Books and Strings

Probably a good point for a little update. I'm back at work after a few weeks of holiday, so that's why the post frequency has dried up. I'm also really busy in general. I'm going through a little period where I have a lot of things that interest me. The main one at the moment being my investigations into tunings - that's musical tunings. Mainly the differences between Just Intonation and Equal Temperament tuning, especially in regard the now lost 'harmonic seventh' interval. So lots of maths and twiddling with music software. I've even bought a, as yet unboxed, lyre harp, so I can tune some strings organically (you can't just tone tune a standard guitar because of the equal tempered fret spacing).

I'll post the fruits of my researches with all that over on this blog, as it's a little too esoteric for here: https://foolsharbour.blogspot.com

You'll see there isn't too much content on that blog currently. However, that should change over time. I set it up to follow on from this blog: https://birkhallsmiscellany.blogspot.com, which I've now archived and drawn a line under. The themes of that one were essentially history, art and conspiracy theory. I want to keep doing the esoteric art/history/science stuff, but leave the conspiracies behind, so a fresh home felt timely.

I kind of feel like I've reached a point where I'm post-conspiracy. Yes, we live in a world of lies, but for all the arguments about how this world works and what goes on in it, I think essentially the question of why it's here and why we're here are for you and God (or however you want to frame it). I don't think any man, organisation, religion or culture has the true answers, no matter how many layers of emperor's clothes you strip off the people involved. There's more truth in the length of a string.

Books.

Getting back into the world of the living I've also just bought the Nadine Dorries book The Plot, about the downfall of Boris. It's a great read so far. Funnily enough given recent posts, it actually reads like The Da Vinci Code. Were it not for work and getting side-tracked into musical ratios I'd have polished it off by now.

I'm also still reading the book about the Kennedy family on my bus rides to work (The Kennedy Curse -- James Patterson and Cynthia Fagan). I'm up to Teddy Kennedy and the death of Mary Jo Kopechne. I always find this the most tragic of the Kennedy misfortunes. With the deaths of JFK and RFK there's a heroic narrative that acts as a silver lining for the tragedies, but with this one it's just very human and unheroic. Back to reality with a sad, depressing bump.

Getting back to music I've also just bought the book How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony - (and Why You Should Care), for obvious reason - which I've yet to start. So plenty to entertain me.