A review of “The History Of The World In Bite-Sized Chunks” by Emma Marriott
June 5th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
In terms of ‘punch per page’, this is a winner: nearly 5,000 years of world history in less than 200 pages with every sentence offering information. Yet, for all its conciseness, it covers a great deal in an accessible manner, so that it can be read from beginning to end and/or used as a reference work. Also it is a balanced account, totally avoiding the Euro-centric bias of many early world histories, each of the six chapters being structured in the order: Middle East and Africa, Far East, Europe, The Americas and Oceania with sub-headings on almost page .
If there is a theme. it is that so much history has been about empire: creating, sustaining, and losing it. Maybe we are entering a new era in which geographical empires are literally history.
Of course, all empires are temporary and, as one reads this book, one learns of a succession of empires which at the time were the greatest or largest in history up to then: Sumeria in 5,000 BC, the Indus civilisation of around 2,500 BC, Assyria in the seventh century BC, the Achaemenian empire of around 560-530 BC, the Chinese Han dynasty of 206 BC – 220 AD, the brief but large empire of Alexander the Great, the mighty Roman Empire of 509 BC – 476 AD, the huge and cruel Mongol empire of the early 13th century, and of course the European colonial empires of Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands, France and most especially Britain.
Not all empires or civilisations were ended or broken by conquest; so often collapse was the result of climate change or disease: the transition of the Sahara from farming societies to desert, the destruction of Minoan civilisation by a tidal wave, the Black Death of the 14th century which devastated Asia, the Middle East and Europe, the decimation of the population of the Americas by diseases such as smallpox and influenza brought by Spanish settlers and conquistadors, the deaths of so many Aborigines from infectious diseases such as smallpox, and – worst of all – the so-called Spanish flu of 1918 which killed approximately 3% of the entire world population.
Sadly the story of humankind involves so much misery – not just war and disease but slavery. The slave trade between Africa and the Americas in the 18th and 19th century is described as “the largest forced migration in history” with the transport of 9.5 million slaves and the deaths in transit of around two million.
I read this book during the coronavirus global pandemic, the most dramatic reminder in a century that we are ultimately one world with one fate. A vital part of working together is to understand each other’s history and Emma Marriott’s book is an excellent primer.
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A review of the 2016 rom-com “Mother’s Day”
June 4th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
Who doesn’t love a good rom-com and these days the genre usually manages to include a bit of social commentary. This movie is an attempt by director Garry Marshall – who had such a huge success with “Pretty Woman” in 1990 – to follow up on the formula developed for his rom-coms “Valentine’s Day” (2010) and “New Year’s Eve” (2011).
The winning formula involves multiple storylines and lots of well-known actors weaved together around a special day in the calendar. This time the cast-list includes such watchable stars as Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson and Julia Roberts and, although the whole thing is very middle-class and largely white, it does explore (lightly) issues such the loss of a partner through divorce or death, the loss of a child through adoption, the challenge of shared parenting, plus opposition to same-sex and inter-racial relationships.
Of course, this is a money-spinning rom-com, so it all works out fine.
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A review of the new movie “Godzilla vs Kong”
June 1st, 2021 by Roger Darlington
Over the years, I’ve seen the two American versions of Godzilla and the three versions of Kong, so I was up for a movie pairing these two mega-monsters – and there were some extra factors.
It was the end of the third British lockdown of the global pandemic and I was desperate for some cinematic entertainment. It was showing at a local IMAX cinema and, if there’s a film that cries out for a huge screen, it’s this one. Finally, I was with friends including a 14 year old boy. So, I went for it.
The acting is mediocre and the dialogue is dire, while the plot is pretty crazy, but the special effects are impressive, the action is non-stop, and the noise is incredible. Prepare for a trip to Hollow Earth, the home world of the Titans, but beware of the strong reverse-gravitational effect. Exciting, huh?
No mega-monster movie would be complete without the smashing up of a well-known city and, in this case, the final titanic battle takes place in Hong Kong. The tag line for the movie is “One will fall” and, of course both monsters have their fans – but, don’t worry, it all works out and we enjoyed it.
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How does the death toll from Covid-19 compare with that for the Spanish flu?
May 27th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
I did an earlier posting comparing the current coronavirus pandemic with the so-called Spanish flu.
We don’t know the death toll from the Spanish flu. It is usually estimated as between 20 – 50 million, but the lowest estimate is 17 million and the highest is 100 million. The current pandemic is far from over, but currently the death toll stands at just over 3.5 million.
The situation for Britain is interesting. The death toll from Spanish flu was 228,000. So far, the official death toll for Covid-19 is nearly 128,000 – one of the highest per capita rates in the world.
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How many people die from HIV/AIDS?
May 27th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
As we begin to see a way of eventually eliminating Covid-19 when the global death toll is around 3.5M and still rising, we should remember that HIV/AIDS is still a global killer and so far we do have a vaccine for it.
Around 700,00 people die from HIV/AIDS each year; in some countries it is the leading cause of death. HIV/AIDS is one of the world’s most fatal infectious diseases – particularly across Sub-Saharan Africa, where the disease has had a massive impact on health outcomes and life expectancy in recent decades.
According to the World Health Organisation, it is estimated that 33 million people have died of HIV since the beginning of the epidemic. Some 40 million people are living with HIV today.
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A review of the new film “Sound Of Metal”
May 27th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
Ruben (British Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed) is a drummer and Lou (Olivia Cooke) is the guitarist and singer in a punk-metal duo called Blackgammon. Both are recovering addicts in a loving but complicated co-dependent relationship. They seem to be on the cusp of some professional success when Ruben suffers a sudden and catastrophic loss of hearing.
What can he do? He wants to go for cochlear implants but they are incredibly expensive and not always successful. An alternative – espoused by Joe (Paul Raci) who runs a small rural deaf community – is that Ruben should learn to live with his deafness: “the belief that being deaf is not a handicap. Not something to fix.”
I haven’t seen a film which puts deafness front and centre since the 1986 movie “Children Of A Lesser God”, but “Sound Of Metal” actually places the viewer in Ruben’s world with brilliant sound design by Nicolas Becker (and, in the cinema where I saw the film, there are closed captions to further give us the perspective of the deaf community).
It is a remarkable directorial début by Darius Marder who co-devised the story with Derek Cianfrance and co-wrote the script with his brother Abraham Marder and, in part, he was inspired by the experience of his grandmother who dramatically lost her hearing.
A large number of the cast were hired from the deaf community and, although Raci is not deaf, he is a native ASL (American Sign Language) user. Of course, the beating heart of this film is the wonderful performance by Ahmed who has come a long way since the “Star Wars” spin-off “Rogue One”. For this role, he learned to play the drums and to use ASL.
“Sound Of Metal” is often a disturbing film to watch, partly because of the distorted and discordant sound, partly because of the pain and anger in Ahmed’s performance, and party because of the hard message that disability should be embraced. But it is definitely a must-see work.
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There are so many ways to die – linguistically, that is
May 24th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
Check out this list.
I rather like the expression “to kick the bucket” – but there is no certainty around the explanation of the origin of this expression.
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Word of the day: pareidolia
May 22nd, 2021 by Roger Darlington
Pareidolia is the tendency for perception to impose a meaningful interpretation on a nebulous visual stimulus (so that one sees an object, pattern or meaning where in fact there is none).
Common examples are perceived images of animals, faces, or objects in cloud formations, or lunar pareidolia like the Man in the Moon or the Moon Rabbit. The concept of pareidolia may extend to include hidden messages in recorded music played in reverse or at higher- or lower-than-normal speeds, and hearing voices (mainly indistinct) or music, in random noise such as that produced by air conditioners or fans.
Pareidolia was at one time considered a symptom of psychosis, but it is now seen as a normal human tendency. Scientists have taught computers to use visual clues to “see” faces and other images.
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A review of the new film “Nomadland”
May 19th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
By the time restrictions had eased on the third lockdown in pandemic Britain and I was able to see this film on the big screen, it had already received three Academy Awards, winning Best Director (Chloé Zhao), Best Actress (Frances McDormand) and Best Film.
It is a remarkably original work, mixing a fictional story of widowed 61 year old Fern (McDormand), who makes a life for herself in a recreational vehicle (RV) travelling to wherever she can find casual work, with what is in effect a documentary about the life of such nomads in modern America featuring a cast of real-life characters who fit into the story while telling their own stories. The cinematography is amazing with shot after shot looking like a photograph or painting.
This could have been a depressing critique of an America for whom the dream has become a nightmare, but instead there is a moving sense of solidarity and community between people who have so little materially but so much in spirit.
The sense of positivity is captured in Fern’s comment: “I’m not homeless, I’m just houseless. Not the same thing, right? Don’t worry about me.” The narrative is sparse and episodic and underlined by the understated music of Ludovico Einaudi. The ending of the fictional part of the film is unresolved and enigmatic. My viewing companion and I had very different ideas about Fern’s future.
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A review of the new film “Ammonite”
May 19th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
I had expected a celebration of the talent of an under-appreciated female scientist (like “Radioactive”) but instead found a tender tale of a lesbian relationship between a talented woman and her mentee ( a bit like “Portrait Of A Lady On Fire”). The reality is that there is absolutely no evidence of a relationship between early 19th century palaeontologist Mary Anning (Kate Winslet), known later as ‘The Fossil Finder’, and Charlotte Murchison (Saoirse Ronan).
I would have preferred either a fuller biographical representation of a real life scientist or an exploration of a fictional 19th century lesbian friendship but, if we overlook the conceit of writer and director Francis Lee (who is himself gay), we have a powerful piece of film-making.
This was my first visit to a cinema in many months after the third lockdown of pandemic Britain and it was a sheer joy to experience a large screen, wonderful sound and an audience in a dark theatre. The last time that I saw Lyme Regis in a film was “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” and since then I’ve actually visited this historic town with its nearby ammonite-rich Jurassic coast.
Although the slow and languid treatment is more art house than might be expected, the cinematography – all muted colours and atmospheric sound – is a delight and Winslet and Ronan are magnificent with a script that often involves repressed body language and sparse dialogue. At the end of it all, one longs to visit the British Museum and see some of Anning’s spectacular finds.
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