Once Upon a Time Challenge and Internet Fluff · 10 May 2007
I’m entering a bit late, but I’ve decided to participate in Stainless Steel Droppings' Once Upon a Time Challenge. The 2007 challenge focuses on the different genres of storytelling: mythology, folklore, fairytale, and fantasy.
Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings has graciously offered the participants a choice of four “quests” to complete as part of the event.
Quest One: Read at least 5 books from any of the 4 genres.
Quest Two: Read at least one book from each of the four genres of story-Mythology, Folklore, Fairytale, and Fantasy.
Quest Three: Read at least one book from each of the four genres of story, and finish up the challenge with a June reading of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Quest Four: Read at least one book from the four genres.
I’m ambitiously signing up for quest two (having already cheated a bit by gorging myself on fantasy last week and pre-written two reviews).
Sebastian and Belladonna will be my selections from the fantasy genre. I doubt time will permit, but if it does, I may also review the handful of other fantasy books I’ve read in May which include A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin; Cast In Courtlight by Michelle Sagara; The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold; and The Novice by Trudy Canavan. (Yes, I did glut myself on fantasy while I was sick).
The Hawk's Gray Feather by Patricia Keenealy will be my selection from the mythology genre. Unburnable by Maria Elena-John will be my selection from the folklore genre. I ordered both these books today and hope they’ll get here shortly! If I have time, I’ll also be reading Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman since it’s been in my “must read” pile for about a month now (I’m sure my sister will appreciate having her copy back too ;) )
My fantasy selection is as yet unpicked. I’ll be hitting up the used book stores this weekend in attempt to find one of the following: Briar Rose by Jane Yolen; The Fox Woman by Kij Johnson; or The Girl Who Trod On A Loaf by Kathryn Davis. If I can’t find any of those, I’ve got Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke sitting on the shelf waiting to be read. I found The Endicot Studio’s Fairytale List quite helpful in making my selections for this section, since it’s not a genre I habitually read from.
All participants in the challenge are linking to their reviews on the Reading Challenge Reviews Site so, if you’re interesting in following along, go on over there to check out what everyone else is reading and talking about.
I know the food posts have been a bit light lately. I was sick, which didn’t inspire much cooking. Finals are next week, which doesn’t leave much time for trying anything new and interesting. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that you guys really don’t want to read an essay about the spaghetti with store bought sauce I made on Tuesday. I’ve got some interesting dishes planned out for the next few days, but they don’t really tie into anything that I’ve read recently. I may wax prosaically about Spring and the bounty of fresh food here in San Diego right now.
Until then, the food aficionados can check out altoids.com. It won a Webby award last week for the best food and beverage site, which makes me wonder what food fans are really looking for in their websites.
The site is laid out as a tribute to something of a cross between an old fashioned circus and variety show. It has a sideshow attraction type feel to the various interactive features. It’s fun, but not very informative. I spent about 10 minutes on the site. I got to “shoot” the lineup of Altoids products in a moving shooting gallery, but when I’d successfully downed a product, all I got was a two sentence advertising blurb on the product. For example, I now know that cinnamon mints are the “fiery addition to the Altoids family certain to heat up the mint category and tempt curiously strong fans everywhere.” The site also includes a collection of old ads, which is cool and nostalgic, but again provides very little information.
The nutritional facts are hidden far behind the glitz of the main site in, of all places, the “Contact Us” tab. I got the feeling that the designers of Altoids.com didn’t want to distract the user with all those “pesky details.”
I suppose that as an advertising tool, the Altoids site succeeds. It’s sexy and hip. There’s a marionette show, a mentalist (who’s not very good at guessing what you're thinking), and bearded (lady?) that you can paint with any number of beard brushes. But, I can’t help feeling that Web 2.0 is at times moving website design away from sites that offer information to sites that primarily entertain.
As a final aside, since this site does try to cater to the spread of information, does anyone know an English verb for “to add hair?” Depilate is “to remove hair” but the “pilate” on its own translates roughly to “pluck” and isn’t a word in its own right. I couldn’t come up with anything better than “grow” or “cultivate” for the bearded lady process and finally settled on “paint” since it’s an art web-application.
Altoids,
Fairytale,
Fantasy,
Folklore,
Mythology,
Once Upon a Time Challenge,
Webby Awards
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Nymeth · 11 May 2007, 00:32
Anansi Boys is one of my favourite books – I hope you enjoy it!
And I also hope you find “Briar Rose “by Jane Yolen. It’s a beautiful, poignant story that I think is very difficult not to love. “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell” is good as well, though. “The Fox Woman” sounds very interesting, it’s been on my list for a while.
I’d never heard of “Unburnable”, and it really sounds like something I’d like. I normally love books that have to do with Caribbean history and lore.
Great choices!
Quixotic · 11 May 2007, 01:56
Welcome to the challenge! Love your site design by the way.
As Nymeth said, hope you enjoy Anansi Boys, it’s a great book.
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is a favourite of mine, hope you enjoy that when you get round to it.
Would be interested if you get round to reviewing A Game of Thrones, I read that one recently for the challenge.
Kim · 13 May 2007, 12:24
Thank you both. It’s great to read all the participant’s comments and be a part of the challenge :)
naridu · 13 May 2007, 21:09
hehe, I too can’t help but keep singing up for more of these challenges. Anansi Boys and A Game of Thrones are on my list too, I look forward to comparing reviews with you :D
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