kindkit | reading and listening and watching and stuff

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reading and listening and watching and stuff

There is, in fact, more to my life than medical stuff, although you wouldn't know it by reading my posts. Here's a start on correcting that.

Reading: I've spent the last few weeks mostly reading all of Ellis Peters' Cadfael novels. It was an odd experience. I liked them, although they're neither strongly plotted nor, for the most part, deeply characterized, and the early ones especially have a cringey level of sexism. Also one book has, of all things, an anti-abortion plot. And while Peters clearly did an enormous amount of research, there are things I think she got wrong (such as the abortion thing, where the discussion has to me--though I'm not an expert--the feel of a modern conservative view rather than a medieval one). For all their flaws, though, the books have a streak of compassionate humanism which is appealing, and at times (often the times when they're most medieval) they touch the genuinely strange and wondrous.

If Peters were just a generation later I would suspect her of having dabbled in early fan writing, because she loves to write what used to be called smarm (heavily homoerotic but officially non-sexual relationships between men). And in one book, her glee at writing homoerotic scenes just leaps off the page, but of course the relationship turns out not to actually be queer because one of the men is a woman in disguise. There are some textual references to same-sex desire, as well as one Genuinely Bisexual Character, although we're told that he is bisexual because he is too heterosexual to be in a monastery.

I know there's a TV show with Derek Jacobi, and I've seen bits but I don't think I've ever seen a full episode. Is it worth watching? Is there any actual gay or is that too much to hope for even with a gay man in the lead?

I'm currently reading Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire, which is interesting so far. I'm getting the sense that it's going to be one of those books where the main character never gets to have a rest, which is something I increasingly find tiring to read.

Listening: My usual podcasts: This Podcast Will Kill You (excellent podcast about diseases, mostly infectious diseases), Radiolab, Pop Culture Happy Hour, sometimes In Our Time when the topic is interesting enough to make me tolerate Melvyn Bragg, sometimes Throughline. I gave up on Medical Mysteries, despite my interest in the subject, because both the presenters have such affected deliveries that I couldn't bear listening to them. I keep trying true crime podcasts and then quitting them, although I do highly recommend CBC Uncover's miniseries "The Village," which is sober, thoughtful, and responsible about the serial killer who preyed on men in Toronto's gay village, and about the whole context of violence against gay men.

In music, Spotify's algorithm got one right in directing me towards Swedish singer-songwriter Jens Lekman. His latest, a collaboration with Annika Norlin called Correspondence, is stunning. Lekman and Norlin alternate songs in the form of letters to each other, responding to each others' ideas about everything from the fear (and the liberation) of failure, to rape culture, to the history of the song "Silent Night." You can buy it here and no doubt in other places. Here is one of the more stand-alone songs, "Forever Young, Forever Beautiful," a good intro to Lekman's work. I recommend giving the much earlier Lekman song A Postcard to Nina a listen too--it's the song that first caught my ear.

Watching: I haven't settled into anything much since the latest season of Shetland. I've tried a lot that hasn't worked for me, mostly crime shows.

I'm not loving S4 of The Good Place, which seems even more directionless than S3. I can't imagine how they can end the show satisfactorily, unless they go a route that I think is too ironic and hopeless for a fundamentally optimistic show, by having our characters get so invested in torturing humans in order to save them that they become, basically, demons. Or as bad as this universe's fucked-up heaven, anyway. I think that would be a brilliant ending but I doubt it'll happen.

I'm nervously looking forward to the final season of Bojack Horseman, which is about to drop. Last season's finale would have made a perfectly good series ending, and it's hard to see what else they can put Bojack through. On the other hand, most of the other characters' arcs feel much less finished, and I'm hoping for good endings, in every sense, for them.

I'm watching the Bake Off, of course, though nobody this year has grabbed my affection the way some bakers have in the past. I like them all but don't have a favorite, except in the sense that some of them are better bakers than others. Also, the challenges have gotten so difficult that I find them kind of stressful to watch. This may be good in a sense, because it means I get less of an urge to bake, and alas my diabetes means that delicious baked goods have to be much, MUCH less of a presence in my diet than they used to be. *sigh* (NB I know sugar substitutes are a thing. I have to restrict not just sugar but all carbs. Believe me, if there was a loophole I would have found it by now. Suggestions not needed, thanks. Commiseration always accepted.)

I want to watch the new Watchmen series, and several other things I'm not remembering right now. Suggestions for good things to read, listen, and watch ARE accepted, gladly.

And now I will end this long post.

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For all their flaws, though, the books have a streak of compassionate humanism which is appealing, and at times (often the times when they're most medieval) they touch the genuinely strange and wondrous.

That's well said.

as well as one Genuinely Bisexual Character, although we're told that he is bisexual because he is too heterosexual to be in a monastery.

(a) Which one? I've read all the books, but not more recently than, like, fifteen years ago.

(b) That's hilarious.

I know there's a TV show with Derek Jacobi, and I've seen bits but I don't think I've ever seen a full episode. Is it worth watching?

I enjoyed the episodes that I saw also at least fifteen years ago, but my memory is that the series suffers from a rotating cast of Hugh Beringar and also from the stupidly superfluous need to make the plots and characters comprehensible to a modern audience, so there's even less trust in the strangeness of the past than in the books; I'm not sure I finished the full series in part because it didn't feel like even a fictional twelfth century to me. Some of the plots were altered from the books in ways I took exception to. I do remember liking the adaptations of "A Morbid Taste for Bones" and "St. Peter's Fair." I became sort of horrifiedly fond of Brother Jerome as played by Julian Firth and Michael Culver as Prior Robert was spot-on. Derek Jacobi, if he is your primary interest, I thought was great.

The Genuinely Bisexual character is Brother Urien, who plays a fairly significant plot role in An Excellent Mystery and then turns up in small roles in one or two later books. He's, um, not exactly a nice man, though. And Peters' handling of his bisexuality is about what you'd expect. Nevertheless, I wish there was fic that allowed him to redeem himself and find love.

Michael Culver as Prior Robert

You have said the magic words. I love Michael Culver. As for Derek Jacobi . . . as much as I like his performances sometimes, I can never quite forgive him for being an anti-Stratfordian. I won't not watch him because of it, but it limits my enthusiasm, so in himself he isn't much of a draw.

It's a shame about Hugh Beringar. He's kind of important.

Nevertheless, I wish there was fic that allowed him to redeem himself and find love.

I hope it comes into existence.

You have said the magic words. I love Michael Culver.

You should probably watch Cadfael. You can always tune out everything that isn't him and Julian Firth.

As for Derek Jacobi . . . as much as I like his performances sometimes, I can never quite forgive him for being an anti-Stratfordian.

That disappointed me greatly. He was important to me, because I had imprinted on the novel of I, Claudius in high school and then unsurprisingly imprinted on the miniseries as soon as I could get hold of it, and the published playscript of Breaking the Code was also how I found out, around the same time, that Alan Turing had existed; I've watched some very random movies for his sake. But the Oxfordianism is, just, dude, seriously? I have the same kind of side-eye about Mark Rylance, who's otherwise one of the two best Olivias I've ever seen in a Twelfth Night.

It's a shame about Hugh Beringar. He's kind of important.

He really is. And they had a perfect one in Sean Pertwee and then something happened and we got some other dudes instead.

It looks like I will indeed be watching Cadfael. I can always fast-forward through the plots.

I actually got to see Derek Jacobi on Broadway in Breaking the Code. It was a very long time ago and I don't remember it all that well, but I'm still sufficiently pleased to brag about my good luck!

I will join you in side-eyeing Mark Rylance. Though at least he and Jacobi are just good actors with one absurd, ill-informed, and intellectually lazy opinion; they're not morally repugnant like Jeremy Irons, whose homophobia means I can no longer watch him in anything.

It looks like I will indeed be watching Cadfael. I can always fast-forward through the plots.

Godspeed!

It was a very long time ago and I don't remember it all that well, but I'm still sufficiently pleased to brag about my good luck!

You should totally brag about that! It's bragworthy!

(I still don't understand why no one has cast Russell Tovey as Turing. He even has the right kind of face. And is not Benedict Cumberbatch.)

they're not morally repugnant like Jeremy Irons, whose homophobia means I can no longer watch him in anything.

Oh, God damn it, I didn't know that. That is displeasing.

I've now watched two and a half seasons of the Cadfael TV series. It's been . . . interesting. The first season is pretty watchable, and the second is okay apart from a bad case of Wrong Hugh Beringar, and then the third season is a dumpster fire of melodrama and rapeyness and careless history (e.g. good and rightful Queen Maud and murderous usurping tyrant Stephen). I mean, the books aren't exactly masterpieces of nuance either, except that they are, compared to this.

I got partway into the episode where the Bad Priest is dressed like a Bad Wizard from a Disney movie, and gave up, at least for now.

The problem is, I have come to share your reluctant fondness for Brother Jerome. And, me being me, I've started to ship him with Prior Robert, which is not a thing I ever wanted but now I'm stuck with it. So I may end up watching the rest just for the two of them.

and then the third season is a dumpster fire of melodrama and rapeyness and careless history (e.g. good and rightful Queen Maud and murderous usurping tyrant Stephen).

Okay, I definitely don't feel bad about checking out of the rest of the series, but I am sorry.

The problem is, I have come to share your reluctant fondness for Brother Jerome. And, me being me, I've started to ship him with Prior Robert, which is not a thing I ever wanted but now I'm stuck with it. So I may end up watching the rest just for the two of them.

(a) I can't disagree with your priorities.

(b) Actually, I see how that happened. Condolences.

(c) If you write them, I'll read it.

In re: Brother Jerome, if you haven't yet seen "A Morbid Taste for Bones" (last episode of the second series, with the plot where they go to Wales to fetch away the bones of St. Winifred), it's well worth watching for his character, and not a bad episode in itself.

if you haven't yet seen "A Morbid Taste for Bones" (last episode of the second series, with the plot where they go to Wales to fetch away the bones of St. Winifred), it's well worth watching for his character, and not a bad episode in itself.

I have, thank you for making sure! It's one of the episodes I remember fondly. "I tell you, brother, if Columbanus is touched by God, I am glad to be merely human!"

I just read an excellent X-Men First Class AU fic that was set in the Cadfael era, The Conspirator's Gift by

kaydeefalls and really enjoyed it.

The latest episode of The Good Place was the first one that felt right this season, to be honest. And I'm really not happy at everyone talking about Chidi wiping his memory as a great sacrifice by him and a torment for Eleanor, when it was also a way for Chidi to avoid dealing with Simone again, and he is known to be the king of avoidance!

Not watching the Bake-Off this year because I wasn't enjoying it last year, but I am going to watch it once it's all over and I don't have to feel tense about it. Meanwhile, I've been watching the Canadian version and really enjoying it - the bakes seem actually doable by mere mortals and there's less focus on decoration. The latest Australian season has also started, so I've lined that up to go next. Many commiserations on the lack of baked goods in your life, too!

Ooh, thanks for the rec! *bookmarks* It's a nice long fic, too.

None of this Good Place season has felt quite right to me. I'm uncomfortable with how Eleanor has become the moral center of the show, as opposed to Eleanor's growth being the moral center of the show. And there don't seem to be any moral questions anymore, just Our Heroes and their struggle against Evil. Of course, having said that, I'm not 100% sure that this isn't all just a setup for a twist that will answer all my concerns, up to and including my belief that eternal damnation can never, ever be just, not for anyone.

I've heard good things about the Canadian Bake Off. Might give it a try, though I'm not sure my willpower can take more baking shows. And they changed the Australian version, right, to make it more like the original? I remember watching one episode of a truly ghastly Australian Bake Off a few years back.

What I've enjoyed most about the last two years of GBBO, greatly to my surprise, is Noel Fielding. He's so lovely to everyone, and so odd and strangely charming. Normally I adore Sandi Toksvig but I don't think she's a good fit for Bake Off--her jolly persona feels forced, and I can't help thinking she'd rather be doling out devastating intellectual put-downs.

Yes, there was one season of a truly horrible Australian Bake-off and then they changed networks, hosts and judges to be more like the British one, so seasons 2-5 (currently airing) have been fine - not a huge fan of the hosts, but they're not terrible, and the judges are good.

I also love Noel Fielding as a host, which surprises me because my brother was a huge fan of his show The Mighty Boosh which mostly just annoyed me. And I always love Sandi, even though I somehow have the impression that she is 6 feet tall and I get a shock every time she's short!

Suggestions for good things to read, listen, and watch ARE accepted, gladly.

Oh! It went by on my journal at a point in time when I do not know if you were keeping up with Dreamwidth, so: if you have not seen it already, the short film The Colour of His Hair (2017) may be relevant to your interests.

I am really enjoying Canadian Bake Off - the first season had Dan Levi from Schitt's Creek as one of the hosts and he was dynamite. Second season had a change of hosts and one judge but they're all delightful. It very much has the feel of original Bake Off and seems to make me less anxious.

I'm reading The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, which seems (I lightly spoiled myself because I didn't want to get stuck with unhappy things) to be heading in a m/m direction. It's all clockwork and telegrams and occasionally takes a sharp left to Japan.

I heard about "the watchmaker of filigree street" before. Is the story good as well? Interesting characters and so on?

With the caveat that I haven't finished it, so it might all end in tears, yeah, the story is lovely. The characters are a delight - it's set in Victorian London, and has kinda timey-wimey stuff. I'm listening to the audiobook and the narrator is very good, with the accents, with Japanese pronunciation (though I'm not an expert), with tension between the two main characters.

I read it a while back and loved it so much I gave a friend a copy for Christmas.

Oh Cadfael! I loved the books and the series as a teenager! Unfortunately due to being 15 and it being the 90s I probably missed any subtext that was there... it did cause me to imprint heavily on Derek Jacobi though.

Aww, Jens Lekman, I haven't heard any of his recent stuff but I highly recommend his album You're So Silent Jens from...2005, I think. Maple Leaves is a particularly delightful song with some pleasing wordplay.

*dives into Spotify*

O dear yes, books in which Our Protag barely gets a momwnt to sit down... very wearing.

One reason (there were quite a few others) why I stopped reading Jim Butcher's Dresden Files books was that Harry Dresden never got to sleep and was constantly being beaten up, and it made me feel queasy just to think about it.

Your rec made me check out "The good place". I doubt I would ever have given it a second thought. I think season 4 is actually stronger than season 3 or at least I'm more invested than in the previous one. Maybe the finale will reveal that it was some kind of purgatory all along and the whole point was the betterment of four humans (and some demons I guess). And that that's not the exception but standard practice.

I've been enjoying the feminist frequency podcast. Some of their subjects can be quite heavy but they also review a lot of pop culture (mostly movies and tv series, sometimes video games).

I liked the first episode of Watchmen. I think one should have some familiarity with the comic and/or movie because the show isn't explaining anything at the moment.

I wish I could recommend anything else but I feel like there is nothing on TV right now. Certainly nothing with a gay theme/plotline. This was supposed to be peak TV...

S4 of The Good Place does seem to have picked up a bit, although I'm behind again and haven't seen the latest.

I keep meaning to check out Watchmen the show (I've read the comic, although not recently, but I remember the basics).

If it's "peak TV" now, I think it's mostly for people who like realistic drama. Which is not, for the most part, me.

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