Sunday, March 04, 2012
Saturday, March 03, 2012
Perfection
While fiddling around on my old laptop yesterday I found this equally old video I made. Top man, top pictures, top music.
Friday, March 02, 2012
A Smaller Bigger Picture
I've gone on at length recently about the Hockney exhibition. I've done my best to explain my fascination and enjoyment, but nothing could equal experiencing it for yourselves.
The closest I could get to this was pulling a clip from the latest TV programme. After copying it from my satellite TV box on to my DVD recorder's hard drive, then copying it on to DVD, the next route was to rip it from the DVD on to my computer.
Sadly, I never got round to putting my DVD ripping software on to this computer, so I decided it would be quicker to use an older laptop. WRONG!
It's so long since I used it, everything needed updating, and all the updates took forever. Meanwhile, the film, which was in widescreen at almost every stage, played on the computer, and ripped, as standard screen, which doesn't give the visuals their due.
Well, here is the best I could manage. It shows how intelligently Hockney talks about art - his own and art in general. He is articulate and eloquent, and what he says is truly eye-opening. I'm a complete convert.
The closest I could get to this was pulling a clip from the latest TV programme. After copying it from my satellite TV box on to my DVD recorder's hard drive, then copying it on to DVD, the next route was to rip it from the DVD on to my computer.
Sadly, I never got round to putting my DVD ripping software on to this computer, so I decided it would be quicker to use an older laptop. WRONG!
It's so long since I used it, everything needed updating, and all the updates took forever. Meanwhile, the film, which was in widescreen at almost every stage, played on the computer, and ripped, as standard screen, which doesn't give the visuals their due.
Well, here is the best I could manage. It shows how intelligently Hockney talks about art - his own and art in general. He is articulate and eloquent, and what he says is truly eye-opening. I'm a complete convert.
Thursday, March 01, 2012
Wednesday Ratings
This came up on a Google alert. I thought I'd share it with you.
Channel 4's 10 O'Clock Live was watched by a total of 1.1 million viewers, a 6% share, between 10pm and 10.55pm. (This is a topical comedy show with some well-loved comedians.)
It had the better of BBC2 sitcom Roger and Val Have Just Got In, which had 700,000 viewers (3.5%) between 10pm and 10.30pm, including 38,000 viewers on BBC HD. (A comedy show starring Alfred Molina. Looks like another miss, Alfie.)
And the winner in this time slot is:
Channel 5's Law and Order: Criminal Intent, had 1.2 million viewers (6.7%) between 10pm and 10.55pm. (Some US cop show or other...)
Channel 4's 10 O'Clock Live was watched by a total of 1.1 million viewers, a 6% share, between 10pm and 10.55pm. (This is a topical comedy show with some well-loved comedians.)
It had the better of BBC2 sitcom Roger and Val Have Just Got In, which had 700,000 viewers (3.5%) between 10pm and 10.30pm, including 38,000 viewers on BBC HD. (A comedy show starring Alfred Molina. Looks like another miss, Alfie.)
And the winner in this time slot is:
Channel 5's Law and Order: Criminal Intent, had 1.2 million viewers (6.7%) between 10pm and 10.55pm. (Some US cop show or other...)
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Bigger, Better, Louder
As my student Alex has gone to spend a few days in respite care (and strangely didn't want me to take his school work there...) I took some of his paperwork into the hospital school today to file it.
A couple of years ago I did a post about the hospital school and the children's hospital where it's housed (sort of). It has a huge glass atrium where the school was inserted with no walls, no ceiling, glaring sunlight, heat in summer, cold in winter and voices echoing all round you and leaving you with a headache. The architects and engineers did such a good job of this abomination that six years after the building opened they are installing internal scaffolding so that they can replace the glass, which it seems is not safe. So now the heat is even worse because the school area is boxed in, and the noise is unbearable. Imagine being in a box with someone banging scaffolding together around you. Once I had finished, I intended to try and get some science DVDs for Alex's schooling. I was unsuccessful. But my long trek (seemed like about 3 million miles, but it was probably only a round trip of 5 or 6) took me close to the Royal Academy of Arts, so I decided to see if I could get in to see the Hockney exhibition.
Wow! It was stunning. Even with my legs dropping off, I spent an hour-and-a-half taking it all in. It was much better than the Leonardo exhibition, because real thought had been put into how to group and display the pictures. I suppose it helps that the artist is still alive to supervise.
The landscapes date back over his career back to the 1950s, with a substantial number done recently specifically for the exhibition. There are oils, b/w sketches, watercolours and TA-DA! pictures done on the iPad. There are slideshows of them on several machines, and there are huge, multi-page printouts. I wish I had an App for that...
Of course, the crowning glory of the exhibition was the filmshow. Hockney had supervised the editing together of his nine-camera films so that 18 frames were showing at once, with the same scene filmed at different times on either side. There were audible gasps as one pair of films moved into the next.
Most people were awed into silence as they watched. It was a really peaceful and calming experience.
Except for the man next to me with his audioguide on (why?) and loud enough for me to have to suffer it too.
A couple of years ago I did a post about the hospital school and the children's hospital where it's housed (sort of). It has a huge glass atrium where the school was inserted with no walls, no ceiling, glaring sunlight, heat in summer, cold in winter and voices echoing all round you and leaving you with a headache. The architects and engineers did such a good job of this abomination that six years after the building opened they are installing internal scaffolding so that they can replace the glass, which it seems is not safe. So now the heat is even worse because the school area is boxed in, and the noise is unbearable. Imagine being in a box with someone banging scaffolding together around you. Once I had finished, I intended to try and get some science DVDs for Alex's schooling. I was unsuccessful. But my long trek (seemed like about 3 million miles, but it was probably only a round trip of 5 or 6) took me close to the Royal Academy of Arts, so I decided to see if I could get in to see the Hockney exhibition.
Wow! It was stunning. Even with my legs dropping off, I spent an hour-and-a-half taking it all in. It was much better than the Leonardo exhibition, because real thought had been put into how to group and display the pictures. I suppose it helps that the artist is still alive to supervise.
The landscapes date back over his career back to the 1950s, with a substantial number done recently specifically for the exhibition. There are oils, b/w sketches, watercolours and TA-DA! pictures done on the iPad. There are slideshows of them on several machines, and there are huge, multi-page printouts. I wish I had an App for that...
Of course, the crowning glory of the exhibition was the filmshow. Hockney had supervised the editing together of his nine-camera films so that 18 frames were showing at once, with the same scene filmed at different times on either side. There were audible gasps as one pair of films moved into the next.
Most people were awed into silence as they watched. It was a really peaceful and calming experience.
Except for the man next to me with his audioguide on (why?) and loud enough for me to have to suffer it too.
And the woman who took a phone call. The ringtone was not enough. Her side of the conversation was not enough. She had to make sure I could hear the other half too.
And the man who felt obliged to explain every set to his wife. Obviously she was stupid and he was so brilliant he had to give her - and the rest of us ignoramuses - the benefit of his genius.
And the women who held a loud conversation, most of it nothing to do with what was on show, and who weren't even looking at the screen. My contribution was to ask them equally loudly to take their conversation outside.
What is wrong with people? Why can't they relax and enjoy having something so wonderful just wash over them?
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Do You Think You Are A Bigger Picture?
On Friday my friend and I went to the Who Do You Think You Are family history fair. This involves a train ride into central London, followed by the underground west to one of London's of exhibition centres, Olympia. This is actually the hall next to the one we were in, but I think it's a nicer-looking building:
We decided to get the bus back to the train station to see if there was anything interesting along the way. We got off at Piccadilly, near a church that has an arty-crafty market in its grounds. (Consecrated 1684, but not one of Christopher Wren's finest.)
Further along Piccadilly is the Royal Academy, where the latest must-see exhibition is housed. Just as we got close to the gates, I did a double-take as I thought the artist himself was walking past us.
Fortunately, reason prevailed, and I realised that (a) it was a bit too young to be David Hockney and (b) he didn't have on his signature outdoor wear of a flat cap. Dead ringer, though, and I suspect not accidentally, especially as I saw another, not quite as good, a bit later on.The exhibition in question is called A Bigger Picture. For a year, Hockney and his assistants travelled around the Yorkshire countryside in a van with nine cameras on top in a 3 x 3 pattern, filming the same views over and over again at different times of day, and in different seasons and weather conditions. He then composed huge nine-part pictures, which adorn the walls of the gallery, and his films, moving seemlessly along, are projected.
I've never really been a Hockney fan, and I loathe his fanatical approach to smoking, but I have to admit that the TV programme I saw about this exhibition really caught my imagination, and if I don't manage to get myself along to see it I will be very disappointed.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Depths - Day 2
I don't think any one of us will ever forget this unexpected gift from the coastal breeze.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
I want a job in broadcasting
Why? Because little things niggle at me constantly.
I just heard someone emphatically say "a fine tooth-comb". Never managed to buy one of those. Are they anything like "a fine-tooth comb?" And is there such a thing as a fine comb without teeth?
Almost immediately an announcer used the word "vilence". I'd love to know what that means. Maybe it has something to do with being vile. I do know it makes me feel...violent.
Then, when the newscasters talk about The Golf, I imagine grown men hitting a small ball round a green. If they mean The Gulf, why on earth don't they say so?
I know I could do better. Why won't they let me?
I just heard someone emphatically say "a fine tooth-comb". Never managed to buy one of those. Are they anything like "a fine-tooth comb?" And is there such a thing as a fine comb without teeth?
Almost immediately an announcer used the word "vilence". I'd love to know what that means. Maybe it has something to do with being vile. I do know it makes me feel...violent.
Then, when the newscasters talk about The Golf, I imagine grown men hitting a small ball round a green. If they mean The Gulf, why on earth don't they say so?
I know I could do better. Why won't they let me?
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Motorway Entertainment
I believe that families with children sometimes play a "spot the lorry" game while driving on the motorway. Though I've never been unfortunate enough to travel long distances in a car with kids, I must admit to noticing when I haven't seen any trucks of a particular company during a journey. Top of the list are the Eddie Stobart vehicles. We are such a sad people that there is even a TV programme about this company. It should be called AnoraksRUs. (I've never watched it, by the way.) It was national news when the previous boss, Eddie Stobart Jr, died not long ago.
The competition was usually between the Stobart lorry-spotters, and those watching out for the Norbert Dentressangle signs. Hell of a name. I always assumed it was a continental company, but apparently it was founded in the UK.
In "researching" this post, I was reminded that it's been a while since I saw one of these trucks:
The competition was usually between the Stobart lorry-spotters, and those watching out for the Norbert Dentressangle signs. Hell of a name. I always assumed it was a continental company, but apparently it was founded in the UK.
In "researching" this post, I was reminded that it's been a while since I saw one of these trucks:
It seems that they were taken over by Norbert Dentressangle a few years ago. Spoilsports.
Any such saddo games where you hail from?
Monday, February 20, 2012
I must have known!
I just read Diane's post about her washing machine breaking down, and subsequent visit to the launderette/laundromat, and was surprised to realise that today I'd been thinking about the relative clothes washing practices of the UK and the US.
Of course, in HLOTS, a character played by Kathryn Erbe brained the guy who gave her Aids while in the laundromat. But those businesses rarely feature in US shows.
In Endgame one of Brady's victims was murdered in the basement of her apartment block, where the washing machines for every apartment block seem to reside.
Chinese laundries often feature in TV programmes and films.
In the UK there are launderettes, but they are shrinking in number because almost everyone, even those in flats, has a front-loading washing machine plumbed in to the kitchen. The most-frequented launderette is in the fictional Albert Square in the popular soap Eastenders. I haven't set foot in one in nearly 40 years. Last time my washing machine broke down (about 3 minutes after the extended guarantee ran out) I just phoned an electrical supplier and had a new one delivered.
I don't even know if large laundries exist in the UK. Hospitals have their own. I imagine hotels do, too.
On a green note, driers are one of the most intensively carbon-producing items you can use. It's the radiators or the washing line for me. I was always amazed to find that, while the neighbour on one side of me used her drier even on boiling hot summer days, the neighbour on the other side puts her washing out on the line even when there's a frost.From the sublime to the ridiculous! (But which is which?)
Of course, in HLOTS, a character played by Kathryn Erbe brained the guy who gave her Aids while in the laundromat. But those businesses rarely feature in US shows.
In Endgame one of Brady's victims was murdered in the basement of her apartment block, where the washing machines for every apartment block seem to reside.
Chinese laundries often feature in TV programmes and films.
In the UK there are launderettes, but they are shrinking in number because almost everyone, even those in flats, has a front-loading washing machine plumbed in to the kitchen. The most-frequented launderette is in the fictional Albert Square in the popular soap Eastenders. I haven't set foot in one in nearly 40 years. Last time my washing machine broke down (about 3 minutes after the extended guarantee ran out) I just phoned an electrical supplier and had a new one delivered.
I don't even know if large laundries exist in the UK. Hospitals have their own. I imagine hotels do, too.
On a green note, driers are one of the most intensively carbon-producing items you can use. It's the radiators or the washing line for me. I was always amazed to find that, while the neighbour on one side of me used her drier even on boiling hot summer days, the neighbour on the other side puts her washing out on the line even when there's a frost.From the sublime to the ridiculous! (But which is which?)
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Here's looking at you, kids
Big and not-so-big cats were in a lazy mood, but the squirrel monkey was in the mood to chat.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
A Taxing Time
I received three tax coding notices today, two of them informing employers to charge me tax at 40%. Even more surprising was that one of them was with regard to an employer I left in August 2010, and not a single one applied to my current employer. Considering I had a conversation with the tax office last year about their unilateral decision to remove my tax allowance from my pension, the only income that will remain stable forever, I was, to put it mildly, somewhat bemused.
It took me 25 minutes to actually get through to a human being. Meanwhile I had to listen to some really naff music interspersed with the same message over and over again that I could find lots of information on the website. NO, I NEED TO TALK TO A PERSON! At the very least, they could change the message (and the music) every few minutes, couldn't they?
I spent 15 minutes thrashing the matter out with one of the tax officers, and knowing that they are overworked and understaffed thanks to the same government that has frozen my pay till kingdom come, I was determined to be polite, sympathetic and, if possible, lighthearted. I'm glad to say that I managed this, and even raised a laugh for the poor, beleaguered woman.
I then had to phone the National Insurance office about a related problem, and though this call was answered more quickly, I still had to spend a further 15-20 minutes of my life trying to sort things out. Even so, this evening I have had to put my problem into print so that I can send it in. So there go a couple of hours I'll never get back.
On the plus side, I've managed to get another letter printed in my TV listings magazine, the BBC's "Radio Times". This time, I wrote about the pronunciation of the newly honoured ROYAL Borough of Greenwich. Ever since the run-up to the Millennium celebrations, I have regularly had to cringe to hear broadcasters use the posh, yuppy-incomer (or alternatively New York) pronunciation of the name. "Grennitch" they say, oblivious. "Grinnidge" true locals say.
The Cutty Sark before the restoration.
And in a recent programme about the restoration of the tea clipper The Cutty Sark, the young Queen, speaking at the 1957 opening of the tourist attraction created by putting the ship into dry dock, called the place - TA-DA! - Grinnidge. It's the Queen's English. Literally. I rest my case.
And as a reward the Radio Times is sending me some audiobooks, including Oliver Twist read by Martin Jarvis.
(Just a reminder of the tragedy that befell the ship during the restoration, when a fire ripped through what was left on site - luckily much of the original timbers had already been removed to workshops elsewhere.)
The Cutty Sark on fire, May 2007.
The day after the fire.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Cutting Edge Punishment
I tossed up between staying at home this afternoon and vegging out, or strolling to the shops to take advantage of some less freezing weather. The outing won.
My route to the shops takes me across a small river, through a new housing estate, and under a railway bridge, where I cross the road to the shopping centre.
There was a loud noise that I couldn't identify (there's also a large building site nearby, and the sound reminded me of very intrusive drills). As I advanced, I realised it was a helicopter, which was confirmed as this vision rose just above the rooftops:
My route to the shops takes me across a small river, through a new housing estate, and under a railway bridge, where I cross the road to the shopping centre.
There was a loud noise that I couldn't identify (there's also a large building site nearby, and the sound reminded me of very intrusive drills). As I advanced, I realised it was a helicopter, which was confirmed as this vision rose just above the rooftops:
It must have been ticking over nearby - can't imagine where it had managed to land in a busy town centre - but this was confirmed when I reached the road, and found a serious traffic jam, and a road ambulance and police cars along the roadside. Inside the shopping centre, the central square was cordoned off and the Sainsbury's supermarket was closed. A police support officer was informing people that there had been a stabbing. The victim was on his way to hospital, his assailant was under arrest. The supermarket staff had been sent home in shock and the crime scene techs were inside doing their stuff.
I overheard later that the victim was the store's security guard, but this was unconfirmed.
There is just too much knife crime in the UK, and the penalties just don't keep up with the seriousness of the crimes and the resulting maiming and death. I am no fan of Sharia law, but I guess having your hand chopped off would stop you ever stabbing anyone again.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Warmest unheated place in Europe?
I think it's fair to say that Europe is in the freezer at the moment, bizarrely as a result of global warming, which has melted the Arctic ice, setting off some kind of reaction which is likely to freeze our butts off for many winters to come, possibly forever.
Meanwhile, my little conservatory (a sort of small, glass garden room) absorbed the sun falling on it from the south and attained a temperature of 60 degrees F/15 C by 1.30pm. Sadly, by 3pm, with the sun sinking, it was getting pretty cold, so I don't think I'll move myself in there permanently just yet.
Meanwhile, my little conservatory (a sort of small, glass garden room) absorbed the sun falling on it from the south and attained a temperature of 60 degrees F/15 C by 1.30pm. Sadly, by 3pm, with the sun sinking, it was getting pretty cold, so I don't think I'll move myself in there permanently just yet.
Smile - Day 1
Far from smiling, Det. Goren clamps his mouth shut to avoid inhaling any of the dentist's fatal laughing gas.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Thursday, February 09, 2012
Odds-Off
Someone made a very intresting point to me yesterday.
Bearing in mind that I have discovered that I am at 3 degrees of Obama two different ways - my friend knows someone who used to know him, adding my second string - and that there is only one of him in the whole world; remembering that I actually have a connection to TWO US presidents; given that I am two degrees from Che Guevara, a unique man whose life should not have touched on mine in any way, and who is dead.
Thinking of all this, how is it, as my correspondent said, that I don't know a single lottery jackpot winner? There have been hundreds of them over the years. This 6 degrees business means I should know someone who knows someone, etc, etc...but I don't. Diane, the last two Euromillions winners come from Nottinghamshire, which is your neck of the woods. Do you come within any small number of degrees of them?
If not, statistically I think we have to say that the lottery is a fraud, and NO ONE EVER WINS!
Bearing in mind that I have discovered that I am at 3 degrees of Obama two different ways - my friend knows someone who used to know him, adding my second string - and that there is only one of him in the whole world; remembering that I actually have a connection to TWO US presidents; given that I am two degrees from Che Guevara, a unique man whose life should not have touched on mine in any way, and who is dead.
Thinking of all this, how is it, as my correspondent said, that I don't know a single lottery jackpot winner? There have been hundreds of them over the years. This 6 degrees business means I should know someone who knows someone, etc, etc...but I don't. Diane, the last two Euromillions winners come from Nottinghamshire, which is your neck of the woods. Do you come within any small number of degrees of them?
If not, statistically I think we have to say that the lottery is a fraud, and NO ONE EVER WINS!
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
Happy Birthday Charlie
It can't have escaped many people's notice that today is Charles Dickens' 200th birthday.
Have a great one, Charlie boy.
Sadly, I'm really not fond of your prose...
Have a great one, Charlie boy.
Sadly, I'm really not fond of your prose...
Monday, February 06, 2012
Sunday, February 05, 2012
Saturday, February 04, 2012
How many degrees of a legend?
I was pretty pleased to be in just 2 degrees of Vincent, and Bill Clinton, the latter making me just 3 degrees of Barack Obama. But a chance conversation yesterday, reminiscing with a friend, gave me a big surprise.
When I was in the 6th Form at school (nowadays known as Post-16) it was common practice for schools to have modern language assistants. These were native speakers, students working as tutors to help school kids with conversational French, German, Spanish, etc. As I was studying French, I had regular small group or individual sessions with our French assistant, who happened to be Algerian. One day, he mentioned having met Che Guevara. I was too stunned to enquire further, but it now occurs to me -
I am 2 degrees of Che Guevara!
When I was in the 6th Form at school (nowadays known as Post-16) it was common practice for schools to have modern language assistants. These were native speakers, students working as tutors to help school kids with conversational French, German, Spanish, etc. As I was studying French, I had regular small group or individual sessions with our French assistant, who happened to be Algerian. One day, he mentioned having met Che Guevara. I was too stunned to enquire further, but it now occurs to me -
I am 2 degrees of Che Guevara!
And as you know me, you are 3 degrees away.
Wow!
Amends - Day 6
"I'm sorry, Alex, you know we have to do this." Thanks to Bobby, she finally gets proper closure.
Friday, February 03, 2012
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Amends - Day 3
Bobby doesn't look as if he's feeling very trusting towards his fellow officer.
Meanwhile, please check the post below, which now has the correct picture!
Meanwhile, please check the post below, which now has the correct picture!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Amends - Day 2
Don't know why I like this shot...and this is the one that should originally have appeared yesterday!
Monday, January 30, 2012
Amends - Day 1
Time to start displaying my new caps from the Dutch dvd.
Never noticed before - baby's in his sockies!
Never noticed before - baby's in his sockies!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
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