2014 — 22 August: Friday
The rain this morning could yet wrinkle our plans to walk1 though there are a couple of hours yet in which it could dry up.
In preparation...
... for what I intend to be a leisurely re-watching of the filmic treat that is "Bound" in the near future (possibly even tonight, though I rarely plan so far ahead) I first devoured all the new documentary features on the Blu-ray yesterday evening. I don't often see such a good job done on these things. All newly-recorded, all hi-def, and (wonder of wonders) all intelligent insights and anecdotes from the three principals, plus the editor, the cinematographer, and the music man. (But not the two directors, alas.) This excellent modern noir film came (and promptly went) in its cinematic release in not much more than an eye-blink, but it's really one of those "once seen, never forgotten" twisty gems and really deserves to be very much more widely-known.
This was when I wasn't otherwise absorbed in some of the annotations of that "Phantom Tollbooth". Or the task of feeding myself. Or first scanning, and then painstakingly doing my best to adjust, the colour, contrast and brightness of the precious wedding slides that Iris is very keen to get transferred on to her (as yet) unpurchased new PC. Or catching up on some (lots of) recent music. Or struggling with some (lots of) the latest concepts being floated about the 'reality' of the space we inhabit, not to mention the epigenetic threats we face, all outlined by articles (and pretty useless colour pix) in the latest batch of "Scientific American" magazines to have drifted across my ever-grateful and receptive threshold.
It's a tough job entertaining myself, but someone has to do it :-)
I may yet be removing...
... my new BD drive from BlackBeast for temporary transplant into a furrin PC that lives across the village. There's a troublesome German BD knocking around that appears not to play nice with a variety of LG drives among a chum or two, but which does (for once) seem to behave on mine. Mind you, I'm the only one who's running Win8.1 Pro, which (I suppose) could be a clue. Watch this space.
Meanwhile, it's getting almost past the time to start thinking about eating brekkie, packing a snack, getting dressed, finding my newest boots plus a sock or two, and heading on out into the not-so-blue yonder. (Now there's an odd phrase.)
I'm delighted...
... to learn, on returning from my walk, that the 1978 BBC adaptation of Alan Garner's phenomenal "Red Shift" is coming out on DVD just in time for my birthday. Less delighted to see a "While you were out..." card from Mr Postie that means another schlep down to the depot before they close tonight.
Amazing...
... what passes for academic research these days. (Link.)
I clearly don't follow...
... the blog maintained by Mr Dilbert's creator quite as assiduously as I could. His recent item on information versus privacy has just made me smile and think. Two of my preferred activities these days.
Suppose you have some non-mainstream sexual preferences that you prefer to keep private. I would argue that this is an information problem not a privacy problem. If you remove the magical thinking about our bodies and our alleged immortal souls, we are nothing but moist robots pushing buttons and seeing which combinations feel the best. I think you can educate away any shame about people's sexual preferences.
Mike has just sent over the three shots of flowers I managed to get out of something I had never seen before in my life... an entire field of sunflowers. Today, we saw two such fields just a few hundred yards apart. I assume Farmer Giles is busy fixing nitrogen back into the soil or some such farmery thing. Watch this space. But not until I've eaten something. It's 19:29 and I've just realised I'm very hungry.
Bee (almost) on...
... one of today's sunflowers. You can click the pic for a bigger view:
And today's mystery parcel?
That turned out to be the new Gus Van Sant film:
Probably better...
... not to read this horrible story of how and why substantial bits of Britain now belong to someone else if you cannot trust your blood pressure to remain within healthy limits. Of course, should you by some intrinsic genetic quirk still be misguided enough to remain an ardent fan of Reagan and Thatcher you'll probably be OK. (Link.)
Alas. "Promised Land" is no "Good Will Hunting". But then, what is?