Random Ramblings Round-up...

[amnisias]

Since everybody is waiting for festivids to go up I thought it's the perfect time to post all the snippits that I meant to post and never did - because of the vids, and the tired, and the time, and the STUFF. So, here, in no particular order

* When life is weireder just as weired as TV

Every so often I watch a show and think to myself - "This is totally ridiculous, this time the writers have really overstreched my ability to hand-wave and accept silly premises, go along with impossible story-lines and leave my brain at the door. This is a 10 steps too far." Everytime that happens I get screwed by the universe - because it turns out to be based on facts. Like the season 4 finale of Criminal Minds that had a Canadian pig farmer kill and feed his victims to the pigs. Which is based on Robert Pickton, a Canadian pig farmer, who is thought to have killed 26 women and fed them to his pigs.

Last week on my way to work I listened to Jim Al-Khalili's 'Life Scientific', his guest was Amoret Whitaker, one of only three forensic entomologists in the UK (that's Hodgins on Bones for you and me - the guy with the creepy-crawlies). So, it turns out, the episode that takes place on a 'body farm' where rotting bodies are studies by scientists and had me eye-roll and head-shake like no tomorrow - it's a thing. Actually, it's 4 things, all of them in the US. Not sure whether the link for the interview will work outside of the UK.s

* Cabin Pressure

I've been working late that last couple of weeks and therefore caught 'Cabin Pressure' on the way home. It's one of the comedies I really enjoy on BBC4. But everytime I get confused - I think Cumberbatch is doing Martin, but then Martin speaks AND I DO NOT RECOGNIZE his voice. It's not that it's not his voice, it just doesn't sound enough like him to recognize it. It's weired.

* Gigs

Sometime in May last year I went into town to do some shopping. I got myself a Starbucks Coffee and just outside was a busker who was pretty good, so I just sat down for a while to listen. He was pretty good, and it turned out he was advertising his gig later that night. What a cool idea, I thought, and since I like supporting indie artists I went along.

He is currently touring the UK again, and I went to a gig at the Academy on Thurday, and he's just such a joy to watch. Not everybody with a good voice is a good entertainer, but his gigs are always fun and engaging...

Curious who I'm talking about?

Last year...

This year...

If you like his music, this is his web site, after the UK he's touring mainland Europe and Australia. I'm so pleased to see most of the gigs sold out already, but if you like the music keep an eye out because he keeps upgrading to bigger venues/adding dates.

Is it times for festivids yet....?

Comments

[bironic.livejournal.com]

I remember reading about that kind of decomposition "farm" in a Mary Roach book! Cool and gross!

Is it times for festivids yet....?

*waits waits waits*

[amnisias.livejournal.com]

Decomposition farm sounds marginally less gross than body farm. The concept sill seems rather ghoulish, though. Amazing that they get enought bodies donated, apparently more than 200 a year in the US - specifically for that purpose. Rationally it makes sense, since the same thing happens to you whether you're in casket or somewhere under the bushes or in a heap of hay, but emotioanlly it still give me the shudders. Fire, that's the way to go. Literally and figuratively.....Sorry for the Morbid on a Saturday afternoon (moring)!

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

when that episode of cm aired, one of my friends - who's canadian - mentioned that she had a very, very hard time watching it because it was so close to a real case. and knowing that kind of thing had actually happened made me doubly squicked. but i like the episode. i knew about the body farms, altho i think i know about them from csi. (who would've thought tv could be educational!) i didn't realize they were only in the us, tho.

[amnisias.livejournal.com]

I have enjoyed the CM episode, too, in morbid, squicked out way - even though at that time I thought it was just the writers going all out crazy. But whne I found out I thought it was rather insensitive, given how recent the actual event were. I can't even start to imagine how relatives of the victims would have felt knowing that such a horrible crime was used for entertainment purposes...