protean depravity

Time for new book reviews... I did an audio-attack and listened to many books that I'm reviewing here in audio format, so there are a lot. Enjoy!

  A little warning before going over to the FFF reviews - I really wanted to chill these last two days of my time off work, so today I met up with my friend Qinqin to go play some mini golf and then go to Swampfest. While walking around Turmstrasse an idiot of a person exhaled a full load of her crack right into my fucking face and I collapsed and had to spend the day at the ER after that. I'm still very shook and upset, but no harm done bodily, the doctors said. I sometimes hate Berlin, please stay safe.     The 40th edition of the Fantasy Filmfest opened spectacularly on September 2 in the big Auditorium 1 of Zoo Palast where all the fancy events take place (it was full to the brim!) and there couldn't have been a better present for me than to have the FFF start a day after my birthday! As a small present all participants of the opening screening were gifted a DVD, Dogman by Luc Besson 😍, and after that I dived into a full week of films, films, and films. Enjoy m...

We're nearing the end of summer, and although that alone makes me feel like crying, I'm happy that there are lots of events in September and October (and there have been times where these months too are reasonably warm), so let's not lose hope right away.

Snail-paced, we finally made it to the third Stephen King short story collection, Nightmares and Dreamscapes , in almost two years, and at whopping 993 pages it looks like we're going to dwell here for a while. Published in 1993, King jokes in his prologue that he likes to publish a short story collection every seven years because the interval between his first three collections follow that pattern (we have to keep an eye on the future collections to see if he breaks that rule).  The collection which is dedicated to writer Thomas Williams consists of 24 pieces of writing: one novella ( Dolan's Cadillac ), one teleplay ( Sorry, Right Number ), one non-fiction essay ( Head Down ), one poem ( Brooklyn August ) and twenty short stories ( The End of the Whole Mess , Suffer the Little Children , The Night Flier , Popsy , It Grows On You , Chattery Teeth , Dedication , The Moving Finger , Sneakers , You Know They Got a Hell of a Band , Home Delivery , Rainy Season , My Pretty Po...

So I can't believe this wonderfully warm summer is almost over, I only realized from the amount of books I have collected for the Soul of Wit that it's been quite a while, and I'm a little sad about it. I hope you enjoy the short reviews and find something that speaks to you!

Ever since an editor told me that in anthologies and collections the best short stories are traditionally placed in the beginning (to get the reader hooked), I have been wondering about the placement/arrangement of short stories and whether or not what he told me is even true. Is it like an album where there's a sort of continuity between the pieces? Or was he right and you get hooked with the first story and the rest of your read is but a chase for that same high you found in the beginning? How do they even decide which the “best” story is? In my own reading experience, I have seen it all – anthologies that start strong but fizzle out, anthologies that have a strong middle streak, collections that end with a banger, or those that suck all together.

Time to look at upcoming movie screenings and the Fantasy Filmfest, my dears! (And I'm already loving the -incomplete- program.)   There are a couple of interesting open air screenings left in this summer, and that coupled with the Yorck specials and a few films regularly showing will help bridge the time until FFF begins. Let's have a look. And no, Hokum isn't part of the lineup... yet?    So, the Freiluftkino Kreuzberg is showing a Science Fiction movie , old or new, every Tuesday until the end of August and although I missed "2001 A Space Odyssey", I feel compelled to watch Tarkowski's Solaris  on August 18, at 8.30 pm. I have only seen the newer Solaris movie with Geroge Clooney, and quite liked it, and I generally like Tarkowski's style, so I'm glad they're screening it. Freilichtbühne Weißensee continues its series of screenings of original films from the former east bloc, and there's a two-part mini series called NöNöNö that takes place ...

Six, six, six, and I again forgot my blog's birthday! But this way I will celebrate it later and later each year and so it can have birthday all year long, which is neat too. Please, as usual, have a little drink for us to celebrate this occasion! I have a little present for you guys too, namely a giveaway. I have started and dnf'ed quite a few books this year. Plus, I recently scanned my shelves and added some of my older science fiction/horror books to the pile. Reach out to me through the usual means if you want to have any of the books, and don't hesitate! I'm giving them away gladly to someone who will enjoy them more than I do. Have a great time!