A new Strook with something I drew, read, and listened to:
Drawing
Reading
Madness at the End of the Earth, by Julian Sancton, is a fantastic true travel story about the Belgica's Antarctic expedition in the late 19th century. The polar explorers, including Roald Amundsen, survive a dark winter in Antarctica after the ship becomes stuck in the pack ice.
There, isolated in the dark without daylight, they do everything they can to keep from going completely mad. The entire book keeps you in suspense about how it will end. Or, as the lyrical review in De Volkskrant puts it:
Was it enough to survive? In any case, Cook and Amundsen survived: the book opens with a meeting between the two that took place years later. And the rest? To say more would be a spoiler—which is rarely the case with a non-fiction book. In short: read it yourself and shiver.
Definitely one of my favorite books.
Listen
In recent years, Irish band Fontaines D.C. has grown into one of the biggest bands of the moment. This year, they are headlining Werchter, Roskilde, and Lowlands. On his solo album Chaos for the Fly, frontman Grian Chatten shows a completely different side. There is no trace of his band's angry post-punk. Trumpets, strings, backing singers, and even a waltz. However, you can still recognize the characteristic Irish melancholy. In the song Salt Throwers off a Truck, you imagine yourself in an Irish pub where folk classics that have been passed down for generations are being played. The bombastic Fairlies closes the evening.
I'm working hard on a new natural history drawing with thousands of dots. I still have quite a few hours to go. Hopefully, I can share it here next week. See you then!