August 2014 in Review

This is an index and summary of the things I’ve talked about over the last month. Links for multi-post subjects go to the first post (even if it’s before this month), you can follow the internal navigation links from there. (TV shows without full posts will not be linked, but will be listed.)

Books

Fiction

“Hell and Earth” Elizabeth Bear. Fourth book in the Promethean Age series, part of Read All the Fiction. Kept.

Total: 1

Course

Literature of the English Country House. A Future Learn course covering 17th, 18th & 19th Century literature of English country houses.

Total: 1

Museums

Discovering Tutankhamun – exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum.

Total: 1

Photos

Butterflied Banana.

Total: 1

Radio

Spartacus – In Our Time episode about the gladiator Spartacus who led a revolt against Rome in the 1st Century BC.

Strabo’s Geographica – In Our Time episode about Strabo’s Geographica, a book written in the late BCs/early ADs about the “known world” of the Romans.

Total: 2

Talks

August EEG Meeting – just a few notes about the members talks and book auction.

“The Coffins of the Senior Lector Priest Sesenebenef: A Middle Kingdom Book of the Dead?” Harco Willems – the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Distinguished Lecture in Egyptology for 2014, this year given by Harco Willems about the texts on a particular Middle Kingdom coffin.

Total: 2

Television

Fiction

Doctor Who: Deep Breath.

Total: 1

Non-Fiction

Britain’s Great War – Jeremy Paxman looking at what happened in Britain during WWI.

Do We Really Need the Moon? – a delightful programme presented by Maggie Aderin-Pocock about the moon. She talked about the origin of the moon, what it was like in the past, what it will be like in the future. And a lot about how it has shaped the earth and life on earth. Possibly she credited the moon with a bit too much influence sometimes, but her enthusiasm carried the programme along.

Dolphins – Spy in the Pod – slightly disappointing documentary series about dolphins.

Lost Land of the Tiger – three part series about looking for tigers in Bhutan.

Melyvn Bragg’s Radical Lives – two part series consisting of two biographies of notable English radicals.

Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief & Morals in the 18th Century – Suzy Klein talking about 18th Century British music and how it impacted and was impacted by the history of the time.

The Search for Life: The Drake Equation – one off programme about the possibility that there is life on other planets, looking at each of the factors of the Drake equation in turn to see what we now know about the probabilities. I didn’t always agree with what was being said (for instance I’m not particularly convinced the photosynthesis is as dead certain to develop as they were saying, it’s only evolved once on earth after all). It was also marred somewhat by the visual style which was clearly done by someone who thought the subject of the programme was dull so needed to be jazzed up with shaky cams. Overall, good but not as good as it could’ve been.

Secrets of Bones – series about bones, their biology & evolution.

Tales from the Royal Wardrobe – one-off programme presented by Lucy Worsley about the clothes of the English & British monarchs since Tudor times.

Travels with Vasari – Andrew Graham Dixon goes round Italy following the footsteps of Vasari who wrote one of the first art history books in the late Renaissance.

Tropic of Cancer – repeat of a series where Simon Reeve travels round the world visiting the countries that the Tropic of Cancer runs through.

Tropic of Capricorn – Simon Reeve travels round the world following the Tropic of Capricorn.

Total: 12

Trip

A Visit to Leicester, June 27-28th 2014 – my wander around Leicester while J was in a study day, includes the cathedral, the Guildhall and a couple of museums.

Total: 1