flaviomatani | Network

The introduction to Sinners tells us that various folk traditions (including the Choctaw) hold that some people are born with the ability to make music so true that it pierces the veil between life and death, conjuring spirits from the past and future; whilst it can bring healing, it can also attract evil. For the first half or so of the film, we are left unclear if this is a metaphor about the power of music or to be understood as a supernatural phenomenon.( mild spoilers, nothing the trailer won't show you )

Music is certainly central to Sinners, and I particularly liked how the different strands of music from different backgrounds were woven together; and the juke joint scene that has done the rounds on the internet is indeed a fine moment. I'm not sure the Choctaw elements were quite fully fleshed out, and some of the characters were maybe under-developed, but it's still a very enjoyable story.

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Posted by David REVOY

https://www.davidrevoy.com/article1146/signing-session-at-torino-comics-italy-may-30th-to-31th

Blog post: https://www.davidrevoy.com/article1146/signing-session-at-torino-comics-italy-may-30th-to-31th

https://www.davidrevoy.com/article1146/signing-session-at-torino-comics-italy-may-30th-to-31th

Here's what Peter Watts (author of Blindsight) said about them in Forbes:

Finally, someone I’m sure none of you have ever heard of, because she’s a new Canadian author published by the tiny Bumblepuppy Press, and by the time you read this, her books will be prohibitively expensive due to tariffs. Rachel Rosen, whose ongoing Sleep of Reason trilogy (the second book has only just been released) depicts a future climate-ravaged world in which demons stalk the Rockies and so-called “MAIs” (Magic-Affected Individuals) are used by Canadian politicians to plan their campaigns. Canada falls into dictatorship in the first book; the Resistance hangs on by its fingernails in the second. There are Earthquakes and opera singers and prison camps for human experimentation. There’s a sapient tech-bro submarine. I don’t know how many non-Canadians these books might resonate with, but I’ll bet that number is increasing daily, down below the 49th at least. I would not have believed that a fantasy novel could be so depressingly relevant.

N.B. I would like to point out that the sapient techbro submarine is in fact a sleek black techbro submarine which has been possessed by an eldritch horror from the depths ~~along with the remains of its crew who unfortunately for them may not be wholly dead~~ and it's the resulting entity which may be sapient.

Because personally I feel that Watts is severely underselling how insanely badass this part is. I just really love the submarine, okay?

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sf/f

2026/073: Platform Decay — Martha Wells

Mensah just looked at me and said, “SecUnit.” In that voice. The voice that’s the only reason I’m still here and alive and surrounded by … friends. (Emotion check: Good, actually. Really good.) (Emotion check: It is still hard to say the friends part.) [loc. 2474]

Murderbot is asked by Dr Mensah to help some family members escape from a space station run by evil corporation Barish-Estranza. Turns out the family members (including children, ugh) are being more or less held hostage and may be forced to work for B-E. ( Read more... )

Current Mood: calm

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books,
read26

Ibuki Tonami and Botan Kamiina
Botan Kamiina Fully Blossoms When Drunk, Episode 7

The current season is 2/3 of the way complete – and my watch schedule hasn’t gone as planned. Somehow I seem to be making less time to watch anime than I did when I was employed. Some of this is due to house projects – some due to spending a lot more time in manga. However, I do watch enough anime to be constantly entertained – and that’s what it’s all about.

And the top three shows that I’m following are:

( Notes on All the Shows I’m Watching )

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anime

I don't often buy tickets for the Orkney Folk Festival. Partly because I'm not very much into Scottish trad folk, partly because as the festival has gotten bigger I've found it less fun, and partly because my mental health hasn't been great for relaxing into folk music for the last few years.

I do tend to like American folk more than Scottish. For the last few years the Festival seems to have had an approach of mixing up different styles and spreading them across all their concerts, which hasn't worked for me; but this year they had a full event aimed at Americana. So I bought a ticket (£26! As I said, the festival's getting too big for its own good...)

Then it got to the afternoon of the show, and I didn't feel like going. I'd failed at getting anything done for a whole saturday[1], and I was feeling tired miserable, and I didn't think I could face three hours of noise and people. I went anyway, thinking there was a good chance that I would leave part way through.

I arrived and found that my seat in row B was not near the front but the second-to-*back* row. That's very very odd, although apparently cinemas do it. But actually a blessing on this occasion, because it got me some distance from the stage and thus a bit less intensity.

The sound for this gig was really good, even at this distance and even though it's in what is basically a sports hall (they had some drapes on one side and behind the stage, but nothing behind the audience). Good craft from the sound engineer, no doubt, but also, modern mini line arrays are amazing.

I enjoyed the evening. I wasn't able to relax and get fully into it, but I enjoyed it anyway. First there was Stoatfinger, a local group who tend to the American styles. Then a group from NYC that I didn't rate too much. Then, the main draw of the evening for me: Kenneth Pattengale - one half of the Milk Carton Kids, a duo that I've low-key enjoyed for a while. Considering how big a name that is, I was surprised that the place wasn't full - and I think he was a little too - but on reflection his gentle, contemplative, style isn't that close a match to the vibe of the OFF. I loved it.

Watch on YouTube

And then to round things off was a group from southern Louisiana. They were good, in a more upbeat style, but also made me think about something that seems obvious, but I've never considered before - that many of the old songs of Louisiana are in French. Perhaps that's mostly the white songs? I don't know. It was a mixed-race group, and they were casually bilingual in song.

I would really like to get my mental health back to a place where I can actually enjoy gig-going again...

[1] Yes, that's sort of the point of the weekend, but not something I always have time for. I realised later that this was the first day I'd had in nearly three weeks of not either travelling or being at work.

Current Mood: complicated
Current Location: Aberdeen

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Reading. I managed a bit more of Neil Shubin's Your Inner Fish before it got autoreturned to the library; I do not regret the outdoor activities I was doing instead of finishing it up but I am also mildly disgruntled that it's likely to be around another month before I get it back from the library. (Yes, it has won me over from my initial grumbles about Intro To Phylogeny.)

I have managed to reread approximately, generously, a chapter and a half of Wicked Problems (Max Gladstone), which I still want to complete before I have another go at Dead Hand Rule, because I absolutely do not have adequate recollection of how WP finished. And yet: my brain it goes eeeeeeeeeenh.

Watching. Apparently it has been a week in which I was willing to do audiovisual processing, and not just on my special interest?

In NOT my special interest news (see also Exploring), I appreciated this very short documentary on the piece of artwork at the centre of the Kerdroya labyrinth.

On Friday I hit the point of going "okay, this is ridiculous, what the hell is going on that I am managing to move that much weight in what is nominally a barbell row", tried to get the internet to tell me how I should expect row vs bench weights to look, and found a Renaissance Periodization video on 11 Barbell Row Mistakes (content note: masturbation jokes in questionable taste). RP are a source that Casey Johnston trusts, and I trust Casey Johnston sufficient to take that rec (though, to be clear, not on all things), so I watched it! And I now think I know some things I'm doing suboptimally and for that matter some things Johnston recommends doing suboptimally or unclearly! So obviously I am impatient to wave a stick around and see how it feels, and I am next scheduled to do this with barbell rows on... Wednesday.

I have three other videos from that sequence open in tabs.

Listening. Tragically we did NOT listen to a bunch of Hidden Almanac on the way down to Cornwall and then back up again, because it would not have been to my mum's taste and we did not wish to ensadden her on the journey.

Playing. Have replayed Tukoni: Prologue on my own machine for the purposes of getting the Steam achievements (incidental to wishlisting the full game as and when it gets released). Also a couple of rounds of Scrabble.

Cooking. Uh. Let's see. There was... quiche? There was a quiche, and also cheese straws. A questionable stirfry that did broadly achieve the goal of delivering protein.

Eating. ASPARAGUS incl purple. Birthday cake. A sampler of commercially available Greek and Greek-style yoghurts. The LENTIL MOUSSAKA of my mother (second portion). Bean burgers also of my mother. ALPINE STRAWBERRIES from the garden!

Exploring. Helston Sports Centre and associated environs (involving BUSES).

Kerdroya!!! We wanted somewhere to stop and eat our Gear Farm pasties on our way back upcountry, due to divers alarums and excursions we wound up on Bodmin Moor at lunchtime (i.e. well behind schedule), so we sat on some grass and watched cows wade in and out of the lake and then while A was eating their Cornetto we went to see how long a walk it was to this labyrinth. WE ARE IN LOVE WITH THIS LABYRINTH. In addition to showcasing the various kinds of rock found around Cornwall and their accompanying styles of hedging we also got to see an excellent variety of foxgloves (white to very deep pink), a thing my mother called "whispering grass" that is not Stipa tenuissima that I am not going to finish looking up properly right now (short, seed heads bow over, fascinating sort of inverted-teardrop-shaped white-to-pink scaled situation?), scarlet pimpernels cascading down the vertical faces, ...

Growing. The at-home plants have not all died while I was away, despite the nightmares about the lemongrass! Indeed the poblano has NEW FRUIT on it!!!

Meanwhile, in Cornwall I Actually Did Some Weeding.

Observing. Goldfinches! Stonechats! Cormorants! Choughs!!! Barn swallows! Cows In Water; many calves and lambs; so so many Excellent Flowers.

The waves.

Goodness it's been an excellent week for spending time quietly outdoors.

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vital functions

My Extremely Square ass is writing a scene where a character does LSD, and they (AMAB NB) hallucinate seeing and fusing with a female version of themself- for the rest of the trip, their proprioception/body map is altered so that they feel as though they have a more "female" body shape (eg, breasts, wider hips).

My question is in the title- is fucking with the body's proprioception/body map/sense of touch in this way something LSD can do? Also, the contents of the trip are kind of plot-relevant, so if LSD can't actually do this, are there any hallucinogens that can (and that people take recreationally/Actually Enjoy Tripping On)?

Thanks!

Edit: Ok, another crap idea. Axing it. Got it. Thanks.

Context for this wee scene - shift handover between bodyguards, 1st speaker has drugged their boss because his gambling was out of control. Can't find the right search string to get around medical advice on mild sleeping pill sedatives etc, but I think diazepam probably isn't strong enough? Or maybe it is, or maybe only if enough is administered it would cause other problems. Not that anyone is particularly worried about an overdose but the scene is rather early in the novel for that to happen.

“You’re in for a rough day once he wakes up.”
“How bad did he lose?”
“I spiked his drink at 750,000 bhat.”
Pod shakes his head.
“We could just not let him wake up. Keep feeding him diazepam until we’re ready to deal with him again.”
“Is that what you gave him?”
“Rohypnol first, and GHB to mess with his memory. Diazepam cause we got home at 4 and I wanted the rest of the night off.”

This week's bread: a loaf of Marriage's Organic Country Fayre Malted Brown Bread Flour, v nice.

Friday night supper: ven pongal (S Indian khichchari).

Saturday breakfast rolls: Tassajarra method, 50/50% white/wholemeal spelt flour. molasses, raisins: turned out rather well.

Today's lunch: a sort-of cassoulet thing, with the other half-pack of pancetta, Belazu Judion Butter Beans, garlic, onion, bay leaves, 5-pepper blend, panko breadcrumbs, worked pretty well; served with buttered spinach and chicory quartered, healthy-grilled in pumpkin seed oil and drizzled with lime and lemongrass balsamic vinegar.

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cooking,
recipes

My choir is holding a concert in Cambridge on the afternoon of Sunday 14 June, as part of Jewish Culture Month 2026, raising funds for Arthur Rank Hospice: we'll be singing a combination of traditional and modern(-ish) pieces, including some musical theatre numbers with British Jewish composers and lyricists. I'll be doing a solo (Abraham Saqui's gorgeous setting of Yigdal). We'd be delighted if you could come!

Details and booking.

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choir

Happy birthday,

catlinyemaker,

heleninwales and

ruudboy!

Last Month I fell into Kodansha’s K MANGA app – and I’m still trying to understand the app’s mechanics and business model. It’s... weird.

At launch, Kodansha provided the press with information about the app. For example: Kodansha’s New K MANGA App Reveals Tickets, Point System... (ANN). I’m not particularly crazy about how they gamify the e-manga experience. But, whatever.

The K MANGA app threatened to suspend my account once it detected that I had been taking (a few) screenshots – so I’ve immediately stopped doing that.

( Lots of Free Chapters )

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This morning I drove into Portland and bought a box of four Dots from Saint Cupcake. I wrote a brief note in a small card and bundled it with the Dots box into a gift bag.

( Gift Delivery )

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( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Current Music: When You're Young - 3 Doors Down

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Not so much re-inventing the wheel, as having to point out something that is already known and has been for a long time (it was not really news when my primary-school teacher was making the point): Children’s reading should prioritise pleasure over learning, says laureate. Sigh.

***

Also on perhaps a similar theme that the obvious straight road is not actually the way there: science is not simply a sequence of tasks that can be optimized:

It advances through a process analogous to Darwinian evolution: variation across many independent efforts; selection through critique, replication, and competition; and retention of robust results. This distributed structure is what allows science to correct itself and to generate novelty. Independence is not incidental; it is the mechanism that produces both reliability and discovery.
....
The scientific system thrives on inefficiency: redundant efforts, failed attempts, and divergent paths. These are not costs to be eliminated but sources of discovery. By contrast, optimization pressures drive convergence—faster iteration within a constrained search space. The result may be more output but less exploration of the unexpected.

***

I stumbled across a remarkable collection of photographs:

There are several images in the collection of relevance to queer history, not least in those that record varieties of touch between men that would later become discouraged. In one, we see four young men sitting together on a bench in a garden: two of them hold hands. In another, a man takes another man on his lap, posing as lovers in a pose that mimics the popular visual culture of the day.
But the collection is arguably of most interest to LGBTQ+ history, specifically trans history, for the kinds of gender play it records. Several images in the collection illustrate traditions of gender crossing in British culture. Some show pantomime dames and another perhaps shows the role of a boy character taken up by a woman.

?Normal for Norfolk???

***

An extraordinary story of people who appear to be the 'good guys' (Liberal representing the anti-slavery interest in Lyme Regis) absolutely knee-deep in electoral corruption. Bonus appearance of Mary Anning!

What is most striking about Pinney’s career as an MP is not just the willingness of a fairly advanced Liberal to engage in wholesale electoral corruption, but his own attitude to slavery given his family background. As early as 1832 he had called on the hustings for its complete abolition and in 1838 he willingly voted for the Whig government’s apprenticeship reforms.

***

This is fascinating: The Plotland Houses of Britain: How a 20th century working-class housing movement was stifled, but I'd like to see some consideration of how the post-WWII prefab housing developments and attitudes thereto would fit onto what's described here.

(Also resonates with account in Houlbrook's Songs of Seven Dials about what well-intentioned progressive town-planners wanted to do to those traditional parts of inner London, but in the event, didn't.)

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Happy birthday,

szandara!

https://www.transsolidarityalliance.com/mass-lobby-2026

As explained at: https://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/contact-an-mp-or-lord/lobbying-parliament/

A mass lobby is when a large number of people contact their MPs and members of the Lords in advance and arrange to meet with them at Parliament all on the same day.

Trans+ Solidarity Alliance are one of the groups who've been absolutely kicking ass in the last year.

They also now have a crowdfunder if anyone wants to donate:

https://www.zeffy.com/en-GB/donation-form/fund-the-work-of-the-trans-solidarity-alliance

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I'm running on fumes, I think. There are a lot of Things needing doing. Why I thought signing up for an academic presentation (thankfully, I picked the 20 minute rather than the full hour option) at a con I'm on the committee for was a good idea, ... eh. I mean, it is a good idea from a lot of standpoints, but the 'how much energy I have for anything' is not one of them

I have a friend arriving Monday to stay for ... three days? four days? I have not done the yak shaving tasks that will allow the spare room to be set up; I have a memory that there was a reason to delay setting up the bed, but I do not remember what it was. I also have not sewn the funny shaped fitted sheet I had been planning, and probably won't at this point.

And there are two things complicating my day. My bank has changed its system again, and I'm on the ~fourth card in a year (they cancelled their credit cards; moved us to debit Mastercard. Now they have cancelled that service, and shifted to Visa. In there was the expiry of another card) -- that went live today and I have no idea whether anything I want to do money wise will work. Which goes poorly with the issue that the mob who provide my email services as well as web hosting for SwanCon are suffering a DDoS attack, and so several to do items are in limbo waiting for that to clear up. *sigh*

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Olivia Rodrigo - the cure (Official Music Video)

Watch on YouTube

I don't actually go here, but I like the song a lot, and the music video is cleverly done. Contains quite a bit of medical stuff, but all the blood is made of yarn.

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fandom: music

Echoes of Flavio's Ghost Dreaming

Sinners

Signing session at Torino Comics, Italy (May 30th to 31th)

While I continue to yell about Cascade and Blight

2026/073: Platform Decay — Martha Wells

Anime Spring 2026 In Flight

Orkney Folk Festival 2026

vital functions

Can LSD Do This? (And If Not, Are There Any Hallucinogens That Can?)

sedative drugs

Culinary

Choir concert: "Thank you for the Music"

(no subject)

Free Manga, Continued

The Luxury of Nearness

Gay During That Goal, Too / Heated Rivalry fic rec

Rather miscellaneous

(no subject)

UK people: new trans rights mass lobby 24th June

I aten't dead

Music Friday

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