Saturday, January 24, 2009

New Year, New Feature

Knights and Ladies, seeing as contrary to evidence, I am much more comfortable in life , being a conduit, rather than up on a soap box, where I feel unwieldy and not so comfortable...combined with the fact that although I love the debates on KMSA...I am always more thrilled when I get given, in a blog, a signpost to a new fascinating subject / author /artist etc, which I then ravenously explore.

I would like to propose a new feature for KMSA, where once a month ( or more, if popular ) , at random. whenever... we each put up a list, in brief, of anything up to, say, ten things that we are currently enjoying, Reading...Watching...etc, ( and in the We...I am fervently hoping this includes all the Knights and Ladies in that wonderfully long list at the bottom of the blog, who can add theirs in the Comment section if that is the simplest way )...and in doing so we ratchet up the enlightenment quotient in the group, rather than any beery opinion.

I'm trying to think of some humorous Knightly title for this feature, but I'll leave that to the wittier ones amongst us... and seeing as we usually agree that anytime spent culturally is Quality Time, then I will call this first punt upfield. Sir Dayvd's January Quality Time.

1) Music : In my CD player these days is a brilliant Seattle band called the Fleet Foxes, who's lovely harmonies are gracing my halls as I write. The album : "Fleet Foxes" is the best I have bought this year.
http://www.myspace.com/fleetfoxes

2) Surfing: I am an absolute, mad fan these days, for Google Earth, and if you aren't already connected to this breath taking feature on your computer yet...then do so ASAP..:)) With it I can scooch around the world as my mind on a whim takes me...maybe float down to the Riviera in France, along the Mediterranean shore...up over the Middle East and explore inside Israel...then..flip...back over to Hollywood USA... and zoom along the Sunset Strip, with the unique US street photos feature...onto The Alamo in St Antonio...over to the islands between Russian and Alaska...and finish off maybe zooming in on the houses of Maracaibo in Venezuela, which until I had Google Earth, I never knew existed and thrived the north coast there. I wish I'd had that in my geography lessons at school.


3) Book: Bill Bryson's "Short History of Nearly Everything", a must read for anyone who wants to understand the world, and the incredible selfless scientists and curious people who have discovered all the knowledge we now take for granted these days.
http://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Nearly-Everything/dp/0767908171


Biography of John Adams, the second US President. A most remarkable man. Did you know he died on the exact same day as his eventual pal, Thomas Jefferson, on July the 4th , Independence day...1826


4) Film : Slumdog Millionaire : Went and saw this last night. A most remarkable and enjoyable film, that I highly recommend.

http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/20192670/review/2401391/slumdog_millionaire


5) TV : This is a little more problematic... seeing as our respective shows air on each corporation, years apart...still I will flag up once again
"Around the World in 80 Faiths"...with a link for you to look at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Around_the_World_in_80_Faiths
and also

"Oz Clarke and James May Drink to Britain" series.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00gn2z/Oz_and_James_Drink_to_Britain_Episode_1
where Oz and James go on a tour of the UK's distilleries and breweries

6) Cooking: Might I recommend a Scottish Soup I made the other night
called "Cullen Skink", where the US knights and ladies could use their own local smoked white fish instead of smoked haddock, which warmed the cockles of my heart on these grey evenings...:)) http://www.rampantscotland.com/recipes/blrecipe_cullen.htm

Get Surfing Knights and ladies...and I look forward to exploring your links in return. I'm hoping in this first effort that all the links work, but if not... get in touch with me in the comments box and I will make sure you get something that works, for you to explore.


Sir Dayvd ( Conduit is my real middle name ) of Oxfordshire

5 comments:

dkWells said...

CD player?! What the heck is that?! Get with the program and your iPod, mp3 player and iTunes library!

Where's the beer?!

OK, moving on......I first encountered the Fleet Foxes playing at Starbuck's last summer. I downloaded this excellent selection on iTunes shortly after. Good choice!

The John Adams biography is excellent. The HBO mini series last year did a lot to bring this great man to light in our country. And yes, being a history minor in college I knew that he and Jefferson died on the same day. Your other book will now be bought and not read, along with several others. I'm a firm believer that you can't collect enough books, music and beer!

Haven't seen Slumdog yet. I must be the last man on the planet who hasn't. There's a long list of movies that I want to see on the big screen theater dating back to the new James Bond. Waiting for On-Demand, where I can DVR it and still not watch it!

I really want to see the 80 Faiths! I'm jealous of the "Drink to Britain", which is what me and Sir Bowie thought we'd do in July!

I made an excellent Veal Scallopini dish the other night for Lady Allwinky. I like to cook, but I don't do it often enough.

Finally, might I offer a title for this section? Knight Time

Sir Hook the Conductor of Warrick

Sir Bowie of Greenbriar (a.k.a. David A. Kuhn) said...

"Knight Time" Very nice!

A great deal of my spare time is working on dubbing my family's VHS tapes (21 years) to DVD. But, here is a go at it:

Music: I been trying to learn to play my dulcimer, so I've been listening to a lot of bluegrass. New Grass Revival and Bela Fleck.

Surfing: Working on a book project, so I've been surfing categories for that. All over the place.

Book: Just finished "Happier Than God" by Neale Donald Walsch; will probably move on to early American pioneer history.

Film: "Yes Man"

TV: "24" This is the first season (out of 7) that we've actually watched some of it in real time -- at least within the week it aired.

Cooking: Not a particular food, but I am going to work with cooking using a dutch oven over an open fire.

Sir Bowie

Anonymous said...

Lots of new things for me to try there, is the book and the Film recommended Bowie??

And now i know exactly a dulcimer is... ..so i might not be buying one of those...LOL...tho one of the Courting Dulcimers looks fun, I'll stick with my Spanish Guitar :)

Is Jack saving the world YET AGAIN??? How many times is that now??...LOL

I saw the HBO John Adams and then got the best biog i could find.. excellent all round.

CD's... I use Mpg3 and file librarys for single tunes and songs... but i still like my CD's and CD players for Albums, as that is still what they are to me... an artists album.
I love the whole package the way the artist has laid out the songs... i like the sleeve graphics and photos.. sometimes the lyrics and notes are in there...i like the acknowledgments

I used to love getting the big Ol Vinyl albums and reading all the sleeve notes and the inner packaging as i sat on the bed and played the music for the first time... and altho the CD's aren't quite a match they don't take up all the space and weight my Vinyl collection does...

now i need to go find out what a dutch oven is...

Sir Dayvd ( the Curious and growing ) of Oxfordshire

Anonymous said...

Music:

this is one person who still plays albums - just can't beat the waiting for the needle to move over and for the music to begin playing!
currently reliving my childhood/teenage years - Rick Springfield album covers ; )

Surfing: Facebook - re-connecting with high school friends


Book: "Thin is the New Happy"
a memoir by Valerie Frankel,
a magazine editor, author of fourteen novels, who has gained insight into the female mind and isn't afraid to share it


Film: "Yes -Man"
I'm still trying to say YES! unless there is a moral or legal reason to say no

T.V.: tie between the seventh season of 24 and the return of Friday Night Lights (starring Kyle Chandler and football)

Cooking: We had a Sushi Night with Lady Amy - great fun in the kitchen and yummy food - going to skip the sake next time (wayyyy too mellow afterwards!)

other things I'm enjoying...planning our England trip and our 25th wedding anniversary...good times are coming!

Lady Suzanne of Greenbriar

Anonymous said...

So that's two shouts for the Yes man... so that is definitely on the list...

Also i need to know more of what is on a womans mind... ( tho i have a shrewd idea I will keep for a book of my own and then i'll become adored by women the world over for being able to understand them LOL>> much like Mel in "What women want "...:)) so i will be plugging into Suzanna's book... along with Bowies "happier than God...!...hold on how can that be??,..>> I've only just worked out that I am indeed "God", by dint of my stardust atomic makeup...

I will also check out some Rick Springfield Covers to see why there is drool all over the last LS comments above...

and Lady Suzanne...if you are keen for any particular links or inforamtion about any particular bit of English culture or History or achir=tectture for your trip ahead...then flag it up and i'll scooch some over to you to read...

DO