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Sony A1 review
Sony's mirrorless flagship is a do-it-all don
Sam Kieldsen Follow @samkieldsen
21 May 2021 / 16:11 BST 16 February 2022 / 16:46 GMT
This heavyweight (metaphorically, at least) mirrorless camera is Sony's answer to the Canon EOS R5 or Fujifilm GFX100S: a no-compromise flagship built to tackle any imaging task you can throw at it.
Need some sharp video footage? This records in 8K. Need photos of an elusive subject? This shoot full-resolution stills in continuous bursts of up to 30fps. Need to do either of those things in the beautiful British summertime? It's weather-proofed too!
At around £6,500 before lenses and other accessories, the A1 is also Sony's priciest mirrorless model. No surprises there, but can a camera really be worth that kind of wedge? Let's find out.
Design and build quality: Surprisingly small
What were photographers like before mirrorless cameras? They probably had more muscular arms, bigger bags and less space, that's what.
In the early noughties, a DSLR camera this flagship bracket would likely be about twice the size and weight of the A1, and it's still hard to believe how we all took that bulk for granted. I wouldn't describe it as small or lightweight by mirrorless standards (you'll certainly know when it's hanging round your neck) but stick a smallish lens on it and it could almost be called discreet.
That being said, Sony hasn't slimmed it down in places where a bit of bulk is beneficial: the dials are finger-pleasingly chunky, the OLED viewfinder is accommodated inside a generously sized bulge at the top, and the hand grip protrudes forward to an extent that wrapping your right mitt around it feels super secure. I took the A1 out on a long walk without a strap to put its grippiness and portability to the test, and despite hiking along some rocky sections of beach, found the camera nothing less than a joy to carry, even one-handed at times.
As mentioned in the intro, it's fully weather-sealed against rain and dust, and as sturdily built as you'd expect a flagship body to be. This camera is being pitched at professionals, and it feels solid enough for years of tough shoots.
The one aspect of the design I don't like is the rear LCD. It uses the vertical-only tilting design favoured by older Sony A-series models, rather than the full flip screen seen on recent models like the FX3, A7C and A7S III. That screen can face forwards, sideways and more, while this one only tilts up (about 90 degrees) and down (about 45 degrees). It feels like a backwards step that needlessly limits user friendliness.
Features and performance: Speed demon
The A1 is built around the BIONZ XR engine, which gives the camera a processing speed that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. Considering the sheer amount of imaging data that the 50.1MP sensor produces, the camera feels nimble and rarely sluggish – only occasionally did I have to hold off taking a shot because some data was being written to my SD card.
The setup also allows for 8K video recording at up to 30fps, 4K recording at up to 120fps and 1080p recording at up to 240fps, as well as continuous 50.1MP stills shooting with autofocus tracking and autoexposure engaged at a staggering 30fps. There's also no blackout while you're continuously shooting, so you can scope out the scene through your viewfinder the entire time.
The speedy approach extends to connectivity, with 2×2 MIMO Wi-Fi, USB-C with up to 10Gbps transfer speed and even a LAN Ethernet connection for getting data quickly from the camera to a computer. With the file sizes the A1 turns out, it's almost a necessity: RAW stills can easily top 100MB. Storage-wise, there are two card slots available, both of which support both SD and new CFexpress Type A cards. The latter are extremely fast, designed for high bitrate video capture and continuous stills shooting – but they are also pretty tough on the wallet (£400ish for a 160GB card).
Autofocus has been a major strong point of recent Sony A-series cameras and that continues on the A1, with the face- and eye-tracking abilities particularly impressive. There are 759 phase detection points and 425 contrast detection points spread across the frame, and this camera even recognises birds' eyes (alongside the human and pet eyes other A-series cameras can track), which should make shooting wildlife a walk in the (national) park.
Other notable features include 5-axis in-body image stabilisation, a high-capacity battery that lasts for over 500 stills and a heat management system that lets you shoot 4K and 8K clips of almost unlimited length without shutting the camera down – something that's been an issue for many video-centric mirrorless cameras of late.
Video and photo quality: Detail and depth
With just over 50MP and 15 stops of dynamic range at its beck and call, the A1's sensor can produce some truly stunning stills images. Whether you're shooting landscapes, portraits, wildlife, street photography or reportage, this is a camera that can rise to the occasion. I've always felt anything over about 25MP was overkill detail-wise, but the ability to crop down to a tiny section of a photo and still have a sharp, noise-free and impactful image is an undeniable benefit of such a hi-res sensor, particularly when shooting wildlife and other far-off subjects.
The large sensor makes it a good low light performer too, although after dark photographers will probably get better mileage out of the cheaper Sony A7S III, designed more specifically with low light performance in mind. For videographers, the A1 is a veritable box of ambrosia-flavoured chocolates with a sprinkling of fairy dust. The most demanding of filmmakers will love that it's possible to output 16-bit RAW to an external recorder via the HDMI port, but even for internal recording it can record 10-bit 4:2:0 footage at up to 8K resolution.
Built-in picture profiles like S-Log3, Hybrid Log Gamma and S-Cinetone make it easy to shoot for effective post-production colour grading, while the choice of frame rates (from 24fps to 240fps, depending on the resolution) allows for some beautiful slo-mo sequences.
Unless you have a monster of a PC, 8K files can be hard to work with (just trying to import them into my video editing program caused it to crash several times) and that's before you even start looking for something to watch them on, but I can definitely see the value, detail-wise, of the ability to record video at 8K, then down-sample to 4K in your editing suite. And as native 8K displays gain popularity in the future, it might even become worth using on its own. But in general, the 4K clips output by the A1 offer more than enough crisp detail and colour depth to satisfy filmmakers, and the ability to shoot them in up to 120fps is a huge bonus.
Sony A1 verdict
The A1's price tag is a big one, but professionals who want a single do-it-all camera for both video and photo won't be disappointed with what it provides in return. Value-wise, the £3,800 A7S III represents a better deal for people who only shoot video (and, aside from 8K, offers much of the same level of performance), while photographers seeking the most resolution can look to the £3,500 61MP A7R IV as a much more affordable alternative. Heck, even the 102MP medium format Fujifilm GFX1000S is £1,000 cheaper, if detail is what matters to you.
For someone who wants all their bases covered, though – plus the ability to shoot stills at an incredible speed – there's nothing quite like the A1. It might drain your bank account, but it'll fill your portfolio with wonderful photos.
Stuff Says…
The ultimate no-compromise all-rounder
Excellent image quality
Wealth of video options
Bad Stuff
Tilting screen feels like a step backwards
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The digital IR revolution: how new technology is bringing companies and shareholders closer together
How Much Does Cloud-based Financial Software Cost?
Why finance professionals must bank on a journey to the cloud
Fintech's support of Ukraine's digital businesses can be used as blueprint across the world
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By Dean Little, Co-Founder, Proxymity
Today, more than ever, shareholders are demanding their voice be heard. Against a backdrop of macro-economic headwinds, geopolitical tensions and global recession, and with ESG targets at the forefront of many corporate strategies, public companies need to commit to better communication and engagement with their shareholders to build confidence and strengthen long-term relationships.
With the new year quickly approaching and the subsequent build up to proxy voting season, the need for enhanced shareholder engagement is clear. Key to improving this is a digital IR renaissance, using new technologies to create a transparent and dynamic investor relations ecosystem.
Urgency from shareholders driving action and change
Shareholder democracy is not a novel concept – it is only natural that investors should wish to participate in the shaping of the company in which they invest. It has, however, gained momentum in recent months, with digital transformation and new technology platforms at the forefront of this push.
Most recently, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink hailed a "new era for shareholder democracy", stating that it is "clear there are investors who don't want to sit on the sidelines; they have a view on corporate governance, and they want a meaningful way to express those views."[1]
Responding to growing client interest, the firm has expanded its Voting Choice platform, partnering with Proxymity in the UK to make proxy voting easier and more accessible for its clients.[2] The collaboration seeks to provide investors in select UK mutual funds with the ability to exercise greater choice in how their shares are voted.
Direct engagement between issuers and investors is crucial, with shareholders now expecting the reassurance that they can have their say and know that they are being heard. This transparency and accountability are enabled only by a digital approach.
Increased scrutiny over environmental, social and governance concerns
ESG has played an ever-growing role in affecting where investors choose to deploy their capital, with many shareholders wanting to know that companies they are involved with have a positive impact on society and are aligned with their values. Similarly, the current macroeconomic climate has naturally concerned shareholders, with soaring costs and profit warnings issued by UK-listed firms increasing 69% year-on-year in the third quarter of this year.[3]
Confirming these fears, 28 listed companies in the UK were described as being in the "danger zone" due to issuing warning profits three times over the last year[4], intensifying investor scrutiny of critical decisions made by executives and board members. More accountability and transparency in investor relations will ensure investors feel aligned to their business and confident in their investment.
The role activist hedge fund shareholders have played in recent years in pushing for corporate reforms has been extensively covered in the media. Retail investors, however, have had little chance to speak up until quite recently, with leading global asset managers like BlackRock exploring ways to give them a greater say during proxy season.
Revitalising the corporate governance process
It's clear to most issuers, investors and intermediaries that the corporate governance ecosystem needs to be refreshed with new tools and technologies to replace legacy processes and improve communication and collaboration.
Lacking transparency and often not time-effective, traditional IR communication increases the potential for human error and non-compliance. Using legacy, manual proxy voting mechanisms, issuers cannot directly notify investors of voting action, which can obstruct effective communication and necessitate costly investigation into voter activity.
The approach typically gives shareholders little time to consider their options and make decisions before voting deadlines, as well as a lack of confidence on whether their vote was actually captured. Impediments need to be removed as businesses increasingly want to interact with and empower their investor base.
End-to-end digital platforms such as Proxymity's can guarantee that shareholder democracy is available to all investors by giving them immediate meeting notifications and real assurance that each vote has been received and recorded. This seamless communication method is effective in ensuring businesses are hearing from as many investors as possible, with them under increased demand to take the opinions of their knowledgeable and vocal shareholder base seriously.
Whereas historically the barriers may have been too onerous, a digitised procedure mutually fosters conversation between issuers and investors. It changes the way issuers communicate and gives investors the time they need to consider their options.
A digital-first future
While digital solutions are at the vanguard of this movement, firms throughout the investment ecosystem will need to collaborate effectively in order to transform shareholder democracy. The case for integrity, accountability and transparency in governance has never been clearer.
Cutting-edge proxy voting technologies are at the heart of this revolution, with real-time voting and investor communication set to provide tangible benefits directly to issuers and investors, as well as others throughout the IR ecosystem.
The future of shareholder democracy is digital, where shareholders, regardless of size, can receive updates on business matters throughout the year and ensure their voices are heard clearly and productively, improving governance and creating better and more sustainable public corporations.
[1] https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/about-us/investment-stewardship/blackrock-voting-choice/proxy-voting-power-of-choice
[2] https://proxymity.io/news/proxymity-and-blackrock-empowering-investors-through-voting-choice/
[3] https://www.ey.com/en_uk/news/2022/10/profit-warnings-issued-by-uk-listed-companies-in-q3-up-69-percent-year-on-year
[4] https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/996250/28-listed-companies-in-danger-zone-as-profit-warnings-hit-14-year-high-996250.html
Don't let the promises of virtual desktop security cloud your judgement
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WASHINGTON, DC -- Representative Jackie Speier (CA-14) and the other Co-Chairs of the bipartisan House Whistleblower Protection Caucus – Reps. Elijah Cummings (MD-7), Mark Meadows (NC-11), and Kathleen Rice (NY-4) – were joined by Reps. Dina Titus (NV- 01) and Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC) on Thursday to introduce a resolution declaring July 30, 2019 as National Whistleblower Appreciation Day.
H. Res. 240 reminds Americans of the important role whistleblowers have played in our history, dating back to our nation's earliest days. July 30, 2019 is the 241st anniversary of the first whistleblower legislation introduced by the Continental Congress. That law encouraged all government employees and citizens to provide informaiton on "misconduct, frauds, or misdemeanors."
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Hall 1 is the largest of the exhibition halls and, with its peripheral gallery, has an area of more than 26,800 m².
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Restaurants in Torrey, Utah
Accommodations in National Parks in Utah
Things to Do in Torrey, Utah
Joe Fletcher , Leaf Group Updated March 15, 2018
Things to Do in Torrey, Utah (Photo: )
Zion National Park, Utah Lodging
Where to Stay in National Parks in Utah
Torrey is a tiny town in south-central Utah that is a gateway to some of the state's most robust outdoor adventures. What the town lacks in population — 171 was the official count as of 2011 — it makes up for in scenic vistas, pristine wilderness and backcountry adventures. In fact, most of the town's activities take place outside its borders.
Torrey's main claim to fame is that it is a gateway town to Capitol Reef National Park (nps.gov/care), the most central of Utah's five national parks. Capitol Reef, located 8 miles from Torrey, is named after a 100-mile monocline called the Waterpocket Fold that resembles a reef. In addition to this interesting structure, visitors will find sandstone monoliths, otherworldly rock formations and sweeping views. Park activities include rock climbing, hiking, backpacking, camping and mountain biking.
While it doesn't quite have the panache of a national park, Boulder Mountain is another popular outdoor recreation located in the Torrey area. The 11,000-foot wooded plateau is part of Dixie National Forest and offers hiking, numerous lakes for trout-fishing and camping. Boulder Mountain affords visitors diverse views of red rock cliffs and canyons, as well as of thick forests and serene lakes.
All-American Road
Highway 12 is the only All-American Road in Utah. The scenic byway connects Capitol Reef National Park with an even more popular, iconic park: Bryce Canyon National Park. Along the way, you'll pass through public lands like Dixie National Forest and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and past state parks like Escalante Petrified Forest and Kodachrome Basin. You'll also be treated to numerous lookout points lending views of towering cliffs, diving canyons and rock formations colored in reds, oranges, creams and pinks. The Utah section of this scenic byway is 124 miles long.
In-Town Activities
Though visitors to Torrey will find it hard to resist the allure of the surrounding wilderness, there are some reasons to spend a day or two in town. The Torrey Gallery (torreygallery.com) displays and sells art, photography, Navajo rugs and other local wares. Robber's Roost Bookstore (robbersroostbooks.com) sells local books, maps, crafts, pottery and other goods. Restaurants include Cafe Diablo (cafediablo.net), a southwestern restaurant, and Rim Rock Restaurant (therimrock.net), a Western-themed restaurant with views of Capitol Reef.
Torrey Utah: Things to Do
National Park Service: Capitol Reef
Wayne County Tourism: Boulder Mountain
Torrey Utah: Lodging and Restaurants
Byways.org: Highway 12
Byways.org: Scenic Byway 12 Map
Joe Fletcher has been a writer since 2002, starting his career in politics and legislation. He has written travel and outdoor recreation articles for a variety of print and online publications, including "Rocky Mountain Magazine" and "Bomb Snow." He received a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Rutgers College.
List of National Parks in Utah
Hotels Near Crescent Junction, Utah
Hotels near Pineview, Utah
Lodging in Utah National Parks
Hiking near Kanab, Utah


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The Marshall Electronics 7″ Monitor includes an adjustable stand and can be powered with included AC/DC power adapter or auto adapter. Low power consumption combined with great off-axis viewing makes these durable monitors the perfect choice for mobile field monitoring.


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Tag Archives: dracula
The new Dracula TV series – an utterly unfaithful adaptation but a wonderful piece of vampire fiction
book adaptations, dracula, television, vampires
The most casual of readers of my blog or my books would probably realise that I rather enjoy vampire stories. Those who've followed my blog with slightly more attention and regularity may appreciate two things: I have something of a soft-spot for Bram Stoker's original Dracula novel (it's much better than a modern reader might expect – seriously, read it), and I have a very low tolerance for bad adaptations of novels.
One thing I don't think I've ever mentioned before, however, is that Jonathan Rhys Meyers is my absolute favourite actor, and has been for about fifteen years. I developed the most ridiculous teenage crush on him when he played Steerpike in the late 1990s BBC adaptation of Gormenghast (possibly the best TV show ever – do look for it on Youtube), and loved claiming he was my favourite actor when teenage friends preferred Leonardo di Caprio and had no idea who he was. Because I'm awkward like that. His wonderfully overblown and oversexed portrayal of Henry VIII in The Tudors only confirmed my love.
This was literally my desktop background for about two years
And then I saw the trailer. A new TV adaptation of Dracula, with Mr Rhys Meyers playing the eponymous uber-vampire. I was instantly torn. I was either going to love this, or I was going to hate it. And in the interests of preserving my delicate emotions, I simply ignored the fact that it existed for several months. Because clearly, it was going to be bad, and clearly, that was going to drive me insane.
And then for some reason, last weekend, I cracked, turned to Sky Go and downloaded the first episode. I settled down to watch it with my fiancé, who, all too aware of my literary purist pretensions, fixed me a large brandy and threatened to tie my hands behind my back to stop me smashing the television screen. For the first thirty minutes, I grit my teeth and bitched about everything. And then gradually, I found myself enthralled. And over the last seven days, I've watched the entire ten hour series, in what equals out to more television than I usually watch in a month – let's face it, I'm fundamentally a book person.
So let's get one thing straight – I wholeheartedly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys vampire fiction.
And let's get something else straight – this may be the least faithful adaptation of any book that I've ever come across. The connections with the original Dracala novel equate more or less in totality to: there are characters with the same names as the characters in the book; Dracula is a vampire who originated in medieval eastern Europe, it's set in the Victorian period.
Other than that, put your pre-conceptions aside. Jonathan's a social climbing journalist. Mina's an ambitious medical student. Lucy's a lesbian with an obsessive crush on Mina. There's an evil secret society called the Order of the Dragon. Dracula is masquerading as an American businessman and has invented a new type of electricity. Renfield is a Black American lawyer who is consciously and faithfully serving Dracula. And perhaps most bizarre of all, Van Helsing (traditional enemy of vampires) has awoken Dracula from his centuries of sleep and they are working together to destroy their mutual enemies. By the end of the first episode, I had absolutely no clue what was going on. And yet somehow, I didn't care.
I still think that Dracula is an amazing novel, and I still think that it would be brilliant if one day, someone decided to make a genuinely faithful adaptation of it. But let's face it – over the years, there have been endless versions of . On that basis, I feel as though Dracula (along with a select group of characters including Sherlock Holmes and Frankenstein's Monster) have become public property. And therefore, unlike with something like the Vampire Diaries, where there's probably going to only be one adaptation, and if its rubbish, that will affect people's view of the books, each version can stand on its own merits.
I actually prefer this sort of "adaptation", which is clearly only loosely based on the books and does something new with the characters and basic plot, than a nominally faithful version that takes massive liberties. This may have been nothing like the original, but it was a brilliant piece of vampire fiction, romantic and bloodthirty in equal measure. Dracula is posing as a rich American called Alexander Grayson, and if you're of a purist disposition, you may be best to forget this is meant to be based on Dracula at all, and think of it as "Alexander the Vampire."
In the world of vampire fiction, there's something of a spectrum, with horror stories in which vampires are soulless monsters with no personality, rather akin to zombies, at one end, and the Twilight-esque pretty boy, "vegetarian" vampires who might as well be human at the other. Some people's preference may veer to one end or the other of this spectrum, and they may find this version of Dracula either too violent or too soppy.
Anyone who had read The Cavaliers knows what I like – vampires who are sexy and capable of real feelings for humans, but who also need human blood to live and are capable of absolute ruthlessness. And this series absolutely struck the right balance for me. JRM's Dracula is absurdly sexy in certain scenes and bloody terrifying in others, as he seeks his revenge on the society that wronged him through a combination of scheming, violence and seduction.
He's also distracted by the reincarnation of his brutally murdered first wife. It's a plotline that seems to be a wonderful bit of Word of Dante from the 1992 film and one that is rather overplayed in modern vampire mythology. Indeed, I tried to deconstruct the plot a bit in Screaming Spires: "My Mother isn't your soulmate. She cheated on you in a past life." Nonetheless, the reincarnation romance is beautifully handled here, and despite an initial groan when I realised where the plot was growing, the unrequited romance and longing ended up being my favourite part.
Throughout, this series tetters on a precipice between Serious Drama and hammy overacting. In my view, despite a few first episode wobbles, it generally stays on the right side of the line, and the characters become more and more nuanced and better acted as the series progresses. If you have any doubts, try to make it as far as Episode Five. Watch Dracula's waltz with Mina and the other characters' reactions to it, and then his oddly tender scene with an injured Renfield, and tell me that the actors aren't almost universally giving brilliant performances. Though if you get that far and aren't sold, best give up – for me, those two scenes encapsulate everything that's best about this series. They've also inspired me to sign myself and my fiancé up for waltzing lessons before our first dance at the wedding – but that's a different story.
A few other things to note. Firstly, there is a middle-aged amoral female vampire hunter who is simply brilliant. She's one of the few totally original characters and I loved her.
Secondly, for those who like that sort of thing, the sets and costumes are jawdroppingly beautiful. I want ever one of Lucy Westerna's outfits, and I want them now.
These would all look so damn good on me. Especially the bottom middle one.
Thirdly, while the title character didn't entirely seduce me at first (I prefer Rhys Meyers as a total pretty boy rather than the muscled and moustachioed character we get here), after an episode or two, I was utterly beguiled. He gives real depth to Dracula, keeping you rooting for him and feeling sorry for him while never letting you forget that he's not adverse to killing innocent people. Besides, I'm only human, and the abs and chest muscles in all the gratuitous "bed n bath" scenes are undoubtedly impressive! And in case you're wondering, several of the ladies are just as attractive and show themselves off just as much!
Critical reactions to the show seem to have been muted at best, scathing at worst. Some complain that it's a bit slow burning, others that it's rather overblown. Honestly, I think it's subtle rather than slowburning and luscious and dramatic rather than overblown. I primed myself to hate this, but I actually cannot remember the last time I enjoyed a TV show more.
It's not a faithful adaptation of Dracula, it may end up being too horrifying for paranormal romance fans and too romantic for horror fans, and it treads a fine line between drama and melodrama. So it's clearly not for everyone, but if you enjoy vampire fiction at all (and if you don't, what are you doing on my blog?) I'd urge you to give this a go. You might be pleasantly surprised, you might be utterly sucked in.
Have you watched it? What did you think? Please tell me I'm not alone in enjoying this.
A History of Famous Vampire Books Part One – "Have you ever actually read Dracula?"
Posted by georgianaderwent in vampire books
dracula, history of vampire books, paranormal pondering, vampires
Have you ever actually read Dracula? I've been meaning to write this post for a while, but the fact that today, Google has a very cool picture which tells me it's Bram Stoker's 165th birthday, made me think that it was a good day to get on and do it.
I'm assuming that if you're reading my blog (which fundamentally hinges on the fact that I write paranormal romance) that to a greater or lesser degree, like me, you're a fan of vampire novels. And I think we can take it as read that Dracula, whilst not the inventor of the genre*, is the most famous and influential vampire novel ever written. Despite these two facts, I bet there's a good chance you haven't actually read it. You've probably seen a film or two. You've probably read spoofs or books that claim to be inspired by it. You probably have an idea in your head of the plot being based around visitors to a spooky eastern European castle with a suave but deadly host.
Back in the days when I sort of had an agent, they asked me if I'd ever read Dracula, and almost to my surprise, I realised I hadn't. They hugely recommended it, so I decided to take advantage of the fact that Kindle lets you download out of copyright books for free (just one of the many reasons I love them – seriously, if you haven't already, buy an e-reader) and get myself a copy.
I had to steel myself to read it. I was expecting it to either be painfully dry (I'm not a big fan of Victorian literature on the whole) or else painfully cheesy and clichéd. Guess what? It was genuinely brilliant – scary, romantic and well-written, the sort of book where you're cheering the good characters on.
There's a section where Dracula comes each night to feed off a young woman. Each night she gets weaker and weaker and each morning is given a rudimentary blood transfusion by a doctor acquaintance. Each night her friends do their best to protect her with crucifixes and white garlic flowers, each night the vampire somehow outwits them and drinks more deeply from her. I wasn't expecting my jaded twenty first century brain to be unnerved by something written more than a century ago, but these scenes, with their horrible sense of desperation and powerlessness, are some of the scariest things I've read in years. The diary of the ship's captain, trapped at sea and horribly aware that one of his crew is being killed each night, is also pretty nerve racking.
Equally, whilst it's not a paranormal romance in the modern sense of the word (there are certainly no human women having sexy time with this vampire), there are beautifully touching and romantic scenes, whether it's one character's longing to get back to his fiancée when he's trapped in Dracula's castle, or most tear-jerking of all, another character deciding that he must be the one to stake his now vampiric fiancée to save her soul. At the same time, the link between sex and blood that tends to be made more explicit (in both senses of the word) in modern vampire novels, is very much there. When Dracula is biting his poor female victims, you definitely get a sense that there is more than mere hunger going through his mind.
A few fun facts:
I'm sure it's not just me that imagines the entirety of the novel to be taking place in a castle in Eastern Europe. In fact, that's only the first couple of chapters.
Dracula is killed with a metal knife, not a stake through the heart.
So this week, whilst it's cold and dark outside, why not put down whatever modern vampire book you're reading (apart from Oxford Blood, obviously!!) and indulge yourself with the king of the genre. It'll be harder work than the latest Charlaine Harris or Laurell K Hamilton, but I promise you it will be worth it.
So, to return to my first question, have you read Dracula? If so, what did you think? Classic vampire novel or outdated?
*Before anyone tries to get clever, I know about Carmilla and Varney the Vampire and all those other nineteenth century vampire novels. Try taking a nineteenth century literature and culture module at Oxford and not having them thrust down your throat. But let's face it, the may have come first, but Dracula made the genre.
**The cartoon near the top of the page is from: http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=285 Check out that page for more cute Dracula comic strips, and the site more generally for fab historical and literary inspired comics. So we're totally clear, the picture totally belongs to Kate Beaton of Hark, A Vagrant, not me, but her website says it's okay to use them as long as they're properly cited.


A consolidation of linguistic skills in Greek, and a study of selected Greek prose texts from the Classical period.
This paper builds on the foundation of GREK 111 and 112, and its principal aim is to consolidate your knowledge of Greek and develop your reading skills further. Your training in essential Greek accidence and syntax will be completed and additional vocabulary will be introduced, while you continue to apply that knowledge to the reading and translating of Greek texts. You may also increase your understanding of the influence of Greek on the English language, but the final objective is that you should come to think in Greek more and need to 'translate' less.
This paper covers grammar and reading skills and imparts background knowledge of Ancient Greek culture, history and literature.
Lifelong learning, Critical thinking, Scholarship, Communication.
Increased fluency in reading Greek language and understanding of Greek culture and history.


Located centrally in the Arena District of Downtown Columbus, Ohio. From I-71, Exit Broad Street and travel west to High St. Travel north on High St. to Nationwide Blvd. Hotel is on west side of street.
From I-670, exit on 3rd Street. Turn right onto Spring St. and follow to High Street. Turn right onto High Street and travel north to Nationwide Blvd. Hotel is on northwest side of High Street at intersection of Nationwide Blvd.
From John Glenn International Airport, there are several convenient options getting to the Hilton. Taxis are readily available 24-hrs a day at the cab stand outside baggage claim. The 15-minute ride should run around $25 inclusive. Be sure to clarify that you are going to the Hilton Columbus Downtown on North High Street by the Convention Center to avoid any confusion with other Hilton properties in the area. Guests can also utilize the new COTA AirConnect service which arrives every 30 minutes at ground transportation. At only $2.75 per trip, the AirConnect takes you to the convention center, downtown hotels including the Hilton, and back to the airport. The hotel does not have an airport shuttle. Columbus also has Uber car services as well as a number of private scheduled sedan services including Cardinal Transportation.
While at the hotel, the attractions of the Short North and Arena District are within walking distance. Other transportation options include: complimentary usage of one of our six bicycles, and Columbus has an active bike-share program (CoGo Bike Share) with stations throughout the city including across the street from the hotel. In addition, there is a car share program: Car2Go. The City has a complimentary "CBUS" bus service connecting the downtown neighborhoods of the Short North, Arena District, Downtown, German Village and Brewery District with specially branded buses with a stop right outside the hotel. The CBUS is a great way to explore the area without your own transportation and operates 7 days a week.