A random thread for small entertainment things not warranting their own thread..

[andrewc]

https://radiotoday.co.uk/2021/10/no-fm-switch-off-in-the-uk-until-at-least-2030-says-dcms/


Hooray.  My tuner & loft aerial are safe for a while longer.

[Jaded]

The Midnight Bell, Matthew Bourne.

A sumptuous production, aged only by the era it is set in; a play without words.

So much to watch, so much to miss, so much love, angst, hope, deceit.

[Pingu]

I haven't done this for a looooooooooong time.


IMG_9275_01 by The Pingus, on Flickr

ETA: I used a protractor to align the cartridge (it was miles out) and watched a video about setting up the tonearm. It sounds much better than I remember 🎵

[Mr Larrington]

Gosh! A vinyl!  How achingly hip!

[rafletcher]

Partly to block out bickering between my colleagues, I decided to listen to something - Teams meetings have normalised wearing headphones in the office.  I chose the "No Nukes" album by Springsteen and the E Street band.  Superb.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Partly to block out bickering between my colleagues, I decided to listen to something - Teams meetings have normalised wearing headphones in the office.  I chose the "No Nukes" album by Springsteen and the E Street band.  Superb.

It would be very nerd winning to have a turntable in your office, connected to headphones.

[pcolbeck]

I haven't done this for a looooooooooong time.


IMG_9275_01 by The Pingus, on Flickr

ETA: I used a protractor to align the cartridge (it was miles out) and watched a video about setting up the tonearm. It sounds much better than I remember 🎵

Ooh nice. I want a Planar 3 to add to my turntable collection.

[Pingu]

I haven't done this for a looooooooooong time.


IMG_9275_01 by The Pingus, on Flickr

ETA: I used a protractor to align the cartridge (it was miles out) and watched a video about setting up the tonearm. It sounds much better than I remember 🎵

Ooh nice. I want a Planar 3 to add to my turntable collection.

Ruddy Norah - I've just seen the price they are now 

[sg37409]

Yep they are extortionate now and in fancy colours too. Mine looks identical to that except for the green cartridge.   Played Big Science on it late the other night

[Pingu]

Gosh! A vinyl!  How achingly hip!

36 year old vinyl.

[Wowbagger]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcOjKXIR8Iw&ab_channel=ChopinInstitute

This might warrant a thread of its own, but ICBA.

International Chopin Piano Competition. The guy in the video is outstanding.

[hellymedic]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcOjKXIR8Iw&ab_channel=ChopinInstitute

This might warrant a thread of its own, but ICBA.

International Chopin Piano Competition. The guy in the video is outstanding.

Chopin Competition was MASSIVE!

D watched some of it nearer the time.

[Wowbagger]

https://yle.fi/aihe/tapahtuma/2021/12/06/independence-day-gala-concert

I haven't watched it yet, but that's hot off the Finnish presses, it being Independence Day today. Son's partner and her mother were there, and apparently can be seen from time to time.

[Wowbagger]

I have just learned that Alan Bennett once referred to Portnoy’s Complaint as “The Gripes of Roth”.

[Mr Larrington]

Here at Fort Larrington we have been revisiting Black Books and laughing immoderately.

[citoyen]

Mr L - you may or may not be interested to know that Radio 4 Extra yesterday served up a repeat of your esteemed relative’s The Lore Of The Land. Very good it is too.

[rogerzilla]

DAVID ATTENBOROUGH IS ON TV TALKING ABOUT NARWHALS

RAAAAAWWWWWWRRRRRRR

ITS LIKE A UNICORN BUT DONE AS A WHALE

AINT NO HOOVES ON THAT BITCH

[citoyen]

This won’t make me any friends here but…

They’ve been repeating HHGTTG from the beginning on Radio 4 Extra. If I’m being kind, I would say it has not aged well.

If I’m being not so kind, I might say it’s terrible and I find it hard to believe anyone ever found it funny. Some nice ideas, and occasional good one-liners, but often verging on painful.

Best thing about it is the music. The main theme is great but the incidental music is also excellent - I don’t recall noticing it before, but I especially liked the use of Terry Riley in the first series.

[rafletcher]

We just turned on the tv, and got a glimpse - no more than 10 seconds - of a film. I said “I wonder what that is”. My wife replied “The Remains of the Day”. It was. She has apparently never seen it (I can believe that) but she’d “read the book”.

[citoyen]

We just turned on the tv, and got a glimpse - no more than 10 seconds - of a film. I said “I wonder what that is”. My wife replied “The Remains of the Day”. It was. She has apparently never seen it (I can believe that) but she’d “read the book”.

The film is very faithful to the book, to be fair.

[ian]

This won’t make me any friends here but…

They’ve been repeating HHGTTG from the beginning on Radio 4 Extra. If I’m being kind, I would say it has not aged well.

If I’m being not so kind, I might say it’s terrible and I find it hard to believe anyone ever found it funny. Some nice ideas, and occasional good one-liners, but often verging on painful.

Best thing about it is the music. The main theme is great but the incidental music is also excellent - I don’t recall noticing it before, but I especially liked the use of Terry Riley in the first series.

I've been banging this drum for a while. I never liked it. Yes, Douglas Adams was smart and funny, but I have always found HHGTTG to be fairly cringy and wearing, like an extended student comedy revue.

[rafletcher]

Conversely I still like it. I listened to all the episodes a couple of years back whilst fettling in the shed. Horses for courses. I can’t get into  Charles Stross’ stuff, but many here like it.

[citoyen]

I remember liking the TV series when I was a small person, and I'm sure I enjoyed the books too - I think I read the first three, at least. But that was a long, long time ago.

I've never knowingly read any Charles Stross so have no opinion on him.

(Did I ever mention that Lord of the Rings is shite too?)

[ian]

I was thinking about the books. I think I saw the movie once and it didn't change my impression. It's a worthy book to read, but I wouldn't want to do so again.

I did recently read the first Charlie Stross book (confusingly it turns out to be two, but anyway...) as everyone I know seems to enjoy them and always tells me that I'll enjoy them. I wouldn't read another, the nerdy IT support and office bureaucracy jokes wear thin quite quickly and it simply didn't gel together, an odd mix of perilous mission and then – hey look – he has to reboot a server and deal with some goofy workplace bureaucracy. Also had that nerdy vibe about the female characters who mostly existed as vehicles for boobs, like something he'd read about in books but not encountered in the wild. Maybe they get better, but it didn't float my boat.

I think I got to the end of Lord of the Rings. Long and dull and about as much fun as running a marathon while suffering a case of diarrhoea. You're glad to get to the end but hope it really never ever happens again. See also The Martian which everyone seems to like other than me, I found it dreadful.

[Auntie Helen]

I bought the German audio version for my GerMan and we listened to it on a long journey.

Their Marvin spoke soooooo sloooooowwwwwllllllyyyyy that I got really frustrated.

It was a reasonable attempt at British humour into German, but my chappie wasn’t hooked.