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Some RL recs that will make you happy!
(it was going to be more notes, but I have BRUISES from sadistic massage man. I am now ruling Chinese massage of my list and sticking to Swedish and Thai.)
Most years I could not begin to tell you my favourites of anything. One will last for a few days, another for a few weeks. I think that King Lear will always be my favourite play, and that is pretty much my only constancy with The Arts (maybe Leonardo's cartoon in the National Gallery is my fave drawing, but even that's been known to change now and then).
In 2008, though, I had clear and obvious favourites in the categories of film, novel and video. I have spent months raving to people about them and lending out my copies, and now it's your turn to sit through the glee. I promise it will be quick.
The number one film was and is Iron Man. I know The Dark Knight was a better film, and it had a deep and abiding impact on me, too. But for the reasons I went on about at great length back in May, I'm still a Tony Stark supporter. If only because he's so much less emo than the Batman. I should mention here that I have not yet seen Loved You So Long, which will probably be my fave for 2009.
My favourite books were both YA and both by the same author. In a year where no literary fiction really caught my attention, I fell heavily for Flora Segunda of Crackpot Hall and Flora's Dare. I am cheating a little here, because I read the first at the end of 2007, but it seems ridiculous to pimp just a sequel. Ysabeau Wilce is one of those rare writers whose skill at world building and characterisation is matched with a genuine love with and flair for language. The Spanish-touched patois of her characters seemed instantly familiar even to my resolutely Anglo ears and was a seamless part of an imaginary world where the great-grandchildren of psuedo-steampunk versions of the Conquistadors and Mayans held a troubled truce around a country that was once held together by great magic and brave women.
Flora's first adventure is a domestic one, where she tries to save her great but crumbling house despite the madness of her father and inattentiveness of her General mother. To do so, she enlists the help of a magical butler who offers all types of help, but at a significant cost. To save herself she can only count on the writings of Nini-Mo, the greatest ranger who ever lived, Udo, her tall male friend who wears far too much make-up and hair product, and her own ability to be level headed when she'd rather descend into a fit of screaming abdabs.
Flora's Dare takes up a little later with her father now sane, her older sister back, but badly, and Udo wearing even more make-up and smearing it over utterly appalling people. Which would matter less were Flora not caught in the middle of treasonous intrigue.
The plots are impossible to condense, but the writing is a joy, and there's a third part appearing some time soon (ish).
The Author Formerly Known as Mistful put me onto Wilce, and I add another tick to her list of good recs (she also recced the fourth-worst YA book I have ever read, so tread a little carefully if you buy according to her list).
My favourite video of 2008 was The Insider's Guide To Happiness, which is a New Zealand television series from a few years ago. I remember seeing the ads for it on SBS and thinking it looked good, but I missed its first run. Now I own the DVDs and they may actually wear out at some point. Eight Kiwis are brought together thanks to a mushroom-and-karma-caused ambulance accident in Wellington. Matthew, who dies in the accident, narrates the story as we follow each of them on their path from where they are in their lives at the start, to genuine happiness, which each of them finds by the end. (Including Matthew, who has a not-dead stint through the middle episodes.)
It's another story that can't be encapsulated, but you will care about each and every one of these characters because they are all real and fucked up at the same time as being delightful and capable of great good. Buddhist monks, Samoan nationalists, a multi-million dollar lottery win (which is literally thrown away), tabloid TV, hairdressing and bungee jumping all come together to kick along plot points.
I loaned it to a dear friend, who recently returned it. She hugged the DVD case and said 'Wow! I just, they just ...' 'You feel like they're your friends?' I prompted. 'Yeah. Except funnier than most of mine,' she replied.
It's available on some torrents and, for those who have the cash and would like to do poor New Zealand a cheap (it's somewhere around the US$25 mark for the 13-part series) favour, it's available by mail order from many sites. It made me smile every week when it was on telly, and I caught every episode, which is practically unheard of in this house.
(it was going to be more notes, but I have BRUISES from sadistic massage man. I am now ruling Chinese massage of my list and sticking to Swedish and Thai.)
Most years I could not begin to tell you my favourites of anything. One will last for a few days, another for a few weeks. I think that King Lear will always be my favourite play, and that is pretty much my only constancy with The Arts (maybe Leonardo's cartoon in the National Gallery is my fave drawing, but even that's been known to change now and then).
In 2008, though, I had clear and obvious favourites in the categories of film, novel and video. I have spent months raving to people about them and lending out my copies, and now it's your turn to sit through the glee. I promise it will be quick.
The number one film was and is Iron Man. I know The Dark Knight was a better film, and it had a deep and abiding impact on me, too. But for the reasons I went on about at great length back in May, I'm still a Tony Stark supporter. If only because he's so much less emo than the Batman. I should mention here that I have not yet seen Loved You So Long, which will probably be my fave for 2009.
My favourite books were both YA and both by the same author. In a year where no literary fiction really caught my attention, I fell heavily for Flora Segunda of Crackpot Hall and Flora's Dare. I am cheating a little here, because I read the first at the end of 2007, but it seems ridiculous to pimp just a sequel. Ysabeau Wilce is one of those rare writers whose skill at world building and characterisation is matched with a genuine love with and flair for language. The Spanish-touched patois of her characters seemed instantly familiar even to my resolutely Anglo ears and was a seamless part of an imaginary world where the great-grandchildren of psuedo-steampunk versions of the Conquistadors and Mayans held a troubled truce around a country that was once held together by great magic and brave women.
Flora's first adventure is a domestic one, where she tries to save her great but crumbling house despite the madness of her father and inattentiveness of her General mother. To do so, she enlists the help of a magical butler who offers all types of help, but at a significant cost. To save herself she can only count on the writings of Nini-Mo, the greatest ranger who ever lived, Udo, her tall male friend who wears far too much make-up and hair product, and her own ability to be level headed when she'd rather descend into a fit of screaming abdabs.
Flora's Dare takes up a little later with her father now sane, her older sister back, but badly, and Udo wearing even more make-up and smearing it over utterly appalling people. Which would matter less were Flora not caught in the middle of treasonous intrigue.
The plots are impossible to condense, but the writing is a joy, and there's a third part appearing some time soon (ish).
The Author Formerly Known as Mistful put me onto Wilce, and I add another tick to her list of good recs (she also recced the fourth-worst YA book I have ever read, so tread a little carefully if you buy according to her list).
My favourite video of 2008 was The Insider's Guide To Happiness, which is a New Zealand television series from a few years ago. I remember seeing the ads for it on SBS and thinking it looked good, but I missed its first run. Now I own the DVDs and they may actually wear out at some point. Eight Kiwis are brought together thanks to a mushroom-and-karma-caused ambulance accident in Wellington. Matthew, who dies in the accident, narrates the story as we follow each of them on their path from where they are in their lives at the start, to genuine happiness, which each of them finds by the end. (Including Matthew, who has a not-dead stint through the middle episodes.)
It's another story that can't be encapsulated, but you will care about each and every one of these characters because they are all real and fucked up at the same time as being delightful and capable of great good. Buddhist monks, Samoan nationalists, a multi-million dollar lottery win (which is literally thrown away), tabloid TV, hairdressing and bungee jumping all come together to kick along plot points.
I loaned it to a dear friend, who recently returned it. She hugged the DVD case and said 'Wow! I just, they just ...' 'You feel like they're your friends?' I prompted. 'Yeah. Except funnier than most of mine,' she replied.
It's available on some torrents and, for those who have the cash and would like to do poor New Zealand a cheap (it's somewhere around the US$25 mark for the 13-part series) favour, it's available by mail order from many sites. It made me smile every week when it was on telly, and I caught every episode, which is practically unheard of in this house.
