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Ambitious New Novel by Sheri S. Tepper

The MargaretsSherri Tepper is a prolific writer of both science fiction and fantasy. Her latest novel is an ambitious work the is for-the-most-part a success. The Margarets takes place far in the future. Margaret is a twelve-year old girl living on Mars’ moon Phobos with her parents. Terrans have for the most part destroyed the Earth through overpopulation and much of the population has abandoned the planet for colonies on other worlds. However interstellar races who advanced earlier than Earthians have been keeping an eye on them. There is some indecision as to whether or not the human race should be allowed to continue to exist.

Some of the races who sit in judgment of humanity are benevolent, while others are vile, living only for torture, pain and cruelty. The former have set in motion a plan to prove that Earthians are worthy, and in the process, give them a gift to help them mature as a race. Central to this plan in young Margaret. As a child, Margaret invented six different aspects of herself, imaginary playmates, to keep loneliness at bay as the only child on the colony. There was Wilvia, the Queen; Naumi, the warrior; a spy, a healer and more. When Margaret and her parents are sent back to earth, and then several years later, when Margaret is forced to leave the planet forever, her other selves are lost to her. Yet in reality, and unveknownst to Margaret, each of her six other selves follow a different path and flourish on different colonies, some finding great hardship and pain, while others have families and find love.

In the end, Margaret must bring all her selves together to help save the human race, with the help of some pretty remarkable beings created out of Tepper’s incredibly fertile imagination. The dozens of races and beings Tepper creates in The Margarets is impressive, and there is very little that seems tired or familiar. My main complaint comes with such a large cast and massive landscape that some areas seem glossed over or too quickly resolved. Already clocking in at just over 500 pages, The Margarets could have used a couple hundred more to truly explore Tepper’s ideas.

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Halfway Through the Movie Year

Chris beat me to it, but as it’s halfway through the year, I thought I’d report in on my favorite films of 2007 so far. It’s been a strong year for film so far. When I did my first cut for my top 10 so far, I came up with 15 films. Of course, I am including films that I saw at Film Festivals as well as general release. Usually the fall brings an influx of strong independent film so theoretically there will be lots of exciting film to come. That and the Toronto International Film Festival in September will certainly change the landscape of my top films. You can find reviews for many of these films at the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film site. And without further ado…

  1. Away from herAway from her
  2. Linda! Linda! Linda!
  3. Monkey Warfare
  4. Waitress
  5. Once
  6. Protagonist
  7. Climates
  8. The Secret Life of Words
  9. The Wayward Cloud
  10. The Lives of Others
  11. America the Beautiful
  12. Paprika
  13. The Bubble
  14. Brand Upon the Brain
  15. Colma: the Musical

It’s a great international showing so far, with ten different countries represented by the 15 films. After last year’s disappointing showing, Canadian films are represented three times, most notably in the 1st and 3rd spots. Four of the Top 1o films featured women directors, including the #1 film, and the top rated documentary.

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I’m worried about the honeybee

HoneybeeTo some, it may come as quite a surprise that I am quite enamored of the honeybee, or as it is sometimes called, Apis mellifera. Imagine my surprise as I was reading the June 2007 issue of Wired to find an article on the widespread demise of the honeybee! We’re talking some serious stuff here, that could have a pretty bad impact on anyone who eats, specifically anyone whose diet consists of fruits or vegetables. Apparently there is a well-respected entomologist named Jerry Bromenshenk from the University of Montana who has dubbed this potential catastrophe “colony collapse disorder.” Unfortunately, the cause of colony collapse disorder is proving a little tricky to discover. The current theory has to do with new chemicals being used as agricultural pesticides that could be having a long-term effect on bees that is yet to be discovered. It is documented that these pesticides cause disorientation in insects, and over time, it is possible that there could be an effect on the bees’ navigational abilities. It’s possible that the bees leave the hive to forage for pollen and simply can’t find their way back.

I’m worried about my little friend the honeybee! (I have been known to pat honeybees as they forage). And before you make fun of me, this situation is important enough to show up not only in Wired, but in the New York Times and CNN.

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New and Improved!

While it’s true that I celebrated another birthday yesterday, the title of this entry is not referring to me, but to the lovely birthday gift given to me by my sweet husband. I’ve been complaining for a while about the fact that my laptop is so big and heavy. Sure, I picked it out a few years ago, thinking I needed the big screen for any online movie viewing I did, but it turns out that’s just not the case. With all the traveling I do for work it has become ever-so-apparent, that more important than the size of the screen is how heavy it is.

Sony Vaio VBH-SZ430NBTherefore, let me introduce you to the Sony Vaio VGN-SZ430NB! Those of you who are interested are welcome to check out its specs at the Sony site. Let me just say that it’s adorable. Compact, lightweight, with the new Windows Vista OS that does some pretty things (although my technical advisor is still working out all the differences between Vista and XP.) It’s also got a built in camera and microphone, which is pretty cool.

Other than that, my birthday was very nice. Nothing too exciting (I had to work), but it started off beautifully weather-wise, before morphing into a dark, stormy, thunderous downpour. The gang at work had a cake, and then our pals Gianna and Sarah joined me and Scot for dinner at the Centre Street Cafe. After dinner we stopped by Gianna and Sarah’s place to see the first episode of Gianna’s latest obsession, Bad Girls. My-oh-my, it’s a soapy drama about a women’s prison. Could be lots of fun.

So now it’s the day after my birthday, but the fun continues this weekend when I get to celebrate with more of my friends. And if you’re wondering? I’m not typing this on the new laptop. It’s still being set up. But soon…

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Musical FAME to be remade by MGM

I know it happens all the time, but when films that I saw as an adult (okay, 18 years old) that are now being remade make me feel old. Of course the film will be updated to reflect the youth of today, with rap, hip-hop and other newer sounds. Will the kids be texting each other and into social networking too? Why not just make a brand new film about New York School of Performing Arts? Read the article.