2009 — 12 April: Sunday

Well, I very much enjoyed seeing Contact again, and listening to some of the commentaries on my "special" edition. But, once again, it's gone midnight and I'm drooping. I wish I could remember where and when I took tonight's picture of Christa... But there's nothing written on the back of the print. I bet she'd know but, of course, she's not around to ask, dammit. It may even have been back in 1987 at the time of the great NZ mob descending-on-us event.

Where?

Perhaps, if Big Bro ever untangles himself from his current Taiwanese project, he could ransack his memory? Right. Time for some sleep ahead of a planned walk — and some experiments with the Logitech Harmony One URC on Mike's system. I've (theoretically) programmed in his key devices, including his ancient LaserDisc1 player, so it will be interesting to see what happens when I point the device at his system...

G'night.

Unsalted?

My random sample (one fellow lady shopper, yesterday) was unable to help me find a jar of orange marmalade containing less than two-thirds sugar. It turns out that the Marmite I opted for (on the grounds that they couldn't add sugar to that, surely?) may also combat anhedonia (lovely word).

NPR is covering reaction to Freeman Dyson's opinions on climate change. And Mike's just rung to knock our walk on the head — the weather this morning is most discouraging (and not at all what the Beeb predicted / is still predicting). Oh well, time (08:34) for a spot of breakfast. Then some tinkering to combat that anhedonia, of course. Quotes like this help slightly, too — an adage from Iranian journalists: "We have freedom of speech, but not freedom after speech." Ouch!

Just listened to an interview with Russell Brand conducted by Terry Gross. To my surprise, I think I may have to revise my opinion of that young man, upward. Speaking of which, upward and onward. I'm off to squirt some IR control codes at an alien A/V system... better get dressed first, I guess.

I may yet regret this...

... but, having returned from Mike's, and grabbed a bite, I've been playing for the last (good grief, 30 minutes?!) with "Shelfari" having been invited by Junior to, as it were, join up. I suspect this is my public profile, but I could be wrong. Mind you, if he thinks I'm going to sit here and laboriously enter 8,500 or so book titles, well, not today, son!

April showers bring...

The red chap is a tulip tucked up for the night. Over on the left we have an end-on view of those "ducks-in-a-row" from a couple of years ago. The spiky fella between them (I now know from experience) is going to turn into a series of well-guarded but tasty red gooseberries in a couple of months.

Colours

Later

Well, I very much enjoyed 3 garçons, 1 fille, 2 mariages (Stéphane Clavier), but shall I now watch Richard Eyre's production of Suddenly last summer on BBC4? Bit of a change of mood, methinks. My other choices include Eddie Izzard as the Psammead... tricky.

  

Footnote

1  He and I actually bought the same top-of-the-range Pioneer model as it neared the end of its production run on the theory that it would last each of us during the transition to DVDs. Mine has already gone to a deserving home (Brian's daughter). Mike still has a couple of hundred LDs though I doubt he plays them very often.