barkingstars

Books

I read Picnic on Craggy Island by Lissa Evans. She is an author now but she had been the producer of Father Ted for two series and these are her recollections. An essential read for Ted fans that doesn’t overstay its welcome. My review is here.

I also finished Dead Lions by Mick Herron, the second book in the Slough House series. It rattled along entertainingly enough but the plot was so catastrophically dumb that I can’t bring myself to read anymore of these. My full review is here

I also read some books about AI for work but I’m not sure I can be bothered to review them.

Currently I am reading The Book of Evidence by John Banville. It is the confession of a murderer. I came across this book via AI. I prompted the AI to recommend some books for someone who likes Robertson Davies, Graham Greene, Julian Barnes and John Le Carre. It gave 12 recommendations with detailed rationales. I can’t say if these were ‘correct’ recommendations, as if there is such a thing, but they were much better than other book recommendation engines that I’ve come across. Each choice was intriguing and I will definitely try two of them. I might dabble with AI a bit more for book recommendations, this does seem like a good use case.

Rampant consumerism

Previously I mentioned I was getting into the Rubik’s Cube. This week I thought I would buy the official deluxe version. It looks just like the model you would have seen in the eighties except it has plastic coloured inserts instead of labels. It has a lovely weight and solidity to it and is very pleasing to play with.

Exhibitions

Sienna 1300-1350, National Gallery

This is an exhibition covering five painters from the Sienna region of Italy, from 1300 to 1350. Now, honestly, I am not much into religious art as a rule. I find most of it mannered and repetitive. I guess those church sponsors were pretty conservative and knew what they wanted. This exhibition is mostly religious icons and sculptures. Not really my thing, but for those who love this stuff then this is a rare opportunity to see the best work of its kind, some of which hasn’t been presented together for centuries.

Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur, Wallace Collection

Perry has created a large range of new artworks inspired by the Wallace Collection. Clearly he has some ambivalence about the Collection which he occasionally expresses in the work. To create a path through this work he appears to have created a character who has a history within the building. Why do I say ‘appears’?

Now, I do not like audio tours. I see people walking around with them, oblivious to all around them, in a trance. All the time you can hear psspsspsspsspss emanating from their heads like someone summoning a cat. Yes, I know they are useful for many people, and essential for some with disabilities. I’m not calling for a ban, I just don’t like them. However in this exhibition I assume that understanding Perry’s central conceits would have been far easier if I had accepted one of the free audio guides. So if my understanding of the central conceits of this exhibition seem a bit woolly, this is why. Anyway, where was I?

Perry has created a fictional artist who is also a cross dresser and he has presented art that is purported to be theirs. As you’d expect, there is a mix of media including plates, pots, tapestries, fabrics, dresses, wallpaper, paintings and prints.

Perry is playful and he has a lot of fun with this collection. I particularly enjoyed the dress made from Perry’s specially designed fabrics. Highly recommended!

Rampant consumerism

I bought a Rubick’s cube (or rather, a cheap but rather nice knock-off). Like every Gen Xer I had a Rubik’s cube as a kid. I didn’t have the patience for it and could only solve a couple of sides. Very frustrating. I thought it would be fun to get one now and learn how to solve it. There are algorithms you can learn that can consistently get you to the solution.

I’ve been watching this video a lot, but for the final stage where you reorient the corners on the yellow side I needed to use this page.

I see why I struggled as a kid. There’s no way I would have worked this out on my own!

Anyway, I’ve been making good progress and have been able to solve the cube a few times. You might think that having the solution right in front of you means it is very easy. I can tell you that following these solutions is often a bit of a mind melter. It’s more like learning to play an instrument than solve a puzzle. I spent a lot of time trying to work out how to replay the moves in the right order and trying to get my reluctant hands to do the right thing. And of course if you get the moves wrong you mess up the whole cube and have to start all over again. Despite that I am really enjoying the challenge and it’s forcing my brain to do things it’s not really used to.

Books

I finished The Kremlin Letter by Noel Bohr. My review is here.

I was also inspired by recent interest to read Cubed: The Puzzle of Us All by Erno Rubrik, the inventor of the Rubik’s Cube. My review is here

I enjoyed this quote, where Rubik explains his feelings the first time he mixed up the cube shortly after building it:

And so it was with that first scrambled Cube: I found myself in a totally unfamiliar landscape. I had to solve all the problems that would never have existed if I hadn’t created the Cube. Or created the possibility for them to demonstrate themselves. The colors were now so confused that whatever thrill of accomplishment I may have had in assembling it in the first place became utter discouragement. It was as if I were staring blankly at a secret code, which I myself had created but could not penetrate.

Films

I finally saw Kneecap, the supposed true story of Belfast’s finest hip-hop act. My review is here.

TV

Poker Face continues to be a lot of fun, this time with Giancarlo Esposito running a funeral home.

The third episode of this season of Taskmaster was very funny but I won’t spoil it. This group of contestants are proving to be very chaotic which is a joy to watch.

Exhibitions

The Face Magazine: Culture Shift

I’ve never read an edition of The Face in my life but it’s always been a presence. Staring out from magazine racks or posters on walls. I was never remotely fashionable, and in fact I have an unfortunate reflex that makes me recoil from anything fashionable or popular, so it didn’t seem to be my thing. But there is no denying the quality of the photography and graphic design that made it so distinct.

I really enjoyed the musicians and pop culture portraits, as well as the clubbing photography, which are vibrant and exciting. I was less engaged with the fashion photography which, with some notable exceptions, seemed more staged and static. It feels to me that something was lost when the mag became edgy Vogue, but I suppose fashions change and fashionable magazines must change with them.

Edvard Munch – Portraits

A little know fact is that Edvard’s middle name was Munster. Munch isn’t celebrated as a portraitist so this is an opportunity to see him in a different light. This is a small exhibition with probably not more than 30 items. His portraits are very good, and he sometimes finds ways to express the character of his subjects, but some others would be rather dull if it wasn’t for his incredible use of colour. One portrait of a wealthy patron was abandoned because the subject, who apparently was doing nothing else but quietly posing, angered Munch so much he punched the canvas. I wonder if the lack of inspiration in some of these paintings hints that they were done out of duty rather than love.

But there is great stuff here, and any Munch lover will enjoy this new look at his work.

One of the cards next to a portrait (of Jappe Nilssen I think) tells a tale. The first paragraph tells us that Munch was excited to begin a portrait of his hero. In the second paragraph we are told that the subject was ambivalent about the painting and felt that, while he loved Munch’s work, he felt he had displayed a cruel streak in the way he had portrayed him. I find something quite touching and funny about this failure of two men to communicate their feelings.

Music

I mentioned Madison Cunningham’s track Hospital in last weeks post. I can confirm that the album that track comes from, Revealer, is really fantastic. It’s a bit folky, a bit country, but what really makes it shine is her restless search for original sounds and every track brings something new.

Roberta Fidora has been putting out great singles and videos recently and here is her latest.

I’ve also been enjoying the new Mclusky album. I never got into Mclusky before but have been a fan of Future of the Left for some time.

Finally, I’ve been listening to Weirdo by Emma-Jean Thackray. My jazz tastes are usually for instrumental rather than vocal but I’m really liking this. Much like Revealer this is an album where there are constant little shifts in styles and lots of ideas. And look at that cover – it reminds me of the bathroom from The Shining.

Theatre

Austentatious

For those who don’t know, this is an improvised Jane Austen adaptation based on a title provided by an audience member. During this performance audience members suggested ‘Mansplain Hark’, ‘Investment and Insolvency’ but thankfully they plumped for ‘Mary Shelley comes to dinner’. It became apparent that Percy Shelley had been assembled by Mary Shelley, but due to a tragic accident in her laboratory he would turn into a chicken man at midnight. You had to be there.

This is the third time I’ve seen this live, having also seen the recordings. They are consistently very funny. It would be easy to just undercut the Austen environment and have stuffy Georgians make modern cultural references, and there is a little of that, but they manage to be much wittier, sillier and wide-ranging than just doing the obvious, easy gags. It is remarkable how they manage to consistently deliver with every performance.

Apparently they are doing shows for the rest of year in London and touring around the country. I would recommend it.

Films

I saw Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu. I hated it. Here’s my review.

TV

I’ve just seen the first episode of Poker Face season 2. I really enjoyed the first season, especially as you can see they are trying to bring back some of the joy of Columbo. Personally I still think TV hasn’t got much better than Columbo so I’m very much the target audience. Also, Natasha Lyonne is fantastic (and it’s only just occurred to me, she has the same voice as Peter Falk).

Books

I finished The Shining this week and decided to read The Kremlin Letters next after reading this article on Five Books

Random internet stuff

After reading The Shining I came across this page with quotes from Stephen King about his addictions.

This poem is great (apparently it went viral some time ago and I managed to miss it!)

Music

Currently I’m obsessed with this track: Hospital by Madison Cunningham

It sounds to me like she’s taken the verse from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and taken it as the starting point for the chorus, which is genius.

I came across Madison on the XTC fan podcast What Do You Call That Noise. It’s surprising she’s influenced by XTC, however listening to the album reveals that she has a similar appetite for slightly odd melodic choices which really make her stand out from other singer/songwriters out there.

I’m also really taken with Angel by MSPAINT. I love the music but hate the lyrics and vocal. I think the attraction is that I really enjoy hearing synths shoehorned into doing rock, and this somehow makes both sides of that work perfectly together. But boy, those lyrics, uggghhhh….

Books

I’m slowly fighting my way through The Shining. It is, of course, well written, but I don’t think I’m really cut out for horror novels. Even very good ones. Anyway, I have lots of thoughts about it and expect I will write a full post about it.

Films

I watched I, Tonya and really enjoyed it. I wrote a review here.

I also went to the Prince Charles Cinema to see the 20th anniversary re-release of Pride and Prejudice. I wrote a review here

TV

Finished watching The Residence this week, Netflix’s murder mystery. It won’t change the world but it is very funny, and light and fluffy fun.

Started watching the latest series of Taskmaster and the quality remains high. The cast for this one aren’t as famous as previous line ups, but they’re proving to be a lot of fun, with Fatiha being a particular delight.

Podcasts

A few weeks ago I started listening to The New Abnormal because, for some reason, I just keep wanting to listen to people talk about Trump. I know, it’s bad, but that’s where I am right now and I hope I get bored of it very soon. I wasn’t sure about the podcast but I kept listening to it.

Anyway, this week The New Abnormal abruptly stopped and owners, The Daily Beast, decided to go in another direction with it. I don’t keep up with gossip so I have no idea why this happened. I decided to give the first episode under the new regime a go, and, oh boy…

It was probably the worst podcast I’ve ever heard. The host was an English lady with a grating posh accent (I’m English myself and I’m not sure if that makes me more or less biased against her). She has the kind of voice that makes you feel like she is peering at you over the top of her spectacles. She seemed disinterested in politics, but hit a real low when she declared that she was obsessed with who was taking too much ozempic, and too little. Too little ozempic! So we’re doing fat shaming now? She was then joined by a guest who was, unbelievably, Scottish. Does The Daily Beast not have any American’s working for it? How our US brothers and sisters are going to take to this, I cannot imagine but I thought it was a terrible misstep.

Anyway, it was absolutely dire so I gave As The World Churns a go which has the previous hosts doing exactly the same thing as they did before and it seems just fine.

Speaking of US politics podcasts. I’ve been enjoying American Friction for a while but I am finding Jacob Jarvis’ presentation is testing my patience more and more in recent weeks. He sounds utterly bored and keeps going on deliberately asinine diversions. I assume that this podcast is about to go down the dumper just like Paper Cuts, from the same company, recently did and he has completely lost interest.

Rampant consumerism

I’ve had a good week buying second hand stuff this week. I bought a Thinkpad Carbon X1 laptop for £340. I think it’s a bargain for such a lovely, slim, functional piece of kit. I’m currently dual booting Linux Mint and Windows 11 because I want to try Linux as a desktop again, and trying out music production on open source.

I also bought a second hand Novation Launchpad Pro for £150 when new it is about £240. Works great and I think I’m going to have a lot of fun with it.

Rather less excitingly I also bought the O’Reilly book Learning Agile second hand for a fiver (new: £24). It turned up in pristine condition. I’ve bought a few second hand business books and they’re always in great nick, probably because they get bought and never get read.