2015 — 23 December: Wednesday
There's a small window of weather opportunity hereabouts for a walk today1 failing which, hibernation remains an ever-popular alternative at this merry time of year. Mercy me! When (and how?) did that little blighter William Hague manage to become a "Lord"? And what, in any case, makes him worth listening to on the potential breakup of the Untied Kingdom should we "exit" our great Europe adventure? I really need to stop listening to the news.
That would be unprogress of a sort. One of the 'dementia' tests administered in 2010 by dear Mama's local GP when he was assessing her fitness to assign her Power of Attorney to me was to ask the traditional "Do you know the name of the Prime Minister?" Her reply: "No. And I don't care, either" was deemed perfectly acceptable to all parties.
It's still the boy Dave, isn't it? :-)
Not being...
... a scholar of medieval history, religion (or anything, for that matter) I shall merely comment that I found this article — drawing parallels between Catholicism and the propensity of the modern state for mass surveillance — fascinating. Your smileage may vary:
It's an addict's rationality, by which we're unable to refrain from making public a stream of intimate details of our lives and those of children too young to consent. One must wonder about the subtle, unspoken fear of the consequences of refusing to participate in systems of surveillance, or even to critique them seriously. This would be to risk isolation. It would be a trifle paranoid to reveal less — a little eccentric, not quite rational.
Sounds like me she's talking about! Mind you...
... I'm still not being used by Facebook.
An unexpected benefit...
... of walking through Sparsholt was the chance it gave me to buy the eggs I'd forgotten on my last supplies run. I no longer bother to write out a shopping list, preferring to keep a little mental one. The system is thus inherently flawed. And there was a beautiful red kite flying over my house just as I set off. Not a common bird hereabouts.
This disgusting story...
... fails to shock me. I wonder why? (Link.)
I remain unconvinced...
... (as usual) by an offer of 2.96% gross interest on balances up to £2,500 on my current banking account in return for an annual fee of £120 and a set of "benefits" (insurance policies) of no interest to me. And I have to remain similarly unenlightened by the Zen koan regarding what the sound is before the bird sings. I expect I'll manage.
Victory!
I've just nailed a subtle, but irritating, CSS bug. I like it when that happens. Watch this space. [Pause] When, that is, I'm ready to show off a more polished version of my locally-produced list of videos. There's a small matter2 of some 2,727 (give or take) "Kodi supplemental data stubs" to be re-spun first (to, erm, regularise the case of media acronyms).
- Estimated time for me to re-process my ASCII input data file with Brian's latest code drop: less than one second of CPU.
- Estimated time for me to find the correct version of my ASCII input file to submit: could be a while.
Perishing users.
The "Goldberg...
... Variations" are magnificent, as usual. Quite what goes on in the brain of the composer, let alone that of the performer, leaves me in awe every time. (Link.)
In January 2010 "Mojo" magazine gave away a fascinating 2xCD re-built version of Pink Floyd's "The Wall". Its version of "The Trial" is by Simon Bookish. Until tonight, that was all I knew of his. But Mara Carlyle played his new EP (Red and Blue) on "Late Junction" both last night (which I missed) and tonight (some of which I caught). The EP is now safely downloaded.