K.A. Laity's Blog, page 140

November 17, 2011

Know-vember: Barry Leary




I should be in Dublin with Elena and Rod today, which is just as well considering my current guest here: Barry is shy. He's also an artist. We may have been standing next to each other at the big Rothko exhibit at the Tate Modern a few years back, both gazing in rapt awe, but not noticing one another. No, we had to run into each other on Twitter. Fortunately, we did. He's even put in a tentative foot into the Facebook world, though he tends to post a few pictures and then run off again. He can be coaxed out again with sweets, I have discovered.



1. What's the first thing you do upon waking in the morning?



Turn the computer on.



2. What's a song you might be persuaded to dance to?



Dress - PJ Harvey.



3. Where in the world do you live?



Mainly but not exclusively in my head.



4. What's a great night out for you?



No such thing as a great night out at my age :-):-) (I might be lying)



5. What's a great night in?



A great night in of course means drawing and books and sweets and more
books and more drawing and sweets and music. Did I mention sweets ? Hope
so.




6. If you were offered an all expenses paid trip anywhere in the world, where would you go?



Rajasthan.

 

7. What book do you wish everyone would read so you could talk about it?



Proust.



8. What movie makes you cry?



Magnolia (but only once).



9. What makes you laugh?



I Heart Huckabees.



10. Are there fairies at the bottom of your garden?



Not under that much concrete I should think.



Or they're suffering if they are o_O! Thank you for letting me bully you into this :-) Here's a lovely photo Barry took: beautiful. And hey, it's Peter Cook's birthday.






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Published on November 17, 2011 04:00

November 16, 2011

Know-vember: Mr Tumshie




All right, it's not his real name, but if you're on Twitter (as so many of us are) that's how you know him. A canny chess player, a friendly chauffeur (^_^) and blipper of tunes, Mr Tumshie keeps us all amused with his sardonic humour. But he won't let me tell you his real name because he's shy. Or the church police are after him. Or maybe it's just a fear of ocelots. Yes, I think it must be the latter.



1. What's the first thing you do upon waking in the morning?



Work out where I am, shortly followed by sighing with disappointment at where I'm not.



2. What's a song you might be persuaded to dance to?



Not sure I should say but the one I find hardest to resist is Night Boat To Cairo by Madness.



3. Where in the world do you live?



I live here -- what a silly question!



4. What's a great night out for you?



A drink with friends, preferably after a concert by a good band.



5. What's a great night in?



Being alone with that special someone -- everything else is just details.



6. If you were offered an all expenses paid trip anywhere in the world, where would you go?



Well, I've been to Paradise but I've never been to me. I looked on maps but couldn't find it so that's where I'd like to go. I hope the weather is better there.



7. What book do you wish everyone would read so you could talk about it?



Tiger's Modern by Grandmaster Tiger Hillarp Persson. For some reason most of my friends don't read chess books. Their loss.



8. What movie makes you cry?



Difficult to answer that one as I'm not much of a one for watching things that make me cry. I have wept with laughter watching Way Out West -- will that do?



9. What makes you laugh?



Lots of things make me laugh. Clever puns are a favourite maybe. Silly cleverness or clever silliness might be a better answer.



10. Are there fairies at the bottom of your garden?



No, the leprechauns chased them all away.



Alas! Thanks, Mr T.
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Published on November 16, 2011 04:00

November 15, 2011

Know-vember: Paul Hamilton




Tuesday is usually Overlooked A/V Day, so it seems entirely appropriate to give the day over to a Know-vemberist who is also in the music world (and the only one to include an advertisement along with his responses). He's pictured here with one of his heroes, Kevin Godley (himself on the left, God on the right). I first met Aitch because of the Peter Cook Appreciation Society for which he has been one of the guiding forces as well as co-author with Peter Gordon of How Very Interesting: Peter Cook's Universe and All That Surrounds It, which I have recommended before. Let the madness ensue --



1. What's the first thing you do upon waking in the morning?



I kick the crackers out of my bed and send them back to Georgia. Then I like to do a spot of light dusting. Why I insist on fluttering at ceiling height placing dust particles on light bulbs is a matter of free choice - and the 12 men pointing guns at me and barking "PUT ZE DUST ON ZER LIGHT!" all day long.



2. What's a song you might be persuaded to dance to?



Discreet Music by Brian Eno turned up incredibly quiet - even better, if the speakers were disconnected from the gramophone. I love a good singalong - that "Yo-o heave-ho" song softly bellowed by freshly-starved oarsman. My ideal job would be as the supplier to their caterer.



3. Where in the world do you live?



In Cognito, a suburb of Limbo. As a would-be record mogul [www.smokingantrecords.com, thrill-seekers], I have found the music industry to be a minefield; everywhere you go, there's always someone shouting "That's MINE! MINE!"



4. What's a great night out for you?


Standing in the street watching my house burn down.




5. What's a great night in?



Looking out the window watching the street burn down.



6. If you were offered an all expenses paid trip anywhere in the world, where would you go?



Somewhere mercifully free of dust-obsessed men pointing guns at me. I was told that Prague was 'an experience' so I went there and there was no experience to be experienced at all. It was just like Leeds but with a slightly more decipherable dialect. The only good thing about Leeds is you get robbed very quickly: I got off the train, went to the first pub I saw and within 10 minutes my wallet was purloined. So I quaffed my half of Orphan's Piss and got the next train home. Perhaps the cutpurses of Leeds knew that I couldn't contain my disappointment any longer. Thanks, boys!



7. What book do you wish everyone would read so you could talk about it?



Yours, of course! [ED: awww] Well - now that you've disconnected the electrodes from my wand o' lust - I'm not a big book reader. Anything over six foot square I find hard to concentrate on; mainly because of the blood in my legs failing to circulate. 'Six Foot Square' - not a bad name for an address…
So, yes, any book that doesn't give me varicose veins or thrombosis is all right in my book (which is extremely small and tethered to a melange of balloons).




8. What movie makes you cry?



As time roars off in a flash car filled with youthful gaiety, leaving me choking on the dust which I must collect and sprinkle on light bulbs, I find that the things that made me hoot with laughter as a bouncing baby (I was born with springs for legs) now distress me. The last 10 minutes of Peter Cook & Dudley Moore's Bedazzled, for example, has me in tears these days - it's so empathetically written (Stanley Moon [crestfallen]: "Being me didn't seem like very much at the time…" George Spiggott: "Well… it wasn't very much… but it's a good deal better than the alternatives." Stanley: "(Sighs)… I'd give… anything… to be myself again but… I don't have anything to give, really, do I?").



9. What makes you laugh?



Yes, the word 'What' makes me laugh [ED: groan]. I bought a magazine called 'What's On TV' in the hope it would list all the programmes that mention the W word. Imagine my crushing disappointment. Suckered by The Man! However, to staunch the flow of sad, sour teardrops, I have a dictionary to hand and can look at the word 'What'. Failing that, I can consult the phone directory and call up some people called 'Watt' and say, 'Watt?' They invariably reply, 'What?' And, whilst fluttering around the ceiling performing my light dusting, I notice that the bulbs are 100 Watts and this has me grinning like a man who has caught a freshly-flung dinner plate with his mouth.



10. Are there fairies at the bottom of your garden?


I have no idea what could be living in Graeme Garden's bottom.




And now the advertisement:



Paul Hamilton's albums include 'Play For Today' by Bisonics and 'Only Two Can Play' by Doug Murphy & Paul Hamilton. Hear, see, feel and sniff  them at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bisonics/106739522693898 or even BUY them at http://www.smokingantrecords.com/shop/ why don'tcha? Bisonics' second album, 'Seconds' (you see what they did there?), will be unleashed around Xmas/New Year. He has just finished recording another album with Jazz Cattle and has financed 'The Luckless Pedestrian Years' the debut album by G.T. Thomas.
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Published on November 15, 2011 04:00

November 14, 2011

Know-vember: Jeanne Andrew




Meet the fabulous Jeanne Andrew, a most amusing and lovely woman. I met her on Twitter, part of the extended network of Scots that I have somehow found myself amongst. She's a "stand down" comedian and budding screenwriter and writes a blog appropriately named "Funny Girl" -- and she's a lot of fun.



1. What's the first thing you do upon waking in the morning?



Shut off the alarm! If it's a good morning I bounce out of bed, wake my daughter, get washed and dressed then head downstairs to start making breakfast. On a bad one, I give my partner a dig in the ribs, grunt and go back to sleep.



2. What's a song you might be persuaded to dance to?



Might? I don't need much persuasion. I'll boogie on down to almost anything especially while I'm cooking. Right now, my favourite is "You And I" by the Mother Monster herself, Lady Gaga.



3. Where in the world do you live?



I live in Tollcross, which is what you say when you don't want to admit to living in Parkhead in Glasgow. We live near Tollcross Park.



4. What's a great night out for you?



Great food – Japanese, Spanish tapas or Tex Mex and lots of plum wine, Long Island Iced Tea or frozen margaritas followed by either a cracking movie in a comfy cinema with big seats or even couches like the Grosvenor in Hillhead and a family bag of Maltesers or a rollicking good laugh watching some home-grown stand-up comedy like Janey Godley or Scott Agnew. By then I'm usually flagging…but I'd love to go dancing after. 



5. What's a great night in?



Friends over for some grub and grog and gabbing, preferably round a fire out in the back garden on a starry night.



6. If you were offered an all expenses paid trip anywhere in the world, where would you go?



San Francisco to find Barbary Lane (from Armistead Maupin's Tales Of The City) and then up to Portland to see Christian Kane playing at Dante's.



7. What book do you wish everyone would read so you could talk about it?



I don't hold with there being a "must-read" for everyone because we're all different. I tend to talk books with my teenage daughter – we like ones such as The Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries by Charlaine Harris or The Chicagoland Vampires series by Chloe Neill.



8. What movie makes you cry?



A Matter Of Life And Death – the Powell and Pressburger one about the British airman played by David Niven who is shoot down in WW2 but doesn't die as expected and falls in love with an American radio operator played by Kim Hunter. He has to go on trial to stay living. It was my dad's favourite film.



9. What makes you laugh?



Filth. Absolute filth and bawdy badinage, usually with my Twitter Twibe. Plus great comedians like Janey Godley, Jo Caulfield and Jo Brand. I love "Getting On".



10. Are there fairies at the bottom of your garden?



If there are then they are like The Wee Free Men. But I fear the dog has eaten them all because I've never seen any. 



Ah, the poor wee men! Thanks, Jeanne!
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Published on November 14, 2011 04:00

November 11, 2011

Know-vember: Mildred




The stuff of legends! It's Mildred, the Demon Den Mom, wrangler of the Horror in Film and Literature List and Mater Lachrimarum of the Three Mothers. Look -- she's drinking a beer that's not the usual sex-in-a-canoe variety! Hee hee.



1. What's the first thing you do upon waking in the morning?



I have no choice in the matter. First thing is the let the cats out.
If I do anything else first, I pay for it later.




2. What's a song you might be persuaded to dance to?





That song doesn't exist.




3. Where in the world do you live?




The middle of nowhere, south central Indiana. We have no close
neighbors and we love it that way.




4. What's a great night out for you?




Last night we saw Madeline Albright speak. Tonight is women's
basketball. Tomorrow night is The Three Musketeers at the Ruth Halls
theater. Saturday we're going to French Lick to spend money at the
casino. So, I guess just being out doing something is a great night,
though I love just being at home snuggled on the couch watching a DVD
with my sweetie.




5. What's a great night in?




Right now the DVDs are Farscape. We've been working our way through
the seasons and are almost done.





6. If you were offered an all expenses paid trip anywhere in the world,
> where would you go?





Probably a small town in Ireland. [Yes, please!]




7. What book do you wish everyone would read so you could talk about it?




The Stand, so we could talk about its myriad problems.




8. What movie makes you cry?




Knightrider. Every time. I know George Romero has really lost it, but
in his day, he made fantastic movies.




9. What makes you laugh?




The amazing funny pictures that make the rounds on-line.




10. Are there fairies at the bottom of your garden?





I suspect there are and that's the reason the cats love it so much out there. 



Thanks, Mildred: I sorely miss having the usual Three Mothers [+ Birdie and Ron] Reunion this year. I hope you two can come visit me.


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Published on November 11, 2011 04:00

November 10, 2011

Know-vember: Debi




The lovely Debi, gardener supreme, patient woman, Albacon wrangler -- romance fan! Here she is brunching with me at Café Madison. I miss meals together! Come to Ireland, all right?



What's the first thing you do upon waking in the morning?



When I wake up first thing, I might pick up the book at my bedside to read. or if something more interesting is in my bed I might enjoy that too, or I might stroll into the shower and pretend I'm in a outdoor shower in the tropics.



Where in the world do you live?



I live in a very nice house, big enough to be a castle.



What's a great night out for you?



A great night out would be dinner, company of good friends mixed company.



What book do you wish everyone would read so you could talk about it?



Stephanie Laurens, Devil's Bride.



What makes you cry?



Sadness, hunger, poverty, injustice, it also makes me angry.



What makes you laugh?



A good funny story.



Are there fairies at the bottom of your garden?



I do believe there are faieries in the garden, also elves and pixies and if you aren't careful you might catch a 4 legged creature, or it might catch you. and don't forget the so called 2 legged. Next time you're in the garden, look very carefully, behind the tree the shadows that linger, under the burning bushes there are extra little mushrooms growing. by the rosebush there are extra little foot marks.



Thanks, Debi! Miss you.
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Published on November 10, 2011 03:00

November 9, 2011

Know-vember: Lovely Dundee

We're taking a brief detour from people to get to know a city: Dundee. I haven't been to Scotland for decades! What a delight to return. And I had never been to Dundee, so it was all a pleasant surprise to me to get to know the land of McGonagall.







The Tay gives the city its distinctive flavour and the Gulf Stream provides its unexpected warmth. And the haar! The thick fog nearly kept me from leaving Scotland (which I wouldn't have minded at all).







Speaking of unexpected warmth :-) I found the locals to be very friendly: Mark, my native guide, showed me the ropes in his town and made me feel right at home.







It wouldn't be Scotland without a tribute to Robbie Burns. The statue sits outside the McManus, Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum.









And one of the attractions at the museum is the Tay Whale, who hangs over the main exhibit hall.







One of the delights of the city are all the whimsical sculptures. These penguins appear around the back of a church near a shopping centre.







What better way to honour Captain Scott, whose ship the RRS Discovery can be found docked on the Tay (more penguins there!).







But here's an impish monkey playing with the letters on the signboard...





And here's DC Thomson's famed Dundee residents, Desperate Dan and Dawg with Minnie the Minx.







The star may be the fabulous Dundee Dragon...







But how wonderful is the Lion and the Unicorn clock? See it in action here.







Britannia tops a building that was once a bank; Mark showed me a Ladbrokes, too, that had been a bank and had a gloriously baroque ceiling. We were probably the only people to look up at it for some time. Everyone else had their eye on the screens and their betting forms.







And here on the same building, perhaps Abundantia, the goddess of prosperity. Given the hard times Scotland's facing at present, more offerings should be left at her feet.







The Howff, Dundee's beautiful city cemetery: a gorgeous and peaceful place.











I will have to take more photos here when I go back; I know my cemetery-loving pals will appreciate them. Great history.







The beauty of a chance photo. I don't know why I like this snap so much, but I do.







This one, too: I call it "£25 Pink Moon" in honour of Nick Drake's lovely song (although clearly it's the sky not the moon that's pink >_<). This was about twilight on Guy Fawkes Night. We went over to Baxter Park to catch the fireworks. A crisp clear night and quite beautiful.







Inevitably, people ask about haggis. The "Scottish" shop in the airport had piles of it. There it remains. I was not tempted. The green labels indicate "vegetarian haggis" -- no, not sure what's in it.







I wasn't able to resist these coasters though. Pleased I already knew these words, though that's probably mostly due to Terry (thanks again for being my chauffeur, by the way). Thanks to Mark and his boys for a warm welcome. I had a very lovely time.



It's been a good week: I was art! And look, I had an insect named after me! Here's Kate with Irfaan, as photographed by Ayub at the Butterfly World Project (a wonderful place that's helping preserve those beauties). Life is good.







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Published on November 09, 2011 02:00

November 8, 2011

Know-vember: S. L. Johnson




Yes, it's herself -- fresh from a triumphant debut gallery show opening this past weekend, it's the Queen of Everything and fabulous artist, S. L. Johnson. I'm not just saying that because she designed the lovely Cult of Kaity logo or the cover of the forthcoming collection, Triumph of the Carpet Beetle, or made me look gorgeous in her art show :-) No! I love her work and I love her, she's amazing. I persuaded her to take a break from her furious working and socialising schedule to answer my questions (albeit somewhat enigmatically).



1. What's the first thing you do upon waking in the morning?
 



Open my eyes....
  




2. What's a song you might be persuaded to dance to? 



"Motorhead" by Motorhead 



3. Where in the world do you live?



My own little.
  




4. What's a great night out for you?



Good friends, drinks, music, art.
  




5. What's a great night in?



Good friends, good food, good chat or movies.
 




6. If you were offered an all expenses paid trip anywhere in the world,
where would you go?




Iceland. 



7. What book do you wish everyone would read so you could talk about it?



Promethea or Alice In Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass.



8. What movie makes you cry?




Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Every damn time. 



9. What makes you laugh?



Wit. Slapstick.
  




10. Are there fairies at the bottom of your garden?



You need to ask? 



And you're a big fan of The Fall, right? [ducks] Hee hee hee! 
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Published on November 08, 2011 05:27

November 7, 2011

Know-vember: Todd Mason

Todd, of course, shows up here frequently whether as a fellow participant and sometime host of Friday's Forgotten Books and the host of Tuesday's Overlooked A/V or just as one of the regular kibitzers. He's on the left in this picture from a family wedding.











1. What's the first thing you do upon waking in the morning?



Pat/skritch the dominant, female cat in the house, Niki, who has probably awakened me so I can pat her and then feed the entire trio of household cats. 



2. What's a song you might be persuaded to dance to?



Some of the music I've actually danced to: THE MAIDEN IN THE TOWER performed by the Brubeck Quartet (a ballet suite that Brubeck didn't complete, but on the album COUNTDOWN the quartet recorded four pieces DB had finished); "She Said Yeah" as recorded by the Rolling Stones; "She's Not There" by the Zombies (introduced a party full of fellow high-schoolers, including eventual pro musician Deb Fox, to them at that time); THE FREEDOM NOW SUITE by Max Roach, et al.; Jawbox's "Twister" and The Specials' "Ghost Town."



3. Where in the world do you live?



A house in Collingswood, NJ, though I also rent an apartment in Media, PA...but entirely too much time is spent in a gray cubicle in Radnor, PA. 



4. What's a great night out for you?



Good conversation, a good meal, perhaps a performance and a good bookstore (a/v materials also good). 



5. What's a great night in?



Conversation, meal, sex, perhaps other performance, and good literature (a/v materials also good). 



6. If you were offered an all expenses paid trip anywhere in the world,
where would you go?



Tough call. I so rarely enjoy travel, having had entirely too much of the bad sort in my youth. There are all sorts of places I'd be interested in seeing, but getting there is less than half the fun. If it isn't a round-the-world journey, with many destinations (with rest breaks between), I'd be torn between, say, Italy and Australia, Guyana and Japan... 




7. What book do you wish everyone would read so you could talk about it?



I've spent several years citing those weekly, but among the very best ones are THE EXILE by William Kotzwinkle, LIVING MY LIFE by Emma Goldman, CONJURE WIFE by Fritz Leiber, THE FEMALE MAN by Joanna Russ, THE ENQUIRIES OF DR. ESZTERHAZY by Avram Davidson, THE ALEPH AND OTHER STORIES, 1933-1969 by Jorge Luis Borges, GOING OUT OF OUR MINDS by Sonia Johnson, TROPHIES AND DEAD THINGS by Marcia Muller. Dozens of others. 



8. What movie makes you cry?



In reverse chronological order, among those I recall causing some tears to well: SHAME (the Bergman sf film); PONETTE (who doesn't love a good setpiece of an recently-orphaned child of about six being tormented for her status by schoolmates?); PATHS OF GLORY (with the laughter); THE 400 BLOWS; SNOOPY COME HOME; "The Last of the Curlews" (the first ABC AFTERSCHOOL SPECIAL...they were trying, then). 




9. What makes you laugh?



Unexpected jokes, and well-executed expected ones. Humor that is not about others getting hurt (chided is OK). 



10. Are there fairies at the bottom of your garden?



David Campton's "At the Bottom of the Garden" convinced me at a young age to have them ruthlessly extirpated. 



Thank you!



You're welcome.
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Published on November 07, 2011 04:00

November 4, 2011

Know-vember: Adele

Thanks to the lovely Adele (@hagerat) for being the first volunteer! Adele runs UnBound (your home for reviews and news on spec fic works) and has awesome skills at kickboxing and baking (a religion has been founded around her baked goods -- that's how tasty they are). And look: she's just as cute as can be swathed in a sloth!









1. What's the first thing you do upon waking in the morning?



Hit snooze. Then turn off my alarm, pet ginger cat who is usually sleeping on the bed and looking huffy about the noise, check email and twitter on my iphone (addict) then crawl out of bed. 



2. What's a song you might be persuaded to dance to?



Country music makes me want to dance. Shanghia Cigarettes by Caitlin Rose is a good one. But I only dance in the house with all the curtains closed. 



3. Where in the world do you live?



East Midlands, UK, in a little village. 




4. What's a great night out for you?



My nights out tend to consist of kickboxing training, which is how I like it. I can have my arm twisted for food and a film. 



5. What's a great night in?



Book, cat, movie, laptop. Life is good.



6. If you were offered an all expenses paid trip anywhere in the world,
where would you go?



New Zealand I think, it appeals. Although a long lazy tour of Europe would be fun too. 



7. What book do you wish everyone would read so you could talk about it?



The Office of Lost and Found by Vincent Holland-Keen coz it's mad as Badgers. 



8. What movie makes you cry?



Nothing recently although i used to sob every time at the Muppets Christmas Carol. I've toughened up since then. 



9. What makes you laugh?



Most things, I'm easily amused. 



10. Are there fairies at the bottom of your garden?



No. They moved out because of the Cats, there is a Dragon though. 



Thank you, Adele! You're the tops!
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Published on November 04, 2011 04:00