DCA – Poetry Beyond Text
I’ve wanted to visit the DCA (Dundee Contemporary Arts) since moving to the area three years ago. This last week I finally made it there not once, but twice, and each visit produced some interesting thoughts.
The first visit was last Saturday, Kathryn had caught the train down to visit for the weekend and after spending some time playing at a science fair in St Andrews we went over to Dundee to look at a few exhibitions I was curious about at the DCA. The first d’eja`Vu by Manfred Pernice was underwhelming. Boxes, structures, scribbled notes and dangling messes of rubbish items. There was no feeling of, effort, thought or communication.
The second exhibition I didn’t want to leave. Poetry Beyond Text: Vision, Text and Cognition. Kathryn and I spent quite a bit of time exploring the artist’s books. Books as pieces of art moving beyond the collection of words and incorporating the physical presence of the book itself as a means of expression. Some were gorgeous, painstaking examples of love and dedication. One in particular caused such intense ire in me that I almost snarled, the centre of each page had been cut out and replaced with weaving of trashy silken and cotton threads. There was no reason to it, lazy destruction masquerading as art.
I spent a happy few minutes playing with a poem that had been separated into couplets on glass plates which could be rearranged and slotted into the display at will.
If there is time next weekend I’d like to go back and have another look around.
The second visit to the DCA this week was to view the live screening of Frankenstein from the National Theatre in London. Directed by Danny Boyle and starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the Creature and Jonny Lee Miller as Victor.
Stunning. The best adaptation of the novel I’ve come across. The physicality of the roles and the duality, the echo of energy, created by the actors swapping roles each night was superb. My favourite moment came towards the very end when the creature has led Victor into ice and snow and pain, Victor can barely move and the creature drags him across the stage, Victor’s movements mimicking those of the creature when he first learnt to crawl and then walk.
I would love to go again this coming Thursday and see it with the roles reversed however the show is, unsurprisingly, sold out.
At least I can return to play some more with the exhibition of words.
Words from years past
I found myself at a bit of a loose end today. Our boiler has been throwing tantrums so I had to stay at home and wait for the repair man to come and kick it back into shape. Additionally I’m trying to heal up a sore leg (skiing accident plus argument with a flight of stairs) so not wanting to move too far from the couch I decided to spend this unexpected free time uploading some reading lists from previous blogs.
It’s a pity that I let things slide with the blog previous to this one. I’d had problems with my hosting service and in a fit of pique turned my back on it entirely without backing up my data. Two and a half years worth of reading lists and blogging material lost. It quite saddens me now that I could have let such a thing happen.
Any way I’ve now included the 2005, and a portion of the 2006, reading lists that were saved from my second blogging incarnation (this currently being the fourth) and had a bit of entertainment dipping back through some entries from my early twenties. This one in particular made me laugh:
March 04, 2006
More books for me!My life of late has been a whirl of work and well, books. Work has been busy with a flux of seasonal storms and yet more up-skilling for magnificent me, now able to do the work of three.
In order to balance my ‘mind run amock’, every spare moment I’ve had has been spent curled up with a good book and just allowing the words to roll right on through.
One problem though, I’ve run out of books to read. After slowly working my way through almost everything in our book collection (there are still a few of NS’s travel, history and politics books I haven’t completely consumed), and many re-reads, I’ve found myself buying one and occasionally two or three books a week. Not the thriftiest idea out of the box.
I actually reached a point late last week where I started reading NS’s copy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’, The Social Contract. Making myself proud, I read about halfway through, before deciding it was time for a break and something not so…dull. Still with little to choose from I picked up an old childhood favourite, Ordeal by Poison, the tale of Shiva an Ice Age girl, undertaking an initiation ceremony to become her Clan’s Crone. I loved this tale of courage when I was nine, but it wasn’t much of a stop gap for the furious reading crave I am experiencing.
Quickly famished for literary content I prowled our apartment, examining shelves for previously undiscovered treasures, lifting mattresses and beds in hope of discovering a lost and forgotten manuscript.
Alas it wasn’t to be, and so NS, kind and wonderful man that he is, made a heavenly suggestion.
“Would you like me to bring something home from the uni library?”
Pounce. Hug. Kiss. Adore. Worship.
There are so many reasons I love that man.
The next day I arrived home from work to find two plump novels perched on the green sofa just begging to be read. The first, The Skein of Lament, I snapped up and finished during my work commute the very next day and now Kundera’s Laughter and Forgetting awaits its own timely consumption.
I know that I should really go and visit the local library. I pass it almost daily by tram, yet I am fearful and so I’ll put a question out to any librarians possibly reading here…just how annoyed would you feel towards someone who upon last visit over four years ago, left an overdue debt of $30? Also, do libraries charge interest?
Booklist 2010
Wrap up of books read in 2010. Fairly short list this year due to a hectic schedule which meant precious public transport time normally reserved for reading was instead utilised for increasingly necessary naps.
(All re-reads are marked with an asterix *)
Five Star Winners
- Negotiating with the Dead – Margaret Atwood
- Time Enough For Love – Robert A. Heinlein
- The Best of C. L. Moore - C. L. Moore
The 2010 List
1. All That Fall – Samuel Beckett 
2. What’s Bred in the Bone - Robertson Davies
Really enjoyed this one. The life and times of Francis Cornish as related by his biographical Angel and mercurial daemon. Life, art, religion and a dash of MI5 just for fun.
3. Leviathan – Scott Westerfeld
YA steam-punk novel set in an alternate universe where Darwin also discovered DNA and brought about the creation of Darwin beasts, genetically altered living creatures. Also full of walking armour tanks and war weapons, which come in quite handy when the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria is assassinated in 1914 and war breaks out across Europe.
4. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters - Jane Austen + Ben H Winters
No stars for this one as I haven’t completed it. Not even an updated version with violent sea monsters wreaking bloody carnage could help me past the inane characters and dry dialogue. Ah well.
5. The Novice - Trudi Canavan
Le sigh. Good and well used premise, underdog slum dweller is discovered to hold incredible depths of magic and power, discovers what appears to be a great evil hidden within the Academy. It’s just a little too obvious as to where the twist is going though, especially as the action is being noticeably stretched into a trilogy.
6. Dead and Gone – Charlain Harris
The last Sookie Stackhouse novel in print to date. Thank goodness I’ve finished scratching that itch. This novel was a particular disappointment as it only minimally furthered the larger story arc.
7. The Finders – Nigel Hinton
This is a children’s book for the 8-10 age group I’m guessing. Picked this up for £1.50 in a charity shop last weekend for a quick read on the bus. Not bad. Rosie is tricked by a Djinn into taking a package and holding on to it overnight unaware that this will turn her into a hateful Djinn just like him. Rosie must track down the Djinn with help from the Finders/Angels and return the package to prevent her transformation.
8. Negotiating with the Dead – Margaret Atwood
Based on a series of six lectures Atwood was asked to present at the University of Cambridge in 2000, this book explores what it means to be a writer, both historically and in the modern world. Atwood examines the expectations and mythology surrounding this profession and how these have changed.
9. Flirt – Laurell K. Hamilton
An in between novella allowing more time with Anita Blake and her men.
10. Time Out of Joint – Phillip K. Dick
Ragle Gumm makes his living by winning and entering a newspaper contest every day, however as his sanity returns his life is revealed to be more important than he could have guessed. Excellent Phillip K. Dick.
11. The Lyre of Orpheus, Robertson Davies
Composers in limbo, Arthurian tragedy, and an opera brought back from obscurity and completed by a snot nosed musical genius. Not bad.
12. Grimspace – Ann Aguirre
13. Wanderlust – Ann Aguirre
14. Doubleblind – Ann Aguirre
Wanderlust and Doubleblind are the two books I won in Patrick Rothfuss’ Worldbuilders charity raffle. Grimspace is the first in the series though so I had to go out and purchase it myself. Good popcorn space drama with plenty of ‘girl kicks butt’ moments. I always enjoy these types of books despite feeling slightly disappointed by them.
15. Naamah’s Kiss – Jacqueline Carey
Plenty of saucy scenes as expected. The all female romances are far more engaging than the supposed ‘true love’ hereto relationships. The fantastical elements are also made far more solid in this trilogy than those previously and in doing so removes a portion of the world’s charm.
16. Shades of Grey – Jasper Fforde
Excellent, although I couldn’t but wonder if Fforde was watching Brazil when piecing this together.
17. Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
Beautiful words, strong imagery, difficult subject matter. This took a while as the further it progressed the more uncomfortable I became.
18. The High Lord – Trudi Canavan
Righty, so the trilogy followed pretty much the exact path I’d thought it would and yet I went ahead and read all three so obviously it was entertaining enough.
19. Egg & Ego - J.M.W. Slack
Sells itself as a light hearted look at the nature of academic science. The first half is fairly thick on the scientific methods and success of the author in his particular field with the second half focusing on the realities of life as a scientist and tales of navigating the seas of funding and egos. Not bad, especially for undergrads considering a career in science.
20. Starship Troopers – Robert A. Heinlein
The film is a favourite of mine and although I’ve enjoyed a bit of Heinlein I thought it was time to give this one a go. Vastly different from the film it is just as, if not more, enjoyable to follow Johnnie Rico through the Bug war.
21. Time Enough For Love – Robert A. Heinlein 
I was completely absorbed by this one. Lazarus Long is a complicated character with many stories to tell. I just want to curl up by the fireplace and listen to him talk. Heinlein is an interesting mix of sexual libertarian and political conservative.
22. Woken Furies – Richard Morgan
Excellent work once again from Morgan.
23. Genes, Peoples and Languages – Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza
An interesting look at the movements of humankind across the globe and how this can be traced through, mostly genetic, but also linguistic and anthropological means. The language is not overly academic and I’d rate this one as pretty accessible.
24. The Best of C. L. Moore - C. L. Moore
I’m always on the look out for science fiction writing that offers something a little bit, more. This C.L.Moore offers tightly written prose with an intellectual emotional depth. Everything has purpose in these tales and I am in a little bit of awe.
25. If I Die in a Combat Zone – Tim O’Brien
I picked this up from the deletion pile because we studied another novel by O’Brien in High School and I remember being incredibly frustrated yet impressed by the book. If I Die in a Combat Zone was the first novel published by O’Brien and is an autobiographical account of his tour of duty in Vietnam. A clearly written and honestly felt account.
26. Dead Witch Walking – Kim Harrison
Good witchy fun. Throw in a lesbian vampire, fast talking pixie and a few demons and we’re having a good time.
27. The Good, The Bad, and the Undead – Kim Harrison
28. Every Which Way But Dead – Kim Harrison
29. A Fistful of Charms – Kim Harrison
30. For a Few Demons More – Kim Harrison
31. The Outlaw Demon Wails – Kim Harrison
32. White Witch, Black Curse – Kim Harrison
33. Black Magic Sanction – Kim Harrison
34. Data Modeling Essentials 3rd Edition – Simsion and Witt
Considering I pretty much put all recreational reading on hold for a few months while studying I am damn well counting this text since I read through it so many times.
35. Moon Called – Patricia Briggs
Female shape-shifting coyote working as a mechanic, friends with vampires and powerful faye, and mixed up with the local werewolf pack. Fun times.
36.Blood Bound – Patricia Briggs
37. Iron Kissed - Patricia Briggs
38. Bone Crossed – Patricia Briggs
39. Silver Borne - Patricia Briggs
40. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Always a pleasure.
41. The Jungle Book – Rudyard Kipling
While heavy into study time I’ve been reading excerpts from this of an evening to calm my buzzing head. Worked like a charm. Love it.
42. Hyperion* – Dan Simmons
An old favourite.
43. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay – Michael Chabon
44. Bullet - Laurell K. Hamilton
I do enjoy my Anita Blake reading time. Read this earlier in the year and forgot to add it to the list. How silly.
45. The Happy Turning - H.G. Wells
A recollection of Wells’ dreams, in particular his recurring dream of the Happy Turning in his daily walks. Especially enjoyed his dream discussions with Jesus who, in Wells’ dreamland, is a very reasonable bloke indeed.
Book List 2005
Book List 2006
Book List 2009
Book List 2010
= Read it…just
= An okay read.
= A good/fun read.
= Excellent!
= Going onto the favourites list!
Snow again
So yes it’s been snowing in Scotland lately. A lot.
I was browsing through some old entries and came across this post describing one of our first experiences with snow over here in Scotland. The snow itself still makes me smile and twirl in it’s falling flakes, beautiful, crisp and sparkling. I just wish I had more skill in navigating through the white stuff. Slipping and slapping down onto the hard ice has been an all too frequent occurrence over this last week, so much so that I’m now almost hesitant to step out the front door.
A friend recently gave me some excellent advice though, if you are going to fall the trick is to just go with it, make it spectacular so it appears a deliberate act of slapstickery.
I’ll see what I can do.
Beach, Castles and Beer
Catch up time with a few notes on how we’ve been spending our time here in bonnie Scotland.
Aberdeen:
We were invited to Aberdeen in March to celebrate Kathryn’s 8th anniversary of her 21st birthday on the 21st. Rob, being the awesome guy that he is, met up with us after work on Friday and gave us a lift. Saturday we drove out to Dunnottar Castle and went exploring. Due to some bad planning Simon and I had left our camera at home so we wandered around enjoying the sights while Kathryn and Rob played with a new macro zoom (?) Rob had given Kathryn as part of her birthday present. Also exploring the castle that day were a group of French High School students with questionaires. I’m not ashamed to say I do not know the words to the French or the Scottish national anthems, they were a bit confused when I tried to explain that I did know the Australian anthem lyrics.
Once done in the castle we walked down the many steps and over some rocks to a beach. Beach might not be the right word though. Ball pit of smoothly polished stones? The sun came out for a while. We compared rock colours, skimmed stones and waved at the seals.
Dunnottar Castle.
Additional Note: also discovered a new whisky to enjoy – Balvenie.
Sunday we went to a Balmedie beach which has sand, more sand and sand dunes. Much fun. Again incredibly annoyed we didn’t have our camera, especially when we found the old world war II bunker which has been slowly swallowed up by the dunes.
(I’ve found some pictures on Flickr of the bunker if you want a peek: 1, 2)
Awesome weekend, good friends, great weather and another corner of Scotland appreciated.
Additional note: There is an amusement park on the boardwalk! This will be explored at a later date.
Patrick Rothfuss’ Worldbuilders prizes!
Woohoo! The highly anticipated parcel turned up on my doorstep yesterday morning and, being the awesome girlfriend that I am, I waited for Simon to come home from the soccer game* before opening it up (he did introduce me to Rothfuss book and blog after all).
The parcel contained:
1 Heifer International fold out gift card with cute pictures of chickens, cows and Llamas! There may also have been a duck.
1 Thank you letter signed by the awesome Patrick Rothfuss.
2 Sci-Fi / Fantasy books by Ann Aguirre
Yip!
I’d not come across anything by Aguirre before so I’m looking forward to digging into these books. The covers are smoking hot and I do so enjoy a bit of ‘girls kick ass’ literature. I’m slightly disappointed that the books are volumes 2 and 3 in this particular series, but not really complaining, especially since finding the first volume on Amazon for £3.84. One thing I never do need encouragement towards is purchasing new books. Interestingly I hunted around on Ebay first due to a reluctance to use Amazon at the moment, however all the listings were double the price. Ah well, one click purchase it is. Now I just have to wait for the first volume to arrive, then these books shall be devoured quick smart.
Absolutely feeling the happy.
*Celtic FC vs Dundee Utd – Celtic FC won 1-0
Somewhere I am a green jelly dessert or The (Multi) Universe(s) by Radiolab #multiverse
A goodly amount of time was spent travelling on busses over the weekend so I managed to fit in a few podcasts. The special by Radiolab on multiverse theory and expanding swiss cheese is probably one of the more accessible descriptions of the theory I've come across, even if listening to it did make me feel a little hungry.
BookBook = Want
Hardback leather book casing for your laptop. I'm feeling an awesome want on this one. Oh so materialistic.
Found over at TwelveSouth. Mac only though. So sad.Resolutions ’10
Let’s have a look at last years list:
- Write
- Work
- Keep running
Two out of three isn’t so bad really. I now have a brilliant job working in a university library, and since running the 10k in Glasgow running has become a regular part of my life. The writing is something I definitely need to pick up on, and now that Simon has introduced me to a neat little tool, write or die, I’m finally starting to make some progress.
So inspirational desires for the forthcoming year will be:
- Completing the Chris Hoy Half Marathon in April, and if I’m feeling ambitious the Loch Ness Marathon in October.
- Eating more oranges and whole fruits, I saw someone recommend this on a friend’s blog and it’s damned good advice.
- No more soft drink at home. I don’t particularly enjoy soft drink, Simon likes his coke and I picked up the habit from him when we first started living together. So, only as treat when out for dinner or a movie. Soft drink should be a sometimes food.
- Less laptop, more books.
I used to constantly have a book by my side when I was in the lounge room or watching television. This meant that whenever I found something dull or a program went to break, I could switch into a good read. The books have been substituted by my laptop and this isn’t a good thing as I’m only using it for the short spaces of time to obsessively check email/facebook/twitter or look at silly shopping spaces. No more, it’s time to go back to the book.
So there we go, more running, more fruit, more books, less soft drink and less laptop time.
That should do it.
KattenKabinet
Originally uploaded by CharlieRhiann
The KattenKabinet was one of the more unusual museums we visited in Amsterdam. Situated on the first floor of a canal house it has everything from Egyptian cat mummy masks to a porcelain maneki neko pinball type instrument (cool picture of it here). We only had my Ipod mini with us so no pictures, just a quick video of the ballroom complete with snarky Charlie at the beginning. Ah-hem.
