Someone, I can’t recall who, recommended Doc Martin, a British television series, to me. Its available on Netflix. Claudia and I have been enjoying every episode we’ve watched for the past week. Its four years worth of episodes will be over with all too soon as we watch two or three a night if possible.
I only saw a single episode tonight because Claudia was off too a bible lesson at church. So I watched the American Experience on PBS. It was excellent. The subject was the Era of whaling and its sub story was about the trajedy of the Essex and the career of Herman Melville. He’s the author of Moby Dick.
I read two-thirds of the book as a senior in high school. It was probably more than most of my fellow students struggled through. In my case I pulled out a pocket notebook and jotted down the words I did not know as I encountered them in the book. I used it to broaden my vocabulary. Tonight’s American Experience helped me appreciate the novel beyond the vocabulary I picked up from it.
Melville gave up on writing after it was published. It was an epic destined for immediate oblivion because Americans were besotted by the Gold Rush of 49. They couldn’t have cared less about fishing for whales even if that was the industry that had made it possible for them cross the continent when the smell of gold got back to the Atlantic.
If I was running around campaigning for Congress I couldn’t be watching this programming. I figure this is why so many Congressmen are clueless. They never have any time to do anything but campaign and raise money.
Oh yeah, I also recorded a youtube with some of that singing I promised but at ten minutes it was longer than youtube would let me post. Too many songs at one go I’m afraid. Thank goodness.
