Mumbling on Sunday

I see that the Dune, part 2 movie is out. I couldn't get through all of part 1 when it appeared on my streaming service last year. But I am tempted to have another go at the book which I read many decades ago. Like Benjamin Britten, who played through all the piano music of Brahms every year, just to remind himself how bad it was, I am tempted to re-read Dune for the same reason. However could such a loathsomely pretentious compendium of crap have become so popular? The earlier, extremely bad film of Dune was a quite accurate representation of how bad it is. Your milage may vary, of course...

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There is an article in the Wall Street Journal titled: Can’t Get Things Done Without Background Noise? You’re Not Alone.

Music has long helped us focus while doing simple tasks. Now, though, listening to podcasts or watching TikTok, YouTube or other videos while we do other things—from cooking to working—is a reflex. Last year, Americans streamed 21 million years’ worth of video, up 21% from the previous year, according to Nielsen. 

These distractions in the form of a podcast or video clip can speed a task and stave off boredom, especially during more monotonous moments.

I guess I have to believe this is true, though it seems absurd on the face of it. Are the tasks most of us are engaged in so mindlessly repetitive that we can do them without actually thinking about them? That sounds like a huge problem in itself. I find I can't do any kind of mental work with background music of any kind, let alone video clips. Am I really in a minority? I find that my mind can wander off even without external distractions. I often have to read a sentence or paragraph over several times if it is conceptually difficult. I have always laughed at "speed-reading" courses. Good lord, the last thing on earth anyone needs is to read faster. But my hidden assumption there is, of course, that anything worth reading is worth reading slowly. Francis Bacon wrote in The Essays:

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few are to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.

And, sad to say, much of what is written these days really needs to be hurled against the wall with great force! (Yes, someone already said a version of that, but who exactly seems unclear.)

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Economics Explained is a useful series of YouTube clips by an Australian economist. Here is the latest:

This actually leads into something I have noticed recently involving a hobby of mine: fountain pens. Many years ago in Canada I had a fountain pen that I quite enjoyed writing with, but it never made it to Mexico. Here fountain pens are very rare. I rediscovered them a few years ago and bought a few Chinese pens because they were very cheap. Once I grew more aware of quality differences I gravitated towards German and Japanese pens (and one Italian pen). It almost seems as if the path towards becoming a great source of fine fountain pens was to lose World War II! The thing is that these fine pens from Germany and Japan, often cost between $150 and $200. But in the last couple of months I have noticed reviews of some new Chinese pens and after trying them, I am very impressed. They are as good as the good German and Japanese pens but cost between $25 and $30. My favorite is this one from Jinhao with a German steel nib (that is still something they excel at) and a handmade body of sandalwood (also available with tigerwood and ebony). Gorgeous pen.

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Since we were mean to Brahms earlier on, let's listen to his Symphony No. 2: