an owlish girl: October 2014

Friday Finds

- Captain Marvel and Black Panther movies are happening!! Ahhhh!!

- In movies I need to see news: Avengers: Age of Ultron! Comet! A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night!

- I'm a huge horror fan, and love a bit of behind-the-scenes glimpses, so these photos from the set of A Nightmare on Elm Street are pretty magical.

- The new Disney film starring a Polynesian princess has me pretty stoked too.

- Weird and wonderful bookshops from around the world!

- Marvel artists walk you through choreographing action sequences.

- Yoga for writers!

- 25 signs you're almost 25 is basically me right now.

- And to take you out for the weekend, and for Halloweeen, have some eerie Australian abandoned buildings.

Judging by the colour palette of this blog, I'm sure it won't really surprise anyone that I am TOTALLY IN LOVE with Vivetta's Fall Winter collection for 2014 and 2015. It's such a sweet collection, with some of the nicest cut coats I've seen in a long while. Plus, yay for practicality! and pink and orange, which I think is a really underrated colour combo.

You can check out the full collection over at Vogue.com here.

Sunday Short: 'The Old Man at the Bridge' by Ernest Hemingway

“I was taking care of animals,” he said dully, but no longer to me. “I was only taking care of animals.”

It's hard to deny that Hemingway was and is still one of the best writers around. His ability to capture lifetimes in snapshot moments is almost unparalleled, and really on show here in this short story. Check it out and, y'know, have your heart torn out or whatever.

You can read 'The Old Man at the Bridge' by Ernest Heminway over at Biblioklept.

Five Things I've Learned from Reading (and Writing) YA

I've spent the bulk of my writing years so far boomeranging between literary fiction and magical realism. Taking short, sharp steps between genre, but at the end of last year, I took a mightier plunge. Over the last year, I've drafted two different young adult manuscripts, and have inhaled a whole swell of YA fiction. It really got me thinking about the form, and so, hey!

Five Things I've Learned from Reading (and Writing) YA

1. Ho, boy, I love YA. Can I open with that? Dropping literary fiction for a while and jumping with two feet (or, well, eyes) into the genre is reigniting an all-consuming passion for reading I haven't felt this keenly in a while. I've been an avid reader my whole life, but young adult fiction really does open up a whole swell of well-written, page-turning fiction. It's been a pretty magical time.

2. Establishing a world quickly and deeply is a hard trick to manage. Some novels manage it so effectively you barely hear the sounds of construction as a city's raised around you - this was particularly awesome in Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor and A Great & Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. These seemingly effortless instances aren't quite as easy as they seem though, and when re-reading my own work, I found it pretty obvious in its sections of set-up and orientation.

Working on the second draft, I've staggered the information a little more, engaged a story world as my characters ventured through it, and the effect is much more sensory and much more organic.

3. Not Like the Other Girls may just be my least favourite trope of all time. I like the concept of a 'chosen one' (which is a good thing, given how much it shows up in YA), but the idea that a female character has to be unlike other girls to be a protagonist or even a supporting character is both dumb and sexist. It prevails this idea that to be a girl is ultimately to be weak, to be unheroic or frivolous, and that they've got to exhibit masculinity or be one of the guys to be worthy of hero status.

For me, I've always been one of the girls. To me, being a woman is strength and heroism and empathy. It's all these wonderful, exciting things that I want to see reflected back to me when I read. I want groups of girls banding together to fight. Giving each other strength, kindness, support, unconditional love.

Basically I want Sailor Moon, but more of it.

4. Give the kid a friend. Give them family. Give them relationships that are platonic or resentful or both. One of the things that bugged me so much about Twilight (y'know, outside of the questionable romance and abusive habits) was that Bella was so isolated and, when people tried to be her friend, she judged, ignored, or transitioned to seeing them romantically. Not everyone your character engages with needs to be a romantic prospect. Some of the most compelling relationships I've read recently come in the form of created families, or strange friendships created in stranger situations. Karou and her monster family in Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Rose and Lissa in Vampire Academy, Hazel and Isaac in The Fault in Our Stars, Isola and her brother-princes in Fairytales for Wilde Girls.

Give them someone to love who they don't want to make out with.

5. Most of all though, young adult fiction should be fun. There's lots of wiggle room in literary fiction for bleakness and tragedy, for these slow burn narratives and character studies, and young adult can be all those things too, but there's got to be something in there to lighten the load too. Would we have consumed Harry Potter so readily if not for quidditch and flying cars and invisibility cloaks? For the memories of the Marauders or the Tri-Wizard Cup? Maybe, but I don't think so.

Maison Kitsune Spring Summer 2015

I am borderline obsessed with this collection from Parisian/Japanese label Maison Kitsune. It's bright, smart, fun and there's not a look here I wouldn't wear. It's just so great! Plus the lookbook itself has done a pretty impressive job of embellishing it all and telling a story.

You can view the full collection over at the website here.

Sunday Short: 'This is Who You Are. You'll See' by Nicola Redhouse

At the same time you are all too aware that you have never taken much interest in your mother’s work, which is in the field of grief. You drive down to see her and, over a bowl of bouillabaisse, you ask her about it. You want to know why she chose grief, and she tells you it was the only area of work that your father hadn’t been interested in.

Meanjin's publishing such interesting stories at the moment. Nicola Redhouse's 'This is Who You Are. You'll See' is a pretty great example of it too - a compelling, high concept, science fiction short which plays with psychology and memory in similar ways to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The effect is something unexpectedly wonderful, with a story that sneaks up on you in the best ways.

You can read 'This is Who You Are, You'll See' over on the Meanjin website.

Y: The Last Man Deluxe Volume 2 by Brian K. Vaughan (39/52)

After an unknown illness wiped out all the men on earth bar Yorrick and his pet monkey, Ampersand, he is swept into a journey guarded only by Agent 355 and Dr. Allison Mann. In Book 2, the journey continues, with our trio coming head to head with Russian agents, playwrights, sexual torture, and some Texan thugs.

Brian K. Vaughan really is one of the best comic book writers working today, and the second arc of Y: The Last Man shows this off in full. The characters deepen, the threats become more frightening and loose threads start to find each other. Supported by brilliant artwork by Pia Guerra, Y: The Last Man continually comes together as one of best things I've read recently, tight and taut and always finding ways to put its characters through the ringer.

4 out of 5 ska bassists turned mechanics.

Blank on Blank: Lost Interviews

I love the thought of lost interviews existing. I don't really know if that's weird or not, but the thought of these conversations happening, being recorded, and somehow being misplaced, or regarded as too intimate for airtime, too angry, too simple, and hitting the cutting room floor really appeals to me.

It helps that PBS has been running a series on it too, animating snippits of audio conversations with everyone from authors to athletes to actors. It makes for a pretty magical listening experience.

There's some really funny ones, like this one with Larry King on being seduced as a 23-year-old radio dj, and some totally gorgeous ones, like this one with Louis Armstrong being interviewed by a highschool paper and Kurt Cobain on identity. I've included my favourite ones below though, from Maurice Sendak talking about childhood and Bette Davis on being a woman, and more. Take the time to have a listen. You won't regret it.

Family Affairs Spring Summer 2015

I'm a little obsessed with Family Affairs' Spring Summer 2015 collection. The prints! The colours! The loose, flowy fabric that doesn't look like it's going to become a second skin as soon as you start to sweat! (Look, Brisbane gets monster hot). Plus, the model is that strange sort of gorgeous you often only see in modelling, and I'm already dreaming up stories for her.

You can view the full collection over at the lovel Calivintage blog.

Oscars 002

About three years ago, I got it into my head to watch every film ever nominated for an Oscar. It's a pretty insane feat, given that the nominees are well into the thousands, but it's a project I'm yet to regret embarking on. It's just a hell of a lot of fun and has given me this sort of startling education in the history of cinema and narrative. While I've been watching films on an ad hoc, out of order basis over on tumblr, I am finally starting to be able to cross full years off my list, and as I do, I'll be recapping them here.

It feels a bit like a cheat to be recapping the second Oscars at this stage. I've watched a fair chunk of the films, but of the 28 films nominated, four are considered lost films, and eight are unavailable in Australia, meaning I've watched 16 films and will still be casting some pretty wide aspersions in the process.

On the whole though, it was a year of pretty forgettable films. There was no real standout for me among them. That said, there were some really great female performances, particularly from Greta Garbo, Jeanne Eagels, and Bessie Love, who all offered up diverse and compelling performances in roles that could all have quickly devolved to caricature.

Interestingly, you can divide the films pretty easily into three categories: musicals, crime and shamed women. The latter was particularly prevalent - A Woman of Affairs, Street Angel, The Letter, Madame X, The Last of Mrs Cheyney all revolved around this idea of the salvation of bad women. It makes for an interesting trope in cinema and, perhaps even more interesting, was an era of female protagonists, which would slowly transition out as years went by.

Three Films to Watch
1. The Broadway Melody. There were a lot of musicals nominated for Oscars in the second year, but The Broadway Melody is by far the best. It's hopeful, fun, and scaffolded with wonderful performances and some pretty delightful set pieces.

2. A Woman of Affairs. Greta Garbo is, as always, a total star. Charismatic, gorgeous and insanely talented, she really was heads and shoulders above her contemporaries. Her performance in A Woman of Affairs is no exception, and it's worth it just for her.

3. Street Angel. This one was actually nominated back in the first year and is the only movie to be nominated over more than one years. It's such a sweet little film too, and Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell have such a tender, innocent chemistry. It's definitely worth the watch.

Three Films to Miss:
1. In Old Arizona. Boring, with an incredibly thin plot and riddled with racial stereotypes, it's worth the miss.

2. White Shadows in the South Sea. There are some interesting elements to this movie, particularly the colouring of the film, but the plot didn't do much for me and the protagonist was mostly an asshole.

3. Alibi. Snooooooozze.

Sunday Short: 'Preach' by Lucy Faerber

Our cat was run over by a red Nissan Skyline on Wednesday, and by Thursday morning the rotten nasty fucker had clawed itself up out of the patch of dirt behind the shed. He walked into the kitchen caked in dirt and blood and making a noise like an un-tuned radio.

Seizure's Flashers series continues to be a hell of a lot of fun. This very short piece by Lucy Faerber contains pretty much all the reasons why too. It's a charming little character portrait of two sisters, one of whom is a born again Christian. It;s pretty great.

You can read 'Preach' over at the Seizure website.

Ayr Fall Winter 2014

I'm typically more of a bright colour girl, but I'm really feeling the Ayr Fall 2014 collection. It's done such a great job of diversifying muted colours through beautiful silhouettes, angles and textural fabrics, and man, it's just doing things to me today.

You can check out the full collection on their website.

Sunday Short: 'Miss Adele Amidst the Corsets' by Zadie Smith

New York just expects so much from a girl – acts like it can’t stand even the idea of a wasted talent or opportunity. And Miss Adele had been around. Rome says: enjoy me. London: survive me. New York: gimme all you got. What a thrilling proposition! The chance to be “all that you might be”. Such a thrill – until it becomes a burden. To put a face on – to put a self on – this had once been, for Miss Adele, pure delight. And part of the pleasure had been precisely this: the buying of things. She used to love buying things! Lived for it! Now it felt like effort, now if she never bought another damn thing again she wouldn’t even–

I've never read any Zadie Smith before (I know, bad Sophie), but inhaled this compelling piece about a middle-aged trans woman in New York, homophobia and cultural differences. It's wonderfully written, tautly told and packs worlds of history with some liberal economy.

You can read 'Miss Adele Amidst the Corsets' over on The Telegraph website.

'Vampire Academy' by Richelle Mead (38/52)

Rose and Lissa are on the run when the guardians finally catch up with them. Restrained and taken back to the St. Vladimir's Academy where it's revealed that Lissa is a moroi princess and Rose is her dhampir guardian, bound to protect her against the evil strigoi who would see her dead.

I love YA, and haven't read enough of it this year, so it was kind of fun to chill out with this one. It's sassy, sweet, with a strong female friendship at the core of it which I always appreciate. The romances feel relatively organic too, and it's nice to see them blossom in ways you don't expect and some ways you totally do. The dialogue is snappy, the characterisations arcing well and all in all, it's pretty compelling. It does though delve into some mean territories though which I didn't love - Rose could be pretty nasty, and there were some scenes which I felt both undermined the story and the characterisation. It also had a pretty terrible copy edit, which isn't great coming from a big 5 publisher.

3 out of 5 flirty hair flips.

'Seconds' by Bryan Lee O'Malley (37/52)

Katie is edging towards thirty and keenly setting up her second restaurant, only things aren't going according to plan, with a blown out budget and more work than she'd expected. That changes the night Lis appears, sitting on top of her dresser with a mushroom, a notebook and a promise. Write down your mistake, eat the mushroom, and get the chance to relive it.

I love love love Bryan Lee O'Malley's earlier series, Scott Pilgrim Versus the World, and Seconds is such a compelling follow up. It explores a lot of the things O'Malley clearly loves - stranger magic, comings of age happening later than you'd expect, friendships and lost moments. It's all beautifully told through Katie too, who's flawed and angry and more lost than she realises. Her actions are never unbelievable, even if they do make you cringe, and her slow burn towards adulthood happens so perfectly. Plus the illustrations are wooonderful.

4 out of 5 layered up house spirits.