Observables #21

on Doggo and -30 degrees and Cowboy Bebop!

Kavelina Torres is my wonderful guest here on Observables this week. She teaches film studies and scriptwriting in Alaska while continuing to write Indigenous futurisms based in the Inuit worlds of the circumpolar north and female-bodied Universes.

As I let my pup out to mark and sniff out new smells, I gaze upward into the sky trying to capture the moon. I am reminded that I am old. It's cold outside. -30 degrees. It doesn't sit right on my bones. I am wearing my insulated Carhart bibs, my wool pullover, and my fake fur oligarch coat over my pajamas. The moon is bright enough to write to if a pen could be made to work. It reminds me of a story I've been kicking around for quite some time: Anlleq, a contemporary veteran deep in the midst of her wartime PTSD, goes back to her Inupiaq village to get away from the world and all its triggers. She settles outside her village with her dog, when, again, she is called on to protect her people—the ones she can save—from an invasion.

Cold, isolation, resilience, doing what needs to be done. This is what I am reminded of even as my flesh protests. I forgot my gloves and have long since lost any scarf.

Calling my puppy back in, I remind him that the moose has long since past and all he smells are ghost scents. He looks up at me and wags his tail hard enough to start a complete body shake that makes it look like he has a squiggle tail. When he's done, he lifts a paw. He's cold, too.

The cold clings to me even as I peel off layer after layer. Shivering is a process that I can't get right with. It takes so much time and energy. No matter. A nice fluffy blanket and a hot cocoa.

Inside with my cup of cocoa, we snuggle in a too small recliner. He is after all an 80 pound dog.

I whip out my trusty computer (it's 13 years old and yes, it is time for another one) to read an article on legal documents needed to set up a film. It's interesting and a great checklist to have. It has all the documents needed in one place and is definitely a second tier movie making endeavor. I may just continue to make small short films.

His big head somehow always lands on the keypad, making it difficult to read the checklist. I pick up the book that is next to me then. Right now, it's Daisy Wong to the rescue. The Many Hells of Daisy Wong: A Short Story Collection. As the name implies, it's a collection of short stories based on Daisy Wong, a detective in the solar system. This is my second reading of it. She has relatives in the Chinese mafia though she herself is not a member. Daisy is a no-nonsense detective with connections across the solar system. Her companions get her into trouble but she mostly comes out unscathed and solves the mystery. Funny, fun, and science-y fiction.

Doggo wants more attention. He has already turned around in my lap three times before I give up reading. He snuggles in, becoming deadweight when I reach for the remote and blanket. Doggo doesn't care. He snores and hides his nose, behind my elbow, pushing deeper and deeper into the recliner.

I am finishing up a rewatch of Love, Death & Robots on Netflix. I think my favorite episodes are Lucky 13 and the Secret War. Or maybe it's Sonnie's Edge or Sucker of Souls or Suits. You know... they're all good science fiction and speculative shorts, most between 16 and 18 minutes. They run the gamut displaying human problems and solutions with or without humans. There's one—Three Robots—that discusses extinct humans. The tenacity and ingenuity, love and hatred of humans and human adjacent on display from filmmakers around the world.

They give me a sense of wonder and of things not known, as well as things not seen but hinted at. The drama also captures my sense of foreboding and deliciously plays with my fears. The comic relief is just that—relief. The wonderment courses through me when I watch whole civilizations bloom and fall in under 11 minutes. Mayhaps, I will assign it to my students in the coming semester.

With my fill of Love, Death & Robots, I am now in the mood to watch something old and new at the same time. Cowboy Bebop. It's a series about bounty hunters in the six galaxies. Jet keeps complaining about not being able to see his daughter and Spike is trying to live undercover while on the run from a crime boss, while Faye is just trying to find out who she is...literally. Funny, witty, and wholesome. Not that there isn't smoking, drugs, alcohol, partying, blood, guts, gore. They just don't focus on it. Lots of tongue in cheek comments and situations. And the music! It's been a long time since I'd heard bebop and jazz and Jet's critique of the music - *lips smacking* chef's kiss! Lovely in live action. I am five episodes in and hope the next five episodes live up to what I've watched so far.

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This week Sister On! is doing something lighter (yes, we can!) for the holiday season. Stay tuned for episode #16 which drops tomorrow. Also Sister On! is getting its own newsletter. Do let me know if you want to be on that list. We will be posting recipes (reframe muffins!) and summaries of our best moments on the podcast.