Rachel Lynn Brody's Blog, page 16

ALIENS for the first time

I watched ALIENS this weekend for the first time. Before you ask, I haven’t seen the first one yet – though I plan to. Why pick now to watch this classic piece of Sci Fi Action/Horror? Because a friend recommended it. Multiple times. Then gave me a special DVD copy for my birthday earlier this month.

I’m glad I waited to watch ALIENS until I had a good sound system and decent-sized screen to watch it on. I could appreciate the sets and detail in the SFX in a way that I doubt would have come across if I had been watching on my funky laptop screen, or even my less-dinky desktop screen.

Once I popped the DVD in and started it up, I realized I was faced with a choice: watch the original theatrical release, or the special extended edition from 1991? After a quick Twitter poll I decides on the original release. I’m always torn when it comes to picking versions of films – you can only see a movie once for the first time, and the question of following the studio’s vision or the director’s can sometimes be paralyzing. I still think version fatigue Kay play a part in why I still can’t really say I’ve seen Bladerunner, despite multiple attempts. (And yes, by virtue of admitting that here, I’ll probably wind up trying again soon).

(Interjection – I’m writing this on the train and they just ran a missing child announcement. First time for everything, I guess. Anyway, back to the film…)

I liked ALIENS. A lot. It shook up my perception of what a sci fi horror movie could be. It gave me a new lens on a new (to me) action hero. Apparently James Cameron was re-inventing the genre when he made it, so that always helps male things fun, although his fingerprints were also visible all over the shooting style and particularly the wide shots. Then again I suppose that’s part of why people enjoy him – an identifiable style they associate with his movies.

I liked the group of space marines, particularly how each of them was an individual whose story you could watch and get involved with. Did anybody else think, however, that sending them in with their guns seemed like woeful underpreparation at best, and wilful recklessness if we look at the film’s darker consumerist underbelly?

Speaking of dark consumerist underbellies: holy crap, Paul Reiser! When I was little he was on Mad About You; part of me kept waiting for Helen Hunt to show up, or for how character to start swatting at invisible flies. It was obvious from the start, to me, that he’d end up doing something crooked, and I wasn’t sure why Ripley would have taken him at his word, but maybe she let hope cloud get judgement.

And Newt. Newt was awesome. The scenes between her and Ripley were tender but also realistic – I loved that Ripley didn’t talk down to her and how she was brought in by the group of soldiers.

Overall? Glad I watched it. And I’ll probably watch it again – maybe next time, I’ll tackle the special edition.

After the Geeks: On Arriving Home from Geek Girl Con

I got home early this morning after a whirlwind weekend at the 3rd annual Geek Girl Con. I already wrote about Saturday morning here – now for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday afternoon and into Sunday were intense – and intensely awesome. While I took audio recordings of most of the panes I attended, I wasn’t able to upload them all to Soundcloud and am still looking for alternatives, so will come back and add links if and when I can find a better way to share the sounds. (They’re in a weird file format on my phone or I’d just upload them directly to the website.)

Race in Costuming & Performance

We talked a lot about this on the BGN Podcast Sunday afternoon, but I have literally pages of notes from this panel in my green spiral notebook. Panelists the Shanghai Pearl and Chaka Cumberbatch offered tremendous insight, led by moderator Dr. Andrea Letamendi. Topics discussed included plus-size cosplay, cultural appropriation in the burlesque acts of Dita von Teese, how it takes more to build something than tear it down, and how to have the confidence to keep speaking out against oppression after you’ve been attacked for your opinion.

The Best of Both Worlds – STEM Careers in the Humanities

Moderated by Suzette Chan, this panel included input from Hsiao-Ching Chou and Nazila Merati regarding how those of us without advanced degrees in the sciences can still find work in STEM fields. Apparently there’s a lot of call for people who can write a paragraph…or even a sentence…that gets a complex scientific idea across to an audience of laypeople. We talked a bit more about this on the podcast as well, particularly given Jaz’s background in engineering, and I got a chance to plug HOT MESS: speculative fiction about climate change as an example of how writers and artists can contribute to conversations about the sciences. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to soundcloud the entire panel, but you’ll get a good idea of the tips, etc., that were given from the link above.

Black, Latina, Girl, Geek

A really positive panel from Aquala Lloyd, Emily Berrios and Tiffany Janibagian about what it meant to them to grow up as geeks, and how geek culture in places like Panama and Puerto Rico differs from geek culture here in the US. This was the first panel I attended where there was a lot of discussion about video game geekery, too, and it was exciting to hear about how the next generation of geeks are growing up in an atmosphere of wider acceptance than those who came before.

Romance is a Feminist Genre

Sunday morning brought this panel, where my Twitter friend (and now real-life con lunch buddy!) Barbara Caridad Ferrer spoke along with Corrina Lawson, Karen Harbaugh and Katt S, again moderated by Suzette Chan. I don’t consider myself a romance reader (though I’ve enjoyed both Outlander‘s first book and every Georgette Heyer novel I’ve been able to get my hands on), but after this panel and a chance encounter with Corrina Lawson in the airport late Sunday night, I have a list of which books to read and am looking forward to getting started.

Bringing Your Writing to Life with the Spoken Word

This was a last-minute addition to my panel schedule, and I’m really glad I went. Panelists Gwendolyn Jensen-Woodard and Julie Hoverson ran this session as a Q&A, and it was full of advice for both writers and performers who want to get into audiobooks and podcasts as a way to spread their work. I was convinced; I’m going to start looking around ACX and seeing what I can find that might fit a few of my current projects.

A con isn’t all about panels, and Geek Girl Con had great peoplewatching, art and merch opportunities – as well as chances to mingle and network with other like-minded folk. Here’s a gallery with some photos of sights around the convention:

Click to view slideshow.

On Sunday afternoon, I joined Jaz (@ANappyNerdGirl) for our appearance on the Black Girl Nerds podcast, where we discussed the convention, its attendees and how it felt to spend the weekend celebrating our geekiness in a safe space. Oh, we also had trolls call in. They were cut off quickly, but they were pretty obscene, and while they didn’t get to me or the others it was a pretty graphic example of just how badly some people behave when they perceive someone else’s celebration as threatening their privilege.

The con closed with The Doubleclicks playing “Nothing to Prove” to a room full of con attendees – most of whom sang along.

 



 

All of which brings me to the “after” part of this blog entry’s title. I went, I listened, I learned – now what? GGC ’13 gave me a lot to think about, and I’m sure the effects will be percolating and expressing themselves in my work and interactions with others for months to come. I want to look into some of the information from the STEM careers in the humanity – and the acronym STEAM (Science, Technology, Arts & Math, as I learned on Sunday). I have a pile of books to read and notes to parse. I’ve already approached a few artists about cover commissions for upcoming books. I met new people. I had a blast. I’m already looking forward to 2014.

 

 

Saturday So Far – Geek Girl Con

Race in Costuming and Performance Panel

After waking up later than intended, my friend and I made it to the con around 10am. We had just enough time to dash around looking at art before our first panels – mine was RACE IN COSTUMING AND PERFORMANCE, with panelists The Shanghai Pearl and Chaka Cumberbatch. I was particularly interested in some of what was talked about in regards to cultural appropriation and “homage”, and power structures. It reminded me a lot of the Penny Arcade controversy and general discussions of sexism in geekdom.

So, some fantastic discussion there, which I’m sure we’ll talk more about on the Black Girl Nerds podcast tomorrow.

Then I headed on to Best of Both Worlds: Careers where STEM meets the Humanities, where I heard some really great advice on getting into a career where an interest in science can merge with communications and social media.

Now I’m on a break that’s involved checking out the art and vendors, as well as the companies recruiting for geeky careers, and I’m strategizing my panels for the afternoon.

More coming up as the day goes on, including audio recordings of both the panels I attended this morning. Check ya later!

Geek Girl Con weekend: Friday

There’s a puppy sitting behind me on the plane. If it wasn’t a service dog, I would be fighting the desire to ask to hold it.

We’re flying over Canada today on the way out, and supposedly the weather in Seattle will be good and I’ll have a view of Mount Baker as we fly. I already had a view of sunrise over Queens, this morning:

In six hours or so I’ll be touching down in Seattle. Last night I had the obligatory last-minute panic over every single thing my brain could dredge up to panic about, but I was able to identify what was going on as a panic attack rather than actual thoughts to pay attention to. I guess that’s what’s called progress.

They’re closing the doors, so that’s me out – catch you all later!

Hey, Seattle – Here I Come! #GeekGirlCon

Tomorrow, I’ll be winging my way across the country to Geek Girl Con 2013 in Seattle, WA. Which means that tonight, I’ve been getting ready to travel.

So far I’ve thrown clothes into my bag, pulled them out of my bag, freaked out about not having a headshot, had my roommate offer to help me take a headshot, done my hair and makeup, taken a headshot, removed the makeup (the hair got to stay), piled up printouts of the projects I want to work on on the plane, read panel information, set aside “comfy travelling clothes,” talked to the friends I’ll be staying with about our plans for non-Con time and realized there’s not really anything in the house that I feel like eating for dinner.

I checked the forecast and am excited about Seattle’s ambient temperatures. In case you didn’t know, I’m a cold-weather-loving human being. Can’t stand the heat. I’m so excited about having a weekend of sub-70s temperature I can hardly stand it. My hair is also excited because it hates humidity. My skin is ALSO excited because on top of hating humidity, it’s still recovering from my Epic Sunburn and wants to be somewhere cool and not terribly sunny.

My brain is excited, because it gets six hours (give or take) of flying time each way, which means time wherein I cannot watch TV or surf the internet, and because on top of the very exciting project that SareLiz announced today on her blog (OMG DID I TELL YOU I HAVE AN EPIC EPIC NEW PROJECT KICKING OFF WITH A NANOWRIMO ATTEMPT AND I HAVE NEVER ATTEMPTED NANOWRIMO BEFORE?).

(I also have a really exciting feministy science fiction space play to work on as well, and I finally got my hooks into the story on that one properly earlier this morning when a line floated through my head: “If it looks like a lifeless cesspool and it gives the atmospheric readings of a lifeless cesspool, we’re obviously going to think it’s a lifeless cesspool.” I don’t know what it is about that line but it’s cracking me up. Then again, I have slightly more context on it than anyone reading this, with the possible exception of the piece’s director, who may or may not have a look at this page when it pops up on his Facebook feed, so if you’re not currently cracking up, don’t worry because by the time I’m done with this play you will be. No really, more on this another time. Back to Seattle and the con.)

Here are my goals for Geek Girl Con:

- Have an awesome time

- Soak up every amazing minute of panels, interactions and experiences at the con.

- Keep my phone more or less charged throughout the day (haha…yeah, I’m definitely funny.)

- Buy more coffee from the awesome coffee place my friend took me last time I visited.

- Hang with friends and let my freak flag fly.

And maybe write a blog or two. But we’ll just have to wait and see how that works out. Kind of like the headshot – I sent Jamie over at BGN three different ones to pick from.

 

Tune in Sunday at 4pm PST/7pm EST for the Black Girl Nerds podcast, where I’ll be hanging with other con-goers and host Jamie, giving the rundown on the whole experience. 

 

 

Walking the Road to Change: Ending Child Sexual Abuse

If you’re a long-time reader, you’ll have seen my review of Matthew McVarish’s TO KILL A KELPIE – a play about two brothers, the abuse in their past, and their present-day relationship. Today, I want to tell you about Matt’s latest project: a 10,000 mile ([insert appropriate Scotsman/Proclaimers/I Will Walk 500 Miles joke here]) walk across Europe to highlight the importance of ending child sexual abuse.

Matt and I were at drama school together in Edinburgh, and I’ve been a fan of his dramatic work for years, and last year he was instrumental in getting my ten-minute play MILLENNIAL EX into the right hands for its production at Glasgay in Edinburgh, Scotland. His work has consistantly highlighted social justice movements.

Matt has been working non-stop for the last few years to raise awareness of child sexual abuse and how to help stop it. Currently, he’s three months into a his walk – and he’s been blogging and sharing his journey every step of the way.

I’d like to ask everyone to take a moment and check out Matt’s blog about his journey. If you have a few dollars (or pounds), consider donating to the cause or to Matt’s efforts as he walks.

Please share the blog and Matt’s mission with those you know who might be interested. So far, his reception at countries in Europe have been nothing short of astonishing, with ambassadors accompanying him on the road; his outreach is having real effects.

Read about his adventures, and help spread the word!

For more information:

- Road to Change blog

- Help Matt’s mission succeed with walking supplies

 

Geek Girl Con & a Podcast Appearance!

This time next week, I’ll be coming at you from Seattle, WA and Geek Girl Con.

The conference is focused on celebrating the female geek, and I’m super-stoked about the panels I’m going to be checking out. Geekdom and Race, Women and STEM careers and Romance as a Feminist Genre are just a few of the ones I’m looking forward to – plus there are opportunities to see Bechdel Test Burlesque, costume competitions and more. Those attending will also have the chance to hear Jane Espenson (Husbands, Once Upon A Time), Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar from Star Trek: The Next Generation) and others speak, as well.

On Sunday at 7pm EST/4pm PST, tune in to hear my thoughts on the con during the Black Girl Nerds podcast. I’ll be appearing with Jaz from the LxL – League of Extraordinary Ladies – and maybe even a surprise guest panelist from the con. From the BGN site:

GeekGirlCon celebrates and honors the legacy of women contributing to science and technology; comics, arts, and literature; and game play and game design by connecting geeky women world-wide and creating community to foster continued growth of women in geek culture through events.

Attendees Rachel Brody and Jaz will be featured on the podcast to provide us up-to-the-minute information about the event and how important this con is for nerdy girls.

-  Black Girl Nerds

If you’re free, I hope you’ll listen to the podcast and call in to discuss Geek Girl Con with us next Sunday afternoon (October 20th). If you can’t listen to the live show, make sure you download the podcast after the broadcast after it airs!

 

Reading Hugh Howey’s Silo Saga – Some Thoughts Upon Nearing Its Completion

A while ago, Amazon announced that Hugh Howey’s Silo Saga would be opening up to Kindle Worlds; having written about that, I decided a few weeks ago to check the books out – at the urging of another indie author, Brian Meeks, who does some pretty interesting stuff with self-publishing how-tos himself.

Thanks to an e-loan from Brian, I started reading WOOL. It kicks off with the story of a dystopian world where people live in a vast underground silo; the desire to go “outside” earns those who ask for it exactly that – the problem being that outside is said to be full of radioactivity and toxins. In other words, if you want some fresh air, you’re gonna get sent to your death.

I peeled through WOOL in a handful of days. The story starts small then builds; Howey layers one discovery on top of the next, and one finds the world of the book slowly telescoping outwards. Some realizations on the part of the characters are foreshadowed a little too heavily, but Howey doesn’t wait long before making his reveals in these situations, so you feel like you’re only a step or two ahead of his characters.

At the end of WOOL, I bought SHIFT - the second book in the series – and started getting into this deeper backstory on the world I’d spent time in throughout book one. The story here starts to put together some of the pieces the first book has laid out, delving deeper into the reasoning behind how things wound up the way they are. SHIFT is in many ways a

quieter novel than WOOL, more about interpersonal relationships and plans being made by powerful people, how they affect others and how they affect the people making those decisions. There are small knots of characterization that grated me in this book, particularly early on in the novel, but by its conclusion the reader watches the strength of Howey’s female characters coming into its own once again.

By the end of SHIFT I wanted  to read DUST, but given how much more compelling the first book had been, I was hesitant to spend the money. Luckily, Howey allows his readers to loan their e-books; within a few minutes of tweeting that I wondered if anybody would loan it to me, a friend from the West Coast had pinged me on Amazon and loaned me the novel. (I could write an entire blog entry about how awesome it was to get a loaned book from 3K miles away within a matter of minutes, but that would be another blog entry.)

Now I’m about halfway through DUST and the desire not to drop spoilers means I can only give the barest of hints as to what’s going on. What impresses me about Howey’s writing is the way his setting and narrative expand in sync with one another. By book three, he has a solid cast of characters, and some of them have begun taking drastic measures to achieve their goals.

One thing that’s kept me from enjoying media in recent years is when I can’t identify with the lead female protagonists. Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom was an early casualty of this issue – the way the women in this show were presented strained my ability to suspend disbelief. In contrast, while the world of the silo is not precisely a progressive one, there are women with agency in positions of power – even the main character makes her own decisions and follows through on them, and generally kicks ass and takes names every time she gets confronted by roadblocks to her success. She also shows vulnerability and thoughtfulness, she pressures herself to achieve her goals. I’m enjoying reading about her immensely, and suspect her absence from much of book 2 helped make that book less engaging for me (though the two female protagonists Howey introduces in book 2 are also engging. Regardless, I’m enjoying the female protagonist in this story immensely. She’s skilled, determined, exhibits agency at every turn, and bends the world around her to her will. She doesn’t give up. She fights hard for what she believes in. She loses people and things she cares about during the course of the story, has her entire world shattered, and is now in the stages of trying to rebuild it.

I haven’t had a chance to review the three books on Goodreads – one problem with writing reviews for multiple books is that the specifics of what happens where, for me, begins to blend together – but for readers looking for good dystopian

science fiction, I would recommend the Silo Saga for its intricate mythos and carefully-built reality. The books are human and compelling. Howey has good command of how to put together an emotionally engaging, complex tale on a scale that moves from the personal to the epic. While I’m still waiting to see how the third book ends and hoping it lives up to my expectations, regardless, Howey’s done a bang-up job of putting together a trilogy with staying power. When one compares The Silo Saga to some of the other self-published work out there, it seems like this might be a popular sci-fi classic in the making. Here’s hoping.

The Silo stories bring up some fascinating questions about humanity and the lengths to which a few driven men can take a society that considers its own survival to be vital. It also speaks to the importance of questioning authority and reasoning things out. In some ways, it’s a book that shows the failings of a cargo culture and of the loss of manufacturing knowledge going on in America today. Conformity and groupthink come into play; so do questions about traditional societies mapped onto radical tactics for survival. Knowledge and power are sharply equated. Rebelliousness, though not rewarded, and individualism in the face of regimented societal expectations is more of a burden than a help – until such a point where the individual breaks through an invisible barrier and is given Power from an external source.

With another hour or so of reading before I come to the conclusion of the Silo Saga canon, I wanted to jot some of these down. Have you read the Silo Saga? What’s you’re take on the novels, both as sources of entertainment and as wider political commentary? While I’ve tried to keep this entry spoiler-free, please feel free to get into a spoiler-riffic discussion in the comments.

If you haven’t yet read Hugh Howey’s Silo Saga, the first book is available at the NYPL (and I would assume some other libraries, since it’s carried by Simon and Schuster now, or else do what I did – ask for the loan of the first book from someone else, then I’m happy to let others borrow my sharable Kindle e-copy of book two before you find your way to reading book three.

Enjoy the ride. And (mini spoiler) don’t breathe the argon gas.

Theater Review: BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON at ART of WNY in Buffalo

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

American Repertory Theater of Western New York

Written by Alex Timbers

Music & Lyrics by Michael Friedman

Directed by Jeffrey Coyle

 

 

A couple years ago, the original production of this show was taking downtown NYC by storm. While I missed it there, the production currently taking place on Linwood Avenue in downtown Buffalo was an opportunity to see a skilled, professional and hilarious regional premiere. Told with enthusiasm and precision, this is a production worth buying tickets to immediately.

Like now.

While the idea of America’s seventh president as an “Emo Rock God” might seem incongruous at first, with cast members entering the performance space in ripped tights, black netted shirts and enough eyeliner to kill an elephant (if elephants ate eyeliner and eyeliner was poisonous, that is), the rockstar nature of Jackson’s DGAF frontiersman ‘tude and the often tongue-in-cheek style of delivery bring this story screeching into the 21st century. In a skillfully-observed marriage of styles, the style of Michael Friedman’s music and lyrics compliment the rage and emotion of American politics.

The talented cast delivers on all scores – even when technical malfunctions took a headset mic out of play, Steve Copps (as the titular Jackson) didn’t miss a beat. Between asking whether audiences wanted to see his “stimulus package” and taking part in bleeding rituals (“it’s a real 19th century medical practice!”), it’s easy to see Jackson in the role of band frontman a la Panic at the Disco and other emo trendsetters of the early 2000s.

The show says a lot about how America has changed, and how it hasn’t. Jackson’s determination to rid the country of the native population and the wink-wink comparisons to modern-day populist movements are disconcerting. There’s one line in particular where he points out that he’s making the changes the American people want to see made which is disturbing in that it grasps the precise conflict between majority rule and the protection of minorities: where is the protection for disadvantaged, harassed and discriminated-against groups when leaders serve the general will of the people?

Not that Jackson’s predecessors are portrayed as having made much of a contribution in this area. The menacingly hilarious quintet of elder statesmen: Van Buren (Steven Brachmann), Monroe (Matt Kindley), John Quincy Adams (Matthew Mooney), Calhoun (Christopher Parada) and Clay (Rowlins) and the rest of the founding fathers mentioned in the book are portrayed as wig-and-lace wearing toffs, right down to the hilarious New England accents they wear. The show portrays the quintessential American dilemma of civilization vs. frontier by following Jackson as he takes Florida from the Spanish, Georgia from the Native Americans and more: to Jackson’s friends, family and neighbors, the threat from these groups is immediate and deadly. To the federal government, however, the logistical and legal issues at stake leave no room for understanding the actual plight of those on the ground. The resentment this breeds is unsettling in that audiences will immediately be able to track the political commentary to today’s world, quickly realizing that while the names of the “enemies” have changed, American tactics for dealing with those who encroach on this great land of ours (emphasis mine) have not.

This Buffalo production is rife with talent, from the specificity of Coyle’s direction to the management of a stage ensemble nearly 20-strong to the obvious control and focus of each performer. Some specific delights: Priscilla Young-Anker does much to set the tone as the Storyteller, who emerges in a motorized scooter to fawn lasciviously over Jackson in his early days and winds up taking one in the neck when her interjections become too intrusive. The angry, disaffected attitude thrown up by so many of the shows movers and shakers – particularly the dead, passionless tone taken by Jackson’s mother in her early scenes (the actress, a member of the ensemble, is sadly not noted for this role in the program, though if anyone from the company would like to provide her name I’ll add it here later) – set a tone for the mix of hilarity, resentment and angst that pursue Jackson throughout the show.

For audiences concerned about the production’s edginess, the play is so skillfully executed and so fast-paced that the bawdy humor avoids becoming awkward for, say, an audience member who brings her parents along. All three members of my party were laughing hard throughout the production; most of the time, I was laughing so hard I had to wipe tears from my eyes to be able to watch the show.

With tickets at $25 for regular audience members and $15 for students, this fast-paced, intermission-less production leaves nothing to be desired; it’s a thrilling professional production of a meaningful and politically-charged play.

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson runs select evenings through October 12, 2013 at ART IN THE BOX, 16 Linwood Avenue, Buffalo. The Broadway cast recording is available on Spotify. Tickets for this production were purchased by the reviewer.

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Swimming with Turtles in Sint Maarten/Saint Martin

If you read my last blog post, you’ll know that about a week and a half ago I had a wonderful adventure. Magical, you might even say. But…

All Magic Comes With A Price

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…and the price I paid for this piece of magic was the worst sunburn I’ve ever had in my life. (Yes, I wore sunscreen, and yes, I re-applied; the sun in the Caribbean is just different from the sun in New York.) As burns go, and looking back, I would now compare this to the burn I got when I was a kid and I stepped in the ashes of a burnt-out fire on the beach. I had scaly, peeling skin, two giant blisters on either side of my back, and my thighs were so badly burned that I literally couldn’t sit down or turn over in bed for the pain.

The thing is, I’m a Libra – a sign that’s all about balance. I don’t know how much stock I put in horoscopes, but the horrifying recovery of the last ten days was well worth the six hours of excitement, adventure and fun that I had two Saturdays ago in Sint Maarten.

The reason I went to Sint Maarten was to do research for a project that’s coming up over the next couple years. It was important to me, for the sake of the project, to learn how not to be terrified when swimming in the open water. So I signed up for a snorkeling tour that would allow those on it to swim with turtles.

The snorkeling was amazing. Here are some of my favorite photos from the journey.

One of these days, I’ll get to writing the rest of the trip up. Till then, my review of the trip for TripAdvisor, and some turtles: (If you’re viewing this from an email, you may need to click the link to this entry to see the photos…)