2016 — 2 March: Wednesday
Today's cunning plan1 is a little blast of late winter fresh air and rain drops. Followed, in my case, by the shopping I somehow managed to put off from yesterday. Which, come to think of it, I'd already managed to put off from the day before, too.
So there I was...
... drifting gently through some of the items under "Classical" in the deeper depths of my 3TB external drive — to be more precise, in just one of such drives — where I landed upon Ramirez and the "Missa Criolla" featuring José Carreras. It reminded me...
I shall leave the Panasonic watching Lindsay Anderson's "If..." for me, although I'm mildly curious to see how well Malcolm McDowell's screen début stands the test of 40 years. I'm sure I'll still enjoy the Missa Luba. (Thinks: is it really that long since I first watched the film, in Sedgley's cinema, of all places? I can still recall the late trolley bus ride back to my aunt's house.) My, this Time business2 is tricky, slippery stuff, isn't it?
... of the many years it had been since I first heard "Sanctus" from the "Missa Luba". But, could I find it anywhere among my binary digits? Don't be ridiculous!
You can probably guess what happened next. This time, instead of digging out my tape cassette, I pinpointed exactly the album and performance I sought and then downloaded it...
It has, as you see, a very striking piece of cover artwork. Lovely stuff. For some mysterious reason I have never previously bought myself a digital copy since transcribing my ancient vinyl copy of precisely this recording to tape. And I did that in October 1984.
The walk...
... was remarkably windy, cold and wet. But the sunshine is now doing its best to make amends. [Pause] Right; time to do something about that damnable echo in Mrs Hubbard's cupboard. [Pause] Right; (nearly) time to do something about the lunch-shaped hole in the Mounce tum.
Having first hit...
... the "Ctrl/+" combination a couple of times on a bit of incoming email to edge this up somewhere nearer legibility:
I find myself wondering if people really still need this level of education. Sadly, I conclude they probably do.
I regard...
... the failure of my NUC to drive the 34" Dell from its mini-DisplayPort output as less than satisfactory, so I reluctantly decided to read the Dell's manual more carefully this time. It should just work!
I know I shouldn't...
... but I will admit to chortling when I read this film "review":
A movie with many destructive messages. The movie promotes environmentalism, claiming that nature is God, and feminism. It also ridicules the military and large businesses. The hero of the film also forms a rather creepy romance with the native princess, who is of another species, perhaps a symbol for bestiality.
It's billed as the "trustworthy" encyclopedia. Mercy me! Beulah! Peel me another grape...
Found buried on a 500GB hard drive...
... used for backing up data from the Gateway XP box. I was exchanging news with (new grandparent) Big Bro:
It occurs to me to remark, mildly, that one forest clearing can look pretty much like any other. But you're obviously enjoying those necessary documentary duties of a proud grand-papa. Keep me on the great uncle "cc" list, please!
Our Sprog, meanwhile, has just strongly suggested that we should give him for his (26th!) birthday the money ($250) to buy an integrated Java software development suite despite the fact that there's a more than adequate Open Source (free) variant available from IBM in the blink of a download. He wants it in support of his burgeoning freelance website development and programming career, it seems. So he really does seem to be a chip off the old block. At his age I was busy programming ICL machines for pocket money from Michael Heseltine's Haymarket publishing empire in a tireless attempt to stretch my ICL salary far enough to cover not just the mortgage but a modicum of Life's little comforts. History repeats...
(Peter will be 36 this month!)