So, I am reading - a decade a day - the late great Tony Husband’s book The 20th Century in Cartoons” (to be clear, he selected them, he didn’t draw them.) See also The Onion’s Our Dumb Century. This decade, in my mind is one of…the good times not rolling, having malaria etc. What I... Continue Reading →
I am doing remedial accumulation of cultural capital - (having done Bill Shakespeare, Sherlock Holmes and the New Testament I've moved on to other fiction - Ovid's Metamorphoses. Mostly this stuff goes in one eye and out the other, because you don't use it so much in Day to Day life. Occasionally though, it's sooo... Continue Reading →
So, I am reading - a decade a day - the late great Tony Husband’s book The 20th Century in Cartoons” (to be clear, he selected them, he didn’t draw them.) See also The Onion’s Our Dumb Century. This decade, in my mind is one of…horror. Extreme violence and then the promise of nuclear war.... Continue Reading →
What this project is about. This one is from Book 2. How long it took to read this (aloud): 3mins 2 secs What it’s “about”: Jove being an asshole and, in disguise as a bull, preying on a young woman (Europa). So, totally different from most other of these stories Words I didn’t know: none... Continue Reading →
There is a fine new Australian film exploring old (ancient) anxieties about being lonely and lost in the vast ‘alien’ spaces of the Australian continent. It’s not quite as good as 1978’s Long Weekend, but it could (should) easily be on a double bill because it would hold its own and provoke further thoughts. Alphabet... Continue Reading →
Went a bit quiet, for reasons of idleness, biography and geography. Will make up for lost time (which, actually, you know, you can't really do). Watch this space, for stuff on ANZAC/Australia, the responsibility of NGOs, some book reviews and rants etc.
A Short History of the World in 50 lies by Natasha Tidd. I bought this for two quid in Glossop last September, (and have still not forgiven my best friend from preventing me from entering charity shops - the bastard!). It does what it says on the tin "reveals an alternative perspective on history as... Continue Reading →
I am listening to an extraordinary podcast (see below). First though, a couple of preliminaries for those who don't know. During the Cuban Missile Crisis there was a Soviet submarine with nukes being depth charged by the Americans. Communications with Moscow were lost, the temperature was rising because the air-conditioning was on the blink and... Continue Reading →
I was, to my wife's exasperation, a (very) late adopter of mobile phone technology; I have luddite tendencies, after all. Anyway, this isn't about me (it turns out some things aren't! Who knew). This is about how we think about mobiles. They are sold as wonderboxes that have the world's knowledge at our fingertips. As... Continue Reading →
As some of you may recall, I have been (for several years, intermittently) learning to juggle. I can do some basic three ball tricks, and am now reasonably adept at 4 balls (various patterns). Over the last few weeks I have been doing the drills that help you get to five (short version - you... Continue Reading →
marchudson.net 