The Big Graphic Stories event at the Roundhouse, yesterday, was lovely. Lee Henderson’s description of two men arm-wrestling was the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long time. And Sarah Leavitt’s story of her mother’s early onset Alzheimer’s depicted through comics and text, was deeply moving, also funny, honest and real…. It’s also a tale of deep love between a daughter and mother. Sarah and I traded books and I’m eagerly looking forward to reading it! http://www.sarahleavitt.com/tangles/

I’m going to be guest blogging at Jeff VanderMeer’s site: http://www.jeffvandermeer.com/ An American award-winning writer, anthologist, editor of fantastic fiction, he’s graciously hosting me for four days. So please check it out, a click away…. (What a weird world we live in now. Mind you, even though I’m on the internet, and can use it, I think, jeez, if I were time travelled back and left in, say, 1100 AD, I wouldn’t even be able to tell people how to make matches! Ummm, sulphur, I’d mutter. It’s yellow. Smells like egg yolk. And, something else, important…. For the chemical reaction. Combustion. With friction….) I suppose even if I did know, if I’d made fire out of inert substances I’d be labelled a sorceress, witch, etc. Good as long as people liked me and appreciated the ‘sorcery’. Evil, once the tide turns. Note to self: if forcefully time travelled and abandoned in the past, avoid drawing attention….

It’s an odds and ends day. Several work-tasks to complete, but rather distracted. So I end with a plug for an older film (1984) that is very high on my list of Notable SF Films. John Sayle’s, The Brother from Another Planet, is considered a cult classic, but I don’t see/hear as many people talking about it as much as others. It might be because it’s less sf and more social commentary. However, it must be said it’s one of the best sf films that has a non-white hero (performed by Joe Morton) with a large multiracial cast as well as a multiracial love relationship. The “special effects” (this would be why it’s deemed cult classic) is very low-budget, and, seen from 2010, laughable. But it’s also kind of naive and sweet and the storyline and the exploration of race, alienation, community and survival are all timeless experiences and it’s handled deftly and so humorously in this film! The zingy dialogue sequences among the supporting cast (the hero, the alien, is mute) reveal so much of the human society, and the play between the audience’s understanding of the workings of N. American society, and our imaginings of the mute alien’s experience of this society creates a zone where we can see ourselves as alien and absurd…. If I  had it I’d watch it now– perfect for a Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately I couldn’t find it in Youtube, just small clips, which doesn’t do it justice at all. Please don’t judge it by clip alone!!!

Now, to vacuum the furnace vents….

Ohjoy.