Congratulations to Bruce Boston and Lee Ballentine, whose story “Wasp Light” (Farrago’s Wainscot, Issue 10), was honorably mentioned in Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror of the Year. Additional congratulations to Bruce, whose poem, “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Vulture” (Farrago’s Wainscot, Issue 11), was also honorably mentioned.
Congratulations to Forrest Aguirre, whose short story, “The Non-Epistemological Universe of Emmaeus Holt,” (first published in Farrago’s Wainscot, Issue 11) is listed as one of The storySouth Million Writers Award
Notable Stories of 2009.
Some things I’ve seen since the last update, complete with micro reviews to make your life easier at the video store:
1. Everything is Illuminated: deft, paced, and resonant.
2. The Answer Man: whatever.
3. The Great Buck Howard: competent.
4. The Gamers: Dorkness Rising: terrible production but f-ing hilario-awesome . . . if you are or have been a table-top gamer.
5. Slaugherhouse 5: brilliant, if you’ve read the book or just love Vonnegut.
6. Amreeka: competent. Heart-breaking.
7. Beer Wars: fascinating content, bad delivery.
This article about Big Ag v. Small Ag appeals to my apocalyptic, down-with-the-huge sensibilities. Thus begins a new tag: “resistance.”
Via Fair Food Fight (a favorite go-to blog of mine for all my food-fighting news): “Who’s Afraid of the Family Farmer?”.
Charles Tan gave the final issue of Farrago’s Wainscot (Issue 12) an honorable mention (category, Best Single-Issue Magazine) for his 2009 Bibliophile Stalker Awards.
Much obliged, Charles—thanks for reading.
Between semesters, for me, most evenings end either at the pub or with a video. Between Netflix and our local indie video store, Rima and I keep the flick rotation pretty active. Here’s the random-and-scattered list of (some of) what I got around to last month, complete with micro-commentary.
1. Julie & Julia—Not normally the first genre I reach for, but this one was well-produced and sufficiently engaging. I found the two plotlines somewhat unsuccessfully divergent but not enough to throw the entire film off.
2. Full Metal Jacket—This was one of those that I had seen in its entirety but a few scenes at a time, out of order. The production is pretty straightforward Kubrick, and the characterization was appropriately haunting, but (dare I say it), the entire thing felt unfinished. I was actually surprised when it ended.
3. Animal House—Yeah, I know: everyone’s seen Animal House. I hadn’t, so to put an end to the shocked expressions I engendered every time I admitted as much, I finally got around to it. It had its classic moments, but for me, that era of comedy is far too situational. The scenes, the actions, the dialog, the props—everything is so carefully, architecturally arranged that by the time the punchline comes around, I’m exhausted.
4. Ink—I grabbed this from the as-yet-unheard-of Blu Ray shelf at Orbit. In short: bad. There were some great (overdone) effects, and director Jamin Winans certainly showed that he knows how to block a scene, but the overall effect was of a bunch of aspiring, over-eager actors looking to ride an indie bus into notoriety.
5. Patton—Another of those that I “should have” seen before now. Whatever. I enjoyed it—great cinematography, sound design, and acting.
6. Rudo y Cursi—Predictable, cliche, and too-neatly-wrapped-up for me. Well-acted and produced but ultimately flat.
7. Whatever Works—Great, right up until the inappropriately redemptive ending, which retroactively ruins the entire flick.
8. What Would Jesus Buy?—An interesting story. It held my attention for the first half hour or so, and then it became clear that there wasn’t enough here for a feature-length documentary.
9. Fast Food Nation—Schmaltzy, heavy-handed, and sluggish. Too bad.
Rich Horton positively reviews the ‘09 year at Farrago’s Wainscot.
As ever, we appreciate his thoughts.
You tell ‘em, Asheville!
Asheville, NC—11/24/09
So, it has a name now—well, that’s something.
More interesting to me, however, is the newest tide of unease washing over economists: “6 double dip warning signs”*
I am not surprised. Look, there really wasn’t any reason for everyone to start hollering that the recession was over. Yes, things were turning upward, ever so slightly. New unemployment claims per month were dropping, new layoffs per month were dropping, and home values were supposedly “bottoming out.”** Everyone—citizens, administrations, economists—was so eager and so primed for any sign of recovery that what gains we were making were being blown out of proportion. It’s the equivalent of cheering after floating in an ark for 40 days, only to find out on day 41 that the water was now five feet shallower than it had been. You’re still screwed, but, Oh, great day in the mornin’!
“Wasp Light,” by Bruce Boston and Lee Ballentine (FW 10), will appear in the forthcoming The Anthology of Dark Wisdom. Why not preorder a copy of the book?
