Interesting Tidbits

I recently heard about two kickstarter campaigns that I thought I'd mention here, as they sound interesting.  I haven't committed to either one yet, but the first one especially interests me.

Bart Leib of Crossed Genres wants to fund an anthology with a very interesting theme:

Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction From the Margins of History 

Most written chronicles of history, and most speculative stories, put rulers, conquerors, and invaders front and center. People with less power, money, or status—enslaved people, indigenous people, people of color, queer people, laborers, women, people with disabilities, the very young and very old, and religious minorities, among others—are relegated to the margins. Today, mainstream history continues to perpetuate one-sided versions of the past while mistelling or erasing the stories of the rest of the world.

There is a long and honorable legacy of literary resistance to erasure. This anthology partakes of that legacy. It will feature stories from the margins of speculative history, each taking place between 1400 and the early 1900s and putting a speculative twist—an element of science fiction, fantasy, horror, or the unclassifiably strange—on real past events. 

Our plan is to include about 20 stories, or about 100,000 words. The anthology will be released in trade paperback and DRM-free digital formats in the first quarter of 2014. 

They've got quite a line-up of international authors for this, including Aliette de Bodard, Ken Liu and Nnedi Okorafor.  At the $10 pledge mark you get a digital copy of the collection.  Check out their page for more information.

The next kickstarter is for a film called Fire Clouds by Hawt Sawce, a Toronto director.  Here's a short video that shows the style of art they want to use and the film's premise:



I'm not sure I'm keen on the art style, but the story sounds interesting.  You don't get the film (even in digital format) until the $50 mark, which seems high to me.  You can find more info about the project here.

Finally, I love Old Spice's marketing.  They have fantastic commercials and then my husband noticed this on his deodorant:

Oh yeah. :D