I have a Quest-ion

You know how it looks when you play a normal-sized video or programme in widescreen? The people look shorter and wider, sort of squashed down.

Well, the widescreen broadcasting of Season 1 on Quest has gone off in this episode. The people look taller and skinnier - just as they would if you showed a widescreen programme on a traditional TV screen. Anyone know how that happens?

Luckily my pictures were taken from the DVDs which have NO widescreen facility, just the old-fashioned screen size.

Best Ever?

Just watched Jones courtesy of Quest. No wonder it's an all-time favourite of so many. Here are slideshows of just two of the classic moments:

Quest for Season 1

When the TV channel Quest started up last year, it showed Season 1 of LOCI. It was a Freeview channel, and it still is up to about midnight. Unfortunately for my V-loving friend, it is now cable and satellite only after midnight, and she has neither. She did spot that they are repeating Season 1 at 2am.

I missed Episodes 1 and 2, but I just watched Smothered, and it's great to see early Bobby again. Universal Channel take note!

I still wonder about the plot however. G/E find a silver plate engraved with the name of Lance Van Acker (shipping and airlines, ie. filthy rich) and trace his daughter Priscilla, but when she throws in her red herring about her late husband's will, he seems to have put conditions on the inheritance. Plus the son is called Van Acker too. So by rights, Lance should be Priscilla's father-in-law.

All logic flies out of the window, however, when watching the first appearance of the BTSOH! And it's showing in widescreen.




I love Eames' exression when Goren takes her "killed by a shark" quip seriously.

No Comments (Update)

Having just sent a message to my Yahoo spam folder that came from YouTube, I was a bit worried that I might lose all future comments from that source. SO I decided to check my spam folder or the first time ever.

I was staggered to find that all the comments that appeared on my blog but not in my inbox had been filtered out by the spam guard. SOME OF THEM WERE THE EMAILS OF MY OWN POSTS!

I have had to turn the spam guard off.

Meanwhile, since getting this new computer, I have found that no one's avatars appear on any blog comments pages. I'm sure there's an easy way to alter my security settings to allow this, but I haven't the time or patience at the moment to hunt for the solution. ANy ideas, anyone?

Kiss Chase and a Run For It

Not wanting to miss a moment of the baby gorilla's progress, I took myself off to London Zoo again on Friday.

New male Kesho was trying to make an impression on Effie. They had access to the outside from their sleeping quarters. He really was acting the Alpha Male. As he advanced on Effie, she cowered, crossing her arms across her chest in subjugation.

Those watching were shocked when he hit her, but the shock turned to laughter when she chased him and hit him back. There followed the gorilla version of "tag", which sadly was too quick to get on film.

Kesho turns his back on his admirers while Effie says "bumholes" to him.


Mjukuu kept her baby very close to her chest and far from the crowds while she had a snack.







The day started OK, but became progressively colder and windier, and then wet. That didn't stop the tamandua in the Rainforest Zone from trying to make a bid for freedom.



Tamanduas are a small kind of anteater. I had never seen this little beauty before, as they tend to stay hidden away till dusk. Obviously it's decided it likes daylight, but I don't think it would have stayed outside long even if the volunteers hadn't intercepted it on its way to the doors.

Ordinary

He has a quiet, soft-grained voice. He's modest and self-effacing. He doesn't have an inflated view of his own importance. "I'm just an actor," he says. Who, watching this video, could think he was anything more than just an ordinary guy?



(With thanks to StudioFive and all those responsible for this little gem.)

Yes, Vincent D'Onofrio is ordinary, as demonstrated in these pictures:










As we see here, he is "just an actor":













Anything here to make us think he is talented or hot?










Only EVERYTHING!

The Crystal Palace

In London's Hyde Park in 1851 there took place The Great Exhibition, to exhibit the wonderful new inventions of the Industrial Revolution. The architectural engineer Joseph Paxton designed it, and it contained the wares of 14,000 exhibitors from across the world in its nearly 1 million square feet of exhibition space.

After the Exhibition was over, the huge glass and steel structure was dismantled and moved in an enlarged format to Sydenham Hill in south London. There it became one of the places of amusement for Victorians of all classes. A 12-year-old girl, Daisy Ashford, even wrote a little novel, The Young Visiters (sic) some of which was set there.

It remained an attraction - though somewhat shabbier - till it burned down in 1936. Apparently the flames could be seem from several counties surrounding London, and people came from all around the capital to see what was lighting up the night sky.

Very little remained once the debris was cleared away. One of the water towers (visible in the pictures below) was still standing, but had to be demolished during the Second World War in case it provided a landmark for the Luftwaffe.

Some of the stone terracing still exists in the park, and the statues of dinosaurs which were part of the permanent display decorate the surroundings. The cutting for the railway line which took visitors to the exhibitions is still visible as it disapears into a tunnel in the hillside of the nearby Sydenham Hill Woods. There still is a Crystal Palace railway station, and Crystal Palace football team, keeping the memory of The Crystal Palace alive.

A postcard picture of the full frontage of the Palace.

A closer view from another postcard.

A colour postcard from .a different angle

After the fire of November 20th 1936.

If you'd like to read a bit more, there's an entry on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crystal_Palace

Sweet Innocence

Do you suppose our man likes shorts because he's so L-O-N-G?