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September 28, 2004

Why To Read Weird Stories (Not Safe For Work...)

Sometimes a metaphor just pops into my mind, fully formed, that is as startlingly inappropriate as it is accurate. Some background:

I've noticed that the more sci-fi I read, the more able I am to deal with really strange and weird ideas, and that other sci-fi and fantasy people I've talked to seem to have this conceptual flexibility too. I've noticed I can deal with a certain level of weirdness, but not beyond that, and my tolerance seems to be growing as I spend more time reading and thinking about this. I think it's a defense mechanism for the rational dictator living in our left brain – anything too out there, and it's just too much for us to handle, so our minds sort of shut down. (Some stuff actually makes me physically dizzy, but this may just my inner drama queen acting up again.)

Having a defense mechanism like this has probably saved quite a few people from going crazy, but eventually you want to get past it. The more we can deal with the Weird, to more prepared we will to handle new ideas, in a world that grows stranger by the minute.

So, essentially, this Weird Shit Filter is your mental gag reflex. Reading really good sci-fi, and fantasy, and horror is the conceptual equivalent of the old joke where women (and plenty of men) stick a banana in the back of their throat to get rid of their gag reflexes. So they can also do it with, y'know, other stuff.

Reading The Invisibles is like deep-throating one of those 18-inch kielbasa sausages.

That is all; Pleasant dreams.

Posted by StephenRauch at 03:13 AM | Comments (0)

September 27, 2004

That's what I'm talkin' about…

Mark Millar writing the last issue of Swamp Thing. For those who don't speak geek, Swamp Thing's kind of this supernatural protector of the plant world, and by extension all of nature that isn't, well, us. There's been this theme through the whole series that people have broken the balance of nature, and can't coexist with the rest of the world; either we go, or everything else goes. Swampy's been toying with this idea for a while, but in the last story arc, he decides to wipe us out once and for all, After a series of ridiculously involved side-quests, he ends up as guardian of the entire Earth, and he's pledged to kill us all and start over.

Except once he gets there, he has a change of heart. Someone says to him, "You don't really want to do that, do you? Isn't that just some kind of adolescent guilt trip?"

Once you've seen through everybody's eyes, you just can't stay angry. In fact, you can't really do anything except just love everything. That's what I want to see. Someone who says, look, I know how bad things are. We've gone through everything and been damaged beyond reckoning, but you know what? We're still here. And while you can't ever rush the "it's all bullshit" stage, and we need to keep fighting the bastards every day, we've got to move on eventually.

And after all, once you get your own shit together, why would you want to smash things up and hurt anyone? Even the bad guys are just small and weak and afraid. And once you get clear of the damage they've caused, why wouldn't you want to help them? The world isn't going to end, one way or another, and no vengeful old invisible man's going to spank you if you don't, but still.

I'm here. How can I help?

(Note: All that aside, I still reserve the right to call for the head of anyone who pisses me off.)

Posted by StephenRauch at 10:39 PM | Comments (0)

September 06, 2004

Sequential Tart loves my ass.

There's a review up of my book! Check it out!

Mwa ha ha. I rock.

Posted by StephenRauch at 10:42 PM | Comments (0)