In the meantime, there’s Eighty-Nine. Rather than a particular song, this one takes a playlist of music from the year 1989 and has the authors weave together speculative fiction stories using their alloted song and any political or historical event from the same year. The result is a book of incredible variety and diversity.

I remember 1989 very clearly, so the music and events portrayed through these stories is particularly nostalgic. But even if you weren’t born back then, there’s a lot to like in this collection and some very evocative writing. Not every story worked for me, but that’s the beauty of an anthology of short fiction – for every story you don’t really get into, there’s at least two or three you do.

This book contains stories of horror, alternate history, science fiction, fantasy and more. Some of the tales are very literary, some more in the pulp style. In some the speculative elements are very apparent, in others they’re very subtle. Some stories tie the year in question to modern times, or take a historical view from the distant past leading up to 1989. Others take a science fictional approach that ties back to or references the year. The interpretation of the theme  by the authors is as varied and colourful as the music and events of the time. This book is a truly inspired concept and the writers have all risen well to the challenge.

The net result is an excellent collection with something for everyone. And especially for those people who remember 1989. If you know someone old enough to recall the year, who is a fan of spec fic, this would make a fantastic gift. And get yourself a copy while you’re at it.

Eighty-Nine is officially launched on October 25th. You can pre-order here, in print or ebook format, and the 50th pre-order customer will score a bonus book pack. If you can’t wait, you can order from Amazon now.

Or, I can hook you up with a paperback copy. Leave a comment below telling me what your favourite song from 1989 is, and why. The one that I find most interesting will get a copy of Eighty-Nine. Yes, this is a completely arbitrary decision, so think of your favourite song from 1989 and a good story to go with it. It doesn’t have to be true – we all love a bit of fiction around here.

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As reported in the Sydney Morning Herald today, one of the Pink Floyd founding members, Richard Wright, has died of cancer. Fuck you, cancer and Vale Rick Wright.

Rick Wright (left), with David Gilmour and Nick Mason
Pic. smh.com.au

Full story here.

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I’m a big fan of Joss Whedon. Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel were top-notch television and Firefly was a notch above them, and a series that should never have been cancelled. It got us Serenity, but that’s not enough. Anyway, suffice to say that Whedon is something of a genius when it comes to writing sci-fi and fantasy based scripts. He always has this comedic edge to his writing, yet manages to deliver horror and shock along the way.

During the writer’s strike in the US last year he decided to use his time to engage in a purely personal project and put together a short film using actors he had worked with before and even getting his brothers in on the crew. The film he made is Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.

For a few short hours the film was streamed for free from the website in three fifteen minute acts. It’s now available to download from iTunes for the very modest price of US$4. There is also going to be a DVD released, which will supposedly contain all kinds of delicious extras.

The story is about Dr Horrible, played by “Doogie Houser” Neil Patrick Harris (will he ever get past that casting?), and his efforts to take over the world and win the heart of Penny, played by Felicia Day. He is, however, rather too embarrassed to talk to Penny and is also concentrating on getting into the Evil League of Evil, headed by the bad horse, Bad Horse. So along comes Captain Hammer, Nathan Fillion, to save the day and steal the girl. Oh yeah, they totally did it.

It’s a truly bizarre short film, not least because it’s a musical. Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer will recall the episode from Season 6 called Once More, With Feeling, where a mysterious force made all the characters sing their dialogue. There is spoken dialogue as well as songs in Dr Horrible, but the Buffy episode was never far from my mind. Whedon is so good at putting together songs that are lyrically brilliant and utterly stupid at the same time. As I said before, he’s a genius.

Anyway, click on the banner above to have a look. You’ve missed the free stream now, but it’s certainly worth US$4 of your hard-earned to see this thing. And it’s a great experiment by Whedon and friends to use the power of the internet to pay his crew and have a successful film without producers and big company involvement. As an independent publisher I can certainly get with that program. There’s also a comic book of Captain Hammer that you can check out, written by Zack Whedon.

Hat-tip to Michael for putting me on to this.

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Leunig

Leunig is a name now synonymous with wavy line-drawing cartoons, a love of all things curly and occasionally despairing rants against the follies of modern man. He’s as much a philosopher as a commentator. I think I’ll always have most respect for his “Festival Of Alans” cartoon, which included a panel showing Alans joining hands to circle the city and create the famous “Alan Energy Aura”. There’s something I could certainly get behind.

An example of Leunig’s cartooning

Leunig was declared an Australian Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia in 1999. Some examples of his work are in order, I suppose. Firstly, an example of the the despairing Leunig:

Home/Appalled

They took him on a stretcher to the Home for the Appalled
where he lay down in a corner and he bawled and bawled and bawled.

‘There’s nothing wrong with me,’ he wailed, when asked about his bawling,
‘It’s the world that need attention; It’s so utterly appalling.’

‘It’s so utterly appalling,’ he sobbed and cried and bawled,
and the chorus rose to join him at the Home for the Appalled.

And then there’s the pure whimsy:

The Summer Palace

Make a little garden in your pocket.
Plant your cuff with radishes and rocket.
Let a passion fruit crawl up your thigh.
Grow some oregano in your fly.

Make a steamy compost of your fears.
Trickle irrigate your life with tears.
Let your troubled mind become a trellis.
Turn your heart into a summer palace.

Recently Leunig’s work has received an unusual partner in the form of Australian musician Gyan.

Gyan

Gyan said that she had started putting some of Leunig’s poetry to music with no real agenda other than for the joy of doing it. When a mutual friend passed on a copy of the recordings to Leunig he fell in love with it and thoroughly endorsed the project. They’ve since performed together, Gyan singing while Leunig accompanies her and draws, at places such as the Melbourne and Byron Bay Writers’ Festivals.

There’s now a released CD, called Billy The Rabbit, featuring Gyan’s haunting and beautiful music with Leunigs words and pictures in an accompanying book. A rarely brilliant combination of those two most powerfully emotive things – expertly handled words and music.