Three friendly distractions (in case anyone needs one)

[brightknightie]

Pompeii. I believe that many of you are interested in historical Pompeii. You should not miss the latest archaeological news from there, which is that new DNA evidence is overturning imagined identifications of individual victims of the eruption, some dating back to the nineteenth-century rediscovery of the site. For example, one human cast long referred to as that of an elderly beggar is in fact that of a child; similarly, a famous pair always assumed to be two sisters or a mother and daughter is actually a man and a woman. Here's a subscriber gift link to the New York Times article (it should take you through the paywall): "With DNA, Pompeii Narratives Take a Twist: In 79 A.D., a volcanic eruption engulfed a town’s residents. They weren’t all who scientists thought, newly extracted genetic material suggests."

Shakespeare. Some months ago, my YouTube recommendations algorithm unusually struck gold when it started suggesting ShakespeareNetwork. You can read about their organization on their site, but what's specifically relevant for this recommendation is that their YouTube channel makes available amazing Shakespeare productions since almost the dawn of talkie cinema, filmed stage plays as well as movies, television, and indeed radio productions, many starring some of the best actors of the past century. (So much Judi Dench!) Much of it, especially the oldest productions, are available in full; recent productions tend to be represented by only a trailer or a few excerpted scenes. Those of you who love Stratford should definitely check out this channel; you'll find treasure.

Zelda as a TV show (not the '89 cartoon). Wondering what I'm up to with all these The Legend of Zelda references, but not interested in games or manga or, goodness forbid, let's-plays? ZeldaUniverseTV's got you. These fans have produced multi-episode "TV shows" of several of the games, thoughtfully edited, with full voiceover acting. For example, Twilight Princess is 13 episodes of about 30 minutes each (playlist). Breath of the Wild is available as either a single 7-hour movie or 4 episodes of about 100 minutes each (playlist).

Comments

[lightbird]

Ooh, thank you so much for the Shakespeare Network rec! I'm always looking for Shakespeare stuff, especially performance/things about performance, so this is right up my alley, and I will be passing this on to other buffs.

[brightknightie]

You're welcome, and I hope that the folks you pass it on to enjoy it, too!

Recently, I've more than once let myself fall asleep to one of the performances on this Shakespeare Network channel (I have YouTube Premium, so it doesn't lapse into commercials).

[switchbladeeyes]

Thanks for the Pompeii article! Fascinating what modern science and technology can tell us about ancient history. I visited Pompeii in 2004 and would love to go back someday.

[brightknightie]

You're welcome for the article! I've never been there, but of course it's one of the most famous and unique archaeological sites in the world, and I love to learn.

[thefruitbat]

The article about new evidence from Pompeii is great! It shows so well, how science adapts its assumptions and theories based on facts.

[brightknightie]

I'm glad you enjoyed the article!

Yes, it's interesting to think about how Pompeii and Herculaneum are one of the biggest archaeological (re)discoveries of the nineteenth-century, and what cringingly bad -- by modern standards -- behavior those first (re)discoverers engaged in, from making unsubstantiated assumptions, to improperly tracking intact items and throwing away shards of items, to stealing away national treasures ... versus what we do today, and whether we may look similarly careless and thoughtless to future archaeologists...

[kirbyfest]

Oooh, thank you for the Zelda TV link.

[brightknightie]

You're welcome! I only recently discovered them.

[pj1228]

Thank you for sharing the link to the ShakespareNetwork. I took a brief glimpse and already found a LOT I want to see. Awesome!!!

I had read about the DNA results from the Pompeii victims in the newspaper. Currently thinking about integrating this into a story. I suppose a typical Lacroix reaction would be "I was wondering how long it would take them to figure out they had been wrong all along." :)

[brightknightie]

I hope that you enjoy ShakespeareNetwork! I've found it delightful.

Pondering a FK story... For what it's worth, I personally feel that while the Lacroix character might indeed claim, aloud, to an audience, to have known all along, really, there's no way that he could know with confidence which fallen individual any of those rough casts represented. With people hiding and running every which way, every kind of person of every class and station of society, the chaos and the scramble, any guess Lacroix would have made about the casts as individual people with names and lives and hopes and fears would have been very nearly as totally ignorant and fanciful as the Victorian archaeologists. And of course he had just recently returned to Pompeii after a long time from having been away in the field. Naturally, he cannot have known every person in Pompeii; indeed, most of the people would have been beneath his notice for vicious reasons of class, misogyny, and enslavement. His assumptions would have led him astray as surely as the early archaeologists, if perhaps in different directions.