No liquor on frelling Sundays.
Sep. 17th, 2006 11:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
greygirlbeastI need a bottle of Bailey's in the worst way, but this is frelling Georgia, and we are all forced to respect the sabbath of the Xtians, so no booze to-day. Someday, the Dark Ages will end, but not this day. Maybe I'll just resort to absinthe this afternoon. I have absinthe. But I waaaant Bailey's.
Anyway...
No new words yesterday, though I spent the whole day in this chair at this desk, my fingers wandering over the keyboard. I tweaked the Bradbury introduction. I sent it to Peter and Ramsey and talked to them about it. They both liked it a great deal and told me to stop tweaking. Also, Ramsey sent me a photograph of a gorgeous spider. I guess I'll e-mail it to Pete Crowther at PS Publishing this afternoon (the introduction, not the spider photo) and call the job done. But it still doesn't feel finished. It doesn't feel good enough by half. But I sort of suspect it never would, no matter how long I worked on it. Never in all my life did I imagine anyone would ask me to introduce a book by Ray Bradbury. Of all the honours bestowed upon me in the last eleven years (the length of time I've been a published author), this is surely one of the highest.
Oh, and I learned from Peter that he has a new book coming out from Cemetery Dance Publications, a collection of his occasional essays and nonfiction and introductions and the like, which will be called Sides (as in "Asides"). I am very pleased to learn it will include the afterword which he wrote for Tales of Pain and Wonder way back in 2000. No word yet on the release date.
Also, my contributor copies of Stephen Jones' The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror (Vol. 17) arrived yesterday. It reprints "La Peau Verte," from To Charles Fort, With Love, and also includes short fiction by Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell, Joe Hill, China Miéville, Gahan Wilson, Elizabeth Massie, Holly Phillips, Liz Williams, and a whole bunch of other folks (most of whom probably live in civilised places where you can buy booze on Sundays).
I did try to begin a new vignette yesterday, for Tales from the Woeful Platypus, but discovered that it is nigh well impossible for me to think impure thoughts and contemplate weird sex while simultaneously thinking about the works of Ray Bradbury. Make of that what e'er you will.
We had a longer-than-usual walk late in the afternoon. After dinner, we watched Richard Loncraine's adaptation of Richard III (1995), with Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Robert Downey Jr., and Jim Broadbent, which I'd only seen once before, during its theatrical release. McKellen is wickedly superb. I think this is the beginning of a Shakespeare binge. Before bed, I played two hours of Drakengard 2, which I picked up just to hold me over until the release of Final Fantasy XII, but it's actually turned out to be pretty drad, and I shall likely not have finished it when FFXII arrives next month.
Okay. That's it for now. Words must be made today. By the way, I've been told by the platypus, that Sundays in September are the very best for subscribing to Sirenia Digest. And sheheit should know.
Anyway...
No new words yesterday, though I spent the whole day in this chair at this desk, my fingers wandering over the keyboard. I tweaked the Bradbury introduction. I sent it to Peter and Ramsey and talked to them about it. They both liked it a great deal and told me to stop tweaking. Also, Ramsey sent me a photograph of a gorgeous spider. I guess I'll e-mail it to Pete Crowther at PS Publishing this afternoon (the introduction, not the spider photo) and call the job done. But it still doesn't feel finished. It doesn't feel good enough by half. But I sort of suspect it never would, no matter how long I worked on it. Never in all my life did I imagine anyone would ask me to introduce a book by Ray Bradbury. Of all the honours bestowed upon me in the last eleven years (the length of time I've been a published author), this is surely one of the highest.
Oh, and I learned from Peter that he has a new book coming out from Cemetery Dance Publications, a collection of his occasional essays and nonfiction and introductions and the like, which will be called Sides (as in "Asides"). I am very pleased to learn it will include the afterword which he wrote for Tales of Pain and Wonder way back in 2000. No word yet on the release date.
Also, my contributor copies of Stephen Jones' The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror (Vol. 17) arrived yesterday. It reprints "La Peau Verte," from To Charles Fort, With Love, and also includes short fiction by Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell, Joe Hill, China Miéville, Gahan Wilson, Elizabeth Massie, Holly Phillips, Liz Williams, and a whole bunch of other folks (most of whom probably live in civilised places where you can buy booze on Sundays).
I did try to begin a new vignette yesterday, for Tales from the Woeful Platypus, but discovered that it is nigh well impossible for me to think impure thoughts and contemplate weird sex while simultaneously thinking about the works of Ray Bradbury. Make of that what e'er you will.
We had a longer-than-usual walk late in the afternoon. After dinner, we watched Richard Loncraine's adaptation of Richard III (1995), with Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Robert Downey Jr., and Jim Broadbent, which I'd only seen once before, during its theatrical release. McKellen is wickedly superb. I think this is the beginning of a Shakespeare binge. Before bed, I played two hours of Drakengard 2, which I picked up just to hold me over until the release of Final Fantasy XII, but it's actually turned out to be pretty drad, and I shall likely not have finished it when FFXII arrives next month.
Okay. That's it for now. Words must be made today. By the way, I've been told by the platypus, that Sundays in September are the very best for subscribing to Sirenia Digest. And sheheit should know.
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no subject
Date: 2006-09-17 04:48 pm (UTC)Also, it seems strange, but I've seen two different covers for that ...Best New Horror volume: the one in your link (http://ec3.images-amazon.com/images/P/1845293150.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V65334204_.jpg) and the first one (http://ec3.images-amazon.com/images/P/0786718331.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V52145172_.jpg) I saw...
no subject
Date: 2006-09-17 04:53 pm (UTC)Oh, most certainly. McKellen's a favourite of mine, as well.
Also, it seems strange, but I've seen two different covers for that
There are always two covers for BNH, one for the US edition (Carroll and Graf) and one for the Brit edition (Robinson). Don't ask me why, but there you go.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-17 05:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-17 05:47 pm (UTC)Yep. You can buy cars, but not liquor. How ass-backwards is that?
no subject
Date: 2006-09-17 06:14 pm (UTC)Then again, I think I can safely transport ice cream in my pocket without fear of arrest. Don't tie up any giraffes either. Who comes up with these?
no subject
Date: 2006-09-17 06:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-17 10:45 pm (UTC)That is a good one. I bought it without having seen it, a couple years ago, because I knew Ian McKellen with Shakespeare couldn't fail.
For I had seen him in this 1979 version of Macbeth (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079499/), which, if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend. It's even better than the Richard III.
I've been thinking about Shakespeare lately. I just got out of a cycle where I was watching Akira Kurosawa's Ran (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089881/) a lot, which I also recommend, unless you've seen it and hated it or something. It's best seen on the biggest screen you can find, though. Or maybe getting really close to the television would work.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-18 02:00 am (UTC)As for Kurosawa, I prefer Throne of Blood to Ran myself, but that's a matter of personal preference, since both films are made equally well, I think.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-18 02:51 am (UTC)It's great watching McKellen play MacBeth, who I think is a more complex character than Richard. Plus, McKellen's young and quite dashing in it.
As for Kurosawa, I prefer Throne of Blood
I love Throne of Blood, too (and, oddly enough, it was the first thing that came up on imdb when I did a search for "Macbeth"). It's got the more robust, feisty flavour of younger Kurosawa (not to mention Toshiro Mifune), but I'm in love with the unabashed coldness of Ran.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-18 10:12 am (UTC)And THAT is a perfect description of the film's appeal. *grins*
no subject
Date: 2006-09-18 01:32 am (UTC)Ian McKellan rules. *nods*
no subject
Date: 2006-09-18 02:01 am (UTC)here in bassackwards idaho, all liquor stores are state owned. their hours of operation are from about 10 AM until 7 PM, closed on sundays, and closing early on saturdays (about 5 or 6 PM, depending on what county you're in).
please, take a moment to visualize a world where the liquor store closes at 7 PM on friday night. i'll wait for the screaming horror to subside.
okay. in addition, stores such as The Big Smoke and Tobacco Connection are also forced to close on sundays, apparently because tobacco and beer (beer and wine are the only 2 alcoholic beverages one can buy outside of a state-owned store) are also affronts to god.
there is a restaurant/brewery here called Bardenay. immensely popular with the locals, most of the liquour stores carry the Bardenay brand. however--for Bardenay to legally serve the liquor that they brew on site, they must first sell it to the state, THEN purchase it back from the state, paying all accompanying taxes.
i learned all of this one sad, sad night, about a month after moving here from New Orleans (imagine the culture shock if you dare). i'd gotten off of work at roughly midnight and wanted nothing more in the world than a gin and tonic. after driving aimlessly around boise for what felt like hours, i found a liquor store (they're well hidden), only to discover that it had closed 5 hours early. screaming fits ensued. now i stock up in advance.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-18 02:57 am (UTC)Indeed, the wisest course.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-18 04:24 am (UTC)Originally, the syllabus featured Threshold, but I've cut back on the number of novels featured in the class and have opted instead on a large, disparate number of short stories to keep things varied and provide a much grander overview of the genre in its many permutations.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-18 04:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-18 04:36 pm (UTC)1.) No state owned liquor stores. Buy whatever you want at your local supermarket.
2.) Drink and buy as much as you want on Sundays.
Of course it would help if I actually liked alcohol.