I do plan to keep everyone posted on what’s up at RWA this year and will be periodically blogging from there as well as updating my Twitter page. My tweets should show up momentarily on my blog as well, so don’t be concerned about having two places to check. I’m also on the Blogging National blogroll, where you can find all sorts of RWA Attendees reporting on the events. Some of the events I’m looking forward to: the “Readers for Life†Literacy Autographing, the Smart Bitches Trashy Books Bitches At The Bear Happy Hour, and RWA’s RITA/Golden Heart Awards Ceremony (where I’m rooting for my gal pal Terri Garey who is nominated for a RITA).
I heard some sad news today from close friends that their adorable puppy Maggie finally passed away. Maggie, a loving and affectionate companion, was only nine years old and we’ll all miss her.
FOUR FEET
I have done mostly what men do,
And pushed it out of my mind;
But I can’t forget, if I wanted to,
Four-Feet trotting behind.
Day after day, the whole day through–
Wherever my road inclined–
Four-Feet said, ‘I am coming with you!’
And trotted along behind.
Now I must go by some other round–
Which I shall never find–
Some where that does not carry the sound
Of Four-Feet trotting behind.
Of those starring in The Watchmen are Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Patrick Wilson — not two actors you’d expect to see as superheroes, so I’m really excited for this movie. According to Wikipedia, The Watchmen “remains the only graphic novel to win a Hugo Award. . . and is also the only graphic novel to appear on Time Magazine’s 2005 list of “the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present.” I may have to check it out before seeing the movie. Also from Wikipedia:
Watchmen depicts superheroes as real people who must confront ethical and personal issues, who struggle with neuroses and failings, and who—with one notable exception—lack anything recognizable as super powers. Watchmen’s deconstruction of the conventional superhero archetype, combined with its innovative adaptation of cinematic techniques and heavy use of symbolism, multi-layered dialogue, and metafiction, has influenced both comics and film.
Now the casting of Morgan (Edward Blake/The Comedian) and Wilson (Nite Owl) makes much more sense and I can see either of them portraying these kinds of characters with aplomb (not to mention the eye candy factor…). I even kind of like Silk Spectre’s costume, it seems no more ridiculous than her male counterparts, especially the blue glowy dude in the speedo (Doctor Manhattan, played by Billy Crudup). Watch the trailer below:
–I wonder if they used “frickin’ sharks with frickin’ laser beams attached to their frickin’ heads?” Sadly, all they could find were sea bass. Scientific American reports on how a laser illuminates fragile dinosaur footprints.
Here’s a well-done mashup fan video for Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter Series. In it you’ll find all sorts of fun clips of Gerry Butler from 300, Attila, Phantom of the Opera and Dracula 200 as well as clips from The Lost Boys, Alexander among others. Music is “Just Like You Imagined” by Nine Inch Nails, which you might recognize from the 300 trailers.
Spoilers follow, so be warned if you haven’t yet seen Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull.
This week’s Danger Gal Friday profile is on Marion Ravenwood from the Indiana Jones saga. Twenty-seven years ago, Karen Allen took on the role of feisty heroine Marion Ravenwood, proprietor of a bar in Nepal, and returns to that character in the recent Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull movie.
Marion challenged stereotypes from the beginning by owning a bar on the edge of civilization, and even out-drinking the men there. All through the first movie Marion constantly stood up to Indy and her actions followed her own compass.
I agree with the Women In Hollywood blog that Marion’s character was a “much more realistic foil and partner for Indy than the women who followed.†WIH reminds us of some of the great roles for actresses in 1981 when that first Indy movie came out, such as Silkwood, Norma Rae, 9 to 5, Yentl – and I would add to that Empire Strikes Back. I think these kinds of roles set the bar for me of what I expect from Hollywood when it comes to female characters in movies. As a young girl at the time I was spending afternoons pretending to be Princess Leia and Marion Ravenwood. I’m not seeing these kinds of roles for women currently, and hope that changes soon.
Multiple Universes sums up perfectly why Marion’s character is one hundred ways to awesome:
If there’s one thing cooler than the return of Indiana Jones to THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL then it’s the fact that his first, and best love interest Marion Ravenwood will be accompanying the adventurer for the first time in 27 years. Sure Indy’s gotten busy with a Shanghai chanteuse and a Nazi spy in that time, but none of these ladies had the moxie of this hard-drinking, hard-punching tomboy. As personified by the raven-haired Karen Allen in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, Marion Ravenwood became an icon of female derring-do as she got herself into one fix after the other between basket chases, devious monkeys and slithering Egyptian snakes.
I’m glad that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas haven’t watered down Marion at all in the new movie. The Feminist Spectator points out that:
. . . Karen Allen, returning as Marion, has fun representing a middle-aged woman who’s more than a domestic help-mate for Indy. She drives their get-away cars over cliffs, confident that they’ll all survive; she delights in fighting off evil physically and intellectually; and she never cowers in the face of the fearsome or revolting challenges that confront Indy’s party on their way to the story’s happy finale. Watching her take such energetic good fun in being part of the crew brings a welcome point of female identification to the typically masculine (and male) action story.
The Feminist Spectator didn’t so much appreciate the happily ever after ending, specifically the “conservative conclusion in marriage,†but I don’t see this as any sort of “taming†of Marion. I see it as two soul mates finally getting it that they’re happier together than apart. Since we get to see Indy appreciate a very active Marion in this second movie, I’m confident these two will continue on other adventures together. Karen Allen might love to nest and knit, but I can’t see Marion sitting back while Indy has his adventures. I also can’t see Indy wanting her to miss any of the action either.
As an aside, I’d love to see a comic, or even another movie, showing what adventures Marion has had in the intervening 27 years.
The Feminist Spectator also points out that Cate Blanchett’s character is an interesting one in her own right, and is not simply a one-dimensional foil for Indy:
Likewise, Blanchett’s villain, with her silly black helmet-hair and her icy blue eyes—however ridiculous the character or her recycled Cold War conflict—provides a fun display of female power and ingenuity. With two women in central roles—one good, one bad—the Crystal Skull offers more gender balance to the action-adventure plot.
Just like Montag, I think that “Indiana Jones without Marion Ravenwood is like a Reuben sandwich without sauerkraut.”
I heard some sad news today from close friends that their adorable puppy Maggie finally passed away. Maggie, a loving and affectionate companion, was only nine years old and we’ll all miss her. 
I’m glad that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas haven’t watered down Marion at all in the new movie. The