Spend your whole day without watching no TV

[sovay]

Happy Valentine's Day! Under normal circumstances, spatch and I would be observing the conjunction of the holiday with President's Day from the balcony of the Somerville Theatre, watching as close as we can manage to twenty-four hours of science fiction film with the rest of the Boston Sci-Fi Marathon. It is our oldest shared tradition. We have been celebrating it together since 2012. Under circumstances of plague-time and considerations of technology, we are not even attending virtually this year. Instead, with recourse to our trusty handful of streaming services and a few ringers, we have programmed ourselves the Black Cat 'Thon 2021: Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (1953), Escape to Witch Mountain (1975), Matinee (1993), The Hands of Orlac (1924), Humanoids from the Deep (1980), The Brother from Another Planet (1984), The Silent Star (1960), Fantastic Planet (1973), Born in Flames (1983), Prospect (2018), Cherry 2000 (1987), The Atomic Submarine (1959), and Destroy All Monsters (1968), plus trailers and shorts as intervals throughout the night and last-minute substitutions as needed. We have no Atomic Fireballs, but Rob made cookies heavy on the cinnamon. For extra authenticity, we can leave the house and run around the block in the freezing dark at unwise hours of the morning to find no restaurants open. Wish us luck!

Comments

[dramaticirony]

Very glad you're able to celebrate an adapted version of the thon tradition!

A few neat sounding things on your list that I've not heard of, but am intrigued by. Hope you enjoy the program!

[sovay]

Very glad you're able to celebrate an adapted version of the thon tradition!

Thank you!

A few neat sounding things on your list that I've not heard of, but am intrigued by. Hope you enjoy the program!

I shall certainly write a review once I've recovered. If you participated virtually in the 'Thon itself, I hope you enjoyed it, too!

[dramaticirony]

I ended up juggling two conventions: Con of the North (a gaming con, and so "side gig" work) and Boskone. The latter was lovely--tons of strong panels. One thing I liked: having two channels for audience participation: a Q/A where you can ask questions of the panel, and a chat for geeking out. "Comments" are not annoying when they don't interrupt and you can engage with them asynchronously, including after the panel is done. That being said, I think Arisa had more sense of "community".

So no 'Thon for me, though I did get a chance to catch Have Your Seen My Movie "at" the Brattle, an neat experiment that creates a narrative about watching a movie by editing together the almost endless amount of footage that exists across film of people attending movies: buying tickets, walking the red carpet, working the projection booth, making out in the dark, and so on. Not for everyone, but a really interesting way to examine how editing can conjure meaning out of a jumble of separate sequences. Also a lot of nostalgic power at a time when we can't attend a theater.

[sovay]

That being said, I think Arisa had more sense of "community".

I was surprised by how much Arisia felt like a real convention and not just a bunch of conversations to dead air. I'm glad about the programming at Boskone, though!

I did get a chance to catch Have Your Seen My Movie "at" the Brattle, an neat experiment that creates a narrative about watching a movie by editing together the almost endless amount of footage that exists across film of people attending movies: buying tickets, walking the red carpet, working the projection booth, making out in the dark, and so on.

I don't know how much it would do for me to watch that movie, but I like the idea of it existing.