Wednesday Media Consumption Roundup

[mousetrappling]

Books

Fiction: Still reading "The Bonehunters" by Steven Erikson - nearly at the end of the book, and currently hoping that one of the characters isn't as dead as he seems (it was off screen? and anyway not everyone who dies stays dead ...).

Non-fiction: Still reading "The Making of the Middle Sea", Cyprian Broodbank - finished off the chapter on the 3rd Millennium BCE (ish) with the western part of the Mediterranean which has been fairly isolated from developments in the eastern part so far. But just at the end of the period this chapter covered the level of contact starts picking up, and the sea starts shrinking (metaphorically).

Listening

Podcasts: ep 5.5 of the History of India - telling the story of the kingdom of Kashmir during (I think, I'm a bit adrift with the dates) the 8th Century CE.

ep 103-110 of The History of China - after wrapping up the An Lushan rebellion he did a retrospective of the Tang dynasty so far, and now onto more Tang Emperors who are failing to solve the same problems with the economy & their subordinates that their predecessors also failed to solve.

ep Eleanor 9 of The History of England Shedcasts - Louis and Eleanor finally get divorced.

ep Marshal 3 of The History of England Shedcasts - William's early life, including the bit where King Stephen threatens to kill him in order to get his father to surrender but his father calls Stephen's bluff.

ep 214 of The China History Podcast - first part of a biography of V. K. Wellington Koo (who was a mover & shaker in Chinese diplomacy when WW1 was ending).

Sunday podcast: Listened to an episode of In Our Time about Papal Infallibility - which is rather more recent as an actual defined thing than I'd realised, and also a lot more restricted than the pop cultural impression.

Music: While running I listened to The Monkees and ABBA, still quite into the pop. To drown out the TV sounds so I could write I listened to another Dreamboats & Petticoats CD (more Bill Haley), and something by Bill Laswell called "Lo-Def Pressure" (instrumental, two long tracks filling a whole album, and surprisingly enjoyable).

Watching

ep 3 of Guitar, Drum & Bass - guitars this time, presented by Lenny Kaye. Mostly concentrating on the history of the different effects & sounds that the guitar can be used to produce. Really enjoyed this series.

ep 2 of Icons - this covered Explorers, which I first thought might be a bit lame when I read it was one of the categories, but actually it was still interesting. Tho it did stretch the definition of Explorer a bit to include Jane Goodall who I'd put into Scientist, myself. (The other three were Ernest Shackleton, Gertrude Bell & Neil Armstrong).

ep 1 of 100 Days to Victory - two part series about the ending of WW1, aired last year around the centenary of the end of it. Very focused on what the Australians & Canadians brought to the ending of the war.

Towards Tomorrow: Robot - a 1967 programme about the future of Robots, which included Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke as talking heads. Mostly interesting for how wrong they (all) got it.

ep 3 of Animals with Cameras - finishing off the series, which we'd almost forgotten we were watching. Fairly lightweight and fluffy, but fun to watch.

Jazzology with Soweto Kinch - a look at the history & philosophy of jazz with a strong focus on its African-American and/or Caribbean roots. Interesting, and an insight into a different way of engaging with music than mine.