By Beth Hundey, Western Communications
Read. Watch. Listen. introduces you to the personal side of our faculty, staff and alumni. Participants are asked to answer three simple questions about their reading, viewing and listening habits – what one book or newspaper/magazine article is grabbing your attention; what one movie or television show has caught your eye; and what album/song, podcast or radio show are you lending an ear to.
Geography professor Beth Hundey is an eLearning and Curriculum Specialist with the Centre for Teaching and Learning.
Today, she takes a turn on Read. Watch. Listen.
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Read.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. The main character, Kya Clark, grows up mostly alone in the marshes of North Carolina. Despite her secluded life, she gets wrapped up in a town mystery (no spoilers).
Aside from the great story that follows her through life, there are two additional reasons why this is my pick.
The first is I was totally invested in Kya, who has amazing strength and intelligence despite an unfair childhood and very little formal education. The second is the vivid descriptions of the local natural landscape. I finished the book a while ago and I can still picture the marshes around her home.
Watch.
Schitt’s Creek, a Canadian show about a once-wealthy family of four who loses all of their money and moves to the town of Schitt’s Creek.
We could go ahead and rename this category Rewatch. instead of Watch. – although I will not reveal how often I have rewatched Schitt’s Creek (fewer times than I’ve seen the Princess Bride, but more times than I’ve seen my favourite drama, Battlestar Gallactica).
The show has laughs and is oh-so quotable, but is also very heartwarming. It doesn’t hurt that I’m from small-town Ontario and occasionally see myself in the show’s local characters.
The cast is full of talented and hilarious Canadians like Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Dan Levy, Annie Murphy, and Emily Hampshire. I recommend giving the show a try, even if you’re someone who typically steers clear of Canadian shows.
If you don’t slack off, you can get all five seasons in before the final season airs.
Listen.
I first heard Chelsea Stewart this year at Junofest at the Wolf Performance Hall in London, when she was a nominee for Reggae Recording of the Year. Her performance was stellar, with some of my now-favourite originals Just Wanna Love You and Perfectly Lonely. She also added some R&B and reggae vibes to Shania Twain and Blue Rodeo classics.
The Junofest show was really intimate, with highlights like a great call and answer section and an unplanned acapella encore while the band was packing up. Needless to say, Chelsea Stewart’s album Genesis is now a mainstay in our household playlists.
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If you have a suggestion for someone you would like to see in Read. Watch. Listen., or would like to participate yourself, drop a line to inside.western@uwo.ca.
