Rum Doings Episode 137: Inflate The President
by John Walker on Jun.12, 2013, under Rum Doings
Heaven high. It’s episode 137 of Rum Doings, in which we don’t discuss man moon cold blah blah. We do discuss privacy, and our easily misinterpreted innocent statements. For some reason we talk about aeroplane classes, and their relation to capitalism. John does his extraordinary impression of Frank Muller, and then we consider the genius of Sir Jonathan Ive.
Can you say you’ve read something if you’ve listened to it? And will the blind destroy us all? And is youthwork worthwhile?
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[audio: http://rumdoings.jellycast.com/files/audio/137b_rumdoings.mp3]
June 12th, 2013 on 10:55
Thanks for another great podcast.
Here’s a couple of quick recommendations for recent Scifi/Spec-fic:
Saturns Children, Charlie Stross*
Rule 34, Charlie Stross
Old Mans War, John Scalzi
World War Books by Harry Turtledove
Robopocalypse, Daniel H. Wilson
June 12th, 2013 on 17:45
Frank Muller was a fantastic audiobook narrator; it’s a tremendous shame he died so young. I’ve listened to his readings of The Great Gatsby and Paul Theroux’s The Great Railway Bazaar so many times that I can’t read the books without hearing his voice.
(I thought your impression was terrible but I hadn’t heard his reading of the Dark Tower series; he sounds entirely different.)
June 12th, 2013 on 18:52
I’m currently reading “The Ghost Brigades”, the sequel to “Old Man’s War” recommended by Jens. I quite good, but it is hard to shake the feeling that it is a poor imitation to “The Forever War”. Old Man’s War even has a similar ending, though I did not find it as affecting as Forever War’s.
If you like SF short stories, Tor have a good (DRM free) selection on the UK Nook store, for 38p each (as well as a few free anthologies). Some of them are very good.
June 12th, 2013 on 19:37
But Peter Blind can’t be the king of the blind – according to popular idiom, the likes of Sammy Davis Jr. ,Peter Falk, or perhaps even(heaven forfend) Nick Griffen would be the ones so annointed.
Despite that oversight a top notch podcast as always, and I’m greatly looking forward to the upcoming Rum Doings on tour episodes.
With regards to Secret Cinema, I know Nick was being somewhat glib when suggesting that the listener not go to its next iteration, but they would be well advised to avoid it during blockbuster season. I went to SC last summer and was taken to a similarly dreary office block near Euston station which had been converted to a somewhat unwieldy space ship. Various clues scattered about began to pursuance me that we were about to watch the seminal sci-fi horror, Alien – I couldn’t wait.
Imagine my disappointment then, when it slowly became apparent that rather than the 1979 Ridley Scott masterpiece, we were in fact treated to the yawning logic chasm that was 2012’s underwhelming Prometheus. In 3D, no less! I was not best pleased at having to sit through the billowing 150 minutes of tedious hokum in a dank, asbestos riden office foyer. Especially as I had taken myself to watch it 2 days prior, thinking that surely SC wouldn’t be so crass as to screen a current blockbuster, no matter the pedigree.
That said, it was still a good day out – both utterly unique and good value for money. It just might be worth staying out of the multiplexes for a month or so before hand to avoid my particular fate!
June 12th, 2013 on 22:45
Not relevant to this episode, but after 7 years of football once or twice a week for excercise, at the age of 38 I’ve decided to also take up running to deal with an ever so slightly burgeoning tum and an increasingly melancholy disposition. Before I spent any money I went for a two mile run in regular tennis shoes around my local (very hilly) area to see if I liked it. I made it back somewhat tired and emotional, there’s a ridiculous uphill stretch just before I get home, but felt great soon afterward.
Trusting Nick’s opinion on such things I’ve just taken receipt of some Vivobarefoot neos which I’ve worn around the house and are incredibly comfy. I’m looking forward to giving them a runout. Being somewhat nerdy I’m going to get into the GPS timing and speed data that you can do with the Nike plus software.
(I know, ‘cool story bro’, but would welcome any advice or pointers from Nick or any other runners among the Rum Doings listenership). I’m planning on doing a couple of miles two or three times a week to start).
June 13th, 2013 on 07:38
Matthew – he really does sound different! I listened to some snippets of his voice on other books, and he doesn’t do the same crazy voice. I’m very sad to hear he’s dead!
June 13th, 2013 on 09:03
I am starting to enjoy audiobooks much more now and I definitly hope to start, but really the price of them are a bit much! And the monthly subscription on audible only gives you one a month which i think isn’t that great value for money since its £1 more then Netflix!
June 13th, 2013 on 16:07
While this quote doesn’t directly address Nick’s view that Banks was (ever so slightly) ashamed of his SF novels, I think it helps clear things up a bit:
“I think a lot of people have assumed that the SF was the trashy but high-selling stuff I had to churn out in order to keep a roof over my head while I wrote the important, serious, non-genre literary novels. Never been the case, and I can’t imagine that I’d have lied about this sort of thing, least of all as some sort of joke. The SF novels have always mattered deeply to me – the Culture series in particular – and while it might not be what people want to hear (academics especially), the mainstream subsidised the SF, not the other way round.”
http://friends.banksophilia.com/74/
June 14th, 2013 on 17:18
I don’t have anything particular to say about this episode, but thought you might enjoy this summary of Radio 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VdOr5FpLKR8
June 20th, 2013 on 15:09
For Nick’s request for good SF, I just came across this:
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/06/eight-sf-books-recommendations-from-jo-walton
FWIW, I cannot really help. I’ve always been much better with older SF, not brilliant with modern stuff. Which is, I think, why I prefer short stories.
June 20th, 2013 on 15:13
Oh dear, just recommended two different things involving Tor! I absolutely swear I’m not a shill!
I liked the Radio 4 thing, some of those impressions were perfect (others, not so much). Reminded me a lot of being student and pretty much having the radio on all day (until the bloody Archers).