Bleak House - Charles Dickens

So I've been reading (and reading...and reading) Bleak House for uni. It's taken me weeks to get through it and I still have about 100 pages to go. Not even Middlemarch earlier in the semester was this much of a slog.

I've come to the conclusion that I just don't like Dickens. I've tried...but I just simply don't. The 33% Rule (now The 25% Rule) would well and truly have been invoked in this instance if it weren't for the need to read this for my studies. I'll be glad when I'm done with it. And I'm glad I've decided I''m not going to read anymore Dickens. This feels like somewhat of a failure on my part (after all, I am about to graduate with an Eng. Lit. degree) but I...just...don't...care. Now, where's my copy of War and Peace...

Lost Tribes

Various news sites are reporting the discovery of a lost tribe of Indians in the Amazon. Part of me is fascinated by this discovery and part of me is horrified by it.

Apparently these people were spotted inside an 'Ethno-Environmental Protected Area.' That sounds a hell of lot like a zoo to me. I think there is a very real ethical dilemma here. Should these people be left in their Stone Age existence? If so, should they then be treated as barely human curiosities? Observed from afar but not interfered with. I think a case could also be made for intervening and welcoming these people to the 21st century. Unfortunately, either action is patronising and debases the lives of these people. Personally, I think it would probably have been better if this tribe, and others like it, were simply left alone, neither protected or confronted.

Róisín Murphy - You Know Me Better

Yes, another Róisín Murphy post. I should have done this one ages ago as it's about my favourite track on the album. First up is the video for the single...it's full of the usual Róisín quirkiness. The second video, of Róisín busking, is actually the more interesting of the two for me. After seeing her live in Sydney a few weeks ago I'm just so impressed by her singing ability.