Read: Santa Olivia, Jacqueline Carey

 

I picked this up at a recent library book sale. YES, I LIKE FANTASY FICTION THAT BORDERS ON YOUNG-ADULT.  I’ve never quite grown out of that, and I don’t know if I will.

So if you like other stuff by Jacqueline Carey, or supernatural stories about low-tech dystopian towns, or werewolves, or boxing, pick up Santa Olivia. Spoilers in the review that follows.

 

                       

             Loup (pronounced ‘Lou’: from the French for werewolf “loup-garou”) is an orphaned girl born to a mutant-werewolf-vagabond father and a sheltered woman from ‘Outpost’, nickname for the small town of Santa Olivia, cordoned off from both the rest of the United States and Mexico. Her older brother is training to become a master fighter. She grows up simulating miracles by ‘the real’ Santa Olivia with a raggedy crowd of children taken in by the facade of a church. She begins training to box herself once her brother is killed, to avenge him and to hopefully escape Santa Olivia. The most interesting thread, though, is her social interaction: romantic and platonic relationships are puzzling for Loup, until she finds Pilar.

 

 

             This book picks up on, and transforms, a lot of tropes and associations. We have the woman as she-wolf, the woman/girl who is dangerous because she is fearless, the strong female as mutant and unnatural, the “butch lesbian”. But we also have the Saint girl metamorphosed into a fierce rule-breaker, the girl who embraces revolt as her way out of a trapped world, the mutant/werewolf that lives in an all too realistic environment.

(art by justine hourdeau)

 

         It provoked some strong thoughts and questions about women and the portrayal of mutation/the supernatural in literature. If you’re looking for an empowering account, this book might be the place to start. In short, I enjoyed this one a lot, and once I get through my other summer reads I mean to pick up the sequel Saints Astray.

At the Frontiers of Women & Horror

“The horror is not merely among us, but rather part of us, caused by us”

– Dana B. Polan

Spoilers for Frontière(s) (2007) below.

          While not in the same park as Martyrs or Haute Tension, Ils or À l’interieur, Frontière(s)  is in the same tradition of new french body-horror. It aspires to be more than just a French take on Hostel, or the murderous-country-family genre.
               Carmen Gray condemns the film for more than one reason: stylistic lack of unity, and the apparent punishing of Yasmine for the choice of her fetus.  The film opens with her telling us that she doesn’t want to bring a child into a world like this: where right-wing extremism is taking over (in a possible French future). – and the take home message seems to be that, under a wild Nazi family, the world could be much worse.




          It is, admittedly, hard to draw any pro-woman (nevermind pro-feminist) messages from this film. Watching horror films from a feminist  woman perspective is odd, and problematic. While this movie doesn’t completely embrace the final girl trope, the idea of sexualizing the sole woman survivor is present. Yasmine is only kept alive so that she can procreate for the rural family, and various characters beg her to keep her pregnancy. This focus on women’s reproductivity is also present in the daughter-character, who has given birth to children that are hidden away and not accepted.
          Nevertheless, this film does try to break our race assumptions about horror movies. With the protagonists being French of North African descent, or “beur”, the screaming young white woman is not precisely the issue. But this goes largely un-examined in the film.  Yasmine has to cut her dark hair in order to appear more racially acceptable for the family. It touches on questions of race and immigration, but doesn’t delve deeply enough into them: issues of contemporary France as it stands are dropped throughout most of the second half.
          Frontières means not only the pastoral unexplored plains, but the borderlands, the area so close to the border that you could cross over immediately. Escape is always just within reach, and your own being is on the edge of something, in an identity crisis.  The horror of the family in the borderlands is a reflection of the horror of the city; that is within us, not far away and extreme but present in everyday life, bifurcating our experience.


Read more:

• McCann, Ben. “Pierced Borders, Punctured Bodies: the Contemporary French Horror Film.” Australian Journal of French Studies.
• Gray, Carmen. “Frontier(s).” Sight & Sound 18.3, 2008.
• Wikipedia – the Final Girl.

Bringin Shakespeare Back (yeah)

 

So this might sound preachy or dorky, but I really think that every big city should have an outdoor summer Shakespeare festival. Edmonton has the Freewill Shakespeare Festival, which I’ve been attending for the last three years.  They performed “Titus Andronicus” and “A Comedy of Errors” in 2009, and “Macbeth” and “Much Ado About Nothing” last year. FSF is located in one of our biggest parks, and the price is roughly equivalent to a movie ticket. Awesome! [Note: Freewill Shakespeare Festival did not endorse me, I just love them].

 

 

Thursday night I went and saw their comedy for this year, and next week I’ll see their tragedy. Although “Twelfth Night” has one of the most unoriginal names ever, it’s a ridiculously funny play, especially the bawdy sub-plot of drunken pranksters.

FSF decided to go with a Steampunk setting and costumes, which were mostly well done, and with some techno versions of Beatles songs (this was the one part I really didn’t like) between scenes. I was surprised to find that the actress playing Viola was in my university orientation group in first year! Small world. They have a good mix of veteran and newly-premiering actors, with some

Overall it was a really funny play, well done and a great way to spend a summer evening if you can live through the mosquito plague.

 

 

Book Review: Watchman by Ian Rankin

 

 

 Sorry, Inspector Rebus

 

 

 

WATCHMAN

Author: Ian Rankin

Rating: 5/5

 

 

 

 

It’s summer, the time to read non-assigned books, especially light fiction. I’ve been on an Ian Rankin roll lately: the Edinburgh-based writer pens crime fiction that’s a little more literary. His most successful series features a curmudgeonly, jaded, outside-the-law detective named Inspector Rebus. They’re great for a summer read.

 

So, in the pile were a couple of non-Rebus books, and what I particularly sped through was Watchman. Not related to the graphic novel/movie, but about a spy who is used to only watching from the sidelines when he’s suddenly thrown into the middle of an odd cover-up. Miles Flint starts out passive and undergoes some massive changes during the book. I really couldn’t put this one down, and finished it faster and with more vigor than the other books I’ve read this summer.

As always, you can track what I’m reading on Shelfari.

A Treat: June Luxe Box by Loose Button

Last month I decided to treat myself by buying a Luxe Box. Well, it showed up last week!

Local Eats: kabuki japanese restaurant

 

Friday night – by the way, I’ve had my nostril piercing for a week now! – I went out with my sig. other to have some japanese food at the newest restaurant of its kind to open near the university : Kabuki.

Off the top of my head, there are three other restaurants within walking distance: Kyoto, Yokozuna, and Tokyo Sushi. They’ve all been there a long time and have similar pricing.

Although I’ve read some so-so reviews online, the service was very good! It seems to be family run, and has some pleasant decor (although a bit crowded). I ordered the sake-don (salmon sashimi on rice) and my partner got one of the dinner boxes with a side of sake. Of course there was green tea and miso soup, though I still dislike miso. Overall the prices were fair and the food was filling. It’s not levels above all the other restaurants in the area, but good enough to certainly try!

 

I also got a chance to speak some of my 8-year-old-child-level japanese to a waitress for practice, which was fun! りっぱなレストランですね。

Book Review: SPIN

Last week I did the perhaps unspeakable - venturing into the rows and rows of Canadian novels in the Humanities library.

Title: SPIN




Author: Catherine McKenzie




Rating: 5/5



































This book is more light-hearted than it seems from the cover, but not quite full out 'chick lit' (I despise that term). Our protagonist is a newly-turned-30 aspiring journalist who parties like she's still in college and shows up to the interview for her dream job dead drunk. The result? The music magazine offers to give her a second chance only if she enrolls in rehab and does a gossip article about a current Lohan-esque 'it girl'. This book is fresh and funny, while dealing with the troubles of addiction and lying, but not preachy at all. And best of all, it doesn't devolve into 'chick lit' at any point, though the ending is somewhat happy.



In brief: A great summer read.

Book Review: Audrey Hepburn’s Neck

Title: Audrey Hepburn’s Neck
Author: Alan Brown
Rating: 4/5





This book was a re-read for me. I picked it up several years ago at a library cast-off sale, and when I read it then I liked it. So I was interested to see if I had the same reaction now. The book begins on an annoying point – we read about Toshi and his fascination with American women, and I wondered if it was really just some poorly-disguised soft core porn. But, we soon come to realize that the life Toshi has been indulging in leaves him with dangerous ex-one-night-stands, as he realizes it. By the end of the book, when we find out the secret that Toshi’s mother has been harbouring for years, everything comes together, and the main character is just barely likable.
That being said, this book is worth the read more  than not. If you’ve been to Japan, the descriptions match well. I also think Brown did a great job of describing the conversation troubles of someone learning English in their mid-20s. I give this book 4/5, because it irritated me from the start but redeemed itself towards the end.

1930s Lynchian Expressionism? Sign Me up!

Another movie recently on my roster: The Saddest Music in the World (2003).



Featuring:

• a sociopathic Broadway producer
• his militant retired RCMP father
• the woman who loves the producer, but the father loves her.
• a pair of glass legs filled with beer
• a Serbian amnesiac nymphomaniac
• a grieving, hunch-backed cellist
• a worldwide competition for which country has the saddest music
• beautiful 1930s-style cinematography

Want to forget all your troubles and become a nymphomaniac? Sing in dulcet tones while high on a swing above a crowd?  Then try this outfit, which Narcissa would adore!

Items in this set:
Black Contrast Knit Tunic by Wal G**, $50
Faux Fur Jacket by Motel**, $140
Organic Cotton Ribbed Tights, 25 GBP
Bordello Shoes - Two-Tone Mary Jane Pumps in Black and Tan with..., $50
Rhinestone Drop Dangle Earrings, $6.80

Want to make a good deal of cash? Win back the man you loved but never loved you? Reign over town as a marketing maven? Lady Port Huntley could help you out there!

Items in this set:
Gold Chain Effect Dress, 120 GBP
Crochet Back Panel Shrug, $18
Erin Bejeweled Pump, $23
Asymmetrical Wool Cloche Hat - Women's Clothing and Apparel - Chic..., $28
Christian Dior - Rouge Dior Lipcolor No. 752 Red Premiere, $28

Obviously, I recommend everyone go and download or rent this.

My Conversion to a Black Metal Fan

Last night, I went to my first black metal concert.
I haven’t been to a proper metal show since high school, and that was only with some local crappy bands in my small town. All I can remember about the bands is that one of them had a song called “Ship of Flesh”.

Behemoth is based around the Nietzschean idea that after the (conceptual) death of God, you yourself must become God. Their music was loud, harsh, melodic. The guitarist and bassist headbanged constantly, and their hair swirled around in perfect syncopation.



Drinks were expensive, but aren’t they always? I sipped on vodka-crans. Shining didn't come, a couple of crappy local bands opened instead. There were a lot of "try-too-hard" people in the audience. Behemoth played several songs from their newest album, and a few from earlier ones. They ripped a bible in half and threw it in the audience.

When it comes to the nitty gritty, I had a good time. I'm definitely not anti-Christian, but the imagery and ideas of this music are interesting.

This is going on my download list!

Movie Review: THE UNBORN

Can you say "movie-that-looked-B-list-and-shitty-but-was-actually-one-of-the-scariest-I've-seen-in-a-while" three times fast?

It sounds like this

The Unborn is about a young woman who suddenly begins to be haunted by what she believes is her deceased (died in the womb) twin brother. She does more research and finds out that it is really the form of a dybbuk. This movie has a bit of Jewish mysticism, a cross-religious exorcism, and some of the flat out creepiest visual scenes ever.