At a loss of what to write about today, I asked for suggestions and my fabulous daughter, Tamlyn, came back with a suggestion of perhaps a book review or some interesting music I've heard recently.
So maybe I'll do both...
On the music scene, I've been listening to a bunch of music lately, in fact since M went into the care home, so that would be for nearly two months now. Mostly, it's been a mish-mash of three playlists either in the bakkie (on the new system), or on my phone via my bone-conduction headset.
Those bone-conduction units are quite remarkable. They fit over your ear and leave the ear passages open so that other ambient sounds can still be heard. Cycling with traditional headphones is illegal in SA because of the way they cover your ears completely, blocking all other sounds, and have been blamed for multiple cyclist (and jogger) injuries, even deaths. They should also be banned for joggers, but aren't for some unknown reason (to my knowledge).
But that's not all, folks.... They aren't just a headset for listening to tunes. They also act as a hands-free headset for your phone. If the phone rings, press the button on the headset and talk like normal. Two for the price of one.
So, if you still like to pick up other sounds around you while wearing a headset, or simply want a different listening experience, go out and get yourself a set. I picked mine up cheap (R265, I think) on Temu. "Ah, but Temu is just cheap Chinese crap", I hear you say. Not always, I say. Be picky about what you order, speak to other folks who have ordered the same or similar, check product reviews, and so on before you make a purchase.
Without naming an imported brand available locally, my Temu set was one fifteenth the price of the branded unit. Yep, the branded unit goes for R4k. Mine were cheap as chips in comparison, and I'll wager the sound is just as good.
Anyway, I digress for music a bit...
So I said I've been listening to a mixture of three playlists. Those are Rock (like I would be without that), Smooth (a combo of ballads across the ages), and New Wave (yep, 80s tunes).
They all have great songs in them, some even go across playlists, but depending on my mood I can easily find something I want to listen to. And with just over 2,000 tracks between the playlists, there is ALWAYS something to satisfy the mood of the moment.
One track I don't have downloaded to my phone yet though, I came across while watching the BBC remake of the old The Day Of The Jackal movie, but in a series format. It is a brilliant 10-part series with Eddie Redmayne in the lead role. If you haven't watched it, why not? You're missing out.
The title track to the series is by a female artist, Celeste. I have heard only a couple of her other tracks since, but it's easy to see/hear why she was chosen to provide the track on the series. It is raunchy, seductive, soleful. The title, "This is who I am" hints at the Jackal being "who he is" for whatever reasons, setting your thoughts so that you don't start judging him for what he does, but perhaps seeing him as a Lone Ranger type of person, taking out people who are benefitting from doing harm to humankind and looking at why he does it. Right or wrong, your choice. Take a listen to it and tell me what you think...
On the reading side of things, some time ago I downloaded a few Ebooks recommended by one of my fellow cyclists, himself a highly-read intellectual so I knew the reads were going to be challenging.
The first of those books is "The Poisonwood Bible", a fictional story told by the wife and four daughters of a fierce evangelical Baptist minister who takes his family to the Belgian Congo in 1959. It is about what they take with them and why (vegetable seeds being one of them, to try and alleviate hunger in his community). It is about their difficulties adapting to local culture, the struggle to be accepted by the local tribal hierarchy, the difficulty in getting the tribe to switch faiths from traditional beliefs to Christianity. And so much more. It started off a slow, difficult read, but with perseverance it turned into something worthy of the time spent on it.
Next was a sci-fi-type novel called "The Player of Games" by Scottish writer Iain M Banks. He lived in Kirkcaldy, close to where Tamlyn lives. It is, of all things as the title suggests, about a guy who plays games for a living. But these are not normal games like chess or backgammon, these are complex multi-player and multi-layered games, played on planets in other solar systems, requiring interstellar travel just to get to the game. He is known around the solar systems about his prowess in such games, for which he was chosen by his planet's "Minds" to represent them. The game played in the finale is not only complex mentally, but there is a physical side to the game as well, which allows you to either have a body part lopped off an opponent, or worse, have him terminated. Not a good thing if you are a high-ranking military representative on your host's planet, I assure you. Another interesting read...
I'm currently on another of the recommended books, "Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond. This is going to be a challenging read, as he explores and "outlines the theory of geographic determinism, the idea that the differences between societies and societal development arise primarily from geographical causes." So far, he has started talking about why Africa appears to have not progressed as fast as Europe, for example, but I am still only on the first 20 pages so it is going to be a long, thoughtful read, I think.
2 comments:
I loved I am Pilgrim... I'm currently reading Buddha Da. I wasn't sure I'd be able to understand it as it is written in a Glaswegian accent, but I'm loving it!
Watching Departure on Netflix... Not a new series, I think, but new to me. Just finished Season 1 and looking forward to starting Season 2.
Music - I've got the new Teddy Swims CD in the car... And like you, everyone hears me coming a mile off 🤣🤣
XXX ❤️❤️❤️
Good write up. I need a pair of those hearing things.......Might get you to order and courier for me, and I'll refund you. Let me just check them out.
Oh, and I know I still owe you a call - sorry
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