Sunday Morning Coffee: "Harlequin," Lunacon, and Middle-Earth More Real Than the New Yorker

[Dave Grusin, Lee Ritenour, Ivan Lins, "Harlequin," 1985]


[Margaret Organ-Kean, "Masque," no date, c. 2008]


[Matthew Stewart, "Dernhelm," 2009]


[K.M. Kotulak, "Hiberno-Curio," 2009]


[Christy Grandjean, a.k.a, Goldenwolf, "Spirit Hunter," 2007]


[Donato Giancola, "Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire," 2009]

Coffee is ready! We're listening to "Harlequin" this morning, recalling the show by vocalist Ivan Lins at the Blue Note in the Village a few years ago.

The lobster and the canary participated last weekend in Lunacon, the oldest science fiction/fantasy convention in New York. The usual variety of panels and talks. Most impressive was the art show, featuring works by (among many others) Margaret Organ-Kean, Matthew Stewart, K.M. Kotulak, Christy Grandjean, and Donato Giancola. Giancola also painted a picture of Smaug, the dragon in The Hobbit, in front of a rapt crowd, genially explaining his choices as the painting emerged before our eyes. The canary snapped photos of Giancola in action, which we will post this week.

Lobster stirs his coffee with one claw, and savors this quote from Ross Douthat in the March 25th New York Times:

"The whole reason that modern fantasy, in all its various guises, has proven such a potent genre is precisely because it seems to capture more of reality than its technically-more-realistic competitors. Fantasy re-enchants our disenchanted world, and recaptures something essential to mortal experience along the way: Whether you literally believe in fairies or not, a great fairy tale is truer to the richness of human affairs than many “New Yorker” short stories. I’ve felt this with many fantasy writers, but like many readers I felt it first and strongest with Tolkien — and whenever I return to him, I feel it still."

Click here for the entire essay.