Amy H. Sturgis's Blog, page 155

Are You My Mummy?

What a fantastic exhibit I've just seen! In fact, it's the largest exhibition of mummies (both naturally and intentionally preserved) and related artifacts ever assembled. There were ancient mummies and important artifacts from Asia, Oceania, South America, Europe, and ancient Egypt dating as far back as 6,500 years, presented with the latest insights gained from CT scans and other tests. If you find yourself anywhere near one of the cities hosting the Mummies of the World exhibit, don't miss it. It did my historian's heart good.

Here's a preview:




In other news, here are a couple of indie science fiction film recs:

* Lunopolis (2009)
Two documentary filmmakers accidentally uncover the greatest moon secret the world has never known and the powerful organization determined to keep it that way. A very clever premise, well realized!

* Zenith (2010)
More ambitious and less successful than Lunopolis, this is a retro-futuristic steampunk thriller about two men in two time periods whose search for the same grand conspiracy leads them to question their own humanity. It's not as sophisticated as I suspect its creators thought it was, but this is still very much worth a watch for its convincing take on a dystopian future.


Happy birthday to tuesday_darling , and happy early birthday to juliakarr , janellemadigan , janellemadigan , mguibord , and gypsyjr . May you each enjoy a wonderful day and a fantastic year to come!


You darkness, that I come from,
I love you more than all the fires
that fence in the world,
for the fire makes
a circle of light for everyone,
and then no one outside learns of you.

But the darkness pulls in everything;
shapes and fires, animals and myself,
how easily it gathers them!—
powers and people—
and it is possible a great energy
is moving near me.
I have faith in nights.

- Rainer Maria Rilke, "On Darkness"

An Announcement!

I am pleased to announce that I've joined the faculty of The Mythgard Institute as lead instructor for its fifteen-week Spring 2012 course, which will be offered online internationally for both audit and M.A. credit: "Taking Harry Seriously: The Artistry and Meanings of the Harry Potter Saga."

Learn more about The Mythgard Institute.



Here's the official press release: "Amy H. Sturgis Joins Mythgard, Harry Potter Course."

Founded and led by Dr. Corey Olsen, a.k.a. "The Tolkien Professor," The Mythgard Institute is harnessing the potential of new media to change the landscape of higher education. The Mythgard Institute is dedicated to making a rigorous, dynamic, and interactive educational experience possible for students around the world through the latest online technology. I'm most excited to be on board with this innovative institute, teaching a course that is near and dear to me, and working with my colleague and friend, Travis Prinzi.

I'll share more details as they become available! I will also be teaching my undergraduate and graduate seminars in Liberal Studies for Lenoir-Rhyne University. In Spring 2012, I'll be offering seminars on "Native American Myth and Contemporary Film and Fiction."


"Sturgis!" gasped Hermione, looking thunderstruck.
"Sorry?" said Ron, looking bewildered.
- J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Age Ain't Nothin' But A Number, Right?

Well, as of today I'm no longer a thirty-something. I've been angsting about this milestone, but today I've decided that it's all right. New decade of my life, bring it on...

Huge thanks to estellye , cookiefleck , agentxpndble , thrihyrne , and homespunheart for the snailmail goodies, and to zmaddoc , ievil_spock_47i , homespunheart , and The Sage in Bloom for the virtual goodies, and to everyone who has posted good wishes for me today. I am blessed to have such wonderful and thoughtful friends! *huge hugs*

Happy birthday wishes to three friends who share my birthday, doctorwho42 , barbedwriting , and savageseraph . Happy early birthday wishes to metal_aria , as well. May all of you enjoy many happy returns of the day!


It seems fitting today to share a couple of songs with you.

First, if I had an official theme song, this would be it: Marian Call's "I'll Still Be A Geek (After Nobody Thinks It's Chic)." Click to listen.


Second, a song near and dear to my heart, another one that would appear on the soundtrack to my life: Tori Amos's "Flying Dutchman."




In other news, a couple of cool things:

* Librivox.org has some new, unabridged recordings out, and some of them are especially of interest:
-- The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, Vol. 1 by Various Authors
-- The Gray Phantom by Herman Landon
-- The Colors of Space by Marion Zimmer Bradley

* Ah Pook the Destroyer has a new album that's a musical interpretation of H.P. Lovecraft's work: The Silver Key .


I have some exciting professional news to announce soon, but for now, I'll just wish everyone a wonderful day. I'm grateful for you, my friends!


"I have been a nerd
Since long before anyone heard
That bookish girls should look and act a certain way.
And I'll still be a geek
When I am utterly antique
Because I do not care what normal people say."
- Marian Call, "I'll Still Be A Geek (After Nobody Thinks It's Chic)"

RIPs and Smart Pop Promotion

* RIP, John Neville, OBE (1925-2011). He was Sherlock Holmes in A Study in Terror , Baron Munchausen in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , and the Well-Manicured Man in , to name but a few of his many roles.
Read more here: Former Stratford Director, John Neville, Dies and Slice of SciFi Remembers John Neville.

* RIP, Hugo and Nebula Award winner Anne McCaffrey (1926-2011), Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master, inductee into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, and author of one of the first science fiction novels to appear on the New York Times Best Seller List.
Read more here: Announcement from Locus and Slice of SciFi Remembers Anne McCaffrey.


* In happier news, Smart Pop Books is running a new promotion: Sign up for Smart Pop's mailing list, and get free excerpts from Smart Pop books! Two of the books from which you can get excerpts are collections that include essays of mine, namely Nyx in the House of Night and Fringe Science .


Last but not least, given the season, this seemed appropriate!


see more Historic LOL


Besides the autumn poets sing,
A few prosaic days
A little this side of the snow
And that side of the haze.

A few incisive mornings,
A few ascetic eves, -
Gone Mr. Bryant's golden-rod,
And Mr. Thomson's sheaves.
- Emily Dickinson, "Nature: XLIX"

Happy Friday!

Last call for holiday cards! If you'd like to receive one from me, please reply here. Thanks so much!

Don't forget Neil Gaiman will be on The Simpsons on Sunday. There's a teeny tiny clip at the beginning of this interview he did with Craig Ferguson:



You can see a longer clip here.


"Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot."
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 3: Dream Country

TV and Film <3

Garrow's Law is back. Fantastic. Further proof that almost everything worth watching on television includes Rupert Graves. Ha!

And this trailer for The Hunger Games , my friends, makes my week. (The very opening moment in the trailer, representing District 12, was shot in that mill town nearby that I keep posting about.)



"When I was younger, I scared my mother to death, the things I would blurt out about District 12, about the people who rule our country, Panem, from the far-off city called the Capitol. Eventually I understood this would only lead us to more trouble. So I learned to hold my tongue and to turn my features into an indifferent mask so that no one could ever read my thoughts."
- Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

Sherlock Holmes Pastiche Reading: An Update

FYI, an update about reading Sherlock Holmes pastiches...

A year ago, I asked for recommendations of Sherlock Holmes pastiches and received great replies. (Thank you!) I waited until I'd finished going through all of Arthur Conan Doyle's canonical Holmesian writings in order, but now I've embarked on my pastiche reading. I'm still only "baby steps" into the project, but I thought I'd list the novels I've read thus far, ranked in order from my most favorite to my least favorite. My reviews are general, and though they may contain a few spoilers about the premise of a given work, they don't give away any twist endings or key surprises.

There are a couple of new novels on my list since the last time I posted an update!


Novels

Most Favorite Novel Thus Far:
Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson by Lyndsay Faye (2009)
Read my review.

The Mycroft Memoranda by Ray Walsh (1985)
Read my review.

The Last Sherlock Holmes Story by Michael Dibdin (1978)
Read my review.

The House of Silk: A Sherlock Holmes Novel by Anthony Horowitz (2011)
Read my review.

The Whitechapel Horrors by Edward B. Hanna (1992)
Read my review.

The West End Horror: A Posthumous Memoir of John H. Watson, M.D. by Nicholas Meyer (1976)
Read my review.

The Seven-Percent Solution: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D. by Nicholas Meyer (1974)
Read my review.

Sherlock Holmes and the Apocalypse Murders by Barry Day (2001)
Read my review.

The Canary Trainer: From the Memoirs of John H. Watson by Nicholas Meyer (1993)
Read my review.

Lestrade and the Ripper by M.J. Trow (1999)
Read my review.

Sherlock Holmes: The Rediscovered Railway Mysteries and Other Stories by John Taylor (2010)
Read my review.


I had difficulty ranking The West End Horror and The Seven-Percent Solution, as they were rather neck-and-neck for me. I'd recommend all of these except Trow's and Taylor's to fans of Holmes in general, but I'd still recommend Taylor's to those specifically who are fans of Benedict Cumberbatch.


Collections

The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes edited by John Joseph Adams (2009)
Read my review.

Next up: I need to finish the collection Sherlock Holmes in Orbit, edited by Mike Resnick and Martin H. Greenberg (1995).

You are Holmes, the meddler."
My friend smiled.
"Holmes, the busybody!"
His smile broadened.
"Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!"
Holmes chuckled heartily.
- "The Adventure of the Speckled Band," Arthur Conan Doyle

Happy Monday!

Reminder: If you'd like a holiday card from me this year, please reply here. Thanks!

Happy birthday to kishkuma , and happy early birthday to adamantrealm , sneezythesquid , bibliotrope , crazywritergirl , rymfireebooks , and darchildre ! May all of you enjoy many happy returns of the day.

Somehow this seemed fitting for a Monday:


see more Historic LOL

"November always seemed to me the Norway of the year."
- Emily Dickinson

Podcasts and Stories

My most recent StarShipSofa "Looking Back on Genre History" segment, the first of a two-parter that discusses the history of the 2012 "doomsday" phenomenon, is now available in the latest episode of the podcast. You can download it or listen to it here. If you listen, I hope you enjoy. (A full list of my past podcast segments, with links, is available here.)

Speaking of StarShipSofa, in two days StarShipSofa Stories Volume 3 debuts. This includes my essay "Top Ten 'Must Read' Time Travel Works."


StarShipSofa Stories Volume 3

Fiction

1. "Electric Ladyland" by Matthew Sanborn Smith (Illustrated by Daniel Tozer)
2. "That Blissful Height" by Gregory Frost (Illustrated by Simon Watkins)
3. "Feedback" by Joe Haldeman (Illustrated by Jack Calverley)
4. "In The Harsh Glow of Its Incandescent Beauty" by Mercurio D. Rivera (Illustrated by Timothy Booth)
5. "Song of Bullfrogs, Cry of Geese" by Nicola Griffith (Illustrated by Jerel Dye)
6. "Nimbus" by Peter Watts (Illustrated by Evan Forsch)
7. "Luck" by James Patrick Kelly (Illustrated by Patrick McEvoy)
8. "Where Virtue Lives" by Saladin Ahmed (Illustrated by Ben Greene)
9. "Thirteen Ways of Looking at Space/Time" by Catherynne M. Valente (Illustrated by Mike Dubisch)
10. "The Occurrence at Slocombe Priory" by Paul Cornell (Illustrated by Thomas Crielly)
11. "Sunsets and Hamburgers by Gareth L. Powell (Illustrated by Bradley W. Schenck)
12. "Martyrs of The Upshot Knothole" by James Morrow (Illustrated by Brian Thomas Woods)
13. "Newts" by Kevin J. Anderson (Illustrated by Richard Case)
14. "Cold Reading" by Michael Swanwick (Illustrated by Peter Snejbjerg)
15. "Drink For The Thirst To Come" by Lawrence Santoro (Illustrated by Daniele Serra)
16. "In Pacmandu" by Lavie Tidhar (Illustrated by Graeme Neil Reid)
17. "Age of Miracles, Age of Wonders" by Aliette de Bodard (Illustrated by Mark Zug)
18. "World Without End, Amen" by Allen Steele (Illustrated by Brent Holmes)
19. "The Happiest Dead Boy In The World" by Tad Williams (Illustrated by Ben Wootten)
20. "Nothing Ever Happens In Rock City" by Jack McDevitt (Illustrated by Dave Krummenacher)
21. "Halfway People" by Karen Joy Fowler (Illustrated by Patrick McEvoy)
22. "Friction" by Will McIntosh (Illustrated by Jouni Koponen)
23. "Just A Couple of Subversive Alien Warmongers Floating All Alone in the Night" by Adam Troy Castro (Illustrated by Doug Holverson)
24. "News From 2025″ by David Brin (Illustrated by Bradley W. Schench)

Facts

1. Joy of The Flicks by Dennis M. Lane
2. Top Ten "Must Read" Time Travel Works by Amy H. Sturgis
3. Comics: what have they done for Us lately? by Frederic Himebaugh
4. Science Fiction Through The Looking Glass: the Ape, the Alien and the Android by Morgan Saletta (Illustrated by Timothy Booth)

The cover art is lots of fun:




"There is no such thing in anyone's life as an unimportant day."
- Alexander Woollcott

Happy Monday!

* For those of you with the Science Channel, FYI: Ridley Scott's new series Prophets of Science Fiction begins this Wednesday, November 9.

* I'm intrigued by this glimpse of Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham in the forthcoming adaptation of Great Expectations.

* Reminder: If you'd like a holiday card from me, please respond here. Thanks!


Enjoy 24 Nerdy Jokes in 2:30 minutes (thanks to killerweasel ):




"So dull and dark are the November days.
The lazy mist high up the evening curled,
And now the morn quite hides in smoke and haze;
The place we occupy seems all the world."
- John Clare, "November"