What to Read:
The saga to End all sagas
“Ender’s Game” is a science fiction novel (1985) by Orson
Scott Card. Set in Earth's near future, the novel presents mankind forced to
come together after two conflicts with the "buggers", an insectoid
alien species. In preparation for further interstellar war, children, including
the novel's protagonist, Ender Wiggin, are trained from a very young age (6+
y/o) through increasingly difficult battle games including some in zero
gravity, where Ender's tactical genius is revealed.
Surprisingly it has been on the recommended reading list for
the U.S. Marine Corps since its release, since even other than the numerous
examples of cutting Gordian knots, it offers lessons in training methodology,
leadership, and ethics as well. However this isn’t just a book about military
tactics and alien battles, it somehow manages to be deeply emotionally
touching, portraying the internal conflict within this precocious child,
regarding absolute violence, conforming to authority, and trying to make real
human connections. The above description doesn’t come close to summarizing the
different interesting themes and gripping plotlines running through the novel,
so do put this at the top of your to-read list even if you’re not going to read
the rest of the series.
Obligatory inspirational quote: “There's only one thing that will make them stop hating you. And that's
being so good at what you do that they can't ignore you.”
Ender Saga:-
·
Main Ender series: Ender’s Game, Speaker for the
Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind. The last 3 mostly don’t concern
themselves with battle, and are of a different tone from the first,
increasingly philosophizing about morality and how we interact with otherness.
·
Shadow series: Ender’s Shadow (set parallel to
Ender’s Game), Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, Shadow of the Giant,
Shadows in Flight. It details the political aftermath of Ender’s Game, and
continues the story of a lot of characters left on Earth.
·
First Formic War series: Earth Unaware, Earth
Afire, Earth Awakens. It gives the backstory of the first Bugger invasion and
how Earth barely escaped an early defeat.
·
Many short stories, which flesh out supporting
characters and the entire universe.
For reference, the main Ender series has the same word count
as the last 3 HP books, so it’s not too long a read.
I’ll end with a quote from the intro to Ender’s Game, which
is more generally applicable:
“Fiction, because it
is not about somebody who actually lived in the real world, always has the
possibility of being about oneself.”
Random unrelated links:
http://www.recommendmeabook.com/ - This takes “Don’t judge a book by its cover to the next level”, where you’re
randomly presented with the first page of a book, sans any other info. If you
like it, you can see the title to possibly look up and continue reading it,
else you can jump onto the first page of another random book.
http://htwins.net/minesweeper/?v=2763 - Bored with the regular Minesweeper? You can play up to 14 different modes,
with the option of the usual 3 sizes, and a 4th, Insanity (60x40).
- Anuj Shetty
What to Watch:
Hullo folks
Long time, no see.
Long time, no see.
WARNING: Some reviews may contain spoilers.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
I'm not going to say ANYTHING on this film for fear of being murdered in my sleep by spoiler hating fans. VIIIth chapter in the saga. If you've been following the series, might as well give Disney your money [all hail our corporate overlords]. If you haven't seen previous Star Wars films, it makes zero sense to watch this [you won't understand half the film] in which case...
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
Once in a blue moon Adam Sandler likes to remind the audience that he can be a really good actor if he chooses to. An absolutely brilliantly written, cast and acted film. There's just something special about a movie that mirrors reality, in that it takes itself very seriously, while still giving many laughs to its audience in order to provide levity. This is a tale about a group of dysfunctional adult siblings trying to live in the shadow of their dysfunctional father. I found myself entranced throughout this entire film, feeling as though I was watching someone provide insight into real events. I love Aaron Sorkin's screenwriting and I really don't think the two should ideally be compared, but Noah Baumbach definitely gives him a run for his money in this film. Never once did I find myself bored, and when a movie is just a series of sequences with people talking, that can be hard to keep audiences engaged, but I feel this movie accomplishes that nearly impossible feat. This movie is on Netflix for the world to see and I can't recommend it enough.
I'm not going to say ANYTHING on this film for fear of being murdered in my sleep by spoiler hating fans. VIIIth chapter in the saga. If you've been following the series, might as well give Disney your money [all hail our corporate overlords]. If you haven't seen previous Star Wars films, it makes zero sense to watch this [you won't understand half the film] in which case...
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
Once in a blue moon Adam Sandler likes to remind the audience that he can be a really good actor if he chooses to. An absolutely brilliantly written, cast and acted film. There's just something special about a movie that mirrors reality, in that it takes itself very seriously, while still giving many laughs to its audience in order to provide levity. This is a tale about a group of dysfunctional adult siblings trying to live in the shadow of their dysfunctional father. I found myself entranced throughout this entire film, feeling as though I was watching someone provide insight into real events. I love Aaron Sorkin's screenwriting and I really don't think the two should ideally be compared, but Noah Baumbach definitely gives him a run for his money in this film. Never once did I find myself bored, and when a movie is just a series of sequences with people talking, that can be hard to keep audiences engaged, but I feel this movie accomplishes that nearly impossible feat. This movie is on Netflix for the world to see and I can't recommend it enough.
- Abhay Vikram
What to Listen:
Hey Everyone,
I’ll begin with a confession of sorts, I’m really not the biggest Radiohead fan there is. They’re good for sure, but on a personal level their music has always been a little inaccessible. If anyone would want me to tender a personal apology for saying so, click here.
That being said, about a week ago while listening to a few Lianne La Havas performances (do take a listen if you can) I stumbled on her cover of Weird Fishes/Arpeggi - a song from Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows’ - and two hours later I found something that caused me to listen to more Radiohead in a day than I have in all the days leading up to said day. Fridgebuzz is a one-off concert entirely made up of brilliantly arranged Radiohead covers, with some really good musicians involved. The playlist is linked below -
Personal favourites from the show include - Weird Fishes, and the solo performances of Fake Plastic Trees (Dave Havea) and No Surprises (Anita Lester).
The pianist, Josh Cohen, has a bunch of solo covers of Radiohead on a more popular channel, which you could check out too.
I’ll keep the rest of this short. Further recommended listening for the week, all linked below -
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Live performance pick of the week -
That’s all for now,
Rishi.
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