Good Morning Campers!

so, i woke up this morning with an epiphany...

Charlie Sheen is a member of Anonymous, perhaps even one of its senior, more talented members. from his position in the Hollywood elite, he was in a perfect position to observe the insidious infiltration of our country's entertainment industry by the cult of Scientology.
his recent misfortunes, insane babblings and inappropriate behavior are the result of a Scientology counter-attack - they are poisoning one of our greatest actors and secret cultural heroes with a psychotropic cocktail, destroying his career, and i'm sure eventually his life, in revenge for Anonymous' attacks on Scientology.
Blame Tom Cruise!

Reviews and Such...

"True Grit" in theaters - g'ddamn, this really isn't a hard one for me to rate against the original at all... Hailee Steinfeld outacts and outperforms and outshines Kim Darby even when Hailee's just standing still in front of the camera. that she performs brilliantly when she's not just standing still is gravy. Matt Damon stomps Glen Campbell's performance into the dust. Josh Brolin beats Jeff Corey as Tom Chaney. poor Domhanll Gleeson loses versus Dennis Hopper in the 1969 version (it's really unfair to compare them). Barry Pepper holds his own versus Robert Duvall's performance in the original, as does Jeff Bridges versus John Wayne. so the 2010 clearly wins on casting.
it wins on story too... and dialogue...
highly recommended, two enthusiastic thumbs up.

"Of Blood and Honey" by Stina Leicht in bookstores - urban fantasy has been popular for quite some time, particularly paranormal romances where kickass heroines stomp their enemies into bloody mud puddles and limp back home for some unfulfilled longing (or, in the case of Laurell K. - far too long and boringly fulfilled longing, so much so that it sometimes outweighs the plot by a factor of ten to one).
"Of Blood and Honey" is nothing like that. Fey and fallen angels and the Church and the Troubles in Northern Ireland in the '70's combine together into a brutal story where no character is untouchable and our lead, Liam, gets the shit beaten out of him physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually multiple times. it's beautifully written, taking the reader to a place and time no sane person would ever want to be except through the magic of a book. Stina obviously did her research and it shows. the book could have a sequel, but none is required and to make one work emotionally might be problematical - i don't doubt Stina could do it if she writes a sequel, but to make it feel right from the lead character's point of view will take some effort.
it's magical, but it's a dark magic - a gritty, 'realistic' magic - and there's nary a "and they lived happily ever after" to be found. i very highly recommend it. plus, bonus points, she's a local (Austin) author and God knows local authors should be supported.

"The King's Speech" in theaters - we went to see this film at the Alamo, and it was a semi-violation of our "Does It NEED To Be Seen On The Big Screen" standard... no, it didn't - but I'm so very very glad we did.
I can't think of a single negative thing to say about this film, with one tiny exception - I shall never again have the experience of watching it for the first time.
Superb casting, writing, directing... two extremely enthusiastic thumbs up from the wife and I.

News About "The Ladies of Trade Town"

First off, we have a cover - you can follow the link and see it here:
http://lee-martindale.livejournal.com/99973.html
It's lovely. I am happy.

Next off, quoted here from our editor, Lee Martindale:

"*The Ladies* Will Step Out In Style

As you may or may not know, A-Kon is a huge (as in, on the close order of 20,000 attendees) anime convention held in Dallas in June. For the last ten years or so, the convention has included in its multi-track, not-just-anime programming a growing and successful writers’ track, featuring panels on the craft and business of writing science fiction, fantasy, and related genres.

I mention this because, thanks to the good folks at A-Kon, *The Ladies of Trade Town* will celebrate its official debut in high style. The convention is hosting what amounts to a Book Launch track and inviting those contributors who can join us to be part of the festivities that include a “Meet The Ladies and Gentlemen of Trade Town” panel, a mass autographing session, and a gala book launch party.

A-Kon 22 will take place June 10 - 12, 2011 at the Sheraton Dallas (formerly the Adams Mark)in downtown Dallas. All Book Launch events are scheduled for Saturday, June 12, with the panel and mass autographing on Saturday afternoon (time and location to be announced), and the Launch Party scheduled for 7:00 pm in function space on the 38th floor of the Sheraton.

As you can imagine, I was gobsmacked when the A-Kon folks said they wanted to do this. This is the kind of launch the big houses used to give their releases, and the kind of launch HarpHaven simply would not otherwise be able to pull off on its own. To see this project step out with such a send-off damn near brings me to tears.

And, folks, it is going to be a LOT of fun."


And yeah, I've already committed to attend - if need be I shall shit a way to be there. Still haven't worked out accomodations, but I've got time.
It would be very, very hard for me to express how excited I am, but you can bet your bottom dollar there has been some 'squee' heard around the house.

Oh, and to correct myself, the last post's music was by "386 Mannequins" not "365 Mannequins"