Sunshine, you are mine/ Turn up the stereo

[dolorosa_12]

This weekend, the weather suddenly turned summery (or at least what passes for summery in the south-east of England). I think I was more excited about the fact that I'd be able to dry laundry in the courtyard instead of in the house than the fact that I would be able to ditch my winter clothes. I've since done two loads of laundry, and I find the sight of sheets waving gently in the breeze oddly comforting.

Yesterday I went with my friend and former sort-of-housemate J2* to a buffet lunch at Pembroke College. It's an annual event to which all the people who supervise (i.e. provide the one-on-one tutorials that are the main part of the teaching method at Oxbridge) students from Pembroke are invited. J2 invited me as her guest, and when we arrived we discovered that another friend of ours, M, had also been invited. The meal began with sparkling wine in what I think was the college's senior combination room, and then we were treated to a three-course buffet in the hall. We sat next to a very bitter physicist who spent the whole meal complaining about how academia has changed in the past twenty years (the short version: too much admin), and an interesting woman who taught Arabic language and Middle Eastern history. She bemoaned the fact that interest in her subject area only spikes when something terrible happens in the Arab and Islamic world.

After the lunch, the three of us went to a pub that lets people take drinks outside into the park near the mill pond, and we sat on a wall, surrounded by hundreds of other people who clearly had the same idea. All in all, it was a really fabulous day.

Today I've just been lounging around at home. Matthias is working in one of his library jobs, but will be back in about an hour, at which point we'll have a late lunch. This evening I've got yoga, but other than that, I don't plan on leaving the house. I've been - rather decadently - drinking white wine in the sun and reading novels. At some point I'll probably post some reviews of them, but for now, I plan to relax.

I'll leave you with a few links to stuff that's been making me happy today.

First, sophiamcdougall's newest book, a children's science-fiction work called Mars Evacuees, is about to be published. She's got a couple of excerpts here and here. The second link includes a bunch of other stuff, all of which is worth reading, especially her article in the New Statesman about the gender disparity in book shop displays.

This review of the recent TV series of Dracula, posted in ladybusiness, is making me rethink my decision to avoid the show. I find Jonathan Rhys Meyers almost unbearable to watch, and that is why I originally chose to give the show a miss, but if anyone who has watched it has an opinion, feel free to weigh in and convince me one way or the other.

Fantasy author Saladin Ahmed has started a really cool side project, tweeting the Husain Haddawy translation of the Arabian Nights.

I'll leave you with some music. Yesterday, in honour of International Women's Day, I posted a bunch of feminist music on Tumblr. Assume a broad definition of the word 'feminism' here that has room for Christine Anu singind about migration and identity, Lucinda Williams singing about loss and grief, and Ciscandra Nostalghia demanding listeners worship her.

I'm really into the music of The Daysleepers at the moment. This album and this album are simply fabulous. They sound like summer in Sydney - all diving under waves and bobbing out beyond the breakers, the glare of the asphalt hurting your eyes, jacaranda trees, standing on a roof and watching the fireworks on New Year's Eve, mangoes, cherries and grilled fish and sparkling wine - in a way that I cannot properly articulate. Just gorgeous.

Finally, Matthias and I watched the last stage of Melodifestivalen for the first time this year. We both would've been much happier if Alcazar had won.

"Melodifestivalen 2014 - Alcazar - Blame it on the disco" (Watch on YouTube)

Seriously, is that not the most Eurovision song ever?

___________________
*By which I mean that she lived in a sharehouse with my partner Matthias during the year I lived in Germany, so she was my housemate whenever I visited him.

Comments

[ellinou.livejournal.com]

I watched Dracula, and I was... not blown away. I have nothing against JRM; in fact, I loved him in The Tudors. But I found the entire premise of the show quite ridiculous, and I don't even know Stoker's canon. I'm not sure I'll tune in to season 2, if there is one.

[dolorosa-12.livejournal.com]

I don't really care much if it follows Stoker's book accurately - I'm currently watching The Musketeers, which bears little resemblance to Dumas' book and is thoroughly enjoyable. I'm more concerned with the story and characterisation of the show itself - if everything is coherent, if the characters are interesting and engaging. Ridiculous can work, as long as the show itself isn't trying to take itself too seriously, but from what you've said, I don't think I'll find it particularly appealling.

[malinowy.livejournal.com]

Drying laundry outside is one of the best things about spring/summer. The smell in your clothes after they've dried, ahhh.

I watched all but one of the Melodifestivalen broadcasts and clearly I should never have favorites because they don't even come close to winning. There was also this song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IduMVcEtnqQ) which didn't even make it to the final and seriously Sweden, when are you going to learn to vote right again.

[dolorosa-12.livejournal.com]

I know - I love the smell of sheets dried outside!

That song is great! I think I share your frustration with Swedish voters...

[musicpsych.livejournal.com]

I can't wait for summery weather here. That sounds amazing.

I only made it about halfway through the first series of Dracula before giving up. I realized that I didn't care about what happened to any of the characters. I also found Rhys Meyers's American accent to be distracting.

[dolorosa-12.livejournal.com]

I think I might've spoken too soon about the weather. It's now gone back to being cold and cloudy.

It sounds like Dracula won't be worth my time. I find Jonathan Rhys Meyers a grating actor at the best of times, although I doubt the accent would irritate me as much as it would someone from the States. (Non-Australian actors attempting Australian accents are another matter - they cannot get it right. Same goes for New Zealand and South African accents. Only someone from one of the three countries can do those accents, and no one else can even tell them apart.)

[cherith.livejournal.com]

I loved Dracula. JRM's acting was over the top, but it was kind of require for the role. However his Dracula isn't really what makes the show worth watching. The relationship between Lucy and Mina is really where the show excels. Renfield is AMAZING as is Thomas Kretschmann as Van Helsing. I typically like JRM, but Dracula was really worth watching for me because of pretty much everyone else.

[dolorosa-12.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's interesting. I'm glad to have an opposing view to everyone else who was underwhelmed by the show. I mostly watch tv for the female characters anyway, so what you say about Lucy and Mina sounds promising.