Recap January 2022

The TOpoet.ca following is at 466 people. The WP map shows my hits have come from 19 countries around the world. That the USA tops the list is no surprise but that Ireland & Denmark are in the top 10 is a surprise. Most popular post by far was the photo essay Snow Forts:

Snow Forts

Most popular prose blog was Food In Peace Out:

Food In Peace Out

Annoying Children is my person favourite:

Annoying Children

Picture Perfect: 102 sections, about 147,000 words posted so far with approx 39,000 to be edited, then posted. I’ve also cut another 4000 words from the rough draft to remove interesting threads that didn’t add enough the the major plots.

Watched some great movies: One-Way Ticket To Love – Japanese 1960. A sweet musical about an alto sax player, a pretty girl & a Japanese Elvis. A refreshing change from all those films about marrying off daughters. or bold samurai. This one was made after the US occupation ended & film-makers no long had to deal with military censor. A pessimistic hero, a morally confused woman & great music – both Big Band & rock. A look at Japanese youth culture & highly recommended.

Also watched a a Canadian animated feature from the early 80’s Heavy Metal. The teen-boy target audience is defined by the large breasted heroines of the stories. Voiced by many of the voices behind the Spiderman series & also John Candy, Jackie Burroughs – this is a fun, hetero-sexist sci-fi romp sure to offend many today. Good fun.

Another excellent film was ‘Quai des Orfèvres’ a French noir from 1947 – tightly written with a corkscrew plot that would (& probably did) make Hitchcock jealous. Director Clouzet went on to make the equally amazing Le Diaboliques. Sadly none of Stanislas-André Steeman works, one of which Quai was based, is available in English :-(.

Finished 100 Short Stories – a budget collection of pubic domain stories by the likes of Kafka, Poe, Saki, O Henry, Twain & even Mary Shelly. Many were ‘punch line’ stories that existed for the last line. Lots of nostalgic memory, many without a word of dialogue, a good helping of Russian angst & even some really good stories. I was amazed by Kafka’s The Hunger Artist.

Really enjoyed David Demchuk: The Bone Mother – a delightful scary collection of linked short stories with a fine Ukrainian folk-lore underpinning. Highly recommended. Also highly-recommend is: Joshua Whitehead ed: Love After The End – Two-Spirited Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction, out of Arsenal Pulp Press. An impressive collection of queer-centric sci-fi that is cutting edge in its use of de-gendered language.

For Xmas I got removable cleats for my winter boots & thanks to an abundance of snow have made frequent use of them. They come in handy for my treks through the Williamson Ravine.