Something for Saturdays (9/365)

[white_hart]

The trouble with trying to keep up daily posting is that on Saturdays, I spend very little time at my computer, and writing long posts on my phone is much more difficult. So I think I might make Saturdays a discussion post instead.

To start with, how about a recommendation post? What have you been enjoying lately? What do you think deserves a wider audience? Books, films, TV, anything.

Comments

[white_hart]

And to start the ball rolling, I recommend Winter Walks on iPlayer (though I've only seen the first so far). It's the same format as a short series called Yorkshire Walks which was on just before Christmas in 2019 and inspired us to book a holiday in the Yorkshire Dales (which we still haven't been on, and may well not get to go on), although that had the same presenter all the way through and Winter Walks has a different presenter for each episode; they follow a single walker who records their walk with a 360° camera on a long pole, supplemented by aeriel shots which I suspect are drone footage, and on-screen text providing additional details. It's really lovely, gentle TV and I definitely recommend it.

[sfred]

Oh, I came into the comments to recommend Winter Walks! I've watched the Richard Coles one and the Lemn Sissay one.

[white_hart]

It is such a delightful programme!

[nineveh_uk]

I really must watch joth Yorkshire Walks and Winter Walks.

[white_hart]

I think you'd really like them.

[perennialanna]

This has been a week of Winter Walks and the Television On Fire (one of the several log fires Netflix offers, which appeal to the children as much as me. Gentle small sounds and flickering movement).

[white_hart]

Winter Walks is delightful.

Maybe I should try the log fires when T is quizzing and I need to put something on to block out the voices, but would prefer to read than to actually watch TV...

[danieldwilliam]

I've enjoyed
Traces (Val McDermid detection on BBC)
Taskmaster on C4 (much more than I thought I would)
A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry (the intersection of popular culture and history) on the Internet.
The Alexandrian (RPG theory and practice) on the Internet.
Shattered Sword (military history about how organisational failure caused the Battle of Midway.)

[white_hart]

I don't think I've come across any of those, but the unmitigated pedantry sounds right up my alley.

[danieldwilliam]

It is one of my favourite blogs at the moment.

[girlyswot]

I thoroughly enjoyed Ghosts on iPlayer a couple of weeks ago. Also looking forward to Pottery Throwdown starting again tomorrow.

Today was my first attempt at a Social Media Sabbath - no twitter and facebook on Saturdays. I did forget a couple of times but in general I reall have enjoyed it and would certainly recommend it.

Have just started Isabel Hardman’s Natural Health Service and am enjoying that too.

[nineveh_uk]

Ghosts is excellent. Very funny, and ultimately warm hearted without bei g sentimental.

[white_hart]

I've heard lots of people saying good things about Ghosts - I really must give it a go. And I've never tried Pottery Throwdown but if it's basically the same format as Bakeoff and Sewing Bee maybe I should.

A day off (or even mostly off) social media definitely wouldn't be a bad thing, though I'm not sure I could make myself stick to it!

[hilarita]

Books I've enjoyed: Mary Robinette Kowal's The Relentless Moon (though there are some elements to that that one might not enjoy right now - I didn't have a problem with it, though I could see how one could).

Anything by KJ Charles. Mostly, Charles writes erotic historical queer romance, but also does some fantasy historical queer erotic romance (i.e. late 19th century stuff with magic). Her writing of London in that period is just fantastic. There's a diverse cast, especially for stories set in London. If any of this is in any way your thing, I strongly recommend.

[white_hart]

I loved The Calculating Stars and have at least the second one on my kindle to read at some point. Though I think I did see some comments about some plot elements in The Relentless Moon that might be uncomfortably close to current events (but by the time I get there with any luck the events will no longer be current).

The only KJ Charles I've read so far is Proper English, which I really liked, but I do have several other in the kindle TBR too!

[norfolkian]

I finished the book Half of a Yellow Sun recently, which is really interesting and compelling, if a little harrowing in places. I am really enjoying series 2 of Staged on the BBC and have just finished watching season 3 of Star Trek: Disco, which I thought was amazing.

[white_hart]

I loved season 3 of Disco! The first two were a bit hit and miss (more hit than miss, though) but I thought season 3 was amazing. So queer! So diverse! So completely hopepunk! I found the last few episodes a bit too tense and will probably enjoy them more on a rewatch, but it was absolutely the series I needed for late 2020 into 2021.

[antisoppist]

I would watch Winter Walks. I accidentally watched Susan Calman driving a camper van round Devon the other night on channel 5 and found that cheerful.

I'm halfway through Queen's Gambit and Schitt's Creek (my inability to binge watch is a downside with streaming) but both are excellent. We all enjoyed Ghosts and the Christmas episode of Upstart Crow and Taskmaster. Looking forward to Pottery Throwdown coming back and need to watch Staged 2. Will probably try the thing about Catherine the Great and Bridgerton.

For Christmas I said to my sister that I wanted some more crime writers that weren't horrifically violent and that I'd wondered about Anne Cleeves having seen brief bits of Vera stomping about on moors in passing. Turns out little sister is a fan and she bought me the first 8 Vera books for Christmas. Fortunately I am enjoying them.

[white_hart]

Susan Calman driving a camper van round Devon definitely sounds like a cheerful thing to watch. Channel 5 do sometimes have really nice travel-type programmes, if you can cope with all the adverts and competition promos. We rather enjoyed one recently about walking along disused railways.

I'm slightly unsure about Bridgerton - it looks as though it should be fun but I've heard a few things about both the author and the adaptation that make me a little wary. Though I suspect it would be a fun thing to watch when T is quizzing.

[girlyswot]

I started watching Bridgerton expecting to loathe it but was won over within the first couple of episodes. But there is one scene that is really not handled well. And it is straightforward romance, which I don’t think is normally your thing, which is why I didn’t recommend it. I liked it a lot more than I had expected, though.

[white_hart]

I don't think I necessarily think this post should just be recommendations of things I'd like - I'd like people to feel free to recommend anything they're enjoying!

[girlyswot]

Well, in that case, I recommend Bridgerton!

[white_hart]

I have actually just watched the first episode and quite enjoyed it, though I'm amused by the way you could immediately tell who the romantic leads were because they look attractive by 2021 standards and everyone else looks like a period caricature. And Anthony is clearly an arse because he threw over his mistress without making a settlement on her.

[el_staplador]

I have a subscription to Hidden Europe, a magazine that comes out thrice annually, and I have ordered a load of back copies. I really enjoy it as short, open-minded, wide ranging travel writing.

[white_hart]

That does sound rather lovely!

[tree_and_leaf]

I'm currently enjoying Monisha Rajesh's "Around India in 80 Trains" very much.

[white_hart]

That does sound terrific!

[perennialanna]

I haven't read that but I abandoned Around the World in 80 Trains very fast after extreme rudeness and condescending authorial superiority about atheism in Lourdes.

[tree_and_leaf]

In that case I should probably avoid it, but I'm slightly surprised, as while she is an atheist, she has a massive row with her travelling companion for going all Militant Atheist about Hindu devotional practice, so it's particularly disappointing that she would do the same about religions that aren't in her family background :(

[perennialanna]

It was her partner who insisted on adding Lourdes to the route, so that might influence the tone? It's very near the start, so I was more inclined to abandon the book than if I had invested a significant amount of time.

And to be fair, I'm a Catholicly-inclined Christian and I suspect Lourdes would freak me out.

[tree_and_leaf]

Hm, possibly. And I can see Lourdes having that effect, especially if you didn't want to go there in the first place (I'm only less dubious about it than I am because I was at theological college with a not very Catholicly inclined colleague whose son had bad cerebral palsy and is non-verbal and paraplegic, and the whole family found their annual trip to Lourdes a wonderfully helpful experience.

[girlyswot]

Oh, also, The Last Homely House on YouTube. About what it sounds like: walks, gardening, crafts, cooking, very soothing but interesting and sometimes fun.

[white_hart]

Oh, I haven't encountered that. It definitely sounds worth checking out.