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Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 11:19 am
by linguoboy
hwhatting wrote:
linguoboy wrote:German: A little over halfway through Heinrich Böll's Gruppenbild mit Dame and still enjoying it immensely. I'd kind of sworn off WWII books, but his humour makes reading about that era much more tolerable. I also find the unconventional structure (i.e. a series of fictional interviews) very appealing. Bolaño is looking a little less groundbreaking now.
That's one of two Böll novels I read, and the one I liked more (the other one was Ansichten eines Clowns). I can also recommend his short stories.
I discovered him through his short stories. "Es wird etwas geschehen" was one of the first texts I read in my undergraduate German course and among the ones I most enjoyed. He and Hildesheimer, with their brilliantly satirical bent, were a welcome change from the dreary seriousness of most of the writers we read.

I've since gone out and read a couple volumes of Hildesheimer's short stories, but I haven't done the same with Böll. I should rectify that.

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 4:41 pm
by Vijay
mèþru wrote:Why? What do you listen to?
Mostly traditional music in all kinds of languages (in fact, pretty much every language I can find it in), though often also pop music and occasionally other genres. I'm also fairly attached to Persian songs of basically every genre. I pretty much grew up with 20th-century Malayalam movie songs, especially from the 60s and 70s, because that's what my mom always listens to. They tend to be strongly based on our traditional music, which I think combined with my general interest in the languages and cultures of the world has helped me develop an appreciation for traditional music in general. I don't listen to opera often, but I do appreciate it, so I've slowly started listening to more and more of it. It's a lot like Kathakali in some ways, and I love Kathakali. :)

I also find it interesting just to see what kinds of music I can access in any given language. The results are often interesting; for example, in Mam, which is one of the Mayan languages of Guatemala, for some mysterious reason, almost everything I can seem to find is rap, and one of the few things I could find that wasn't was a rock song. :D I was also curious as to one point whether I could find any examples of traditional Tuvan music that did not include throat-singing, and I did manage to find something in Tuvan that mostly doesn't use it.
Most people I know are bored with jazz, classical music and hurdy-gurdy. Very few like Mongolian throat singing.
All of those are genres that I appreciate on some level but haven't been exposed to all that much (of course, I've been exposed to classical music to some extent, more than any of the others, but still not that much, especially if you're thinking specifically of Western classical music). I have a tendency to seek out songs with vocals (in different languages), which unfortunately prevents me from also seeking out instrumental songs even though I often appreciate those, too.

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 8:39 pm
by mèþru
From what you just said, I think I would be very interested your list, and I already have a few pieces like that. I fact, I have a clip in Malayalam you mentioned in another thread, so my list has already been influenced by you. My musical taste is also based on what my parents grew up with, but I've been trying to branch out and find things they've never heard.

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2018 1:32 am
by Vijay
Oh, "Neeraduvan"? Yeah, all of the songs from that movie are so good. :) It's definitely one of my favorite Malayalam movies, too. Very tragic, though (like probably most Malayalam movies before the 1990s). Too bad it doesn't seem to be available on YouTube with subtitles anymore.

Yay, I'm glad to know you're interested! :D Here's a Mongolian song (apparently a rather famous one) I found I think a few years ago and was listening to earlier today. It has a tiny bit of throat-singing in it towards the beginning, too. :)

Lyrics in Cyrillic:
Элэг зүрхнээс уяатай
Энхрий Монгол нутаг минь
Эцэг эхээс заяатай
Эрдэнийн алтан өлгий минь
Цэцгийн шимийг тэтгэсэн
Цэнгэлийн хавар айлчилахад
Мөрөн гол нь дуугаа дуулж
Мөнх сарьдаг нь мишээдэг
Сэрүүн салхи сэвсүүлэн
Хацар нүүрийг илбэн байж
Сэтгэл дотрыг ариулсан
Халуун элгэн нутаг минь

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 4:47 pm
by mèþru
Love it!

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 6:22 pm
by Vijay
Thanks! :) One other thing I forgot to mention is that sometimes I like listening to rather ideological songs (including both political and religious songs), regardless of whether I actually agree with the ideology or not (usually not!). For example, I am no communist, but one thing I was just listening to is this untitled song by the Nepali Maoist Cultural Group (I know barely any Nepali, so I've never managed to find the lyrics anywhere :P):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ty0If5F_68

I feel commies make really good songs sometimes!

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2018 8:46 am
by rotting bones
If people are going to watch Oddly Satisfying videos, might as well learn things while we're at it:

Making A Large Wheel Skeleton Clock

Machining The Antikythera Mechanism

Building an 8-bit breadboard computer

Are these clips really that much more satisfying? https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCZIev ... rid&sort=p If it's the technology that's the problem, there's even a primitivist version for luddites: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAL3JX ... &flow=grid

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 11:10 am
by Axiem
I've been watching Lindsay Ellis' video essays a lot recently, mostly because I've been waylaid by a persistent cold and didn't feel like doing much other than sit and watch critique that hopefully helps me be a better writer.

She has a new one out that's a critique of the Netflix movie Bright, a lot of which centers around the terrible worldbuilding and nonsense that results. There's some good stuff in there for those of us who do worldbuilding, on the sorts of things to avoid (like not thinking about the implications of including technology or cultural references).

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 5:55 pm
by Salmoneus
On the subject of "things to make you a better writer", I've finally gotten around to starting The Dispossessed.

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 1:23 pm
by linguoboy
Axiem wrote:She has a new one out that's a critique of the Netflix movie Bright, a lot of which centers around the terrible worldbuilding and nonsense that results. There's some good stuff in there for those of us who do worldbuilding, on the sorts of things to avoid (like not thinking about the implications of including technology or cultural references).
I love that there's a whole industry devoted to watching half-assed entertainments and picking them apart so I don't have to. (See also: Cinema Sins.)

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2018 10:47 pm
by mèþru
Just watched לעבור את הקיר with family. Iy was released in the US as "The Wedding Plan".

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 9:24 am
by mèþru
It's weird because the English title has nothing to do with the Hebrew and also makes the movie sound boring.

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 12:48 pm
by Vijay
Here, have a Swiss yodeling country song (ich ging nach Idaho, hey jippi-je-i-i-I-IIIIIIIIII!) followed by the beginning of a West German translation of an American bossa nova song, both from an old Austrian movie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMr8S26-BmU

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 9:11 pm
by alynnidalar
Been reading some Louis L'Amour western novels lately. They're a major part of my childhood (my dad owns most of his books, so I've read pretty much everything he's ever written), but still a lot of fun to go back and read as an adult, too. Even if they're, well, very predictable. And occasionally racist. (His female characters are mostly okay, when he deigns to give them major roles. (although I will never forgive him fridging Ange Sackett)) Truthfully, I've read so much Louis L'Amour that I have a hard time reading other Western novels. His stuff is just so much fun to read, despite the predictability. (anyone who's read his books knows what I mean--there's always the requisite fist fight, the scene where the protagonist has to patch up his bullet wounds in the wilderness (featuring everyone's favorite bit about boiling water in a birchbark cup), someone ordering rye in the saloon, etc.)

Anyway, I've just finished Ride the Dark Trail, one of my favorites. The short version is that it follows Logan Sackett, theoretically an outlaw*, who conveniently ends up in the same town as his relative Em Talon, a fabulously wealthy old lady with a buffalo rifle who's defending her ranch against the villains who want it. Logan teams up with her to hold them off. Em's pretty much my favorite L'Amour character (and one of his few major female characters) and the book's a lot of fun, even if the plot is quite predictable. But you know, sometimes you just want to enjoy something familiar.

* (not that he ever does anything bad on-screen, aside from a very generous interpretation of shooting people in self-defense)

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 11:38 am
by mèþru
I watched Arrival yesterday. Didn't like it.

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 1:23 pm
by mèþru
I just discovered Lojban rap and it is amazing.

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2018 11:45 am
by jmcd
Reading at the moment includes Decolonising the mind by Ngugi Wa Thiong'o (in the French translation 'Décoloniser l'esprit'), Gandhi's autobiography and Ambahitrila sy ny bingin-dRakakabe (Ambahitrila and the ogre's drum, a Malagasy tale)

I am often watching videos by Jordan Peterson; I find them motivating and thought-provoking, even if I don't always agree. This afternoon there was an event about international mother tongue day. There was documentary played about Réunion, local traditions and ecology https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXf4XyXyHbo

Maloya (a traditional music genre from Réunion, mostly developped in the 19th century by Réunionese of Malagasy origin) was played, including the following song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEKiG0mgnMw

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2018 12:29 pm
by linguoboy
jmcd wrote:I am often watching videos by Jordan Peterson; I find them motivating and thought-provoking
So do I. They motivate me to punch my screen and then crawl into bed and think about how stupid humanity is.

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2018 3:24 pm
by Travis B.
linguoboy wrote:
jmcd wrote:I am often watching videos by Jordan Peterson; I find them motivating and thought-provoking
So do I. They motivate me to punch my screen and then crawl into bed and think about how stupid humanity is.
For some enlightenment, for those who are reading, on who this Jordan Peterson guy is, go here: http://www.macleans.ca/opinion/is-jorda ... rt-person/.

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 12:44 pm
by jmcd
Here are examples of videos of Peterson that I liked:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj1iDCIwLq8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWuwYy1Pp0c

And my favourite quote by him: "If you continue to agree to be a slave, you will continue to generate tyrants"

I will respond to one aspect of the article linked to by Travis: the part about retweeting.
From his Twitter account (https://twitter.com/jordanbpeterson):"NOTE: RTs/follows are not to be read unfailingly as endorsements. I sometimes post material with which I do not agree."
And this is normal. When, for example, I retweet an article saying that 48,000 people in France die each year from air pollution, it's not because I rejoice at the fact; it's because I abhor it.

Anyway, I've gone back to watching videos of people I agree with more, like Gandhi ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIB7I1dl9BE ) and Alex Salmond ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd4x_7ctOlI ).

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 12:59 pm
by Nortaneous
I've tried to pay attention to Jordan Peterson and somehow never manage to find the part where he says anything, but that Macleans article would get thrown out as too over the top if some scriptwriter tabled the idea of putting it in Idiocracy.

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 1:19 pm
by linguoboy
I read Pachinko, a family saga about Japanese Koreans that's got a lot of buzz going in Certain Circles, and I can't really see what the fuss is about. Min Jin Lee isn't a very interesting writer and the way she sprinkles gratuitous Japanese into her lackluster narrative is annoying. And if that weren't enough there's hardly even any pachinko in it.

Now I've moved on to The colonel, an English translation of a short novel by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi that he didn't even want published in Persian in the diaspora, and it's way better.

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 2:17 pm
by alynnidalar
I'm reading Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser, a biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder (and her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane). Like pretty much everyone else in the US, I read the Little House on the Prairie books as a kid and fondly remember them... I was unaware how much of them were fictionalized! Actually, it's more complicated than that; most of the things described in them almost certainly happened in a fashion similar to the way they were portrayed, but she omitted some pretty significant parts of her childhood, rearranged the chronological order, and romanticized quite a bit. (for example, Little House on the Prairie actually took place before Little House in the Big Woods, when Laura was only a toddler, and the books completely skip the part where the Ingalls worked in a hotel in Iowa)

I haven't quite finished it yet, but it's really good! It adds a lot of historical context to the events of the books, and I never knew much about her later life or that of her daughter. If you ever read the Little House books, I'd definitely suggest this biography.

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 8:36 am
by rotting bones
If the alt right is your thing: Having read Prometheus and Atlas, Jason Reza Jorjani comes across as a more sophisticated thinker than Jordan Peterson.

He's wrong about everything, of course. These Nazi types never seem to realize that you can't have a lasting government run by geniuses. Not only will abrogating the rule of law create injustice because of the structural features of human society, but you will sooner or later run out of geniuses who are both willing and able to sacrifice their lives to the cause of holding an unjust country together through yet more injustice.

Nevertheless, the book had some thought-provoking ideas. By contrast, Jordan Peterson is either pandering to certain internet demographics rather than courageously presenting ideas that defy the status quo, or he has no such ideas to present. This channel has an audiobook of the opening sections of Prometheus and Atlas: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxRQio ... =da&view=0

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 2:36 pm
by jmcd
That might an appropriate generalisation if I was interested in more than one person even remotely related to the alt-right. But no, my interest in Peterson comes from watchin psychology and self-improvement videos.

Anyway, other recent music includes:
Tambour malbar by Granmoun Lélé (I mentioned him higher up, but here he's playing a more Indian style music)

And reading:
Bayalina by Axel Gauvin is the story of children in their school cantine in the outskirts of the East of Réunion. a fairly engrossing (and interesting for its language use too) read despite its banal subject material. The setting is clearer from the French titel, Faims d'enfance.

Johannes Cabal: the Necromancer by Jonathan Howard is a fun comic fantasy with a varied writing style. It follows the eponymous character on his quest to get his soul back from the devil in exchange for a hundred others.