Michel Gondry "Swedes"

I love Michel Gondry. I want to have a little door in the wall that I can go through to live in his world (or maybe his brain) for brief amounts of time.  But the documentary about him, "I've Been Twelve Forever," that I watched in a Childhood & Film class (courtesy of John Cech) makes me suspect I couldn't handle extended periods with Gondry. 

I feel like if I were in a relationship with Gondry, somehow his constant eccentricity would be an irritating reminder of my own non-genius, and I'd retreat into a simmering fury over how he never remembered to pick up toilet paper or milk. But brief little snippets, like this "swede-ing" of "Taxi Driver," would be perfect. He lives in Brooklyn, so the corridor between our doors wouldn't even have to be that long.

New to Me: Rebecca Martinez

I'm a big fan of art that makes me feel uncomfortable (Sally Mann, for one). I discovered Rebecca Martinez today, via this article, and had to share: her photographs featuring Reborn dolls are amazing.

If you're feeling crafty this holiday season, there's a frightening amount of information out there about how to make your own Reborn doll, though I have a feeling most of us won't be able to use one to create art as cool as Rebecca Martinez has.

Finally, free association takes me to P.D. James' novel Children of Men (yes, the movie was better but the book has its moments). There's a scene in the book where childless couples bring kittens and dolls to church to baptize them. I'm calling it now: when the apocalypse of infertility comes, we'll all be clutching our own little Reborn.

New To Me: Fungi

(Quorn image courtesy of Jan Ainali)

 I’ve been eating fungi recently. I bought this stuff called Quorn, thinking it was one of those soy products that masquerades as chicken.   While I was cooking it (okay, heating it in the microwave for 2 minutes), I read the package and learned that Quorn is largely made of mycoprotein. Cool, but unexpected.

               
I don’t like mushrooms and lichen creeps me out, so my only previous up close and personal experience with fungi was a missed encounter with “magic mushrooms” in my misspent youth.

I always avoided psychedelics, mostly because I had such strong reactions to pot (depersonalization, anyone?) that I was too scared.  A college ex-boyfriend, who was a boyfriend at the time, gave me a bag of “magic mushrooms” as a going away present, when he headed off to Latin America for a semester abroad. The bag sat in my fridge, until the day the slumlord made an impromptu apartment inspection.

He opened the fridge, picked up the bag of of shriveled mushrooms, and said, “Looks like you need to clean out this fridge.” 

About two seconds after he left, I flushed the mushrooms down the toilet (the toilet in the bathroom which had no door, because that’s how wretched that apartment was).  So that’s as close as I ever got to fun with fungi, until I found Quorn. Maybe one day, when I’m 80 or so, I’ll set off a psychedelic fueled journey of the soul.  It seems like something everyone should do before they die.

Hopefully you’ll be as happy as I was to learn that fungi are not underrepresented in the world of literature.  GoodReads has compiled lists of books featuring bad fungi (murder via poison!) and good fungi (adventures in idyllic musthroom gathering).  I also came across this cool kid’s book, Fungus The Bogeyman.  Burgin Streetman has an awesome review of the book over at her site, Vintage Childrens’ Books My Kid Loves. I’m still unclear on whether this Bogeyman is actually a fungus, but I guess I’ll have to read to find out!

New to Me: Cool Blogs

Awful Library Books

 

Have you ever found a book on a library shelf and thought, “Why the hell is this part of the collection?” This blog narrates the decision making process librarians go through in deciding to keep or weed a book like the gem pictured here.

Whenever I get the chance to go to a library book sale, I search for misfits like the books featured on this blog. I bought my favorite cheesy novel, Audrey Rose, at a library book sale. Apparently there’s a sequel to and a movie version of Audrey Rose. Off to update my Netflix queue!

The F Bomb

(Riot Grrrl zine show at Goteblud. Image via larrybofsf)

 The authors say “The FBomb.org is a blog/community created by and for teenage girls who care about their rights as women and want to be heard. All young feminists who are just a little bit pissed off and very outspoken are more than welcome here.”

I could have used a site like this when I was a high school debater, one of a handful of young women in a sea of guys. One of the worst comments I ever got from a male judge was “the shorter the skirts, the higher the points.” Yeah.  Growing up as a feminist in the proto-internet era, there were lots of available resources about feminism. But beyond my circle of friends, there weren’t really any avenues to share my experiences, and to hear other girls’ experiences. It was the Riot Grrl era, but I never even saw a zine until years later. Anyway. The F bomb. Check it out.

Fantasy Casting

Lots of people think about who’d they pick to play the characters in their favorite book, but this blog actually goes the extra step and shares the fantasy. The casting is usually spot on. At left is who Gina, the blog's author, chose to play Rhine in Wither.

 Fantasy casting connects back to writing for me.  I'm not a very visual person, so I have to work harder to "see" my characters. I often visualize a character as someone I’m familiar with, whether it’s in real life or TV/movies.Sometimes I even search for a Google pic of someone who looks like my character. If I find a good one, I'll stick it up on my magnetic board, for inspiration.  

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