Cat Country

I recently finished reading Lao She's Cat Country, one of the earliest works of sic-fi in Chinese. It is a fun read, and really gets you into what was going on in China in the 1930s. The tale is about a traveler to Mars and his interaction with the Cat People there. That's not to say that China was traveling to Mars in the 30s (nor meeting races evolved from cats), but the Cat People society is supposed to be a reflection of the problems in China at the time.

It's a good read. There's a reason Lao She is such a renowned name in modern Chinese fiction, and Cat Country is just a small part it. It happens to be a part I really like.


 Subscribe in a reader

a Poem by K. A. Hays

I love this poem, "Just as, After a Point, Job Cried Out," by K. A. Hays, and the animation that goes with it at the MotionPoems version.

JUST AS, AFTER A POINT, JOB CRIED OUT a poem by K.A. Hays from Motionpoems on Vimeo.

 Subscribe in a reader

Idylls of the King

I have to admit that when I recently read Tennyson's Idylls of the King, it was bad timing. I am a little burnt out on Arthur at the moment. Or to be more accurate, I am a little burnt out on anything to do with Empire, thanks to some unpleasant encounters with a few neoColonialists over the past year or so. The Arthur story, then, probably wasn't the best thing for me to be reading, but I'd had it on my reading agenda for two years, and felt I ought to get to it.

That said, how can you not like Tennyson's poetry? (At least the blank verse.) There are moments where it just transports you to another time and place. I loved the grandeur of what he's done, though there were some aspects of his take on Arthur that wore on me as I read, particularly how unflawed the king was.

Still, he's Tennyson. The verse is beautiful, and that alone made the read worthwhile.



 Subscribe in a reader

Harry Potter's iPhone

I came across this funny post recently. That's an bunch of apps I wouldn't mind having!



 Subscribe in a reader