Marco Polo Sings a Solo

I recently finished reading John Guare's 1973 play Marco Polo Sings a Solo, and really loved it! It is set in 1999, a future imagined from the 1973 context. It is a very funny, heavily ironic piece.

Guare sets up a nice set of expectations in the play, and really delivers on them. I like the premise that he explores — the idea that there is such an overwhelming desire to explore the self that we forget to let the world "out there" shape us, as we fail to engage with it. I was amazed by the way the play worked with this problem, bringing up such outlandish, crazy scenarios to explore it all.

The future imagined in the text is now, of course, a decade in the past. And the real world 1999 wasn't anything like the 1999 of the play.... at least, not on the surface of it.


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Music for the Cyborg

Remember how scared we were of robots back in the 1980s?



Lyrics | Dennis DeYoung - Mr. Roboto lyrics

At least things have changed... we aren't as scared of the Japanese as we used to be.

(even though robotophobia is still around)


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Movies so Bad They're Good

I was just listening to a podcast (look up resources@uen.org) about camp movies — things so outlandishly bad that they somehow work. The standard example is, of course, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The ridiculous nature of these films makes them able to be so removed from our experience of life (via the fictional world of good film?) that they garner a following, somehow managing to speak to wide segment of the population.

A lot of these campy shows fall in the sci-fi genre. I think that there is something to the genre that makes unbelievability acceptable. The nature of sci-fi is that it is not true to our contemporary living. Instead, it explores the idea of "it's not this way, but what if it was?"

The removal from our daily experience of life distances us from the situation of the story. When this setting is used to explore issues that are, perhaps, too close for comfort, we somehow manage to accept the exploration, whereas we might resist the same exploration in a more "realistic" setting.





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Robotics in Shanghai

I recently stumbled across the Robotics Society of Shanghai. Meetings of the group are pretty irregular, apparently, but it looks like it could be lots of fun!

My oldest godson signed up for robotics as his extracurricular activity at school. It looks like fun! I have several friends in the field, and it is so interesting to hear about the things they are working on. One of my favorites was the study of robots performing dramatic texts onstage. Can you imagine....?



(Actually, I guess if you've, say, seen Abraham Lincoln deliver speeches at Disneyland, you don't have to imagine.)



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a funny thing happened

My friend sent me this link to a showing of King Lear in Shanghai. I know, I know... this site is where I talk about science fiction, not Shakespeare, and this isn't exactly Hamletmachine (Heiner Müller, in case you're wondering). But still... scroll down a little. Did you see it?

"Han Lei Solo"

I have been learning Chinese for nearly 20 years, but my childhood baptized in Star Wars still has me reading that "Han & Leia Solo." I have to look twice to remember that Han Lei is a Chinese name.

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Read more about Hamlet-Machine and Other Texts for the Stage



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Christina Sng

It was great to get to meet speculative poet Christina Sng a week or so ago. I've not met another speculative poet in person before, and really enjoyed getting to know Christina.

Sng also gave me a copy of her book, The Darkside of Eden. I read it and was very impressed. This is the second of Sng's book I've read, the other being Angelflesh, which was also a great read.

The field of speculative poetry is an exciting, growing one, and I am thrilled to meet Singapore's pioneer poet in the field last weekend.



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Yoshimi going to battle

Lyrics | Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots lyrics


Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

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Launch of Cyborg Chimera in Singapore

My book Cyborg Chimera will soon be available in bookstores in Singapore. To launch the sell of my poetry collection here, we'll be hosting a book launch here over the last weekend in February. I'll post some pictures when it's done. For now, I'm looking forward to the event, especially because my family from the US will be here to celebrate with me!

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Looks Promising: Plasma Rocket

This looks promising....



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Tron Legacy coming soon...

I can hardly wait for the release of Tron Legacy. Just look at these billboards. It's going to be so fun!

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Good News

I got some exciting news yesterday about my poem "Manipulation," which was first published in the May 2009 online edition of Scifaikuest. The poem, a haibun, was nominated for a 2010 Rhysling Award in the long poem category.


The Rhysling is awarded by the Science Fiction Poetry Association each year for best poem published in the previous year, as voted by members of the association. There are two categories for the poetry award, short (under 50 lines) and long (over 50 lines). It is the biggest award for speculative poetry.

You can read the full text of "Manipulation" at the readers' page set up by Malcolm Deeley, where he is kindly showcasing some of the poems eligible for nomination for this year's award. (You'll have to scroll down to find it.)

This is my first Rhysling nomination, and I'm very excited about it.

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Check out the The 2009 Rhysling Anthology at Amazon



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Interview with John J. Dunphy

Interview with speculative poet John J. Dunphy



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Poetry Coach Online

I've recently begun offering a new coaching service for writers and poets.

You can have a look at my website to see how it works and what services are offered. I hope to add a series of online poetry courses in the next few weeks as well.

And now I'll let this particular blog go back to its normal work of discussing science factoids and science fiction.....

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Kinetic Wind-Powered Robot

I saw a little clip on the news recently about some wind-powered kinetic robots put together by a Dutch designer. I came across some more designed by Dutch artist Theo Jansen when browsing this blog. Really beautiful work! The video clips I saw on the news were amazing.



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The Attack of the Two-Headed Poetry Monster

I recently finished reading Attack of the Two-Headed Poetry Monster. It's a pretty funny collection, with lots of spoofs, warped humor, and all the things that can make reading poetry fun.

It's the first collaboration between Mark McLaughlin and Michael McCarty I've read, but I really enjoyed it, and would happily delve into anything else they put together.



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Seeing Double?

If you think a robot girlfriend is weird, what about someone who puts the real object of his affections into robot form — himself! The robot doppleganger is now available for retail in Japan.

What would you do if you had a robot who looked just like you? Do you think you'd try to be in two places at once? Would it be better or worse than a clone?

I can't imagine how I'd manage my day if I had a doppleganger. I have enough trouble keeping track of everything now.



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What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This?

I knew the day would eventually come, but it's still kind of funny to see it arrive. RoXXXy is now on the scene, offering a very specific service for lonely men. Yes, you guessed it — she's a sex machine. Literally.

Roxxxy was recently unveiled, um... I mean, introduced at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas. She's 1.52 cm, and weighs 54 kg. And more importantly, has a full C-cup. She is programmed with artificial intelligence, and covered with flesh-like synthetic skin. And participants at the expo in Las Vegas were completely enamored.

Roxxxy is just one of the names of the robot, which is more accurately branded TrueCompanion. She comes equipped with 5 different personalities. Douglas Hines is her inventor.


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Voices

A friend loaned me Urusula Le Guin's Voices recently. I picked it up over the weekend and finished it in just a couple of days. As soon as I'd read the first chapter, I knew I was going to read it straight through in a relatively short time, and that feeling of being firmly in the grip of a good story didn't let up. It's been a while since I last read a Le Guin novel (at least 3-4 years), and I'd almost forgotten how good she can be.

Voices is a book about healing, and about being broken. It is both profound and moving. If ever there has been a tale to make me believe the pen is mightier than the sword, this is it. Never have I seen diplomacy presented in such active terms, making the tale seem action-packed, even though there is surprisingly little fighting in it. The violence we see is not romanticized into some heroic act, but presented in the stark realities of the suffering inflicted by violent acts — suffering that can damage generation after generation, if allowed.

Here are a couple of things to whet the appetite, quoting from the book:

"I'm sorry, now, for that girl of fifteen who wasn't as brave as the child of six, although she longed as much as ever for courage, strength, power against what she feared. Fear breeds silence, and then the silence breeds fear, and I let it rule me. Even there, in that room, the only place in the world where I knew who I was, I wouldn't let myself guess who I might become." (page 32)

"I get along with animals and they get along with me. The gift is called calling, but it's more like hearing, actually." (page 73)

"'Heathen,' they called us. A word we learned from them. If it meant anything, it meant people who don't know what's sacred. Are there any such people? 'Heathen' is merely a word for somebody who knows a different sacredness than you know." (page 126)

"We've sung your poem 'Liberty' for ten years now here in Ansul, in hiding, behind doors. How did that song get here, who brought it? From voice to voice, from soul to soul, from land to land. When we sing it aloud at last, in the face of the enemy, do you think you'll be silent?" (page 169)

"Love of country, or honor, or freedom, then, may be names that give that pleasure to justify it to the gods and to the people who suffer and kill and die in the game. So those words — love, honor, freedom — are degraded from their true sense. The people may come to hold them in contempt as meaningless, and poets must struggle to give them back their truth." (page 296)


There's plenty more like that — moving passages couched in the middle of a good story. I'll just quote these few parts, though, and hopefully that will be enough to let the book jump out and begin to work its magic on you too.

After all, what could I say about the book that would better recommend it than that it overflows with lines like these?

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House of Many Ways

I managed to pick up a copy of the Diana Wynne Jones novel, House of Many Ways when I was in Shanghai recently. I had been keeping an eye out for the book, but certainly hadn't expected to find it in Shanghai. Anyway, I am happy I did spot it there, and really enjoyed reading it. Not surprising, as Diana Wynne Jones is always one of my favorites.

The book features Howl and Sophie, but they are not the main characters. Instead, Charmain and the little dog who adopts her, Waif, are the main stars of the show. It is a nice way to continue to feature Howl and Sophie, the pair in Howl's Moving Castle, as they make a very fun couple to follow. And Calcifer is, of course, as charming as ever.

It is always hard to beat a Diana Wynne Jones fantasy tale. She knows how to weave stories in such a way as to make the reader want to know what is going to happen next. She is incredibly creative, making use of all sorts of strange and funny magic to get the tale moving along. Her use of space and time is, as always, entertaining in House of Many Ways.

Charmain is like most of the characters you expect to find in a Diana Wynne Jones book — whether it be a part of the Chrestomanci series, the Dalemark series, the Spellcoats series, the Howl books, or any of the many stand-alone volumes she's written. Charmain, like the rest, is simultaneously lovable and infuriating. Her faults aren't hidden from us, but are rather made an object for amusement and bemusement all at the same time. You wonder, while reading, how someone could continue to be so bad-tempered... and yet, you can't help but smile, perhaps recognizing it as a very typical, very human mode of behavior. (Maybe even something you might have seen in yourself from time to time.)

For me, it is this combination of innovative magic, good humor, lovable/infuriating characters, and good plots that makes every Diana Wynne Jones story so much fun. And House of Many Ways doesn't disappoint.

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If Star Wars had Facebook...

I came across a really funny post here.

Hope you get a laugh out of it.



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Fun Viewing

It was fun yesterday, on the second day of the new year, to see the 1984 film 2010 showing on TV. I enjoyed watching it again, just like I did 26 years ago. (Wait... 26 years??? Ouch!)




And right after watching 2010, the 1968 movie 2001: A Space Odyssey was aired. It's been some time since I last saw that old classic as well, and so I really enjoyed catching up with both films yesterday.



The old movies are obviously a little dated when you look at some of the technologies pictured in them, but it doesn't matter much. They are still good movies. The ideas in the series, both about space exploration and the interaction between humans and the technology they create, are really fun to consider. The Bowman-HAL connection is a little creepy still — in fact, it might be even more so today, when such things seem to really capture the imagination of serious women and men of science.


I'm glad both films were shown — especially together — and getting to see them right in the middle of the era they depicted and predicted. It's interesting to think about the different directions our technology and space exploration has taken us since the making of the movies (and the writing of the books on which they are based), and also the ways in which the stories still hold certain ideas that are, even today, worth exploring further.


I read 3001 several months ago, and also read a book entitled Flesh and Machines, which makes mention of HAL and his (its?) interaction with humanity. Seeing these films again after having recently enjoyed both of those books was extra fun. I'm glad I caught them on TV and got to experience them all over again.






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Happy New Year

Have a safe and happy new year, and a wonderful 2010!

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A Look Back

A quick look back at 2009 shows me it has been a good year for my writing. My first book was released, along with a line of collectible art pieces built on 30 of my haiku.

The book is science fiction poetry, while the art pieces are not. (An online gallery of the art pieces is available at Sloth Jockey.)

You can have a look here if you are interested in seeing a list of all of my published work. There are links to those that are available online.


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Merry Christmas!

Hope you have a wonderful holiday with your friends and family!

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Avatar

I saw Avatar last night, and really enjoyed it. It might be the best new film I saw this year.

The technologies of the future presented in the film were lots of fun. I liked the ideas explored, and loved the new world created on Pandora. The use of all the old tropes was good, especially mixed in with the idea of a true global network. That concept reminded me of a lot of sci-fi books I've read (including Asimov's later installments to the Foundation series), but the whole biological explanation of it was very nicely done in the film. I liked how it was presented on the screen too, with the various creatures able to connect (literally) to the world around them in a special way.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and might even see it one more time while it is still on the big screen. Fun stuff!


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Edwin Morgan, my introduction to speculative poetry

It's no secret that speculative poetry (including sci-fi, fantasy, horror, the surreal, slipstream, etc.) is very much my thing. But long before I knew that genre poetry had such a big market these days, with loads of new reading material being published within the genre all the time, I first stumbled across it in the work of Scottish poet Edwin Morgan. Morgan quickly became one of my favorite poets, as I devoured everything I could get my hands on.

I moved from there to other "mainstream" poets who had done a good deal of exploring of sci-fi themes in their work. It was only years later that I found places like Sam's Dot Publishing, Dreams & Nightmares, and the Science Fiction Poetry Association — all of which directed me on to more and more magazines, small publishers, and so forth that are producing quality work in the field of genre poetry all the time.

And it felt like finding home.

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Cyborg Chimera — it's here

I've received my copies of Cyborg Chimera at last. (That's the down side of living in a different country than your publisher — many readers may receive your book before it can make it over the sea to you!) I'm handing out copies to friends and loved ones, and hoping it has a warm reception with them.

If you purchase your copy from The Genre Mall now, it should arrive just in time for Christmas.

Enjoy!

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Online Again

My blog poetically challenged has been offline for a while due to some difficulties I had accessing the site for a while. I think the issues are now resolved, and I will be updating it regularly again.

The blog focuses on publication opportunities for poets. I hope you'll find something useful there.

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Aliens Among Us

The theory that there are aliens among us has recently gained a little more credibility. Well, at least it has gained a proponent who is more credible than the cranks often associated with such theories.

Bulgarian astrophysicist Latchezar Filipov believes that there are aliens living on our planet, though they are (somehow) invisible to us. That doesn't mean we can't see their effects, though, he claims. Crop circles are one way they communicate with us. And what they are saying is that they aren't happy with us, particularly for the issue of global warming.

It's interesting when theories like this begin to be more accepted by mainstream thinkers. If it becomes accepted as fact, I guess science fiction writers will have one less "what if" to treat. Though, I am sure that means it will open up plenty more options to take its place.



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Time Travel: The Most Ridiculous Theory In Science

I came across an interesting hub at HubPages the other day, Jon E. Royeca's Time Travel: The Most Ridiculous Theory In Science. In it, Royeca outlines the main ideas proposed by those who say that time travel is bound to happen sooner or later, and tells why he is sure that this is just not possible.

A fun read for anyone interested in science fiction, so I thought I'd put a link up here.

dark 'til dawn, video catalog

Just in case you haven't seen it yet (I've been posting it everywhere)....
the dark 'til dawn video catalog





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2012

I just got back from watching 2012. It isn't the greatest movie I've ever seen — not even the best end-of-the-world story — but it was still pretty fun. Woody Harrelson was a riot, and, well, I always like John Cusack.

There were several touching moments in the movie, and a few spots that would make you think. I liked the weaving in of the Noah story, and how that old tale came back to life. There were a lot of completely unbelievable plot devices, but hey... it was still a fun night at the movies.

Overall, I would say the film doesn't offer a lot of depth, but it is entertaining. And the special effects are pretty cool too.


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Cyborg Chimera

Cyborg Chimera, my first poetry collection, is out now. I've written a little HubPage on it, for those who are interested. It is a work of speculative poetry.

If you'd like to order a copy, you can find it at The Genre Mall.


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Book Review Website Aimed at Christian Ficiton

I have started to build a new website with Christian fiction book reviews. The site has reviews of all sorts of titles, whether they be books marketed specifically as Christian fiction, or books that seem like things Christian readers might be interested in. I want to eventually have all kinds of books, old or new, and really aim to feature a breadth of titles, authors, and genres.

I am listing titles by author, title, and genre. I hope over time to feature a lot more science fiction and fantasy that is geared to the Christian market. I'll be posting reviews of my own, but I also hope to get some new reviewers to send thoughts over. I don't mind what your own beliefs are, and would actually like thoughts coming from all different perspectives. But the site is aimed at Christian readers, and reviews should be geared to that market.

At any rate, do feel free to send any reviews my way that you'd like to see posted at the site.

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The Story of Light

I've recently been reading Ben Bova's The Story of Light. It is not science fiction, but more of an ambling through science history, discussing the development of humans' interaction with light. It is a very interesting read, including a lot of science and research history, and also the importance of light in humankind's mythology, including the various mythologies of science fiction.

It's a good read, even though it has taken me some time to get through it due to a recent busy schedule. It is about 400 pages, and while some of it is concerned with technical things, it is not an overly technical read.



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Uh-oh....

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a promising start

I just visited a new blog and saw this post.

Oh..... this is going to be FUN!!! I thought it looked like the sort of thing that needed a plug here.


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Reliving it all again

I've recently sat down to watch all of the 6 Star Wars episodes again. I have to admit that this is, no matter how you look at it, a really amazing series. Sometimes I fall into the trap of thinking that my love for it is all about the sentimental attachment of someone who grew up on the series. I am wrong to think like that. My evaluation that it is a great series is because... it is really a great series.

Lucas is an amazing artist, with an incredible vision. I love how he views his world, how he put it together, unfolding it in the perfect sequence. He was so wise, not only in the construction of the films, but in the release of them in Episodes 4, 5, 6, only to be followed by 1, 2, 3 two decades later. What genius! He won over a whole new generation because of his patience.

I'm glad to have taken the time to watch the series again. I'm wrapping up a couple of essays on Star Wars, and hope that they will be accepted for publication eventually. But the emotional enjoyment I get from these films just has to overflow after having relived them over the past 10 days or so.

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Mary Reilly

Last weekend I popped the DVD of Mary Reilly in, on a friend's recommendation. I am not easily spooked, but I picked a bad night to start the movie — a cold, rainy night... and late.

I turned it off after about a half hour.

It isn't so much that the film is exactly scary. It is more... disturbing, rather than scary.

I finished watching the next morning, and really enjoyed the film. I've passed it on to another friend, and don't know if she got spooked out by it or not.

I thought John Malkovich was brilliant in the movie, in his roles as both Jekyll and Hyde. Julia Roberts got a lot of criticism about her accent, but I found it to be a minor distraction over all. She acts her part well, and I thought the film well executed.

It is worth picking up the DVD, if you haven't seen it.
....But don't watch it on a dark and stormy night.


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Unintended Break

I did not mean to take such a long break from reading the Chinese magazine, Science Fiction World, but it has just sort of worked out that way. I intend to get back at it over the next few days, though, and will have more updates then.



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Bill and Ted

I recently caught a showing of Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey on cable. This movie isn't nearly as good as the first Bill & Ted installment, but it was a lot of fun watching it again and laughing at the old, lame jokes. They are lame as ever, and still crack me up. (Does that make my sense of humor lame?)

One of the things I like about these movies is how they explore a very silly sort of sci-fi film. In the Bill & Ted movies, there is an appreciation of the genre that underlies the silliness, I think. It seems to me that someone who doesn't understand how sci-fi films work probably couldn't make or appreciate the humor of Bill & Ted, even for as much as sci-fi comes in for a bit of mockery in the movies.

One aspect that is easily missed in the films is how well-rounded their targets for mockery are. While there seems to be a base in rock music and pop culture, the films also take us back to important historical figures (or in the case of the second, mythological figures), and expect the audience to know something about each of them. Without a well-rounded knowledge, the films aren't funny, really.

It's funny, when I look back, how even these sorts of cheesy, pseudo-sci-fi movies can capture so much. It reminds me why I like the genre so much.

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Science Fiction World

I am continuing in my read of Science Fiction World, the Chinese language science fiction magazine. So far, I am really enjoying the stories there. I am very pleased to find that I am able to follow the language. It is written in a way that is engaging enough that, even when I struggle a little, I don't switch off.

I've asked a friend to pick up the January issue for me, so that I will have it when I get back to Shanghai. I'll look forward to continuing to be a reader of this magazine.


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More on Chinese Science Fiction

I'm getting a little more settled into the routines of life again, and that means I'll be on a more regular reading schedule than I have been for the past 6 weeks or so.

I've been wrapping up some things that needed attention, and now am going to get onto something that has been sitting on my shelf for a few weeks — the Chinese magazine Science Fiction World. I am really excited about it, as I think it will be the best way for me to get a better view of science fiction in China.

I plan to start on the magazine tonight or tomorrow. Watch here for an update on how it goes as I progress.

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This is the Kind of Thing You've Just Got to Love About Science

The new finding of really loud radio signals is an exciting discovery for NASA. No one knows yet what is causing the radio signals, what they mean or where they come from. But there they are, waiting to be understood, once we've investigated further.

The signals weren't something we were looking for — we didn't even know to look for them, in fact. What the whole experiment was about, the one that eventually discovered these radio signals, was actually measuring radio waves from really old stars. And how convenient... we found something instead that might lead us to some really interesting knowledge about the universe out there. (Of course, it is also somewhat inconvenient, in that we won't get what we were after in the first place, will we?)

This is what is so fun about science — when you approach your task doing the best you know how, you might stumble upon something unexpected, showing you that all your know-how doesn't really amount to much after all. And that is just so cool.

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New Blog Just for Prayers

My blogging friend has started a new blog called Prayer Corner. You can go there and request prayers, "no strings attached."

Stop in if you are needed a prayer offered on your behalf.

Also... watch this spot, as I plan to begin posting more regularly soon! (Sorry for the long break!)


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The Anansi Boys

I received Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys for Christmas and finished reading it. (Not this past Christmas, though. HEE HEE. It's actually been a few years.) I posted a review and a bit of the book's background over at HubPages.


As with all of Gaiman's work, The Anansi Boys is a really fun read. I hope you enjoy the review, and the novel too.

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