It was my birthday this past week, and, as a gift to myself, I bought myself my very first Taschen—the Saturday Night Live book, obviously. I haven’t been able to bring myself to take the shrink wrap off yet, but I’ll take photos when I do.
Links
It’s Women in SF&F Month at Fantasy Cafe! Renay kicked things off on the first and here’s Genevieve Valentine talking about The Left Hand of Darkness. Oh, and everyone is invited to add your favorite sf books by lady types to the Big Giant List of Fantasy and Sci-Fi Books by Women.
I told you there’d be more Hugo Award reactions this week:
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw details exactly what went down and why it’s terrible.
- Charlie Jane Anders at io9 on how Sad Puppies has devalued the Hugos.
- Renay calls for us to practice reckless optimism while resisting the hate group that has targeted our community.
- Abigail Nussbaum has several thoughts on the matter.
- The glorious Elizabeth Bear takes a long view of the situation, pointing out that fandom’s inherent status as an anarchy means that this won’t weaken us.
- Kevin Standlee explains how to vote No Award effectively.
- At Pornokitsch, Justin Landon compares the Hugos to the development of the Republican Party in the United States over the last twenty years. Very thought provoking.
- N.K. Jemisin explains affirmative action.
Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore’s “Sweatshop-Produced Rainbow Flags and Participatory Patriarchy: Why the Gay Rights Movement Is a Sham” talks about the gap between mainstream gay politics (especially the fight for gay marriage) and the actual needs of the queer community. This infographic from the Center for American Progress, detailing all the ways a gay married person can still be discriminated against legally, goes hand in hand with it.
One time in 1978, the Saturday Night Live cast (and Lorne Michaels) appeared in Marvel Team-Up, teaming up with Spider-Man. I need a copy of this so bad.
At Strange Horizons, Genevieve Valentine talks about Anna May Wong and diverse casting.
Useful: how to be a better listener. That’s one of the skills I’ve been working on this year.
Fellow cosmetic wearers! Findation is a website where you can match your current foundation to other foundations if you want to try something new without having to trouble-shoot. I had a foundation mishap this week, so this would have been very helpful during that. (I just have to accept that I’m just pink. Or, as my foundation calls it, “beige.” Just go ahead and call it “old-timey white person,” CoverGirl, I’m strong enough to accept that.)
The Russo brothers are officially directing The Avengers: Infinity War Parts One and Two.
I normally avoid io9’s Open Channel posts (due to how busy I am, not due to their solid quality), but this week’s, which asks “Which Unanswered Historical Question Do You Most Want An Answer To?”, is a great compendium of history’s greatest mysteries and some more obscure but equally fascinating ones.
Shy humans, be you extrovert or introvert or what have you! Here is how to survive a party where you don’t know anybody, like, maybe, your first con when I am sadly unavailable as your fairy con mother.
At Forbes, Scott Mendelsohn talks about how the teaser trailers for GoldenEye and Mission Impossible reinvented action trailers in the nineties. Fascinating, no matter how badly I am cringing at the typography in both teaser trailers.
Fun Home opens on Broadway on the 19th! SCREAM.
Eddie Redmayne might be starring in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Nathan Stewart-Jarrett or nothing, Warner Brothers! OR NOTHING!
THIS IS A PHOTOGRAPH! And, except for the figurine in the middle, the mask and the moon were handmade for cosplay. Given my adoration for The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, this is just jaw-dropping.
Salon will be posting interviews with Saturday Night Live alums through the rest of the year to celebrate the show’s fortieth anniversary. First up: the amazing Nora Dunn. It’s a really fascinating look at women in comedy.
At The Washington Post, Danielle Allen and Cathy Cohen talk about why the new civil rights movement doesn’t need a leader like MLK.
Ian McKellen will play Cogsworth in the Emma Watson Beauty and the Beast. Okay!
Acquisitions
Books
Purchased: None
Added: None
Films
Purchased: None
Added: Morocco, Dishonored, Blonde Venus, Shanghai Express, The Old Dark House, Anna Christie, Lost Horizon, Captain Blood, Three Smart Girls, Babes in Arms, The Bride Came COD, Princess O’Rourke, Notorious, Francis the Talking Mule, Spartacus (via The Genius of the System—I found some old notes), The Clouds of Sils Maria (via the Dissolve), The Prince and the Showgirl (via the Dissolve)
The Literary Omnivore 
I mean, I’d be into Eddie Redmayne being in Fantastic Beasts. He’d be good, right? That’d be fun! And also, I am once again just mainly so thrilled that Fantastic Beasts is happening.
I mean, he’d be good, I’m just always bummed out when a vehicle like this is handed to someone who’s already made it—Redmayne has an Oscar!—instead of someone who could use the boost. It’s also Another White Dude Syndrome.
Happy belated birthday! April babies unite! 😀
So I’m going to be in Manhattan over the next few days if you want to meet up. I couldn’t find your email address on the blog, but I’m using my phone instead of computer so it might just be mobile site quirkiness. But email me at astripedarmchair at gmail dot com if you want to plan something! 🙂
😀