What are you reading, watching and listening to? - All languages

[Jonlang]

I recently read Stephen Fry's Mythos. It was rather enjoyable, comparable to Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology in its approach.

[xxx]

Igorrr: ieuD (doG)
I do not know the (con)language of this French singer...

[MacAnDàil]

I just started The Norman Conquest, by Marc Morris. Pretty well written, IMO. About an Anglo-Danish war about half a century before the conquest, Morris writes

The English remained paralyzed by their own rivalries until the following April, at which point [English king] Æthelred made an invaluable contribution to the war effort by dropping dead [...]

I read several books on the Normans recently for a paper I gave online in Cameroon comparing the origins of Scots and Réunionese Creole. Some of the sources were:

Barrow, G.W.S. (1980). The Anglo-Norman Era in Scottish History. Oxford : Clarendon.
Grant, Alexander (2013). “At the Northern Edge: Alba and its Normans”. In Jotischky, Andrew and Keith J. Stringer (eds), Norman Expansion. Connections, Continuities and Contrasts. Farnham: Stringer, 49–85.
Sharpe, Richard (2011). “People and languages in eleventh- and twelfth-century Britain and Ireland: reading the charter evidence”. In Broun, Dauvit (ed.), The Reality behind Charter Diplomatic in Anglo-Norman Britain, Glasgow: ?, 62-102, 116-19.
Stringer, Keith J. (2013). “Aspects of the Norman Diaspora in Northern England and Southern Scotland”. In Jotischky, Andrew and Keith J. Stringer (eds), Norman Expansion. Connections, Continuities and Contrasts. Farnham : Stringer, 9–47.

As for Igorrr, I just found that it's a conlang: https://oxxo-xoox.bandcamp.com/album/r-v-rt-2011

[Jonlang]

Has anyone read the recently published The Anglo-Saxons by Marc Morris?

[Raphael]

I've now finished Clarke's 2001. So that's where zompist got the idea for "If All Stories Were Written Like Science Fiction Stories"!

Has anyone read the recently published The Anglo-Saxons by Marc Morris?

No; I've thought about buying it, but I haven't done so yet.

[Jonlang]

It's on my Christmas list at the moment, so I'll leave it there for the time being

[Raphael]

I've been reading some stuff by Arthur C. Clarke lately, admittedly in order to distract myself from the state of the world. Some of his writings haven't aged well, and I wouldn't really recommend him, given that you sometimes come across individual passages that are quite offensive. But, that said, some passages hold up pretty well. A short essay with the title "The Lunatic Fringe", written apparently at some point in the 1960s or 1970s and published in the non-fiction collection "Voices from the Sky", contains passages that sound eerily prescient in the Covid-19 era:

You may feel that this is making too much of something that affects only a small part (one hopes) of the total population. It is true that in the past crankiness and eccentricity did little harm, and even added a certain spice to society. A generation ago, flat-Earthers, end-of-the-World cultists, and disciples of weird religions caused no embarrassment outside their immediate circle. But we are moving now into a complex and perilous age, where credulity and superstition are luxuries that can no longer be afforded. For consider this example:

In 1843, fifty thousand followers of the prophet William Miller gathered on New England hilltops to await the expected hour of judgment. The advent of a great comet, its tail streaming like a fiery banner across the sky, seemed to them a sign that the end of the world was at hand.

Men are still watching the sky for signs of doom; but now they look into radar screens. And here is the important difference; the beliefs of fifty thousand Millerites could have no influence, one way or the other, upon the end of the world, but today, when we can carry the power of Vesuvius in a single warhead, the fears or delusions of only fifty men could bring it about.

This is an extreme case; but all forms of irrationality are dangerous, because in the right circumstances they can spread like a plague, infecting not only a community but an entire nation. Those concerned may be very ashamed of themselves afterwards, but by then the damage may be done.

You cannot build an informed democracy out of people who’ll believe in little green men from Venus. Credulity-willingness to accept unsupported statements without demanding proof—is the greatest ally of the dictator and the demagogue.

Forms of irrationality spreading like a plague, infecting entire nations, and, thanks to the opportunities of the modern world, causing a lot more damage than they could have caused in the past? Sound familiar?

A bit later, there's this:

Unfortunately, common sense has always been rather rare. As a reminder of this, let me quote two final examples of mass stupidity, which may also help to dispel the idea that it is an United States monopoly.

During the darkest days of the First World War, the rumor swept the length and breadth of Britain that troops were arriving from Russia in huge numbers (this was before the Revolution) to reinforce the crumbling western front. Thousands of honest Britons “saw” them at ports and railway stations, and millions believed the rumor, because they wanted to. And how did the observers know that these soldiers were actually Russians? Not because they said so—but because they had snow on their boots.

That little detail was the clincher, as far as most people were concerned. They never stopped to ask if even Russian snow would survive the long sea voyage from Murmansk to Scotland.

Am I the only one whom this reminds a bit of those supposed exposers of "election fraud" in the USA who claim to have proven that many ballots were forged in China by supposedly finding bamboo fibers in the ballots?

[Nortaneous]

it'd be trivial to sell preppers on bamboo fiber. and then i could buy bamboo locally for cheap. why has no one done this. am i the only person who remembers the spate of articles around 2014 like "why are tea partiers getting into photovoltaic cells"

Igorrr: ieuD (doG)
I do not know the (con)language of this French singer...

there's an entire circle of french conlang zeuhltronica people. igorrr, öxxö xööx, rïcïnn, various permutations thereof (corpo-mente, whourkr), etc.

[rotting bones]

I'm skimming through books I've read before, like:

Nihil Unbound by Ray Brassier

The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee

Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress

[Ares Land]

Chronicles of a Liquid Society by Umberto Eco. Another collection of chronicles writtent for the Italian magazine l'Espresso.

I'm always extremely impressed and fascinated by Eco's cleverness. Who knew human beings could be that smart?

[fusijui]

I've been re-watching the Hap & Leonard TV series, sorta prompted by Michael K. Williams' recent death. It's not knock-me-down drama, but I'm finding it works better than it has any real business doing.

[rotting bones]

I recently finished Mesquita's Logic and Sandkings by GRR Martin: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aE_fnO ... sp=sharing https://forwearemany.files.wordpress.co ... dkings.pdf

[Ares Land]

I went to see the new Dune last night. I really liked it.

I didn't know Peterson was to do some conlanging. Each faction getting its own language was a nice touch, but what I really like was the gorgeous script and the sign language.

[Foolster41]

I'm currently reading "A desolation called peace" by Arakady Maritine, a follow-up to her Hugo award winning novel "A memory called empire" which I thoroughly enjoyed. Both are sorts of diplomatic space operas with political conspiracy. What I enjoyed most I think of both is the characters.

The first book is about a Mahit from a space station living humans who's a diplomat to the Talaxian empire. She carries in her head the personality and memories of her predecessor in something called an Imago machine (a closely guarded secret of her people), allowing her to basically talk to his ghost when he was uploaded about 20 years ago.

But when she travels to the Talaxian empire (both as diplomat, and to learn the fate of what happened to the diplomat before her) she soon finds her imago machine failing. She meets her Talaxian counterpart in the Information ministry, "guide and door-opener" Three Seagrass (a bit of an adorable gremlin). they both discover a conspiracy that perhaps her predecessor was wrapped up in to overthrow the current emperor, which may have implications of both Talaxia and the station where Mahit comes from

[Raholeun]

I went to see the new Dune last night. I really liked it.

I didn't know Peterson was to do some conlanging. Each faction getting its own language was a nice touch, but what I really like was the gorgeous script and the sign language.

I went to the movie theater yesterday with my sister to see it. We did not really have time to discuss the film, but it seems we both enjoyed the movie. The cinematography was quite unique and fitting to the story, and the languages and script were enjoyable too. However, I am not too big on fight scenes and this movie was packed with them. Only when the sequel comes out, do I dare compare with Lynch's version (which I actually rank quite highly).

[hwhatting]

I'm currently reading "A desolation called peace" by Arakady Maritine, a follow-up to her Hugo award winning novel "A memory called empire" which I thoroughly enjoyed. Both are sorts of diplomatic space operas with political conspiracy. What I enjoyed most I think of both is the characters.

The first book is about a Mahit from a space station living humans who's a diplomat to the Talaxian empire.

The first book was reviewed by zomp here.

[MacAnDàil]

I've been reading Cal Newport's Digital Minimalism. Indeed, I'll be leaving non-essential internet for the next thirty days.

[Ares Land]

I've been reading Cal Newport's Digital Minimalism. Indeed, I'll be leaving non-essential internet for the next thirty days.

Ah, I understand the impulse. Hope we count as essential

I went to the movie theater yesterday with my sister to see it. We did not really have time to discuss the film, but it seems we both enjoyed the movie. The cinematography was quite unique and fitting to the story, and the languages and script were enjoyable too. However, I am not too big on fight scenes and this movie was packed with them. Only when the sequel comes out, do I dare compare with Lynch's version (which I actually rank quite highly).

I have fond memories of Lynch's version. I don't think it's really a good movie. But some parts of it were really nicely done.

I'm re-reading the Dune series. Frank Herbert's books, I mean. (Maybe I'll give the prequels another chance.)

The first Dune book is still a real masterpiece. I have divided feelings on the rest of the series. God-Emperor is very touching. There's a lot of good to be said about Children of Dune -- Farad'n and Alia are a lot more interesting than the Baron Harkonnen ever was. I'm even warming up to Heretics of Dune.

It's clear, though, that Frank Herbert wasn't working as hard and that nobody dared edit his sacred writings at this point. That is a problem, because these books really needed editing.
Sometimes he's just sloppy (a common issue is when characters remember thing they can't possibly remember). Sometimes you get entire paragraphs that sound deep, but make no sense whatsoever. (Sometimes it's entire chapters.)

[alynnidalar]

Sometimes you get entire paragraphs that sound deep, but make no sense whatsoever. (Sometimes it's entire chapters.)

That would be why I bailed after God Emperor of Dune and wondered why I didn't bail earlier.

In retrospect the only ones I genuinely enjoyed were Dune and Children of Dune.

[MacAnDàil]

I've been reading Cal Newport's Digital Minimalism. Indeed, I'll be leaving non-essential internet for the next thirty days.

Ah, I understand the impulse. Hope we count as essential

I did intend to have a break from the zbb, but I haven't managed to stick to my idea i.e. only using the internet for studies and work. It would be a good diea, considering the amount of work I have to do at the moment (10 hours work tomorrow, 6 hours the owermorrow, seminar on Wednesday afternoon and conference the following three days. I was partly distracted by the dispute over at the English Wikipedia page on the far right polemicist Eric Zemmour.