I have decided to stop posting my Vocal writing on SevendaysIn. I will continue posting on both platforms but this will be less focussed that the Vocal posts , and more just to record what is happening and to share music and links to books , and not to be too bothered about how many words I am posting.
This week is mainly not doing anything in Thirsk, and spending time away from work, although I have had a nice Whatsapp chat with my lovely boss.
The place I am staying is excellent and has a smart TV that is allowing me to watch whatever I want to, so I have re picked up "Better Call Saul". I find it amazing that now you can go on holiday and take the minimum of entertainment with you because ereaders mean you can take books on a device and it's the same with music and films and TV thanks to streaming services such as BBC iPlayer and All4, so I'm not short of anything to watch although I took an age to work out how to get rid of subtitles off iPlayer. You need to pause the program and then the subtitles icon appears on the pause screen.
So I'm not writing for Vocal so I can share the semi appropriate "Holiday Road" from "Nationl Lampoon's Vacation" by the genius Lindsey Buckingham. I call also reign back my posting on here although my Vocal posts may continue on an almost daily basis.
This is post 2012 ans 2012 was the year that the UK staged the Olympic Games with those amazing opening (mastered by Danny Boyle) and closing ceremonies celebrating the diversity and history of this country resulting is a racist tirade from the Daily Mail denigrating the Windrush citizens who came here and help rebuild this country after WWII , the article on their website was eventually pulled.
The celebrations included our NHS and industrial heritage and each of these ceremonies last a while but these days you can watch them on your big screens.
There is also a plethora of music featuring David Bowie, Queen , Muse and many, many more.
This post is one of those diary posts so that I can easily find this in the future. There was a great TV series on the BBC about the "preparations" which I can't find on iPlayer but I can find "W1A" that morphed out of it with much of the office comedy.
So enjoy your Wednesday and if you have eight hours spare get these videos on your big screen.
Tonight I caught a bit of a program I was recording about the great Woody Guthrie , Three Chords and The Truth which will be available on BBC iPlayer for the next month. While it is a great song and applies to any country, but is geographically situated in the USA stating that the land belongs to the people , not to governments and not to corporations.
I didn't know it had been used at Barack Obama's Inauguration as while it was sung in schools as an almost national anthem, only the first three verses were sung because the next three were deemed offensive.
At the Inauguration all six verses were sung, and it was very uplifting and moving and I am glad to be able to share it with you on this post thanks to Youtube. The documentary is very revealing but I just had to share this with you. Here are those words:
This land is your land, this land is my land From California to the New York Island From the Redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters This land was made for you and me.
As I went walkin', I saw a sign there And on the sign it said : 'No trespassing' But on the other side it didn't say nothin' That side was made for you and me.
In the shadow of the steeple, I saw my people By the relief office, I'd seen my people As they stood hungry, I stood there askin' If this land made for you and me ?
This land is your land, this land is my land From California to the New York Island From the Redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters This land was made for you and me.
Nobody living can ever stop me As I go walking that freedom highway Nobody living can ever make me turn back This land was made for you and me.
This land is your land, this land is my land From California to the New York Island From the Redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters This land was made for you and me.
As I went walkin', I saw a sign there And on the sign it said: 'No trespassing' But on the other side it didn't say nothin' That side was made for you and me.
This land is your land, this land is my land From California to the New York Island From the Redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters This land was made for you and me.
This land is your land, this land is my land From California to the New York Island From the Redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters This land was made for you and me.
Enjoy , digest and remember This Land is YOUR Land
I suggest you watch and enjoy
The documentary features Billy Bragg now a UK music elder statesman (though he's younger than me), but I was surprised that I couldn't track down a Springsteen recording of the song on Amazon as I am sure he has recorded the song, but maybe not.
I looked at the clock when I took my Samsung Note 4 out of my pocket, waited while it did it's stuff , updating again , downloading , waiting finally pressed the first app and 3 minutes had elapsed.
I do like my phone , watch iPlayer programs and TED talks and read the odd book , plus check news , though I am thinking of ditching Twitter as I virtually never use it. But it's in the long list of apps on the phone that I never use.
Anyway be wary of how much time your phone actually takes.
Luckily I was boiling the kettle and making tea while that was happening but I was thinking how many people just wait for their phone and lose that time completely ?
Though I still use Facebook and Instagram is probably my most used social media app.
Anyway we're up to year 36 in the Odyssey and this was the year that KLF's Amerika - What Time is Love hit the charts , though I used it two posts ago , so I missed stuff from the Shamen's En-Tact , one of the greatest albums ever but have taken Boss Drum by the Shamen for this year's choice.
Enjoy the rest your Monday , this afternoon I go for some unspecified minor surgery .......
Last night I watched an episode on Odyssey on catch up TV. I'm also reading "A Brief History Of Time" by Stephen Hawking and today discovered what a quark is . I knew the name and know it's a vegetarian filler food but I didn't actually know what a quark was. This started me thinking and I recalled an incident from twenty years back after taking a psychometric test....
...after the test the guy told me I had a problem , but it could possibly be corrected. I asked him what the problem was. He told that my problem was that I always wanted to be right! I didn't see this as a problem, and asked him didn't everybody want to be right , as an example didn't he want to be right in his assessment assessment of me? His assessment was correct , but I didn't see it as a problem and still don't see it as a problem. I still want to always be right, but that statement unqualified does not show the full picture. I WANT to be always right BUT I am often WRONG, and when I am wrong I want to be told how I am wrong and to be shown how to get it right. I know that I'm not infallible , I would just like to be .... especially when I put a bet on the horses! At the time I was working with a manager who took me to one side after I's questioned a situation and told me "You might be right ... but I'm in charge" .... though that was was true I knew he was wrong and I was right but there was nothing I could do about the situation. I was right but not in control.
And this sort of brings me to the next part , is that in general we want to be in control , but not be controlled although we may need and want direction. When I was watching the TV last night I was thinking before the option of recording we were very regimented by TV . You had to be at your set at a particular time or else you missed that program , and god forbid there were clashes , yet people still complained about repeats (yet most digital stations serve nothing but repeats these days), but now I very seldom watch live TV, I let my recorder build up what I think I want to watch and watch it in almost chaotic fashion. Whatever I want whenever I want and with apps like BBC iPlayer and my Samsung Note 4 Phone and my iPad and Laptop wherever I want. So is that disorder or the control I want ? I think it's latter , I feel I have tools to manage my disorder and allow me to order my situation as I want.
I do think it's good to be right , but you have to also be open to new ideas and the fact that you may be wrong. We are at our most vulnerable when we lose control and are reliant the power and ability of others to help us get it right. I always try to be there for others , and part of that is that I want others to be there for me if I need their help.
Given the tone of this post , what else could I choose but Joy Division's She's Lost Control.
Incidentally this is post 911 given my last post was about numbers.
Anyway I didn't think I would finish this , but I still want to be right , I still want to help people , I still want to be there for my friends and family , I sill want to be in control and I still want to have a wonderful time. So everyone have a fantastic day.
I think this will be short. I've finished my first book of the year, started on the second , both by Stuart Maconie incidentally and started making inroads into the TV backlog on BBC iPlayer on my phone. How do I do this?
Basically book on way to work, means I feel I've done something worthwhile and learnt
ed something and made an effort, then coming home I watch stuff on the TV (well my Samsung Note 2). Having said that I do need to fit the TED talks in there somehow as there are a few that I really want to check out, but I will find time somewhere. There are 24 hours in a day after all.
Only one song give the title of the post. From the Moody Blues album A Question of Balance.
Not posted much recently and realised I hadn't even read a book this year, so I started the new Stuart Maconie tome and am surprised how relaxed it makes me feel on the train. I've watch a lot of TV recently and maybe that is stressing me out, though the fact that you don't really have to do anything may be having some kind of weird adverse psychological effect. Maybe BBC's iPlayer is not the cure all or whatever I thought it was. Yes it is very clever and useful, but no use if it just eats up time that can be better and more usefully spent doing other things.
I also listened to the Steve Miller Band's Greatest Hits while reading , which was a sort of double good whammy and hence the brilliant song that I've chosen for this post.
I don't if I need to be worried, or I don't know if I should be just happy. I'm actually watching more TV on my phone thanks to the fact that BBC iPlayer allows downloads on my Samsung Galaxy Note2. This week I've watched various music related progammes, and the first episode of the new series on BBC3 called "Uncle", which I found excellent. I've downloaded a few duds, but iPlayer allows me to catch up on the way to and from work.
My problem is that I feel I'm watching less TED talks and reading fewer books. I haven't read a book so far this year.
I suppose the simple solution is just to pick a book and start reading it, but it is just another thing I can do while I travel. I can also watch other channels' downloads as well but BBC2, 3, and 4 provide enough excellent quality programmes to keep me going. I can also load films onto the phone and it does have a couple of eReaders so I can actually read book on the phone if I so wish.
The title is taken from a Dictators song (lead singer Handsome Dick Manitoba!) so I have to include that don't I.
Woke up this morning (sounds like a blues song , doesn't it), and the pavements outside were white and the skies were grey. This week is going to be busy again with trips to London and a concert at The Sage to fit in, but it's only by doing things that life is interesting.
This afternoon 6Music played an excellent Nick Cave song that I hadn't heard before that seemed appropriate for the apparent inclement weather which we may soon be getting.
This weather , short days and lack of sunshine doesn't make for the greatest of inspiration.
Also I seem to be downloading a lot of TV to my Samsung Note via BBC iPlayer , which is fine but this eats into the time I should be reading or maybe watching TED talks , although it does leave more time to do things when I am at home.
Anyway still lots to do, but wanted to share this great Nick Cave song , and hope you are ready for the week ahead.
Well I suppose I have to do this. I can't not post on New Year's Day can I. I've seen some great friends today, and it's funny how sometimes people worry about how the appear or sound, and they're my friends they are always wonderful to me. I love all contact with my friends and people I love.
Two niggles Google's controlling idiocy means I can't access my accounts via my Blu-Ray player as it's an "unknown device" but there is now no option to allow device to access my accounts. Then my Samsung Note has given me a 700 Mb Software Upgrade. My first desktop had a 10 Mb hard disk (thanks for that Chris Brough, at the time that was an immense amount of storage, now it would just about hold an MP3 of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven" or Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird") , but it was the first device I had at home that didn't need a floppy disk or cassette to start it. How times change. My phone is installing the update as I type.
So it's almost two in the morning and it's probably the best idea to see this update out , I need to because I have Wallace and Gromit in "A Matter of Loaf And Death" on my BBC iPlayer, amongst other things.
So have a brilliant day and may your 2014 absolutely wonderful.
Well a lot of good things have happened today. I ran into a good friend who I hadn't seen for ages and got an invite to a 50th birthday party next year (to go with a wedding invitation from another friend) so probable lots of great things going to happen tonight I'm sure.
I then got a call from Screachtv who told me I'd won a £25 voucher to spend at The Strawberry ! That was unexpected and a nice surprise.
I watched a program and a film "Rescue Dawn" (well it's a Werner Herzog film with Christian Bale, what's not to like) on BBC iPlayer on my Samsung Note phone, and was majorly impressed with the quality and experience.
I've had some minor surgery, well half of it, resulting in 10 stitches , which need removing next week, so that was slightly worrying , but the doctor was brilliant and didn't spill too much blood. The NHS is brilliant.
And I managed to find the Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix version of Signal 30 by Public Service Broadcasting. Just how good is that
!
I'm surprised at the number of advertisements for tablets and the horribly named "phablets". Tablets are gret for looking at things generally, but not that brilliant for keyboard based creativity. I have an iPad and mainly use it for watching downloaded programs on BBC iPlayer and TED.
I actually bought it because a friend showed me Garageband on it, and I've manged to create two pieces of music on it and actually put one on commercial sale just to see if I could do it, so it's brilliant for apps that are customed towards it's strengths, the Artrage app is another good piece of software that is great on the iPad.
I also have a Samsung Note 2 phone which allows me internet and other access as well as having a screen that allows me to watch downloaded programs.
So it just strikes me as overkill the amouth that these devices are being pushed at us, maybe it's the run up to Christmas, but I now just see another tablet. Is it my attention deficit disorder and I want something else to stimulate me? I'm also worried about young children who have these and then ten minutes later are bored. Which is why I thought the Raspberry Pi was such a brilliant concent as it would get kids (and adults) into actually doing things rather that passively expecting to be entertained.
Anyway that's enough and I'm sure a lot of you will have tablet's on you Christmas shopping list for either yourself or your loved ones. And I'm sure you will find a use for yours. Below is a video featuring my first published piece from Garageband.
I was pleased to find that the latest version of BBC iPlayer now allows downloads to my phone, actually allowing the same as 4OD. This means that as well as music, and TED I can now watch quality TV on the move.
A lot of mobile companies advertise how brilliant their service is, but it's only any good if you can maintain a constant signal. So it's fine if you are not moving , but when you are on the train very often there's a heck of a lot of signal drop out. That's why you need to be able to download what you want to watch and listen for when there is no signal. Devices these days have huge capacity that you can usually expand with an SD card (unless you go the Apple route) , so this week I am going to be really spoilt for choice.
Although annoyingly the 4OD app still demands you be connected to wifi when my EE 4G would be far better for downloading programs.
I thought I'd include an appropriate TED talk for this post. So Have a wonderful week my friends.
I'm sort of worried about my TV viewing habits , well not really , but I am a creature of convenience. Despite having a few hundred DVDs I very seldom actually but one into my player to watch. Also , despite how cheap they are re , I very seldom buy any these days because 1) I've no room to put them and 2) most of the time I might not actually get round to watching the damned thing.
The problem is they have so much competition now from the likes of Youtube , On Demand TV such as iPlayer , 4OD , and my Virgin hard drive and catch up TV box, pay rental sites such as Blinkbox and Netflix. So unless it's a specialist music DVD I very rarely buy the things these days.
I want everything at the touch of my remote control , becoming the not so mythical "homo sedens" , not wishing to move from his chair , while wanting permanent tailored entertainment. You can even pause live TV while you answer the door or go to the toilet.
It still amauses me to hear people say there's nothing on TV when between BBC4 and Film4 I have intelligent viewing on tap , that's before dipping into the other 160 channels I have. Sky viewers have similar options. Watch what you want , when you want , where you want.
A short follow on to last night's post. When I went on to Blinkbox to check the price of Soylent Green it was £2.49 to rent and £7,49 to download. This is a film that is forty years old and , yes , it's a decent film.
The problem with films is that unless they are very special you only tend to watch them once or twice. Music and books which also have their e-quivalents are similarly expensive when new but prices tend to drop after time. Novels are like film , but music does tend to be played and replayed, but film not so.
In my collection I have 400 DVDs , many of which havent come out of the box and some of which I have only watched from recording to my hard disc from Film4 or some other digital channel. So why are digital copies of old films so expensive given their nature. The DVD equivalant will be around £2.99 and for that you get a hard copy that , with the appropriate software , you can make a digital copy of.
iTunes has a similar pricing structure and on demand service will charge £3 to £4 for a rental , but they are usually newer films. 4OD gives you free on demand stuff (admittedly padded with unskippable adverts , but I don't mind that, they are giving me something I want) and the BBC iPlayer and other TV companies give similar service (although the BBC iPlayer has no adverts , it comes from the license fee).
If films were a couple of quid to download a copy I would happily buy them if I fancied them but I won't pay 7-10 pounds for something that I will only watch once. Youtube has it's own channel with a lot of free movies here such as the excellent Kung Fu Hustle . Also Blinkbox have advert supported free stuff and special offers , but the question remains , why ore downloadable DIVX movies so expensive? Bring the price down and you would see and explosion , like with MP3 and eBooks
Just a short post on EE 4G. It is excellent to be able to stream TV on applications such as iPlayer , but you do need to have a constant signal. Cable provides and uninterupted flow , and did anaolgue TV and now Freeview through the airwaves.
BBCs iPlayer on the iPad allows you to downlaod episodes to watch when you are not connected , but the Android version I have on my Samsung Note 2 doesnt sem to have that option. This means that when you leave the 4G area in Newcastle on the way south your program stops , not a great customer experience caused by the face that you cant download when in the 4G signal range.
When 4G is ubiquitous streaming will be find , but even free media apps should provide the option of downloading when in a good signal area.