Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories

– Sun Tzu

Bec Says

Opposition. What is it about watching a great battle between good and evil that we like so much? Why is it that we can’t get enough of Batman and the Joker… Dr. Who and Davros… Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader…?

Who are your favourite fictional nemeses? I’ve always found it was funny, in movies, when the villain would delight in the conflict and say something like ‘Ah! You are a worthy opponent!’… and sometimes even give the hero a fighting chance: kicking a sword back; letting him struggle to his feet for a comeback; insisting on fighting him personally, despite willing minions. Being a comics fan, I’ve always loved the recurring nemesis: Lex Luthor, Dr Doom, or Magneto. This is the character who *always* makes a showy getaway, threatening to finish the good guys off *next* time.

~ And we can’t wait, can we? ~

Aaaand, finally, just in case *you* have an enemy, the Zen Habits website gives the lowdown on forgiving and forgetting.

Music: Godsmack – The Enemy (AMAZING SONG-CHECK IT OUT)

Bec Says

Do some books evoke certain music for you? I’m a Stephen King fan and have always gotten a huge kick out of the way he incorporates snatches of song lyrics into his novels. To me, it adds another dimension to the text. In this article, Guardian writer Jon Wilde  expresses his disdain for books that are inspired by music. But bestselling author, Dave Eggers, might disagree. He  listened to Beth Orton’s ‘Sweetest Decline’ on a loop for days while he was writing his wildly successful  ‘A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius’… The great poet, Baudelaire, was inspired by the work of Wagner. Listen to this and you might understand why. And, not forgetting fan fiction, here’s an interesting snippet about the influence of Sonic Youth. Sony BMG released a soundtrack to Brad Meltzer’s ‘The Book of Lies’. You can get an enhanced version of Nick Cave’s ‘The Death of Bunny Munro‘ at iTunes, featuring original music. Recently, wunderkind Jared Tinlin (really! he’s 8 years old!) published this book, inspired by the music of Johnny Cash. I wonder which composers/bands have inspired the most literature…

Goodreads has a group dedicated to this very topic over here. Amazon  suggests some music to accompany  assorted titles there.

So… Do you ‘hear’ soundtracks to the  books you read? And does music  inspire you to write?

Music:  Lo-fi, background-type stuff….Perfect for writing!

Fever Ray – When I Grow Up Vijay Iyer Trio – Galang

The Dead Weather – I Cut Like a Buffalo Shivaree – Goodnight Moon

Grizzly Bear – Cheerleader The XX – Intro

Caribou – Niobe Calexico – Black Heart

Mark Lanegan – Hit the City Jeff Buckley – Lover, You Should’ve Come Over

Women in Docs – Nashville PJ Harvey – A Place Called Home

Kosheen – All In My Head Ladytron – Destroy Everything You Touch

Death in Vegas – Dirge The Duke Spirit – The Step and the Walk

Massive Attack – Risingson Portishead – Glory Box

Lovage – Stroker Ace Tom Waits – God’s Away on Business Air – All I Need

Bec Says

I read this on the New York Times website the other day:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/08/us/08names.html?ref=books

Can you believe there are going to be hordes of little Cullens running around the world? No, not just Edward…but CULLEN (just so there’s no mistaking *which* brooding, bloodsucking stalker your bundle of joy has been named after). I predict a spate of name-changing in about 15 years!

So I’m wondering… Were *you* named after a book character? ? Did your Mum call you Darcy or Tess…or Hannibal?! Do you have a literary nickname? Do your friends call you Pollyanna… or  Frodo?… or Voldemort?  Or have you named a pet after a literary character? Got a canine called Cujo? A hamster called Hamlet? A rat called Rhett?

MUSIC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN4YMli-Esw

‘We have learned now that we cannot regard this planet as being fenced in and a secure abiding place for Man; we can never anticipate the unseen good or evil that may come upon us suddenly out of space’ – H.G Wells ‘The War of the Worlds’.

Bec Says

There seems to be an endless supply of alien literature out there…

Borders online has this selection at the moment. Crowded Skies have listed a bunch of interesting titles that might interest the conspiracy theorists out there. There’s a pretty decent collection of YA alien-themed books at Amazon you might want to check out.

And you can always count on the good ol’ Fortean Times to provide lots of insight into all things other-worldly.

‘Oh forget about the flying saucers…they’re up there…But there’s something in that cemetery…and that’s too close for comfort’ (!!).

IS there anything finer than a really great B-grade sci-fi movie poster?

So which are your favourite alien tales? And who are your favourite aliens???

MUSIC!:  

Bec Says

Since we’re on the vamp theme this week, I thought I’d post this…in case there’s someone left out there who hasn’t seen it. It seems that  Twilight is undoing all of Joss Whedon’s Girl Power good & rebelliouspixels.com tends to agree with me. What do you think?