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Totally Not a Course on Bigfoot
Via the Idaho State Journal:
In the upcoming semester, Idaho State University professor Jeff Meldrum will be teaching an experimental course titled The Relict Hominoid Inquiry. Part of that inquiry will address scientific theories on Bigfoot, alongside other links in the human evolutionary chain.
“It’s not a course about Bigfoot,” Meldrum said. “What I’m trying to do is address a shift in perception that’s been gaining traction in the anthropological community.”
That shift involves looking at human evolution as a tree in which scientists are discovering new branches all the time.
“Each year it seems like there are more discoveries,” Meldrum said. “The phylogeny is becoming bushier and bushier.”
The theory is that offshoots of human evolution are recent and could still exist, roaming the earth undiscovered. Therein lies the course’s connection to Bigfoot. Discussion about the Yeti is also referenced in the course syllabus.
Annalee Newitz’s Review of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Remember when Peter Jackson announced he was splitting J.R.R. Tolkien’s slim volume The Hobbit into three movies? Even with Jackson’s OCD attention to detail, that seemed too much — and the entire internet worried that it would be all bloat and no heart. Well, the internet was right, at least about the third movie.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies has none of the character-building moments, nor the sense of grim forboding, that made The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug the best of this trilogy. Like The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, it’s incredibly uneven, often pointless, and full of fight scenes that lack any sense of gravitas because they are so emotionally decontextualized. Ultimately the problem here isn’t the acting or directing. It’s quite simply one of the most clearcut cases I’ve ever seen of a trilogy that failed because it should have been a single movie.
Personally, I’m holding out for a fan-edit that pares the whole thing down to the single movie it should have been from the beginning.
Sunday Inspiration: Humility
It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.
—John Wooden
Warfare in Iron Age Britain
Looking ahead to some plot points in later books in my Into the Wonder series, I’ve needed a bit of background on ancient tribal warfare that could be tweaked into something suitable for armies of Fair Folk. I’ll definitely be looking at Sue Carter’s thoughts on Warfare in Iron Age Britain preserved at the Celtic Myth Podshow blog.
What’s Going On?
Before the Christmas season completely overwhelms me, here are a few random notices about things going on in the world of Taylor Smart.
- The Devil’s Due, book two of the Into the Wonder series, is on schedule for release early next year. Certainly by February 2 (Taylor’s birthday), but earlier if possible. In this book, we’ll learn a little bit more about Taylor’s (biological) family as she and her best friend Jill go on the worst road trip ever.
- I’ve knocked out a short story revealing a little bit of the background of everybody’s favorite pooka, Danny Underhill. I’m sure it will see the light of day at some point, in some form. Stay tuned.
- It’s not too late to get book one, Children of Pride, or to leave a (glowing, gushing, effusive, etc.) review at Amazon.com.
- I have not neglected those who have asked for an Into the Wonder Facebook page. Well, actually, I have—but only until I can decide what I’d want to do with it. What would you like to see on an Into the Wonder Facebook page?
- I always have time to answer fan questions. Dana’s recent question about sídhe politics got a timely answer; your questions will, too!
- Work on the third book, with the working title Oak, Ash, and Thorn, is well underway. This one will have a somewhat different format from the first two, with the plot unfolding over a number of months instead of just a few days.
- Thanks to those who’ve found Children of Pride an enjoyable ride. More is on its way!
Sunday Inspiration: Perseverance
I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.
—Michael Jordan
In Honor of St. Nicholas’s Day
Here’s a little Greek exercise I did a couple years ago:
Μάμμη ἐπατήθην ὑπ᾽ ἐλάφου.
περὶ προτὰς χείμονος ἔβαινεν.
περὶ Ἁγίου Νικολάου ένδιαζεις;
πάππος γε κἀγὼ πιστεύομεν.
If it isn’t grammatically perfect, well, that may not be straying too far from the source material.
History Makes Fantasy Cool
So Nicole Singer at Fantasy Faction:
I’m a history major at heart, so one of the things I love seeing in fantasy is how authors draw on real-world history to fuel their worlds. Whether it be historical events, people or cultures, it always keeps me intrigued. Fantasy, perhaps more so than any genre besides historical fiction, has a chance to delve into history, play with it, and make it a powerful factor in storytelling. Here are some of my favorite examples of how history gets woven into science-fiction and fantasy.
Another aspect of history-within-fantasy that I especially enjoy is the “secret history” trope. In worlds with some sort of “masquerade,” where wizards, vampires, gods, or whatever are secretly walking among us, what additional insight could they shed on the history we think we know? What really happened in Siberia in 1908? Who really built Stonehenge, and why?
One example of this is found in Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden novels, where Bram Stoker’s Dracula was actually commissioned by a group of vampires in order to undermine a rival group by exposing all their weaknesses. Though not strictly fantasy, just about every episode of the TV show Quantum Leap revealed the protagonist interacting with real-world history in surprising and entertaining ways.
What do you think? How else can fantasy make history cool?
Darrell J. Pursiful 