disassociated

Gender has an influence on vocabulary comprehension, and some words are more familiar to one gender than others it seems. For instance, peplum, tulle, bandeau, and taffeta are words likely to be better known to women, while milliamp, boson, parsec, and shemale (who would have thought), are generally more familiar to men.

There’s a few words on the chart put together by Yuri Vishnevsky I’ve not seen until now, but I’ve made a note of the five-letter words in case they pop-up on Wordle one day.

American science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson is among writers who are hopeful fiction featuring climate change, and the consequences of global warming, will play a part in changing the perceptions of people who still don’t take the worldwide environmental crisis seriously.

For instance his latest novel, The Ministry for the Future, paints a bleak picture of a planet in deep trouble, but also presents a pathway through the turmoil, towards a positive future. Ice Crash: Antarctica (published by Amazon, February 15, 2022), by North Carolina based American author Lynda Engler, is another work of fiction taking on the topic of climate change, coupled with a series of devastating natural disasters.

Here, an earthquake in Antarctica pushes the Thwaites glacier, also known as the doomsday glacier into the ocean, bringing about a sudden and catastrophic rise in sea levels. Kathryn, a seismologist working in Antarctica, who has been alarmed by the unusual seismic activity, becomes trapped at McMurdo Station, by a succession of earthquakes.

Her husband and son meanwhile, who are in Boston, and her daughter who is in Florida, need to evacuate as sharply rising sea waters, and a series of tsunamis, bring devastation to the continental United States, and other nations around the globe.

The long held notion that the centre, or core, of our planet consists of solid iron, may have been up-ended by a recent study suggesting Earth’s inner core is made up of a solid iron sublattice and liquid-like light elements:

A joint research team led by Prof. HE Yu from the Institute of Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGCAS) has found that the inner core of the Earth is not a normal solid but is composed of a solid iron sublattice and liquid-like light elements, which is also known as a superionic state. The liquid-like light elements are highly diffusive in iron sublattices under inner core conditions.

Well that differs somewhat from nineteenth century French author Jules Verne’s depiction, in his 1864 novel Journey to the Center of the Earth.

The first rule of lying is not be caught out. But to lie frequently, or compulsively, means you either need to have a good memory, or hope that no one ever uncovers the truth. And webs of deceit are at the heart of The Truth about Faking It (published by HarperCollins Publishers, May 2022), the third novel by Sydney based Australian author Cassie Hamer.

Lies run through Ellen’s family. Her daughter Natasha, a composed television news reader, and grand-daughter Georgie, the producer of a reality TV show, are accomplished at concealing the truth, and their feelings. Ellen isn’t half bad either. Despite being married to David, she has been seeing the well-off Kenneth, on the side. But when the accident prone David dies in a boating accident in Thailand, having travelled there with his elusive and seldom heard of brother, Ellen, Natasha, and Georgie, smell a rat.

Something is not quite right about the whole affair, and the three women decide to delve further into the circumstances surrounding David’s demise. But in doing so, in exposing the truth of what happened to David, they risk lifting the lid on their own sordid lies and deceptions. Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive…

Drive My Car (Doraibu mai kâ), trailer, is the latest feature from Japanese filmmaker Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, and tells the story of a recently widowed stage director coming to terms with his wife’s sudden death, and revelations about her life that surface after her passing. Drive My Car has been nominated in this year’s Oscars for Best Director, and in a first for a Japanese film, Best Picture.

A day in the life of a librarian, or at least how library users might see a librarian’s day, by Chicago based American author John Howard Matthews. Quite possibly not one hundred percent accurate…

The nominations for the ninety-fourth Oscars were unveiled overnight, and almost seem more notable for their exclusions rather than their inclusions.

For instance Lady Gaga and Jared Leto were not recognised for their roles in House of Gucci, ditto Cate Blanchett and Bradley Cooper for Nightmare Alley, and then arguably the big one, Denis Villeneuve missing out on a Best Director nomination for Dune, though the film is in the running for Best Picture.

On the other hand Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog is in line for a dozen Oscar gongs, including Best Director and Best Picture, while Australian actors Nicole Kidman and Kodi Smit-McPhee, have also been nominated. The Oscars awards ceremony takes place on Sunday 27 March 2022.

Africa, recorded by American rock band Toto in 1982, which against the odds surely, became an anthem for millennials three or four years ago, has been covered by Sydney based Australian DJ and producer Dave Winnel, for Triple J’s Like A Version. Hurry boy, she’s waiting there for you…

Alison Flood, writing for The Guardian in 2016, on the topic of classic books because there is some sort of obligation to do:

This week, YouGov tells us that only 4% of Brits have read War and Peace, although 14% wish they had; 3% have read Les Misérables, although 10% want to; and 7% have read Moby-Dick, with 8% aiming to.

Aside from my school days, when reading some of the classics was requisite, I’ve made little effort to pick any up since. That’s probably not the sort of thing I should say on a website where literature and books feature, but there you are. I did try though. Moby-Dick. The Great Gatsby. Pride and Prejudice. The Grapes of Wrath. Vanity Fair. East of Eden. War and Peace. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

Much to my (sort of) shame, they were all DNFs, each and every one. All are great books I’m certain, and all contributed to making contemporary literature what it is, but they were titles I could not get into. But I didn’t start reading them because I felt an obligation to, I read them because they were hailed as highly revered works of literature. But most did little for me, and so be it.

Life is too short to read books you don’t want to, no matter how acclaimed they are. But maybe it’s me. I also have difficulty listening to a lot of music — some of which is considered classic — that was recorded prior to the turn of the century. Besides, it not like there is a shortage of contemporary works to read, there’s several lifetimes worth. If the classics aren’t for you, it’s simple, don’t waste time on them.

Flee, trailer, an animated documentary by Danish filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen, recounts the story of Amin, who left Afghanistan as a child, and settled in Denmark. As he prepares to marry his boyfriend, he confides in a friend, sharing a story about his past he has so far kept secret from everyone.