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Rare Disease Day 2025
Feb. 28th, 2025 09:59 amMy annual post about Rare Disease Day. A bit more verbose than in some recent years, with lots of links to further thoughts from me about related topics.
Feb. 28th, 2025
Bernice Summerfield: The Lost Museum
Feb. 28th, 2025 10:05 amFinally resuming my listening and reviewing of Benny audios from Big Finish's series!
Just as a reminder, Benny/Bernice was introduced as a companion of the Seventh Doctor in the early 1990s Doctor Who novels. She then spun off to have her own adventures, and Big Finish made a long-running series of audio adventures starring Benny, played by actress Lisa Bowerman. Benny, like the more recent River Song, is a professor of archaeology. The stories are set in a scifi universe full of Doctor Who lore and monsters. Benny is often sent to investigate an archaeological site or matter on other planets. But in the series she is largely based at the Braxiatel Collection, an archive of strange artefacts, run by the mysterious Irving Braxiatel.
My latest listen is another in the 6th season of Benny audios. In this one, Benny and her former husband / on-off lover Jason Kane go to investigate the status of a museum on a war torn planet.
This is another sometimes brutal audio to listen to, following The Kingdom of the Blind. Like that one this includes accounts of torture, though less directly, rather recounted later. But it's still a tough listen, and does capture the sense of a society in anarchy, with a complicated picture of right and wrong, and certainly not a clear-cut black and white image.
More worryingly the soundscape is chaotic and it can be difficult to follow what's going on. I don't think it was as coherent as it could have been. However there are extremely powerful musings on the role of museums in preserving and sharing culture, and also their potential misuse for propaganda and power reasons. Benny also faces some rather direct questions about the supposedly open nature of the institution she works for.
So it was ok, but not one I'll rush to listen to again. Though the repartee between Benny and Jason was strong. Old friends rather than lovers now, but with a comfortable relationship that sees them survive a dangerous mission.
Just as a reminder, Benny/Bernice was introduced as a companion of the Seventh Doctor in the early 1990s Doctor Who novels. She then spun off to have her own adventures, and Big Finish made a long-running series of audio adventures starring Benny, played by actress Lisa Bowerman. Benny, like the more recent River Song, is a professor of archaeology. The stories are set in a scifi universe full of Doctor Who lore and monsters. Benny is often sent to investigate an archaeological site or matter on other planets. But in the series she is largely based at the Braxiatel Collection, an archive of strange artefacts, run by the mysterious Irving Braxiatel.
My latest listen is another in the 6th season of Benny audios. In this one, Benny and her former husband / on-off lover Jason Kane go to investigate the status of a museum on a war torn planet.
This is another sometimes brutal audio to listen to, following The Kingdom of the Blind. Like that one this includes accounts of torture, though less directly, rather recounted later. But it's still a tough listen, and does capture the sense of a society in anarchy, with a complicated picture of right and wrong, and certainly not a clear-cut black and white image.
More worryingly the soundscape is chaotic and it can be difficult to follow what's going on. I don't think it was as coherent as it could have been. However there are extremely powerful musings on the role of museums in preserving and sharing culture, and also their potential misuse for propaganda and power reasons. Benny also faces some rather direct questions about the supposedly open nature of the institution she works for.
So it was ok, but not one I'll rush to listen to again. Though the repartee between Benny and Jason was strong. Old friends rather than lovers now, but with a comfortable relationship that sees them survive a dangerous mission.
Today's accordion practice
Feb. 28th, 2025 02:46 pmDelighted to manage some oh too rare accordion practice. Today trying new to me (at least to play) Calum's Road by Donald Shaw of Capercaillie (in linked Bluesky post). As well as practicing Speechless from Aladdin and Thank You For The Music from ABBA.
And here's a snippet of me practicing Thank You For The Music by ABBA on my accordion today. It's a real work out, and by the end of my short practice I was struggling to control my brain, never mind the fingers to play it just now! Thanks neuro illness! But overall happy. It's a lovely arrangement.
- not sure how well those links to the videos on Bluesky will work. But fingers crossed!
And here's a snippet of me practicing Thank You For The Music by ABBA on my accordion today. It's a real work out, and by the end of my short practice I was struggling to control my brain, never mind the fingers to play it just now! Thanks neuro illness! But overall happy. It's a lovely arrangement.
- not sure how well those links to the videos on Bluesky will work. But fingers crossed!