It's not a crime, it's legal, perfectly natural

[sovay]

My poem "The Process" has been accepted by Mithila Review. I am extremely happy about this sale; the magazine is a new market for me and their past issues have included such luminaries as Mary Anne Mohanraj, Shweta Narayan, Alyssa Wong, John Chu, Shveta Thakrar, Aliette de Bodard, Kij Johnson, Indrapramit Das, A.J. Odasso, Lavie Tidhar, and many more. This is the poem about Kafka which I read last week in Brooklyn (and if you want to see the livestream of the reading, by the way, it's up and free to view and I will try not to become automatically self-conscious about however I look or sound); it is slated to come out in January 2017. Whatever the world looks like then. In the meantime, damn it, art goes on.

P.S. In fact, I am reliably informed that Heiresses of Russ 2016: The Year’s Best Lesbian Speculative Fiction now exists in the wild. Pick up a copy! I can't wait for mine.

Comments

Re: Off-topic

[sovay]

It's not a great film, but it does one structural thing I've never seen a film do before and it does it outstandingly.

I have not even heard of The Sin of Nora Moran, but one outstanding thing can be reason enough for me to watch a movie. Do you have a link to it? (I am hugely behind on writeups of everything, I have to warn you.)

Re: Off-topic

[rydra_wong]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiJe1ZS44bs

It was a Poverty row production and evidently there's currently no owner who can be bothered to yank it off YouTube.

I will refrain from describing the one thing so you have the option of being unspoiled, but if you're curious (or want to verify for yourself if it's interesting enough to be worth viewing) it's mentioned in all the online reviews of it I've seen.

(I am hugely behind on writeups of everything, I have to warn you.)

Honestly, I'm linking things for purposes of interest/enjoyment, and assume you will write up those things that call for write-ups as and when you have energy/motivation/time.

Not that I wouldn't love to read your write-ups of various things, but I'm happy spamming you with links without expectations.

Re: Off-topic

[sovay]

It was a Poverty row production and evidently there's currently no owner who can be bothered to yank it off YouTube.

Oh, hey, speaking of Poverty Row productions, you may wish to check out Something to Sing About (1937) if you have never seen it. I watched it with derspatchel last month; it's a fun, slightly ramshackle Hollywood send-up starring James Cagney and Evelyn Daw with really three things to recommend it, namely (a) Cagney's dancing, including an otherwise out-of-nowhere number with Johnny Boyle and Harland Dixon, two of his vaudeville mentors; it is the only time all three appeared on film together (b) the romance plot, which didn't work out at all the way I was expecting and which I was rather pleased by (c) the subplot with Philip Ahn. In fact, if you watch this movie for Philip Ahn alone, you will be doing fine. But Cagney's dancing is also pretty great. It appears to be on YouTube, although I'd make sure nobody's done anything wonky to the running speed.

Not that I wouldn't love to read your write-ups of various things, but I'm happy spamming you with links without expectations.

I appreciate it. I would like to be writing more!

Re: Off-topic

[rydra_wong]

I have not seen it, and Cagney and his dancing are (since Blonde Crazy) extremely relevant to my interests. Thank you!

Re: Off-topic

[sovay]

I have not seen it, and Cagney and his dancing are (since Blonde Crazy) extremely relevant to my interests. Thank you!

You're welcome! The ultimate Cagney dance picture is probably Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), but Footlight Parade (1933)—also with Joan Blondell, and choreographed by Busby Berkeley while we're on the subject—has some legitimately showstopping numbers. I feel the need to warn everyone who hasn't seen it that "Shanghai Lil" is about as Orientalist as you would expect, but on the bright side there is a censor played by Hugh Hebert who is always telling the show-within-a-show's production team to tone down the risqué-ness and do they? Hell, no. I like Wellman's Other Men's Women (1931) for a whole bunch of reasons, but a few quick moments of hoofing by Cagney are definitely among them.