Category Archives: Commentary

How the pedal steel guitar stole my heart

The pedal steel guitar has long been one of my favorite instruments. There’s just something about its sound that can go from quicksilver pure to rough and distorted in the blink of an eye that captured my heart at some … Continue reading

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What’s New for the 10th of July: Jennifer offers us chilaquiles for breakfast, Folkmanis Dragons, The Doctor creates Macgregor’s Kitchen Garden, Eric Burdon’s Least Favourite Song, books with a ‘sunny’ theme, Rosemary Sutcliff’s historical fiction

I hate this fucking song. (See our coda for the story of this quote.) Sorry ’bout the delay in getting your Queen’s Lament IPA to you, it’s been a very busy day as we’ve got a hand fastening on the … Continue reading

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What’s New for the 26th of June: All things de Lint; Festival Express; Jennifer’s annual Solstice pig roast; lots of Cara Dillon, plus cool off with some Canadian and Siberian folk music

She hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but she was a bit like a cat herself, forever wandering in the woods, chasing after squirrels and rabbits as fast as her skinny legs could take her when the fancy struck, climbing trees … Continue reading

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What’s New for 12th of June: Neal Stephenson, L.A. SF noir, return to Central Station, cozy mysteries, Holmes vampires; Guillermo del Toro’s dark fantasies; Grateful Dead themed Weißbier; new music from Angel Olsen and Toot Monk, remembering Kelly Joe Phelps, all things Waterboys, and more

Any AI smart enough to pass a Turing test is smart enough to know to fail it. Ian McDonald’s River of Gods I woke well before dawn as I wanted to watch the Northern Lights, which have been particularly outstanding lately. … Continue reading

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What’s New for the 29th of May: Remembering Patricia A. McKillip along with Finnish and Swedish music

Patricia A. McKillip has left us.  One of the finest writers that has ever graced our presence having written The Forgotten Beasts of Eld which won a richly deserved World Fantasy Award nearly fifty years ago, and Solstice Wood, one of my favourite works by her … Continue reading

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An interview with Patricia A. McKillip, October 2008

Deborah J. Brannon conducted this interview with Patricia A. McKillip. Several of your novels can be called literary fairy tales: lovely narratives that interweave fairy tale tropes into new (and sometimes surprising) shapes. What do you think the role is … Continue reading

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What’s New for the 15th of May: Cirque du Soleil, Steeleye Span live, A history of anime, peanut butter chocolate cups, mystery, vampires, and medieval feasts; Alison Bechdel and other queer comix; R. Crumb and old time music on film; Ojibwe Pow Wow singing, Albion Band, Springsteen, Teddy Thompson and more music

So… I lied. I cheated. I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But the most damning thing of all… I think I can live with it. And if I had to … Continue reading

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What’s New for the 1st of May: A Folkmanis Piglet puppet, Chocolate to nibble on, Classic SF on Mars; Music from Big Foot County, Finnish music, classical music, Ian Anderson and other music; Led Zep and Hawaiian cowboys on film; YA fantasy horror

She had not won a clean victory. Tinkering with time and history offended her political sensibilities. History was written in the stones. It was not a numinous thing to be tossed sparkling in the air to lie where it fell. … Continue reading

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What’s New for the 17th of April: Gods, goddesses and ghosts, Gaiman, Crumb and Sacco, June Millington, Celtic Harp, Catalan Jazz, Georgiann Choral Music, Slovenian post-rock, chocolate, and more

There are no happy endings. There are no endings, happy or otherwise. We all have our own stories which are just part of the one Story that binds both this world and Faerie. Sometimes we step into each others stories, … Continue reading

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What’s New for the 3rd of April: Music-related fantasy literature, speculative fiction manga series, all things Natalie MacMaster, some jazz-dub-world music, transcultural jazz and Spanish accordion music, dragon puppets, and of course chocolate

People used to say, don’t you object to the title? And I said, well there are two of us. I had problems with ‘ladies’ because it sounds like a public convenience. But which bit do you object to? Are you … Continue reading

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