I’m very pleased that the weather is now much colder, as the three or four major heatwaves we experienced during the summer completely broke me. I’ve still not gotten back into playing guitar since the rise in temperature halted my recording efforts. The heat also makes me drink heavily, which I’m trying again to cut back on. As it turns out, switching from whisky to beer and wine hasn’t solved the problem.
Funny that.
So, yeah, I’ve been falling off the wagon for weeks at a time again. Sigh. At least I tried. I doubt I’ll stay sober forever, but I now know my true limitations and weaknesses, if you want to call them that. Still, the boredom I experience whilst indulging means I have more motivation to get clean and start doing joyful geek stuff again.
Which is where we arrive here.
THE SECRET TOKEN
A nonfiction book about the lost American colony of Roanoke. It’s not something we know much or anything about in the UK, because why would we?! It’s part of America’s history, not ours. Splitters! Although, technically, they were English citizens at the time. It’s a story I first heard about on a history podcast and decided I wanted to learn more. I guess I find tales of human endurance quite captivating, having already read books on the Chinese Long March and Ernest Shackleton. The mystery of the lost colony is apparently a subject that has been done to death throughout the field of historical academia, but one has to start somewhere with their own curiosity. I’m a few chapters into this book, by Andrew Lawler, and so far am very engrossed in the goings on. He has a very plain and engaging writing style, which I prefer for nonfiction stuff. Be too flowery and, well, you might as well just write a work of fiction. I shall let you know how I get on!
2064: READ ONLY MEMORIES
A video game I purchased years ago, but never got into it properly at the time. Then, the other day, I just fancied something that didn’t require too much eyesight to use. A retro 2D adventure game struck me as being just perfect! Plus it has cyberpunk themes, which is a genre I adore. I’m doing well with navigating it and getting into the habit of going around each location to look at all the items before talking to people or poking objects. Or poking people. I like its camp elements and wish I had a cute companion robot, or “ROM”, of my own. I often joke to friends that I have a fictitious “admin boy” who volunteers to come round each day and help me with my personal admin nonsense, the idea of which 2064’s “Turning” certainly embodies. I’m not too far in, having only just met up with my awesome lesbian detective friend, but I actually want to take it slow and savour it. You know, like a fine wine I’m trying not to drink. The game is certainly helping with the sobriety, as I’m losing hours over it. I believe there’s a sequel out there, but if you know of any similar adventure games that I should check out, then please let me know!
GREAT ARCHAEOLOGICAL MYSTERIES OF EUROPE AND THE MEDITERRANEAN
Another series of history lectures by The Great Courses, of which I now own loads and loads. The title explains it all really, although they’re not quite as fascinating as I’d hoped. It’s all interesting stuff, however, and I’m learning about archaeological sites that have completely passed me by. My favourite one so far is the Tollense battlefield in Germany, which hints at a greater civilisation in that part of the world, at that period in history, than previously believed. I’m probably a third of the way through the entire audiobook, so there’s plenty more to go. The lecturer, Karen Belinger, is just a touch too enthusiastic for my personal preference, sounding more like a hip young TED talk speaker than a nerdy archaeologist. But I guess you can’t have everything. Saying that, I found Bronx-born Egyptologist Bob Brier a bit much at first, and now he’s one of my all-time favourite people. Belinger seems like a genuinely nice person though, so her grating performing style isn’t a slight against her personally. Onwards!
GAMERA 3: REVENGE OF IRIS
I tried. I got halfway through this third in the Heisei series of Gamera films and just had to give up. It’s from the same director as the first one and so carries all the same agonising problems. If I slavishly wrote a long-form review for Revenge of Iris, as I did with the first two, I would just be repeating all the negativity I threw at 1. It’s just so boring and plain and lacking in any sort of vibrancy. How can a giant monster movie be so dry?! Well, this director has managed it twice now. Goodness knows who directs 4. Will I give it a go? Urgh, I’ll have a think. If something truly amazing happens in the last half of 3 that makes the tedium worth it, then give me a head’s up and I’ll try it again. I’ll hopefully get the third and finally Showa post to you asap. Alcoholism permitting.
FOUNDATION
I’m a fan of science fiction movies, but not really science fiction novels. I have tried to get into some though, but failed pretty much every time. I don’t know why. Perhaps I just find it something I prefer to experience through the visual arts. Still, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation is a notable classic, so I’m giving the audiobook a whirl. I find fiction easier to concentrate on when sitting up during the day, usually whilst gaming, with bedtime reserved for “gentle” nonfiction reading/listening. I’ve gotten into the street-level human goings on, having been in fear over the years that the book would feature a lofty narrative that isn’t very relatable. Like the cutscenes in a high fantasy RPG video game. Snore. To be honest, I still have no idea what Foundation’s overall story is about, I just know that it’s a must read. Hopefully I’ll get to the end and seek out the sequels, but my notoriously short attention span with fiction is not on its side. I may even check out the current TV series adaptation if I enjoy the book enough.
Well, that’s all I have to report for now. It’s Bonfire Night here in the UK, so things are going crazy outside. Fireworks are generally set off from Halloween to mid-January here, so it’s not the end of it. I’m just glad I don’t have a pet to witness getting distressed over it all.
Part of me is planning on drinking over the weekend and beyond, but the other part is encouraging me not to with all my cool hobby stuff. I’m hoping to fire up an electric guitar at some point, as acoustic jamming just isn’t inspiring me right now. I need musical fireworks, dammit!
While my interest in a lot of culture has been low of late, that may very well change soon enough. I do have a massive backlog of discs to try out, so there’s plenty to be getting on with once my motivation returns. I just need my cyclothymia to shift into the right position first, I guess. Such is my burden.
Do stay in touch, darlings.
Toodles!
No comments:
Post a Comment