Haul of Books 2011: Stuff For Me v.01

Considering that I just got back from a conference in which books were involved, it seems like perfect timing to have a new edition of the Haul of Books.

So, without further delay, here is the image (after the fold):

The Eaton Conference: Day Three -- Idea Overload B

(You can read about Day One and Day Two here and here.)

Day Three

The third day of the Conference (technically the second and last day of the event, which only ran from Friday to Saturday) proved to be both intellectually exciting and terrifying.  We first attended a panel called "Neocolonialism, Global Capitalism, and Monstrous Subalterns," which included a presentation by Steven Shaviro on hyperbolic futures and a paper on River of Gods and Cyberabad Days (both interesting books I think you folks would enjoy reading).  After that, we attended a panel on Polish SF, which I have some familiarity with through an undergraduate cyberpunk course I took at UC Santa Cruz (we read Imaginary Magnitudes by Stanislaw Lem).  Both panels were interesting, though I suspect their early placement and my pending presentation impacted my note taking, as most of my notes for these panels are quite empty (I did find them interesting, but I didn't see a need to take too many notes).

The third panel we attended was actually mine.  Most of you know that I was pegged to present a

The Eaton Conference: Day Two -- Idea Overload A

As promised, here are my notes/thoughts about the Eaton Conference (part one).  Day Two should go up tomorrow or the day after.  Here goes:

Day One

The theme of the Eaton Conference this year (Global SF) proved to be an immensely informative one, not simply because I had the opportunity to be exposed to all kinds of non-Western literatures, but also because I have a fascination with SF from elsewhere, SF from diverse perspectives, and so on.  Eaton, as such, was a perfect venue for my intellectual curiosities.

The first panel we attended (my friend Loopdilou and I attended the same panels because we,

The Skiffy and Fanty Show #2.6 is live! (Torture Cinema Meets the Last Airbender)

Another painful episode is here!  The title says it all:  we spend a half hour ripping on The Last Airbender.  Feel free to listen and leave a comment with your own opinions.

As always, if you have any suggestions for bad SF/F movies we should watch, you can send us an email at skiffyandfanty[at]gmail[dot]com.

Thanks for listening.  Your regular programming shall resume shortly.

P.S.:  You'll notice that things have been quiet for about a week here.  There are good reasons for this:  1) I was at a conference last weekend; 2) I got sick as a dog when I returned; and 3) I had a very important language exam on Friday, which I might have failed in part because I was running a fever.  Don't worry.  Things will return to normal pretty soon.  Probably tonight or tomorrow.  Anywho!

The Good PhD News and the Lingering Eaton Bits

First, the good news:

I just found out that I got into the PhD program at the University of Florida.  Obviously I intend to stay and finish that whole schooling thing.  I expect to continue studying and writing about science fiction at the scholarly level, though my PhD dissertation seems to be opening up more broadly to what I am calling imaginative and antihistorical literature.  If anyone wants me to explain what those things are, feel free to leave a comment.

Second, a note about my Eaton Conference stuff:

I will be throwing up a few posts about my experiences at the conference this week at some point.  Some of that has already appeared in the most recent episodes of the Skiffy and Fanty Show (here and here), but I do want to provide a list of potential reading materials and what not, which I have done with previous conference-related editions.  The reason I'm not adding such things right now is because I left all of my notes in my checked-in luggage for the trip home.

So that's that.  Expect more from me soon!

The Eaton Conference: Day One -- American Airlines Sucks

Packing is (usually) easy enough, unless you forget something. I suppose you can guess where this is going: I forgot something. And not just any something. It’s the kind of something that isn’t exactly easy to replace, especially if you are traveling through Miami to Los Angeles.

What did I forget? My cell phone. I didn’t discover this until my friend had dropped me off at the airport and left, which is wonderfully ironic. It also turns out that the wireless Internet at the Gainesville airport was on the fritz, despite having been quite reliable in the past. Without any way to get back to my house in time, I was left with the daunting task of relaying my predicament to my other friend on the other end of the journey in Los Angeles.

This is the story of how Barnes & Noble and Facebook saved the day.

With no cell phone and no memory of the numbers of the various people I would have called in

The Skiffy and Fanty Show #2.5b -- The Eaton Edition (Day Two) is Live!

As promised, here is the second half of our discussion of our experiences at the Eaton Conference.  Next week will be all about Torture Cinema -- specifically, The Last Airbender.  It should be amusing.

Thanks for listening!