Like a ghost at the edge of the world
Well, what I wanted to do with my afternoon was write about The Shape of Water (2017), which I saw last night with ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rushthatspeaks and very much enjoyed. Instead I am working through a rather nauseating headache and a hangover from nightmares of trying to go back to grad school. Those were unnecessary.
Here is my schedule for Arisia. It starts at the end of the week.
Dramatic Readings from the Ig Nobel Prizes
Friday 9:30 PM
Marc Abrahams (m), Daniel Rosenberg, Chris Cotsapas, Melissa Franklin, Dean Grodzins, Richard Baguley, Stephanie Clayman, Michelle Liguori, James Bredt, Sonya Taaffe
Highlights from Ig Nobel prize-winning studies and patents, presented in dramatic mini-readings by luminaries and experts (in some field). The audience will have an opportunity to ask questions about the research presented—answers will be based on the expertise of the presenters, who may have a different expertise than the researchers.
[I am for whatever reason not listed in the program as a participant in this event, but according to the e-mails I've been getting I should be there, so come hear me read something horrifyingly improbable. Last year it was "The Number 13 as a Castration Fantasy."]
Stories of Displacement
Saturday 11:30 AM
Sonya Taaffe (m), Ruthanna Emrys, Kevin Turausky, Alex Shvartsman, Steve Popkes
Our genre regularly examines war, famine, natural disaster, and other life shattering events that displace people from their homes. Too often, the stories skip over the lives of these people as they transition from their old lives into uncertainty. In this panel, we'll explore the stories that center on displaced people, examine how SFF portrays them, and discuss what stories can still do to illustrate the realities that displaced people in our own world face.
Judaism's Influence on SF/F
Saturday 4 PM
Michael A. Burstein (m), Daniel M Kimmel, Steve Berman, Sonya Taaffe, Ariela Housman
Jewish theology and culture permeates SFF & fandom from popular comics to well-known science fiction stories, which filters down in unrealized ways to fandom. What effect has Judaism had on the development of SF/F and fandom in general? Join our panel of knowledgeable fen to learn about Jewish influences.
Canonicity in Theatre
Sunday 4 PM
Rebecca Maxfield (m), Chris Brathwaite, Sonya Taaffe, Lee C. Hillman, Jesi Lipp
The concept of "canon" is important to fans and fanworks. But when everyone sees a different production of the same theatrical work, what is canon? Our panelists will attempt to answer this question, and discuss how that answer influences things like fanfiction and fanart.
Songs of Rudyard Kipling
Sunday 5:30 PM
Jeremy H. Kessler (m), Benjamin Newman, Sonya Taaffe, April Grant
Rudyard Kipling wrote a wealth of poems that make excellent songs, as demonstrated by the likes of Peter Bellamy and (especially in filk and SCA circles) Leslie Fish. Come "Kiple" with us as we indulge in a number of them and maybe a few parodies. If you can, bring some to share!
Spec Poetry Reading
Monday 11:30 AM
Merav Hoffman, A.J. Odasso, Catt Kingsgrave-Ernstein, Trisha J. Wooldridge, MJ Cunniff, Gillian Daniels
Come and read or listen with us for great SFF poetry.
Spec Fic and Historical Fantasy Reading
Monday 2:30 PM
Greer Gilman, Sarah Smith, Sonya Taaffe
Step into a different time and place with authors who will be reading their own original works of historical fantasy and speculative fiction.
At the moment my greatest ambition for the weekend is to be conscious through all of it and half-decently moderate the panel I did not request to moderate, but past experience suggests I will enjoy myself a lot more when I actually get there. Who can I hope to see?
rushthatspeaks and very much enjoyed. Instead I am working through a rather nauseating headache and a hangover from nightmares of trying to go back to grad school. Those were unnecessary.Here is my schedule for Arisia. It starts at the end of the week.
Dramatic Readings from the Ig Nobel Prizes
Friday 9:30 PM
Marc Abrahams (m), Daniel Rosenberg, Chris Cotsapas, Melissa Franklin, Dean Grodzins, Richard Baguley, Stephanie Clayman, Michelle Liguori, James Bredt, Sonya Taaffe
Highlights from Ig Nobel prize-winning studies and patents, presented in dramatic mini-readings by luminaries and experts (in some field). The audience will have an opportunity to ask questions about the research presented—answers will be based on the expertise of the presenters, who may have a different expertise than the researchers.
[I am for whatever reason not listed in the program as a participant in this event, but according to the e-mails I've been getting I should be there, so come hear me read something horrifyingly improbable. Last year it was "The Number 13 as a Castration Fantasy."]
Stories of Displacement
Saturday 11:30 AM
Sonya Taaffe (m), Ruthanna Emrys, Kevin Turausky, Alex Shvartsman, Steve Popkes
Our genre regularly examines war, famine, natural disaster, and other life shattering events that displace people from their homes. Too often, the stories skip over the lives of these people as they transition from their old lives into uncertainty. In this panel, we'll explore the stories that center on displaced people, examine how SFF portrays them, and discuss what stories can still do to illustrate the realities that displaced people in our own world face.
Judaism's Influence on SF/F
Saturday 4 PM
Michael A. Burstein (m), Daniel M Kimmel, Steve Berman, Sonya Taaffe, Ariela Housman
Jewish theology and culture permeates SFF & fandom from popular comics to well-known science fiction stories, which filters down in unrealized ways to fandom. What effect has Judaism had on the development of SF/F and fandom in general? Join our panel of knowledgeable fen to learn about Jewish influences.
Canonicity in Theatre
Sunday 4 PM
Rebecca Maxfield (m), Chris Brathwaite, Sonya Taaffe, Lee C. Hillman, Jesi Lipp
The concept of "canon" is important to fans and fanworks. But when everyone sees a different production of the same theatrical work, what is canon? Our panelists will attempt to answer this question, and discuss how that answer influences things like fanfiction and fanart.
Songs of Rudyard Kipling
Sunday 5:30 PM
Jeremy H. Kessler (m), Benjamin Newman, Sonya Taaffe, April Grant
Rudyard Kipling wrote a wealth of poems that make excellent songs, as demonstrated by the likes of Peter Bellamy and (especially in filk and SCA circles) Leslie Fish. Come "Kiple" with us as we indulge in a number of them and maybe a few parodies. If you can, bring some to share!
Spec Poetry Reading
Monday 11:30 AM
Merav Hoffman, A.J. Odasso, Catt Kingsgrave-Ernstein, Trisha J. Wooldridge, MJ Cunniff, Gillian Daniels
Come and read or listen with us for great SFF poetry.
Spec Fic and Historical Fantasy Reading
Monday 2:30 PM
Greer Gilman, Sarah Smith, Sonya Taaffe
Step into a different time and place with authors who will be reading their own original works of historical fantasy and speculative fiction.
At the moment my greatest ambition for the weekend is to be conscious through all of it and half-decently moderate the panel I did not request to moderate, but past experience suggests I will enjoy myself a lot more when I actually get there. Who can I hope to see?
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I did not find it an ambiguous ending, for what it's worth. It seems quite clear that the camera shows us the facts, regardless of what the narration knows or says.
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I saw the connection with water clearly established from the beginning, from Elisa's dreams of her apartment underwater and her sexual morning routine, and so when Zelda said that she was found as a baby in a river, with those parallel marks on her throat assumed to be the cause of her muteness, it was not surprising to me at all and I only hoped the narrative would follow through with the obvious conclusion, which it did. I don't think I need it to be clarified whether Elisa was never quite human or whether the Asset changed her or whether she really was just abused and dumped as a baby, though I feel the film leans strongly toward the first interpretation. The resonances are in the right places for me.
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I'm looking forward to them! I just want for once in my life to go into a convention feeling like I've slept!
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Last year it was "The Number 13 as a Castration Fantasy."
Wow...
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"Be a good (dead) penis and have no such fantasies!"
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Fixed! And it will be wonderful to see you.
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I hope you feel better and I see you there, which will be a good trick as we have zero panel overlap this year!
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Thank you, and likewise! Maybe we can meet in the green room or something.
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Assuming that's Melissa Franklin the physicist doing the Ig Nobel readings, she's pretty cool. (I met her this semester in a Shakespeare reading group organized by mathematicians.)
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That's excellent. Enjoy Mystery Hunt!
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Come sing Kipling! I look forward to seeing you at the mere interval of a month.
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If it helps, panels are sometimes recorded and put up on the internet for exactly this eventuality. I can let you know if any of mine are.
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But if you have an odd Friday evening to spare to meet up sometime soon, that day job is in Hopkinton, and Boston is closer than home.
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It may not happen until we get out of January, but I'd love to do that. Also, congratulations on the job!
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Fingers crossed.
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Understood. I hope work goes well, and I will try to report back!
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Strength to your arm.
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Looking forward to seeing you. *hug*
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Likewise!
*hugs*