2°C, clear & getting colder.
Up ’till late fitting draught excluder to windows. There’s a -5° coming one night soon. I bet this stuff falls off though.
Draughts
Reply
twenty-four hours
5°C, grey. northerlies backing
I’ve only had it one day, and it’s refusing to startup. No bleeps, no HD activity, nothing.
Laptop
5°C, grey & dank.
Here I am typing this from the kitchen sofa, there’s a novelty. No more will I trudge upstairs to the desktop computer to tap away my unpointful ramblings.
I’ve been thinking of buying this laptop since last summer when I’d spend the first hour after work lolling in the hammock. I can’t resist performing an eccentric little experiment now, let’s try the signal strength out in the garden….
Yes it’s true, I can browse the web from the garden. I shall enthuse about this next summer. Today, it’s rather cold & damp out here.
Eternal sunshine
5°C, dense fog.
How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d
I don’t dislike Jim Carey anymore! The film was just great- Eternal Sunshine Of A Spotless Mind. His acting was just right, okay a few moments jarred a bit but only because they reminded me too much of his previous dreadful films. Some reviews have suggested “surreal” as a term to describe this film- not one I’d choose, it’s not what I understand of surrealism at directly. On the other hand, words like these do tend to take on a modern meaning which leaves the original behind. Unlike some of my other film ramblings, I can’t contradict what others have said in this one.
Gadgets- I have my clock-radio back, this one works properly with the iPod, so a result. the sound quality is affected somewhat by sliding the instruction manual underneath (for those times that you forget how to change the alarm). There appears to be a narrow speaker port underneath the wooden case. Small speakers often have some sort of port to control the lower frequency sounds. the drivers are simple 3″ cones with no separate tweeters- hence a slight lack of sparkle to the sound. At least that means less harshness on some radio channels.
Note to lodger
3°C, clear & cold, light winds.
Wrote this note to the lodger & put it in a bag of apples:
If you want some food, go and buy some. Don’t steal mine!
He has read it. Incrimination itself.
Return to sender
5°C, clearing & cooling
The Clock radio saga continues- it has to go back. Roberts agree that it’s faulty and needs replacing. I was, however, quite complimentary about its design which means I want a replacement (not my money back). If only it had tweeters, that really would lift the sound quality.
The cold returns, tonight -1°C expected but it doesn’t feel as cold as last winter.
Roberts Sound 66
8°C, clear but still damp.
DAB/iPod clock radio: ‘Tis a shame that it’s faulty. The sound is smooth, it’s reasonably easy to set up and has some nice detail features- you can set the alarm for one-off, daily or weekdays. That’s neat, I only need to switch off the alarm for each holiday instead of each weekend.
Roberts 66
The sound quality is good, certainly better than my old clock-radio. It’s a little rich and bloated in the bass & lower mid-range but there is an equaliser setting to hide the worst of this. It really needs a treble tweeter to add sparkle to the sound though.
Helen
12°C, rain;
Film: Helen, An enigmatic film about the disappearance of a young girl. Shot with full use of wide-screen format, Tarkovsky’s reach has made it here, but with vivid colour and contemporary 20thC townscapes. The dialogue is measure, understated and full of space.
I’m not sure what happened but perhaps sleeping on it would help, or maybe another viewing.
I can imagine many people hating this one. Some actors seemed a bit stilted delivering their dialogue, perhaps the slow measure style didn’t always suit their voice- we all have a natural pace in our speech & the director needed to actors who speak slowly. On the other hand, some people do speak in an awkward way, people who are not destined to have a career in broadcasting or performance.
See Guardian’s review HERE
Tentative turbo time today
13°C, clear & Calm
25mins on the turbo-trainer, no twinges since there is no sideways stress on the joint on a bike.
A stripey world
Abundance of caution
14°C, grey, dry
playtime in Pripyat
Fix, mend, repair: that’s what holidays are really for. Today it was the shower’s turn to mend. The door has new runners and it’s all smooth running now. Did a few other things too boring to post here (as if my shower is interesting).
Oh, and my twisted knee is on its way too- I can walk on it. I felt nothing on a quick session with the turbo-trainer, no pain, no stiffness, nothing. I must be cautious though.
Micycle 