Wednesday Media Consumption Roundup

[mousetrappling]

Books

Fiction: Still reading "Seveneves", Neal Stephenson, I'm about half way through now and it still hasn't got to the further future setting that I was vaguely aware of as part of the book. If it wasn't for the map at the front of the book I might be wondering if I'd got this book mixed up in my head with vague spoilers for a different book, but the map suggests not. In general enjoying it, tho I do keep getting yanked out of the story as I realise who a given character is a fictionalised version of. So far I've spotted JBF = HRC, Sean Probst = Elon Musk, Camilla = Malala, "Doob" aka Doc Dubois = Neil deGrasse Tyson. And I keep wondering who other characters "are" and whether I'd get more or less out of the book if this was my culture he was raiding for personas. I'm also not sure if they are supposed to match in personality etc, or if they're just supposed to be roughly the right type of person in order to give the setting more of a sense of verisimilitude. And all that's rather distracting.

Non-fiction: Still reading "The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East", Robert Fisk - just finished reading his discussion of the Armenian Holocaust and the direct traceable links between it and the later Jewish Holocaust. And how the Armenian one is the genocide "everyone" denies because it's politically inconvenient for the Turks and we all apparently want to be friends with Turkey.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: The Tempest: Intro then Act 1 Scene 1 - Act 2 Scene 1. I.e. setting up how Prospero is a nasty piece of work, and so's his brother.

Listening

Podcasts: ep 47-61 of The History of England - the rest of the Angevins - Richard I being actually a better king than he's sometimes cast as, and John being every bit as bad as his reputation.

Sunday Podcast: ep 17 & 18 of Living with the Gods - images where the point is that this is your copy of an image that there are many copies of through your community, and a look at understanding the meaning of images.

Music: While running I listened to Loreena McKennitt "The Mask & The Mirror"

Watching

ep 9 of Civilisations - Simon Schama looking at art of the last century or so, and coming full circle to look at the place of art in civilisation from a modern perspective. It feels like a shame the series has come to an end, I enjoyed these.

Civilisations On Your Doorstep - a companion programme by Mary Beard, looking at how and why all this art from other cultures has ended up in Britain.

ep 2 & 3 of Putin, Russia and the West - the straining of relations between Russia & the West via the elections in the Ukraine & conflict in Georgia.

ep 3 of Britain's Greatest Cathedrals - Salisbury's tourist board were being pleased this time.

ep 1 of Painting the Holy Land - Lachlan Goudie travelling around the Holy Land looking at how the art of the Passion of Christ over the centuries doesn't really depict the landscape where the events played out. Not sure if we'll watch episode two - I'd expected more travelogue/art history and less "being guided by his Children's Bible".