Rhymes With Porridge

Books of 2008

daithi — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 09:00:12 +0000

Happy new year!

With thanks to LibraryThing, where I’m still working on my catalogue, here are the (non-law, non-media, non-thesis-related) books, from my own collection rather than real libraries, that I have read since New Year’s Day 2008.

Click for a bigger picture. Those interested in the full bibliographic information can find it here.

Zero multiplied by PR is…

daithi — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:00:55 +0000

…journalism, apparently.

Ben Goldacre’s Bad Science column in the Guardian is usually entertaining, but this weekend’s column is a genuine LOL. He highlights this article from The Sun, drawing upon the ‘research’ of author (and chess player) William Hartston. Now given Harston’s background I can only assume that he has either been misrepresented or was offered a lorra lorra cash by Britain’s silliest newspaper.

Anyway, as Goldacre has followed for some time, one of the easiest ways to get your PR ’story’ into the paper is to come up with some sort of daft formula. It’s certainly not science journalism but it’s not as dangerous, perhaps, as some of the other things that he has exposed. However, this story is deserving of particular attention, as the supposed ‘formula’ is a special one:

O=NP(20C+B)/75 (where O is the ‘naughtiness rating’, N is the ‘number of nipples exposed’, P is the ‘percentage of exposed frontal surface area’, C is cup size and B is bust size)

Applying this formula to someone known as Britney Spears, we get (according to the Sun and Mr. Harston):

O = 0×70x(20×5+32)/75 = 123.2

Hopefully you’ll have figured out what is wrong. If not, read on at Ben Goldacre’s Bad Science site, and shed a tear for the future of maths. And journalism, too, while you’re at it!

God Save The Mashup

daithi — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 17:19:38 +0000

Thanks, b3ta.com.

The Barristers: An Update

daithi — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:59:21 +0000

Earlier this ‘fall’, I previewed the BBC series, The Barristers. Three episodes have now been broadcast, so it’s about time for an update. My biggest criticism would have been the almost painful reluctance to take a critical perspective on the bar and on the English legal system. I’m not suggesting that there would be a polemical focus on the evils and injustices of the law - but so much was presented, particularly in terms of traditions (and some very small scholarships) without even an eyebrow being raised. However, in the third episode, one of the themes was the direct employment of counsel by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), and there was at least some attempt there to get different perspectives on what is a genuine issue of controversy. Overall, I don’t think we’re getting to see all that much that is new (cameras in robing rooms - phwoar) and it does all seem quite cozy. The student perspectives are interesting (and the students selected across demographic lines), but I’ve actually found the other elements on the business of the courts and the organisation of chambers a bit more informative. On a side note: it would have been nice to look at Scotland too, surely the BBC could have managed to do it all in one series - especially given that the series is broadcast on BBC Scotland too…?

Much more detailed (and infintely more entertaining) reviews are available from the actual barrister over at Geeklawyer (Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3), the I’m-not-really-a-QC Charon QC (Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3) and BVC student (who charmingly links to me as a Grown-Up) Barboy (Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3).

(Officially) UK users only: watch the episodes here on BBC iPlayer.

Books of the Year

daithi — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:57:41 +0000

One of my favourite things about December is how it encourages newspapers and others to put together listings of books of the year - I always find a few things that I have missed along the way. I’m less enthused by the ‘pick 50 celebrities and author (and celebrity authors) and ask them to name their favourite’, those articles tend to be long and repetitive and basically hard to digest, though the one from the Times Literary Supplement below is an example of how to do that format properly - interesting people saying interesting things and not too many of them!

Seen so far:

TLS Books of the Year
Book Covers of the Year (Book Design Review)
100 Notable Books of 2008 (New York Times) (with links to the reviews - thank you!)

Feel free to add your own in the comments.

Ztar power

daithi — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:00:58 +0000

In a year where Guitar Hero is making (sound) waves, let us not forget that a guitar-with-buttons is something that has been around for a while. While we can skip over the Top Of The Pops-style synths-with-straps, the various MIDI guitars have led to the Ztar, a cool (if ridiculously expensive) piece of equipment deployed to great effect on last week’s Later with Jools Holland by Pendulum. Check it out.

(I can’t actually play guitar so if you’re a guitar purist and think this is the greatest travesty since Dylan went electric, I’m sorry for your troubles).

Some wry (and in one case) critical comments here and here. And yes, that is Al Green clapping along.

The start of the ‘holiday season’

daithi — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:49:54 +0000

I have a particular personal marker that has nothing to do with other feasts or trees or decorations - it’s the return of Xmas In Frisco, an utterly off-the-wall web radio service from SomaFM that runs for about a month a year, full of alternative takes on the season of joy (as well as some familiar Christmas and holiday favourites). I’ve listened to it each December since 2002. This year, it has started a few weeks earlier than usual (as explained by the producers here) - while normally I’d complain about such a signpost being changed, it’s impossible to say a bad word about this channel. (The channel does contain many bad words though - don’t say I didn’t warn you).

For a sample of the kind of stuff that they play, see the constantly-updated live playlist - and of course, click here to listen. And if you haven’t already done so, have a look at the list of other (year-round) channels here. SomaFM is web-only, has no ads and is listener-supported. Support them here.

Debt collection

daithi — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 09:00:03 +0000

A lovely little post about the two different covers for Margaret Atwood’s Massey Lectures on “Debt”. I have the UK edition (bought on the day of publication) and it’s wonderful, though I wouldn’t have said no to the North American cover either. The Massey Lectures are a great Canadian institution and are going from strength to strength in a multimedia environment. Do check it out, and this year’s lecturer is of course brilliant and engaging in how she addresses the topic - surprising quite a few people it seems.

Of elections and such things

daithi — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:05:45 +0000

I’m not liveblogging this as I’d rather spend the time playing with numbers and simultaneous reading/watching/listening in a way that makes sense to myself rather than try and find a way of being coherent to others. How very Web -1. So this is it for me in terms of ‘election night blogging’ (although it is in fact mostly written in advance as I’m a cheat).

I’ve pretty much stayed up for the last two presidential-cycle US “election nights”. As far as I can remember, in 2000 I was watching CNN and keeping track of numbers myself on a handwritten chart (with occasional forays onto the Web on - shudder - dial-up), and in 2004 it was simultaneous Sky News (TV) and NPR (audio) (both via cable in Dublin, on the TCD campus) and a certain amount of Web goings-on, although a lot of sizes just seized up at crucial moments. This year there’s again a pile of sources although there is a cut-off in that I have an early start in the morning (and will probably just skip sleep entirely) including a 2 hour train journey where I’ll be totally cut off other than whatever radio reception I can get. (Just for the avoidance of doubt, I also stay up for significant UK and Canadian elections, though for Irish elections I’ve always been doing something at a count for a candidate so that’s a totally different experience).

Some utterly random links from wot I’ve read so far today:

Huffington Post data aggregator. Wahey! And the unstoppable fivethirtyeight.com.

Reasons to ignore exit polls. And apparently the US networks are getting ready to call the election earlier than usual.

The New York Times tries to give some signposts to the evening. All subject to change of course. The good people on the UEA American Studies blog are running a handy map.

The Guardian’s liveblog. And that from the pogge bloggy types in Canada, here and some Irish troublemakers here. Here’s an explanation of how the BBC is doing its job - a nice peak behind the scenes. Neil gave in and went to Leviathan and Ben bemoans that he is outnumbered. Keith is in Virginia and, when not getting kicked out of disreputable establishments, is producing interesting things.

Atomic Energy

daithi — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:30:30 +0000

During RTÉ’s celebration of John Adams in 2007, a major omission was the art of the voice. Adams of course has authored a number of (for the genre) well-known operatic works, including the epic Nixon in China, the controversial Death of Klingoffer and the overlooked (in my view) ’songplay’ I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky.

Adams’ latest opera, Doctor Atomic, is at the Metropolitan Opera in New York this season. It will be shown across the UK as part of the Met Opera HD series in small cinemas (those affiliated with the Picturehouses group, typically arthouse or membership places - here in Norwich, it is Cinema City) on Saturday 8th November at 6pm. It’s the latest step in the very long-running Metropolitan Opera international broadcasts, first heard in 1931, which has gone from AM to FM to TV and now to various methods of digital distribution.

In advance of all this, check out this interview with Adams in the Observer (with responses and raised eyebrows from On An Overgrowth Path, who also highlights this; see also Jessica Duchen). Adams has a book out too, called Hallelujah Junction. Critic Alex Ross (author of what is probably the best book on 20th century music yet written, The Rest Is Noise) discusses the Met’s production in the New Yorker, here, and adds some nice sound samples, here. (With thanks to Ross’s blog). And finally, the Met has a neat minisite with piles of stuff to read, watch and hear.