The Cambridge Geek

Listening Log - 29 January 2022

Here's (some of) what I've listened to this week (honestly, my memory is awful).

(And shout out to A Sky Full of Pods, an excellent blog that inspired me to try these little things, rather than getting stuck putting off full posts (I've got so many of those I need to type up.))


Wooden Overcoats: S04E03

A Madeleine themed episode this time, with the brave (and surprisingly long-lived?) mouse leaping into heroic mode to rescue Chapman from an unfortunate situation. Since this happened at an underwhelming event Rudyard had organised, he's not best pleased to lose the spotlight. And so, to feud.

Nice emotional piece, this one. A sneaky hint of Chapman's backstory again (honestly can't decide whether that's something that should be revealed or not at this point), in a rather entertaining bar scene, and a fairly poignant ending. Listening to it, you're allowed a few emotions.

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Arden: S01E01-12

I was reminded of Arden during the most recent UK Audio Fiction meetup (online), and it made me reapproach it. Annoyingly, my memory isn't good enough to tell me at what point I realised it was based on a Shakespeare play, but the notes from my first listen suggest that it wasn't during that listen.

Forewarned with the knowledge, it's hard to see how I could miss it - the names seem obvious when you're listening for them, but I will confess it's so long since I've watched a performance of this particular one, I don't know how closely the plot ties up. Alas, not a scholar of the Bard to any particular degree.

I think some of my thoughts still align with the previous, in that I do think the tone shift is a little awkward, and I find myself slightly frustrated by the break in format for episode eleven, but I can see the story it's trying to tell. I had listened to this again with the possibility of carrying on to season 2 in mind, but I think like on the first listen, this one doesn't sufficiently hold my interest.

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Musical interlude

I've had the Encanto soundtrack basically on repeat this week, though admittedly I've mostly been listening to "The Family Madrigal", "Surface Pressure" and "We Don't Talk About Bruno". Easily the catchiest. (Even when they're doing Bruno in a lot of different languages.)

Youtube playlist


Demipia: S01E06-07

More of this, and weirdly I'm still struggling with identities. Beginning to suspect I should have taken better notes at the start of who people are. Suggestion - give people a handy character/class reference list if you've got a big cast. Bit of dungeon diving in these two, with some pleasing horror in terms of evil taxidermy and nasty sacrifices. Will enjoy keeping going with it.

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The Princess Bride: E02

This was one I started over Christmas in the gap, along with Moominland Midwinter, but have only just managed to finish off. Obviously, it's very hard to not compare this to the film, so I won't. Instead, I'll mention that this was another very good version of the book, hitting all the same high notes that the film did, while still having a slightly different flavour. That's mostly due to the narrator and his "father", who do a slightly more matching version of the book's style (at least I think so, been a while since I read it).

Whether I'm right or not though, it's still excellent. (And pleasingly Scottish.)

BBC Sounds

Tagged: Round-up Audio