Structured Rambling

Paul talks about his love for the often-misunderstood and mis-appreciated genre of theatre. 

After far too long of promising, Paul discusses the third volume of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Return of the King. London, Harper Collins, 2010. 

It's amazing how Ancient Greek philosphy is still so applicable to us today, and Paul argues that none is MORE applicable still than stoicism. But, you have to jettison the weaknesses. 

Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations. New York, Pengion, 2006. 

Herbert, Frank. Dune. New York, Chilton, 1965. 

In today's episode, Paul talks about Metallica, a band he's never going to be too proud to like, although his favourite era is often the band's most-reviled. 

Paul analyzes the exceptional three seasons of The Newsroom for his favourite person. 

Newman, Thomas, "The Newsroom Main Theme," Apple Music. 

Paul considers the first (and as far as he's concerned ONLY) two Terminator films having watched them with new viewers.  

This is the audio of a presentation Paul recently gave at Signum University's Sunshine Moot 2023 about characters from J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth

Youtube Video: https://youtu.be/LUMFo-XoLHA


Works Cited
Carpenter, Humprey ed. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. New York, Houghton Mifflin, 2000. 

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Fellowship of the Ring. London, Harper Collins, 2010.

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit. London, Harper Collins, 2010.

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Return of the King. London, Harper Collins, 2010.

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Two Towers. London, Harper Collins, 2010.

www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english

www.oed.com

wwwtheonering.com/map-of-the-shire-j-r-r-tolkien/

What does Shakespeare really mean about "to be" and what does Hamlet learn about it, himself, and ALL OF THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE by the end of the most famous work in English?

Bloom, Harold. Shakeseapre: Invention of the Human. Riverhead Books: New York, 1998.

McCartney, Paul. "Let It Be." from Let It Be. Apple: London, 1970.

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Harcourt: Toronto, 2003. 

In this epic walk through history and nostalgia of the superhero genre, Paul laments the fact that comic books are immune to any sort of real change, and that's a shame. 

It's a little known fact that the Ents of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings were actually inspired by the author's extreme dislike of a scene in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Paul talks the prophecies of Macbeth, their influence on LOTR, and Tolkien's brief use of prophecy himself.

Carpenter, Humphrey, Ed. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. London: Houghton Mifflin, 2000.

Polanski, Roman. Macbeth. UK/USA:  Playboy Productions and and Caliban Films, 1971.

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. The Riverside Shakespeare. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.   

Tolkien, J. R. R. The Return of the King. London: Harper Collins, 2010.