Ghostbusters

So there's a new Ghostbusters movie on the horizon! Like most people I saw the trailer and was not too impressed. What is impressive is the backlash the trailer has been getting! Wow! Ok - when I saw the trailer I saw a major snoozefest. The ghosts are generic blue blobs, lacking the individuality of the ghosts from the original, the characters seem like one dimensional stereotypes and the jokes just weren't funny. Yawn! By the end of the two minutes or so I was bored, but didn't find myself hating it. To be honest it didn't seem interesting enough to invoke hatred or anything other than a nap. This is where the new Ghostbusters movie gets interesting. This yawn-a-thon trailer has the most dislikes of any trailer on youtube and has invoked the ire of thousands of people. Most notable of these are James Rolfe of AVGN fame, who flat out refused to see it, and Comic Book Girl who begged everyone not to blame women for the impending disaster of Ghostbusters 2016. Why such extreme reactions? For Rolfe, Comic Book Girl and many others, Ghostbusters is one of their favorite childhood films and they have adopted the film as "their own" - a film that captured their imaginations and helped define their childhood. Engaging with a great film or book that invokes something deep within us (i.e. a sense of wonder, adventure, etc.) is an experience that can help to define who people are and can influence them for the rest of their lives. Sadly, some people have trivialized these defining experiences into dollar signs and are so interested in the dollar signs that dance in their heads that they've lost touch with why certain movies do so well (i.e. make oodles of money) in the first place. They've also lost touch with recent changes in technology such as say...the internet, where people who have shared the same experiences watching movies like Ghostbusters can connect and make their voices hear in a way they couldn't before. What happens? When online geek culture sees that Hollywood is doing a lame Ghostbusters remake with no perceptible connection to the original and giving no thought to how much the original meant to so many people, the backlash catches Hollywood by surprise. More interesting, after James Rolfe's video where he refused to even watch the movie, Hollywood is bowing down and trying to address one of Rolfe's biggest criticisms, that they completely ignored how much the original film and cast meant to so many people, by having a get together of the old and new cast and re releasing the original Ghostbusters to try to make some kind of connection between the two! Wow! Gone are the days where Hollywood can just throw any old crap at audiences. Through the internet and social media, geek culture has a voice and won't hesitate to use it if it feels that one of the defining movies of their lives is being stepped upon as Hollywood tries to cash in on the name with a dull-a-rama remake. Social media is transforming the world. It will be interesting to see where it ends up. As for the new Ghostbusters - will I see it? It really seems too dull to care whether I do or don't. Yawn... I do agree with Rolfe and Comic Book Girl though. The movies and books we cherish gave us experiences that helped define us and our lives. Trying to trample our cherished experiences and turn them into cash cows is pretty crappy, and we do need to, and can, send that message to Hollywood.

First Professional Publication!

Earlier in the year, I sent a couple of short stories to one of my favorite SF magazines, Neo-opsis. On May 26th, I received an email saying that they were interested in publishing one of them. What a thrill that was! I've had a few publications before in history and social science magazines but this is my first SF publication. The story is called "Minghua's Curse" and is a fantasy story about a young woman with psychic powers in early China. I'm not sure which issue it will be in yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing it in print. A big thank you to the people in Limestone Writer's who gave me the feedback that helped me get the story into publishable shape, and of course a big thank you to Neo-opsis. Neo-opsis is still considering the second story I sent them. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

The Advantages of Multilingualism

I came across this article this morning that was on the Argentinian news site Clarin.com, discussing bilingualism and multilingualism. One of the points I found most interesting in the article was their assertion that bi or multilingual speakers tend to be more innovative problem solvers and creative thinkers. This makes sense. According to this article, and many other sources, language is a tool we use to construct our our conceptual universe. One of my favorite examples (this is till a theory mind you), is our English verb "to know." I "know" a fact about a country, news article or an idea, and I also "know" my buddy Bob down the street. I hear that Bob just robbed a bank and the cops come to my door asking about him and all I can say is: "I thought I "knew" him!" In English we don't have differing conceptual words for knowing something and knowing someone (unlike Spanish: saber / conocer or Mandarin: zhidao / renshi) which often leads to fascinating social encounters where people realize that they just didn't "know" someone and were surprised at something they had done. Would they still think this if we had a separate word / concept for "knowing" someone? This is a fascinating subject and does lend a lot of credence to the assertion in the article. How much easier would it be to solve a problem when you're used to thinking beyond the confines of a single conceptual framework and can bring more ideas to the table! Additionally, having the ability to think within and beyond different conceptual frameworks definitely aids in creative thinking. One of the thing I love about SF is exploring all the new worlds and ideas that SF writers come up with. When you learn a second language, you also learn to see the world in a different way, exploring, in effect a new world and new ideas. The new worlds opened by a new language is excellent fodder for SF writing and has given us some of our classics like Lord of the Rings and Stranger in a Strange Land, in which Robert Heinlein explored this theme. Language plays an important part in my own writing and I draw heavily on what I know when I'm building a world for a story. To me, it lends authenticity to a setting to have names and ideas expressed within a specific linguistic system (I'll be bitching about this in my next post!). I also find that it helps imagine how the characters interact with each other and their world, adding nuance to their personas. The link to the article is below. Enjoy! https://es.babbel.com/es/magazine/el-cerebro-bilingue?bsc=spamag-a49-bilingualbrain-esp-ob&btp=1_esp_out_cd&utm_campaign=cd_espall_ges-cx1_bilingualbrain&utm_content=%C2%BFSabes+c%C3%B3mo+funciona+el+cerebro+biling%25C&utm_medium=CON&utm_source=outbrain&utm_term=5003063

At the Intersection of SF and Multiculturalism

When I told someone about my blog I was asked: "What's the theme of your blog?" My initial answer was that I wanted it to be about my writing, but on reflection, the answer is a bit more complex. I have been wanting to do a blog where I could talk about my writing, in the vein of Aliette de Boddard, one of my all time favorite SF writers, for quite some time. I'm also a big fan of multiculturalism and I was also eager to have an outlet for my interest in different languages, cultures and civilizations. For me, there is a significant overlap between these two interests. As much as I love the English speaking world's premier SF writers and filmmakers, I can't help but feel like our take on SF is very Anglocentric and wonder how other cultures across the world would approach SF. Our idea of "progress" is a very European idea dating back to the Enlightenment when European philosophers looked about them, and dismayed at the bloody warfare taking place in the name of Christianity, forwarded the idea of "progress" where people could learn to move beyond all the strife and live together in social harmony. (Even in Europe there are many different interpretations on what "progress" means, but we won't go there in this short post) This European idea became a very potent force behind Science Fiction. Authors such as Clarke and Asimov saw humanity "progressing" into the stars with the aid of technology. As the world becomes more globalized and people interact more with each other, it would be silly not to ask how people of other nations and ethnicities view the future. What cultural ideas and experiences do other people bring as humanity "progresses" toward the future? To me, the idea is both fascinating and inspiring and makes me excited to see the future of SF and the world. Additionally, in the vein of fantasy, the myths and legends of people from all over the world are becoming more accessible through the internet. If I'm interested in Maori myths, I no longer have to head to a university library and hope they carry something, I can just google it in the space of a few seconds. It's well known that Lord of the Rings was inspired by the Prose Edda, a book of Nordic myths. With an entire treasure trove of myths to explore how is it not possible to be inspired to new fantastical settings and ideas? Will our next Lord of the Rings in fact be inspired by Maori mythology? In short, although to some SF and multiculturalism are separate themes, to me there is alot of overlap and the growing cultural milieu we live in will inspire new directions in SF books and movies. The intersection of SF and multiculturalism is an exciting place to be! (Image from http://en.metalship.org/)

The Water Margin - A Chinese Classic

Speaking of Asia, while my writing pursuits are presently in the Hispanic world, I'm busily reading a classic of Chinese literature called The Water Margin. A very early version (or precursor) of this novel appeared in the mid 13th century and was a compilation of tales that supposedly took place during the Song Dynasty. Although Shi Naian, a Chinese writer who lived in the 14th century is given credit as the "author" of the novel, several different versions have appeared over the centuries, testifying to its many different authors and influences. The basic story is about a group of outlaws in the Liangshan Marsh who are rebelling against government corruption, somewhat like a Chinese version of Robin Hood. The individual stories of many of the outlaws are told in separate chapters, making it seem like the novel was originally a series of short stories (short story writing was popular in the Tang dynasty of the 7th - 10th centuries) that were later woven into a longer tale that had each of the characters becoming an outlaw in the Liangshan Marsh as the overarching theme. This was apparently also one of Mao Zedong's favorite books. It's fascinating to think that the stories of these outlaw heroes rebelling against a corrupt Imperial government might have been playing out in Mao's imagination as he led the Communist rebels against China's corrupt and incompetent Kuomintang government of the mid 20th century. Historical interest aside, this is a really fun read! It's a great adventure on par with Lord of the Rings, with fun characters, terrific drama, action packed battle scenes, and even a meeting with the mystic Goddess of Heaven! All of this in the exotic setting of Song Dynasty China. What more could you ask for? It's a long book, my version is about 800 pages, but definitely worth the time!

Spanish Steampunk

The theme of Spanish Steampunk is still current. I recently wrote short story about a Spanish expedition to the Arctic that takes place in a steampunk universe. In it, a Hispanic adventurer heads up to the Arctic to test out a mechanical Arctic survival suit which freezes up and fails. Long after he dies, an intrepid Inuit named Anik discovers the suit and realizes at once what it is: a good luck charm from the spirit world! Another expedition soon arrives looking for their amigo and the experimental suit, and they're not too impressed with Anik's take on the situation. The high Arctic is a beautiful, haunting and magical setting for a story and I have many more SF stories I've been working on that take place there. My latest story is also set in a Spanish Steampunk universe, although this time the theme is Hispanic Ninjas! Sound weird? Probably, but over the years the Spanish, and Europeans in general, have borrowed heavily from Asia. Notably, paper, the printing press, gunpowder, the toothbrush, paper money, sunglasses, umbrellas (seriously, did Europe invent ANYTHING????) and of course martial arts! A good example, my Tae Kwon Do group is actually American Kang Duk Won, an American adaptation of Korean Tae Kwon Do. To me, it makes sense that an empire at the height of its power would see the utility of agents of espionage such as the Ninja and adopt the idea (with modifications) for their own use. In my story, these "ninja", called "Las Sombras de la Emperatriz", the Empress' Shadows, are the military elite of this alternative Spanish Empire and equipped with a very cool clockwork arsenal.

Ferdinand V of Castile

Wow - I guess it took longer to get back to this than I thought! But then again, two and a half years isn't THAT bad all things considered, right? In the interim, I finished my MA and have decided to take a short break from academic life. In my last post, oh so long ago, I said that I was going to do my thesis on the Conquest of Peru. This was to compliment a major paper I wrote in the final year of my undergrad about the Conquest of Mexico. However, as the year progressed, I decided to undertake a study of the military and diplomatic strategies employed by Ferdinand V of Castile (II of Aragon) as he and his famous wife Isabel laid the foundation for what was to become the Spanish Empire. Queen's University has a number of texts from the period so I had the joy of researching one of my favourite historical personages in the original early modern Spanish. Woo hoo!