Hythe Visit

The Hythe exit poll visit was fraught with damp cold weather which at one point became snowy , then sleety and finally rain. I had to stand outside for three hours in that weather , well i thought, not for long, so i did it inside the retailer, and they did not seem to mind, as officially we are not supposed to be there since we are doing the project on behalf of a competitor.

I also did a charity shop visit in the town., the final mystery shop visits for this month of January. I found a double DVD of Martin Scorsese's fiml Casino , plus these two books.



Oh yes, a Buffy compendium of three stories based on the TV series.

Also, having to come up with that £23 custom payment, my collection of Buffy and Angel DVD's from the States (that free gift an LJ friend sent) will arrive via Parcel Force on Monday. That is all Buffy series and all Angel series. Mega watch fest coming up!

Arne Nordheim

After doing my reports this morning for the visits from yesterday. i listened to this Arne Nordheim Cd which i bought from Fine Records in Hove. However i have been unable to find a You Tibe but there is a number of hos electronic works on there.

So here is a track called Solitaire.

Enkoy.

Pan's Labyrinth

Just watched the DVD of Pan's Labyrinth - forgotten how awesomely good this fantasy film is. Set against the backround of the Spanish Civil War , a dangerous time for any young girl, it evokes a magical spell  Ofelia may die as a young girl but lives on as a princesss of the underworld.  A great movie.

Book 7 - Henning Mankell "The Pyramid"

Henning Mankell "The Pyramid" (Vintage Books)




I started reading this last October and finished it on Friday on journey back from Sussex.

Anyway, the book contains five stories, which set the stage for the Wallander novels. The stories here, which follow Wallander from his early twenties to around forty, are eminently readable - I eagerly went from one to the next and finished the book leaving it for awhile before continuing. Wallender is a fully realized character, a rather downbeat one, to be sure. Maybe that's due to the Swedish weather: spring always seems to arrive late, or winter early, in these stories. If there's a fault here for my tastes, it's that these police procedurals don't have an element of puzzle-solving. There aren't any twists - once Wallender and his fellow cops are led to a killer, it's only a matter of following through on what the evidence has yielded. There are no surprises at the end of these stories. But they do provide an atmosphere of what it was like to live in Sweden in the 1970's and 80's.

Book 8 - Josef Steiff "Sherlock Holmes and Philosophy"

Josef Steiff "Sherlock Holmes and Philosophy The Footprints of a Gigantic Mind )Open Court Books)



Sherlock Holmes and Philosophy is a fun read for any Holmes fan. The book is part of the Popular Culture and Philosophy series and contains 33 short chapters broken up into 7 categories. The "amateur detectives" authors deal with all sorts of topics about Sherlock Holmes including: discussions of philosophers and theories, summations of cases, several folks pick their favourite Holmes actor and give reasons why, there are chapters on the development of the detective genre, Moriarty, virtual reality, and how Holmes adjusted to married life to name a few. The book deals with all sorts of Holmesiana: the official Doyle canon, the non-canonical Doyle stories, pastiches, television, theater, and film (including Star Trek and Japanese) manifestations, and modern fiction. Wonderfully entertaining read.

Adagio

Whilst i was in Hythe on Saturday i picked up this CD for a pound from the Cats Protection Society charity shop.

George Lloyd - Symphony No. 6 & 10 (Albany Records)

From it, is this beautiful adagio from the sixth symphony.

Enjoy.

George Lloyd (Composer)

Here is an interesting documentary on the Cornish composer George Lloyd. The film charts the extraordinary life of Cornwall's most prolific composer and sets the composer in the Cornish landscape which inspired most of his work.

Book 9 - Simon Garfield "Just My Type"

Simon Garfield "Just My Type" (Profile Books)




I feel like a huge nerd for liking this book as much as I did, but hey, I probably wouldn't be doing this blog if I wasn't one already. Basically, this book breaks down rather nicely the history of some of our most popular fonts and where they come from. Garfield does a great job of making this really interesting, even for those who aren't exactly typeface nerds, which are admittedly a very small group of people. This book was required reading for my Book Design class, and while I am interesting in typefaces and fonts, I wasn't particularly excited about reading a whole book about them. However, this changed when I actually caught myself laughing in the first chapter.

It was fascinating the learn about the history of these fonts that we use in everyday life but never really think about. Who actually wonders about the history of Times New Roman before they start using it for their term paper? Not very many. Now that I know some of these histories and the work and creativity that goes into making these typefaces, I have a much higher appreciation for them.

I also enjoyed the layout of the book itself. He has chapters on a certain subject in typefaces and then at the end of the chapter, gives us a brief history of a more famous typeface that most everyone has heard of in their lifetime, such as Futura and Helvetica. There is also an entire chapter on Comic sans that makes me giggle.

Before this book, I never really thought that typefaces alone could send a message to their readers, and how some typefaces have become so prominent with businesses that it makes people in the know roll their eyes when they see it. How unoriginal to use Helvetica, but damn is it pretty! After reading this book, I now look at type on signs and brochures and wonder which typeface they used and why. What does this typeface say about this company? It's astounding how much time, effort, and money goes into finding just the right typeface, and how important that is for branding since picking the wrong typeface can actually turn people away from a business. No joke! He also makes fun of the 2012 London Olympics font which I found horrendous even before I read this book. That font and logo was just a mess.

In the end, if you want to read a book that gives you a highly informative but also engaging look into the world of type, this is the book for you. It is easy to understand, and while he sometimes uses typeface jargon, he makes sure to explain these phrases which was extremely helpful when he would talk about kerning, ascenders, descenders. A great read that has the changed the way I view type and fonts.

Catching Up

I have been trying to catch up with all my LJ friends sites, and it is a mammoth task, so if i haven't commented on your blog then i apologize. There is only so many hours in a day. Some days , like yesterday, i have been to busy to blog much or read other people's blogs.

Anyway, with that in mind, and with the mega bundle of Buffy and Angel coming in the post, i will have to conceded to defeat.

So for now, dear mortals, i am off on another fantasy trip and going to watch the DVD of Stardust now, Tara for now!