2013 — 26 May: Sunday
A nice, sunny start1 and a nice, fresh, cuppa. I could get used to this retirement lark. Bliss :-)
Patti Smith a fan of "Jane Eyre"? Blimey! Thanks for that, 6Music.
Almost too silly for words.
I've been experimenting...
... with the optimum size of thumbnails for my CD artwork for display during playback.
The 200x200 pixel that seems to be standard with Amazon MP3 downloads doesn't quite float my boat. By rather a long way, particularly when viewed on the 60" Kuro plasma... I'll get there.
Sour grapes?
I assume that "senior figures in the Conservative Party" are so cross at the recent gay marriage vote that they now reflexively wish to get their own back by reviving the guvmint's proposed snooping2 charter. And the fact that the adorable BoJo finds the case made for it by PC Plod "compelling" should surely be proof that there is a deep flaw buried somewhere in the logic of the argument. Surely the only terrorists likely to be picked up on the basis of examination of their internet use would be those too stupid to organise the imbibing of alcohol in a brewery?
Whatever happened to the Golden Rule?
Catching up with Kermode and Mayo. I don't think I'll be bothering with Hangover, Part 3. (But then, I didn't bother with the first two, either.)
I'm delighted...
... to hear, from Stockholm, that my friend Val may well finally have identified the culprit for much of her ill-health in her dental amalgam (my maritime chum Donald was firmly convinced, back in the mid-80s, that mercury-based fillings should all be removed and replaced). And from New York, my friend Carol has been making real progress with the data and application migration from an obviously ailing XP laptop to a new Win8 device.
Meanwhile, Jarvis Cocker has touched on the great untellable truth about his general distaste (which I share) for live music albums: they sometimes reveal that the musicians cannot really play. Not the case with the Doors "When the Music's Over", happily. Though he claimed it was on his copy of Live, in New York it certainly isn't on mine. The only version I have of that song is on my copy of Strange Days... [Pause] Well, now, isn't that interesting? I just was in the act of popping into the Amazon MP3 store to look for that track when I got sidetracked when I spotted (not having noticed it until now) 5GB of free cloud storage there for the taking from that nice Mr. Bezos.
Oh dear. The track I want is only available as part of the entire album, not as a separate MP3. It's on a six-CD set (at a mere £76-30) of January 1970 concerts at the Felt Forum in New York (and my supposedly comprehensive Doors boxed set has only one CD of this material). Even the corresponding MP3 download clocks in at over £30 so I've just discovered the limits of my Doors completeist tendencies.
[Pause]
I must say, Guy Garvey's musical choices have been exceptional this evening. Louis Armstrong followed immediately by Chet Baker. Cool, or what?