ambergris - "hardened whale feces"
petrichor - the sublime scent emitted when rain hits rock or pavement
Wednesday, 17 February 2021
Lauren Groff - "The Wind"
Amazing and chilling story of marital abuse told from the view of the daughter, or rather from her daughter as she told it to her, every night, the same details, omitting the same truth.
Tuesday, 16 February 2021
Mark Forsyth - "A Short History of Drunkenness"
Lovely book about the history of drinking. Many memorable facts.
Prohibition was started by feminism! It was not against drinking, but against men drinking in the saloons which were no-go areas for women. Who knew.
When the Ancient Persians had a big political decision to make they would debate the matter twice: once drunk, and once sober. If they came to the same conclusion both times, they acted.
What happens when you give a whole colony of rats a free bat?
Actually, they're rather civilized. Though not for the first few days. For the first few days they go a bit crazy, but then most of them settle down to two drinks a day; one just before feeding (which the scientists refer to as the cocktail hour) and one just before bedtime (the nightcap). Every three or four days there's a spike in alcohol consumption as lll the rats get together for little rat parties. It all sounds rather idyllic, and you'd be forgiven for wishing you had been born a rat. But you must remember two things: first, not all rats are lucky enough to be experimented upon in a labortory; second, there is a dark side to murine drunkenness. Rat colonies usually have one dominant male, the King Rat. the King Rat is a teetotaller. Alcohol consumption is highest among the males with the lowest social status. They drink so calm their nerves, they drink to forget their worries, they drink, it seems, because they're failures.
But if drinking was so very, very illegal, how did it have such a central place in Aztec culture? And it did. They had gods of drinking. Several of them. Mayahuel, who was the goddess of the agave plant, was said to have married Patecatl, who was the god of fermentation. Mayahuel had 400 breasts, which was probably fun for pattecatl, but was also useful because she gave birth to 400 divine little rabbits, the Centzon Totochtin.
Pete Seeger- "Rye whiskey" (if the ocean was whiskey...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFSAc3E1hWc
If the ocean was whiskey
and I was a duck
I would dive to the bottom
and never come up
Staged
Short series with David Tennent and Michael Sheen - fun covid-based meta-play where they discuss preparing for a series or theatre play.
Barry
Great show with Bill Hades as a hitman-cum-theatre man. Interesting pacing, particularly in the last episode of the first season.
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