What are you watching?

Thought I would give ‘King and Conqueror’ a go over the weekend.  Are the key historical facts in the drama accurate? 

I'm watching the original Miami Vice series.

I've never got on with anime or manga, but violence dosen't particulalry bother me and I'v eliked some other Japanese stuff, like 47 Ronin, which I thought was brilliant. There was an old film I used to have called in English The Blind Swordsman, my favourite bit was at the end with the Japanese tap dancing, I never knew the Japanese could do something so free looking, I always associate the Japanese and many Eastern countries with that very stiff and styelised dance.

I do love a good martial arts film, I used to have a load of old Shang-Hai cinema films, like 8 diagram pole fighting. One of my favourites is Kung Fu Hustle, it's just so funny. I also loved the Forbidden Kingdom, watching Jackie Chan do his drunken master style was great as was watching him and Jet Li fighting each other.

I watched Home Alone yesterday and finished Home Alone 2 this morning.

Probably two of my fave movies ever. So funny all the way through.

I think the 2nd is the best for me because of Tim Curry. He's hilarious...

I like him in everything he's been in, he was also great in the Muppets Treasure Island lol.

It could have been worse. My wife decided one night that the "family" movie was going to be Poor Things. She hadn't done her research. Once it started, none of us had the nerve to hit STOP, so it played to the end. She'll never live that one down.

Haha yeah that’s my fear with that one. I was also thinking Castle in the Sky could be a fun one for them too but even that one’s a little too violent. My kids are super sensitive lol. My Autistic daughter screamed and cried recently during the live action Snow White because a knife was shown

Mine watched Spirited Away when they were small. The parents-turning-into-pigs bit near the start freaked them out. They also had nightmares about the cute little soot balls: in their fevered nightmares they morphed into spiders crawling on the bedroom walls at 3 am ... and 4 am.

My girls are finally old enough to enjoy the lighter Studio Ghibli films (Ponyo, My Neighbor Totoro, and Kiki’s Delivery Service). They ADORE Ponyo and ask to watch that one all the time on trips in the car lol.

Thank you for the clarification. Phew, that could have been a big misunderstanding

For many years, it was just me and Akira Kurosawa**. Now, my son is old enough to be into him, too, so I get to share the love. He really liked The Seven Samurai. I'm trying to get him to commit to Ran. We've been watching some of the other Japanese classics while he's been thinking it over.

** To clarify, if there was an Akira Kurosawa film on the TV, I was left alone to watch it. We didn't have an affair or anything.

I very rarely watch new things. Usually I just watch what my wife wants to watch (ex. baking/cooking shows, Gilmore Girls, Downton Abbey, whatever). When I do watch something I choose, it’s usually only when I’m home alone and it’s almost always going to be something I’ve watched before. However, I do have a friend who’s got me hooked on City the Animation, which is an adorable and fun anime from Japan.

That does seem a poor question choice for 1st year, did you get a chance to revisit it later?

I was lucky and had the sophistication question in my 3rd year.

Civilisation is one of those tricky words, to often it's assoiciated with the classic world and so often classicists only really want to include Greece and Rome, with Egypt thrown in because they can't really ignore it. I certainly think if you have a settled and long lived place with what could be places of worships and public spaces, then yes it could be called a civilisation, but then along comes culture and throws a spanner in the works, do you one without the other?

Of course what was civilised in the Ancient World, grinding you grain for bread rather than porridge, living in orgainised walled settlements -the civitas, as opposed to oppida a less organised settlement in Britain, not wearing trousers etc. If you look at Skara Brae in Orkney then it all seems very civilised and that was thousands of years before anything in Greece or Rome.

Just finished watching miss Americana rhe Netflix Taylor swift documentary WOW I had tingles I had flappy hands I had tears Both of joy and sadness I had moments of pure joy moments of anger moments of sympathy moments of pride 

I honestly didn’t think I could respect Taylor anymore than I already did boy was I wrong she’s such a brave person wirh great morals and she can turn a negative into a positive so well 

it really made me sad her talking about her eating disorder but im glad she can be an advocate for people going through the same

the behind the scenes parts were taymanzing especially with Brendan Urie on the song me! 

and there’s a bit with fans in Tokyo and wow she’s so loving for her fans snd they bring her such joy 

Kanye and his fans snd what they did to Taylor made me really angry 

Swiftie or not it’s worth a watch 

less than a week till I get my cray cray for Tay Tay tattoo and it now has more meaning 

Watching SpongeBob episode “The whole tooth”. Tend to watch in random order. Only show I find decent to watch these days. 

One of my friends had started me on a new anime (making it that I'm now watching at least 7 different animes at once). It's called Persona 3. We watched it and now we are watching Persona 4: the animation. 

You had the ‘sophistication’ question and I had the ‘civilisation’ question!

I can’t remember exactly how it went, but the question asked if some ancient place that had evidence of human activity was a civilisation. 

I hated that question because I had only just begun archeological studies, and hadn’t got to grip with that idea of what a civilisation could be and how ideas of it could be challenged. That’s probably why I don’t remember it in detail. 

I think classical archaeology and classics in general have become much more open in recent years, probably because those who were students when people first started really questioning traditional interpretations are now in charge themselves and that it's all much more multidisciplinarian now.

One of my favourite essay topics was an art history one, 'Was the art of the Insular Church and the Anglos Saxons spohisticated or not?' I argued that it was, and it largely depends on what you mean by sophistication? There was concious ecumenicism in books like the Lindisfarne Gospels and the "carpet pages" are definately sophisticated in what they're portraying, you just have to know how to read the symbology.

My uni studies and research barely touched on the Nabataeans. We covered a little Egyptian material culture but I decided to focus mainly on Jordan, Palestine/Israel, Syria and Lebanon. 

Yes, you are right about the classical world. In the archaeological world when I was studying, there was always tension between the methodologies of Classical Archaeology and those of Archaeology of the World. It was felt that Classical Archaeology relied too much on Art History and the long established literary narrative. It didn’t acknowledge the new understanding that had evolved through advanced methodologies in world archaeology and history. Today, the gap between the two disciplines has narrowed. 

Just finished Rick and Morty season 8.

Just finished Clarkson's Farm season 4.

Watching Homeland for the second time (on season 2).

Watching Misfits for the third time (on season 3).

Watching Rake for the second time (on season 3).

Might have a go at Ballard (I've read all the books).

It's amazing isn't it, I'm so glad that archaeology has moved on from just being about the classical world with a bit of those weird Egyptians thrown in along with a few barbarians

I used to love Buffy and Angel, the first episode of Angel where Spike's taking the Mick out of him is great.

I don't recognise most of the programes people are watching as I don't have netflix or you tube

I dare not edit my typos. Things go haywire here if you do