Media hunting

[winneganfake]

re-posted from last night, because I'm a doofus and hit "delete" instead of "edit":

So. I need media. I need a mental vacation- stuff that's mindblowing either visually or aurally. I need it to shake up my brain and get it thinking in different patterns. Books, movies, music, online stories, youtube shorts like 9, you name it. Bonus points for decent fantasy (meant in the Barker, De Lint, King, and Gaiman sense, not the Tolkein), horror, sci-fi, or similar stuff. Anyone got anything new under the sun?

Comments

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

Have you read Tim Powers? I just read my first (The Anubis Gates) and loved it.

[winneganfake.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I've read it, and a stack of other Powers books. And if you haven't grabbed it yet, you definitely need to get your hands on a copy of Last Call.

[lilibat.livejournal.com]

Tim is going to be at Steam-con and he is a DAMN nice guy. He always waved at us at baycon last year. Total sweetheart.

[lilibat.livejournal.com]

I can't agree with this strongly enough. Tim Powers is my favorite author.

[parlor-games.livejournal.com]

I love Tim Powers! Good call!

[the1pony.livejournal.com]

Have you read the "Gentleman Bastard" series by Scott Lynch? If not, I highly recommend them. There are two books so far; "The lies of Locke Lamora" and "Red seas under red skies". There's a third book cheduled to come out this summer.

[winneganfake.livejournal.com]

Duly noted- thanks!

[cynickal.livejournal.com]

Grand Theft Audio (http://www.amazon.com/Blame-Everyone-Explicit/dp/B00122KBJU/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1240424356&sr=8-1)
Tager Army

Fun fluff (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_dmusic?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=tiger+army) ()

[lilibat.livejournal.com]

Have you seen the movie Immortal?

[winneganfake.livejournal.com]

No. At least, I don't think so. Mind narrowing the field for me? IMDB's showing tons under that title, of course.

[lilibat.livejournal.com]

It's this French scifi movie based on a Inki Balal graphic novel.

[winneganfake.livejournal.com]

AH! That one! Actually had it checked out from netflix, and... never got a chance to watch it the week that I had it. It went back unwatched. I need to just flat out buy that and Perfect Creature.

[lilibat.livejournal.com]

Both of those are definitely worthy, we have them both too.

[parlor-games.livejournal.com]

I was going to recommend that. "Immortal" is beautiful. Also, catch the movie "Avalon."

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0267287/plotsummary

[kindofstrange.livejournal.com]

The Pillars of the Earth, if you haven't read it. Not so much fantasy, but a great book.

Masters of Doom, if you're at all interested in the story behind iD software. It's surprisingly well written and engaging.

Jim Henson's Storyteller series is always good for a watch. I have the full set on dvd if you'd like to borrow it.

I will continue thinking... I know there are tons of web games I should be pointing you at, I just don't have them at easy access.

[m-cobweb.livejournal.com]

Christopher Golden pops to mind. Also the Jim Butcher books (Harry Dresden) and Elizabeth Hand.

Musically, Bat for Lashes has a new one out (not that Easy Street ever has any left for me to buy, mind you!).

[winneganfake.livejournal.com]

Butcher: Where do I start on the Dresden stuff? None of the copies I've seen seem to want to actually list any kind of order for the damn books, so I've avoided picking them up in the library.

And Hand we've got stacks of. Love her stuff, especially Aestival Tide and Winterlong.

[kindofstrange.livejournal.com]

I haven't played this yet, but it seems like something you might dig. And for $10, it looks interesting, at the very least.

http://www.gamesradar.com/pc/the-path/review/the-path/a-20090408144330551081/g-20090408143624259087

http://endlessforest.org/ThePath.html

[winneganfake.livejournal.com]

Ooo, that does look good.

Why can there not be a demo! WHYYYYYY!YY!!!!!!!!

[kindofstrange.livejournal.com]

It's $6.66 right now.

I'll buy it for you. We can call it fair trade for having hit you with the Avril Lavigne manga.

That or a hey-you-have-a-baby! gift.

[winneganfake.livejournal.com]

I think I may take you up on that.

Though I'm also thinking that buying a game for the other person every time that damn manga pops up sounds like a good idea as well.

[kindofstrange.livejournal.com]

Now you're just daring me to find the rest of the series and insert them in your house covertly the next time I'm over.

[domestinatrix.livejournal.com]

Movies:

Derek Jarman's Edward II
If you haven't seen this yet, you probably should immediately. The first time I saw it on a big screen, it took my breath away. I strongly recommend watching it after your little ones have gone to sleep - the historical details of his death and the way it's portrayed in this film don't fit in anyone's definition of what might be appropriate for children to watch.

Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book
Anything Peter Greenaway has made will leave a mark on your brain, but this one's my special favorite. It's the only Peter Greenaway film I'll watch without a chaperon because it's so completely delicious that it's worth putting myself through the difficult parts. Also not a good one for children.

Run Lola Run
Not as heavy as the other two, but will wake your brain up.


Books:

Anything by Leonard Shlain, but I'd especially recommend The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. He's a neurosurgeon and a historian, and full of ideas that I want to eat.

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
I know, the crazy Ayn Rand fans have that terrible reputation that's ruined her books for lots of people before they've even picked one up, but I love the way she puts words together, and in my reading of it, this was one of the most optimistic books I've ever read and had a huge effect on the formation of the Jam Economy. I enjoyed it so much that I've been putting off reading The Fountainhead for nearly a decade because I want to savor her works rather than burning through all of them at once.

Maybe it's too obvious, but mmmmm Kafka. The Metamorphosis is one of the funniest books I've ever read, and his microfiction is made out of candy and lightening bugs.



Other:

http://blog.amandapalmer.net/
Yes, I'm a bit of a totally over the top biased Amanda Palmer fangirl, but partially it's because of how she uses words and ideas. Her blog is often good for a little brain snack, and she often posts links and videos of other artists worth checking out.

Are you listening to enough Velvet Underground? If you listen hard enough, you can absolutely lose yourself in the way Mo Tucker beats on the drums.

[luchog.livejournal.com]

If you haven't read any of Robert Holdstock (http://www.robertholdstock.com/)'s work, I highly recommend it. You have to start with Mythago Wood, and then read pretty much anything else after that.

[winneganfake.livejournal.com]

I do need to get those books again- I've read Mythago Wood, and used to own a copy, but I think it either ended up lost or otherwise gone at some point.

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

Books: CJ Cherryh's Foreigner Series - there's at least 9 of them and they're all wonderful (tho I admit to a personal fondness for the first 6 :>). Brilliant 1st contact material.

TV: Fringe - well written, Jon Noble worth watching anytime. Can find on Hulu. And for sheer amusement, Krod Mandoon (comedy channel).

[fear-the-cow.livejournal.com]

Yes! Fringe FTW! Although I still have to figure out how to tell my wife I forgot to DVR it last night...

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

There's always Hulu if you're in the states :>

[fear-the-cow.livejournal.com]

Sweet - I'll have to check it out. May just save my marriage...

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

Hey, we do what we can :>

[fear-the-cow.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

BTW, is your user name based off of that RPG that had you spending 30 minutes to make a character, only to have them die in 2?

I think I still have the rules floating around somewhere...

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

Heh - few even recognize the reference ;>. I'm an old gamer, and when, in 2000, the web got popular enough for "Twilight" to not be enough anymore, I figured go for it :>.

Boot Hill games - good times :).

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

OMG - I just watched this week's ep with the husband - it's one of those "have to see" eps - and there's a WONDERFUL foreshadowing of who's at the head of Massive Dynamics (doncha just love that name?) in the last 30 seconds or so of the ep. *Listen* closely ;>.

Yea - you gotta catch this on Hulu.

[fear-the-cow.livejournal.com]

Aaargh! Yeah, we'll have to watch it on Hulu. I told the wife last night I didn't DVR it, and I swear her look would have frozen lesser men's hearts.

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

I know that look - i occasionally delivered it for a missed Stargate "taping" ;>. There was no Hulu back then either - we had to wait till late season re-runs *sigh*

Tell the lady she's lucky :>

[jedimomma.livejournal.com]

Have you read any Christoper Moore? Great weeping gods, I hope you have. Look, here's just a few titles of his books: "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Jesus' Childhood Pal", "The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove" and "Bloodsucking Fiends: a love story". And they're all awesome. He pulls them all off. He rocks. Oh, and he's thinky, but easy to read--like Terry Pratchett--you've read Pratchett too, right? Right? (userpic=Pratchett quotation)

[winneganfake.livejournal.com]

While I love the avatar, I honestly can't stomach Pratchett. I don't know if he was just too overhyped for my tastes when I finally read a book or what it was, but I just cannot get my way through any of his books, I always just end up putting them down.

The Moore I'll definitely look up though, and I think I may have read Bloodsucking Fiends at some point. I'm not sure.

[josienutter.livejournal.com]

Books (sci fi):

Blood Music
Old Man's War
Diaspora

...off the top of my head.

[parlor-games.livejournal.com]

When in doubt, I pull out my moorCOCK.

[elainecorvidae.livejournal.com]

I'll be shameless here and suggest my book, Winter's Orphans (http://www.onecrow.net/WintersOrphans/OrphansBlurb.htm), which is fantasy set in an alternate Victorian era and includes some very nasty faeries. The entire first chapter is on my website, so you can try before your buy. Or if you're looking for cheap, my sci-fi novel, Exile's Burn (http://www.onecrow.net/ExilesBurn/exile.html) is available as a free download. :-)