Platypus of Truth

I spent some time studying at Oxford in my undergraduate days.  Much of that season was passed in the freezing upper corners of the Radcliffe Camera delving into the byzantine world of Elizabethan political iconography.  The paper I produced on it won a small prize and I still have the certificate hanging up in my office. After returning to this side of the pond, I went out a rented "Elizabeth" directed by Shekhar Kapur and staring Cate Blanchett in the leading role as the (not so) Virgin Queen.  The chief impression I walked away with at the time was that it was a dark, brooding, and incredibly cynical piece.  It was also interesting to see how the movie wove its way through the varying and contradictory world of Elizabethan scholarship.  Nothing is deferred or left ambiguous; at each critical juncture, the movie takes a definite stand. Fast forward to the present.  My wife and I are working our way through popular depictions of English royalty in fi...

I recently had the pleasure of reading "Scrooge and Santa," a graphic novel written by Matthew Wilson and illustrated by Josh Kenfield.  The story of how a descendant of Ebenezer Scrooge kidnaps Santa is about as quirky as it can get and the perfect concept for artist Josh Kenfield to run wild with.  I have known Josh since college, and it is truly a treat to see him handle a story that is so congenial to his strange and vivid imagination.  The illustrations seem to inhabit a bizarre territory somewhere between Tolkien's "Father Christmas Letters" and Jim Henson's Muppets.  The plot also does not disapoint with an ending that was refreshingly honest and bucked the normal holiday story cliches.  If you know Kenfield's work, or are just looking for something fresh and different, you need to pick up a copy of "Scrooge and Santa".

Now that Barnes and Noble is publishing all of the late, great H.P.'s works in a cheep and handy one-volume edition, I've been scanning back and forth through the cannon.  Doing so has produced a few new gems. The Dunwhich Horror: The good guys win and no one goes insane (what the shoggoth!?!).  Also, this is the first time I tried reading Lovecraft through S.T. Joshi's suggested lens: science fiction.  Doing so lends a whole different texture to the work.  Worried that turning horror into sci fi will demystify and ruin it? -just think "Alien." The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath: H.P.L. channels Lord Dunsany for an entirlie differente flavour of ficktion.  This is also another chance to see Lovecraft the New England patriot (1st draft pick) hard at work.  Check also to see if anyone goes insane or gets eaten first. Lovecraft, even at his best, is a bit goobish and easy to parody.  Beginning to read a little more extensively through his work, how...

As 2010 is about to wrap up, I thought I'd wind down the year with a highlights list from 2010's Platypus of Truth: A foray into Sci-fi. Summation of my thoughts on video games with an interesting "found" poem. A stab at entering the fray of Tolkien criticism. A little Hellboy review. An attempt at film criticism. Wherein I make full confession of my most favourite Narnia book. Musings on Lewis and video games. A comical breakout into the field of cooking. Looking at this list, it seems that 2010's Platypus of Truth has followed the stayed tradition of mild-mannered, non-offensive, odd-ball, and mildly irrelevant literary and cultural musings.  It may not be high-traffic and exciting, but we value a little peace and quiet down at this end of Lake Internet.  So, from my mossy hole in the riverbank, I and the Platypus pronounce this year another smashing success.  Best wishes to all in 2011, and remember: the Platypus speaks ...

The next installment in my "books I should have read by now" series is "A Canticle For Leibowitz."  Of the three books in this series ("The Name of the Rose," "Ender's Game," and "A Canticle For Leibowitz"), I find myself most in agreement with the world-picture presented in this book (at least in as far as I understand it in one reading).  Now this presents me with an interesting question: did I like this book best of the three simply because I found myself most in sympathy with its presentation of the world?  Ok, maybe that's a banal question, but the Kantian side of me keeps demanding that it's unvirtuous and the Foucaultian side of me keeps insinuating that it all boils down to self-interest.  Forgive me Father; I ate a lizard. Rather than engage in therapeutic web confession, however, I think I'll take a stab at describing what I found to like about this book. Debunking the Myth of Progress: "A Canticle ...

After almost a year of utter darkness, Homestar Runner is back with a 5min 55sec Decemberween short; anastasis and all...

*All images copyright James R. Harrington 2010