A Theme Decidedly Nautical

What I'm Listening To: Sea shanties. The majority of my playlist came from good compatriot Steven Molony – actor, barbarian, Black Flag owner – and originated themselves off the latter's immense library of same. These, I've whittled down to several choice favorites (Randy Dandy Oh and Running Down to Cuba among them) and added a few other selections (Barrett's Privateers and Blood Red Roses, mainly). Barrett's Privateers has probably emerged as my favorite, contingent on the fact that it falls nicely within my baritone range. Both the missus and the neighbors are mystified/annoyed at how impossible to dislodge the song's become from my brain.

What I'm Reading: Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. I was lucky enough to stumble upon The Big Read, which contains chapters read by such luminaries as Tilda Swinton, Stephen Fry, Benedict Cumberbatch and even China Mieville. While most of the chapters are read by literature professors and legitimate boat captains, some of the more famous passages seem to be targeted – Stephen Fry read the "married to Queequeg" chapter, China Mieville read the "Squid" chapter. The ultimate irony was achieved with Sir David Attenborough reading "Does the Whale Decrease in Magnitude", about how the whale will never go extinct. (adjusts collar)

On the whole, however, I'm really appreciating the book. Sure, I, like every other sane human, get pretty glassy-earred around the long-winded and inaccurate to boot factoids about whale skulls, whaling and the nobility of same, but I find myself in the reveling in the absurdly long sentences, actively wishing for more Ahab and basking the general seafaring nature of the book. I think there's a sailor somewhere in my feeble, overfed frame.

What I'm Watching: Vikings on The History Channel. Enjoyable enough historical fiction, the show's infinitely improved by its network, surprisingly. While not tremendously accurate, there are tons of small homages or references to the actual historical civilization that wouldn't have been highlighted were the show premiering on a more mainstream station. There's a discussion of Viking nautical techniques, monks speaking Old English, Northumbria as a primary antagonist and even the classic "three-shield" trial by combat at one point. Stick to interesting factoids about longships and shieldmaidens, Vikings. Avoid, at all costs, your lame duck attempts to feature courtly intrigue. You're no Game of Thrones and everybody can tell.

This Thing Again

What I'm Reading: Gun Machine by Warren Ellis. Been waiting to sink my teeth into this one for sometime now. I was a casual fan of Ellis' previous novel, the zany, psychedelic Crooked Little Vein, but to only hear the premise of Gun Machine, it even sounds like much more my speed. I'm scarcely 50 pages in and, overall, enjoying myself. Like all successful novels, it suffers from having an incredible opening, prose-wise, and a general decline thereafter. That said, it's interesting to intercut reading Ellis' prose and writing my own and watching his unique style flavor my thoughts and expressions.

What I'm Listening To: Pacific Rim (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Ramin Djawadi. Djawadi, the man behind the infectious Game of Thrones main theme, is a surprisingly competent composer. Perhaps simply because of the requirements of a television show, but his thematic work in GoT approaches Shorian levels of complexity, with each major family exhibiting their own themes and the occasional merciless blend between two contrasting themes, used to great symbolic effect. Like the film, however, the Pacific Rim soundtrack is raw fun and its main theme really invokes, to me, a sense of titanic footfalls.

What I'm Watching: 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation & Louie. The most recent seasons of all three of the above shows listed escaped my grasp when they aired and I've, subsequently, caught up with each over the course of the past few weeks. Like a father with her children, I love them all for different reasons. 30 Rock has an almost Futurama-esque affinity to pack raw comedy into practically every sentence its characters utter, Parks and Rec isn't afraid to make a show, ultimately, about characters rather than punch lines and Louie, as always, is riding the cutting edge of experimental/mainstream television.

I really, really need a name of this segment. Any ideas, loyal readership?

Input Update

What I'm Reading: The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi. Interesting post-cyberpunk, but insanely inaccessible. Reads very much like Transmet, with all the humor, perversion and fun filed off, if you can still imagine Transmet under those conditions. It's effectively a very simple tale, complicatedly told, which is my very favorite format; a woman breaks a thief out of prison to commit a crime for her shady employers. Sounds simple, but add in enough quantum mechanics, sentient AI, nanotech foglets, identity pirates and bizarre, otherwordly tech, the novel becomes surprisingly difficult to swallow. The story's certainly picking up, but initially, I was somewhat moonstruck.

What I'm Listening To: Boss Wave, by Xilent. I'm on the record as disliking dubstep, but I actually find that opinion softening somewhat, in my old age. There's a certain undeniable energy to the genre that I'm finding a useful inspiration for my late-night writing binges and far be it from me to deny what works. This track, in particular, has a nice retro wave to tide me over and I'm far from ready to divebomb into Skrillex just yet.

What I'm Watching: Last Exile by Gonzo, I guess? As stated on this blog previously, anime is also incredibly hit-or-miss for me and Last Exile, a WWII-esque zeppelin drama, is precisely the correct amount of straight-faced fantasy for me to click into. It's far from the greatest thing I've ever feasted my eyes upon (for some reason, this series' version of Captain Emo McDarkPast is particularly grating on me), but I'm interested in the aesthetic and the ask-no-questions nature of the worldbuilding. Plus, the missus likes it, which is always a plus.

What I'm Playing: Fractal, by Cipher Prime. Puzzle games, especially when devoid of narrative, are typically my anathema, but the visual aesthetic here is so gorgeous I couldn't resist. When I purchased the Bundle containing this one, I assumed it'd be my least favorite but, with the shitty gameplay of Organ Trail, the forgettability of Stealth Bastard and the pretentious bullshit of Aquaria, I find that its, in fact, devoured more of my time than any of the previous three.