a blog about a lot of things

I've been irregularly listening to Desert Island Discs since about 2008 (weirdly enough it's my grandfather that put me on to it. Guess he used to talk to the Brits about BBC Radio back in the day). I always thought it was a cool concept (format outlined below) and I was supposed to (try to) determine my picks. So here goes: Format: Guests are invited to imagine themselves  cast away  on a  desert island , and to choose eight pieces of music, originally gramophone records, to take with them; discussion of their choices permits a review of their life. Excerpts from their choices are played or, in the case of short pieces, the whole work. At the end of the programme they choose the one piece they regard most highly. They are then asked which book they would take with them; they are automatically given the  Complete Works of Shakespeare  and either the Bible or another appropriate religious or philosophical work. Guests also choose one  luxury , w...

These are inclined to change order depending on the day, so there's no ranking system. It might not even be these same writers all the time. But that's who it is today. Pretty easy list to make, I just have to look at the bookshelf. Novelists only since I don't read enough non-fiction or poetry these days, unfortunately. 5. Orhan Pamuk - Turkish Reference Novels: Snow; The Museum of Innocence; Istanbul: Memories and the City Why: I have always been of the opinion that love stories cannot be serious literature (in modern times, anyway) unless it's unrequited love. Snow disproved that for me, despite its complex politics and heavy symbolism it's essentially a tragic love story.  The Museum of Innocence ( a book I found accidentally in Shakespeare&Co) I also love because of the emphasis on obsessive love and the importance of things (garbage, really) in fueling obsession. 4. Ian McEwan - English Reference Novels: Atonement; On Chesil Beach; The C...

These are inclined to change order depending on the day, so there's no ranking system. It might not even be these same writers all the time. But that's who it is today. Pretty easy list to make, I just have to look at the bookshelf. Novelists only since I don't read enough non-fiction or poetry these days, unfortunately. 11. Phillip Roth -  American Reference Novels: Portnoy's Complaint; Nemesis; American Pastoral Why: Been good since the sixties and still at it ( Nemesis was released in 2010), I loved Portnoy's Complaint (yes, I'm a perv) and how it sounded like a long novel of standup comedy. First time I'd ever seen that done. He's got character-driven prose down too,  American Pastoral is as cerebral a novel as they come. 10. Salman Rushdie - British/Indian Reference Novels: Midnight's Children; Shalimar the Clown; Haroun and the Sea of Stories Why: Sadly most famous for the fatwa due to The Satanic Verses which isn't one ...

I don't watch very much anime. Don't have the attention span for long series. I blame fillers for that. So I'm picking my favorite short series (less than 52 episodes) that have been released since 2000. I count series add-ons as separate ( so Hellsing Ultimate is a distinct series from Hellsing). Won't include ongoing series, obviously. So Hellsing Ultimate just got cut. 10. Gurren Lagann ( 2007) - 27 episodes Why watch it: I like mecha anime. And this series is exciting and unpredictable. With giant robots. And if you don't care for robots the comedy,drama and great characters are enough of a draw. It's the kind of show that gives the message 'you can do anything' but you won't roll your eyes on hearing it. 9. Bunny Drop (2011) - 11 episodes Why watch it: Every now and then a good reality-based, slice of life anime catches my attention. Fun to watch for a change (and a little like a travel documentary into Japan life). This one about a thir...