I recently finished former Doctor Who showrunner Russell Davies’ Writer’s Tale, which is his account – through a series of emails with Benjamin Cook – of the making of the show.
I now get all the references I used not to get (most of which I didn’t realise I wasn’t getting) in this video:
I mean, the lyrics are a pretty direct commentary throughout on the book.
In honour of July 14th:
Kenneth Woods argues that “Haydn was a more creative, more talented and more skilled composer than Mozart.”
My first reaction was that this was insane. After reading his article, I now think that given what Woods means by this claim, it may well be right. But I also think that what he means by those words is an eccentric thing to mean by them. What he goes on to say about Haydn and Mozart seems to me to advance the claim that a) each of them was better in some respects than the other, and b) the respects in which Mozart was better are more profound. Any version of the claim that “Haydn was a more creative, more talented and more skilled composer than Mozart” that’s consistent with (a) and (b) strikes me as a pretty watered-down version.
Still, definitely worth a read.
In honour of both Hallowe’en (today) and Election Day (next week), a little ditty from Norah Jones, in two versions:
The following two Agents of SHIELD openers – one from last season and one from tonight – seem, at a superficial level, tonally very different. But upon reflection, despite the frenetic explodiness of the first clip and the cheery calmness of the second, they really are doing very similar things: showing us a slice of the daily life of one of our agents, set to disarmingly eccentric pop music, followed by a twist that reveals the opposite organisational logo from the one we expected to see.
Who said this?
It is so easy to say “we” and bow our heads together.
I must say “I” alone and bow my head alone
for it is I alone who is living my life.
I have beloved companions
but they do not eat nor sleep for me
and even they must say “I.”