Following on from the rather splendid BBC series about Persia, this evening I came across the Story of China on PBS America this evening. Sadly I’d missed the first 1 1/2 episodes of the 6 part series. Michael Wood presents it in his inimitable style and even has a crack at reading some 8th century Chinese poetry (in Chinese) in front of a very polite but attentive class of teens. Go for it Mickey! As I know next to nothing of Chinese history I’m taking this opportunity to plug a very big gap and give myself a chance of answering those ‘which dynasty’ type questions on University Challenge. Each episode is shown about 4 times a day this week (not including
the +1 option.
Also on the same channel they’re showing the Civil War again starting Monday. I’ve not seen it all before so I’ll be selectively watching when it starts.
As the distaff side of the household didn’t fancy braving the drizzle, my evening perambulation was tout seule. Your correspondent is writing this in the local branch of Weatherspoons. My first pub visit for what seems like an eon. I’m happy to say the service was prompt (using the app of course) and everyone is respecting my personal space, though that may because a damp, dishevelled middle aged character in a Moomin tee shirt is not everyone’s idea of the ideal company.
Good to read that you have been out and about! Enjoy your freedom.
ReplyDeleteBig Moomin fans in this house and I don’t just mean me. Glad that you enjoyed your trip out.
ReplyDeleteThe Moomins was not an option in this household. My wife regarded it as part of her patriotic duty as a Finn abroad to spread the word. The little ones were indoctrinated, sorry, exposed to this wonderful cultural export, by being shown DVDs and books from a very young age. To this very day if I put my music player on ‘shuffle’, it is likely to play ‘hei Muumi laakso’ as ‘Teenage Kicks’.
DeleteI had no idea what was going on as the language was beyond me. When I did bring an English an English version home they rejected out of hand as the names were not familiar.
PS we even went to the Moominland theme park in Naantali when the girls were little. It was all rather tastefully done and I got to see my favourite, Nuuskamuikken (Snufkin to you). Loistava!
DeleteI used to have a Snufkin teeshirt - in fact I should still have it somewhere - I DO hope no-one has chucked it out...
DeleteRecently I found that I had mysteriously lost my Albert Einstein cartoon shirt, and my Ayrton Senna collector's shirt and quite a lot of old shirts from 1990s American jazz festivals - what on earth am I going to wear to wash the car?
I only know the English stuff. I contributed to a kickstarter a few years ago to support the filming of a new cartoon version. I have had a Snufkin badge on my daysack ( along with a vbcw badge) for more years than I care to recall as he is my favourite too. I am fascinated to see his Finnish name, which looks impressive.
DeleteIt does sound nice to my ears. A pedant would say his real name is Snusmuriken - the stories were originally in Swedish. I always saw him as an anarchist but he was based on a socialist ex-fiancé of Jansson according to the Wiki article I’ve just read.
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