List of podcast sites:
http://www.podcast.com - index of podcasts
http://www.podcast.net - another index
Some biography podcasts
List of History podcasts
Talking History - no longer running, but big archive
LSE Lectures and Podcasts
Colonial Williamsburg podcasts
US Presidents podcast
LearnOutLoud
More soon.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Friday, April 04, 2008
The Week's News
Despite (or perhaps because) my head's either in a book or tramping around somewhere in the vastness that is history, it's good to keep up to date with what's happening in the news. To do this I read 'The Week' a weekly digest of British and International news. It's not all serious though, there's a fair few amusing articles too.
The main stories this week are the elections in Zimbabwe and the mess that is the new terminal 5 at Heathrow. Firstly Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe, a rather nasty piece of work, is facing stiff competition this week as he tries to cling on to power. He's been President since 1981 and is now 84 years old. It's supposedly a democracy, but the elections are always rigged, tribal leaders are bribed to deliver loads of votes, there's intimidation, fraud, gerrymandering etc. This time though, it seems the vote against him has been so overwhelming that even his impressive election rigging skills might not be enough. The opposition party has seemingly won the parlimentary election (though possibly not yet the senate?) and is claiming victory in the Presidential election, though this is being disputed. One party needs at least 50% of the vote to avoid a 'run off' which seems to be a sort of re-match. The opposition claim they have 50.3%, others say 49% etc. I hope they sort it out and can boot Mugabe out of power, as the country has been in serious decline for the last 10 years - mostly due to him and his attempts to keep and extend his power.
The other major story is Heathrow terminal 5. I've never been to Heathrow, and fortunately when I go on holiday to America at the end of the month I'm flying from Manchester, however it sounds a 'real shambles' as Alan Sugar might say (if you've seen The Apprentice at least a couple of times, you'll know what I'm talking about). I read about this a while ago and it's really hi-tech and sophisticated, but the lack of organisation, management structures and training are being blamed for the hundreds of cancelled flights and the thousands of people still trying to locate their baggage. It will probably be great in a year or two, but for now I'd stay away.
Other stories:
The main stories this week are the elections in Zimbabwe and the mess that is the new terminal 5 at Heathrow. Firstly Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe, a rather nasty piece of work, is facing stiff competition this week as he tries to cling on to power. He's been President since 1981 and is now 84 years old. It's supposedly a democracy, but the elections are always rigged, tribal leaders are bribed to deliver loads of votes, there's intimidation, fraud, gerrymandering etc. This time though, it seems the vote against him has been so overwhelming that even his impressive election rigging skills might not be enough. The opposition party has seemingly won the parlimentary election (though possibly not yet the senate?) and is claiming victory in the Presidential election, though this is being disputed. One party needs at least 50% of the vote to avoid a 'run off' which seems to be a sort of re-match. The opposition claim they have 50.3%, others say 49% etc. I hope they sort it out and can boot Mugabe out of power, as the country has been in serious decline for the last 10 years - mostly due to him and his attempts to keep and extend his power.
The other major story is Heathrow terminal 5. I've never been to Heathrow, and fortunately when I go on holiday to America at the end of the month I'm flying from Manchester, however it sounds a 'real shambles' as Alan Sugar might say (if you've seen The Apprentice at least a couple of times, you'll know what I'm talking about). I read about this a while ago and it's really hi-tech and sophisticated, but the lack of organisation, management structures and training are being blamed for the hundreds of cancelled flights and the thousands of people still trying to locate their baggage. It will probably be great in a year or two, but for now I'd stay away.
Other stories:
- The bigger a moose's antlers, the better the sex they have.
- Hillary Clinton refuses to give up in the election primary race in the US. Big surprise!
- Lidl are mean. In Germany they have been using hidden cameras to spy on employees, including in the toilets, and in some stores they don't let female employees use the toilet unless they are on their period (when they have to wear headbands to identify themselves). Can this be real?
- John McCain (republican candidate), doesn't seem to be quite the foreign policy expert he portrays himself as, and if the democrats weren't bickering so much people might notice more (particularly silly gaffe this week about Iran, Al-Qaedi etc I wouldn't have known either but then I'm not running for President!)
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Monarchy - Ethelred, Canute, Edward, Harold, William
Watched the second episode of Monarchy last night. It featured five kings:
Ethelred - called the unready, pun on his name, because he was poorly advised. Vikings invaded England during his reign and he had to pay them money 'Danegeld' to keep them from staying. Eventually married Emma, daughter of the Duke of Normandy, to gain alliances and avoid the Normans coming in on the side of the Vikings (as they were in some way related).
Canute - Ethelred died, and his son only lasted a few months before being ousted by an invading army from Denmark under Canute. Canute became king of England, and became 'more English than the English', going native. Emma then married Canute. Ethelred fled to France with his sons.
Edward the Confessor - Edward, son of Ethelred (or grandson?) became King after Canute died. To reinforce an alliance with the Normans, he agreed to make Duke William of Normandy (Emma's grand-nephew) heir to the English throne. This was partly to see off the threat of Godric, the powerful Earl of Wessex, who wanted the throne (there was enmity between them, coming nearly to civil war after the English nobles on both sides refused to fight). He obviously later relented and on his deathbed, made Harold, Godric's son, his heir.
Harold - Harold, before being named heir, apparently was shipwrecked off the coast of Normandy and rescued by Duke William of Normandy (though probably not personally) and William later contended that Harold swore an oath to do everything he could to get William on the throne after King Edward died. Whether this actually happened (probably) or whether it was under duress (probably) is by no means certain. Harold became King, then had to put down a Viking invasion in the north, before marching straight after to meet Duke William who had landed an army on the south coast to contest the crown.
William - William invated and met Harold at the Battle of Hastings where Harold died (either shot in the head with an arrow or trampled by a horse) after a brave fight that lasted all day. The victory was William's, who then became King. He was known as 'The Conqueror' but to me he seemed to have at least as strong a claim to the throne as Harold!
I'm missing a lot out here, much of it quite interesting. I may re-watch that episode sometime to pick up more, or do some reading in this area, but for now that's the bare bones of what happened.
Ethelred - called the unready, pun on his name, because he was poorly advised. Vikings invaded England during his reign and he had to pay them money 'Danegeld' to keep them from staying. Eventually married Emma, daughter of the Duke of Normandy, to gain alliances and avoid the Normans coming in on the side of the Vikings (as they were in some way related).
Canute - Ethelred died, and his son only lasted a few months before being ousted by an invading army from Denmark under Canute. Canute became king of England, and became 'more English than the English', going native. Emma then married Canute. Ethelred fled to France with his sons.
Edward the Confessor - Edward, son of Ethelred (or grandson?) became King after Canute died. To reinforce an alliance with the Normans, he agreed to make Duke William of Normandy (Emma's grand-nephew) heir to the English throne. This was partly to see off the threat of Godric, the powerful Earl of Wessex, who wanted the throne (there was enmity between them, coming nearly to civil war after the English nobles on both sides refused to fight). He obviously later relented and on his deathbed, made Harold, Godric's son, his heir.
Harold - Harold, before being named heir, apparently was shipwrecked off the coast of Normandy and rescued by Duke William of Normandy (though probably not personally) and William later contended that Harold swore an oath to do everything he could to get William on the throne after King Edward died. Whether this actually happened (probably) or whether it was under duress (probably) is by no means certain. Harold became King, then had to put down a Viking invasion in the north, before marching straight after to meet Duke William who had landed an army on the south coast to contest the crown.
William - William invated and met Harold at the Battle of Hastings where Harold died (either shot in the head with an arrow or trampled by a horse) after a brave fight that lasted all day. The victory was William's, who then became King. He was known as 'The Conqueror' but to me he seemed to have at least as strong a claim to the throne as Harold!
I'm missing a lot out here, much of it quite interesting. I may re-watch that episode sometime to pick up more, or do some reading in this area, but for now that's the bare bones of what happened.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Word count
The word count on my novel is upto 20,000 words and I'm on to chapter six now. Things may slow down for a bit though as I'm going back to do a bit of work on chapter one, developing characters more etc. after a very useful review of chapter one by Kate. It's going well though I think and I am really enjoying writing it which is the main thing.
Early English Monarchs (Dark Ages)
I have recently discovered Channel 4's 'On Demand' service, available online. As well as catching up on the last 30 days of tv, there's hundreds of classic shows available to watch for free. I watched Season One, Episode One of 'Monarchy' by David Starkey. I thought it was really good, and will be watching the next one tonight.
Episode One was about the dark ages, and the history of 'kingship'. Before the coming of the Romans to Britain, there were many different kingdoms and each leader or warlord ruled with the consent of his people - otherwise they'd depose him. Then came the Romans and they brought with them the concept of absolute rulership, reinforced by strict laws and Christian faith. When the Roman Empire was failing, Britain was invaded by hordes of Anglo-Saxons from Germany. About 200,000 in all came over, when the native population was around 2 million. According to Bede, one of Britain's earliest historians, a large proportion of the native population was displaced or killed. The Anglo-Saxons effectively took over, bringing with them a new language, customs and a new national identity. For the next few hundred years there were many Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Wessex and Mercia being two of the most important. Somewhere around 800AD, Britain was again invaded, this time by Vikings. All the Anglo Saxon kingdoms fell, except Wessex, ruled by Alfred (the Great). He fought back and eventually expanded his kingdom over much of Southern England including London. He named his son as his heir, and his grandson, Edgar became the first to rule over all of Britain (celebrated by an elaborate coronation at Bath where he was the first king to be 'crowned'.
That was the bare bones of the first episode, which was a joy to watch and awakened my interest in this early period of English history.
Episode One was about the dark ages, and the history of 'kingship'. Before the coming of the Romans to Britain, there were many different kingdoms and each leader or warlord ruled with the consent of his people - otherwise they'd depose him. Then came the Romans and they brought with them the concept of absolute rulership, reinforced by strict laws and Christian faith. When the Roman Empire was failing, Britain was invaded by hordes of Anglo-Saxons from Germany. About 200,000 in all came over, when the native population was around 2 million. According to Bede, one of Britain's earliest historians, a large proportion of the native population was displaced or killed. The Anglo-Saxons effectively took over, bringing with them a new language, customs and a new national identity. For the next few hundred years there were many Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Wessex and Mercia being two of the most important. Somewhere around 800AD, Britain was again invaded, this time by Vikings. All the Anglo Saxon kingdoms fell, except Wessex, ruled by Alfred (the Great). He fought back and eventually expanded his kingdom over much of Southern England including London. He named his son as his heir, and his grandson, Edgar became the first to rule over all of Britain (celebrated by an elaborate coronation at Bath where he was the first king to be 'crowned'.
That was the bare bones of the first episode, which was a joy to watch and awakened my interest in this early period of English history.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Dear Me
Dear Me,
Another year is starting so lets make it a great year for writing. Do you remember a few months ago talking with your friend at work? You happened to mention that you’ve wanted to write since you learnt to read aged five, and he mentioned that it was such a shame that in the twenty three years since you’d never got anywhere with it. You’ve only got yourself to blame – you’re great at talking the talk but when it comes to walking the walk it doesn’t always happen. Time to do something about it this year, and whether you succeed or not, you’ll have something to show for the effort and can be proud of what you’ve done.
Most important of all your goals this year must be your as yet untitled historical novel. You’ve started numerous novels over the years, some embarrassingly bad, some with slightly more potential. All have had one thing in common – yes don’t hang your head in shame, you know exactly what I’m talking about. You’ve grown bored of them or come up with a better idea that you moved onto. This time it’s going to be different; this time it must be different. You’re so much more enthusiastic, you’ve found what you really want to write about, you’ve planned it out, done lots of research and so on. So get writing it.
I know what you’re like, you’ve got the best of intentions, but without some hard and fast targets you’re going to disappoint yourself. So how about this: write regularly and try to average at least 3,000 words a week. That way you should have finished it by the end of the year. You’ll have a first draft to work with, and won’t that be an achievement?
Writing your novel is your main objective for the year, but don’t let that be all you are about. You’ve got so many interests and topics you’d like to write about, far too many and too diverse to get into a single novel. Get more involved on writing.com, both writing and reviewing other people’s work. You really enjoy it, and the more you put in, the more you get out of it. Here are some tangible objectives to work with:
Entering competitions on writing.com and earning merit badges is great, but it doesn’t buy the baby a new bonnet. You must submit at least three pieces of writing to magazines, journals or some other publication in the year. Lets see if you can get your name in print!
Remember that lovely leather-bound notebook that your wife gave you, with those thick, crisp pages that are perfect to write on? Why not use it to write memories and recollections in. You’ve been wanting to do something like that for a while, they’re a rich source of creativity and will help you in coming up with ideas for stories. It will also be enjoyable for you to reminisce. The notebook has got about a hundred pages in, so aim to fill it before the end of the year and see how you get on.
Finally there is reading. You either read for pleasure, or for research purposes, but you don’t do enough of either. Try to read at least three books every month, and remember that curling up in your favourite chair to read in the evening isn't a waste of your time, it is a really good and productive activity.
It’s no use coming up with goals and objectives for the year if you then forget about them, so make sure you review these goals each month to see if you are meeting them. If you are, great, and if not you’ll know to try harder next month.
It’s so easy to come home from work each evening and do nothing but sit in front of the television. For you to have any hope of achieving your goals you need to spend more time at the computer writing, or quietly reading, and less time in front of that infernal box in the corner of the living room. It’s going to be a challenge, but one I’m sure you will relish.
Happy writing,
Yourself
Another year is starting so lets make it a great year for writing. Do you remember a few months ago talking with your friend at work? You happened to mention that you’ve wanted to write since you learnt to read aged five, and he mentioned that it was such a shame that in the twenty three years since you’d never got anywhere with it. You’ve only got yourself to blame – you’re great at talking the talk but when it comes to walking the walk it doesn’t always happen. Time to do something about it this year, and whether you succeed or not, you’ll have something to show for the effort and can be proud of what you’ve done.
Most important of all your goals this year must be your as yet untitled historical novel. You’ve started numerous novels over the years, some embarrassingly bad, some with slightly more potential. All have had one thing in common – yes don’t hang your head in shame, you know exactly what I’m talking about. You’ve grown bored of them or come up with a better idea that you moved onto. This time it’s going to be different; this time it must be different. You’re so much more enthusiastic, you’ve found what you really want to write about, you’ve planned it out, done lots of research and so on. So get writing it.
I know what you’re like, you’ve got the best of intentions, but without some hard and fast targets you’re going to disappoint yourself. So how about this: write regularly and try to average at least 3,000 words a week. That way you should have finished it by the end of the year. You’ll have a first draft to work with, and won’t that be an achievement?
Writing your novel is your main objective for the year, but don’t let that be all you are about. You’ve got so many interests and topics you’d like to write about, far too many and too diverse to get into a single novel. Get more involved on writing.com, both writing and reviewing other people’s work. You really enjoy it, and the more you put in, the more you get out of it. Here are some tangible objectives to work with:
- Enter at least one competition per month.
- Write at least two short stories in the year.
- Write at least three articles in the year.
- Write at least four poems in the year.
- Review at least five new pieces of writing each month.
- Try and earn some new merit badges this year, because they’re adorable and you know you love them!
- Join in or start a campfire creative during the year, and participate regularly.
Entering competitions on writing.com and earning merit badges is great, but it doesn’t buy the baby a new bonnet. You must submit at least three pieces of writing to magazines, journals or some other publication in the year. Lets see if you can get your name in print!
Remember that lovely leather-bound notebook that your wife gave you, with those thick, crisp pages that are perfect to write on? Why not use it to write memories and recollections in. You’ve been wanting to do something like that for a while, they’re a rich source of creativity and will help you in coming up with ideas for stories. It will also be enjoyable for you to reminisce. The notebook has got about a hundred pages in, so aim to fill it before the end of the year and see how you get on.
Finally there is reading. You either read for pleasure, or for research purposes, but you don’t do enough of either. Try to read at least three books every month, and remember that curling up in your favourite chair to read in the evening isn't a waste of your time, it is a really good and productive activity.
It’s no use coming up with goals and objectives for the year if you then forget about them, so make sure you review these goals each month to see if you are meeting them. If you are, great, and if not you’ll know to try harder next month.
It’s so easy to come home from work each evening and do nothing but sit in front of the television. For you to have any hope of achieving your goals you need to spend more time at the computer writing, or quietly reading, and less time in front of that infernal box in the corner of the living room. It’s going to be a challenge, but one I’m sure you will relish.
Happy writing,
Yourself
Word count, Resolutions & Team GB
I'm upto approx 14,200 words of my novel so far, mid-way through chapter four, and am hoping to do some more today.
In January, I wrote a 'Dear Me' letter for the official writing.com competition. It's basically a letter to myself setting out my writing (and reading) goals for 2008. I'll post it on here and I will also try and post monthly updates on this blog as to how I am doing.
Finally, I have joined Team GB on Project Write World. There's lots of countries/regions with their own teams and each month every team has to enter a poem, short story and essay/article on a particular prompt. I think it's a great idea and am looking forward to getting involved :)
In January, I wrote a 'Dear Me' letter for the official writing.com competition. It's basically a letter to myself setting out my writing (and reading) goals for 2008. I'll post it on here and I will also try and post monthly updates on this blog as to how I am doing.
Finally, I have joined Team GB on Project Write World. There's lots of countries/regions with their own teams and each month every team has to enter a poem, short story and essay/article on a particular prompt. I think it's a great idea and am looking forward to getting involved :)
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Word count
I've not done any more of my novel today, instead I've written an assigment for my history course - it was supposed to be 800 words, but ended up being about 1,500! That done, I can concentrate on my writing - I won't have any more assigments for a while, not until I sign up to more courses at any rate.
Anyway I thought it would be a good idea to keep a running tally of how many words I've done on my novel. It's perhaps not the best measure of how I'm doing, but it's an easily measurable measure. When I reach certain milestones I can give myself a pat on the back and have a party!
My current word count is 10,667 words. Not a massive amount, but it's probably close to the most I've ever written on one story. I hope to be able to report an increased word count soon... Unfortunately, the need to do a lot of research at each stage of the story slows me down considerably but never mind!
Anyway I thought it would be a good idea to keep a running tally of how many words I've done on my novel. It's perhaps not the best measure of how I'm doing, but it's an easily measurable measure. When I reach certain milestones I can give myself a pat on the back and have a party!
My current word count is 10,667 words. Not a massive amount, but it's probably close to the most I've ever written on one story. I hope to be able to report an increased word count soon... Unfortunately, the need to do a lot of research at each stage of the story slows me down considerably but never mind!
Friday, January 04, 2008
So what is wrong with the world?
I've been reading a lot of history non-fiction, and I can't help but feel that a part of me would prefer to be in an earlier time, a different place. Somewhere more exciting, a time when life was simpler. Two or three hundred years ago anyone could apply themselves and make new scientific discoveries, or travel and discover new places, new species of animals, birds, plants etc. Nowadays, most people just struggle to get by, in meaningless jobs, everything costs more, everything is harder.
Now why do I feel like this? There's so much about the present day that is better than it ever has been. The 20th century has seen so many changes, so many advances for the better. Medical advances mean people (in the western world anyway) live a lot longer, they have huge choice of consumer goods, they have accomodation, food, clean water, tv's, the internet and free time too. So what's wrong with this? Well the cracks are starting to show. So many things are going wrong, so many things could be better. The problems with Britain, and the world, as well as things that can and are being done to try and solve the problems of today are a big source of potential articles and stories. You never know, some people may actually read it and take note. So I'm going to think and come up with a few of todays problems, and their possible solutions. More soon.
Now why do I feel like this? There's so much about the present day that is better than it ever has been. The 20th century has seen so many changes, so many advances for the better. Medical advances mean people (in the western world anyway) live a lot longer, they have huge choice of consumer goods, they have accomodation, food, clean water, tv's, the internet and free time too. So what's wrong with this? Well the cracks are starting to show. So many things are going wrong, so many things could be better. The problems with Britain, and the world, as well as things that can and are being done to try and solve the problems of today are a big source of potential articles and stories. You never know, some people may actually read it and take note. So I'm going to think and come up with a few of todays problems, and their possible solutions. More soon.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Long time....2007 and goals for 2008
Long time no post. Long, long time. I spent some time on a different blog - Knolij. While I'm as keen as ever on acquiring new knowledge, learning the great stories of history and keeping up to date with current affairs, I don't have the time to write about all of it and what I've learned. So I'm abandoning that blog and just using this blog for everything to do with reading, writing, learning stuff and anything else I feel like blogging about.
So what did I get upto in 2007? Well I failed spectacularly in reading my A-Z of authors. In contrast my wife is on her last letter right now. Did I do any better in my attempt to read different genres? Below is a list of the genres I was attempting to read books in, and whether I succeeded!
Crime - Yes, Monkey's Raincoat by Robert Crais
Thriller - Several thrillers by David Baldacci
SF - Yes, Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton
Fantasy - No, for first time in many years, no new Raymond E. Feist this year.
Horror - No
pre 20th century classic - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Historical fiction - Yes, Redcoat by Bernard Cornwell, Ireland by Frank Delaney
Biography - Benjamin Franklin's autobiography & biography
New book (HB or PB first published in 2007): Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child (HB 2007)
Non-fiction: Historical - Yes, quite a few.
Non-fiction: Science - Longitude by Dava Sobel
So not bad on the genres, purely by accident. This year I'm going to read whatever I feel like, books I enjoy and interest me, whatever the genre. And I'm going to try and read a lot more than I did last year.
Writing
Last year I started writing a historical novel, about two young men from the town of Lancaster in England who travel to America in 1700 to start a new life. The novel will follow the two young men throughout their lives as they establish successful lives in America. I'm on chapter three, about 10,000 words in and it is going well. I've planned out most of in loosely, but not in detail yet, and done some of the neccesary research. My aim for the year is to complete this novel, edit and re-write it as neccesary, and try and submit it to a publisher before the end of the year. It may be no good, but at least I will have written a novel, and if it doesn't succeed I will try again. Published novelists have often been on their 4th or 5th novel before they get published so the moral of the story is if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Hopefully I will succeed at the first attempt of course, but I won't succeed at anything if I don't actually make a real attempt. So that's my challenge for the year.
I may also have a go at writing some articles, poems or short stories, but the novel is my main writing goal this year. I will keep posting updates of how I am doing, and will be posting some chapters on my writing.com portfolio - chapter one is already up there.
So what did I get upto in 2007? Well I failed spectacularly in reading my A-Z of authors. In contrast my wife is on her last letter right now. Did I do any better in my attempt to read different genres? Below is a list of the genres I was attempting to read books in, and whether I succeeded!
Crime - Yes, Monkey's Raincoat by Robert Crais
Thriller - Several thrillers by David Baldacci
SF - Yes, Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton
Fantasy - No, for first time in many years, no new Raymond E. Feist this year.
Horror - No
pre 20th century classic - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Historical fiction - Yes, Redcoat by Bernard Cornwell, Ireland by Frank Delaney
Biography - Benjamin Franklin's autobiography & biography
New book (HB or PB first published in 2007): Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child (HB 2007)
Non-fiction: Historical - Yes, quite a few.
Non-fiction: Science - Longitude by Dava Sobel
So not bad on the genres, purely by accident. This year I'm going to read whatever I feel like, books I enjoy and interest me, whatever the genre. And I'm going to try and read a lot more than I did last year.
Writing
Last year I started writing a historical novel, about two young men from the town of Lancaster in England who travel to America in 1700 to start a new life. The novel will follow the two young men throughout their lives as they establish successful lives in America. I'm on chapter three, about 10,000 words in and it is going well. I've planned out most of in loosely, but not in detail yet, and done some of the neccesary research. My aim for the year is to complete this novel, edit and re-write it as neccesary, and try and submit it to a publisher before the end of the year. It may be no good, but at least I will have written a novel, and if it doesn't succeed I will try again. Published novelists have often been on their 4th or 5th novel before they get published so the moral of the story is if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Hopefully I will succeed at the first attempt of course, but I won't succeed at anything if I don't actually make a real attempt. So that's my challenge for the year.
I may also have a go at writing some articles, poems or short stories, but the novel is my main writing goal this year. I will keep posting updates of how I am doing, and will be posting some chapters on my writing.com portfolio - chapter one is already up there.
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