2012 – Page 67 – Wis[s]e Words

Kraken — Wendy Williams

Published on January 17, 2012Leave a comment

Cover of Kraken

Kraken
Wendy Williams
223 pages including index
published in 2011

This was a bittersweet pleasure to read. As an homage to Sandra I wanted to read some of her favourite books and writers this year and Weny Williams’ Kraken was one of the last books she was really enthusiastic about. I had gotten it for her as part of an Amazon order in June of last year, when it still looked she was going to beat her illness and to cheer her up in hospital. Once she had read, she was keen on me to read it too to see what I thought, but I never made the time to do so, having so much else to read. It’s something I regret now, as I would’ve liked to discuss this with her, but at the same time it is nice as well to be able to read a book that reminds me so much of her. Sandra loved squids, octopuses and every kind of cephalopods; they were her favourite animals and any book on them that was any good had her favour.

And Kraken is quite good. At some twohundred pages without the index it’s not an indepth treatment of Cephalopoda, but it is a good look at what makes these creatures so fascinating. The cephalopods are invertebrates, part of the molluscs, with octopussies and squid traditionally seen as evil devil beasts that as soon drown a sailor as look at them. Yet the more we learn about them, the more fascinating they’ve become. It’s quite clear that many of them are incredibly smart, well adapted to their surroundings and with some amazing abilities — most possess chromatophores, coloured pigment cells under conscious muscular control which they can use to camouflage themselves or even “speak” with. They’re curious, they’re playful and in short, they remind us a little bit of ourselves.

Oh gods I understand it now

Published on January 16, 20121 Comment

Bronies? A positive development to see so many (young) men embrace a cartoon supposed to be watched by five year old girls, or somewhat creepy? MetaFilter is conflicted.

But I do get it. Having watched some episodes/extracts now, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic does have all the elements that make a cartoon a cult hit for adults: clever writing, strong but not cliched characters, everything just that much better than it needed to be for a cartoon designed to sell toys. Put that together with people old enough to remember the first My Littel Pony and be nostalgic for it and it’s no wonder it does well with an adult audience too. It’s just a surprise that many in that audience are men. After all, weren’t men supposed to reject anything that didn’t star some alpha male, yet here they are voluntarily watching a show with female characters and only a couple of token males. And that has to be a good thing, hasn’t it?

Even if I have my doubts about seeing something meant for little girls taken over by grown men, no matter how benign this takeover is.

And yet…

My latest niece

Published on January 15, 20122 Comments

Martin with niece

Slightly blurry but very happily asleep on her proud uncle’s lap. I held her for a good ten-fifteen minutes and she never quite woke up, just burbled happily and shifted a bit every now and then.

Giant of the Grand Siècle: The French Army 1610-1715 — John A. Lynn

Published on January 14, 2012Leave a comment

Giant of the Grand Siècle: The French Army 1610-1715

Giant of the Grand Siècle: The French Army 1610-1715
John A. Lynn
652 pages including index
published in 1997

I keep safe the memory of an invisible giant. The Son of kings, this armed colossus once towered above his foes to bestride a continent. He ate an mountain of bread and drank a river of wine at each meal. Yet historians renowned for being the mot forward looking and sophisticated in skill and interpretation, fail to see him; they write as if he never existed. He must be invisible. Otherwie, how could something so big, so costly, and so powerful remain so long unnoticed? This book is a portrait of that giant, the French army of the grand siècle, made visible again.

A historian who opens his book with these words obviously has an axe to grind and once again I had the feeling of coming into an argument without knowing the particulars or the people involved. It’s a feeling I’ve gotten used to in the past few years as I’ve been reading the more serious history books rather than sticking to pop hitory. The more history you need, the more you realise that there are no certainties in history, but many historians can be quite certain about a colleague’s flawed theories…

Alan Moore visits the Occupy movement

Published on January 13, 2012Leave a comment

With bonus appearance of Frank Miller. A surprisingly good Channel Four news item on Moore, V for Vendetta and the way in which V’s Guy Fawkes mask has inspired and informed the Occupy movement. I love Alan Moore because he’s such a sensible, decent chap, no ego whatsoever.

David Lloyd meanwhile, who designed the mask all those years ago, is quietly chuffed everytime he sees it on the news:

How do you feel when you see a V mask or the V graffito at a protest or on a blog?

DL: Happy that a symbol of resistance to tyranny in fiction is being used as a symbol of resistance to any perceived tyranny in real life. The image of Che Guevara – another bearded guerrilla fighter, though in reality – has been used similarly as a badge of resistance to perceived injustices, and V’s just joined the club. Badges and symbols are useful as instant communication devices, though in the case of V, it seems to me that the communication isn’t quite as instant as with figures such as Che because, despite the movie, V For Vendetta, and its trappings, is not well-known to the general public. But then, any puzzlement shown by anyone in ignorance can always be allayed by their investigations of the source of the images – and then, who knows, they might become beneficially educated by the experience!