| 4:12 pm - Derek Jarman |
 sistermorticia Today would have been Derek Jarman's birthday.I think of him today and I think of his work and what he achieved, how many lives he touched, how many people he gave courage to, how much he has inspired. Derek Jarman's work lives on, as do the beautiful images that he created and the visions he captured on film. Derek fought hard for what he passionately believed in and his spirit will continue to burn brightly, giving others the strength to be proud of their own creativity, dreams and sexuality.I'm walking along the beach in the howling gale Another year is passing In the roaring waters I hear the voices of dead friends Love is life that lasts forever My heart's memory turns to you David. Howard. Graham. Terry. Paul.... ...Blue stretches, yawns and is awake... Derek Jarman (1 comment | comment on this) |
| Sunday, January 29th, 2006 |
| 12:22 pm - Amazing art |
 sistermorticia  I saw some artwork by this guy, C. Luka Martin, on another website and it is phenomenal!! It's so raw and passionate, and just beautiful. The materials, the colours he uses and the way he uses them are fantastic and his subjects are breathtaking.  His gallery is here: http://adnagaporp.deviantart.com/gallery/ and it's amazing to look through. (comment on this) |
| Tuesday, January 17th, 2006 |
| 7:49 pm - mysterious skin |
 invalid_userid Hello, just happened on this journal and wanted to join. Hope that's all right.I finally watched to movie of Mysterious Skin yesterday and it was fantastic. There were a few details that bugged me, like Neil's friend in town not getting to narrate at all and seeming very small and lonely. He was pretty small and lonely, but there was a strength to him that i loved. Wendy was played all right, but I've never liked Michelle Trachtenberg anyway.I suppose she did her best. I wanted to kill her all the time when she was on Buffy.Anybody else have opinions or anything else to add? ---esk (1 comment | comment on this) |
| Thursday, January 12th, 2006 |
| 4:33 pm - Breakfast on Pluto |
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| 1:28 pm - Edward Scissorhands |
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| Thursday, January 5th, 2006 |
| 2:29 pm - DANNY by Chancery Stone |
 blake_fraina X PostI just wanted to let you all know that a book that I might have posted about on this community a while back, DANNY by Chancery Stone, has an all new website:http://poisonpixie.com/If you like queer lit that's dark and VERY erotic you should check this book out. Supposedly, it's the first of four volumes (each one about 1,000 pages in length) and the author has excerpts from all of them on the site. And if any of you thinks that I am the author, rest assured, I'm not. As a matter of fact, she vilifies me on her site, quoting from my LJ and labeling me an "anti-fan." But whatever. Read this book. It's unforgettable, I promise. (2 comments | comment on this) |
| Sunday, December 18th, 2005 |
| 12:39 pm - Shear delight in London! |
sistermorticia Well, much later than I intended, finally I’m writing something about the first night of Edward Scissorhands in London! A mere two weeks late, but then time management has never been one of my strong points. As there had been such a buzz for this event it was fantastic to be there for the Press Night, which was also the official opening night. Sadler’s Wells was adorned with snow and giant scissors, and as we drove up we could see a green carpet stretching across the pavement and on into the foyer. No red carpet for Edward; no, a carpet of grass in keeping with his topiary activities. By the main doors were two lanterns burning in a nicely Gothic touch and a group of paparazzi all armed with cameras and autograph hunters ready to catch any celebrities who arrived. Of course, they were all waiting for Tim Burton and Helena Bonham-Carter. It was quite an experience to walk down the green carpet in front of all those people and through the main doors into the foyer; made me feel very important - though they obviously knew that I wasn't, as no flashbulbs went off!! Apparently they realised that I was not Helena Bonham-Carter, despite my posh frock...!  ( Edward ScissorhandsCollapse ) (2 comments | comment on this) |
| Friday, November 18th, 2005 |
| 9:38 am - Edward Scissorhands |
sistermorticia Anyone who knows me knows what an obsessive fan I am of Matthew Bourne and his dance company - I will go into raptures over the magical 'male' Swan Lake, the passionate CarMan, the enchanting Nutcracker! and the incredible Highland Fling, so a new Matthew production is always going to be something special. Now, at last, after 8 years of speculation and rumour, Edward Scissorhands is finally about to take the stage!! ( Dance at the Cutting EdgeCollapse ) current mood:  excited (comment on this) |
| Thursday, September 22nd, 2005 |
| 7:37 pm - A new Derek Jarman site |
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| Monday, August 29th, 2005 |
| 7:57 am - A Family Failure by Renate Rasp |
| blake_fraina [THIS IS A CROSS POST]This is not, technically speaking, a “queer” novel nor is it a classic horror story. However, it shares a prevalent theme with a lot of other queer fiction, particularly gay coming-of-age or coming out stories, and is such a potent and disturbing book, I am compelled to review and strongly recommend it here. I first read A FAMILY FAILURE when I was very young - too young, truthfully. As literature, it posed no problems for a bright ten year old; it’s a slim book (at 126 pages) and an easy read, in the sense that the language and plot are straightforward, not in the least poetic or opaque. But the story is rather nightmarish and has haunted me all these years. With the advent of the internet (and the help of Alibris) I was able to acquire a second hand copy of it in 2002. It has taken me all this time to get up the nerve to re-visit it. Quite simply, it’s the story of boy whose abusive stepfather (Uncle Felix) and bitter, ineffectual mother try to turn him into a tree. While there is a fantastic element to the tale, this is by no means a traditional work of fantasy. There is never any suggestion that other little boys are being turned into trees by their parents nor that this is even a possible, achievable goal. Which, of course, is the whole point. The book works on two levels. On the one hand, it is the most realistic portrayal of a family suffering under the domination of a psychologically abusive and controlling patriarch that I have ever encountered and, on the other, it is a brilliant allegory illustrating the very real damage done to children whose parents refuse to accept them as they are and try to force them to be something they are not. The narrator, Kuno, is fifty years old at the story’s end. He is almost completely immobile, obese, without hands and confined to a wheelchair. In flashbacks, he recounts his years from the age of ten, when his “Uncle Felix” decides he should become a tree, to the age of seventeen when he is finally planted in their back garden. Because both the boy and his mother work tirelessly for Felix’s approval, they are initially as excited and motivated for the plan to work as he is. As the story painfully unfolds, we are given glimpses into Felix’s alienation of the mother’s friends, his intolerance of her beloved piano playing, his disregard for her belongings, his utter meanness with money, his sexual withdrawal - all in aid of our understanding that, although almost gleefully complicit in the torment of her son (which is considerable), she too, is a victim of her husband’s abuse. At times, she and Kuno are allies against Felix’s manipulations but more often, they are adversaries, vying against one another for his approval and affection. When Kuno’s inevitable failure to become a tree is finally, incontrovertibly, evident, Felix blames the both of them, hatefully insinuating that the boy is soft and his mother indulgent. Although Kuno is penitent, both parents despise him ever afterward.The book is relentless in its depiction of the escalating horrors perpetrated on the boy - isolation, starvation, sense depravation, bondage, brutal amputation - all told in the flat, unknowing tone of someone who is blind to his status as a victim, instead painting a portrait of himself as merely a failure in his Herculean efforts to please his stepfather. Kuno is the ultimate unreliable narrator. This book (an English translation of a novel by German poet Renate Rasp) has been out of print for many years. As far as I can tell, Ms. Rasp never wrote another novel. Although it is now nearly impossible to find a copy of it for less than $80, I urge anyone to seek this book out, if you can find it, and read it. For a long time I suspected my reaction to it, as a child, was perhaps overly dramatic, but having just re-read it (in one sitting), I can say with confidence that it is one of the richest, most unsettling, effecting and powerful books I have ever read. (3 comments | comment on this) |
| Monday, May 2nd, 2005 |
| 11:20 am - Welcome to Morticia's room... |
| sistermorticia Well, now I've started this community, I'd better make some kind of introduction and hope that someone will read it. Hopefully this will be a place to talk about books and films that have inspired or amazed or moved you or really just took your breath away.It's also a small shrine to Derek Jarman and discussion of his work and life is more than welcome here. Derek Jarman was a film maker, an artist, a writer and a gardener. Anyone who has read his diaries cannot fail to have been moved by them and filled with admiration for the intelligence, art and courage of this man. He had an incredible vision and translated his perception of beauty into his films.I discovered Derek Jarman's work many years ago, and I thank him (and a few others) for opening my eyes to a world which I would otherwise have known nothing about. He showed me the door to the secret garden that I could so easily have missed, and once inside that garden spread out to a whole world. I thank him for a life of colour instead of one of black and white, and for dear friends who I would never have known without his magic.I hope other people want to talk about Derek and his work here, but other authors are welcome topics. Welcome to Morticia's room.current mood: hopeful (comment on this) |
I saw some artwork by this guy, C. Luka Martin, on another website and it is phenomenal!! It's so raw and passionate, and just beautiful. The materials, the colours he uses and the way he uses them are fantastic and his subjects are breathtaking. 
His gallery is here: http://adnagaporp.deviantart.com/gallery/ and it's amazing to look through. (comment on this)