Entertain Me

Music Monday: Tom McRae, “Mermaid Blues”

~ Shara ~ Leave a comment

So this is really, really different, and for two reasons.

1) This is a link to a song file on MySpace, and not a video. I did find some videos on YouTube, but they were either abbreviated versions of the song that lacked some of the instrumentation that really makes the song stick out, and/or they were tribute videos that I felt would be distracting from the lyrics of the song. One thing I hate about music videos is that they tend to tell you a story rather than letting you create your own story for the song, and since nothing appealed here, I decided to go a different route.

2) First Music Monday featuring a male vocalist! I don’t know why Tom McRae’s been on my brain lately, but I remember when I first discovered his music: back during the heyday of Alias fandom and a lot of its fan art pulled from McRae’s lyrics. A friend I made through Live Journal sent me a mix CD of his work, and when I decided to buy the albums, I discovered this song and freaking fell in love with it. There is one thing I can tell you about Tom McRae lyrics, and I don’t say this often because I don’t often pay ATTENTION to lyrics, but it’s this: they’re poetic, poignant, and thought-provoking.

So in lieu of a video, click the link below to visit My Space and click play on the song. Please. I’d love to hear your thoughts. And since there’s nothing for you to look at, I’ve pasted the lyrics below the link.

Click HERE to listen to Tom McRae’s “Mermaid Blues”

Tom McRae, Just Like Blood

And now for the lyrics, behind the cut:

Continue reading →

Fiction Friday: “Night’s Slow Poison” by Ann Leckie

~ Shara ~ Leave a comment

This week, I’m done posting Hugo-nominated stories from the 2014 ballot. Instead, I come with a story that I really, really wish was eligible for next year’s Hugo’s, but alas, it is not.

“Night’s Slow Poison” by Ann Leckie is set in the same world as her debut, Nebula-winning and Hugo-nominated novel, Ancillary Justice, but trust me when I say you need NO KNOWLEDGE of that book to read and enjoy this short story, which was originally published in 2012 by Electric Velocipede and reprinted in 2014 on Tor.com. Below, should you be so inclined, is the Tor.com link.

Click here to read NIGHT’S SLOW POISON for free

Illustrated by John Harris
Illustrated by John Harris

“Night’s Slow Poison” is from the same setting as Ancillary Justice, and tells a rich, claustrophobic story of a galactic voyage that forces one guardsmen to confront his uneasy family history through the lens of a passenger with his lost lover’s eyes.

 

Like it? Love it? Hate it? Sound off below!

Music Monday: Johnny Hollow, “Mary”

~ Shara ~ Leave a comment

When I remembered Ilya, I remembered Johnny Hollow. I popped in their debut album the other day for a refresher and I have to say, it’s no wonder I took to Lindsey Sterling’s music so quickly! The debut album is very abstract in some senses, but the music is moody and atmospheric, and when “Mary” started, I remembered how much I loved this song.

And of course, there’s no music video for this song. Johnny Hollow is one of the more interesting bands you’ve never heard of, but someone besides me has heard of the band, and took this song and made a fan video for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Be still my heart, because I enjoyed the hell out of that show when it was on.

If you’re not a fan of the show, that’s fine. Enjoy the music. If you are a fan of the show, prepare to geek out to how the lyrics fit. If you’re a fan of Game of Thrones, prepare to see Lena Headey kick-ass as Sarah Connor before she was Cersei!

Like it? Love it? Hate it? Sound off below!

Reminder: Music Monday is about the music, not the videos. Videos are just the medium I’m using to share the music, and some videos aren’t actually videos at all. Enjoy the songs, but if YouTube forces you to watch some sort of advertisement before you can get to the music, please be patient.

Friday Fiction: “The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling” by Ted Chiang

~ Shara ~ 2 Comments

Are your Hugo ballots in? I hope so, because yesterday was the very last day and now all that’s left is waiting to see who wins what award!

In the meantime, here’s one more story from the 2014 Hugo Ballot to read, notably for those who haven’t read it yet. Technically a novelette, “The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling” by Ted Chiang was published by Subterranean Press Magazine in the Fall of 2013. Now that voting’s over, I can safely say that while this was a tight category, this story hit me and it hit me hard, so I want to make sure you get a chance to read it. All you have to do is click the link below!

Click here to read THE TRUTH OF FACT, THE TRUTH OF FEELING for free

Cover Art by Ken Laager
Cover Art by Ken Laager

Like it? Love it? Hate it? Sound off below!

Music Monday: Poe, “Haunted”

~ Shara ~ 2 Comments

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to remember Poe. I feel in love with her music when listening to her second album, Haunted. Fun fact: the music on this album is inspired by Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves. Funner fact: Poe is Mark Z. Danielewski’s sister.

While I still haven’t gotten through House of Leaves, I adore this album. It’s got so many great songs, though it was difficult to pick one because some songs end or begin with instrumental/creepy interludes. I ended up picking the title track simply because it’s the most obviously inspired song from House of Leaves and because it’s awesome.

Of course, there are so many awesome songs on this album.

A note about this video: there is no official video for this song, so I found something on YouTube that would suffice. The video I found is rather impressive: it looks like it’s set to some kind of gameplay. Interesting.

Like it? Love it? Hate it? Sound off below!

Reminder: Music Monday is about the music, not the videos. Videos are just the medium I’m using to share the music, and some videos aren’t actually videos at all. Enjoy the songs, but if YouTube forces you to watch some sort of advertisement before you can get to the music, please be patient.

Fiction Friday: “The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere” by John Chu

~ Shara ~ 4 Comments

This week brings another short story from the 2014 Hugo Ballot, so while I’m at it: if you’re registered to vote, remember July 31st is the last day to get your votes in, so don’t delay!

For those of you who aren’t voting, but are still curious about the nominees, may I present to you John Chu’s “The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere.” Published by Tor.com on February 20, 2013, I have to say it’s another piece (much like A.M. Dellamonica’s “The Color Paradox”) that left me begging for more. Suffice to say, between that and the fact it’s been nominated for a Hugo, it’s definitely worth the read. 🙂 Just click the link below to go to Tor.com’s website!

Click here to read THE WATER THAT FALLS ON YOU FROM NOWHERE for free

Illustration by Christopher Silas Neal
Illustration by Christopher Silas Neal

In the near future water falls from the sky whenever someone lies (either a mist or a torrential flood depending on the intensity of the lie). This makes life difficult for Matt as he maneuvers the marriage question with his lover and how best to “come out” to his traditional Chinese parents.

Like it? Love it? Hate it? Sound off below!

Music Monday: Ilya, “BPD”

~ Shara ~ Leave a comment

And now, for something completely different. In the past few weeks I’ve been doing a kind of rock progression, culminating in a heavy metal band fronted with a female singer. So far, all the all the songs featured on Music Monday have been female voices, and this week is no different in that regard.

But this. This is different. This is a band that I heard playing while visiting a local music store years and years ago and the music literally haunted me. I wrote down the name of the album and the band name but didn’t get the CD. At the time, I just couldn’t afford it. But I never forgot the haunting melodies, so I eventually caved.

Meet Ilya and their debut album, Poise is the Greater Architect. Not to be confused with other bands/singers of the same name. You can get the right one by visiting their Facebook page here. The song I’m sharing, “BPD,” is just one of many that caught my ear that day. There’s no actual video associated here, so just sit back and listen and see if it haunts you too.

Like it? Love it? Hate it? Sound off below!

Reminder: Music Monday is about the music, not the videos. Videos are just the medium I’m using to share the music, and some videos aren’t actually videos at all. Enjoy the songs, but if YouTube forces you to watch some sort of advertisement before you can get to the music, please be patient.

Fiction Friday: “If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love” by Rachel Swirsky

~ Shara ~ 9 Comments

Today’s pick comes directly off of the 2014 Hugo Ballot, one of four nominees for “Best Short Story.” Not everyone votes for the Hugo’s, but if the fiction is free, and if it’s on the internet, I don’t see why you shouldn’t get a taste of some of the nominees, and Rachel Swirsky’s “If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love,” is short, sweet, and weirdly wonderful. It packs a punch at the end, and it’s the kind of story that makes you want to read it all over again once you finish the first time, because you have a new point of view from which to read.

“If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love” was originally published in the March 2013 issue of Apex Magazine (Issue 46). Below, if you’re so inclined, is the link to the story at Apex’s website.

Click here to read IF YOU WERE A DINOSAUR, MY LOVE for free

Cover art “Mistaken Identity” by Ken Wong.
Cover art “Mistaken Identity” by Ken Wong.

Like it? Love it? Hate it? Sound off below!

Music Monday: In This Moment, “Beautiful Tragedy”

~ Shara ~ Leave a comment

Funny story about this band: my husband and I were in a local record shop looking for this new heavy metal band with a female lead vocalist, and we were sure the band’s name was “Beautiful Tragedy” but we couldn’t find the album anywhere, and finally we figured out that we’d flipped the name of the song with the name of the band, and the real name of the band was In This Moment.

So we go to pay for the CD, and while we’re doing it, we ask about tickets for the upcoming Lacuna Coil concert. The guy ringing us up is giving us WEIRD LOOKS, but we get our CD, we get our tickets, and we go.

And then we learn, when we get home, that there would be three opening acts for Lacuna Coil: Stolen Babies, Within Temptation (who you listened to last week), and — you guessed it — In This Moment.

So that was a happy, but slightly embarrassing coincidence. But the concert rocked, this band rocked, so I thought I’d treat you to their debut song, which encapsulates what I like best about this band: strong melodies with a solid dash of metal screaming. The later albums are sometimes more metal than I’d like (with some questionable lyrics), but their songs with strong melodies win me over every time. If you like this song, but don’t want to get TOO metal, you should pick up their sophomore album, The Dream.

But first, let’s get hear their debut song, shall we?

Like it? Love it? Hate it? Sound off below!

Reminder: Music Monday is about the music, not the videos. Videos are just the medium I’m using to share the music, and some videos aren’t actually videos at all. Enjoy the songs, but if YouTube forces you to watch some sort of advertisement before you can get to the music, please be patient.

Fiction Friday: “The Waiting Stars” by Aliette de Bodard

~ Shara ~ 6 Comments

I skipped last Friday because last Friday was the 4th of July, and most Americans have bigger, better things to do than toil away at their computers looking for free fiction to read. But this week, I’m back, I want to start highlighting some stories from the 2014 Hugo Ballot. I don’t do this to steer any votes so much as I want to make sure people get a chance to read, for free, what’s been nominated. Even if you can’t vote, you should still be allowed to enjoy these pieces of fiction. So let’s get started.

“The Waiting Stars” by Aliette de Bodard is set in the same world as last year’s Hugo and Nebula-nominated novella, On a Red Station, Drifting, and this novelette has already snagged the Nebula for 2014. The universe de Bodard has created is interesting, compelling, and I have to say I enjoyed “The Waiting Stars” even more than On a Red Station, Drifting, and I enjoyed that one quite a lot. And the ending. . .  oh, this has such a good ending.

Originally published in the anthology The Other Half of the Sky, you can read this story for free on de Bodard’s site, or download it (for free) on your e-reader. Both options are available at the link below:

Click here to read THE WAITING STARS for free

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Like it? Love it? Hate it? Sound off below!