Khan-spreading

Last Christmas my Mum gave me "Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World" by Jack Weatherford because apparently I'd been complaining about how little I knew about Genghis Khan. Now that I've finally read it I'm very glad she did. Here are some passages to give you an idea why, accompanied by images of Genghis Khan statuary in ascending order of spread:

 

"In twenty five years, the Mongol army subjugated more lands and people than the Romans had conquered in four hundred years... On every level and from any perspective, the scale and scope of Genghis Khan's accomplishments challenge the limits of imagination and tax the resources of scholarly explanation."

 

"Instead of attacking the walls of Riazan, the Mongols used their massive number of conscripted laborers in a project that confused and terrified the citizens even more. The workers cut down trees, hauled them to the Mongol lines outside the city, and rapidly began building a wall completely surrounding the already walled city."

"The four serpents on the Silver Tree of Karakorum symbolized the four directions in which the Mongol Empire extended... When the khan wanted to summon drinks for his guests, the mechanical angel raised the trumpet to his lips and sounded the horn, whereupon the mouths of the serpents began to gush out a fountain of alcoholic beverages into large silver basins arranged at the base of the tree."

 "The Mongols loved competitions of all sorts, and they organized debates among rival religions the same way they organized wrestling matches... Finally, as the effects of the alcohol became stronger, the Christians gave up trying to persuade anyone with logical arguments, and resorted to singing. The Muslims, who did not sing, responded by loudly reciting the Koran in an effort to drown out the Christians, and the Buddhists retreated into silent meditation."

So why didn't any of it last? The same reason so little lasted beyond the fifteenth century AD: the Black Death, which wiped out a fifth of the population of the planet. Having opened up the world from the Pacific to the Mediterranean, the Mongol Empire's extraordinary infrastructure collapsed from the casualties, a victim of its own success. Western Europe meanwhile, protected from the Mongol invasion by its forests, stepped into that world as soon as the coast was clear, and that's what we call the Renaissance. Would read again.

 

(Apologies for non-inclusion to Dashi Namdakov.)

Something I only noticed about Horror Sequels watching Darlin'...

Frankenstein's sequel: The Bride of Frankenstein...

Night of the Living Dead's sequel: Dawn of the Dead...

Evil Dead's sequel: Evil Dead II...

etc...

They say comedy is tragedy plus time, so it makes sense so many horror sequels turn out to be hoots, and while I knew Freddy Kreuger got sillier and Godzilla cuddlier over time, I hadn't noticed how quick the turnaround could be on absolute corkers until this evening when I saw Pollyanna McIntosh's "Darlin'" (the trailer's packed with spoilers by the way). Its predecessor "The Woman" is an absolute classic - stark and simple and absolutely merciless - and the sequel does everything I now realise a return to the scene of that trauma should do: introduces a wider world, builds a family, and parkours from tone to tone without putting a foot wrong or looking like it's searching for a way out (everything "Bride of Frankenstein" did in fact). Also it looks incredible. It's out in September I think, it will make you laugh and it will make you hurt, and it is a hoot.

 

"Son of Kong" however is shit.

 

What Do The Pills Do?

Well I didn't know they do this, for a start:

 

And now, apologies. The lights went out all over my old laptop a while back, but I have a new one now so I can blog again woo! And I have something to plug which is ending very soon: "Coma" - a show ostensibly about lying down and taking a pill. The pill-taking is optional, but not the lying down as space in the venue is limited (see below).

 Photo by Mihaela Bodlovic.    

As part of their ongoing Darkfield project, creator David "shunt" Rosenberg, writer Glen "Ring" Neath, musicians Max and Ben Ringham et al have recorded me and others doing things in a box, and then taken that box up to Summerhall so people can lie in it in total darkness for half an hour and be an audience. Given the absence of any live perfomer, as far as I know, it's extraordinary how live an event these shows still manage to be - the simple presence of others counts for a lot, it turns out, even if you can't see them. And the twitter reviews I've read have been incredibly pleasing, although the most pleasing was probably "Neither pleasant nor unpleasant it sits just the right side of creative to make you feel that things are not good until you leave" because it was so confusing. You can book TICKETS HERE and then I think the show's moving to Canary Wharf in September. But, as I say, most of my work was done a month ago, outside Television Centre (see below). You know, in that heat wave. Water was on hand... That's not much of an anedote is it - Okay: I was asked to provide a component of something unique built by friends. It was fun. And still is. I'm assuming.

So yes I'm doing Edinburgh this year, sort of - not physically (which is a shame as London "Gabbie" Hughes is obviously KILLING IT UP THERE) but I hear it's like I'm really there, right down to the smell (see below - not sure which vial's me).

And of course David's been doing stuff with binaural sound for over a decade now. And shipping containers. Things were easier back in 2007 before the crunch, back when we were doing "Contains Violence" and were still allowed in buildings. I can't believe I've never posted this shot of the microphones going into Nigel's head so we could record me stoving it in with an Apple Mac before:

And here's the card handed to audiences from that first binaural gig, intended to minimise technical hiccups.  The system's been refined a bit since.

 

25/08/19: P.S. I've just remembered, my favourote review is actually this one comparing the character I voice to "one of those vaguely disreputable Cronenbergian scientists" and noting "in fact Cronenbrg's two earliest movies, Stereo and Crimes of the Future could provide acceptable alternative titles for this..."  Lovely stuff.