Soundtrack for the week of October 21-October 27

These be my jams this week.

First: Asaf Avidan - One day / Reckoning Song (Wankelmut Remix)

Holy Moses, this is a brilliant remix of a song whose original was, truth be told, a tiny bit whiny. This treatment feels like a simple marking of the passage of time. It's a bit frantic, a bit sad, and incredibly hopeful. "I don't think about you all the time, but when I do I wonder why. One day, baby, we'll be old; think of all the stories that we could have told."

Second: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes - Man on Fire

I feel like Edward Sharpe and his Attractive Null Sets actually just sings the songs in my heart. Maybe it's because I heard somewhere that his first album is based on a southwestern roadtrip the lead singer took when he was a child, maybe it's because the music feels like music I loved as a kid: the soul sounds of the hippies and Motown combined with upbeat parables. Maybe it's because he describes himself as a man on fire and then invites the world to dance with him. It's probably all of the above. Whatever it is, I do love it.

Third: Michael Jackson - Thriller

Thanks to the Jam Cellar, I'm learning to dance this. It has honestly taken 6 cumulative hours of instruction to learn the dance between 8:02 and 10:35. For those of you playing at home, that's two minutes and thirty-three seconds of dancing. Unlike Michael, we are not naturals.

Fourth: Logan Afyouni and Drunk Guy (Clark Chamberlin) - Caroline

I love this story. A gal with a guitar walks by, a super drunk guy begs her to stay and teach him a song. Their voices just... belong together. I love her face when she realizes what's happening and how special it is. And now they have plans to make music together. I love people.

Fifth: Preservation Hall Jazz Band - Shake That Thing

Last song of the night for me at the Jam Cellar this week. Whenever this song comes on, I try to strategically get one of the leads that will allow me to actually shake that thing. I try to dance with all levels of dancers and, as a follow, that means that I sometimes have to just chill out and do some triple-triple-rock step without too much distraction for the leads. Dancing is a ton of fun no matter what, but there are some folks with whom it's just... more fun. This week I grabbed Omar and we shook our things like nobody's business. It was awesome.

In which I specifically request John Carter of Mars (Earth) (Mars) (Virginia) fanfic

Mr. Stranger's Sealed Packet by Hugh MacColl
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is a heck of a lot of fun. From spaceship decapitations to yellow mars cake that turns one's skin blue (and is, assuredly, probably, totally not uranium), Mr. Stranger's adventures, both "Marsian" (with an s, how adorable is that?) and earthly are hugely entertaining. There is very little introspection about how a gentleman of England should comport himself on an alien planet, and instead there's a lot of marveling at pterodactyls and then brutally slaying them. (Awesome!) Also, do you want an empty vessel of a wife into which you can pour all of your bullshit ideals about womanhood? Well, then, do I have a blue-skinned beauty for you! It's Overly-Attached-Marsian-Girlfriend! Oh, wait, sorry, "mora fera," or literally "blue face." Yup. It went there.

Basically, at the end of this book, I wanted nothing more than John Carter of Virginia/Earth/Mars/Princess and Mr. Stranger crossover fanfic. If anyone out there is willing to oblige, I have a few specific scenarios in mind:

1) Mr. Stranger and John Carter go to Mars at the same time, but land in different places. Their stories continue apace until they realize that John Carter has fallen in love with a princess of the RED marsians, whereas Mr. Stranger has fallen for a woman from the BLUE marsians. Obviously, this means war.

2) Mr. Stranger and John Carter go to Mars together and never quite get the hang of Marsian gravity. They hop around a lot and everyone laughs and laughs.

3) Stranger/Carter, alone on Mars. Anything can happen, and probably will, if you know what I mean!

4) John Carter is in the giant arena, totally outmatched by the giant Marsian beastie, when who should come to his rescue but Stranger, in his guillotinemobile!! The day is saved/more local fauna are mercilessly slaughtered.

5) John Carter and Tee get into a sharpshooter contest in Mars's first all-planet circus.

6) John Carter and Mr. Stranger form a writing circle where they chronicle their adventures and critique each other's work.

Really, the possibilities are endless. Please post in comments with a link to your completed work. Thanks!

Read it if: You enjoyed John Carter, but you wanted a little more cultural imperialism. If you would like to Save the Sci Fi. ESPECIALLY read it if you are interested in writing me some fanfic.

Lexie's Shelves: read, aliens-from-outer-space, save-the-sci-fi.

The author is: hilariously Victorian.

Things that bugged me: 

Overly attached Martian girlfriend.

If someone would draw this, that someone would be my hero

The Torch by Jack Bechdolt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was all prepared to give this book two stars, as I was put off by the incredible, undeniable sexism and the general assumption that everyone who survived the nuclear holocaust (in New York City in, let me see here, 1989) was white. But then, in one of the final scenes, it hit me like a flash. I saw it laid out perfectly before me-- this story was meant to be an art deco graphic novel.

From that point on, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, reveling in my imaginary graphic novel-- the Tintin-esque lurid colors of New York's jungle or the clean lines of the Chrystler building ruined and made jagged.

Basically, if you want something that's a little bit like Game of Thrones and a little bit like The Road and a little bit like Rise of the Molemen (Revenge of the Sewers)* and a little bit like the Great Gatsby and a lot like a Tin-Tin comic (and, let's be real, all the cultural bias that entails), this book is for you!

Also, I love Singularity& Co's organizational vision and I am prepared to give them a lot of the benefit of the doubt on this book and future ventures.

Read it if: You like dystopias, you like Game of Thrones, you would like to Save the Sci Fi, and you don't mind a little cultural imperialism and misogyny with your cornflakes. ESPECIALLY read it if you are looking to commit yourself to drawing a sprawling Art Deco graphic novel based on The Torch.

Lexie's Shelves: read, dystopia-is-coming, save-the-sci-fi.

The author is: really, really sketchy about women having power.

Things that bugged me: Here is a representative quote: "Others, and they were women, noted Alda's sudden affection for Frederick, and gossip was born." (The Torch, Location 2983 of 3512.)

*This book does not exist. Yet.