2015 — 16 January: Friday
One of my least favourite pieces of English bombast1 — the Dambusters' March — has just been followed by one of my favourites: variations on the 'Greensleeves' theme. Both are, nonetheless, much more entertaining than any of the election-related jabbering that I've been assured is dominating the more speech-oriented areas of the radio spectrum.
I was mistaken...
... to think that the largest 4K PC monitor was a mere 31.5" diagonal. It's amazing what you can find when you sort things in descending price order. (Or when emailed by a chum whose hobby is spending my pension.) I was less amazed to receive an email from eBuyer (having logged in while scouring their own virtual shelves yesterday) entirely devoted to monitors. Though they had paid no heed to my search parameters (and I already knew their stock range didn't match my wishes).
I'd more (or less) "decided" that the optimal size for my desktop purposes would be a 42" screen which — in the 4K TV domain — has become entirely affordable, but there remain questions about the real world performance of such 4K TVs as monitors. Philips to the (potential) rescue. Just starting to trickle out of their Chinese factory is a 40" monitor that looks very likely to hit the sweet spot.2 Of course, being a Philips piece of kit, there are a few things potentially 'wrong' with it.3 Including news from one user of an instance of very premature mortality.
Ever onward, but not until after a spot of breakfast, another cuppa, and some more fresh foodie shopping to sustain me over the weekend.
Some sad people...
... probably think this is a Good Thing. (Link.) Actually, I was more interested in the story of the collapse of a New Zealand trading house in the wake of Swiss currency capping changes, but not interested enough to become a subscriber. I suspect it demonstrates some of the idiocy of globalisation quite neatly.
[Pause]
Crikey, it's so busy out there one might almost think it was a Friday. But the Yaris can slip into spaces that larger cars must spurn :-)
It occurred to me that I wasn't the only member of the household to own, or (on occasion) be troubled by, Philips technology:
Christa in her study, mid-1990s
I suspect...
... today's "handover" from Mr Postie will keep me quiet for a bit:
The eleven items featuring Helen Mirren include only one I already have — Shaw's "The Apple Cart." That was tucked as a bonus on to the same DVD that holds "The Millionairess" as part of a "BBC Classics" box set that I had to import from the US. Christa and I watched this (it features an ex-Doctor Who as an Egyptian doctor) a mere 2,866 days ago :-)
Much later
After snaffling tea and a biccie with Roger & Eileen, I decided to treat myself to a video evening.
It's less than three weeks since I was blown away by the 1974 documentary film on Vietnam, "Hearts and Minds". Now, along comes "The Congress", which I first became aware of last July by acquiring Max Richter's soundtrack album. Followed by reading this Grauniad interview. This evening, I've just watched my new Blu-ray, twice, back-to-back.4 The second time with Ari Folman's commentary. It is an amazing film.
I estimate I must have seen a couple of thousand films by now, over the last 50 years. It sounds trite to say "I've never seen anything like it". But certainly it's not quite like anything else I've watched. Highly recommended, though it will definitely not be to everyone's taste.