"we, however, are not prisoners"

[eldritchhobbit]

Happy Friday, everyone!

First of all, here are some random things that make me happy this morning:
1. The Coraline trailer (Go watch it. And watch it again.)
2. OPI's Yoga-ta Get This Blue! nail polish (Best. Color. Ever.)
3. Into the Land of Phantoms by Jill Tracy and the Malcontent Orchestra (I can't stop listening to this wonderful album.)
4. The Classic Tales Podcast installment for today is an unabridged reading of "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

In other news...
*** Locus Online has tabulated which science fiction, fantasy, and horror books published in 2007 have appeared on "Year's Best Books" lists in the media: check out the results here.
*** sittingduck1313 has a post here that will be of particular interest to those of you who are fans of Lovecraft, gaming, and/or anime, about CthulhuTech.
*** It's confirmed that there will be a scene with new, original material in the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince film. Read more here.

And a quote for the day:

We, however, are not prisoners. No traps or snares are set about us, and there is nothing which should intimidate or worry us. We are set down in life as in the element to which we best correspond, and over and above this we have through thousands of years of accommodation become so like this life, that when we hold still we are, through a happy mimicry, scarcely to be distinguished from all that surrounds us. We have no reason to mistrust our world, for it is not against us. Has it terrors, they are our terrors; has it abysses, those abysses belong to us; are dangers at hand, we must try to love them. And if only we arrange our life according to that principle which counsels us that we must always hold to the difficult, then that which now still seems to us the most alien will become what we most trust and find most faithful. How should we be able to forget those ancient myths that are at the beginning of all peoples, the myths about dragons that at the last moment turn into princesses; perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave. Perhaps everything terrible is in its deepest being something helpless that wants help from us.

- from "The Dragon-Princess" by Rainer Maria Rilke and translated by John J. L. Mood

Comments

[abbie (from livejournal.com)]

Why hello! I'm glad you're having a good Friday!

I'll confess that I'm not too familiar with Neil Gaiman's work, but that movie looks like it's going to be amazing! I have an undying love for stop-motion animation. And in 3-D?! Woof. Henry Selick is almost as cool as Tim Burton...almost.

You know what I love more than stop-motion? Music! Music recommendations make me *squee*. :) So, thank you for that. I like. Recently I discovered a classical-ish ensemble from Texas called Two Star Symphony. They're a little lighter and way less polished than Jill Tracy and The Malcontent Orchestra, but they do some similar things. I'd recommend them if you don't mind a couple of notes out of tune every now and then. That could add some sort of eerie effect, I'm sure.

And did you know that Danny Elfman wrote a classical composition called Serenada Schizophrana? I haven't listened to all of it yet, but that also made me *squee*! (I don't know exactly what that means either...)

You and your nail polish! :)

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Doesn't Coraline look amazing? If you like Tim Burton, you'll love Neil Gaiman's work. Coraline is a YA novel, a very quick read, but absolutely brilliant. I really like all his books, but Coraline (YA) and Neverwhere (adult) are the ones I always recommend for reading Gaiman for the first time.

I haven't heard of Two Star Symphony, but they sound like something I'd love. Thanks so much for the recommendation! I'm going to check them out. Eerie is good. :) I didn't know about "Serenada Schizophrana," but the title alone means I have to listen to it!!! And Elfman is good.

I can't help it: I just love nail polish! *blushes*