Johann Georg Hainz’s Cabinet of Curiosities, circa 1666. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons During the Renaissance, cabinet of curiosities came into fashion as a collection of objects that would often defy classification. As a precursor to the modern museum, the cabinet referred to room(s), not actual furniture, of things that piqued the owners interest and would be collected and displayed in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Collectioun of Cunnynge Curioustes is my 21st century interpretation of that idea.
Dear Internet,
Another week of bed rest, another week where I watched too much TV in a variety of guises. This week, I finally ended my round of post-surgery drugs, started taking my ADHD medicines again, and for while, the two overlapped. I was all over the place in my head that even doing anything more than browsing the internets or watching TV was tasking. Definitely no writing, and I’m behind on several writing projects as it is. My brain definitely fees like it is on fire. And that is all about to change again.
Johann Georg Hainz’s Cabinet of Curiosities, circa 1666. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons During the Renaissance, cabinet of curiosities came into fashion as a collection of objects that would often defy classification. As a precursor to the modern museum, the cabinet referred to room(s), not actual furniture, of things that piqued the owners interest and would be collected and displayed in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Collectioun of Cunnynge Curioustes is my 21st century interpretation of that idea.
Dear Internet,
This past week, I had surgery to fix a permanent “squirrelly suture” that was a result from my surgery last summer. Since Tuesday, I’ve been spending most of my days in a lovely drugged haze, in which I have just enough attention to watch a lot of vaguely bad TV in between my gentle snores. The recovery is, fingers crossed, planned to not be as exacting as last summers. I go back to the ortho docs on February 18th for follow up, with hopes to go back to work on February 19th. I’m zero weight baring, so the knee scooter is back. But I spend my days in bed, foot elevated, zoning in and out depending on when I’ve taken the drugs. Shortly after I came home from the surgery, Kristin and I had to write up a proposal for conference submission and it was the hardest thing I could ever do, because I could not concentrate long enough to cobble two sentences together. Somehow we managed to get the proposal together, but the sheer amount of will it took to write that proposal told me I was not cognizant enough to do anything serious this week. Give me a few days, and I’ll have more of a proper update for you. Watching
Hyperdrive
I plowed through the entire series in one day. Quick, short, and dripping in sci-fi cultural references, it’s great fun!
Red Dwarf
Beloved cult classic, I started on season one this week and mixed it up with Hyperdrive.
Fringe
Another show I missed when it first aired, so playing catch up via Amazon Instant Video.
Also watching: Spartacus, The Americans, Archer, and Project Runway. Links
Johann Georg Hainz’s Cabinet of Curiosities, circa 1666. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons During the Renaissance, cabinet of curiosities came into fashion as a collection of objects that would often defy classification. As a precursor to the modern museum, the cabinet referred to room(s), not actual furniture, of things that piqued the owners interest and would be collected and displayed in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Collectioun of Cunnynge Curioustes is my 21st century interpretation of that idea.
Dear Internet, Listening Cabin Pressure
After waiting for what seemed like an entirety, season 4 of this most hilarious BBC4 radio show started on January 9. Written by John Finnemore, it stars Finnemore, Benedict Cumberbatch, Roger Allam, and Stephanie Cole. Undeniably quotable, it’s the tale of a one jet airline, MJN Air, run by a brassy old lady (Cole), with her may be missing a few cans from a six-pack son (Finnemore), a captain who takes his job a little bit too seriously (Cumberbatch), and a former sky-god whose recently become aware of his mortality (Allam). The oddball crew get into variety of odd situations every week, and you find yourself not only falling in love with the show but also becoming emotionally invested in the characters lives. John Finnemore posts his writing notes, deleted scenes, and other minutia on his blog. It airs Wednesday at 1:30 PM EST / 6:30 PM GMT. (BBC Radio is available legally outside the UK via its website, iTunes, and other streaming music/radio services, for free.) Watching Miranda
Miranda Hart has been on my peripheral for sometime – I knew her as Chummy in Call The Midwife and as Tall Karen in Monday, Monday, as well as she’s popped up in variety of other shows over the years as various supporting characters. Cabin Pressure Beth (I know many Beths, this one shares my love of CP and other Britcoms), asked me if I had a chance to see Miranda yet? She suggested that I must and within the course of 2.5 days, I mainlined all three seasons of the eponymous named show. Many feelings were being felt all over the place. Miranda is a comedy about a tall (6’1) woman, who is constantly called “Sir”, whose mother would do anything to get her married, and who harbors a crush on her next door neighbor and best friend, Gary. She owns a joke shop, much to the dismay of posh mother, that is run by her best girlfriend Stevie. Miranda harbors mixed feelings about her boarding school girlfriends, who call her Queen Kong, and are always seemingly in league with Miranda’s mother. Miranda is what Bridge Jones’ Diary tried to be but failed, except you don’t really realize that until you watch Miranda as a comparison. I found myself identifying more with Miranda than with Bridget, and I think the big difference is Miranda’s relationships with her friends, family, and herself are more genuine and honest, where as Bridget now seems like a characterture and hollow, even slightly mocking. Links
Johann Georg Hainz’s Cabinet of Curiosities, circa 1666. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons During the Renaissance, cabinet of curiosities came into fashion as a collection of objects that would often defy classification. As a precursor to the modern museum, the cabinet referred to room(s), not actual furniture, of things that piqued the owners interest and would be collected and displayed in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Collectioun of Cunnynge Curioustes is my 21st century interpretation of that idea.
Dear Internet, Links
“So you’re not gay. You can still develop the strength to stand up for your truths. Stop trying to think outside the box. Start thinking outside the closet.” Never Lie About Who You Really Are
Johann Georg Hainz’s Cabinet of Curiosities, circa 1666. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons During the Renaissance, cabinet of curiosities came into fashion as a collection of objects that would often defy classification. As a precursor to the modern museum, the cabinet referred to room(s), not actual furniture, of things that piqued the owners interest and would be collected and displayed in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Collectioun of Cunnynge Curioustes is my 21st century interpretation of that idea.
Dear Internet, Writing
Previous works I’ve started putting up back online
Downpour on my soul (Originally published online in April 1996)
Watching Freaks and Geeks
I mainlined this show over the course of a day and a half. I fell in love so hard after the first episode, I did not want to savor the show; I wanted to devour it. The storytelling was skillful, it was subtle, and it was very much true. I found myself floating from falling in love with Daniel, then Nick, and finally knowing I had to be with Ken. Lindsay and Kim was very much me at that age, and it made my heart ache. Side note: I think if I had a modicum of understanding from my own parental units Lindsay had with hers, my life would have been widely different. Sam, Neal, and Bill all spoke to various bits of my geeky little heart, and I also saw them reflected in people I knew. High school is a cruel mistress, but the big gift F&G gave me was the ability to relive what I thought were years of hell, looking at it fondly and with genuine pleasure.
After my F&G high, I caught this weeks Big Bang Theory. My opinion on the matter can be found here. After the glory of F&G, Big Bang Theory is like buying vegan leather pants. No matter how you try to dress it up, it’s still a cheap, poorly made, badly designed knockoff. Links
“I contain multitudes of names. We all do. Take your legal name, then add all the coddling nicknames and childish taunts, and your mother’s maiden name, which hovers somewhere by you like a ghostly penumbra, and you will end up with a lengthy sequence much like one of those demented royals from a mythic, tiny kingdom. But all of it is you and yours.”
Johann Georg Hainz’s Cabinet of Curiosities, circa 1666. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons During the Renaissance, cabinet of curiosities came into fashion as a collection of objects that would often defy classification. As a precursor to the modern museum, the cabinet referred to room(s), not actual furniture, of things that piqued the owners interest and would be collected and displayed in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Collectioun of Cunnynge Curioustes is my 21st century interpretation of that idea.
Dear Internet,
This week is the last week of my staycation (go team academia!), and in addition to working on my plans for kicking ass in 2013, I’ve been doing a lot of reading on the web, by cleaning out my Pocket and Evernote stashes along with attempting at some organization of my gReader account. I ditched Delicious and signed up with Licorize to start a workflow for all of my projects, which also includes cleaning out old saved articles and sites.
When I posted the first CCC, the idea in my head was to have one post for links and another post for my reviews of the week (what I’m reading/listening/watching). Then I realized that was a stupid idea and I should just consolidate everything in one entry instead of two. Reading The Far Traveler (Amazon|Local Library|Goodreads)
By Nancy Marie Brown
Sometime in 2010, I started getting interested in medieval history in a very big way, which lead to my interest of Norse mythology (and other origin stories as well as fairytales), and of course, Vikings. There were two things that I loved the most about my recent trip to England: My Cambridge University library reader’s card and seeing the iconic Sutton Hoo helmet in person. (This also explains why I want to learn Anglo-Saxon.) I stumbled upon The Far Traveler when I read Brown’s Seven myths we wouldn’t have without Snorri Sturluson on Tor, Google stalked her, and had this immediately sent via interlibrary loan before the holidays.
This isn’t a straight biography, but a delicate weave of history, stories, ideas, and possibilities that surround Gudrid and her time, based on the various Norse sagas and archaeological fact. Finding bits of cloth at a Viking longhouse sends Brown into how the cloth is made, its purpose, and why it was made. The boats that have been found in digs gives way to how those boats were constructed, what they were used for, and how modern boat makers have constructed similar vessels to understand how the Vikings pillaged the seas as they did. You find yourself not only learning about the period, but also about current archaeological / historical tools and advancements, customs, society, explorations, food, religion and everything in between. Everything is connected in Brown’s world, which is glorious as it allows Brown’s peeling back of layers to make for a very entertaining as well as educational read. Watching Rise of the Guardians
One thing I’ve noticed about my taste as of late in movies is I’m more apt to watch if it is animated over if it is not. There are some exceptions (period pieces anyone?), but almost always I put seeing the cartoons over anything else. Pro tip: Don’t walk into a matinee showing with your 6’6 husband and no child in tow. We got murderous looks from parents and one snobby bitch who kept trying to shuffle seats about in our row. Overall? I loved it, and in many ways it reminded me of Up with its overly hokey positive message, but who cares! It’s hard to not like a movie where Sanata is a Russian iconoclast tattooed within an inch of his life. Borgia
This is NOT the Showtime series, which I rather like, but a French-German concoction staring the American actor John Doman, Rawls on The Wire, as Rodrigo Borgia. As I said on Twitter the other night, it’s all over the place. But strangely, despite the fact no one has an Roman or Italian accent, and there may be some fudging with the historical details, it’s strangely compelling. It was produced for Italian TV Hearing
Not much this week, sad to report. I’ve been working on the metadata on my mp3s for my AudioMusicBiographically podcast, which looks like will be up by the end of January. In the mornings, when we’re working out, I’ve been making sure to listen to Girl Talk station on Pandora. But a lot of the time, I’ve been working in silence. Links
The most epic rap battle of Middle-Earth is between Gollum and Smeagol, obviously
When Is A Porn Copycat Too Much For A Movie Studio?
“‘Watching one of these [unboxing] videos is ‘similar to an experience you’d have in a strip club. It’s stuff that you’re lusting over – you can’t have it, but you want it.’'”
The physics of Guinness are as fascinating as they are delicious
Beyoncé isn’t Beyoncé because she reads comments on the Internet. Beyoncé is in Ibiza, wearing a stomach necklace, walking hand in hand with her hot boyfriend. She’s going on the yacht and having a mimosa. She’s not reading shitty comments about herself on the Internet, and we shouldn’t either.
Johann Georg Hainz’s Cabinet of Curiosities, circa 1666. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons During the Renaissance, cabinet of curiosities came into fashion as a collection of objects that would often defy classification. As a precursor to the modern museum, the cabinet referred to room(s), not actual furniture, of things that piqued the owners interest and would be collected and displayed in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Collectioun of Cunnynge Curioustes is my 21st century interpretation of that idea.
Dear Internet,
Not everything is doom and gloom around here. Below is the following articles, blogs, and websites I found engaging, interesting, funny, or insightful during the past week.
In the mid-late ’90s, I ran a mailing list, “chaingang,” whose sole purpose was to forward links and bits and bobs to interested parties. This is the 21st century version of that mailing list, compiled weekly.
Third of adults use smartphone says Ofcom report – Article at the BBC on recently released study illustrating the rise of technology useage. What was striking to me is that buried at the end of the report was the notation tha radio grew 2.9% since 2009 and listeners listen to over 1 billion hours a week (assume in the U.K. only due to how BBC article is written)
Why Texting Is the Most Important Information Service in the World – The more I an do on my mobile (pay bills, send money via Paypal, take pictures/video, program home electronics, access files in the cloud, etc etc), the more I wonder what else I can do with my mobile. The possibilities are endless.
[infographic] A Librarian’s Worth – I am a librarian and I approve of this infographic.
MTV Turns 30 Today – On August 1, 1981, I was 9. And MTV launched at 12:01 AM. The first 24 hours available here
In the mid-late ’90s, I ran a mailing list, “chaingang,” whose sole purpose was to forward links and bits and bobs to interested parties. This is the 21st century version of that mailing list, compiled weekly.
In the mid-late ’90s, I ran a mailing list, “chaingang,” whose sole purpose was to forward links and bits and bobs to interested parties. This is the 21st century version of that mailing list, compiled weekly.
Podcasts: Who still listens to them? Me me me! Interesting article on perception vs reality of podcasts and podcasting. This topic is also slated to get written about as a Le mie Passioni piece because I love them so much.
The Far Traveler (
Rise of the Guardians