Earlier
Week from Monday 28th October 2024 - British Summer Time is officially over and the clocks went back... Some folks saw that as "an extra hour in bed" but I didn't. My own bodyclock now says it's time to wake up an hour 'EARLIER', regardless of why the one on the wall says. It's in no way relaxing 'cos I have to get up anxiously and have a poo'n'pee before seven, instead of a more sensible time! (Too much information!) Then there's the fact that it gets dark at teatime now and I already feel tired 'EARLIER' in the evening... Why do we still do it, eh?
(...so 'SEVEN IS THE NEW EIGHT'. But now that I think about it, waking up at seven probably suits me BETTER now. I've got to be up and ready to catch an eight-forty-five bus this coming Saturday...)
The most depressing news of the last few days is the announcement that next summer will be the last time that the TOUR DE FRANCE will be free-to-air. ITV are dumping it. So no more 'professional' reportage, no more GARY IMLACH, no more MATT RENDELL, no more NED BOULTING, no more DAVID MILLAR. If you want to carry on watching it after that, you'll probably have to put up with that dreadful GCN/Eurosport commentary team instead. I don't see myself ever buying a Discovery+ subscription just so that I can endure an EXTRA three weeks of SEAN KELLY's inane gibbering. Unbearable! I might remind you that I'd had quite enough of it by the final week of this year's VUELTA, and I watched the 'highlights' shows for the last few stages with the sound turned down! The ITV (and previously Channel4) TdF coverage was the 'gateway' to the sport for a lot of people. Now they've set the clock back forty years, to a time when the only way you could follow what was going on was to READ about it in one of the cycling weeklies. I suppose the 'modern' equivalent is to read the various feeds on Twitter*, which is what I already do for all the OTHER races that I can't watch. Unless, of course, one is willing to pay good money to a division of Time-Warner, or Warner Media, or Warner International, or whatever the megacorp is calling itself this week... Capitalism, eh? don'tcha just love it...?
*The main reason I still rely heavily on TWITTER is because very little of this kind of 'newsfeed' stuff is yet present on THE PLACE WITH THE CLEAR BLUE SKIES. Anything that IS there is somewhat 'America-centric'. Do a search on the blüsky for anything relating to "cycling" and see if I'm not right.
Week from Monday 4th November 2024 - Busy busy busy! even for a Monday... Once I'd got my weekly visit to HARRY SHEARER's "Le Show" out of the way, I had several 'PROJECTS' to undertake. First of all, I downloaded TONY LEVIN's new solo album from the Bandcamp concern and set about 'processing' it for CD burnage. Then I tried to replace the ailing REMOTE CONTROL for my telly with one of those so-called "universal" devices. But after tediously trying out all the different access codes for my set, it was still only a partial success (no working "OK" button and several of the other buttons don't do as they are labelled!), so I've gone back to using the knackered one for the time being, faults and all. Later in the day, I received an email from my BANK notifying me of "CHANGES TO MY ACCOUNT", which also sounded a bit anxiety-inducing, so I 'visited' the online bank to check it out. Turns out it was just a post-budget change in the INTEREST RATES and a fresh 'AGREEMENT' to agree with, concerning their amended terms of biz.
First impressions... The new TONY LEVIN album "Bringing It Down To The Bass" is a very varied affair, with lots of DIFFERENT styles flying about. I'm not yet convinced it 'flows' as a WHOLE, but there's plenty of great tracks which stand up individually, with TLev's various bass instruments well to the fore (needless to say!). On the other hand, there are one or two numbers which, upon first hearing, are a bit too 'SHREDDY METAL' for my tastes. Also the jury's still out on some of the funny(?) vocals. No doubt after a few days of 'living with it', it will all fall into place.
(...so 'SEVEN IS THE NEW EIGHT'. But now that I think about it, waking up at seven probably suits me BETTER now. I've got to be up and ready to catch an eight-forty-five bus this coming Saturday...)
The most depressing news of the last few days is the announcement that next summer will be the last time that the TOUR DE FRANCE will be free-to-air. ITV are dumping it. So no more 'professional' reportage, no more GARY IMLACH, no more MATT RENDELL, no more NED BOULTING, no more DAVID MILLAR. If you want to carry on watching it after that, you'll probably have to put up with that dreadful GCN/Eurosport commentary team instead. I don't see myself ever buying a Discovery+ subscription just so that I can endure an EXTRA three weeks of SEAN KELLY's inane gibbering. Unbearable! I might remind you that I'd had quite enough of it by the final week of this year's VUELTA, and I watched the 'highlights' shows for the last few stages with the sound turned down! The ITV (and previously Channel4) TdF coverage was the 'gateway' to the sport for a lot of people. Now they've set the clock back forty years, to a time when the only way you could follow what was going on was to READ about it in one of the cycling weeklies. I suppose the 'modern' equivalent is to read the various feeds on Twitter*, which is what I already do for all the OTHER races that I can't watch. Unless, of course, one is willing to pay good money to a division of Time-Warner, or Warner Media, or Warner International, or whatever the megacorp is calling itself this week... Capitalism, eh? don'tcha just love it...?
*The main reason I still rely heavily on TWITTER is because very little of this kind of 'newsfeed' stuff is yet present on THE PLACE WITH THE CLEAR BLUE SKIES. Anything that IS there is somewhat 'America-centric'. Do a search on the blüsky for anything relating to "cycling" and see if I'm not right.
Week from Monday 4th November 2024 - Busy busy busy! even for a Monday... Once I'd got my weekly visit to HARRY SHEARER's "Le Show" out of the way, I had several 'PROJECTS' to undertake. First of all, I downloaded TONY LEVIN's new solo album from the Bandcamp concern and set about 'processing' it for CD burnage. Then I tried to replace the ailing REMOTE CONTROL for my telly with one of those so-called "universal" devices. But after tediously trying out all the different access codes for my set, it was still only a partial success (no working "OK" button and several of the other buttons don't do as they are labelled!), so I've gone back to using the knackered one for the time being, faults and all. Later in the day, I received an email from my BANK notifying me of "CHANGES TO MY ACCOUNT", which also sounded a bit anxiety-inducing, so I 'visited' the online bank to check it out. Turns out it was just a post-budget change in the INTEREST RATES and a fresh 'AGREEMENT' to agree with, concerning their amended terms of biz.
First impressions... The new TONY LEVIN album "Bringing It Down To The Bass" is a very varied affair, with lots of DIFFERENT styles flying about. I'm not yet convinced it 'flows' as a WHOLE, but there's plenty of great tracks which stand up individually, with TLev's various bass instruments well to the fore (needless to say!). On the other hand, there are one or two numbers which, upon first hearing, are a bit too 'SHREDDY METAL' for my tastes. Also the jury's still out on some of the funny(?) vocals. No doubt after a few days of 'living with it', it will all fall into place.
I.
When a country is being run in order to serve the interests of those who seriously believe that, after they peg it, their imaginary friend is going to whisk them off to his magic sky kingdom, then it should come as no surprise that none of them give a solitary fuck about what happens to THIS world.
II.
A true STATESMAN will recognise that there are those who hold opposing views and opinions, but will be open to dialogue, debate and compromise. A TYRANT, on the other hand, thinks anybody who in any way disagrees with him to be 'the enemy'.
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