On this date in 1927, the first Laurel and Hardy film is released. It is called Putting Pants on Philip, and is about a man whose choice to wear a kilt causes him and his uncle great embarrassment.
Edward Gorey
Writing, Editing, and Publishing:
Leah Schnelbach at Tor.com penned this great tribute to C.S. Lewis, one of my favorite authors and perhaps the author whose work I know best. Although I gotta disagree with her at the end–Turkish delight is fantastic.
MitchWagner interviews Tim Powers on his writing process and fiction’s relation to history.
The Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventures characters are revived in comic form, penned (in part) by one of my favorite webcomics, Ryan North!
The A.V. Club interviewed Patrick Rothfuss this past week, and he had some really cool stuff to say about his latest book, The Slow Regard of Silent Things, and his charity work.
And as you’re shopping for gifts this holiday season, don’t forget to check out our list of upcoming and new releases.
Movies and Television:
If you haven’t seen the trailer for next year’s Jurassic World, stop what you’re doing and watch it immediately. It is awesome. And if you still need to obsess about the trailer and the upcoming film, I break down the trailer here on my personal blog, while Chris Lough from Tor.com tells us seven things he hopes the film will include.
The Doubtful Guest, by Edward Gorey
There’s also a beautiful trailer for the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens film, which looks really interesting.
David Levesley at the Daily Beast writes about women in modern SF TV shows, asking “Is this the the golden age of feminist science-fiction television?” He also includes a shout-out to Lightspeed Magazine’s recent Women Destroy Science Fiction issue.
Finally, check out this gorgeous short film, “Wanderers,” narrated by Carl Sagan, which anticipates the day that we expand out into the solar system.
Internet Stuff:
A student in Germany has hand illustrated and bound a copy of Tolkien’s Silmarillion. It looks simply amazing. I hope this guy makes things forever.
And obviously, this is because our planet harbors an alien spacecraft at its core.
Featured Artist:
Our art this week comes from the strange and wonderful mind of Edward Gorey, an American writer and illustrator from the 20th century who drew pen-and-ink pictures, often of children in Victorian or Edwardian settings. These drawings are often gothic, even macabre. He described it as “literary nonsense,” saying “If you’re doing nonsense it has to be rather awful, because there’d be no point. I’m trying to think if there’s sunny nonsense. Sunny, funny nonsense for children – oh, how boring, boring, boring. As Schubert said, there is no happy music. And that’s true, there really isn’t. And there’s probably no happy nonsense, either.”
My favorite is below, from the Gashlycrumb Tinies, his illustrated alphabet book:
Edward Gorey, the letter K
Some nice quote in the Powers interview. I love when he says he’s stupid in the mornings! I might even try to read Declare. Philby sounds fascinating.
And I’m stealing one of those Gorey pics for my FB page, Kate!
I do not like Turkish Delight, but I’ve only had it once, and that was here in America where it was imported from who knows where and who knows how long ago. So…. maybe I haven’t tried it properly.