Podcasts and audiobooks
I haven’t really listened to any podcasts and very few audiobooks. Generally, I prefer to read – ordinary paper books, and tv series and movies. However, I think I could get into podcasts (or video podcasts), at least a little, if the subject was one that I’m very interested in. Audiobooks on the other hand, they’re probably not for me. Mom likes them and I’ve tried to listen to some of hers, but I never really got into them. One reason is that the translated ones are by necessity read by Swedish actors. They’re reading books that have been written in another language – these days almost exclusively English.
I never read the first book in the series about The Ladies’ Detective Agency, I listened to it on a cd player. The actress reading it could be said to be ideal in most ways – like Mma Ramotswe she’s ‘of traditional build’ and she’s very funny, or at least used to. However, when the topic of lady detectives came up, the British mystery writer Agatha Christie was mentioned and the actress pronounced that with the stress on the second syllable. That was it for me… Funnily enough, I think she got the African names about right. At least as far as I can tell.
The other memorable audiobook I tried was one about Jeeves and Wooster (I’ve forgotten the title). Again, the ‘cast’ – a group of famous comedy actors – should have been ideal, and maybe they would have been, if someone had adapted the entire book to a Swedish setting with Swedish names. As it was, naturally they hadn’t. One member of the ‘cast’ was able to correctly pronounce the UK county Worcestershire (I hope I spelled that right), the others couldn’t. No one could pronounce the more unusual personal names – like Bertie’s friend Barmy Fotheringay-something or other (?) which I think is to be pronounced Fungy- Phipps? In any case, they all botched the names. One of them, who is really famous, and a movie maker/director as well as an actor let one of his characters (he played two) use a southern Swedish accent. Never again, that’s all I can say.
Of course, that’s not really why I don’t like audiobooks, I just – well, don’t. For me, books are about reading, not listening. If I want to listen, I’ll turn on my iPod for some music, or I’ll watch tv/dvd.
Happy Losar everyone!
Today is the Tibetan New Year. Remember Tibet! Don’t forget, put a candle in your window tonight.
Happy Losar!
Remember Tibet! Don’t forget, put a candle in your window tonight!
Happy Losar!
Simple meme
Here’s a simple Meme…answer the following questions:
1. What Book Are You Reading Now?
2. Why did you choose it?
3. What’s the best thing about it?
4. What’s the worst thing about it?
Here are my answers:
1. History of Sweden, part 2
2. I’m very interested in history and when a new series of books – there will be eight eventually – I just felt I had to have all of them.
3. It’s a well written book, about a subject I find interesting.
4. This part as well as the first one deals with matters that I find extremely distressing – war, hunting/killing, cannibalism, sacrifices. It seems for greater part of our history – and that goes for World History too – anyone smaller and/or weaker was considered prey, meaning anyone – animal, child, woman, man.
Book meme
Here’s a simple Meme…answer the following questions:
1. What Book Are You Reading Now?
2. Why did you choose it?
3. What’s the best thing about it?
4. What’s the worst thing about it?
Here are my answers:
1. History of Sweden, part 2
2. I’m very interested in history and when a new series of books – there will be eight eventually – I just felt I had to have all of them.
3. It’s a well written book, about a subject I find interesting.
4. This part as well as the first one deals with matters that I find extremely distressing – war, hunting/killing, cannibalism, sacrifices. It seems for greater part of our history – and that goes for World History too – anyone smaller and/or weaker was considered prey, meaning anyone – animal, child, woman, man..
Never liked to sweat, so…
Disliking Gym Says You Are Thoughtful |
 You are thoughtful, philosophical, and downright cerebral. For you, gym is too intense and competitive. You aren’t always in the mood for playing hard. You may or may not be into exercise – but any physical movement you do is under your own terms. You don’t get your happiness through thrills or adrenalin rushes. Your bliss comes from quiet reflection. |
My Least Favorite Subject
Disliking Gym Says You Are Thoughtful |
You are thoughtful, philosophical, and downright cerebral. For you, gym is too intense and competitive. You aren’t always in the mood for playing hard. You may or may not be into exercise – but any physical movement you do is under your own terms.You don’t get your happiness through thrills or adrenalin rushes. Your bliss comes from quiet reflection. |
Rape fantasies: an update
Since I’ve received quite a lot of negative feedback on my first post about this apparently sensitive topic, I’d like to make a few things clear.
I’m not against this type of thing (mainly going public with the fantasies, not anyone having them in secret) for moral reasons. What bothers me is when one woman’s fantasy gets another woman raped. (And that’s already happened, at least on a couple of occasions – it’s been used as a defense in court). Whatever you might think of me, I’m not a prude. I’m open to many things, just not this (and a few other things that I’m not going to go into here).
Secondly, I know perfectly well that fantasies are fantasies, nothing more. What worries me is whether all men know this too and if so, will they respect it? That’s all.
Having said that, I’d like to point out that I know men fantasize about being raped and have known about it for years. I’m perfectly ok with that, as long as these men don’t automatically assume that all women like that sort of thing too. That’s no excuse for raping a woman. I didn’t think that even needed to be said, but apparently it does.
I’m sure it’s fun for someone big and strong to (pretend to) give up control and submit to someone else, knowing that if the game got out of hand, they can easily put a stop to it. Great for them.
For similar reasons, I’m also perfectly ok with male prostitution. Because of their physical strength, they don’t run the same risks as women do.
Warning: self-pity
Lately almost all the books I’ve read have been disappointments, at least to some extent. I can’t believe I’ve completely lost my judgment so I can only imagine that somehow the books (or their writers) or I have changed. It’s probably the latter. The me of today has changed too much. I’m sadder and more disillusioned. Maybe if I manage to pull myself together and straighten my life out, I’ll become more enthusiastic about books again. Don’t get me wrong, I still love books, I just don’t seem to feel as happy about them as I did, even three or four years ago.
I feel my life slipping away, slipping through my fingers, like in that awful biblical story I was told about in what the people who ran my daycare had instead of Sunday school (Saturday school?). It’s been haunting me ever since. You probably know it, if you’re familiar with the Bible.
A girl walks across a field. She’s to pick only the best grains, but every time she sees what she believes to be the best, she catches sight of others in the distance, that seem bigger and better. In the end, she’s walked across the field, her basket empty, and.she can’t go back.
What worries me is that even though I’m probably somewhere on the field still, knowing I need to harvest the grains, I can’t do it. There’s always something preventing me and I can’t stand still either, I keep moving ahead, in one sense, yet not moving at all, in another sense. It scares me.
I don’t know what to do and I suppose not liking the few books I can afford, is the least of my problems. It’s just that those books should be brightening my days and instead, they’re not. A waste of money, that could have been put to better use elsewhere. Oh, well. Sorry about all the self-pity.
