Yeti- Podcast Review

An interesting 10 part podcast which finds two friends, Andrew Benfield (the believing Mulder of the pair) and Richard Horsey (the cynical Scully of the pair) investigating the yeti. Now, many would say that the yeti is obviously a myth but when David Attenborough said he believed that there was something to the yeti sightings in 2015, you can't help but sit up and take notice.

The pod starts off with Benfield talking about the origins of his interest in the yeti. After that, our our intrepid travellers schlepp off to numerous Himalayan countries and following old clues and sightings to see if they can get to the truth.

They are aware of colonial and cultural bias, the old belief that it only really exists if it has been seen and documented by a middle aged Western white guy, but my issue with it is that any little clue is presented in an over the top 'OMG!' way by the believer, it gets rather grating when it is debunked or evidence to the contrary is given. It's not as rediculiusly contrived as 'Most Haunted' or that ilk of programme but the 'I want to believe' shtick is definitely there. The fact that the expedition is being followed by the Royal Geographical Society means that you do have to take the search more seriously than you otherwise would but still... a pinch of salt would help.

It's an interesting podcast though and does make you think about where folklore mixes with the real world to create mythologies. It also places the sightings and events into a chronological history and this is a fascinating insight into the evolution of this cryptid. The different ways of thinking about the creature are profound, for the West it's a search for a physical creature whereas for much of the area where the yeti has been sighted, it is a mystical creature who is symbolic of their spirituality and our connectedness to nature. The finale pretty much says this and, whilst I agree, it is a cop-out for a 10 episode podcast.

The finale of the series, where they test some hair from the ‘yeti’, is yet to be revealed as I write this but I’m not expecting much from the grand reveal. Overall, this is an interesting thought experiment but works less well as a 10 part series.

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This Game Changed My Life Podcast Shows Profound Impact Gaming Can Have

Video games often get a bad rap, being considered 'a waste of time,' often by the same people who see nothing nothing wrong in mindlessly watching boxsets on Netflix in their pants. Now there's nothing wrong with that, and in fact I like doing this too but let's not think it's better to be a passive observer in the real world than an active agent in a digital one.

Well, the ‘This Game Changed My Life’ podcast looks at how video games have had a profound impact in people's lives by sharing real life stories. So, over 10 episodes (at the time of writing) we have varied stories of a refugee using skills learned within games to travel across Europe from Syria after civil war broke out only to create a game about his experience, a young college dropout loving a physics based space game so much that it led to a real job at NASA, and a tale of how Elite Dangerous united an uncle with his autistic nephew who was slowly dying from leukaemia.

The podcast is at points funny, touching and sad but the stories are authentic and narrated by the people themselves, ably assisted by amiable hosts Aoife Wilson and Julia Hardy.

This Game Changed My Life

His Dark Materials HBO Series Trailer Drops

With Game of Thrones ending soon it seems like HBO is really chucking money at shows to get its next big hit. A couple of weeks ago we got the Watchmen trailer and earlier today they released the His Dark Materials one. I’m a huge fan of the trilogy and have been for many years. In fact, way back in 2013, when I was creating an influence map the series featured quite prominently.

Anjum Razaq Influence Map

I look forward to seeing the show and hope it keeps more in line with the book series, blasphemy and all.

The Public Information Films We'll Never Forget- BBC

Public Information Films were government funded mini movies which tackled the myriad of issues facing society over the time. The British government were true masters at creating small horror films that warned of imminent danger and scared the bejesus out of children, sitting in the hall with a rolled out tv/ video combo. Check out the BBC video that looks back kinda fondly, if that’s the term to use, at the films that informed and petrified us in equal measure.

The Public Information Films We'll Never Forget- ©BBC

What Is Hauntology? And Why Is It All Around Us?

I’ve discovered a BBC short film (just under 5 mins) about Hauntology, the concept that there is a "nostalgia for lost futures." The term is a portmanteau of ‘haunt,’ meaning ‘to appear in a ghostly form’ and ‘-ology’ meaning ‘the study of the nature of being.’

Over the course of the video we see images of the past and projections of what the future could be like. Looking at the possible hopes and fears for the future left me feeling a bit depressed really and that is what hauntology does. Anyways, it’s a great video and worth a look!

What Is Hauntology? And Why Is It All Around Us?

The First Time (interview) With David Lynch

The BBC is a well respected British public service broadcaster. It produces many shows and often some of the shows are aired once and then rarely aired again. Well luck has shone on fans of singular director David Lynch as a 2013 hour long interview with Matt Everitt about his musical influences has been shared online.

For a link to the radio interview click on the link at the bottom of this article.

In the words of the BBC:

In a rare interview, recorded in 2013, Lynch speaks to Matt Everitt about his formative early musical influences (Chopin and the sound of B36 bombers flying over his childhood home), his passion for Elvis and early rock 'n' roll, directing David Bowie, his love of jazz, how he creates his own unique music and how the imagery and plot of his classic film Blue Velvet was directly inspired by Bobby Vinton's 1963 classic single, which would never sound the same again.
David Lynch, filmmaker, writer and television director and creator of Twin Peak, Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, Eraserhead and Wild At Heart discusses the pivotal moments and music that have shaped his life and career.
Lynch is also a musician, having helped create the music for many of his movies (he wrote the lyrics to the Twin Peaks theme - Falling sung by Julee Cruise) as well as solo albums such as The Big Dream - a record as hypnotic and disturbingly beautiful as his films.

The show is only available for 19 days and also only for those in the UK but for those who can access it do as it offers a rare insight into this intensely private man.

LINK- The First Time (interview)... With David Lynch

How British Video Games Became a Billion Pound Industry

Since its early days of bedroom coders the computer game industry has evolved to become one of the largest industries in the world. The BBC have created an interesting a multi-media timeline charting the rise of the British gaming industry. It's well worth a look and could be useful to integrate into Computing lessons.